Season 2023/24

Shean Bautista

Courtney Cake is from Oakdale,CA where she started dancing at the age of ten, primarily training in ballet and jazz technique. She performed in various shows at her studio, along with performing with the Disney Performing Arts Program in high school. She then attended Modesto Junior College where in addition to ballet and jazz she studied modern, partnering, and some hip hop along the way. At Modesto Junior College Courtney was a part of Innovate Dance Company (established by Kim T. Davis) where they attended the American College Dance Association at Arizona State University, and moved forward to ACDA Nationals at CSU Long Beach - they then had the honor of performing with ACDA at the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival in Beckett, Massachusetts. Courtney graduated with her AA degree in Dance from MJC. She is currently attending Grand Canyon University to complete her BA in Dance, along with being a part of the Nhan Ho Project in Phoenix, AZ. Her goal is to get as much performance experience as she can, along with continuing to choreograph and create work that means a lot to her. Courtney eventually would like to teach full time, and own a studio to teach foundational technique to younger dancers one day.

Brittany Corrigan has over 25 years of dance experience working as a dancer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is an experienced dancer, choreographer and educator in Jazz and Contemporary and has trained in a variety of styles. She has had the opportunity to work with several esteemed choreographers and dancers from around the world and has trained and performed at multiple venues in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. She attended Santa Clara University with a Theatre Arts Scholarship for Dance and was on the SCU Dance Team. Most recently, Brittany spent the past 6 years at Funkmode dancing and instructing and also trained at Alonzo King Lines Ballet. She relocated to Arizona in August 2023 and is currently a Company dancer with Nhan Ho Project and Wight Noise Dance Company. In September she had her first performance in AZ at the Show Me Choreography Showcase. She continues to teach jazz and contemporary classes in AZ and is an Instructor with Dynamic Motion Dance Academy and DivaDance. She is excited to be a part of the dance community here in AZ and grow with NHPAZ.

Natalie Curley is a dancer and choreographer from the California Bay Area and is now located in the Arizona Greater Phoenix Area. She started dancing at the age of 13 and has primarily trained in ballet, jazz, and modern dance. She minored in dance at Santa Clara University where she developed a passion for arts for social justice, creating and presenting movement with the goal of initiating discussions on a variety of topics from medical ethics to gender roles in society. In the Bay Area, she had the pleasure of dancing on a variety of stages with local professional contemporary companies including Nhan Ho Project, Kusanovich Dance Company, and for change dance collective as well as dancing on screen such as in the James Williamson music video, “Night Theme.” She took a hiatus in her dance career to finish medical school at Midwestern University in Glendale, AZ, and will be training in physical medicine and rehabilitation with a special personal interest in dance medicine. She is excited to dance with Nhan Ho Project again here in Arizona for the 2023-2024 season.

Jonathan Montoya Gerardo

Trinity Gracia is a dancer, choreographer and artist native to Phoenix, Arizona. She has been dancing for 10 years and completed her Bachelors degree in dance at Grand Canyon University in 2023. She has since been dancing with multiple professional contemporary companies, including Bodies and the Nhan Ho Project, as well as teaching at studios in the valley. Her passion lies in the ability to convey true feelings of the general human experience through her work. Her choreography mixes traditional modern movement with commercial contemporary styles in order to find a blend that is unique to her. She looks forward to continuing to push herself and those around her as artists and creatives.

Elva Howard

Sammi Lopresti is currently a Phoenix based dancer/choreographer. She has been training in various styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, tap, hiphop, tap, acro, contemporary, and modern for the past 18 years. She started in the competition world, having competed at many well-known competitions for 12 of those years. This created an opportunity for her to later gain experience in teaching a wide age range from 6-18, along with creating multiple pieces for these studio’s competition teams. She has also worked for Celebrity Dance Conventions as a traveling assistant, and has attended multiple professional dance Intensives, including BodyTraffic. Along with the competition and educational world, Sammi’s true love lies in the world of concert dance, having performed in about 11 school dance concerts along with additional conferences and festivals, and showcased many original works through her school’s competitive student choreography shows, the American College Dance Association in Houston, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona, and has won the AZDEO Choreography competition. She is currently studying for her BA in Dance Performance, with a double minor in Digital Design w/ Animation and Business Management at Grand Canyon University. On top of school, she is also participating in the Nhan Ho Project Arizona Dance company. Through her love of movement and storytelling, Sammi is able to create unique works that create an emotional connection with those watching and has a strong understanding of her body in order to showcase strong and dynamic movements with dedicated character in her performances.

Baylie MacRae is a multidisciplinary artist based in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2015, she earned three Associate’s degrees from Scottsdale Community College studying Dance, Dance Technology, and Communications. Her dedication to dance led her to The Ohio State University, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2018 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts. During her tenure at OSU, she had the opportunity to travel to the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. where she contributed to the field of dance research serving as a research assistant under the esteemed Dr. Harmony Bench. She has showcased her talent on an international stage as a member of OSU Dance Brazil Tour Group, participating in performances in Salvador Bahia, Brazil, under the guidance of director Daniel Roberts, former member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. During the 2017/2018 season, she performed professionally as a company member for Hixon Dance in Columbus, Ohio. Currently, Baylie MacRae plays a pivotal role as an administrative and rehearsal assistant for Safos Dance Theatre, a dance company based in Tucson, Arizona. Her dedication to her craft also led her to professional dance roles with Nhan Ho Project Arizona Company, Rosenkrans Dans and emerging Arizona Physical Theatre.

Maddie Mcdonald

Dean Saifullin