Sylvana Christopher Sandoz . . .

Sylvana Christopher Sandoz is a native Washingtonian with roots extending from Germany to Guam. She began training at The Metropolitan Ballet Academy and The Washington School of Ballet and earned a BFA in Performance & Choreography from The Ohio State University. Sylvana has performed with Bowen McCauley Dance Company, Rincones & Company Dance Theatre, Arts United of Washington, Gesel Mason Performance Projects, BosmaDance, Contradiction Dance and Kate Jordan Dance. She now serves as the Artistic Director of Glade Dance Collective, founded in 2009, with eight members who work collaboratively to move, create and engage the DC community. Glade Dance has performed choreographic works with a socio-political edge and a concentration on giving voice to others. Her choreographic works include Strings Attached, Soaked, Voodooeen, Siempre Me Quedera, The Onion Project and The Fela Project.

A skilled teacher and a passionate choreographer, Sylvana has taught and choreographed dance for the students from Joy of Motion, DC Dance Collective, The Washington Ballet@THEARC, and Musical Theater Center, as well as students from Holton-Arms, Sidwell Friends, St. Coletta of Greater Washington and Fillmore Schools. Currently, she is the middle school dance instructor at The Lowell School, a progressive education institution with a new middle school. Sylvana is delighted to be choreographing and performing with Glade Dance Collective.

Betsy Loikow . . .

Betsy Loikow is a native Washingtonian who began studying dance locally at age four with the late Linda Verrill. She studied ballet and modern dance under Rima Faber and performed with The Primary Movers Performance Company, participating in the Company’s 1996 tour of Russia, performing in Moscow and St. Petersburg. She continued dancing at the Washington School of Ballet. She has also studied with Gesel Mason and Adrienne Clancy of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and with Beth Davis, Laura Schandelmeier and Robert Smith of the Beth Davis in Good Company. She performed in D.J. Foster’s 1997 children’s video “Time to Dance.” She attended the Holton-Arms School and danced under Mauria Peckham with school dance group Orchesis for five years, presenting original choreography at the Washington Area Independent Schools Dance Festival. She continued dancing and choreographing with student-led dance group FlyPeople in college. She graduated with a B.A. in film and political science from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY in 2008. She currently works on legislative affairs at the National Dance Education Organization in Silver Spring, Maryland. A founding member of the Glade Dance Collective, she is excited to be dancing and choreographing and looks forward to working on further projects in the D.C. arts community.

Lauren Borchard . . .

Lauren Borchard is a dancer, yogi, and historian in the Washington, DC area. She completed her 200-hour Yoga Alliance training at Tranquil Space in 2008 and has been teaching modern dance, jazz dance, and Intro to Dance classes since 2002 at area studios. She has danced with a variety of DC-area choreographers and several companies, including The Playground and CrossCurrents Dance Company, and is pleased to be a part of Glade Dance Collective!

Emma Dozier . . .

Emma Dozier has been dancing in the Washington, D.C., area for 18 years. She currently lives in Alexandria while choreographing and performing with Talu Dance Co., Glade Dance Collective, Sustainment Movement Dance Company and Saffron Dance Studios. Minoring in Dance at James Madison University, where she graduated in 2008 with a B.A. in Media Arts and Design, nurtured and expanded her love of modern technique and choreography. Growing up in Fairfax trained her to be a performer and leader as a captain of the Robinson High School Dance Team. After dance, Emma's second love is writing and editing, and she tries to combine all her loves by leading an ever-growing Pre-Lunch Yoga session at her government contracting day job and blogging about dance at http://emma1joan.wordpress.com/.

Caitlin Russi . . .

Caitlin grew up in New England and is excited to be living and moving here in DC. She started dancing at Norwich Free Academy, where she took jazz class for three years. She also developed her movement style as a member of NFA's competitive cheerleading team. At Vassar College,Caitlin danced with FlyPeople, a student-run dance group, for which she choreographed several pop pieces. Caitlin has been with Glade for a year, and she is delighted to be engaging and creating with these amazing women.

Jessica Melvin Goodin . . .

Jessica Melville Goodin is a choreographer, dancer, and dance therapist who grew up in Rockford, Ill. Jessica earned two B.A. degrees in Dance and Arts Technology in 2006 from Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. She received her M.A. in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling from Columbia College Chicago in 2010.

While living in Chicago, Jessica choreographed and performed with The Core Project. Jessica moved from Chicago to Arlington, Va., in 2009. Jessica dances because she relishes the way movement makes her feel alive and empowered. She sought her degree in Dance Therapy in order to help share this feeling with others.

Tynika Booth . . .

Tynika began dancing 15 years ago when, on a whim, she joined an Afro-Jazz performance class. By high school, she found herself gravitating to Hip Hop and Modern dance styles; performing in several shows and plays. During this time, she would also join Jam’nastics, Inc. - A Hip Hop and Gymnastics based Dance Company. After high school, she moved to Washington, DC to continue her studies at American University where she danced and choreographed for AU In Motion – a student run dance group. Tynika continues to study dance in the DC area and is excited to be a part of the Glade Dance Collective.