Terra Firma Dance Theatre

Artists of the Company

Stuart Loungway, Artistic Director

Stuart Loungway is the Artistic Director of Terra Firma Dance Theatre. His training began with Tania Lichine, before receiving a full scholarship to the prestigious School of American Ballet. As a member of San Francisco Ballet Company and Joffrey Ballet Company, and as a Principal Dancer with American Repertory Ballet, he performed in works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Mark Morris, Septime Webre and many others. Mr. Loungway maintains an active schedule as a master teacher, choreographer, performer, and served on the dance faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Selected as Who’s Hot, by National Dance Critics Association Chair Karyn Collins, Mr. Loungway's choreography, as expressed by Robert Johnson of the Star Ledger, is "elegant and evocative" and “bodes well for the future of dance.” He is the recipient of the Individual Fellowship Recipient in Choreography, awarded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, in recognition of the high artistic merit of his work. Most recently he has served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Purnell School and the East Brunswick Vocational Arts High School.

Janelle Abbott

Janelle Abbott, received her early training from Charthel Arthur and Robert Estner and danced with the Grand Rapids Ballet in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She went on to earn a BFA from the University of Utah’s Ballet Department, where she studied on scholarship with Conrad Ludlow and Bene Arnold. In New York, Janelle has had the fortune of working closely with choreographer Salim Gauwloos, with whom she regularly performs and assists, recently with new work for Orlando Ballet. In addition, she has danced with Bryon Carr dance and mixed media, Ollom Dance Theatre, New York Contemporary Dance Theatre and Ballet for Young Audiences. Janelle has also worked with director David LaChapelle on several video projects, and was featured in videos for Norah Jones and for Elton John’s The Red Piano concert. She has taught at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center.

Justin H. Bates

Justin H. Bates, began his training in Austin, Texas with examiners from the Royal Academy of Dance and the Cechetti Council of America. Under full scholarship Justin studied with the Joffrey School, Boston Ballet, Nutmeg Conservatory, University of South Carolina, and Carolina Ballet. Based in New York City for near the last decade Justin has been performing as a Principal Guest Artist with various companies around the country performing in works that span the spectrum from the most revered classical ballets to the cutting edge of contemporary and modern dance. Justin is excited to join Terra Firma Dance Theatre for his first season.

Shannon Dooling

Shannon Dooling, began her dance training at Bucks County Dance Center in her hometown of Bensalem, PA and later went on to study at Princeton Ballet School. In 2007 she graduated Magna Cum Laude from DeSales University in Center Valley, PA with a BA in Dance. At DeSales, she performed in works by many noted choreographers, including Tim Cowart, Sean Curran, and Gerald Arpino. She was also a member of the ACTion Dance Touring Company, directed by Kristin Fiesseler. While a student at DSU, her choreography was seen at The Outlet Dance Project in NJ and the Sherman Theatre in upstate PA. Since 2005, she has appeared regularly as a guest dancer with Repertory Dance Theatre in Allentown, PA, under the direction of Trinette Singleton and Jennifer Haltzman-Tracey. In 2007 she began training and working with Vada Dance Collective, a Philadelphia-based modern dance company. This is her first project with Terra Firma Dance Theatre.

Erika Mero

Ms. Mero began her dance training at the Princeton Ballet School and attended the summer program at Julliard for two years. She is a recent Cum Laude graduate of Purchase College with a BFA in Dance Performance. Ms. Mero performed the role of Swanhilda in Princeton Ballet School’s Coppelia. At Purchase she performed in Balanchine’s Serenade, the Nutcracker, and was a soloist in Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Noces. This is her first season with Terra Firma Dance Theatre.

Justin Peck

Justin Peck, originally from Vancouver, Canada, he danced with Alberta Ballet and Ballet British Columbia after graduating from the National Ballet School of Canada. In 2003, he moved to New York City to join Cedar Lake Dance and later the Broadway productions of "Movin' Out" and "The Phantom of the Opera". This is his first performance with Terra Firma Dance Theater.

Emily Wagner

Emily Wagner, a Michigan native, began to dabble with dancing when she was 7 years old, but only began to train seriously in ballet at the age of 15. She trained under scholarships at the Flint Youth Ballet, Virginia School of the Arts and the American Ballet Theater School. Her most influential training came from her dear friend, mentor and still current coach from the New York City Ballet, Sabrina Pillars. Emily's career began to blossom at the American Ballet Theater which then led her onto Ballet Austin, Eglevsky Ballet, Aseid Contemporary Dance Company, Albano Ballet, International Ballet Theater, Dance Continuum and eventually onwards to Europe. In 2005 Emily performed Peter Breuer's Bolero in Salzburg, Austria with the Salzburg Ballett under invitation by the Ballet Master, Yehuda Maor. The highlight during her time in Austria was having the honor of being coached by the prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, on the role of Kitri. For the following 2 years, she danced as a soloist with the Movement Network of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, dancing new and edgy contemporary works, as well as neo classicial works such as Balanchine. While in Europe, she also received an international Pilates certification with Body Arts and Sciences International, with additional training in NYC as well as specialties in pre-natal exercise. In under 1 year she received her international status and was invited to teach at the annual Chinese Fitness Conference in Beijing, China. Some Choreographers Emily has worked with include,: Nick Mishoe - Het Nationale Ballet, Peter Leung - Het Nationale Ballet. Lorn MacDougal – England Moderne, Celia Grannum – Ballet Black, Jennifer Hanna, - Galili Dance, NDT, Peter Breuer - Düsseldorf, Vincenzo Orlando – Eglevsky, Adam Hougland - Julliard, Victor Quijada - Rubberbanddance, Stuart Loungway - SFB/American Repertory Ballet, Dardo Galleto - Ballet de Argentino and Micheline Dumonceau – Chiztina de Chatel, among others. Back in the US, Emily has begun dancing the tango and is an artist with the The New Generation Dance Company. Also this year, Emily was titled the principal resident guest artist for the Virgina Civic Ballet. In addition she is an artist with Ballet X of Philadelphia and the Chamber Dance Project in New York City. Emily is very excited to be performing her first season Terra Firma Dance Theatre.

Board of Directors

Trustees

Rosalind Westlake, Esq, President

Jane Stanley, Managing Director (ex officio)

Stuart Loungway, Artistic Director (ex officio)

Pear Sintumuang, Marketing and Events

Rosa Verna, Vice-President

Sherri Kovar, Events/Fundraising Director

Susan McColley, Secretary

Cathy Hazard, Trustee

Artistic Advisory Committee

Septime Webre, Artistic Director, Washington Ballet

Thomas Flagg, Director, Terpsichore Dance Management

Alexander Proia, Choreographer, Former Principal Dancer New York City Ballet

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