KARLOVSKY & COMPANY DANCERS
Summer Beasley
Summer began her dance training at the age of 3. She continued on her dance journey through college at Webster University with a BFA in Dance, and Lindenwood University receiving a MFA in movement with an emphasis in theater. She has danced and choreographed across the U.S. and has been working with Dawn Karlovsky since 2004. As a founding member of Karlovsky & Company Dance, Summer has enjoyed the opportunity to tour with the company to France and South Africa. Currently, she teaches dance, creative movement, and yoga at MICDS. Her yoga certificate includes the completion of a 200 hour yoga teacher training with Pam Schulte and a 95 hour children’s yoga teacher training with Lisa Roberts.
Emily Gregg
Emily is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer native to St. Louis. She holds a BA in Dance from Southeast Missouri State University where she also studied and received a BS in Mass Communications. While at SEMO, she had the opportunity to work with several guest artists such as Kristopher Estes-Brown, Jennifer Archibald, Emily Schoen Branch, Emily Haussler, and Mike Esperanza. She has also had the honor to perform in the Big Muddy Dance Festival (St. Louis) in 2022. Throughout her dance career, she has trained all over the St. Louis area in dance, musical theater and voice. She has also received training in various other cities such as Milwaukee, WI, Oklahoma City, OK, and Kalamazoo, MI. Emily is currently the assistant dance team coach for Nerinx Hall, and she is thrilled to be starting her second year with Karlovsky & Company Dance.
Elise Marie Harowitz
Elise (she/her/hers) holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Modern Dance from Texas Christian University and a Master of Arts degree in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling from Columbia College Chicago. Elise is excited to join Karlovsky & Company Dance for her seventh season and is grateful for the opportunities KCD has provided her. Notably, Elise has enjoyed bringing dance to the community of St. Louis, as well as other regions, including France, Minneapolis MN, Kansas City MN, and Columbia MO through outreach programs, educational series, festivals, and concerts. Elise has also presented her original choreography at festivals and concerts in St. Louis MO, Fort Worth TX, and Chicago IL. In addition to dancing and choreographing, Elise works in private practice at Embodied Pathways as a psychotherapist and dance/movement therapist. Elise looks forward to continuing to dance for herself as well as spreading the psychotherapeutic benefits of movement to others.
Abigail Hinrichs
is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher native to St. Louis, Missouri. She holds a BFA from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance where she was inspired to not only perform professionally, but to collaborate and create with a variety of other artists. Abigail currently serves as the Studio Manager at Central Studio and teaches dance and Pilates for all ages throughout the St. Louis area. She is passionate and excited to continue dancing and participating in community outreach with Karlovsky & Company Dance, Collective Motion, and Ballet 314. This is her fifth season with Karlovsky & Company Dance.
Tayler Kinner
Tayler Kinner grew up with a passion for movement and dance. They hold a BFA in Dance and a minor in Advertising & Marketing Communications from Webster University, graduating with departmental honors. Tayler spent several years in San Francisco where she worked with contemporary and dance-theater companies including RAWdance, Alyssandra Katherine Dance, Tim Rubel Human Shakes, KWENTO, REYES Dance, and several independent artists. They are the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Big Plate Dance, offering movement improvisation workshops to the public and bringing spontaneous and immersive works to audiences. She currently is Adjunct Faculty at Webster University and works with Karlovsky & Company Dance and Collective Motion. Tayler lives in St. Louis with their partner and two cats.
Liliana Merifield
Liliana is a 2022 graduate from Lindenwood University and holds a BFA in Dance. Her experience includes over a decade of extensive training and direction from the wonderful faculty at DaySpring Arts and Education. She studied many styles of dance, musical theatre, voice, and drama while at DaySpring. Liliana has been on the dance and performing arts faculty at Dayspring for seven years and loves the community that is found there. She is currently serving as the Performing Arts Department Head at DaySpring and is enjoying her new role. From 2017-2018 Liliana completed a trainee program with Common Thread Contemporary Ballet where she learned and performed company repertoire. Her other artistic endeavors include filmmaking where she had her short film "Upward and Over" featured at ACDA (American Collegiate Dance Association) conferences across the region in 2023. Liliana believes that movement is a gift and she loves to share it with others!
Melissa Miller
Melissa began dancing at The American Academy of Dance under Meredith Hudson in Paris, France. She received a BFA from Belhaven University and additional training from The Jose Limon Dance Foundation in New York under Risa Steinberg, Roxanne D’Orleans Juste, Jim May, and Carla Maxwell.
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She holds an MFA from Hollins University in collaboration with Metheor Physical Theater in Plovdiv, Bulgaria under Jeffery Bullock, Maurya Kerr, Alex Ketley, Molly Rogers, Jonathan Burrows, Boyan Manchev, and Ani Vaseva.
She has performed with the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation with Lori Belilove, Live Arts Opera by Nancy L'Heritier, The Physical Plant with Karesia Batan, Chattanooga Ballet, Chattanooga Dance Theatre, Duncan Dance South, and Ballet Esprit. Miller performed original work at the Hunter Museum of American Art as part of their annual special exhibits for four years and had the honor of creating and teaching the first undergraduate dance course at Covenant College in the fall of 2022 as an Adjunct Professor. She is currently an instructor for the Center of Creative Arts and Vitality in Motion, and is a contributing writer for St Louis Dance HQ. She is excited to be in her first season with Karlovsky & Company Dance!
Emilee Morton
Emilee graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point with a degree in Dance and Arts Administration. She is thrilled to perform in her eighth season with Karlovsky & Company Dance where she's had the opportunity to work in collaborative dance projects in the US and abroad. Currently, Emilee is a full time Pilates instructor and Movement Specialist at St. Louis City Fitness. She is a Balanced Body Pilates certified instructor and has been teaching movement for people with diverse abilities since 2012. Emilee continues her education with a variety of training: Level 1 Precision Nutrition Coach, OOV Fundamentals and OOV on Pilates Apparatus with Dr. Loribeth Cohen, OOV Level 2/3 Afferent/ Efferent with Daniel Vladeta, Pilates and Dance Specialization with Dr. Suzanna Martin, Level 1 Reflexive Performance Reset (RPR) with Jeff Branhall, Immaculate Dissection: Core Concepts with Dr. Kathy Doole, McLoughlin Scar Tissue Release (MSTR®) with Cyndi George.
Ramona Orion
Ramona is a multidisciplinary artist based in St. Louis. She holds a BA in Dance from Webster University where she also studied Psychology and Expressive Art Therapy. While at Webster she had the opportunity to work with Maggi Dueker, Beckah Reed, Xi Zhao, Betsy Brandt, Dawn Karlovsky, Michael Uthoff, and Geoff Alexander. She has participated in Jacob Henss’s Space Station dance residency for three years now, both as a choreographer (2022) and mover as a part of Jakki Kalogridis’s piece I’m Thoreau Waiting (2023). This year she was both assistant producer for the show and a performer in Ty Lewis’s work Turning Points. Ramona has just begun her first season as a company member with Karlovsky & Company Dance. In November she will complete her 200-hour yoga teacher training and is excited to share dance and yoga with the St. Louis movement community
Ashley Mason
Ashley is a native of St. Louis, Missouri who joined the Karlovsky & Company Dance in 2024. She trained for 4 years upon graduation at Webster University Department of Dance in 2019 with a BFA in Dance (emphasis in modern dance). While attending Webster, she had the opportunity to work with the artists such as, Dawn Karlovsky, Michael Uthoff, Xi Zhao, and Maggi Dueker through class and performances with the Webster University Dance Ensemble. In addition, Ashley has performed in the BFA Concerts, the Chinese Cultural Dance Event, and American College Dance Association Regional Conference in Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Minnesota.
Sam Schenkein
began his dance training in 2003 with Irena Brecher and Misha Gabriel in Denver, Colorado, where he danced with a variety of studios and companies including Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble and the Colorado Ballet. He decided to continue his education at Webster University in St Louis, pursuing a BFA in Dance and graduating with Departmental Honors in 2023. He worked with artists including Maggi Dueker, Beckah Reed, Xi Zhao, Betsy Brandt, Dawn Karlovsky, and Michael Uthoff through both class and performances with the Webster University Dance Ensemble. He also had the honor of participating in and performing through residencies with Fiona Lundie (Abby Z and the New Utility), Kurt Douglas (Limón Dance Company), and Rodney Hamilton (Ballet Hispánico), among others. Sam was further given the incredible opportunity to study abroad and perform in Accra, Ghana, learning traditional Ghanaian Dance and Drumming styles. This is Sam’s second season with Karlovsky and Co Dance!
Photo Credits: Carly Vanderheyden Photography