The International premiere of TAPESTRY, a dance-theater collaboration between Karlovsky & Company Dance and Divadlo Štúdio Tanca of Slovakia opening March 21-22 at The Grandel Theatre
STAGED – New Works in Contemporary and Experimental Dance
November 21-22, 2025
7:30pm
The Grandel
3610 Grandel Square
St. Louis, MO 63103
Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, the Regional Arts Commission, The Kranzberg Arts Foundation, and by private donors.
Karlovsky & Company Dance
Company Members and Choreographers
Dawn Karlovsky
Founder / Director
DAWN KARLOVSKY is the Founder and Director of Karlovsky & Company Dance. Her thought-provoking, athletic, and emotionally candid dances have been commissioned and presented by universities and modern dance/theatre companies nationally and worldwide. International credits include Le Théatre du Rouret and Cie Haute Tension in France, Tsinghua University in Beijing, New World Dance Theatre in South Africa, Divadlo Štúdio tanca in Banka Bystrica, Slovakia, and served as an Artist in Residence at Moulin Belle in France.
A native of Chicago, Dawn came in St. Louis after dancing with companies in San Francisco, Louisville, and Chicago. Additionally, Karlovsky is a 5th generation Isadora Duncan dancer who has been studying and performing the Duncan repertoire with Dr. Alice Bloch since 2005. She has an MFA from the University of Utah and a BA from Northern Illinois University.
Dawn teaches at Washington University and in the Department of Dance at Webster University in St. Louis. She is a nationally certified teaching member of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT) since 2004 and Chair of AmSAT's Committee for the Alexander Technique in the Performing Arts (CATPA). Dawn is a recipient of an Artist Fellowship in dance awarded by The Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.
Summer Beasley
Assistant Director - Education Coordinator
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.
Liliana Merifield
Company Member and Choreographer
has trained for over a decade at DaySpring Arts and Education, studying ballet, modern, jazz, tap, musical theatre, voice, and acting. From 2017 to 2018, she was a trainee with Common Thread Contemporary Ballet, focusing on modern techniques and performing company repertoire. She earned her BFA in Dance from Lindenwood University in 2022, working with choreographers such as Madison Hicks, Nsquared Dance, Lindsay Hawkins, and Tricia Zweier.
Liliana has performed at regional festivals including the Big Muddy Dance Festival, Midwest RadFest, the American Collegiate Dance Association, St. Louis Fringe Festival, and Seen: STL. In 2024, she presented her original work The Well-Being of All Life and Creations, Organic or Otherwise at The Red Gate Gallery in St. Louis. The following year she toured internationally in Slovakia with Karlovsky & Company Dance in collaboration with Divadlo Štúdio Tanca. Her creative work also includes dance filmmaking—her short film Upward and Over was featured in ACDA’s Screendance category. Now in her fourth season with Karlovsky & Company Dance, Liliana also serves as Performing Arts Department Head at DaySpring Arts and Education.
Emily Gregg
Company Member
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 third year with Karlovsky & Company Dance.
Melissa Miller
Company Member and
Choreographer
Melissa began her dance training at The American Academy of Dance in Paris, France, under the direction of Meredith Hudson. She went on to earn a BFA from Belhaven University and pursued additional training with the José Limón Dance Foundation in New York.
She also holds an MFA in dance from Hollins University, in partnership with Metheor Physical Theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Miller has performed with the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation under Lori Belilove, Live Arts Opera directed by Nancy L'Heritier, The Physical Plant with Karesia Batan, Chattanooga Ballet, Chattanooga Dance Theatre, Duncan Dance South, and Ballet Esprit. Her original work was featured for four consecutive years at the Hunter Museum of American Art’s annual special exhibitions.
She is a teaching artist at the Center for Creative Arts, a contributing writer for St. Louis Dance HQ, and a company performer at Karlovsky & Company Dance.
Elise Harowitz
Choreographer / Education Assistant
(she/her) is a choreographer, movement educator, and somatic therapist whose work embodies curiosity, connection, and embodied awareness. She holds a BFA in Modern Dance from Texas Christian University and an MA in Dance/Movement Therapy & Counseling from Columbia College Chicago. Elise currently maintains a private practice in St. Louis, providing dance/movement therapy, psychotherapy, and Somatic Experiencing for individuals and families.
Elise danced professionally with Leverage Dance Theater and spent eight years performing with Karlovsky & Company Dance. She continues her long-standing collaboration with the company through educational programming, community engagement, and choreographic projects in St. Louis and abroad—including in France, Slovakia, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Columbia, and Chicago. Her original choreography has been presented at festivals and concerts throughout St. Louis, Fort Worth, and Chicago. Rooted in curiosity and embodied awareness, Elise’s creative process explores the nuances of human experience. She is honored to contribute new choreography for STAGED.
Zoe DeYoung
Company Member
Zoe (she/her) is a movement artist and creative from St. Louis, Missouri. Taught first by her grandmother, Judy Briscuso, Zoe went on to earn degrees in Dance and Journalism from Webster University, performing works by Pilobolus and Abby Z and the New Utility. She has trained and collaborated with artists Xi Zhao, Dawn Karlovsky, Maggi Dueker, Tayler Kinner and Eve Mason, and studied under artists Beckah Reed, Betsy Brandt and Kirven Douthit-Boyd, among others. Zoe has performed as a guest artist and collaborator with choreographer Tú Hóang at American Dance Festival, Ellie Harrsion in SpaceStation Dance Residency, Josiah Gunderson and Renée Austin in Resilience Dance Company’s Collective Realities, and with Marlee Doniff in Chew & Spit. Her choreography has been featured at the American College Dance Association (ACDA) conference, and her movement philosophy draws from somatics and subtle energy, social dance and the written word. Zoe is honored to begin her first season as a company member with Karlovsky & Company Dance for their 2025-2026 season.
Abigail Hinrichs
Company Member
Abbie is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher native to St. Louis, Missouri. She earned her BFA from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance where an excitement for experimental theater, music, and dance was born. Since her return home, Abbie has taught dance all over the St. Louis region but has spent most of that time at Central Studio where her teaching career has grown under the mentorship of Mary Ellen Bryan. As a complement to teaching dance, Abbie earned her Pilates certification in 2019 to provide another avenue of movement and healing to her students. She currently serves on the board of Community Arts STL; a non-profit dedicated to building a healthier St. Louis by providing transportation and tuition scholarships for youth interested in arts education. Abbie has danced professionally for nine seasons with Karlovsky & Company Dance and seven seasons with Ballet 314. Outside of company work, Abbie has performed and choreographed in freelance projects with Tayler Kinner (Big Plate Dance), Laura Roth, Morgan Cameron, and more. If she’s not dancing or teaching, you can find Abbie at home with her partner and cats in their South City backyard turned wildflower prairie.
Ramona Orion
Company Member
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 second 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
Tayler Kinner
Company Member
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.
Sam Schenkein
Company Member
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 third season with Karlovsky and Co Dance!
Ashley Mason
Company Member
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.
Mary Ann Rund
Choreographer
Mary Ann Rund, MFA, SME, IDME is an educator, dance artist, and mentor in the fields of dance and somatic movement. Her MFA is from the Florida State University School of Dance and her post-post graduate work was in NYC. She has taught for several decades in St. Louis at institutions including Washington University, Webster University and MICDS. Once a member of Burning Feet Contemporary Dance and Gash/Voigt Dance Theatre, Mary Ann has worked with Dawn Karlovsky on many varied projects as choreographer, performer and collaborator. Her current work has been informed by the somatic discipline of Body-Mind Centering®, for which she has been certified as Somatic Movement Educator and Infant Developmental Movement Educator.
Honored to be working with Dawn, K&CD and dancers from the community, Mary Ann is proud of the successes of Karlovsky and Company Dance. She particularly enjoys witnessing its ongoing commitment to exploration into contemporary issues and topics through presentation of meaningful movement, live music and engagement with the community.
COLLABORATORS
KALO HOYLE (Composer/Musician) is an artist, musician, and composer based in Missouri. His upbringing greatly informed the direction of his work, where he hopes to bring rural and urban America together through transformative experiences. He received a Bachelor’s of Composition from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory and has performed professionally in various ensembles in a diverse set of styles including, traditional English and Irish, jazz, classical (orchestral and chamber), rock, and experimental improvisation. His work in visual art has been entirely self-taught with support from a diverse community of artists, opening new artistic horizons for his work.
TORY STARBUCK (Composer/Musician) has been composing, recording and performing experimental art rock muzik since 1980. The sound is a fusion of electronic sounds influenced by Asian folk and eclectic new wave. He is an active member of the St. Louis music scene performing regularly at a variety of venues with his band, The Tory Starbuck Project, including The Sheldon Theater, and other venues outside the region including Columbia, MO and Belleville, IL. Tory Z Starbuck composes and performs music for dancers and has been collaborating with Dawn Karlovsky on numerous dance projects since 2006. With Karlovsky & Company Dance, Tory has had the opportunity to tour with the company to San Francisco in 2019 and to France in 2018, and Slovakia in 2025.
LANCE GARGER (Percussionist / Composer) is a percussionist/composer with an affinity for collaboration. He has worked with many esteemed dance and theater companies, including Alvin Ailey, Merce Cunningham, Katherine Dunham, Martha Graham, Dance Theater of Harlem, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Metro Theater and others. Lance's music has been performed in Paris, Rome, Bonn, and throughout North America. Lance is an Adjunct Faculty Accompanist at Webster University.
ALEX EVETS is an artist who often finds himself mystified with the circumstances of his daily life. His work—which is often self-deprecating, humorous, or quietly critical—always comes from a place of love and curiosity. His practice, which is malleable, is rooted in his background as a sculptor and printmaker, although he has recently rediscovered his love of drawing and collage. Evets holds a BFA in Studio Art from Washington University in St. Louis. Presentations of his work have taken place at venues including the Edison Avenue Art Lofts in Granite City, Illinois, at Cunst Gallery in St. Louis, and at KMAC Contemporary Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.
Lighting Designer
DAVID LAROSE is freelance Lighting Designer based in the Saint Louis Region. David’s lighting design work in the Saint Louis area includes: Inspire Fashion Show for the United Way, Dear Jack, Dear Louise for New Jewish Theatre, Don McClain, T-7A Red Hawk for Boeing, The Saint Louis Children’s Choir, Branford Marsallis, RENT, Interwoven I & II, Tower of Power, Terry Fator, and The 44th Dances Of India. David is a proud father of two, an avid gardener, and enjoys being outside.
Zebastián Mendez Marin, Artistic Director
Zebas is from Costa Rica. He attended Conservatorio El Barco (Costa Rica), his notable projects include EU.GENUS (Honey and Dust) and “What the body does not remember” (Ultima Vez). In October 2021, the Studio Dance Theatre premiered the project PUNK PAJAMA PARTY, created by a team of artists led by Zebastián and Lívia Balážová MM. Since 2022, he has been the artistic director of the Studio Dance Theatre.
Martina Hájková comes from Považská Bystrica and from the age of four she danced in the folklore ensemble FS Považan. Subsequently, she started to take up rope skipping, in which she became a multiple Slovak champion and won medals at international competitions. She participated in workshops and preparations for the European Championships with skippers from Cirque du Soleil. She has a coaching license in sports gymnastics. She studied at the Conservatory in Banská Bystrica, where she discovered her love for creation and contemporary art.
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HAYLEY BARKER is a St. Louis–based freelance artist specializing in contemporary dance and floorwork. She has performed in St. Louis, Chicago, and Melbourne, and has freelanced with MADCO and Resilience Dance Company. She was also a featured dancer in Dancers Making Moves. A teacher, personal trainer, and team lead, Hayley instructs at COCA and Life Time Fitness. She holds a degree in Exercise Science and Dance from SIUE. She thanks her family, friends, and ancestors for shaping her artistic path.hayleyrosebarker.com
LILLIAN BERRY trained with Arkansas Festival Ballet and received a BFA from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. After college, Lillian joined Rock Moves Dance Company, a modern dance collaboration in Little Rock Arkansas. Lillian completed a traineeship with Saint Louis Dance Theatre where she worked with many esteemed choreographers such as; Kirvin Douthit-Boyd, Joshua L Peugh, Brandon Fink and more. Lillian is thrilled to be a guest artist with Karlovsky!
RACHEL BRADY holds a B.A. in dance from SIUE. She has danced professionally in St. Louis and New York. She has been teaching children’s dance for over 35 years and directing her own dance program for the last 25. She also works as a paraprofessional in a kindergarten autism class. She believes dance is an expressive ART form that can heal, unite, and create community. Thanks to her family for always being down for a late night kitchen dance party.
MYA EDGAR is a junior dancer, educator, and emerging choreographer from St. Charles, Missouri. She studies Theater and Dance at SIUE, performing with the University Dance Company and serving as Co-President of the University Dance Organization. Mya grew up dancing at Arts in Motion School of Dance and Movement, where she now teaches. Offstage, she’s a rock climber, adventure seeker, and preparing to begin PTA school next year."
ELYZAH GASMEN is a performer, teacher, and choreographer from Jackson, Tennessee. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre with a concentration in Dance Science from the University of Memphis, where she focused her training on contemporary movement. Since relocating to Saint Louis, she has performed in several project-based works through different companies, and she continually looks for opportunities to share her artistry with the local dance scene.
JOSIAH GUNDERSEN (he/him) began his dance training at Studio West Dance Academy in Olympia, Washington, when he was 15. In 2015 he relocated to St. Louis to attend Webster University where he graduated with a BFA in Modern Dance (2019). Josiah is now in his 6th season with Resilience Dance Company where he has gotten to perform works by Emily Haussler, Shannon Gillen and Jason Cianciulli, Annie Rigney, Kia Smith, Mike Esperanza, and Victoria Awkward. Josiah is also an active choreographer, most recently creating a trio for RDC's Collective Realities concert, which will also be performed at the 2025 Cleveland Dance Festival. When he is not dancing, you can find Josiah exploring different neighborhoods of St. Louis and giving walking history tours for the Missouri History Museum.
AUDREY HOLLAND is a choreographer, dancer, and teacher of twenty years. She first danced with Oklahoma City Ballet followed by RACE Dance Collective, where she became Managing Director. As a freelance choreographer, Audrey has been commissioned for works on stage, film, immersive theater, concerts, and musical productions. She holds a BS in chemistry and an MBA, and hopes to continue producing, collaborating, and advocating for art as a pillar of cultural strength.
LORI RACINE graduated from Western Michigan University with B.A. and went on to dance and choreograph for 15 years professionally in various companies in Canada, Finland, and around the US (including Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers and MADCO). After retiring from dance 23 years ago she earned two master's degrees and a doctorate in education and administration. She became a teacher and for the last twelve years has been a principal within the Archdiocese of St. Louis. She settled down in St. Louis with her husband and daughter in 2006. She is grateful for the opportunity to return to the stage after such a long hiatus and share in an incredible evening of dance with old colleagues and new friends.
JANE TELLINI is a St. Louis–based movement artist and educator with a BFA in Dance from Stephens College and an MFA in Dance from Washington University in St. Louis. She currently teaches in the Saint Louis University Dance Program, performs independently, and creates experimental work shaped by her study of Butoh and various somatic practices, exploring the intersections of movement, ritual, and embodied storytelling.
REUBEN THOMAS is a St. Louis native who just graduated from Webster University with a BFA in dance with an emphasis in Modern. Reuben has been fortunate enough to work in residency with companies like Pilobolus and Ballet Hispanico as well as dancing in Trentino, Italy for the Trentino Music Festival. Reuben is currently a freelance artist and is glad to be working with Karlovsky & Company for this production.
JOY TURNER started dancing when she was four. In Lancaster she trained under Judy Williams with what was then called Movement Laboratories. She stopped dancing with them around the age of 15 and joined her High school's movement class. Though Joy did not study dance in college, she continued to spend her summers participating in creative movement classes under Adele Ulrich. As an adult over these past 7 years she has studied under Leigh Horowitz with SSBM here in St. Louis and has participated in several In Transit Community dance projects with Dawn Karlovsky. Joy is thrilled to be on stage dancing with the Karlovsky dance team and others from the community.
Enjoy the show!
RACHEL WU (they/them) graduated from UC Irvine with a BFA in Dance Performance and BS in Mathematics with Honors. There they had the honor of working with Donald McKayle in his Etude Ensemble and also received the award for Excellence in Dance Performance and the ASTAIREAWARDS Scholarship. Currently a Mathematics PhD candidate at WashU. Rachel recently performed in Collective Realities with Resilience Dance Company and is excited to dance with Karlovsky & Company Dance in STAGED!
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