Kathy Wayne, Director, graduated from Point Park University with a B.A. in dance. Her professional credits include Tokyo Disneyland, Caesar’s Atlantic City and the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
Anya Epstein is a Pittsburgh native who recently graduated from Muhlenberg College with a Bachelors in both Theatre and Dance. During her time in college, she worked with many choreographers such as Earl Mosley, Megan Flynn, and Randall Smith, performing in premiere works and learning from these artists. Anya was also fortunate enough to choreograph two new works for the stage, one alongside her co choreographer Arianna Cacioppo, as well as work on her solo performance, How would one go about performing herself (part one, part two). She spent this past summer in Durham, North Carolina at the American Dance Festival, where she performed with Monica Bill Barnes & Company, and was a part of a new work by George Staib. Anya has also studied anatomy and dance science, with research in injury avoidance and safe dancing practices. As a teacher she works to create a positive environment of learning with a mix of play and collaboration to get her students thinking on their feet. She is excited to be a part of the dance program here at the JCC!
Paige Gibson began her dance education by taking creative movement at the age of four. She performed in community performances of the Nutcracker before entering high school. Discovering her love of dance, she continued to take classes and decided to attend Pittsburgh CAPA. While attending CAPA, she attended the Jones Summer Dance Intensive and performed at the Kelly Awards Celebration at the Benedum. Throughout her dance career, she has studied under professors and instructors of varying techniques, including: Irish Step dance, African, yoga, and improvisation. While studying dance at Temple University, Paige produced several dance concerts as well as performed in multiple shows such as the Inhale Performance Series and a site-specific dance work. She co-produced and performed in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Since returning to Pittsburgh, she has choreographed for Texture Contemporary Ballet’s WIP show and taken over Sarah Heniz House’s dance program. She is an energetic dancer and dance educator who conveys the importance of freedom of expression through dance and movement. She strives to aid children’s understanding of how their bodies move through space while promoting a positive, judgment-free learning environment.
Mara Greer is a performer, teacher, and director/choreographer. She performed on Broadway in A Christmas Story, The Musical as well as the 1st National Tour of Shrek the Musical. As a director/choreographer, she has worked at Paper Mill Playhouse, Seattle 5th Ave, the Fulton Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, Gateway Playhouse, Music Theatre Wichita, Broadway at Music Circus, The Cape Rep, Front Porch Theatricals, Palm Beach Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Tuacahn, and Pittsburgh CLO. She has taught for studios across the country as well as Beyond the Stars Dance Convention, Company Dance, and Thrive Dance Experience. Mara received her BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan.
Meghan Phillips began her dance training at South Dayton Dance Theater, an RDA affiliated pre-professional company in Dayton, Ohio. She later earned her BFA from the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance graduating Summa Cum Laude. There she performed works by George Balanchine, Merce Cunningham, Michelle Thompson Ulerich, Stuart Loungway, Brian Enos, and Taryn Kaschock-Russel. She was also selected to study at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts for a semester where she performed choreography by Kim McCarthy and Graeme Murphy.
Meghan joined Confluence Ballet last season after spending three years at Ballet Quad Cities. She has had the pleasure of performing featured roles such as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Mina in Dracula, Alice in Alice in Wonderland, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, and Firebird in The Firebird. She has also originated lead roles in contemporary works by Julia Erickson, Courtney Lyon, and Emily Kate Long.
As a choreographer, Confluence commissioned Meghan to choreograph a new work, New Ground, which premiered in June of 2022. Meghan has created several works and notably was chosen to present On The Night Plain at the 2018 American Dance Guild Festival in NYC. She is also a passionate teacher who enjoys sharing her knowledge and encouraging future generations.
Sophie Powell was born in Kirkland, WA and trained in her early years at Turning Pointe Dance Center and then with Deborah Hadley where she started her pursuit of a dance career. She went on to train at the Houston Ballet Academy in their Professional Division from 2015 to 2018 where she performed in Stanton Welch’s The Nutcracker, The Ladies, Long and Winding Road and others. While in Houston she had the opportunity to present her first choreographic work which was originally performed in May of 2018 with her fellow students and then was featured in November 2018 at Houston Ballet’s Elle Emerge program. From there she moved to Pittsburgh to train at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and performed with the company in their productions of The Nutcracker, Giselle and Beauty and the Beast. She now dances with Texture Contemporary Ballet where she is a resident dancer and performs in their new works. While in Pittsburgh she got the opportunity to start assisting classes at PBT and now teaches all over the Pittsburgh area. Because of her diverse dance background, Sophie has had the privilege to teach ballet, jazz, contemporary and modern classes at studios including Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Texture Ballet School and Firewall Dance Complex. Sophie is excited to share her knowledge with the students at the JCC PGH and learn new limits to pursue growth in our dancing endeavors.
