Dancers
Sarah Andrews was born and raised in Northeastern Connecticut, and is passionate about the arts, fitness, and plants! Sarah began dancing at the age of 3 but found her love for the arts when she became a student at The Complex Performing and Creative Arts Centre at age 10. She went on to graduate from Rhode Island College with her degree in Arts Administration and has been working as the Studio Manager as well as a member of the dance faculty at The Complex for the past 5 years. During this time, she has begun developing her teaching practice and has fallen in love with the administrative side of the arts.
She is also currently working toward becoming a certified yoga instructor. In her free time, you can probably find her re-decorating her living room or forcing her cats to snuggle.
After a 3-year performance hiatus, Sarah is so excited to get back to dancing with the company!
Scilla Bennett began dancing in Long Beach, CA after a running injury forced her to try a new activity. She fell in love during her very first class, and never ran again. After moving to Boston, she has performed with Boston Bollywood, Jenny Oliver, Molly Wheat, and OnStage Dance Company. A lover of all the arts, Scilla also enjoys painting, drawing, crafting, and writing. Her classic Virgo nature means that she’s always working hard to improve, and she especially enjoys the process of creation.
Laporsha Dees - Hi my name is Laporsha and I have been dancing since I was about 6 years old. I’ve trained in almost every dance style but my favorite style would have to be Hip Hop and Modern. Fun fact, in college I was Captain for a Caribbean dance team!
Lindsay Gibbons is a New England-based dancer and choreographer. She graduated summa cum laude from Keene State College, receiving bachelor’s degrees in both psychology and dance with a specialization in choreography and performance. While at Keene State College, she trained under Cynthia McLaughlin, Sarah Lass, Molly Fletcher-Lynch and Meredith Bove. She has had the pleasure of performing in the original work of Jesse Jean Stinett, Boris Willis and Ellen Oliver, among others. She is also a member of Collective Moments Dance Company. Outside of performing, she works full-time as a teacher’s assistant for a public high school while also teaching and choreographing for local dance studios. Lindsay’s choreography aims to explore topics of personal importance through dynamic movements, risk taking and creativity. She seeks to honor her dancers as individuals while simultaneously offering them a safe space to step outside their comfort zones. She is thrilled to be dancing with Tess Soairise Dance Company for a second season of meeting, learning and creating with other local artists!
Tess Saoirse Liddy is a Boston-based dancer and choreographer. Tess teaches ABA in the Boston Public School System, as well as Creative Dance and Ballet/Tap at Tony Williams Dance Center, and is an instructional coach at the Boston Ballet School's Adaptive Dance Program. Tess is a company member of Kinetic Synergy Dance Company as well as the founder of TSDC and is passionate about creating work on the individual dancer's body so that all involved are comfortable and confident in the movement.
Gwen McGovern is a Massachusetts-based dancer and has been dancing since the age of 3 at New England Dance Academy under Stephanie Kemp, Hope Specht, and Jill D’Aguanno. After graduating high school Gwen moved to New York City and studied at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy under Lars Rosager, Janine Aloisi, and Oren Korenblum. She also studied at Dean College under Todd Shanks and Kristina Berger. She now teaches at many different studios across Massachusetts and Rhode Island while also finding her way into the Boston dancing community where she continues to perform in many local settings. She most recently became a member of Fourth Dimension Tap Company outside of Boston, MA, and is so excited to be joining Collective Moments!
Sophia Sabaten is from East Haven, CT and began her dance career with ballroom dance at the age of 11 at Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Hamden, CT. She then continued her dance education at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, CT, where she was introduced to modern dance. There, she choreographed her senior piece on the ideas of partnership and also became a member of ECA’s Repertory Dance Company under the direction of Nazorine Ulysse. She then attended Roger Williams University, earning a B.S. in Architecture and minors in Dance and Business. Being passionate in ballroom dance, she continued competing at the collegiate level, becoming a top finalist under RWU Ballroom. Serving as their Vice President her senior year, Sophia found joy in instructing ballroom technique, and because of that passion, she has continued to volunteer with teaching at Northeastern University’s Ballroom Club. Currently, she is working towards her Master’s of Architecture degree at Northeastern, where she hopes to one day design her own dance studio and better integrate the dynamics of movement and space together. Sophia is very grateful for this opportunity and is excited for the work and creation ahead!
Shirin Kuppusamy (she/her) identifies as a dancer, teacher, engineer, biologist, and lifelong learner from Atlanta, GA now residing in Boston, MA. She has extensive training in Kathak, Bollywood, Modern, and Contemporary with experience in Jazz, Ballet, and Hip Hop. Growing up she trained at Nritya Natya Kala Bharti Dance Academy and at North Atlanta Dance Academy. Upon moving to Boston for college, she's loved dancing with several college dance teams - including Olin Dance Ensemble which she co-founded with fellow TSDC company member Annabelle Platt. Post graduation, she's danced with Pantos Project Dance Ensemble, Izizwe Dance Collective, and Collective Moments Dance Company, alongside work as an independent artist and dance educator. She loves dance as a way to disconnect and release after a long day and as a form of communication. Her choreography is rooted in gesture and collaborative movement, embracing the nuance of dance beyond technique, while still valuing the details. Outside of dance, she is a computer scientist by day and loves playing with her friends' dogs and cats - though she's unfortunately yet to get her own!
Corey Stanely hails from Northeastern Connecticut where has has spent half his life devoted to the arts. Corey was a student at The Complex Performing Arts Centre where he began as a student of theatre, and wasn’t until his late teens that he started dancing. But that hasn’t stopped him from pursuing a career in dance and performance. He went on to attend Western Connecticut State University where he studied Theatre with a focus on performance and design. He earned some credits as a scenic artist during his time there, where his work took him to the Kennedy Centre American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) where he won for his work done as a scenic charge.
After college and COVID-19, Corey redirected his focus to his teaching practices and began working at The Complex. He has been teaching there for 3 years on the dance, theatre, and art staff. Corey takes pride in being an interdisciplinary artist, with a focus on creating work that feels good for the body and mind.
He can also be seen touring New England with The Catnip Junkies, a New Orleans-style jazz group with a mission to bring joy with song and dance. He works as a tap dancer and frontman. Some recent credits: The Rhythm and Roots Music Festival, and Bristol RI Porchfest.
Corey’s dance focus is in contemporary, hip hop, musical theatre jazz, and tap!
He is so excited to be joining Collective Movements, and wants to thank Kaylee for letting him be a part of her mission! “
Lisa Giancola hails from small town, Boylston, MA and began dancing at the age of 3 at Karen Jean White School of Dance. She continued her love and passion for dance at Dean College, where she graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Dance. She has had the pleasure to work and perform with New England companies, Ballet Art’s Worcester, Boylston’s Calliope, Stylized Movement, Kinetic Synergy Dance Company, the Ipswich Moving Company, United Tek’Nekz and OnStage Dance Company. Lisa is the Director of Early Childhood Programs at Joanne Langione Dance Center and is also Co-Artistic Director of Boston Based dance company, Evolve Dynamicz. Founded in 2015, Evolve has had the privilege to present works all over New England, including NACHMO NYC and Boston, Southern Vermont Dance Festival, Boston Dance Theater’s trainee showcase of BTDx, and the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival. Evolve has produced three full length shows, SPACES: an Evolve Dynamicz Production (2017), circumnavigation (2018), and LUCIDITY (2019). Lisa hopes to carry her love of dancing, teaching and choreographing onto her JLDC students and company dancers each and every day!
Nicole Zizzi was born and raised in Buffalo, New York where she started dancing at the age of 2 at Eugenia’s Dance Studio. She trained in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, and Polish Heritage dancing. At the age of 18, Nicole started school at the University of Rochester where she studied Physics and Dance. At Rochester, she trained in contemporary with mentor Missy Pfohl Smith—artistic director of BIODANCE and director of Program of Dance and Movement at the University of Rochester. After graduating college, Nicole moved to the Boston area where she quickly found herself immersed in the rich and vibrant Boston dance community. In October 2015 Nicole and her dance partner, Lisa Giancola, founded their own company; Evolve Dynamicz. Since its founding, the company has performed at events across the Boston metropolitan area as well as in New York City. Nicole is currently pursuing a Master's of Architecture at Northeastern University where she is involved in the research of notational systems used in choreography; specifically looking at the works of Merce Cunningham and William Forsythe. She has dreams of one day becoming an architect— merging her passions for the arts and sciences. Nicole is so excited to be part of Collective Moments Dance and can't wait to see how the company grows!