Rachel Cohen (storyteller, Snow Queen) has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from the University of Arizona. She has choreographed and performed in musicals with many community theaters around the Valley, including Theater Works, Tempe Little Theater, Mesa Encore Theater, Greasepaint, and Soul Invictus.  Rachel teaches jazz for Dance Theater West and is a rehearsal mistress for Snow Queen.

Diane McNeal Hunt (Education Outreach Director and Choreographer) has been recognized as a leading performer/teacher/choreographer by the Arizona and Southwest dance communities.  A passionate artist with a BAE in Dance from Arizona State University and more than 30 years of professional experience, Diane enjoys designing/conducting school residencies, teaching master classes and choreographing for all ages.  Her career, since 1980, spans being company performer/teacher/choreographer with Center Dance Ensemble, A Ludwig Dance Theatre and Desert Dance Theatre, plus guest performer with Scorpius Dance Theater.  MarDi Dance Company, co-created in 1983 with husband/dance partner, Mark Vanek, performs in annual Dia de los Muertos Festivals throughout Arizona (Mesa/Chandler, the Heard Museum, Desert Botanical Garden); their repertoire features original masks created by internationally acclaimed artist, Zarco Guerrero. Honored to choreograph for CDE, Diane's works are also performed by Convergence Ballet Company, Dulce Dance Company, InSpiritus Dance Company and Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Recognized as "Dancing Diane" throughout Head Start and early childhood classrooms since 1986, she is Supervisor/Master Artist for the Arizona Wolf Trap Early Learning through the Arts program.  This national level program positions Diane to model integration of performing arts with curriculum in the classroom setting, provide teacher training through hands on residency work with the children, lead professional development workshops for teachers, and train new artists.  Also, since 1986, "Dancing Diane" teaches elementary school students the joys of dance as performing arts faculty at Desert View Learning Center.   

Alan Khoutakoun began dancing when he was 18 years old at Encore Dance Center and Glendale Community College. While at GCC, Alan trained with and performed works by Lenna DeMarco, Teal Darkenwald, Golde, Thomas Ralabate and Logan Lipton as well as being a member of the college’s modern dance company, PHYSICAL GRAFFITI. Recently, Alan has been performing with local cabaret company Troubadour Café under the direction of Todd Bailey as well as being a company member of Roberto Villanueva’s BalaSole Dance and performing in his summer dance concert at Dance Theatre Workshop in New York City. Also, Alan is a certified Bella Barre® lead instructor and assists with the training of current and future instructors. This is Alan’s second season with Center Dance Ensemble, and he is performing in CDE’s school-touring shows, The ABC’s of Dance and Poetry ’n Motion.

Katey Konderik has a huge passion for dance and feels very fortunate to be able to share her love for the artform with other people in the world, and she hopes that her dancing will inspire others to reach for their dreams, as her dance teachers inspired her to. Katey began her dance training at the very young age of 2-1/2 years old. She has trained extensively in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Tap and Hip-Hop. In the years Katey has trained she has mainly focused on ballet. Katey has trained at Arizona Sunrays Dance and Gymnastics, Plumb Performing Arts Center, Arizona School of Classical Ballet, Master Ballet Academy, and Catalyst Dance Academy. Katey has studied with Jenny Hjalmarson, Elvia Rabinor, Liz Casebolt, Kelly Roberts, Susan Schwartz, Nadya Zubkov, Olga Tarasova, Slawomir & Irena Wozniak, Julie Grooters, and Lili Griffiths. Katey has also trained with Master teachers Jean Paul Comelin, Kennet Oberly, and Alexei Badrak. Katey is a graduate from American School of Correspondence where she finished her home-school studies. Katey is the first place winner of the 2011 Arizona Young Artist Competition in the dance category. She is currently teaching dance at Arizona Angels in Scottsdale, AZ. She is currently performing in CDE’s school-touring shows, The ABC’s of Dance and Poetry ’n Motion. And she is very excited to come back for her second season with Center Dance Ensemble.

Kelsey Kroll, a Phoenix native, has been trained in a variety of different dance styles since a very young age. She recently trained under Lenna DeMarco, Teal Darkenwald, C.C Braun, and Frances Goritsas at Glendale Community College and danced for GCC’s pre-professional dance company, PHYSICAL GRAFFITI, for two years. Among many performances during her time in PHYSICAL GRAFFITI she performed in the American College Dance Festival at UC Irvine and ASU’s Moving Art Gallery “Night Moves”. Also while at GCC, she was trained by guest choreographers including Logan Lipton, Tom Ralabate, Golde, Brad Garner, Melissa Rolnick, Pablo Cornejo, Lori Bellalove, and Charles Torres. Kelsey has been a guest choreographer for Barry Goldwater High School for the past four years and also choreographed dances for PHYSICAL GRAFFITI. She won awards for Best Choreography and Group Performance pieces in the Artists of Promise competition for two years in a row. This is Kelsey’s third year performing with Center Dance Ensemble and she hopes to be here for many years to come. Her future plans include becoming a dance instructor and one day starting her own Dance Academy or her own company after completing her Masters Degree in dance performance. Kelsey is looking forward to this next year with CDE and cannot thank her friends and family enough for all of their support and love!

Erica Lizotte graduated in 2000 from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a BFA in dance. She then relocated to Chicago and was a company member with Zephyr Dance for four seasons. She performed and taught master classes in Chicago as well as toured throughout the U.S. Lizotte also danced with Cindy Brandle Dance Company in various Chicago festivals and performed in CBDC’s evening-length concert. While in Chicago, she performed in numerous independent dance projects and as a guest artist to multiple companies. In addition to performing, she enjoyed teaching dance in the Chicago Public School system as well as many after-school programs, and taught ballet classes from beginner through advanced in local dance studios in the Chicago suburbs. Erica is excited to be returning for her fourth season with Center Dance Ensemble. She is extremely grateful to have the love and support of her husband Matt and two amazing children.

Erin Lovrien is excited to be dancing a second season with Center Dance Ensemble. She began her training in Virginia and has since traveled all over the country (and even to Africa) to gain experience in various styles of dance. A graduate of the University of Arizona in Dance, she has studied ballet, pointe, modern and jazz extensively while enjoying hip-hop, tap, Africana, Broadway, and swing dancing on the side. She has worked with such companies as American Ballet Theater in New York, Boston Ballet, and Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet in San Francisco. In 2011, Erin won first place in the NSAL Arizona Chapter Choreography Competition “The Art of the Solo”. She teaches dance and Pilates throughout the Valley. She is currently performing in CDE’s school-touring shows, The ABC’s of Dance and Poetry ’n Motion.  Erin loves bringing joy to life through dance and is excited to share her passion with others.

Katherine “Katie” McDowell discovered dance at the early age of 5 and was fortunate enough to find Dance Theater West when she was 7 years old.  There, she trained in ballet under the direction of her beloved friend and mentor, Susan Silverman. During her ten years with the studio and her six years with Storybook Ballet Theater, she performed lead roles in several ballets including “Coppelia,” “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty” and Odette in “Swan Lake.” After graduating from Arcadia High School in 2007, Katie has been attending Arizona State University working toward her degrees in both English Literature and in Film and Media Studies. She is currently performing in CDE’s school-touring shows, The ABC’s of Dance and Poetry ’n Motion. This is Katie’s second season performing with Center Dance Ensemble and she could not be more excited and grateful for the opportunity.

Emilio Minto was born and raised in Venice, Italy. Although he carried a lifetime interest in the arts from drawing to singing, it was not until he moved to Phoenix that he began training in the field of dance at the age of 18. While his exposure was belated, he excelled in the field as many boys do and worked in the industry doing film, television, and live stage as a dancer, choreographer and actor. After establishing and running his own Company for several years in Northern Arizona, he decided to re-establish himself as a performer and joined Center Dance Ensemble. Emilio is excited to return for his fourth season with the company.

Amber Robins is excited to be in her 13^th season with Center Dance Ensemble. After receiving her BA in dance from Arizona State University she went on to perform with Ballet South in Savannah, GA, where she danced both with the corps de ballet and solo roles.  Soon after returning to Arizona she danced with local modern companies and traveled with a touring dance group to Las Vegas.  Currently Amber is a full-time company member of CDE, company teacher and performing in CDE’s school touring shows The ABC’s of Dance and Poetry ’n Motion.  She also teaches dance and fitness at Abby Bella dance studio.  Amber has been married to Jim for nine years and together they share their home with three great kids, two dogs and two cats!  She is very thankful to have all she has.

Brad Speck is thrilled to return for his third season at Center Dance Ensemble.  He is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and holds a BA in Theatre Arts with minors in Dance and Music from Ohio University.  This marks his second year performing in CDE’s school-touring shows, The ABC’s of Dance and Poetry ’n Motion. Performance highlights include seasons with Lyric Opera Cleveland, Ohio Valley Summer Theatre, The READING COMPANY at the Cleveland Playhouse, and the Cleveland and Detroit companies of “Tony n' Tina's Wedding.”  When not dancing, Brad is a freelance theatre artist working as an actor, stage manager and scenic/lighting designer.

Michael J. Eddy (Production Manager/Lighting Designer) has been thankful for the opportunity to work in the theatre industry for many years beginning his career as a lighting designer. Michael has expanded his duties including Production Manager of Phoenix Theatre for the last seven seasons. Michael has worked on over 100 productions locally and nationally, and has won several awards for his lighting designs. Michael is honored to have been a part of Center Dance Ensemble these past several years and is looking forward to another great season with Fran and CDE. Michael would like to give special thanks to his wife Laura and son William. More information about Michael can be found at www.michaeljeddy.com

Gary Bacal (Managing Director) is in his 11^th season with Center Dance Ensemble. Previously he was Managing Director of Childsplay, Inc. theatre, Managing Director of Chamber Music Plus, Marketing and Public Relations Director of Arizona Theatre Company, and he has worked with Arts for All/Third Street Kids, Very Special Arts Arizona, the Valley Center for the Deaf, and Arizona Jewish Theatre Company. He has served as a grant review panelist for the Arizona Commission on the Arts and for arts agencies in Scottsdale, Tempe and Tucson. Prior to moving to Arizona, he was Director of Public Relations for Syracuse University.