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Skyla Caldwell, A.R.A.D (Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance), trained at the Charlotte School of Ballet under Gay Porter Speer and The Point Park Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA, as a scholarship student under the direction of Roberto Munoz. She has danced for the North Carolina Dance Theatre as an apprentice under Salvatore Aiello and Jerry Kumery. Caldwell has also danced at the National Ballet of Cuba under Laura Alonzo in Havana, Cuba, and is associated with the Royal Academy of Dance in London. Caldwell has also danced with the Moving Poets Theater of Dance for the last eight years and is currently Ballet Mistress for The Union County Youth Ballet in Monroe, NC.
Caroline Calouche has been a Teaching Artist for NC Dance Theatre since 2005, which has given her the opportunity to share her love of dance with several elementary students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Outside of being a Teaching Artist, she is the artistic and executive director of Caroline Calouche & Co., as well as the director of the Charlotte Dance Festival. She is a native of North Carolina and holds B.F.A. degrees in ballet and modern dance from Texas Christian University. Along with creating new works for Caroline Calouche & Co., she has choreographed for the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, Gaston Dance Theatre and Contemporary Ballet Dallas. Her work has been performed in the US, Austria and Germany in festivals such as the American Dance Festival, Fort Worth Contemporary Dance Festival, North Carolina Dance Festival and the Greensboro Fringe Festival. She has performed with Martha Connerton/Kinetic Works (NC), Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth (TX) and Contemporary Ballet Dallas (TX) as well as her choreography in festivals. Calouche is a dance and Pilates instructor at North Carolina Dance Theatre School of Dance and The School of Gaston Dance Theatre. She also is a GYROKINESIS® trainer.
Nathalie Roche grew up dancing in Winston-Salem, NC. In May 2008, Roche graduated with a BFA in Modern Dance Performance, specializing in Dance Education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Roche is currently working on her classical Pilates certification at the 8th Street Studio, and she also shares her passion for dance and movement through teaching children at schools and studios all over Charlotte. She plans to continue pursuing her teaching career, as she finds her way to the professional performance career.
Elizabeth Sturgis is originally from Minnesota, and she began dancing at the age of 6 in the Minneapolis area. She grew up dancing for Children’s Dance Theatre in Rochester, MN, and graduated in 2001 from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a BA in dance. Sturgis then moved to California to perform as Trixie in Can-Can at the Lawrence Welk Resort Theater. She received a grant to co-produce Permission Slip, a dance concert created to promote the creative arts in suburban Minneapolis, and moved to Philadelphia in 2002 to dance with Marah Dance Theatre under the direction of Stephen Wynne. Sturgis also danced with Inlet Dance Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio, under the direction of Bill Wade Jr. She returned to the east coast and had the pleasure of working with Timothy Martin of Timothy Martin Choreograhpies in New York City, as well as Kristin Scott of American Repertory Ballet for Come Unity, an organization which strives to bring clean water to African nations, in 2008. As a Stott Pilates and Lithe Method instructor, she has had the privilege of training a broad spectrum of people ranging from business professionals to world-class and Olympic rowers. Sturgis feels called to use dance as a means of outreach to people in post war-torn nations in Africa. In 2007 she traveled with Compassion Corps to Tunisia, Africa, to begin connecting with people there and is excited to see how these relationships will develop in the future. She is thrilled to be in Charlotte to begin her first season dancing with Caroline Calouche and Company.
Lesli Todd began her training at a very early age in her hometown of Mobile, AL with her mother Pamela Herndon. After discovering her love of dance she expanded her studies locally, dancing with Mobile Ballet and the Joe Jefferson Players. Todd was also awarded scholarships and studied at Joffrey Ballet, Martha Graham Studio, Steps and the Broadway Dance Center. While living in Chicago she performed with Gus Giorodano Jazz Dance Chicago, Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre and the Of Light and Temptation Project. Her career as a choreographer and teacher began to blossom after returning to her hometown, and in 1999 she began another adventure in the sport of Disc Golf, taking home top honors at the World Championships. Currently in Charlotte, Todd teaches and choreographs for several local studios. |
