Founding Artistic Director
Stuart Loungway
Stuart is the Artistic Director of Terra Firma Dance. His training began with Tania Lichine, before receiving a full scholarship to the prestigious School of American Ballet. As a member of Houston Ballet,San Francisco Ballet Company and Joffrey Ballet Company, he performed in works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Mark Morris, Helgi Tomasson, Ben Stevenson 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: and The Joffrey Ballet School. 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 has received the Individual Fellowship in Choreography, awarded by the NEA, via the New Jersey State Council for the Arts; and is the recent recipient of the 2014 Kaatsbaan Choreographic Residency Award. His work, and company, have been featured in performance at Jacob's Pillow and in the national dance publications, Pointe Magazine and Dance Informa.
Dancers
Tiffany Mangulabnan
Tiffany Mangulabnan was born and raised in Manila, Philippines, where she trained as a classical and contemporary ballet dancer. She was a principal dancer with the Philippine Ballet Theatre from 2010-2012, dancing the lead roles in full-length ballets like ‘Swan Lake’, and also dancing briefly with Ballet Philippines, before she moved to New York City, where she has lived and danced as a freelancer since 2012. She has performed with companies such as Emery LeCrone DANCE, Claudia Schreier and Company, Pigeonwing Dance, Gleich Dances, Terra Firma Dance Theatre, Appalachian Ballet Company, and BalletNext, at venues such as The Joyce Theater, BAM, New York Live Arts, The Lensic Performing Arts Center, and others. She also co-directs and dances for konverjdans, the New York City-based contemporary ballet company she co-founded with Jordan Miller and Amy Saunder in 2016.
Ellie Bernstein
Ellie trained at the New Jersey School of Ballet under the tutelage of Carolyn Clark, Eleanor D’Antuono, and Valentina Kozlova. At 15 she joined NJB as a Junior Company member. At 17, she headed to Indiana University, continuing her study of classical ballet with Violette Verdy. While at IUBT, Ellie was fortunate to work with Julie Kent, John Clifford, Susan Jaffe, and Suzy Pilarre, dancing both original work by Verdy and Clifford as well as many classics. Since moving to DC, Ellie has worked with several local choreographers and had the opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center with Company E. Additionally, Ellie is an E-RYT 500 yoga instructor.
Sara Hart
Sara Hart studied at City Dance Conservatory, spending summers at such programs as Ellison Ballet, Kaatsbaan Ballet, the Kirov Academy, and the Joffrey Ballet School. Sara has trained with Stuart Loungway for the past year, and she is very excited to continue her work with him this season.
Talya Krumholz
Talya comes to DC after living in Atlanta and North Carolina, where she performed with Carolina Ballet for six seasons. While dancing with CB, Talya obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Leadership in the Public Sector from North Carolina State University. She trained in the professional division at Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle, Washington. Talya is a fitness and dance instructor at FlyWheel Sports, and Lagree DC..
Associate Artists
Gregory Dolbashian
Gregory Dolbashian, born and raised in New York City, made his professional stage debut at the age of eight with the Glimmerglass Opera Company. Soon after, he was cast in the Philip Glass/Robert Wilson world tour of Einstein on the Beach.
Gregory received his dance training at the Alvin Ailey School on a fellowship scholarship and then graduated cum laude from SUNY Purchase dance conservatory. He has gone on to dance and choreograph with a variety of artists, performing with Patrick Corbin, Nelly van Bommel, and Sylvain Emard.
Dolbashian is a recipient of The Bessie Schoenberg Residency at The Yard, winner of The Pretty Creatives Competition for Northwest Dance Project, and of The Hubbard Street 2 International Choreographic Competition. He also placed second in Ballet Austin's New American Talent competition, and has received commissions from Atlanta Ballet, TU Dance in Minnesota, CityDance Ensemble in D.C. He has created school commissions at SUNY Purchase, University of Minnesota, The Hartt School and the Juiliard School. He debuted his own company, The DASH Ensemble, in December 2009 at JOYCE SoHo. The company has gone on to present works at the Skirball Center, DTW, The Gershwin Hotel, Riverside Theater, Summer Stage, and The JOYCE Theater. The DASH received the audience award at NYC’s DanceNOW challenge at Joe’s Pub. The company also participated in ABT Principal Daniil Simkin’s INTENSIO, collaborating on a work with Gregory Dolbashian for members of ABT set to premiere at Jacob’s Pillow 2015. In addition to his choreography, Gregory, alongside Loni Landon, is the co-founder of The Playground, a choreographic initiative that was voted 25 to Watch in 2013 by Dance Magazine.
Roya Carreras
is an Iranian-Hispanic artist, choreographer, and educator who works within commercial, film, and theatrical settings from New York City to Los Angeles. Her work challenges and unravels the depths of the female psyche, creating narratives that intertwine metaphor, magic realism, and memories from her childhood as a first generation American, using balletic tropes, visceral demeanor, and sexually charged imagery. On stage, Carreras’ work has been presented at the CURRENT SESSIONS, Dixon Place, Baruch Performing Arts Center, and The Green Building in New York City; in California, she has presented at Highways Performance Space, Electric Lodge Theater, Glenn Wallichs Theatre, Diavolo, Brockus Project Space, and BRAVA. She was a resident choreographer for Columbia Ballet Collaborative of Columbia University in 2015, and has taught ballet, contemporary, and improvisation at Peridance Capezio Center, American Musical and Dramatic Academy, Riverside Ballet Arts, Riverside City College, Pasadena Dance Theater, and Brockus Conservatory. As a performer, she has worked closely with Barak Marshall at BodyTraffic, Bryan Arias, Danielle Russo Performance Project, and Lux Boreal Danza Contemporanea in Tijuana, Mexico. Carreras holds a BFA in Dance with Honors from UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts, with additional training from The Ailey School and Springboard Danse Montreal.