Modern Faculty

Elizabeth Koeppen-Kalosieh, former Associate Artistic Director of Parsons Dance, was born and raised in Virginia Beach, VA, where she began her training with Judith Hatcher and Darlene Kelly. She continued her education at SUNY Purchase where she received her B.F.A. under the instruction of Gayle Young, Larry Clarke, Kevin Wynn, Rosanna Seravalli and Betti-Jane Sills. Teaching credits for The Parsons Dance Company include SUNY Purchase, The Juilliard School, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, The 92nd Street Y, the New Arts Festival, Baltimore School of the Arts, Peridance and Dancespace. Ms. Koeppen has staged works by Mr. Parsons on numerous companies including the Milwaukee Ballet, Dallas Black Dance Theater, Repertory Dance Theater, New York City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Louisville Ballet and Roland Petit’s Ballet National de Marseille. She would like to thank her family and friends for their love and support.  Ms. Koeppen joined The Parsons Dance Company in 1989, and joined the NJDTE modern faculty in 2015.

Bradley Shelver (South Africa) trained at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg and The Ailey School. He has danced with the Alvin Ailey Repertory Company, Elisa Monte Dance Company, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, The Francesca Harper Project, Limón Dance Company, Phoenix Dance Theater (UK); in projects with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co. Lar Lubovich Dance, The Universal Ballet, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Radio City Music Hall; and in productions with the Mark Morris Dance Group. He is an international touring solo artist throughout Europe and the USA and has choreographed works for companies in the USA, Israel, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Italy, including; Ballet Austin, Lustig Dance Theater, Cedar Lake 2, Compania Rio Danca, Cape Dance Company, as well as creating works for The Ailey School, Purchase Conservatory, Long Island University, and the Royal Danish and Royal Swedish Ballet Schools. He is Artistic Director of Bradley Shelver Contemporary Dance Theater, and is on the Faculty of schools and Universities worldwide including the Bartholin Ballet Academy in Denmark, Choreographic Institute in Rio, Brazil, Atebaletto Academy, Italy and Oure Contemporary Dance in Denmark. As a writer, he has written a monthly column for Dance Spirit Magazine. His book, “Performance Through the Dance Technique of Lester Horton” is available on Amazon.com.

Belinda McGuire is an American-Canadian dancer, choreographer, and Artistic Director of Belinda 

McGuire Dance Projects, based in Brooklyn. Her choreography has been supported by the Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, Brooklyn Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and presented across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. A former student of the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, she completed her formal education at The Juilliard School.

Established in 2007, Belinda McGuire Dance Projects (BMDP) supports the research, development, production, and presentation of international and collaborative multidisciplinary dance performance as a means to stimulate the conscientious capacity of wide-ranging publics through exposure to creative experimentation and artistic excellence. Through BMDP, Belinda has commissioned and performed in world premieres by Kate Alton, Sylvain Émard, Andrea Miller, Sharon Moore, Idan Sharabi, Doug Varone, and Emio Greco | Pieter C. Scholten. In 2013, she was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance in The Heist Project. Additionally, Belinda has performed as a company member for Doug Varone and Dancers, Gallim Dance, the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY and The José Limón Dance Company, appearing on stages across Brazil, China, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United States.

Formal residencies for Belinda McGuire Dance Projects include Centre de Création O Vertigo, Éspace Marie Chouinard, International Choreographic Arts Centre Amsterdam, James Sewell Ballet Company, National Ballet of Canada’s Choreographic Workshop, New Dialect, New York State & Province of Quebec Artist-in-Residence Exchange Program, ODC San Francisco, Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, Springboard Danse Montréal and the Bessie Schönberg Residency at the Yard in Martha’s Vineyard. She has taught and choreographed as a guest artist for Brooklyn Ballet, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, École de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal, The Juilliard School, The Limón Institute, Marymount Manhattan College, Canada’s National Ballet School, New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble, Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and State University of New York at Purchase.

Kate Skarpetowska started dancing at age 13 in her native city of Warsaw, Poland. Two years later, she was cast in a first-ever Polish musical entitled METRO. Directed and choreographed by Janusz Jozefowicz with music by Janusz Stoklosa, the show was an instant hit at the Dramatic Theater in Warsaw. On April 16th, 1992, the show had its Broadway premiere at The Minskoff Theater where now 15-year-old Skarpetowska was the youngest cast member. After the show closed, Skarpetowska enrolled in the NYC High School of Performing Arts, graduating in 1995, and then went on to study at the prestigious Juilliard School under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy. After graduating with a BFA in Dance, she immediately joined Parsons Dance Company, where from 1999 until 2006 she performed lead roles in the company’s repertory, including the iconic Caught. From 2006 until 2008, Skarpetowska was a guest member of The Battleworks Dance Company, founded by her former colleague at Parsons Dance and the present artistic director of The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Robert Battle. In 2007, she was one of two featured dancers during the Glimmerglass Opera Festival, and in 2008 she toured Italy with Why Be Extraordinary If You Can Be Yourself, a show by Daniel Ezralow. In 2009, she co-designed and co-directed Romeo and Juliet for The Gunter Theater in Greenville, SC. Since 2007, she has been working for The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, performing at many reputable venues such as New York City’s City Center, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center and Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater. Skarpetowska has also appeared as a guest artist with Buglisi Dance Theater since 2009. She has had the privilege of working as a repetiteur and assistant to the choreographer for Lar Lubovitch, David Parsons and Robert Battle, setting works on AAADT, Introdans, Company C, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, SUNY Purchase, and The Juilliard School. Her own choreography has been performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater II, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Parsons Dance, Buglisi Dance Theater, Hubbard Street 2, Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, Big Muddy Dance Company, Patricia Kenny Dance Collection, Ailey/Fordham, Marymount Manhattan College, George Mason University, Ohio University, Kansas University and New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble. Skarpetowska is also a freelance teacher holding workshops throughout the world. She resides in New York City.

Fabrice Lamego joined Elisa Monte Dance 1998 as a dancer and has served as Rehearsal Director and Assistant to the Director for the company. Fabrice has won acclaim for his technical and artistic proficiency and for the energy and sheer joy that infuses his performances. An alumnus of the Alvin Ailey School, which he attended on a French government scholarship, Fabrice also won First Prize in the 1996 National Competition of Dance in Paris. Fabrice has taught dance in New York; New Jersey; Barbados; Bratislava, Slovak Republic; Lyon, France; Paris, France; London, UK; and Guadeloupe French West Indies. Fabrice has danced in Russia, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Singapore, The Philippines, Barbados, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Brazil, London, and through out the United States. Fabrice has created a work for the Elisa Monte Dance Company as well as works for the Ailey School, and his works Requiem and L’Envol are in the NJDTE Repertory. He is currently the director of Pilates Pour Tous Studio.