The Dancers

Christopher Bandy is from Parkersburg, WV where he received 12 years of training at the Mid-Ohio Valley Ballet School. Mr. Bandy´s professional career began in 1997, encompassing eight years spent with American Repertory Ballet and four seasons with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre interspersed with appearances with the Opera Festival of New Jersey, Chamber Dance Project in New York City, the WV State Dance Festival, and Configuration in Cape Cod, MA. He is also an aspiring choreographer, avid organic gardener, and proud father of his daughter Amelia. Following the second performance with Terpsicorps this summer, Christopher will join Dance Alloy Theatre in Pittsburgh for his first season there.

Some memorable Terpsicorps roles ˆ The Mighty Hermaphrodite in "Welcome to Cabaret KiKi," second soloist in "The Men," C-H-I-C-K-E-N in "C-H-I-C-K-E-N," and the Husband in "TV Dinner".

Jennifer Cavanaugh was born in Portland, Maine and studied at Portland School of Ballet and the North Carolina School of the Arts. For nine years Jennifer was a soloist with the North Carolina Dance Theatre where she was featured in many of Salvatore Aiello’s most popular works including Satto, Notturno and The Turn of the Screw. She was also featured in the premiere casts of Heather Maloy’s ballets Wayfaring Stranger and T.V. Dinner. Jennifer has spent four summers as a member of the Chautauqua Ballet Company as well as making guest appearances with the Tampa Ballet and Ballet Metropolitan in Columbus, Ohio. Jennifer is now a principal dancer with the American Repertory Ballet in New Jersey.

Some memorable Terpsicorps roles – Pearl in “The Scarlet Letter”, The Little Girl in “The Many Deaths of Edward Gorey,” The White Rabbit in “Alice,” and Aiello’s “Satto”.

Brittany Fridenstine was born in Boise, Idaho grew up in Seattle, Washington, and trained at the Pacific Northwest School of Ballet. She has performed with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Ballet Memphis, Minnesota Dance Theatre, and most recently James Sewell Ballet. She has performed work by George Balanchine, Trey McIntyre, Mark Godden, Danny Buraczeski, and Dwight Rhoden. As a dancer, she has participated in the National Choreographers Initiative where she created roles in works by Val Caniparoli, Luca Veggetti, Ron De Jesus, and Graham Lustig. In May 2007, Ms. Fridenstine joined American Repertory Ballet debuting in Val Caniparoli’s Suite, where she showed herself a performer of extraordinary intensity. She has created a dance therapy program for children with special needs that she has implemented in many cities and is now certified in the Gyrotonic expansion system of exercise.

Sadie Harris began her training in her hometown of Indianapolis at Jordan College Academy of Dance. She has studied at The Harid Conservatory and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Upon graduation in 2001, she joined Nashville Ballet. Ms. Harris has performed as Dew Drop in the Nutcracker, Salvatore Aiello’s The Rite of Spring and Afternoon of a Faun, Paul Vasterling’s Dracula and Giselle and Swan Lake.

Some memorable Terpsicorps roles – Hester in “The Scarlet Letter,” The Ballerina in “The Many Deaths of Edward Gorey,” The Red Death in “Masque of the Red Death” and Aiello’s “Satto.” Sadie is sponsored by Duane Dunston.

Chris Stuart is originally from Connecticut, where he began his training. He later furthered his training at Virginia School of the Arts on a full scholarship under the direction of Petrus Bosman. Chris also studied at the Boston Ballet summer dance program on full scholarship under the direction of Devon Carney. He then trained at North Carolina School of the Arts under Melissa Hayden, Warren Conover and Duncan Noble. After graduating from NCSA in 2001 Chris joined the Nashville Ballet and has been featured in such ballets as Paul Vasterling’s Romeo & Juliet and Salsa, Sleeping Beauty, Heather Maloy’s Le Suil Go... and Salvatore Aiello’s Senza Fretta, and Clowns and Others.

Some memorable Terpsicorps roles – Aiello’s “Senza Fretta,” “The Men”, Sticks in “Welcome to Cabaret KiKi,” and Prince Prospero in "Masque of the Red Death".

Jon Upleger began his training at the Virginia School of the Arts under the direction of Petrus Bossman and David Keener. Upon graduation he received the prestigious Dean's Award and then immediately joined the Nashville Ballet, where his very first professional performance experience was as the Emperor in Heather Maloy's “The Emperor and the Nightingale.” Since then he has been featured in ballets by Aiello, Balanchine and Paul Vasterling.

Some memorable Terpsicorps roles – Reverend Dimmsdale in “The Scarlet Letter,” The Ghost of the Man Servant in “Turn of the Screw,” and Aiello’s “Satto.” Jon Upleger is sponsored by Hamlin Beattie IV.

Emily Gotschall received her training at the school of the dance company, Balletmet in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. She spent seven seasons as a member of the Dayton Ballet, where she performed many principle roles, ranging from Odile in Septime Weber’s Swan lake to Ophelia in Stephen Mill’s Hamlet. Emily is currently back in Columbus, having in her third season as a company member with Balletmet.

Some memorable Terpsicorps roles – Aiello’s “The Waiting Room,” and The Ghost of the Governess in Aiello’s “The Turn of the Screw.”

Logan Pachciarz began his professional career at the age of 15 with Twyla Tharp's dance ensemble titled, "Tharp!" and is currently in his fourth season with the Kansas City Ballet. His ballet training includes scholarships at Boston Ballet School and North Carolina School of the Arts. Mr. Pachciarz relocated to Kansas City after performing two years with Boston Ballet. Some of his favorite ballets include Giselle, Lambarena, and Jardi Tancat.

Terpsicorps roles – a townsperson in “The Scarlet Letter.”

David Tlaiye was born in Puebla, Mexico, and began dancing at Myra Mier School of Ballet in New Orleans at age 11. His extensive training includes the South Carolina Dance Conservatory and 2.5 years as a scholarship student at Houston Ballet Academy, where he won the Most Improved Award in 2003. His professional experience includes the Bruce Wood Dance Company in Fort Worth, Texas and three seasons with BalletMet, where he dances currently.

Some memorable Terpsicorps roles – Death in “The Many Deaths of Edward Gorey,” and the second movement pas de deux in “Work in Progress.”

Joseph Watson started dancing at the age of 6 and began his formal training at an after school program called T.W.I.G.S. (To Work In Gaining Skills). His training at T.W.I.G.S. led to his acceptance into the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA), under the tutelage of Norma Pera. While at BSA, he performed works of David Parsons and Hinton Battle. Upon graduating high school he trained at The Julliard School under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. There he performed works by Jiri Kylian, Ohad Naharin, Susan Marshall and received a B.F.A. in the dance division. Joseph currently dances with NC Dance Theatre.

Zachary Whittenburg originally from Boulder, Colorado, has been working in dance for ten years. His career began with the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, where he was a company member until 2001. Since then he has danced for North Carolina Dance Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Lucky Plush Productions and [bjm_danse] (formerly Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal) in Montreal, Quebec. Zachary has recently returned to Chicago to focus on creative and collaborative opportunities and presents choreography under the name trailerpilot.

Some memorable Terpsicorps roles – Roger Chillingsworth in “The Scarlet Letter,”

Hitomi Yamada just finished her fourth season with BalletMet, has danced as a member of Ballet Pacifica, James Sewell Ballet, Ballet Chicago, Ballet El Paso and Connecticut Ballet, and as a guest of the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Minnetonka Dance Theater and Chicago Festival Ballet. Born in Osaka, Japan, Ms. Yamada studied at Beijing Dance Academy and School of American Ballet, and was a participant in the 2004 and 2005 National Choreographers Initiatives held in Orange County, California. Among her favorite roles are original parts choreographed on her in works such as Dominic Walsh's "Lover Inter-fere," Jodie Gates' "Somewhere/In-Between" and "Bello," Anne Marie DeAngelo's "Man in White Shirt" and "Unknown Territory" by Choo-San Goh.

Some memorable Terpsicorps roles – “The Woman”