2026 Masterclass Artists

Marisa Bianan (she/her) obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Western Michigan University in April 2018. Through her studies, Marisa had the privilege to work with leading choreographers, including Jeremy Blair, Monique Haley, Carolyn Pavlik, and Brendan Duggan. Since graduating, Marisa has presented various choreographic works in the Midwest, including at the 2019 RADFest and Inaside’s Summer 2022 in-person/virtual hybrid concert. Recent accolades include becoming a finalist for the 2021 Maggie Allesee Choreography Competition; receiving a commission to create a new work for Western Michigan University’s First Year Performance class, which premiered in February 2022; and, being accepted into the 2023 + 2024 Detroit Dance City Festival Choreographer’s Showcase. Most notably, she received the 2024 Detroit Dance City Festival's Best Choreographer Award and presented at the 2025 Festival. Marisa stepped into the role of Artistic Director with Wellspring in 2024 and is excited to continue sharing her artistic vision with the Southwest Michigan dance community. 2025-2026 will be Marisa’s eighth season with Wellspring.

Kelsey Paschich is a dancer, choreographer, and interdisciplinary artist working in creation and collaboration with new media. She integrates contemporary dance with emerging technologies to develop new modes of choreography and performance. She has performed internationally with companies including Moscow State Classical Ballet, DCDC2, Thodos Dance Chicago, River North Chicago Dance Company, and ARCOS Dance, interpreting works by renowned choreographers such as Robert Battle, José Limón, Ann Reinking, Johan Renvall, Robert Moses, Lar Lubovitch, Tamir Ginz, amongst many others. Holding an MFA from the University of New Mexico and a BFA from Point Park University, Paschich serves as Associate Professor of Innovation in Dance at Western Michigan University and is a certified Countertechnique® teacher who has taught for companies like Ballet Preljocaj (France), SCDT (Chicago), EDD (Detroit), Dance Kaleidoscope (IN), and others as well as institutions across four continents. As a choreographer, she explores the boundary between real and surreal through work harmonizing dance with digital innovation, particularly AI, motion capture, and film, with her creations presented globally throughout Asia, Europe, Canada, and the U.S. Her contributions have earned her the WMU Presidential Innovation Professorship Award, invitations to the Choreographic Coding Lab in Cologne, the Creative Living for Dancers Award in Brussels, and her multimedia solo "Trio of Duality" premiered at the Seoul International Dance Festival in Korea.

 A mover, dance-maker, researcher and educator, Gina Laurenzi earned her MFA from the University of WI - Milwaukee. With roots in jazz dance and contemporary ballet, Laurenzi’s professional dance career began in Chicago. In Milwaukee, Laurenzi’s performance career expanded as a contemporary company dancer with Danceworks Performance MKE and Wild Space Dance Company. In 2015, Gina created the Gina Laurenzi Dance Project to  develop her own choreographic ideas alongside a collective of artist collaborators. Originally from Southeast Wisconsin, Gina was previously a Co-artistic Director at Danceworks and dance lecturer at the University of WI - Milwaukee. Laurenzi aims to craft curious and dynamic interdisciplinary works of dance that spark wonder, and invite reflection; recent choreographic work explores awe, and the human impact on the planet. Laurenzi is presently an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

The Druid Drummer is an unorthodox solo percussion act from Kalamazoo, The Druid Drummer creates primal soundscapes that serve as self-expression and as a call to the audience’s own inner rhythm. His performances have been described as “the human spirit embodied as sound.”

Betty Kondo, originally from Bowie, Maryland, has been a professional dancer for over 15 years. She received her training at Maryland Youth Ballet and spent several summers participating in summer programs throughout the country. She began her professional career with Orlando Ballet and has since performed with many classical and contemporary ballet companies including Kansas City Ballet, Eugene Ballet, and Owen/Cox Dance Group. Some of her favorite performances include works by Gerald Arpino, Twyla Tharp, Trey McIntyre, Anthony Tudor, Jerome Robbins, Donald McKayle, William Whitener, Ib Anderson and Toni Pimble. She has competed and won high medals in the American Dance Competition as well as the Helsinki International Ballet Competition. In addition to performing, she has over ten years of experience teaching ballet, pointe, contemporary, conditioning, and choreography. She feels honored to serve as the Artistic Director at Ballet Arts Ensemble and is thrilled to inspire the next generation of dancers to fall in love with ballet.

Elijah Alhadji Gibson, dance educator, choreographer, and activist, is the Artistic Director of Social Movement Contemporary Dance Theater, a Houston based professional dance company he founded in 2019 after an international career as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer and a long-standing career in Higher Education. Gibson is also on faculty at Texas A&M University and serves as Assistant Professor for the BS in Dance Science and Dance Minor. Originally from San Diego, California, he began dancing with the San Diego Civic Dance Association and attended the San Diego School for the Performing Arts. Gibson studied dance in college and later earned his Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He has been on faculty and has held residencies at several universities across the nation. Gibson’s work has received critical acclaim and has been performed by invitation at the Kennedy Center and Jacob's Pillow.

Megan Mazarick is a Philadelphia-based choreographer and performer known for blending movement, theater, and text. Her choreographic style is an exploration of identity and the human experience, often weaving personal narratives into her performances. Her work has been presented throughout the United States and in Singapore, Bulgaria, Hungary, Egypt, Poland, Mexico, and Australia. Megan’s solo old swan won the Audience Award at the 2022 Gdansk Solo Dance Festival and she was selected as a resident artist at the 2024 Festival. She has received support from an Independence Fellowship, Live Arts Brewery Residency, Map Fund, and various American Embassies abroad. As an organizer, she developed a free dance program for the nEW Festival and co-produced the By Chance Festival in Cairo in 2015. She has performed with Merian Soto, David Gordon, Silvana Cardell, Susan Rethorst, and Black Box Dance Theater. She has taught technique, improvisation, and composition in festivals and universities around the world. Megan is currently an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Dance at Rider University in NJ.

Lucy Dillon is a dance artist investigating the utility of movement for claiming embodied agency. Her work declares aliveness and unapologetic presence by researching precarity, impulse, and gravity in the body. Lucy has shown her work in dance festivals nationally – including: KoDaFe at Ailey Citigroup Theater (New York), Dance City Festival (Chicago), Broad Statements Festival (Berkeley), and Ohio Dance Festival. She has been an artist-in-residence and/or teacher at Levy Dance, Iowa Choreography Festival, DanceBARN Festival, and SAFEhouse Arts. Lucy danced professionally with Malashock Dance Company and Polaris Dance Theater, and currently dances with Abby Z & The New Utility. Lucy’s work urgently seeks resilience and intimacy – activating a need to connect to our bodies and one another to survive. She has an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University, and has trained at ImPulsTanz as an ATLAS Choreographer.

Jacob Regan is a movement improviser and dance researcher who holds an MFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University and BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography and a minor in philosophy from East Carolina University. His ongoing fascinations revolve around theorizing about movement improvisation; wondering what are necessary and sufficient conditions for understanding “what is dance;” and determining what it means to improvise without free will. Jacob views dance as a synthesis between artistry and athleticism and believes in the facilitation of creative environments conducive to fostering autonomous artists. He is currently on faculty at Sam Houston State University.

Seyong Kim, Associate Professor of Dance at Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI) and International Visiting Professor at Sung-shin Women's University (Seoul, South Korea), holds an MA in Dance Education from New York University. He is a CMA (Certified Movement Analyst), a RSDE (Registered Somatic Dance Educator), a PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique) Certified Teacher, and an ABT® Certified Teacher (Primary through Level 7 of the American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum). Seyong has taught for the University of Georgia, Rutgers University, John Hopkins University, Randolph College, American College Dance Association (ACDA), Alabama Dance Festival, Grand Rapids Ballet, Ballet 5:8 Chicago, and Eisenhower Dance Detroit. Seyong has danced with the Metropolitan Opera in Lincoln Center, Albania National Ballet Theatre, Traverse City Dance Project, TAKE Dance, and Oakland Ballet Company. His choreographic works have been presented at Landestheater Coburg in Germany, JueDai Taipei International Dance Festival, International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City, ProArteDanza in Canada, Battery Dance Festival, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, American Dance Guild Festival, Washington International Dance Festival, Detroit Dance City Festival, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, CrossCurrent Asian American Dance Festival, and Movement Research at the Judson Church. Currently, Seyong is a resident choreographer with Wise Ballet Theater in Seoul, South Korea.

Originally from Ann Arbor, MI, Will Brighton graduated summa cum laude from Western Michigan University in 2020 with a B.F.A. in Dance and a B.A. in English. While at WMU, he performed works by Yin Yue, Christian Denice, BAIRA, George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor, and others. After graduating, Will moved to Saint Louis, Missouri to join Saint Louis Dance Theatre, where he has performed works by Jiří Kylián, Sidra Bell, Omar Román de Jesús, Norbert de la Cruz III, Brian Enos, Joshua Peugh, and many others. He has also appeared as a guest artist with Saint Louis Ballet (2021) and MADCO (2025). Will’s choreography has been commissioned by Young Dancers Initiative (2020), Eisenhower Dance Detroit’s NewDANCEfest (2021), Space Station Dance Residency (2023), and Resilience Dance Company (2025). His works have also been presented by ACDA East-Central Conference (2020), The Big Muddy Dance Fest (2021), MADCO’s Dare to Dance Festival (2024), and Saint Louis Contemporary Dance Festival (2025).

 Wildflower Collective is a contemporary dance company founded by Dale Ratcliff and Nikki Theroux. The two began their collaboration in 2019, premiering their debut duet, Symbiosis, across various locations in New York City. Both Ratcliff and Theroux have received extensive training in Gaga and other contemporary dance styles, refining their craft through studies and performances in New York, Tel Aviv, Berlin, and Amsterdam. Wildflower Collective has presented their work at notable venues including Dixon Place, The Craft, Brooklyn Art Haus, and The Art Shelter. Currently, the company is in the process of developing a new duet, The Art of Carrying, with support from Moulin/Belle in France and Brooklyn Arts Council for its expansion in 2025.