Meet the Artists

2022 Company Dancers

Kayla Allison - Dancer

Allan Bagley - Dancer

Cade Carlisle - Dancer

Ty Clark - Dancer
Ty attends SCAPA and majors in Contemporary Dance, with a minor in Art. He has been dancing since the age of 6, primarily at the Lexington Dance Factory. Ty has trained in the styles of Ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, acro, breakdancing and contemporary and has most recently started training at the Mash Dance studio with a local group called The Fam. Ty was named Mr. Teen Platinum by the virtual Platinum dance competition and this is his second season dancing 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.

Lindy Fischer- Dancer
Lindy is a graduate of Lafayette High School, as a ballet major in the SCAPA program. She has been dancing with Bluegrass Youth Ballet for eleven years, and has been featured in roles such as Estelita in Dia De Los Muertos and Clara in the Nutcracker. In the summer of 2019, she attended Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts for dance. She often assisted with our weekly Adaptive Dance Class and this is her third season with Allegro Dance Project.

Tessa Fowler- Dancer
Tessa has been dancing with Bluegrass Youth Ballet for ten years and has attended summer intensive at Alma Dance School and Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance. They attend Lafayette High School as a Sophomore ballet major in the SCAPA program and is 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.

Silas Groth - Dancer
Silas has been training with Bluegrass Youth Ballet since the age of six. He has had many featured rolls in productions such as Dia de los Meurtos and The Nutcracker. Silas attends SCAPA, the School for the Creative and Performing Arts and has been a ballet major since fourth grade. He is a rising Freshman and will be attending Lafayette and continuing in the SCAPA program. In addition to dancing, Silas enjoys working on his family farm and showing sheep at state and national shows. This is his second season with Allegro Dance Project.

Isabelle Hayden- Dancer
Isabelle has been dancing for fourteen years and has received the majority of her training and support at Bluegrass Youth Ballet. She recently graduated from Bluegrass United. She has received additional training at Kentucky Ballet Theatre and has attended Summer Intensives with both Louisville Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet. She has performed in the Ballet Under the Stars Pre-show for several years. This is Isabelle’s fifth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Gwendolyn Hinkle- Dancer

Hannah Tanaka Holbrook - Dancer
Hannah lived in Japan for past two years studying the language, in her last year she spent it working at an international Saturday English school as a teaching assistant. This past June she has resumed her studies at BCTC where she is planning to get her associate's in the arts. After she completes her studies at BCTC she hopes to major in English Lit, and creative writing. Hannah has trained with Bluegrass Youth Ballet and with Black Bird Dance Theater, performing in Ugly V3 and Potter-Tition. She previously danced with Allegro Dance Project in 2018 in “Come Fourth” and was delighted to rejoin the company last season.

Quinlan King- Dancer
Quinlan has been dancing at Bluegrass Youth Ballet for seven years, where she most recently danced the roll of Clara in the Nutcracker. She is a student at Lafayette High School and is in the gifted and talented program for visual arts, which is her favorite thing to do other than dance. This is her fourth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Lindsey Long- Dancer
Lindsey is a recent 2021 graduate from Lafayette High School where she was a student in the Pre-Engineering program and highly selective Chamber Orchestra. She began her dance journey at the age of eight and progressed to the Pre-Professional level at Bluegrass Youth Ballet where she fell in love with the ballet and contemporary dance community. She has enjoyed performing lead roles in Bluegrass Youth Ballet’s Día de los Muertos, The Nutcracker, Arabella’s Journey, and more. Lindsey hopes to continue dancing at The Ohio State University where she will be attending college in the fall as a major in Public Health and double minor in both Humanitarian Engineering and Dance. Lindsey assisted with Allegro’s weekly adaptive dance classes and adores working with such amazing kids. She is excited for her fifth season with Allegro Dance Project!

Brianna Mullins - Dancer
Bri, born and raised in Lexington, 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 18 years and has trained in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical/contemporary, modern (Gaga, Horton, Lehman), musical theatre, acrobatics, African, and hip hop. 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 ‘Mourning the Creation of Racial Categories’ and Sometimes it Felt So Real. She is excited to be back in Lexington for her second season with Allegro Dance Project.

Kayla Chambers-Reed - Dancer

Megan Skinner- Dancer
Megan is a rising Junior 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. This is her fifth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Leah Skinner - Dancer

Ainsley Thomas- Dancer & Choreographer
Ainsley Thomas is a sophomore marketing major at the University of Dayton and a graduate of SCAPA Lafayette High School. She trained at Bluegrass Youth Ballet for twelve years and was featured as lead roles in Alice in Wonderland, Dia de los Muertos, and The Nutcracker. Ainsley had her first performance this year with the UD Dance Ensemble and will start partnering with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company this fall. In addition to dance, Ainsley has been involved in her work as an Outdoor Leader with Campus Recreation and is the Media Manager for the Office of Experiential Learning. 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. This is her fourth season with Allegro Dance Project.

Reese Willett- Dancer
Reese has been dancing with Bluegrass Youth Ballet for fourteen years, where she has danced the lead role of Clara in the Nutcracker. She attends Lafayette High School as a SCAPA Ballet major and as a pre-engineering student and attended the 2020 Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) in Dance. This is her fourth season dancing with Allegro Dance Project.

Natalie Willett - Dancer

Aerial Artists

Jacey Standridge
Aerial Ladder Artist
Jacey has been training in the aerial arts for eleven years and teaching aerial arts to children as young as three years old for eight years. Her speciality is Lyra, but her first apparatus was aerial silks. She is currently a senior at Spalding University where she is majoring in Social work. This is her third season performing with Allegro Dance Project.

Lydia Fletcher
Aerial Artist & Dancer
Lydia grew up in St. Louis, MO, beginning dance when she was two years old. She trained in tap, jazz, ballet, modern, and hip-hop with On Your Toes Dance Studio, Dance Productions Unlimited, and her high-school dance team. Additionally, she trained with AshleyLianne Dance Company in their Junior Training Program. She began gymnastics when she was four and after moving to Lexington to attend the University of Kentucky, used those foundations to begin aerial arts in 2016 with Sora Aerial Arts. She has trained in lyra, sling, silks, and pole and performed in Sora’s production of Anastasia. She continued her dance education, taking jazz and modern classes and performing at the University of Kentucky. She is excited to be performing with Allegro Dance Project for her second season!

Meredith Garrison
Aerial Artist & Dancer
Meredith Garrison, native to Berea, KY, is a dancer, circus artist, actress, and public speaker. She has trained with Laura’s School of Dance, Bluegrass Youth Ballet and was a member of the Bluegrass United Performing Arts Company Show Choir and starred in several musical productions like “Guys and Dolls.” She danced with the company Laus Deo and in 2015, she started a ballet program in Bolivia and was featured on the local TV stations. She started circus arts in 2016 with Sora Aerial Arts and joined Sora Contemporary Circus in 2018 as a principal member. Meredith has taught dance at multiple studios for 15 years and is currently the Ballet Academy Program Director at Nu Revolution Dance Studio and coaches flexibility and contortion at Sora Aerial Arts. Outside the studio, Meredith is a faculty lecturer at the University of Kentucky, where she earned her doctorate in communication. She is excited to perform with Allegro Dance Project for her second season.

Bella Watts
Hand Balance Artist

Courtney Hedges
Aerial Artist

Musicians

Jolene Davis- Composer
Jolene is a violinist, pianist, arranger, composer and educator with 35 years of stage experience. Her past performance venues include Walt Disney World, Sea World, Once Upon A Stage Dinner Theatre, Florida Symphony Orchestra, Candlelight String Quartet, Orlando Community Theatre, BJ and Disney recording studios, National Dvorak Festival (Spillville, Iowa), Rollins College Baroque Ensemble, Stetson University Orchestra, The Sunshine Pops and more. She has performed on stage with numerous talents including Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Bob Hope, Jack Jones, Liberace, Dinah Shore, Red Skelton, Patti Page, Nancy Wilson ... as a touring freelance musician. Jolene also taught and directed children’s theatre programs in Springfield, Ky. Jolene is proud to perform musical services for churches, weddings and as a therapeutic musician for Music That Heals (New York). She has served seven years as a composer and violinist for the Allegro Dance Project.

Justin Ramel - Vocals

Anna Harrod - Fiddle & vocals
Anna grew up in rural Kentucky amidst folks occasionally making vernacular, participatory music. It wasn’t until later in life, however, that she picked up an instrument and began learning fiddle as a way to connect the oral tradition she was surrounded by during her youth. Despite its unpolished exterior, this environment fostered a love for community connection through shared noises and dancing. After some rambling years, Anna is happily back in Kentucky and thankful to be immersed in all that it has to offer. This is her second 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.

Zach Oliver - Trumpet
Zach plays trumpet and has been playing for 5 years. He auditioned for SCAPA and got accepted, but eventually decided to go to Bryan Station High School, where he is the Vice President of the band’s student council. Throughout his musical career, he has been accepted into multiple all-state and all-county ensembles for both band and choir. This is his second 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 seventh 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.

Christian Hayden - Keyboard & Sax

Hilary Lopez - Cello