DETAILS

Zachary Venegas is a young and innovative dancer/choreographer paving his way to leave a legendary mark in the dance industry. Originally from Carlsbad, New Mexico, Zachary started training at the age of 15 at Cheryl’s School of Dance training in all genres of dance. Shortly after, he was one of few selected to be an Elite Protege with The Pulse On Tour, touring the United States to assist renowned choreographers Brian Friedman, Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, Cris Judd, Dave Scott, and Laurie Ann Gibson. Once he completed touring, Zachary needed to further his learning, so he moved to Los Angeles where he soon received dance representation from McDonald Selznick Associates. Zachary has danced for renowned artist Justin Bieber, performing with him at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards and dancing in his music video “Beauty and a Beat” featuring Nicki Minaj. He also danced for pop princess Rihanna on the hit TV show “The X- Factor.” Not only has he worked alongside artists, but also on hit TV shows such as Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” and Fox’s “The X-Factor,” Seasons 1 & 2. Zachary was also a character in the “Just Dance: Disney Party” video game. Working alongside Dejan Tubic, Zachary has choreographed for MGM Grand’s Hakkasan Nightclub & Restaurant for some of the world’s best DJ’s, including Calvin Harris, Tiesto, Laidback Luke, and many more. Zachary is continuing to balance his dance career while also adding his youthful and dynamic twist to this generation through his choreography!

Mary Grace McNally is a Brooklyn-based dance artist originally from Massachusetts. She produced, directed, and choreographed her first full-length work, Not For Picking, which premiered at Theaterlab (NYC) in June 2018. After presenting an excerpt of this work, Mary Grace was honored to receive the 2018 Capezio A.C.E. Award. She was also announced as ADA's National Choreographer of the Year in 2016. Her work has been presented at The Dance Gallery Festival, Dixon Place, Young Choreographer’s Festival, NewSteps Series, REVERBdance Festival, Salvatore Capezio Center, Centre National de la Danse in France, and deSingel in Belgium. She has studied with artists such as Medhi Walerski, Jesse Zaritt, Adi Salant, Jiri Pokorny, Tilman O’Donnell, and has performed the works of Doug Varone, Netta Yerushalmy, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Katie Swords-Thurman, Emma Portner and Erica Sobol. In 2017 and 2018, she was featured in March/April issues of Dance Studio Life Magazine discussing ideas around contemporary and improvisational studies in the competitive dance studio setting. Mary Grace received her BFA in Dance from the University of the Arts in 2015. Most recently, she had the opportunity to reimagine Not For Picking, which was presented as a part of Theaterlab's Fall Season this past December.

Dom Ruiz is a Southern California native, represented for commercial dance by Bloc Talent Agency. He began his training at Temecula Dance Company. Through this program, Dom has trained closely with Choreographers like Brian Friedman, Tessandra Chavez, Geo Hubela, Tricia Miranda, Chuck Maldonado, Amy Allen, Chase Benz, Cris Judd, and Mel Charlot. He is proudly an alumni of Rhapsody James’ Motivating Excellence- Season 4, was a Monsters Show cast member in 2016. He has also assisted Tyce Diorio on SYTYCD, and projects for Tony Testa, Kyle Hanagami and Nick Demoura. Dom has also appeared on programs such as The Billboard Awards, The Ellen Show, The Voice, and All- American, The MTV Movie Awards, and The 2019 Disney Christmas Spectacular. He has also appeared in promo for American Horror Story, and a National Campaign for Arm & Hammer. By doing so, he has had the opportunity to perform with artists along the likes of; Janet Jackson, Taylor Swift, Chaka Khan, Salt-N-Pepa, Incubus, Major Lazer to name a few.

Joe Celej is a New York City based creative artist whose career spans nearly fifteen years of professional concert dance performance, choreographic investigation, and sharing his experiences and passion for art in a range of classroom settings.   As a senior company member of over 8 years, Joe performed extensively throughout the US and Europe with the critically acclaimed concert company Elisa Monte Dance, most notably meeting and performing for the Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg.  Through the EMD choreographic initiative, Joe has enjoyed collaborating and creating six works for the company, and was honored to have his Joyce Theater choreographic premiere in 2011.  Most recently, Joe premiered their roots rest in infinity to critical acclaim in EMD’s 2014 NYC Season.     Previously, Joe danced with the Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, where he served as the company’s Resident Choreographer and worked with artists such as Robert Battle, Kate Skarpetowska, Peter Chu, Mario Zambrano, and Eddy Ocampo.  Joe continues his relationship with HMDC as a guest choreographer/teacher and member of their advisory board, and was an honoree at HMDC’s 15th Anniversary Concert.  Most recently, Joe’s newest creation for the Met, primed, premiered in June of 2014.         With nearly twenty years of teaching experience, Joe is a master teacher throughout the US and Europe.  He has been a guest teacher/choreographer at a variety of educational institutions including Steps on Broadway, SUNY Buffalo, Rice University, Salve Regina University, the High School for Performing and Visual Arts Houston (HSPVA), Episcopal High School, St John's School, and the Hetrick-Martin Institute.  Joe is proud to be a mentor to current students/graduates of the Juilliard School, Point Park University, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Buffalo, Chapman University, University of Arizona, SMU, and many other secondary educational institutions.  Joe is an honored recipient of a 2010 Presidential Scholar Teacher Recognition Award from the US Department of Education.   Joe holds a BFA in dance performance from SUNY Buffalo, where he was a performing and creative arts honors scholar and supplemented his training with scholarships to Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, The Edge, and the Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles.  Joe’s commercial credits include Levi Strauss and Company, Wal-Mart, and the City of Houston.  As an independent artist, Joe has presented his choreography at numerous venues including the Reverb Dance Festival/APAP, the Dance Gallery, the Pink Ribbons Project, the Big Range Dance Festival, the Great Friends Dance festival, Zodiaque Dance Company, Extensions Dance Company, Dance Harlem, American Dance Guild, Vision of Sound, Dumbo Dance Festival, The Tank, Pushing Progress Showcase Series, Cool NY Dance Festival, and the Solar Powered Dance Series.     

Eoghan Dillon was born in County Tyrone, Ireland. At the age of four, he moved to Canada, where he began dancing at the age of 12. In 2012, Mr. Dillon received a full scholarship to study at the Ailey School in New York City, where he studied under Milton Meyers, Francesca Harper, and many other prestigious professionals. Eoghan is currently The Artistic Associate with Parsons Dance in NYC, an internationally renowned touring contemporary dance company, where he was as a guest artist. Under the direction of David Parsons, he has worked one on one with choreographers Robert Battle, Kate Skarpetowska, Trey McIntyre, and Ephrat Asherie. Eoghan has toured, taught, and choreographed all over the United States and Europe has been commissioned to set works on Parsons Dance, METDance, and Dark Circles Contemporary Dance Company, and Ballet Memphis. Most Recently Mr. Dillon has been selected as a Finalist for the Capezio A.C.E Awards. Eoghan has been featured in international marketing publications, most notably the GAP's "Dress Normal" Campaign and maintains teaching positions at the Flow40 Touring Dance Convention as well as The Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Eoghan has recently started a touring Initiative to bring inclusive dance spaces to studios around Canada and the US. For more information check out redrhinodance.com or eoghandillon.com Instagram @owenstartswithe

Henry Steele was born and raised in Wollongong, NSW, Australia. He was a competitive gymnast for 8 years, and a national gold medalist 3 years in a row. During his final years as a gymnast, he began to make the transition to dance. Henry graduated from Point Park University with a BFA in Modern and Jazz dance in 2016, where he performed works by choreographers such as Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris, Madboots Dance, Ronin Koresh, and Troy Powell. He has danced professionally with Owen/ Cox Dance Group, Texture Contemporary Ballet, and toured internationally with The Bad Boys of Ballet.  Henry is currently a company member with Parsons Dance in New York City where he joined in 2017. 

 Cheryl Copeland graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Having studied and performed extensively in Florida, New York, Texas, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, her training and technical expertise are reflected in her classes and choreography. She has worked under such notable choreographers as Mia Michaels, Milton Myers, Lisa Hopkins, and Kim Bears-Bailey. Finding her true passion behind the scenes, Cheryl gave up a career in performing for a much more fulfilling career in choreography and education. She has served as resident choreographer for Teen Dance Company of the Bay Area, and as artistic director of pre-professional companies; Breakthru Dance, DAC PAC, and Humnz Dance Ensemble, as well as her professional company BHumn Dance Company. She owned BHumn DanceSpace, the leading training facility for modern dance in Austin, TX for four years and then retired as owner and headed to NYC to serve as the Director of Education at Peridance Capezio Center, where she established programming, ran audition tours, and managed faculty for three years. She finds herself as creatively pushed in dance administration as much as she does in choreography. 

As an educator, Cheryl’s students have received countless awards and scholarships, and gone on to dance with artists such as Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, and can be seen in numerous national commercials. Many of her students find themselves pursuing dance degrees at various colleges all over the United States including USC Kaufman, Juilliard, SUNY Purchase, NYU, and Boston Conservatory amongst others. As a choreographer, she has won several awards including a Choreography Under the Stars finalist cash award, a Young Choreographer’s award from NYCDA, and has choreographed full length works for the Fordham Ailey BFA program and Peridance Certificate Program. These choreographic praises keep Cheryl in demand amongst studios and universities all over the country. Previously, Cheryl has been an instructor at  Peridance Capezio Center, Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio, Edge PAC, Ballet Austin, Millennium Dance Complex, and Broadway Dance Center.  Cheryl is looking forward to all of the new opportunities and adventures coming her way and trusts that because of her diverse background, hands on approach, and her ever changing creative mind, she will continue creating innovative work and cultivating beautiful talent for years to come!