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Ava Vacherot (2018-2019)
Ava began training in classical ballet at the age of 9 at The New England Ballet Conservatory under Vanina Wilson. She continued her training for eight years at Vermont Ballet Theater School under Alexander Nagiba. At the Vermont Ballet she danced in two performances yearly; The Nutcracker and The Celebration of Dance. Ava has performed roles of Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop Fairy and Lead Marzipan in The Nutcracker, as well as other classical variations from Paquita, Raymonda and Elite Syncopations. Ava has trained in summer intensives with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Ellison Ballet, and Miami City Ballet. Ava trained with Project31 as an apprentice for the 2018-2019 season, she is currently studying in the Ailey School Professional Division Certificate Program in NYC.
Carleen DelGreco (2018)
Carleen DelGreco began dancing at the age of 3 in her hometown of Pelham, NH.
Under the direction of Judi Demers Bavin of Dance Concepts, she studied tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical/contemporary, hip hop, pointe, and musical theatre. At age 6, Carleen began dancing competitively and has traveled all over the country to compete on both regional and national levels. Her dance training continued in college, where she attended Quinnipiac University and was a member of Dance Fusion, Quinnipiac’s official hip-hop dance team. During this time she also competed with the Dance Fits U All-Star open team and traveled to Orlando, FLA where they competed on the Worlds stage at the US All Star Federation’s International Cheer and Dance competition. She graduated in 2016 with her BS in Health Sciences and a minor in Psychology. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Northeastern University. Carleen feels privileged to have performed in many incredible venues over the years including Radio City Music Hall, Alvin Ailey Theater, TD Garden, Walt Disney World, and more. She accredits much of her love and passion for the art of dance to the many choreographers and dancers she has worked closely with and been inspired by since a young age.
Charlotte Madeline Rosen (2018-2019)
Charlotte has been a passionate and lifelong learner of dance, performance, teaching, and choreography. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Connecticut College with a BFA in Dance and Psychology in 2012. Since graduating, she has focused on developing and implementing the original Dance curriculum at the High School Level. She pioneered the Dance Program at Rising Tide Charter Public School where she was proud to create a diverse, robust, and accessible dance pathway for dancers of all ages and abilities. While teaching and choreographing over 40 works, Charlotte also performed with various dance companies in the Boston and Providence area including Belly Beat Dance Company, Troupe De Monte Carlo, and Crocodile River Music. Charlotte is extremely excited to be working with Project 31 for the 2018-2019 season.
Kayla Trutt (2018-2019)
Kayla Trutt began dancing at the age of three at Maple Avenue Dance in her hometown of
Rockville Centre, New York. In the years since attending her first summer intensive at the age of
eleven, she has dreamt of pursuing a career in dance, a dream she is grateful to say brought
her to The Boston Conservatory at Berklee as a scholarship recipient. Kayla graduated from the
conservatory in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance Performance,
Magna Cum Laude, with emphases in jazz dance technique and pedagogy. Throughout her four
years at the conservatory, she had the pleasure of performing in works by esteemed
choreographers such as Roderick George, Uri Sands, and Stephanie Martinez. While she is
thankful for the time she had with guest choreographers, the highlight of her conservatory
career has been the opportunity to perform in works choreographed by her peers- John Chin,
Katherine Kuntz, and Margaret Falcone. While completing her final year at the conservatory,
she joined the Boston-based contemporary dance company, Project 31 under the artistic
direction of Kenzie Finn. She also completed a creative movement internship at The Eliot
School and worked with Step by Step and Movement Matters, community outreach groups that
teach creative movement classes to children on the autism spectrum and senior citizens,
respectively. Kayla has also furthered her training at summer dance intensives, most recently
with Mark Morris Dance Group and BODYTRAFFIC. Kayla currently attends Regis College
where she is pursuing a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and is on track to complete
her graduate education in May 2021. After graduation, she hopes to become a Registered
Dance/Movement Therapist, a career that will fuse her two passions: mental health and dance.
Lindsey Renee Orgren (2017-2019)
Lindsey started dancing at the age of seven in Edmond, OK. She has studied in tap, jazz, ballet, modern, contemporary, hip-hop, and lindy-hop. Lindsey attended Hendrix College in Conway, AR, and earned a B.A. in Biochemistry. She was a member of the Hendrix College Dance Ensemble where she performed in many modern and contemporary pieces and choreographed several pieces of her own. During her time at Hendrix, her choreographed piece “Loading…” was selected to be presented at the ACDA South conference in 2015, and she was given the Theater and Dance Department’s Graham-Duncan award for ensemble leadership and excellence in dance. Upon graduating in 2015, she moved to Madison, WI to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry at UW-Madison. There she joined Breakthrough Dance Company and performed hip-hop and contemporary pieces, and continued to explore her choreographic style with two contemporary pieces. Lindsey moved to the Boston area in 2017 to continue her graduate education at MIT and is looking forward to continuing her passion for dance with Project31. Lindsey now performs as a member of the tap and percussion group Drumatix.
Lucie Novelline (2017-2019)
Lucie began her dance training at the age of three at the Creative Dance Center under the direction of Becky Ford. At age nine, she began training intensively at Raquelle's Dance Studio under the direction of Deb Lumbert studying ballet, tap, jazz, modern, contemporary, and hip hop. At Raquelle's Dance Studio she has trained with Kenzie Finn, Lacey Sasso, Kate McShea, Rachel Buffer, Robert Robinson, Patricia Biagini, Stacey Melvoen, and Deirdre Lewis. Lucie has participated in workshops and Intensives with Tribe, The Dance Company, and Project 31. Lucie has performed as a guest artist in Sasso & Company's "Deeply Rooted", Project 31's "Through This Lens", Nozama Dance Collective's "Enough", The Dance for World Community Festival, and several Dance2Save Benefit Concerts. Lucie trained with Project31 as an apprentice from 2017-2019. She is now a student at the University of Vermont majoring in dance.
Lauren Sylvia (2017-2020)
Lauren Sylvia is a native of Rochester, MA. At the age of 9, Lauren began training seriously at the Festival Ballet Providence Center for Dance Education. She joined Festival's Junior Company as a scholarship student at the age of 13 and received multiple opportunities to perform alongside the professional company dancers. She attended summer intensives at Chautauqua and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Lauren scored in the top 10 for her contemporary solo choreographed by Karin Tremblay in the YAGP semi-finals. Following high school graduation, she joined Festival Ballet as a trainee and danced there for two years. Since then, she has performed with the contemporary outreach company Part of the Oath, The Berkshire Choreography Project, with whom she performed at Jacob's Pillow in 2017, and she also performed in Island Moving Company's Nutcracker in 2017. Since 2012, Lauren has been working and training under Cosmin Marculetiu as a faculty member and lead professional dancer in numerous classical ballets. Lauren performed with Project31 from 2018 to 2020. She is not performing as a principal dancer with the International Ballet Company.
Helena Whitaker (2019-2020)
Helena began dancing competitively at the age of 10 in Kingman, Arizona. During her time in Arizona she has worked with Richard Havey who invited her to perform with his students in Kiel Germany at an international dance festival. She is currently a senior at Dean College under the direction of Marc Arentston, where she is pursuing her BFA in Dance with a concentration in choreography. While at Dean, she has been training in ballet, jazz, tap, modern, and improvisation and performed works by Levi Marsman and many of her peers. She recently attended Urbanity’s summer intensive and performed at the Boston Contemporary Festival. She is excited for this opportunity to dance and her first season with Project31.
Kate L. McShea, Assistant Director
McShea, a Boston native, began her official dance training when she enrolled at Boston Arts Academy as a Freshman dance major in 2000. It was there that she discovered her lifelong need to explore movement. A graduate of 2004 class, McShea continued her education at Long Island University, Brooklyn, earning a B.F.A in Dance in May 2008. After graduating, McShea continued to dance in New York City, working with Mariana Bekerman Dance Company, Amanda Hinchey, Jenny Rocha, and Rodger Belman to name a few. Her choreography has been chosen to be shown in The Dance Gallery presented by von Ussar Danceworks, American College Dance Festival, and Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts. Upon returning to the Boston Area, McShea has had the opportunity to work with companies such as Tribe, The Dance Company, Urbanity, and now Project 31. McShea is currently a Special Education teacher, Zumba, and Pilates Mat instructor. She is thrilled to be able to have this opportunity to dance and perform again and share the stage with such amazing artists. McShea would like the thank her family for their undying support, especially her wife, Sarah, who’s love and support, helps her to continue pursuing her passion to dance.
Aileen K. Dunn 2017-2020
Aileen began dancing at the age of 3 and hasn’t stopped since. At age 10 Aileen started dancing competitively, and age 12 was studying Ballet and Modern techniques pre professionally. Aileen studied the R.A.D technique from a young age and tested out of Classical Ballet exams starting in grade four. Aileen continued to dance competitively at various studios on the South Shore and was a part of several pre-professional student dance companies. After High School, Aileen was accepted into The Hartt School as a Dance Performance Major. Since then Aileen has continued to perform, teach and choreograph in and around New England. Aileen is a creative, sought after choreographer whose dancers have won top awards. She is currently teaching at Miss Heejin's Dance Studio, Encore Dance Academy, Live Love Dance Studio, and Bethany's Dance Center. In addition to teaching dance, Aileen is a certified Barre Instructor at Studio Barre Dedham.
Simon Montalvo (2019-2020)
Arrow is originally from Corpus Christi, Texas. They've been moving and grooving since age 7, and are currently attending The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, pursuing a BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance. Most recently, they've worked with choreographers Joseph Toonga, Joe Chvala, and Adrienne Hawkins. They're delighted to share their love of movement with the Boston community and look forward to their first season with the Project31 family.
Sarah Ready (2018-2021)
Sarah Ready began her dance training at the age of three in her neighboring town, Attleboro, Massachusetts. Ready has studied dance for sixteen years, training in jazz, ballet, pointe, acrobatics, contemporary, and tap. Sarah has performed in Rhode Island Moving Company’s rendition of the Nutcracker in the role of soldier doll for two seasons. In June 2017, she graduated from The University of California, Riverside where she majored in Dance and minored in Business. At UCR, she concentrated in jazz and ballet, but also studied modern, hip hop, and choreography. She received the Chancellor’s Performance Award, was invited to American College Dance Festival Association, and was also a member of the 2016-2017 UCR Gluck Touring Dance Ensemble. Post-graduation, Ready became a member of Ballet Carreras under the direction of Jose Gonzalez Pilar formerly of Ballet de Santiago, Kelly Lamoureux formerly of National Ballet of Canada and Sofia Carreras, a former student of George Balanchine and Patricia Neary, who performed alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov. Sarah was also a featured dancer in Avocado Dance Theater under the direction of Lori Craig Torok, former Radio City Music Hall Rockette. Upon returning to the east coast in 2018, Sarah joined Project31.
Michael Flaherty (2019-2021)
Michaela Flaherty began her dance career in her hometown of Quincy, Ma. She later graduated with her A.A from The Joan Phelps Palladino School of Dance at Dean College in 2012. Michaela has extensive training in modern, jazz, ballet, hip hop, and contemporary dance. She also studied dance composition, dance history, creative movement, anatomy, and kinesiology. Michaela is a former NBA Dancer for the Boston Celtics 2014-2016 under the direction of Marina Ortega. Her most memorable performance took place during the Celtics Dancer’s 10-year reunion halftime show at the TD garden. She has danced and choreographed for various events and shows in the Boston area. Michaela’s passion for dance leads her to a career in fitness. Michaela is Head Coach and Program Manager at Morin’s Strength and Conditioning in Weymouth, Ma.