Escalate Biographies

	Ann Marie Omeish is the owner and director of Escalate Dance and Theatre Studio. She has taught and choreographed dance and theater for the past twenty years in many venues throughout the region. After receiving a B.A. in Dance from Gustavus Adolphus, Ann Marie went on to incorporate theater in her experience, performing in and choreographing various productions including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Boxcar Children, Henry and Ramona, and Harriet Tubman at Stages Theatre in Hopkins where she was a resident Artist from 1999-2004. A few of Ann Marie's other credits include choreographing Candid at Orchestra Hall, Grease with Edina Community Theatre, as well as productions at Adah, Edina High School, and Minnetonka Center for the Arts. Ann Marie's passion for dance and theater led her to the decision to open her studio in the fall of 2004. She continues to be actively involved with teaching while expanding the studio staff and class offerings.
	J.C. Lippold feels at home at Escalate. This is a safe place where people young and old can learn, grow, and explore through so many different avenues. Not to mention the oppurtunity to be challenged and supported by an awesome group of teachers, staff and fellow students! Along with being Escalates Company Manager, J.C. teaches voice, musical theatre, and works extensively with the prestigious Musical Theatre Training Program(MTTP)."The characters we creates on stage help us become better accustomed to the talents, passions, and intricacies which make up who we truly are!" J.C. is the Artistic Director of Maple Grove Senior High's Musical Productions and acts locallyat Bloomington Civic, Minneapolis Musical and Yellow Tree Theatres. In J.C.'s free time, he loves to run marathons and hang out with his two blue chihuahua's, Sawyer and Stella!
	Jacey Davis comes to us with over ten years of teaching expirience. She began dancing at a young age, studying jazz, ballet, and later hip hop in private studios and at Brigham Young University. She enjoyed competing and choregraphing as the leader of her high school dance team. She later choregraphed many award winning pieces for high school teams, studios, and college courses. Jacey has taught ballet, jazz, tap, and hip hop curriculum for dance schools in Utah, California, and is excited to have rejoined Escalate in 2009 after a brief move to Massachusetts. She loved watching her students progress and enjoying dance in class. She is also a thrilled mother of 4 children and absolutely loves that job as well.
	Todd Bruse started at Escalate in 2004 and has been a Resident Artist at Stages Theatre Company in Hopkins since 1999. He recently was added to the Guthrie's roster of teaching artists and teaches improvisation, mask and physical theater, and a variety of acting courses throughout the Twin Cities. In over 25 years of performing and production experience, Todd has toured the west coast and Canad with the Dell' Arte Player's Company, graduated from Second City's ETC improvisation program, and collaborated as technician, actor, director, writer, or producer on well over 100 professional productions. Todd believes that by sharing the experience of focused fun on stage, every young artist can excel. http://www.mnartists.org/Todd_Bruse
	Angela Mannella has been acting and dancing on stage and on TV since the age of 9. She has acted in shows at the Gunthrie Theatre, CTC, Shakespear & Company, Hennepin Stages, Actor's Theatre of MN and other stages throughout the country. She has coregraphed shows for Stages, Fridley Community Theatre, Rosetown Playhouse and many high schools. Angela also works in commercials and on television. She is married to Tim, and has a son, Vincent.
	Erin Cooney began to learn traditional Irish Dance as a child in her hometown of LeCenter, MN under the direction of Katie Griffin TCRG and then continued on with private lessons in high school, training under Brenda Buckley TCRG. Erin started teaching Irish Dance after graduating from college and then became an assosiate member of Cumann Rince Naisiunta(CRN) in 2004. From 2004-09, she trained with Carmel Doherty ADCRN under CRN's Irish Dance Teacher Training Program which comprised of more than a dozen educational workshopes around the U.S. and two sets of Irish Dance exams in Ireland. Erin recieved her Diploma Oide Damsa Cumann Rince Naisiuta(ODCRN) in 2009. She has been teaching Irish dance at Escalate since 2007. The Oide Damsa Cumann Rince Naisiunta(ODCRN) is an Irish Dance Teachers Diploma. There are currently 4 Irish Dance Teachers in the U.S. with the ODCRN. The exams for certifcation are very demanding. Candidates must demonstrate all 30 ceili dances through teaching and writing, in addition to dancing & recognizing the names of 6 traditional set dances, 15 contemporary set dances and the ability to dance and teach over 10 levels of solo steps.
	Kyia Gullickson has been involved in dance since the age of 5. She has had training in ballet, lyrical, modern, tap, jazz, funk/hip hop and kickline. Kyia danced with the Wayzata High School Trojet dance team and was captain her senior year, earning an All-Conference dancer award. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise Management from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Kyia taught ballet, tap and jazz for the city of Maple Grove before teaching at Escalate. She was on the coaching staff of the Hopkins High School “Royelles” dance team for 4 years and continues to train dancers for various high school dance teams in her Jazz Technique classes at Escalate. Kyia began her career with Escalate in October of 2004 and looks forward to teaching and helping manage the studio for many years to come!
	Katie Schlosser has been dancing since she was 3 years old with a focus on ballet. She brings a fresh perspective as a dance instructor, applying the benefits of competitive dance as she inspires her students to find their own unique style. Trained under Leslie Daly, a few of Katie’s accomplishments include: solo and group performances around the country, auditioning with the Oklahoma City University Dance Program where she was offered a scholarship, and receiving the Distinguished Artists Award from Hope College in Holland, Michigan in 2004. Katie’s maturity and passion to teach dance landed her a teaching assistant position at 14 years old. To stay on the cutting edge of dance styles and technique, she embraces every chance to perform and further her own dance training while teaching at Escalate. Katie's desire as a teacher is to be a role model who influences poise, confidence, and a positive self-image. Katie is a graduate of the Carlson School of Management with a degree in Finance and is working as a Planning Analyst for Target Corporation.
	Laura Kirkeby has been involved with dance and theater for many years. At a young age she performed in many plays including Christmas Carol and Babes in Arms at the Guthrie Theater. Laura danced at Dancin’ on Broadway for many years and began competing in 5th grade. She has taken classes at Ballet of the Arts, and attended training intensives taught by various instructors from around the country. Besides ballet, Laura has studied lyrical, tap, pointe, modern and jazz. She is currently attending the University of Minnesota’s Dance program and is in her senior year of college there. Laura is very excited to be part of the teaching staff here at Escalate Dance and Theatre Studio and share her passion for dance with others.
	Susie Campbell has been studying and performing dance since she was 4 years old spanning ballet, jazz, tap and modern. She studied dance and theater while attending and graduating from the Children's Theater Company High School in Minneapolis, and went on to futher her study of theater at the University of Minnesota and dance at Boston University in its School of Fine Arts. After college, she became a franchisee with Jazzercise, and taught at a dance exercise studio in Boston. Upon relocating to Minneapolis, she continued teaching Jazzercise until 1993. In 1998 she became an instructor at The Dance Shoppe and remained there for 8 years, where she taught chldren 3-18 as well as performed and competed in the women's dance group. She has also been the head coach of the Osseo High School Varsity Dance Team since 2008. She has four daughters, 2 in high school and 2 in college, who are all involved in some way with dance, music or the theater arts. Susie joined Escalate in 2007 where she continues to enjoy teaching the joy of dance and theater, especially to children.
	Jennifer Kirkeby has been involved in theater as an actress, dancer, choreographer, director and teaching artist for over thirty years. While a dance major at UCLA, Kirkeby wrote a one-woman show combining movement and stories which she performed throughout Southern California. As an actor, she has performed in many theatrical productions, commercials and films. Her most recent role was Mrs. Vitale in Tony ‘N Tina’s Wedding. She is a Resident Artist at Stages Theatre Company where she was the Acting Conservatory Director for eight years. Jennifer adapted Madeline’s Christmas, which has been performed in over thirty theatres nationwide, as well as many other plays. Stages Theatre Company will be presenting her productions of The Frog Prince and If You Give A Moose A Muffin during their 2010-2011 season. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc., The Playwrights' Center, and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
	Angie Dorso has a BA in Psychology from Arizona State University and a MA in Education from Concordia University in St. Paul. She has taught preschool, ECFE, and managed the before and after school care program for the Spring Lake Park school district until 2000 when she became a full time mom to her 2 daughters, Tessa and Molly. She has also worked part time as an editor for a small publishing company, volunteers like crazy and is thrilled to have been a part of the front desk staff at Escalate since 2008. Her daughters love all the studio has to offer including fun classes, new friends, and great teachers so much so they want to be here nearly every night. It has truly become their second home. Even Angie and her husband Lou have joined the fun by dancing with the kids each recital! Angie feels so lucky to be working with the wonderful staff, students, and parents at Escalate.