2024 Festival Faculty

Sophie Addie
Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Sophie is a native to Minnesota who received her primary training under Denise Vogt. She is currently an instructor at Ballet Royale Minnesota, but has been teaching in the Lakeville schools since 2004.  She also works with the professional Twin Cities Ballet company as an artistic staff and ballet master.  Sophie received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of St. Thomas. She has trained and assisted with updating Ballet Royale’s curriculum and developing Ballet Royale’s advanced preparation of pointe regimen.  Sophie is also certified and licensed in Progressing Ballet Technique®.

Kaitlin Bell
Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Kaitlin (Setzke) Bell is a native of Wisconsin, where she received her training from Lake Shore Dance, North Shore Dance Studio and Danceworks Milwaukee. In 2014, Kaitlin received her BFA in Dance from University of Minnesota Twin Cities under the artistic guidance and expertise of Ananya Chatterjea, Toni Pierce Sands, Linda Talcott Lee, Carl Flink, and Joanie Smith. In her final semester, she had the privilege of performing in the TU Dance 10th Anniversary concert. She danced with the company from 2014-2020. Kaitlin has taught and re-staged TU Dance repertory locally, nationally, and internationally. She has performed works by Uri Sands, Donald Byrd, Bill T Jones, Larry Keigwin, Dwight Rhoden, Katrin Hall, Gregory Dolbashian, Gioconda Barbuto, Kyle Abraham, Francesca Harper, Ronald K Brown, Stefanie Batten Bland, Marcus Willis, and Alvin Ailey. Most recently, Kaitlin performed in TU Dance's collaboration with indie folk artist Justin Vernon of Bon Iver entitled “Come Through” at the Hollywood Bowl and the Kennedy Center.

Jarod Boltjes
Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Jarod Boltjes (He/Him) was born and raised in Minnesota, where he began his formal dance training at the age of 18. While attending Saint Mary’s University he earned his degree in Dance and Studio Art while also training and performing internationally at the Rose Bruford College in the U.K. and the Gaiety School of Acting in Ireland. Jarod began dancing professionally in 2012 and has had the pleasure of working with many Minnesota based organizations over the years, including Minnesota Dance Theatre, Contempo Physical Dance, Twin Cities Ballet, Saint Paul Ballet, Threads Dance and Neo’s Dance Theatre (Ohio). Jarod is a current company member with James Sewell Ballet as well as a frequent guest artist with Collide Theatrical Dance Company. He has performed works by James Sewell, Loyce Houlton, Regina Peluso, Paul Taylor, Penelope Freeh, Jennifer Hart, Joseph Morrisey, Marciano Silva dos Santos, Kinsun Chan, Diane Coburn Bruhning, and Rick & Denise Vogt. In 2023, Jarod directed his first dance production with Collide Theatrical, an original cabaret focusing on LGBTQ identities and issues. He has over 10 years of experience staging and choreographing mainstage productions with Circus Juventas in Saint Paul.

Rachel Doran
Workshop Class Teacher

Rachel Doran is an eclectic dance educator, serving the next generation of dance artists with the philosophy that, with opportunity and intention, anyone can dance about anything. After a decade’s worth of nation-spanning freelance choreography and instruction, she now focuses her creative efforts in the Twin Cities. Rachel is co-director of Crash Dance Productions contemporary dance company, co-owner of Hothouse Studios, a dance space in Minneapolis, and is proudly entering her 22nd season as a coach of the Totino-Grace High School E’gals dance team. 

Alexandra Eady
Master Class Teacher

Alexandra Eady (She/her) dances in honor of those that have come before, the ones that are witnessing, and for future generations. She wants to first acknowledge her wonderful family, mentors, collaborators and students that give her energy and light every day. Alexandra is interested in creating and dancing choreographies that require a sustainable intensity and maintain a connection to story by being guided by our ancestors, something that requires a constant connection to the information that flows through our veins. Alexandra had the great privilege of practicing the contemporary dance technique of Yorchhā, created by Ananya Chatterjea. With Ananya Dance Theatre she has traveled nationally and internationally teaching and performing. In the summer of 2023 she had the opportunity to attend the Art OMI Dance residency and be in collaboration with 9 other dancers from around the world. Sharing, learning and creating together. In 2021 she received the Mcknight Fellowship for dance and worked in collaboration with Maria Bauman(MBDance) to perform a solo created by Maria as part of the “SOLO” Mcknight performance in Minneapolis. Alexandra teaches in a variety of settings across the Twin Cities. She Co-Chairs the dance department at St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and is on faculty at the University of Minnesota. Continuing this important practice of sustainability, she is the owner of Sustained Body, a Pilates and Holistic Movement practice that combines her dance training with other fitness and movement training practices.

Katie Johnson
Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Katie Johnson received her BFA in Dance from the University of Iowa, where she was the recipient of the Iowa Center for the Arts scholarship. She trained at Butterfield’s, Mark Morris Dance Center, STEPS, and Beijing Dance Academy in China. Katie has worked with Tania Perez-Salas, The Joffrey Ballet, Duarte Dance Works, Ballet America, and was a company member with Minnesota Dance Theatre from 2008-2018. She has performed works by Jiri Kylian, José Limón, Dwight Rhoden, Louis Falco, Elisa Monte, Hope Boykin, Emery LeCrone, George De la Pena, Wynn Fricke, Mariusz Olszewski, Loyce Houlton, and Lise Houlton, amongst others. Katie is a 2011 SAGE Award nominee and a 2012 SAGE Award winner for Outstanding Performer. In addition to her performing career, Katie was a Capezio Dancewear model, appeared in various film productions and documentaries, and was highlighted in Lee Lynch’s book, Amazing MN (2017). She has taught extensively throughout the U.S. specializing in ballet and contemporary techniques. Katie is currently Minnesota Dance Theatre’s rehearsal assistant for company and school.

Bobby Hamilton
Adjudicator

Bobby Hamilton has been dancing for eighteen years. He grew up dancing at several studios in the Twin Cities area in their competition programs. Bobby is trained in many styles of dance including Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet, Hip Hop and Tap. In 2018 he joined Kaleena Miller's junior company KMD2. He danced and created student choreography for two years until he was offered to be an apprentice to Kaleena. He served as a KMD apprentice for 2 years which entailed dancing alongside Kaleena and the other KMD members but also teaching the members of KMD2 and making choreography. 

This past year he performed with Kaleena/KMD at the Cowles’ Fall Forward Festival. He also performed with the Flying Foot Forum in October 2023, and performed “Butterfly” by Davon Suttles at the Chicago Tap Intensive alongside members of MADD Rhythms in October 2023. In April of 2024 along with Tony van de Ligt, Bobby premiered their show “dubiety” at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater. This show consists of 9 new original works choreographed by the two of them and features 8 dancers. Bobby strives to create experimental and thought provoking work through the process of integrating other forms of movement into Tap Dance.

Abby King
Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Abby King is a diversified performing artist, choreographer, and dance instructor based in the Twin Cities. She grew up dancing competitively while training in a variety of different styles at her local dance studio, Metro Dance Center. During her time in high school, she dedicated her focus to assistant teaching and dancing pre-professionally. Abby graduated from Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists in 2021, where she had further exposure to modern, classical, and global forms of performance dance. After Graduation, she had the pleasure of becoming an apprentice with Kaleena Miller Dance, a collaborative tap dance company, and conceptual contemporary dance company, Crash Dance Productions. Abby now performs professionally with Kaleena Miller Dance and works to teach the young artists of KMD2 (pre-professional program). This past year she has had opportunities to set work on both pre-professional companies of Crash Dance Productions (CDP2) and Kaleena Miller Dance (KMD2). In addition to her dancing and teaching, Abby has a love for fashion. She is currently studying apparel technologies at Minneapolis College and simultaneously working to develop her vintage resale business. Abby continues to perform in numerous projects and performances all over the metropolitan area. She is known for her embodiment of raw emotion in her movement and unique choreographic style. She loves to share her passion for dance and prides herself in teaching the importance of authenticity, discovery, and perseverance.

Shane Larson
Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Shane Larson is a NYC-based creator; he was raised in Minnesota, where he received his early training at the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. He graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. He also studied at SEAD in Austria. Since living in New York City, he’s branched out to collaborate with punk musicians, film makers, improvisational music ensembles, and site-specific visual artists. He joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in 2015. Shane is also a multimedia video artist making collage-based work about memory and movement. 

During class we will generate a modular warm up that deepens with task-based repetition, while building new pathways through basic shapes and great music. We encourage to learn-by-doing, rather than to learn and ‘perform’, relying on muscle memories to strengthen these methods. Architectural forms of the body are created, deconstructed, and recycled within momentum and temperature, allowing us to swing through energetic, unpredictable phrases.

Megan McClellan
Master Class Teacher

Megan McClellan, a 2003 McKnight Artist Fellow in Dance, has spent her career pounding out percussive dance with Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum, dancing the contemporary repertoire of Black Label Movement and Shapiro & Smith Dance, and adding movement to many Minnesota Opera productions. Her “energetic and charismatic” style (Metro U.K.) has been employed by the Guthrie Theater, The Ordway, Illusion Theater, Walker Art Center, Chicago Opera Theater, and Nautilus Music-Theater, to name a few. Besides dancing for others, she co-founded the dance and theater company Sossy Mechanics with her husband Brian Sostek. Known for their Fred and Ginger style dancing, their work has toured nationally and internationally to critical acclaim.  In fact, Trick Boxing, “the best show I’ve seen” (New York Times), won her a 2015 Playwright and Choreographer Ivey Award.

Kelli Miles
Adjudicator

Kelli Miles is a Minneapolis-based dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She graduated from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in the Spring of 2018 with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Leadership. Kelli has danced across the globe, from New York City and San Francisco to Barcelona and Israel. Locally, she has had the pleasure of dancing with companies such as HoneyWorks, Hatch Dance, Rhythmically Speaking, Black Label Movement and Threads Dance Project. Kelli also teaches at WestMet Classical Training and has served as an adjudicator for Starz Dance Competition. Beyond the studio, Kelli is a part of the Consulting team at Artspace - a national organization creating, fostering, and preserving affordable and sustainable space for artists and arts and cultural organizations.

Ashley Pyle
Adjudicator

Ashley Pyle grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin dancing for Barb’s Centre for Dance. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 2020 with a BFA in dance and a BS in psychology. At the University of Minnesota, she performed in the work of Luciana Achugar, Brian Brooks, Carl Flink, Gregory Maqoma, Sidra Bell, Michel Kouakou, Eko Supriyanto, Kjara Wurst, Herbert Johnson III, Leslie Parker, and Andrea Miller. Since graduating, Ashley has danced with Black Label Movement appearing in their TEDx film, “A Dream of Touch When Touch is Gone”, and performing in the premiere of “Canary, Crimson, then Emerald” as well as the 15th anniversary of “Wreck”. She has also performed in “Burning Air” and “To Have and to Hold” with Shapiro & Smith Dance. Currently, Ashley is a first year medical student at the University of Minnesota. 

Erika Ruegemer Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Erika Ruegemer is a trained dancer and choreographer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her specialty is creating temporary worlds within empty spaces or already existing environments. Erika thrives on the spirit of innovation, community, and natural progression. 

As a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota Erika began dancing at age five. She received her BA in dance from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Erika has danced with ARENADances in Minneapolis, MN, PUSH Physical Theatre, FuturPointe Dance, Flower City Ballet, Frazee Feet Dance, Heather Roffe Dance, and Stilla Dance in Rochester, NY, and gloATL in Atlanta, GA. She is the Co-Founder of One Dance Company New York and the former Artistic Director and Founder of Rochester Dance Theatre in Rochester, New York. Erika spent several years collaborating with artists in Rochester, New York as an Artist Initiative Member and the Dance Curator for THE YARDS collaborative art space and WALL THERAPY NY.

Erika is currently the dance teacher at Marcy Arts Magnet Elementary School in NE Minneapolis where she teaches approximately 500 students throughout the year. She participates in various dance projects around the Twin Cities each year and is the mother of a sweet young boy!

Abdo Sayegh Rodriguez Master Class Teacher

Originally from Venezuela, Abdo’s early performing career included both of Venezuela's leading companies: the Ballet Nacional de Caracas and Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas. Coming to the US as a guest artist in 1994, he performed with Minnesota Dance Theatre and later joined the dance company, becoming its Associate Artistic Director. He was awarded a McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowship in 2007. In 2012, Abdo was appointed TU Dance’s Managing Director and has facilitated the organization’s significant growth. He became TU Dance’s Executive Director in 2021. Abdo has been teaching dance for many years and it’s a certified  GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® instructor. He is a Trustee on the Board of Dance/USA. Abdo was honored by the Ordway Center with its 2015 Education Award for Excellence in Community Engagement and holds a bachelor degree in Administration from the Universidad Católica Andres Bello in Caracas, Venezuela. 

Laura Selle Virtucio Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Laura Selle Virtucio, originally from Sioux Falls SD, was a student-athlete before discovering a passion for dance. She pursued a BFA in Dance from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and made the Twin Cities her home. For more than 20 years, Laura maintained a vibrant performance career in the Twin Cities and toured nationally with several artists and companies, most recently continuing her long history with Shapiro & Smith Dance, as a performer and Artistic Associate, as well as creating new works with choreographers Chris Schlicting, April Sellers and Mathew Janczewski. Laura has graced several of the nation's best-known stages such as the Joyce Theater in NYC, and Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church in NYC, the Guthrie Theater, and The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Laura was a long-time company member and teaching artist with Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater, Zenon Dance Company, and Carl Flink’s Black Label Movement. While at Zenon Dance Company, she had the pleasure of creating and performing new works by Kyle Abraham, Luciana Achugar, and Daniel Charon, just to name a few. In her work with Shapiro & Smith Dance, Laura consistently restages the company's work across the county. Most recently, she staged dance work at Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in Salt Lake City, Pheonix Dance Company (UK), and previously at universities such as Boston Conservatory and Western Oregon University. Laura received a 2007 McKnight Fellowship for Dancers and a Minnesota Sage Award for Best Performer. As an arts educator, Laura taught contemporary modern and jazz dance techniques at the St. Paul Conservatory for the Performing Arts for eight years and has extensive experience working in communities of non-dancers. Last spring she assisted Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater co-director, Suzanne Costello, in an arts and healthcare residency at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Laura is a senior teaching specialist at UMN as well as the director of the University of Minnesota Dance Theater Program. She serves on the Theater Arts and Dance Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee.

Brian Sostek
Master Class Teacher

Brian Sostek’s exploits have ranged from acting in some of Hollywood’s most quickly cancelled sitcoms to touring internationally with percussive dance-theater company Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum. Over three decades, he has parlayed his background in various dance forms, his lifelong experience with comedy, and his fascination with verbal and physical play into a successful and constantly expanding career in the performing arts. He has created and performed work for numerous theaters and companies including The Guthrie Theater, Children’s Theater Co., Ordway Center for Performing Arts, Park Square Theatre, Shapiro & Smith Dance, Zenon, Beyond Ballroom Dance Co. as well as Sossy Mechanics, which he founded with wife Megan McClellan and with whom he won a 2015 Playwright & Choreographer Ivey Award.

Angel Strittmater
Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Angel Strittmater is a professional dancer located in Los Angeles, CA. Initially from Minnesota, she grew competing at Center Stage Dance Studio and in high school participated in the Academy of Holy Angels dance team for four years, two of which she was captain. Angel then continued her dance education at The University of Minnesota where she received a BA in Dance. Within the Barbara Barker Center for dance she worked with choreographers such as Robert Moses Kin, Erin Thompson, Carl Flink and Ananya Chatterjea. During her time at University she was part of the University of Minnesota Dance team and was also an Apprentice for Crash Dance Productions. Angel has been teaching since the age of 18 and was an instructor and choreographer at The Vibe Dance and Fitness, Northern Force Dance Company, and Center Stage Dance Studio. Angel is currently signed with Bloc Talent Agency and has performed in various shows such as The Kid’s Choice Awards, “The King and I,” and Paris by Night. She has also received the opportunity to dance with artists such as Lilit Hovhannisyan and Iphis Wells. When she’s not dancing she’s an instructor at Millennium Dance Complex and San Marino Dance Academy, as well as a fitness instructor and personal trainer. Angel loved coming back to Minnesota to teach and is beyond excited to work with all the dancers at Cathedral! 

Linda Talcott Lee
Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Linda Talcott Lee is an Emmy award winning choreographer and Broadway veteran. Some of her theatrical choreographic credits include: Beauty and the Beast at the Ordway; Romeo and Juliet at the Guthrie; Matilda, Cinderella, Mulan and How the Grinch Stole Christmas at CTC; Baker’s Wife, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Next to Normal and City of Angels at Artistry; A Servants’ Christmas and Hormel Girls at the History Theatre. On Broadway, Linda was an original cast member in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, The Goodbye Girl, Beauty and the Beast, and joined Seussical before it closed. Recently, Linda has performed at the Guthrie (My Fair Lady, She Loves Me, Roman Holiday), Ordway (A Christmas Story, Cinderella), Chanhassen DT (The Prom, WSS, Mary Poppins, Swing and Cats), and the Fitzgerald (Wild Party). Most notably, Linda earned an Emmy award for her work in The Comedy Hall of Fame with Jason Alexander.

Megan Thomas
Master Class Teacher & Adjudicator

Megan Thomas is a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer living in Los Angeles. She grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico and went to the University of Minnesota on a dance scholarship, graduating with a
minor in dance. She has training in all styles of dance from various studios all over the country and in Europe. Megan is a former member of the Timberwolves 612 Hip Hop Crew and of
Crash Dance Productions, a professional contemporary company. She has performed with T-Pain, Dua Salah, and David Garibaldi. During her first two years at the University, she was a member of the Premier Dance Team. Megan has choreographed for multiple studios in Minneapolis and in Albuquerque, the University of New Mexico Dance Team, and CDP2 (Crash Dance Productions’ training company). She has received multiple choreography awards at regional competitions, as well as from Revolution Talent Nationals. She previously taught weekly at The Vibe Dance and Fitness and Hothouse Studio, and has been a
guest teacher at multiple studios across Minneapolis and Albuquerque.