Meet the Artists

2025 Company Artists

Kate Cox - Dancer
Kate is a first-year resident physician in Internal Medicine/Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Missouri. She received her Medical Doctorate from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in 2024 and graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology with a minor in Dance. She grew up training at Bluegrass Youth Ballet and attended the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts in 2014. She has danced with Allegro Dance Project since its inception, and is elated to revisit some of her favorite pieces from the last 10 years.

Allegro Dance Project wishes to acknowledge Kate's 10th Anniversary season and thanks her for sharing her talent, kindness, creativity and passion with us on and off stage these past 10 years. Her artistry and total embodiment of a character/theme are remarkable, the way she shines and interacts with everyone she meets is so generous and her dedication to dance is a true inspiration. Kate truly embodies and models all aspects of our organization's mission and we couldn't be more proud of her accomplishments.
Congratulations on 10 beautiful years!!

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 attends the University of Kentucky majoring in dance with a minor in arts administration. 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 for his fourth season.

Desean Elliott - Dancer & Choreographer
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 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 fourth season performing with Allegro Dance Project and his first season serving as an instructor for our Inclusive Dance Outreach Program.

Grace Estill - Dancer & Choreographer
Raised in Lexington KY, Grace is a bunhead with a love for contemporary dance. She trained with Kentucky Ballet Theatre from 2016 -2022, Bluegrass Youth Ballet from 2022-2024 and currently dances with Movement Continuum. She has attended The Governors School for the Arts (GSA) for dance in 2022 and has attended summer intensives with Chicago Repertory Ballet and Kentucky Ballet Theatre. This is her third season with Allegro Dance Project and her debut as a choreographer.

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. Since graduating, Lydia has joined local Lexington contemporary dance company, The Collected Few Dance Project and Louisville based modern dance company, Ambo Dance Theatre. This is her fifth year as an aerialist and fourth season dancing with Allegro Dance Project.

Tess Fowler- Dancer & Choreographer
Tess is a recent graduate of Lafayette High School, where they were a member of the SCAPA dance program, theatre, and orchestra. They trained at Bluegrass Youth Ballet for eleven years and have been an adaptive outreach volunteer and instructor with Allégro for the past six years. They are attending Western Kentucky University in the fall to major in communication sciences and disorders with a minor in dance. They have created three choreographic works to date for our summer shows and this is their seventh season dancing with Allégro Dance Project.

Gianna Grivetti - Dancer
Gianna started dancing at the age of 2 and grew up training in multiple styles of dance, gymnastics, acrobatics, and aerial arts in Richmond, KY. At age 17, she moved to New York City and has spent the past 3 years studying and training intensively at the Institute of American Musical Theatre, Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center. She has most recently trained at the CLI Conservatory Contemporary Intensive under Teddy Forance and at the Lizz Picini Project in NYC and is currently teaching and choreographing at BlueGrass Dance Training Center in Richmond. Gianna is so excited to bring the arts back into her home community in Kentucky and is delighted to be performing with Allegro Dance Project for her first 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 the University of Kentucky and studying to become an Elementary Education Teacher. She has taught ballet at Bluegrass Youth Ballet and currently teaches dance at Upgrade Dance Company. This is Isabelle's eighth 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 attends the University of Kentucky, where she is pursuing dual degrees in Chemical Engineering and Dance. During her fourteen years with Bluegrass Youth Ballet, she 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 seventh season with Allegro Dance Project.

Joseph Charmant Jacques - Dancer
Joseph aka “Smithy” is a dancer, choreographer and drummer receiving his first dance training from Mr. Brusma Daphnis, (CEO of Haiti Tchaka Danse). He teaches Traditional Haitian dance folklore, Afrobeats, Afrolove and Afro-hiphop, Hip-Hop (Krump) and dances several other styles like salsa, modern, contemporary, jazz and some classical ballet. As a professional dancer in Haiti, he performed in many shows, even traveling to Carifesta XIV in 2019, Trinidad & Tobago, and collaborated with companies such as Martha Graham in 2017. In Haiti, he taught in several dance schools and owned his own dance group (Smithy Afro Dance) before moving to the United States in 2023. He is very excited for his second season with Allegro Dance Project.

Meredith King -Dancer & Aerial Artist
"Merry" has performed professionally for over a decade. She grew up in Berea, KY dancing with VHS tapes in the living room and found her way into every possible dance studio that opened its doors in the county. After moving to Lexington, Merry furthered her training at Bluegrass Youth Ballet. In the last 13 years, Merry has lived on 4 continents, completed a PhD in Communication, become a vegetarian, and attended the 2023 Steps on Broadway Summer Intensive (among other things). Though she has a full-time job teaching at the University of Kentucky, Merry performs frequently across the country. She recently returned from Indianapolis, where she was working on a world premiere of "Just Beginning: The Musical.". Last summer she performed with Sora Contemporary Circus and The Collected Few, as well as choreographed for Woodford Theatre's production of "Into the Woods." Merry hopes you feel moved to MOVE. She is excited to return to Allegro Dance Project for her fifth season.

Brianna Mullins - Dancer
Brianna 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 20 years in the Kentucky and Ohio areas. She has trained, taught, and choreographed (through Dance Schools, NKU, and Professionally) a variety of dance styles: Contemporary & Classical Ballet, Jazz (NGCP- Basic level, Fosse, and Classical), Tap, Lyrical/Contemporary, Modern (Gaga, Horton, Lehman), Musical Theatre, Acrobatics, African, and Hip Hop (Jazz-Funk). She is a nationally certified Group Exercise Instructor (NETA) since 2017 with specialty certifications in: Barre Fitness, Zumba, TRX, as well as the creator of Jazz Funk Fitness. She is working in Lexington as a Dance Instructor and Adult Dance & Exercise Instructor with Bluegrass Youth Ballet, and a Group Exercise instructor with the YMCA. This is Brianna’s fifth season dancing with Allegro Dance Project.

Sabrina Murphy - Dancer & Aerial Artist
Sabrina is a Sophomore at Lafayette High School where she participates in the SCAPA (Voice) and Pre-Engineering programs. A dancer since age 4, Sabrina has danced with Kentucky Ballet Theatre and Bluegrass Youth Ballet. She is also a competitive Irish Step Dancer with the Kentucky McTeggart Irish Dancers, a member of the Sora Aerial Arts Jr. Company, and assists with our weekly Adaptive Ballet classes. Sabrina is thrilled to join Allegro Dance Project for her third season!

Daniel Pauleus - Dancer
Daniel is a dancer, choreographer & fitness instructor from Haiti. He has been dancing for 12 years, receiving his first dance training from Ramses Pierre. He enjoys both training and teaching a variety of dance styles: Haitian traditional dance folklore, Afrobeats dance, hip-hop, and ballroom. In Haiti, he was a professional dancer with the Haitian National Theater, was certified on Capoeira and worked at several different schools. Daniel moved to the US in 2023. This is his second season with Allegro Dance Project.

Wislin Pauleus- Dancer & Choreographer
Wislin is a dancer/choreographer/ fitness instructor from Haiti. He has been dancing for 13 years, receiving his first dance training from Ramses Pierre. He enjoys both training and teaching a variety of dance styles: Haitian traditional dance folklore, Modern, Afrobeats dance, hip-hop, classical ballet, and ballroom. In Haiti, he was a professional dancer with the Haitian National Theater, instructed at Regine Mont-Rosier Trouillot (RMT) dance school and Joelle Donatien Belot's dance school, was certified as a Zumba instructor and had his own dance company, Haiti Creafo Dance. Wislin moved to the US in 2023 and is currently teaching Bachata dance at Bluegrass Ballroom and is a drummer and choreographer at M’Power Rhythm This is his second season with Allegro Dance Project.

Caroline Price - Dancer
Caroline grew up in Independence, KY and has been dancing since she was 3 years old, training in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and lyrical. She has competed in many regional competitions and won numerous awards and accolades. She has been assisting and teaching classes for years, and first found Allegro as a volunteer for our Inclusive Dance Outreach Program. Now she is not only a company dancer but also an instructor for our Inclusive Dance Outreach. She absolutely loves teaching and helping others experience the joy of dance and the freedom of expression. She is a Senior at the University of Kentucky, in the UK nursing program. This is her fourth season teaching for our Inclusive Dance Outreach Program and third season dancing with Allegro Dance Project.

Audrina Quinio - Dancer
Audrina is a 10th grade ballet major at Lafayette SCAPA high school. She has been studying ballet and various dance styles for 8 years. She currently trains with Dance Attack Dance and Bluegrass Youth Ballet. Last summer she attended the DuCon ballet intensive in Washington D.C. and this summer she has been selected to attend the Conservatório International De Ballet E Dança Annarella Sanchez Summer Ballet Intensive 2025 in Leiria Portugal. She is very excited to further her dance studies internationally and for her second season dancing with Allegro Dance Project.

Lilly Rhodes - Dancer
Lilly is from Lexington, KY and is a rising 10th grade student with the School of Creative and Performing Arts as a ballet major. She has been studying dance for the past eight years, immersing herself in a variety of dance genres including: ballet, jazz, hip hop, lyrical and acrobats. Lilly is currently a student with the Central Kentucky Ballet Conservatory and was the recipient of the Hardstad Fine Arts Series Scholarship in 2023, and Dancing Angels Foundation scholarship winner in 2024. Both scholarships were used to attend summer intensives, and she spent much of this summer training at Louisville Ballet . Lilly has been assisting with our weekly Adaptive Ballet and Adaptive Dance classes since last spring and she is very excited to be performing with Allegro Dance Project for her second season!

Megan Skinner- Dancer & Choreographer
Megan is a Sophomore at the University of Kentucky on a general health science track. She danced with Bluegrass Youth Ballet for the past fourteen years, where she has danced lead roles such as the apprentice in the Sorcerer's Apprentice and the roles of Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker. She attended Governor's School for the Arts (GSA) for Dance in 2022 and is currently part of the UK Dance Ensemble. This is her eighth season dancing with Allegro Dance Project.

Leah Skinner - Dancer
Leah is a Sophomore at Lafayette High School, where she is a Contemporary Dance major in the SCAPA program. She has been training with Bluegrass Youth Ballet for 12 years and recently danced the lead role of Estelita in Dia de Los Muertos. She is also a second degree black belt in taekwondo and is part of the African American Ballet Troupe in Lexington. This is her fourth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Jasper Steele - Dancer
Jasper is a ninth grader at Lafayette High school and started dancing at the age of four at Kiddie Kapers, joining Bluegrass Youth Ballet in 2018. They have performed in productions such as The Nutcracker in One Act, Art Rhapsody, Dia De Los Muertos, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland. Even though they mainly study ballet, Jasper has started to shift towards a more contemporary style and can't wait to give their all in the upcoming performances. This is their second season with Allegro Dance Project.

Hannah Tanaka-Holbrook - Dancer
Hannah has been studying at BCTC to obtain her Associates in the Arts degree. She spent two years living abroad in Japan studying the language and 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. In the Fall of 2022 she became involved inthe BCTC theater program with acting classes that slowly lead to her first ever theater production in Shakespeare In Love, in which she took on three roles in addition to serving as assistant stage manager. Last summer she made her professional acting debut in Antagonist production performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor and she is now a para educator at Lafayette High School. This is her sixth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Summer Warfield - Dancer
Summer is a senior at the School for the Creative & Performing Arts (SCAPA)/Lafayette High School in the area of ballet. She was introduced to dancing at the age of 4 and progressed with formal ballet training while at Kentucky Ballet Theatre. She currently trains and performs with Bluegrass Youth Ballet. Her other dance experiences over the years have included participation in Ballet Under the Stars, Kentucky Ballet Theatre summer intensives, African American Ballet Troupe, Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts for dance in 2023 and Cincinnati Ballet's 2024 summer intensive. Summer is delighted for her second season with Allegro Dance Project.

Bella Watts - Dancer & Circus 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 hand balancing, silks, straps and hoop. She has trained with some of the best artists in the US and Canada and enjoys sharing her knowledge as a private lesson instructor and acro instructor at Bluegrass Dance Training Center. This is her fourth season performing with Allegro Dance Project.

Natalie Willett - Dancer
Natalie graduated in 2022 from Lafayette High School, where she was a student in the Pre-Engineering and SCAPA Ballet programs. Natalie danced as a student of Bluegrass Youth Ballet for 15 years, performing lead roles such as Clara and Dew Drop in the Nutcracker. She currently attends the University of Kentucky as a Biosystems Engineering major in the College of Engineering. This is her sixth 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 currently attends the University of Kentucky as a Computer Science major in the College of Engineering. This is her seventh season with Allegro Dance Project.

FEATURING

Ellen Dapper - Aerial Artist
Ellen (@aerialellen) is a professional aerialist, acrobat, choreographer, and coach at Sora Aerial Arts. They are especially passionate about making circus accessible and fun for everyone. Ellen also expresses themself through shapes in visual arts, designing intricate patterns as @CirclesInTriangles.
This is their first season performing with Allegro Dance Project.

Stephen Griffie - Aerial Artist
Stephen started dancing in the summer of 2014 through the world of colorguard. It didn’t take long for dance and performance to become a passion - which led to earning a bachelor’s degree in dance at the University of Kentucky in 2019. Now, with a renewed obsession for health, nutrition, and fitness, Stephen incorporates his dance knowledge in dynamic and strength-based aerial routines and circus arts. He trains many different aerial apparatuses, but his primary apparatus and first love is pole dance, both planted and flying. This is Stephen's second season performing with Allegro Dance Project.

Courtney Hedges - Aerial 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 for her fourth season with Allegro Dance Project!

Musicians

Justin Ramel - Vocals
A veteran of Lexington’s musical theatre community for more than twenty years, Justin Ramel is thrilled to work with Allegro Dance Project for a fourth season after initially jumping in for 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.

Cara Coppola - Vocals & Cello
Cara is a mom, writer, singer/songwriter, and Foster Parent Educator who lives in Lexington with her younger daughter Willow, who has multiple disabilities. Disability and Inclusion, motherhood, writing, books, and nature are all prevalent in her original songs that she’s put into her own genre, HymnFolk Blues, which is also the title of her new EP (on all streaming platforms). Growing up surrounded by the music of Nina Simone, Simon and Garfunkel and Frank Sinatra, combined with years of Suzuki viola lessons and eighteen years of Catholic choir have melted into her own sound, steeped in the blues of her reality of pushing a wheelchair through an inaccessible world, sprinkled with the folk sounds of her tree hugging soul, and resonating with the hymns she grew up singing in harmony with her sister and mother. She is currently planning a small single-mama style mini-tour of her EP this summer, follow Cara Coppola Music on Facebook for upcoming dates. This is her third season with Allegro Dance Project, both playing in the performance band and as an outreach accompanist.

Kevin Sparks - Trumpet & percussion
Kevin is a most-genre multi-instrumentalist from northern New Jersey. His UNITÉT - a quartet inspired by Larry Young’s UNITY record - performs frequently. Variously teaching all visual arts studios, audio and critical thinking - he continues work on two books: A philosophy book disguised as an outsider’s method in ensemble/improvisation, and a book on painted meaning called <Wondering Concretely, Toward Incarnate Perception.> Kevin is an accompanist for our Inclusive Dance Outreach program and this is his second season composing & 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 seventh 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 eleventh season performing and composing with Allegro Dance Project.

Christian Hayden - Keyboard & Drums
Christian is a piano major at SCAPA Lafayette where he will be a Senior in the fall. In addition to Piano, Christian plays the drums and the Saxophone. He loves Jazz music and enjoys playing the drums in his church worship band. Christian attended Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) earlier this summer for instrumental music. When he isn’t playing music he can be found on the pitching mound enjoying his other love, baseball. He is a member of the Lafayette High School Baseball team in addition to the KBA Prime Travel Team. This is his sixth season performing with Allegro Dance Project and his first season as a musician for our Inclusive Dance Outreach.

Jameka Redden - percussion
Jameka graduated from Berea College with a major in General Music Performance and a minor in Spanish. She is currently pursuing her master's in music therapy at the University of Kentucky. While attending school she is working as an assistant drum instructor at M'Power Rhythm and a musician for our Inclusive Dance Outreach Program. This is her first season performing 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 ninth season performing and eighth season composing and serving as music director with Allegro Dance Project.

Alex Chadwell - Guitar & Keyboard
Alex is a musician, composer, teaching artist, facilitator, and administrator originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and currently based in Lexington, Kentucky. His work as a composer is centered around the notion of “genre-fluid” music. His music integrates non-musical and pre recorded sounds, innovative production methods, and storytelling. As a teaching artist, he has designed and facilitated residencies and classes with Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Brooklyn Arts Council, the Center for Arts Education, Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, Highbridge Voices, the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program, the New School's College of Performing Arts, and St. Nicks Alliance. He was the Learning and Partnership Programs Manager at the Lexington Philharmonic and previously worked as an administrator at The New School's College of Performing Arts. This is his third season performing & composing with Allegro Dance Project.

Emma Browning - violin
Emma is a violinist who graduated from the University of Kentucky with degrees in Music Performance and Arts Administration. She grew up in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, and has been playing the violin for 15 years. Her background is in classical music and has enjoyed playing in orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout high school and college. She began at Allegro Dance Project as an intern three years ago, and now assists the outreach classes as a musician and plays in the performance band. Above all else, she strives to bring joy to others with the music she makes, and to bring people closer to the arts through her administrative skills, which is exactly what she loves about working at Allegro Dance Project!