Susan Gillis (Faculty Advisor)
Susan Gillis received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from the University of Utah and a Master of Education degree from the University of Pittsburgh. While in New York City she danced with Virginia Laidlaw Dance Theater and the Shoestring Dance Ensemble. Former director and dancer with the Pittsburgh Dance Alloy, Susan has been producing her choreography independently and in collaboration with dancer/choreographer Judy Steel for the past 30 years. She has been the recipient of several choreography and video grants from the PA Council On the Arts, the Pittsburgh Dance Council, the Howard Heinz Foundation and the Pittsburgh Foundation. Her choreography has been seen on Public Television and her article "Developing Skills in Dance" was published in Focus on Dance XII, a 1992 National Dance Association publication. More recently she has developed the "Arts Education Project" which offers multisensory teaching seminars on the history of dance and has created "The Early Moderns" a multi-media CD-ROM on early modern dance history from 1880-1935. Susan's dance history tutorial can be found on the Web at: The Early Modern Tutorial. She is also the 2006 PA State Teacher of the Year for Dance/University level, the 2008 Eastern District Association Teacher of the Year for Dance/University level and her chapter on Introduction to Dance was recently published in "Diversity Across the Curriculum" (May 2007) by Jossey-Bass/Ankor Press.
Hannah Cramer
Hannah Cramer is currently a junior at Pitt and studying to become an elementary school teacher through Pitt’s C.A.S.E. program. She started dancing at the age of 4 at Laurel Arts Dance Center and continued until the age of 18. She was part of Laurel Art’s Performance Company for 6 years and competed at various locations with her team. Through this company, she was able to take classes at New York City’s Broadway Dance Center as well as go to workshops such as Monsters of Hip Hop and Contemporary. These workshops allowed her to work with choreographers such as Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo, Kevin Maher, Laura Edwards, Rhapsody, Jamal Simms, Marty Kudelka, Quest Crew, and many more. These workshops opened and expanded her mind to all of the different styles of dance, and she was thrilled to find a club that catered to practically all of them. PDE helped Hannah remember why she loved dance so much and she has made some of the most wonderful friends along the way. She is honored to be part of the board and hopes to continue to keep this organization successful and most importantly a lot of fun!
Gracie Perry
Gracie is a senior at Pitt, graduating this spring with a B.S. in psychology, minors in dance and music, and a leadership certificate. She has been dancing all around the Boston area since she was three, and more recently, here at Pitt. Most of her training was at West Concord Dance Academy, where she was a member of Senior Company and studied ballet, jazz, and pointe. She has also assisted in teaching classes at both her studio and Concord Academy Summer Camp in Concord, MA, and at the Academy of Dance by Lori in Mt. Lebanon, PA. Gracie has also participated as a dancer in various musicals, such as Miss Saigon. Gracie has been choreographing pieces for PDE since her sophomore year, mostly of the jazz and contemporary variety. She will be TAing Dance Production II in the Spring 2013 semester. Gracie also enjoys designing advertisements for the organization, and is grateful for the opportunity to put her Photoshop skills to good use. She strives to make PDE something fun and rewarding for all students who want to be involved.
Elisha Singh
Elisha is a senior at Pitt majoring in Global Management, concentrating in Marketing and Social Media. She has been dancing since the age of four in a variety of styles. She loves to learn new techniques and dance styles, but she always goes back to ballet. She was a dance teacher for Pottstown Dance Theatre throughout her high school years, mostly teaching preschool and elementary age kids. She has also performed the Nutcracker every year for 11 years before attending college and it is her favorite ballet to watch. She hopes to help get more students interested in PDE and to find different dance style teachers for the classes on Tuesdays. Her favorite thing about PDE is the wide range of dance styles that the students are exposed to. She is looking forward to a another great year with PDE!
Joelle DeNisi
Joelle is a sophomore at Pitt planning to major in Clinical Dietetics and Nutrition with a minor in Dance. She began dancing at age two at Laura Lynn School of Dance in Gibsonia, PA. She took classes, competed and performed with the competition team around the Pittsburgh area. Joelle was also a part of the Pine Richland High School Dance Team that performed at high school sporting events and various camps. She choreographed and taught all dance styles at her studio and high school. PDE has allowed her to expand her dance experience through classes and performance opportunities while making amazing friends. She is very excited to be a part of the board and possibly choreograph for future performances.
Emma Chamas
Emma is a sophomore majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology. She has been dancing since she was three at Pittsburgh DancExplosion and DancExplosion Arts Center, where she also worked as a teacher. Emma was a member of her studio's company for nine years. She attended many competitions and conventions where she took class from choreographers including, Marissa Osato, Travis Wall, and Caroline Lewis. Emma attended the Evolve Productions Intensive for two summers where she worked with choreographers from the Pittsburgh area including Sarah Parker, Pearlann Porter, and Gustavo Zajac. PDE allows Emma to keep learning and growing as a dancer. She is excited to be a part of the board, and is ready for another great semester of dancing!
Tawny Husosky
Tawny is a freshman at Pitt intending to double major in psychology and sociology and minor in administration of justice. She started dancing when she was 7 at West Side Dance Academy and continued at Dance Center West, both in Scranton, Pennsylvania before finding her way to Pitt. She has studied various styles including jazz, tap, contemporary, and ballet and also got the chance to perform various cultural pieces with Dance Center West including a Riverdance adaptation, Tarantella, and a Polynesian piece. She also demonstrated for the 2-3 year old class where she gained leadership experience and patience. She feels that she has grown very much as a dancer through PDE and loves the opportunity to see and perform in various pieces and styles. She is honored to be a part of the board and the PDE family!
Aubrey Zoe
Aubrey Sherretta has over 14 years of dance training. Initially she focused in jazz under the instruction of choreographer Jim Bunting, who danced for many seasons with the Koresh Dance Company, and now choreographs and works with the University of the Arts and Drexel University. She then became more concentrated in ballet, training intensively under Barbara Sandonato, who was the first principal dancer employed by the Pennsylvania Ballet at its founding.
Aubrey decided to earn her high school diploma online through PA Cyber in order to dedicate 40 hours a week to pre-professional training at the Barbara Sandoato School of Ballet, and was hired by the Pennsylvania Ballet for productions such as Cinderella and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. During this time she spent two years training as an instructor under the supervision of Mrs. Sandonato.
After stepping away from ballet for two years to focus on college and other endeavors, Aubrey returned to dance with the University of Pittsburgh Dance Ensemble in 2011. She first performed with the ensemble in the fall of 2011, and was voted to the executive board in spring of 2012.
Aubrey decided to earn her high school diploma online through PA Cyber in order to dedicate 40 hours a week to pre-professional training at the Barbara Sandoato School of Ballet, and was hired by the Pennsylvania Ballet for productions such as Cinderella and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. During this time she spent two years training as an instructor under the supervision of Mrs. Sandonato.
After stepping away from ballet for two years to focus on college and other endeavors, Aubrey returned to dance with the University of Pittsburgh Dance Ensemble in 2011. She first performed with the ensemble in the fall of 2011, and was voted to the executive board in spring of 2012.
Lindsey Osborne
Lindsey Osborne is a junior pursuing a major in English literature, a minor in dance, and a children’s literature certificate, and this is her second year on the Board. She has studied various forms of dance, including musical theater, ballet, jazz, contemporary and modern, since she was 9 years old. She has been a coach for dance students at her former studio as well as the colorguard captain and the dance captain and a featured dancer in her high school’s annual musical. Upon arriving at Pitt, she was ecstatic to find a club that both challenged and improved her dance skills and taught her about a wide array of dance styles. PDE has given her the dance and performance opportunities that allow her to thrive, and she loves how many different dance styles PDE exposes to students. She is looking forward to another great year with all the fabulous dancers and hopes to continue helping make PDE the best club it can be.
Emily Cramer
Emily Cramer is currently a sophomore at Pitt studying German and Non-fiction Writing in hopes of becoming a teacher. She has been dancing since the age of 4 and is very excited about dancing with the Pitt Dance Ensemble again this year. Emily danced with the Laurel Arts Dance Center growing up where she traveled and performed as a member of the Senior Performance Company Team. Through Laurel Arts, she was able to teach dance class to preschoolers and first graders. Also, she was fortunate enough to choreograph a Christmas Show called the “Rhythms of Christmas” her senior year of high school. She has been trained in ballet, tap and jazz and has a little experience with contemporary and hip hop. Emily enjoys tap the most and will be choreographing another tap piece for the spring show this year. Outside of the studio Emily enjoys being a Resident Assistant and a member of the Pitt German Club.
Lauren Burgess
Lauren Burgess is a junior at Pitt. She is a double major in Communications and History of Art and Architecture with a minor in Studio Arts. Lauren has been dancing untrained since she could walk and began taking classes at 13 years old. She trained at the Diane Matthews School of Dance Arts in the styles of ballet, jazz, hip-hop and modern. On campus, Lauren is also involved with the Ballet Club and has performed and choreographed for several of their shows. She is really interested in dance as a means of telling stories and connecting people. Lauren is very happy to be a part of the Pitt Dance Ensemble because it provides a wonderful outlet for self-expression and connection to others through art. She is looking forward to more fun and dance with this awesome group of people in the future!
