Meet the Artists

2022 Company Artists for Headspace

Kayla Allison - Dancer
Kayla Allison is from Maryville, Tennessee. She is a Junior at the University of Kentucky as a a Dance and Art Administration major. She has been a member of the University of Kentucky Dance Ensemble for 3 years, where she both dances and choreographs. Kayla interned for Allegro Dance Project this past spring and we are so delighted to welcome her as a member of the company this season!

Allan Bagley - Dancer
Allan began seriously pursuing ballet at the age 10 after being a competitive gymnast for five years. He is a rising senior taking dual credit classes at the University of Louisville. Hailing from Louisville, he received most of his training at the University of Louisville Dance Academy and currently trains with Bluegrass Youth Ballet. Allan is exited for his first season with Allegro Dance Project.

Kate Cox- Dancer
Kate is a second year medical student at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology with a minor in Dance. At UK, Kate trained in ballet and modern dance, attended the American College Dance Association Southern and East-Central Regional Conferences annually, performed in the annual dance concerts, choreographed for the student choreography concerts, and choreographed for her senior thesis with the Gaines Center for the Humanities. Previously, she trained with Bluegrass Youth Ballet for twelve years, attended the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts in 2014 and received additional training during summer intensives with Cincinnati Ballet and Kentucky Ballet Theatre. Kate often assisted with our weekly Adaptive Dance classes and this is her eighth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Joseph Edmonds Jr. - Dancer
Joseph "JoJo" Edmonds, Jr is a 2022 cum laude; college & career ready graduate of the Carter G. Woodson Academy! While balancing dance and football, Joseph has been a recipient of many academic, leadership/character awards throughout his high school career. Joseph will be attending the University of Kentucky majoring in dance with a minor in journalism. Although JoJo has been dancing way before he can remember, he began his formal training 10 years ago with Lexington Dance Factory. He started in an all-boys' hip-hop class but quickly jumped right into dancing competitively. He trains in all genres of dance, but his favorites are hip-hop and contemporary. He has won many awards performing, but he is most proud of winning the title of Mr. Dance of the Bluegrass and the Interview Award in 2021. JoJo went on to compete in the Dance Masters of America competition where he was awarded the Gene Wright Scholarship for best lyrical Mr. Dance performance. JoJo loves everything dance and is really excited to be blessed with the opportunity to dance with Allegro Dance Project.

Desean Elliott - Dancer
Desean was Mr. Dance of the Bluegrass in 2016 and was a convention instructing assistant for Bellamoxie from 2017-2019. He has taught for many competition studios throughout Kentucky and is currently an instructor for Upgrade dance company. He is an award and national winning choreographer for competitions such as Platinum dance, Showbiz, KAR Dance competition, and Jump dance convention. Specializing in contemporary turns and leaps, Desean has trained all over the country in all styles ranging from Ballet, jazz ,hip hop, and acrobatics. This is his first season with Allegro Dance Project.

Lydia Fletcher- Dancer & Aerial Artist
Lydia grew up in St. Louis, MO and has been dancing since she was two years old. She trained with various dance studios, her high school dance team, and AshleyLiane Dance Company’s Junior Training program. She continued to explore movement through gymnastics and cheerleading, eventually beginning aerial arts in 2016 at Sora Aerial Arts after moving to Lexington to attend the University of Kentucky. At UK, she studied biotechnology and gender and women’s studies, in addition to performing with the Department of Theater and Dance. This is her second year as an aerialist and first year dancing with Allegro Dance Project.

Tessa Fowler- Dancer & Choreographer
Tessa has been dancing with Bluegrass Youth Ballet for ten years and has attended summer intensives at Alma Dance School and Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance. They are a rising junior in the SCAPA ballet program at Lafayette High School where they are also a violist in the Lafayette Orchestra. Tessa assisted in their middle school special education class for three years and also assists with our weekly Adaptive Dance Classes. This is their fourth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Meredith Garrison -Dancer & Aerial Artist
Meredith (Merry) Garrison grew up dancing and sing to VHS sing-a-long videos in Berea, KY. She relied on the library for materials to learn to dance until Laura’s School of Dance opened in Richmond, Ky. Merry went on to dance with Bluegrass Youth Ballet. She pursued a career in communication and global development, earning a BA in Chinese Studies, and a BA, MA, and PhD in Communication with a specialization in social work. But in 2016, Merry ran away to the circus, complementing her dance training with aerial acrobatics and contortion. She joined Sora Contemporary Circus in 2018 as a principal member. Merry has taught dance at multiple studios for over 15 years. At age 30, Merry is a faculty lecturer in communication at the University of Kentucky and finds joy in performing. Her most recent performance was as Adelaide in “Guys and Dolls” at the Woodford Theatre. Merry is excited to join Allegro for her second season.

Isabelle Hayden- Dancer
Isabelle has been dancing since she was about 18 months old, starting with baby ballet, and eventually making her way up to the pre-professional level. She attended SCAPA as a ballet major from 4th-9th grade and then finished her high school career with a homeschool co-op. She has received dance training from Bluegrass Youth Ballet, Kentucky Ballet Theatre, Gotta Dance Studio, and has attended summer intensives with Louisville Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet. Currently, she is attending BCTC and studying to become an Elementary Education Teacher. This is Isabelle's fifth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Gwendolyn Hinkle- Dancer
Gwendolyn is a graduate of the School for the Creative and Performing Arts - Lafayette (Ballet Major) and the Lafayette Pre-Engineering Program. She attended the 2020 Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) in Dance, was a GSA Finalist in Instrumental Music and attended the 2021 Governor’s Scholars Program (GSP). She is a member of the Lewis Honors College at the University of Kentucky, where she will pursue dual degrees in Chemical Engineering and Dance. During her fourteen years with Bluegrass Youth Ballet, she has performed a variety of roles including Clara, Arabian Lead, and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Rapunzel in “Fifteen Dances.” She also played flute in the All-State Band and the Lafayette Wind Symphony. This is her fourth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Hannah Tanaka Holbrook - Dancer
Hannah has been studying at BCTC to obtain her Associates in the Arts degree, and will be transferring to the University of Kentucky in the spring of 2023 to pursue a major in English Literature and Special Education. She spent two years living abroad in Japan studying the language; while abroad, she spent a year working at an international Saturday English school as a teaching assistant. Hannah has been dancing for 19 years. She has trained at Bluegrass Youth Ballet and with Black Bird Dance Theater, performing in the shows Ugly V3 and Potter-Tition. This summer, she began working as a summer counselor at the YMCA. This is her third season with Allegro Dance Project.

Quinlan King- Dancer
Quinlan has trained with Bluegrass Youth Ballet for the past 9 years, performing lead roles such as Clara in the Nutcracker. She graduated from Lafayette High School's SCAPA program this spring, where she was in the gifted and talented program for visual arts. Quinlan will be attending Kent State University in the fall for fashion and costume design. This is her fourth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Lindsey Long- Dancer
Lindsey is a recent alumna of Bluegrass Youth Ballet in her hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. She continues dancing at The Ohio State University (OSU) as a rising sophomore studying Environmental Public Health and Humanitarian Engineering. At OSU she recently developed work with a MFA choreographer that will be presented at the prestigious 2022 American Dance Festival. She is also the Director of Marketing and Communication for the Momentum Contemporary Ballet OSU organization and a Morale Captain for the annual “Buckeyethon” dance marathon – the largest student-led philanthropy event in Ohio. She has enjoyed performing past lead roles in Bluegrass Youth Ballet’s Día de los Muertos, The Nutcracker, Arabella’s Journey, and more. Lindsey adores working with the amazing adaptive dance kids and this is her fifth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Brianna Mullins - Dancer
Bri was born and raised in Lexington and obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with an Entrepreneurial Studies Minor from Northern Kentucky University (NKU) in May 2021. She has been dancing for over 19 years and has trained in ballet, jazz (NGCP- Basic level), tap, lyrical/contemporary, modern (Gaga, Horton, Lehman), musical theatre, acrobatics, African, and hip hop (Jazz Funk). She both danced and choreographed in Emerging Choreographers’ Showcase and performed in the annual spring Dance concerts while at NKU, choreographed for ‘An Evening with Edgar Allen Poe’ and Float Freely with Dance Troupe, and was featured in dance films ‘Mourning the Creation of Racial Categories’ and 'Sometimes it Felt So Real'. She is currently back working in Lexington as a dance elective academy dance instructor with Kentucky Ballet Theatre and a group exercise instructor with YMCA. This is Brianna’s second season dancing with Allegro Dance Project.

Kayla Chambers-Reed - Dancer
Kayla is an upcoming sophomore at Lafayette High School, where she is in the Pre-Engineering program and the SCAPA program as a Contemporary Dance major. She has been attending Bluegrass Youth Ballet (BYB) for approximately 11 years. In 2021, Kayla played the lead role of Clara in The Nutcracker. Kayla has also had other lead roles with Lexington's Park and Recreation Ballet Under the Stars where she has danced for five years. Kayla has taken summer intensive classes at BYB, the Lexington Ballet Company, American Ballet Theater (ABT), and attended the Atlanta Ballet Summer intensive program earlier this summer. This is her first season with Allegro Dance Project.

Megan Skinner- Dancer & Choreographer
Megan is a rising Senior at Lafayette High School where she takes part in the SCAPA program as a contemporary dance major. She has danced with Bluegrass Youth Ballet for the past thirteen years, where she has danced lead rolls in the Sorcerer's Apprentice and Clara in the Nutcracker. She will be attending Governor's School for the Arts (GSA) for Dance this summer, but will make her choreography debut this July as she celebrates her fifth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Leah Skinner - Dancer
Leah is an 8th grade Contemporary Dance major at SCAPA (School for Creative and Performing Arts.) She has been training with Bluegrass Youth Ballet for 10 years and recently danced the lead role of Estelita in Dia de Los Muertos. She is part of the first ever African American ballet troupe in Lexington and this is her first season with Allegro Dance Project.

Ainsley Thomas- Dancer & Choreographer
Ainsley is a Junior at the University of Dayton majoring in Marketing with a Digital Media emphasis and minoring in Sustainability. Since being at Dayton, Ainsley has danced with the UD Dance Ensemble and was accepted into The UD Dance Team her sophomore year. UD Dance Team placed 2nd in the recent Ohio Dance Stomp Shake hip hop competition. She is an alumna of Bluegrass Youth Ballet and SCAPA in Lexington, KY. In addition to dance, Ainsley is an Outdoor Leader with Campus Recreation at the University of Dayton and is the Media Manager for the Office of Experiential Learning. This summer she a sales intern with Big Ass Fans. This is Ainsley's sixth season dancing with Allegro Dance Project and she is creating her second choreographic work for the company!

Adrianna Watts- Dancer & Circus Artist
Adrianna began training at the age of 3, splitting her time between Bluegrass Dance Center and Excel gymnastics in Richmond. She won her first State all-around title at the Kentucky State gymnastics championships at the age of 5, and placed in the top 5 at Stage One dance Nationals that same year. Over the next ten years she expanded her training to include tap, jazz, modern, ballet, contemporary, musical theatre, pointe, acrobatic arts, aerial silks, and hand balancing. She has been a USAG regional qualifier, performed with the CRU Dance Spectacular company, has won 3 national titles in lyrical dance, tap and acrobatics and has traveled around the US and Canada studying circus arts. She will be a senior at Madison Central this year. This is her fourth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Reese Willett- Dancer
Reese graduated in 2022 from Lafayette High School, where she was a student in the Pre-Engineering and SCAPA Ballet programs. Reese danced as a student of Bluegrass Youth Ballet for 15 years, performing lead roles such as Death in Dia de los Muertos, and Clara and the Snow Queen in the Nutcracker. She attended the 2020 Governor’s School for the Arts for Dance. She will be attending the University of Kentucky in the fall as a Computer Science major in the College of Engineering. This is her fourth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Natalie Willett - Dancer
Natalie trained at Bluegrass Youth Ballet for 15 years, dancing lead roles such as Clara in the Nutcracker. She recently graduated from Lafayette High School where she was part of the Pre-Engineering program and was part of the SCAPA ballet program for 9 years. She will be attending the University of Kentucky as a Biosystems Engineering major this coming fall. This is her fourth season dancing with Allegro Dance Project.

Circus Artists

Jessica Marquardt
Aerial Ladder Artist
Jessica has been training aerial arts since 2014 and began teaching in 2015. She enjoys teaching circus arts as the ultimate mindfulness exercise, but also as training in self-love and self-exploration. She believes strongly in the power of words in relation to motivation and success. Jess believes that circus is unique and beautiful because of its accessibility for everyone. She has trained with NECCA in Intro and Level One instruction. Her love of rigging and safety is constantly expanding, and has trained with both Delbert Hall and Brett Copes. Jessica has performed on nearly every major stage in Louisville, and has a passion for bringing stories to life, but above all else, loves working with students to reach their goals - her greatest talent perhaps being able to teach all ages and stages. When not flying or coaching, Jessica can be found working in her garden or playing Dungeons & Dragons with her friends. This is her first season performing with Allegro Dance Project.

Bella Watts
Hand Balance Artist
Bella Watts began her competitive dance career at the age of 10- winning her first National title
that same year. She is known for her explosive leaps & jumps along with her impressive strength thanks to her extensive gymnastics and acro
training. Bella has won countless state gymnastics titles and was a level 8 regional medal winner. She has been awarded multiple
convention scholarships including Titans of Dance and Stage One and won national titles in lyrical, acrobatics and contemporary dance. Bella has been a student
demonstrator for both Acrobatic Arts and Alixa Flexibility training courses and has expanded her repertoire to include circus arts including hand balancing, silks, straps and hoop. She has trained with some of the best artists in the US and Canada. She enjoys sharing her knowledge as a private lesson instructor and acro instructor at Bluegrass Dance Training Center. This is her first season performing with Allegro Dance Project.

Courtney Hedges
Aerial Sling Artist
Courtney Hedges describes herself as a jack of all trades: aerial silks, sling, trapeze, rope… and she’s a nurse! Courtney began her performance career in 2013 when she tried aerial silks for the first time. Since then, we can’t keep her out of the air. She joined Sora Contemporary Circus as a professional artist in 2018 performing at various gigs and theatrical productions. Her recent credits include The Dowager in Anastasia and Mrs. Gloop in Wonka! with Sora Aerial Arts. Courtney is also a wife, dog mom, and is always dreaming about her next career in the medical field. She is excited to join Allegro Dance Project this season.

Musicians

Justin Ramel - Vocals
A veteran of Lexington’s musical theatre community for more than twenty years, Justin Ramel is thrilled to join the Allegro Dance Project band for Headspace, after jumping in for our May school shows and Shooting Glances. Performance credits include ten appearances in UKOT’s Grand Night for Singing, Winterfest’s Dreamgirls (Featured soloist/ Ensemble), Distilled Theater Company’s The Wiz at Woodland park( Tin man), KCTC's RENT (Seasons soloist), Hair (featured ensemble), Jesus Christ Superstar (Peter), and WCT’s Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Victor Track). Ramel’s debut Ep “Firesign” is currently available on all streaming platforms.

Christian Hayden - Keyboard & Sax
Christian will be a Junior this fall at SCAPA Lafayette. He has attended SCAPA as a piano major since the fourth grade. In addition to Piano, Christian plays the drums and the Saxophone. Christian is a regular member of Centerpointe Christians Worship Team. He has the opportunity to perform both Piano and Saxophone several places locally including Idle Hour Country Club, The Castle, and several other places as part of SCAPA’s Groove Merchants Jazz Band. When not playing music Christian can be found on the field as a member of Lafayette High School’s Baseball team. This is his third season performing with Allegro Dance Project.

Keenan Ray- Bass
Keenan grew up in Bowling Green, KY where he began studying the guitar at age 14. After stints of performing in cover bands, indoor percussion ensemble, and talent shows throughout high school, he moved to Lexington to study at the University of Kentucky. Since then, he has performed and recorded with multiple bands including local acts The Footsteps, Much Obliged, and Damned African Descendants. This is his fourth season performing with Allegro Dance Project.

DeBraun Thomas- Guitar & Vocals
DeBraun grew up surrounded by many different musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area and began playing in music clubs with father's bands at the age of 15. In 2009 he moved to Lexington,KY to attend the University of Kentucky. After graduating in 2012 he has been focusing on music in addition to working at the local NPR affiliate WUKY. Since 2013, DeBraun has been performing his original music as the DeBraun Thomas Trio. His influences range from artists like Jimi Hendrix to Otis Redding and he describes his music as Rock N Soul. He released his first solo album, All My Colors are Blind, in 2015 recorded at Shagri-La Productions by Duane Lundy. DeBraun is an accompanist for our Inclusive Dance Outreach program & Adaptive Dance classes and this is his eighth season performing and composing with Allegro Dance Project.

Thomas Usher- Music Director, Percussion, acoustic guitar, keyboard & vocals
Thomas is a musician from Hoover, Alabama. He graduated from Berea College where he studied percussion with Tripp Britton. Thomas has performed with The Studio Players and in Kentucky Conservatory Theatre's Winterfest and Summerfest, with numerous bands and provides live music accompaniment for Allegro Dance Project's Inclusive Dance Outreach program. This is his sixth season performing with Allegro Dance Project.

Stephen Weller - Classical Guitar & 12 String Guitar
Stephen grew up singing in his school choir and playing in jazz band. In 2018 he graduated from EKU as a music theory/composition major and guitar major. He is inspired by The Beatles, Leo Brower and Grant Kirkhope and embraces the composition styles of folk, jazz, rock and classical. He is best known as IndieTimber as a YouTube animator and plays guitar, bass, recorder, keyboard and percussion. This is his third season composing and performing with Allegro Dance Project.

Hilary Lopez - Cello
Hillary was born in Chicago Illinois and raised in Lexington Kentucky. She has been playing the cello for 8 years and the violin for 9 years. She has been training in ballet for 10 years, starting with Bluegrass Youth Ballet's Valley Park program where she fell in love with music and dance. Hillary has participated in many community groups such as the African American Ballet Troupe, La Tradition, Central Music Academy, Casa De La Cultura and Tradition De Mi Tiera. She is a rising junior in the SCAPA ballet program at Lafayette high school and her dream goal is to become a therapist and help kids understand that their mental health matters. This is Hillary's first season performing with Allegro Dance Project.