Who we are

Stuart Loungway - 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 and originated roles 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.

Matthew Keffe – Dancer discovered dance while a student of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. His early inspiration came from the late Tim Wengerd of the Martha Graham Dance Company. He has danced in numerous ballet, modern and opera companies including The Lynda Martha Dance Company, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Fort Wayne Ballet, Boston Ballet 2, Charleston Ballet Theater, Louisville Ballet, Ohio Ballet, the move, Ballet Met Columbus, Minnesota Opera and the James Sewell Ballet as well as numerous guest artist appearances. A choreographer of over 40 ballets, his work has won awards from the Regional Dance America and was selected for the Ballet Builders Showcase in New York. In 1999, Matthew received an MFA in Dance from the University of Iowa. Equally at home in the artistic, education, production and administrative realms of dance; Matthew has served as the Interim Artistic Director of Ballet Quad Cities for the 2006-07 season, founder and producer of “The Studio 2A Project” (an annual performance of dance in the round in Minneapolis, MN), Development Associate/Special Events Manager at George Street Playhouse, Company Manager/Stage Manager for American Repertory Ballet, and part time faculty for the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Matthew is an inspired dance educator and continues to teach, perform and choreograph around the country. He is married to dancer Brittany Fridenstine.

Rosalia Chan- Dancer As a native of Vineland, New Jersey, Rosalia began her career with the Vineland Regional Dance Company, where she performed as a soloist for seven years. She also trained at The Juilliard School, American BalletTheatre, The Rock School, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Desiring to continue her development as an artist and dancer, Rosalia matriculated at The University of the Arts, in Philadelphia, PA in 2003. UArts exposed her to various styles of dance, giving her the opportunity to perform works by such notable artists as Ronen Koresh, Kim Bears-Bailey, Molly Misgalla, and Wayne St. David. In the Spring of 2007, Rosalia graduated with honors, earning a BFA in Jazz Dance Performance, excited to transition into the professional world. Upon graduation, Rosalia danced with BalletX for two seasons and had the privilege to perform works by Adam Hougland, Christine Cox, Helen Pickett, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Zane Booker. She also had the privilege to perform Matthew Neenan’s original duet with him at the 2nd International Ballet Festival in Cali, Colombia. She has also performed works by Heidi Cruz-Austin and Meredith Rainey. Aside from performing, Rosalia has taught in New Jersey and Philadelphia. She is currently a freelance performer and resides in NYC.

Brittany Fridenstine-Dancer was raised in Seattle, WA and trained in the professional division program at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Brittany has danced with Pacific Northwest Ballet, and been a company member of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Ballet Memphis, Burklyn Ballet, and Minnesota Dance Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, Terpsicorps Dance Theater, Chamber Dance Project and at the National Choreographers' Initiative. She has had numerous international engagements including a solo improvisation show in Germany and Italy staged by Luca Veggetti. Most recently Brittany was part of the international dance festival in Cali, Columbia. Ms. Fridenstine has created a dance therapy program for children with special needs that she has implemented in many cities; she is certified in the GYROTONIC® exercise system and is married to American Repertory Ballet Stage Manager Matthew Keefe.

Emily Wagner-Dancer is 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.

Lydia Haug grew up in Jacksonville, Florida where she started dancing at the age of seven. After finishing her high school education at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts she accepted an invitation to Indiana University on partial scholarship where she received a double major in Ballet Performance and English Studies. She has been a freelance performer in New York for three years, and has frequently guested with Les Grande Ballet des Canadiens in Montreal and Eryc Taylor dance in New York. She is thrilled to be a part of Terra Firma Dance Theater.