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 dance artist, originally from Massachusetts. She has produced two evening-length shows, Not For Picking and When It Falls, which premiered in New York City and Los Angeles. Mary Grace was honored to be the winner of the 2018 Capezio A.C.E. Award. Her work has been presented at The Joyce Theater, The Dance Gallery Festival, Dixon Place, Young Choreographer’s Festival, Centre National de la Danse in France, and deSingel in Belgium.

As a dancer, she has performed the work of Doug Varone, Jon Rua, Monika Felice Smith, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Katie Swords-Thurman, Emma Portner, Erica Sobol and Ryan Spencer. She has studied with artists such as Medhi Walerski, Jesse Zaritt, Adi Salant, Jermaine Spivey, Spenser Theberge, and Tilman O’Donnell. Most recently, she performed at Madison Square Garden for Phish’s 2020 NYE Concert, and can be seen dancing in music videos for OneRepublic and Angel Olsen. She has acted and danced in commercials for Microsoft and Splash Blast Water.

Mary Grace is on faculty for the new dance convention, Luminous Tour. She is a guest instructor and choreographer at competitive dance studios, workshops and universities across the country, as well as Guest Faculty at TMilly TV, Broadway Dance Center, and Peridance Capezio Center. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of the Arts in 2015.

@marygracemcnally

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.     

 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!

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

Marrisha Babineaux has been studying and competing in all styles of dance since the age of five.  Marrisha performed as a principle dancer for Lamar University under the direction of Brixey Blankenship.  Prior to and during this time, Marrisha performed in shows produced by Beaumont City Performing Arts, danced at the Alvin Ailey School of Dance in New York City at their summer intensive program, and also participated as a contestant on the national hit show Showtime at the Apollo as a representative from Houston after winning the spot from numerous contestants across the city.   As a result of this notoriety,  she landed a position for McDonalds as a company representative at conventions across the nation.  Marrisha’s dance accolades are numerous. Most memorably, she won the Scene Interactive Award where her video and headshot were posted for a year for choreographers in search for dancers, and also the DDO Artist Agency Award which allowed her to be represented and contracted by DDO as a dance professional at the age of 18.  Upon graduating from Lamar she began her career at Masters, the Upper Level(MUL) as a teacher/choreographer under Artistic Director Melissa Robinson.  During her time there, her students won numerous first place regional and national championships; her most recent was the Mini Large Intermediate Group Ultimate Challenge and Choreography Award of 2019 at the Hall of Fame Nationals.  While Miss Marrisha teaches a variety of ages and levels, she is also contracted with the Universal Dance Association for Collegiate, Secondary and Primary Students, teaching and choreographing for local high schools.  In 2019 her students won numerous top awards for regional school competitions.  She currently teaches at The Dance Kollective in Katy.

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. 

MIA ANGELINI  is originally from Jefferson, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Point Park University with a BFA in Dance. While at Point Park, she had the opportunity to perform in the International Choreography Competition as a part of the Jazz Dance World Congress. Upon graduating, she became a company member of METdance, in Houston, Texas. During her 7 seasons with the MET, she performed works by many renowned choreographers at various venues local to Houston, as well as the Inside/Out Series at Jacob's Pillow, Spring to Dance in St. Louis, Women in Dance in Baton Rouge, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, and the Dallas Dance Festival. She has been teaching and choreographing for competitive studios, drill teams, and pre-professional programs for the past 10 years, while also adjudicating for dance competitions across the U.S. Mia is excited to continue sharing her love for movement at TADA. 

Douchane is a native Houstonian and has been dancing for 16 years. He found the love for dance in 5th grade where he then joined a dance company named, “FLY KIDS” they performed at Dance Houston, MA Dance, World of Dance, and many Houston events. He then wanted to take his dancing further and joined Soreal Dance Studio. Since dancing at Soreal he has had the opportunity to train in many genres of hip hop dance and compete in many competitions such as Body Rock and World of Dance. He also was a director for University of Texas at San Antonio’s Filipino Student Association modern dance team. Now he is resident teacher at Soreal. Douchane’s main goal for his students is for them to have a space where they can just be free and be their authentic self, and most importantly have fun!

Amy Leonards is Director of TADA's Ballet Program and holds a BA in the Performing Arts.   Originally from Louisiana, Amy is classically trained in ballet, tap, and jazz, with a specialization in teaching Vaganova, Cecchetti, and RAD ballet methods.   Miss Amy developed and implemented ballet curriculum as ballet director over several years for two performing arts schools in Los Angeles and San Franciso before joining us at TADA, while also pursuing a professional career in theater. She is a proud member of the Actors' Equity Association, and some of her favorite roles include Hope in Anything Goes, Rose in Enchanted April (World Premiere), Marian in The Music Man, Maggie in A Chorus Line, and Jellylorum in Cats, to name a few. Amy also has international, national, and regional commercial and print credits, including Ford, Legal Zoom, LeapFrog, and Salesforce.  We are honored and proud to acquire her as Ballet Director in 2021!   

View more about Miss Amy on her website at https://www.amyfranklinleonards.com/

You may email her at ballet@dancetada.com