Introducing the 2020-2021
Elite Dance Company!
|
Petite Team
Emelia Cesta Liliana Cesta Declan Branco Rehmi Rose French Maddie Harris Emma Holt |
Junior Team
Katie Altmeyer Ella Tracy Pearl Thomas |
Senior Team
Annabelle Humphrey Olivia Mantsch Maddy McKenzie-Carter Susan Perdue Eila Rennels |
Senior Elite Team
Brenna Adare Sarai Herrera Addyson Hoffman Maya Jones Lilly McMillin Indiana Messerli Kamila Salas Dylan Steele Presley Willis Adeline Yeary |
Elite Dance Company Rehearsal Schedule
Petite Elite Team Rehearsal
Junior Team Rehearsal
Senior Team Rehearsal
Senior Elite Team Rehearsal
Junior Team Rehearsal
Senior Team Rehearsal
Senior Elite Team Rehearsal
Rehearsal is mandatory for all team members. Each member is allowed three absences per semester. Absences exceeding three per semester could result in disqualification of the member from performances, events, and team membership.
Guest Choreographers
Kyla Olson
Kyla Olson is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the School of Theatre and Dance at Texas Tech University. She holds a BFA in Dance from West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, and a MFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Kyla serves as a choreographer for the University Dance Company and is the faculty adviser for Dancers with Soul, a hip-hop dance student organization. Miss Olson choreographs the TTU School of Theatre and Dance’s productions of Avenue Q, Cabaret, Heathers:The Musical, and Little Women.
Kyla is a resident choreographer for Lubbock Moonlight Musicals. She has choreographed their productions of White Christmas, Annie, High School Musical, The King and I, Forever Plaid, Three Redneck Tenors, Camelot, My Son Pinocchio, Fiddler on the Roof, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Damn Yankees, Peter Pan, Annie Get Your Gun, Little Shop of Horrors, South Pacific, Titanic, Shrek the Musical, Oklahoma!, The Pirates of Penzance, Sister Act, and Grease. In August 2013, Ms. Olson directed and choreographed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Kyla serves as Executive Director, as well as a company member and choreographer, for Flatlands Dance Theatre. FDT, established in 2010, is a non-profit professional dance company located in Lubbock, Texas. In 2011, FDT was invited to perform Olson’s trio Dissections at the PILOT: Choreographers Take Flight Festival in Dallas. See The Modern Woman, a work by Olson and Genevieve Durham DeCesaro, was invited to perform at the 254 Dance Festival in Waco, Texas in 2012. FDT recently produced a concert titled Ordinary Wars, featuring a work by Olson performed on the TTU campus, at local and regional conferences, and toured to Virginia Tech and University of Detroit. She has collaborated with local artists and worked with guest artists Posey Knight, Melissa Pihos, Sarah Gamblin and the DFW-based dance company Big Rig Dance Collective.
Kyla has also presented original choreography and taught master classes across the state over the past decade, including teaching and presenting original choreography at the American College Dance Association festival and the National Dance Education Organization Conference. She is also an ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary-Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
Kyla is a resident choreographer for Lubbock Moonlight Musicals. She has choreographed their productions of White Christmas, Annie, High School Musical, The King and I, Forever Plaid, Three Redneck Tenors, Camelot, My Son Pinocchio, Fiddler on the Roof, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Damn Yankees, Peter Pan, Annie Get Your Gun, Little Shop of Horrors, South Pacific, Titanic, Shrek the Musical, Oklahoma!, The Pirates of Penzance, Sister Act, and Grease. In August 2013, Ms. Olson directed and choreographed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Kyla serves as Executive Director, as well as a company member and choreographer, for Flatlands Dance Theatre. FDT, established in 2010, is a non-profit professional dance company located in Lubbock, Texas. In 2011, FDT was invited to perform Olson’s trio Dissections at the PILOT: Choreographers Take Flight Festival in Dallas. See The Modern Woman, a work by Olson and Genevieve Durham DeCesaro, was invited to perform at the 254 Dance Festival in Waco, Texas in 2012. FDT recently produced a concert titled Ordinary Wars, featuring a work by Olson performed on the TTU campus, at local and regional conferences, and toured to Virginia Tech and University of Detroit. She has collaborated with local artists and worked with guest artists Posey Knight, Melissa Pihos, Sarah Gamblin and the DFW-based dance company Big Rig Dance Collective.
Kyla has also presented original choreography and taught master classes across the state over the past decade, including teaching and presenting original choreography at the American College Dance Association festival and the National Dance Education Organization Conference. She is also an ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary-Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
Arlin Busano
Arlin Busano is a Hawaii native who began dancing at age 5. Two years later, she was studying various styles and trained intensively with a competitive team. Arlin was also a member of the Diamond Head Theatre Shooting Stars, a musical theatre repertoire. She furthered her training in middle school at 24-VII Danceforce where she focused on contemporary, hip-hop, and jazz funk. She was a company member at 24-VII and trained under many Hawaii dance superstars such as Mark Kanemura, Alicia Vela-Bailey, and Gil Duldulao.
Arlin moved to Texas in 2007 and trained at Artistic Dance Concepts where she was part of Freedom Company. Throughout the entirety of her dance training, Busano has attended numerous dance competitions and conventions. With some of her awards, she was able to assist choreographers such as Mia Michaels, Cris Judd and Brian Friedman. Busano attended Kilgore College where she was a part of the World Famous Kilgore College Rangerettes. She served as a Swingster for two years, and was Right End Lieutenant her sophomore year.
After her accomplishments as a Rangerette, Arlin finished her studies at Texas State University in San Marcos and graduated in 2016 with a BFA in Performance and Choreography. During her years at Texas State, she was on Merge, a pre-professional dance company, performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Trey Songz, and has worked with Justin Giles and the Soul Escape Company. Busano resides in Long Beach, CA and currently teaches at Rise Academy of Dance in the South Bay. She also continues to travels around Texas to choreograph for dance studios and high school drill/dance teams. Arlin is also on staff with Encore Creative Productions, Spirit of America, and West Coast Elite Dance.
Arlin moved to Texas in 2007 and trained at Artistic Dance Concepts where she was part of Freedom Company. Throughout the entirety of her dance training, Busano has attended numerous dance competitions and conventions. With some of her awards, she was able to assist choreographers such as Mia Michaels, Cris Judd and Brian Friedman. Busano attended Kilgore College where she was a part of the World Famous Kilgore College Rangerettes. She served as a Swingster for two years, and was Right End Lieutenant her sophomore year.
After her accomplishments as a Rangerette, Arlin finished her studies at Texas State University in San Marcos and graduated in 2016 with a BFA in Performance and Choreography. During her years at Texas State, she was on Merge, a pre-professional dance company, performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Trey Songz, and has worked with Justin Giles and the Soul Escape Company. Busano resides in Long Beach, CA and currently teaches at Rise Academy of Dance in the South Bay. She also continues to travels around Texas to choreograph for dance studios and high school drill/dance teams. Arlin is also on staff with Encore Creative Productions, Spirit of America, and West Coast Elite Dance.
Ashley Redding
Ashley is currently a student at Texas State University studying toward a Bachelors degree in Dance Education and Secondary Mathematics. She was a Texas State University Strutter for three years, and held two social offices during her time on the team. She is also on staff for Marching Auxiliaries Dance Company where she specializes in teaching Hip-Hop, Jazz, and Pom to high school students across the nation at summer camps. She has a passion for the art of dance and loves to share that passion with her students.