Meet The Company

Raina Lucas is the current Faculty Artistic Director of the Georgetown University Dance Company (GUDC), and a lecturer within the Department of Performing Arts at Georgetown University. She specializes in 21st century dance and ballet pedagogy practices, artist-agency within dance creation, intersections of dance and society (emphasis on race, access, and opportunity), and arts leadership. Raina’s creative research focuses on liberating and cultivating the dance-making space through harnessing the power of process-to-product collaboration. Recent creative-collaborative choreography projects include The Truth Spun Backwards (2023), ATLAS (2022), Parade (2021) and The Container (2020). In 2019 and 2020, she was commissioned by Washington College for two original works, The Invitation (2019) and revé (dance on film, 2020). Earlier in her career, she was selected for a Tobacco Road Dance Productions (TRDP) dance-making grant to develop new approaches to choreographic craft. Later, she was asked to return as a TRDP panelist to mentor new and established choreographers. Her choreography has been shown at the Durham Performing Arts Center, Crown at the Carolina Theatre, Greensboro Fringe Festival, Penn-Griffin School of the Arts (commissioned work), Gonda and Devine Theatres at Georgetown University, among others.

Raina has developed in-person and virtual courses in dance history, dance and society, dance appreciation, choreography, capoeira, ballet, and modern dance technique. Prior to her current faculty position at Georgetown University, she has taught as a member of the faculty at Guilford College, Salem College, Washington College, and North Carolina State University.

Raina continues to enjoy performing as a free-lance, independent dance professional. Most recently, she appeared in Lloyd Whitmore’s revelatory work “Songs Without Words” restaged by Miya Hisaka for The Washington School of Ballet’s Adult performance program concert (2023). She has also performed excerpts of works from William Forsythe’s “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated” restaged by Elizabeth Corbett, original work, “Older Dances” by Elizabeth Corbett, Doris Humphrey’s “Soaring” restaged by Mino Nicholas, and Larry Keigwin’s heart-pumping “Mirrors.” Today, she continues a rigorous and extensive ballet training program under teacher and coach Aaron Jackson (former school, School of American Ballet).

Raina has a B.A. in dance with a concentration in dance therapy from Goucher College. While at Goucher, she studied abroad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she was introduced to contemporary dance practices in Brazil, and national forms, including samba and capoeira. Following her undergraduate education, Raina went on to pursue and complete an M.F.A in dance- choreography at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, where she served as a teaching assistant and Instructor of Record. While there, she was a recipient of the Kristina Larson Dance Fund award to support the development of her first evening-length thesis work, meta (2015).

Chloe is a senior in the College majoring in English and is currently in her fourth year with GUDC. Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chloe began dancing at the age of three. Her training began at Blue Moon Dance, with a focus on ballet and tap. She then began dancing at Diane Matthews School of Dance Arts for six years before moving to the Rock School West. At the Rock School West, she was a senior member of their Performance Company, which performed and competed styles in ballet, contemporary, jazz, musical theatre, and hip-hop. The company attended many competitions, including NYCDA, Jump, and Nuvo, where Chloe had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Andy Pellick, Chloe Arnolds, Martha Nichols, and Misha Gabriel. Chloe has attended numerous dance intensives, including Breaking Barriers, where she trained under Anthony Burrell. Most recently, Chloe had the opportunity to dance in the Professional Division at the Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive, a 6 week program on the Fordham Lincoln Center Campus. This program expanded Chloe’s styles of dance to the techniques of Horton and Martha Graham.

Haley is a senior in the College studying Biology of Global Health on the pre-medical track. This is her third  season at GUDC. She danced at LINX Dance Studio in Wellesley, Massachusetts for 13 years, competing in jazz, contemporary, ballet, and hip hop. Haley was also a dance teacher and choreographer for ages 3-10 during her junior and senior years of high school as well as during her virtual Freshman year at Georgetown. Haley was also the co-captain of the Wellesley High School Varsity Dance Team.

Kate is a senior in the College studying Computer Science. Originally from Cranbury, New Jersey she began dancing at three years old at The Dance Corner. She has spent the past fifteen training there in ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap, hip hop and musical theatre. She has also has competed at the regional and national level for the past 10 years. Kate has spent time training with The Rockettes and The Joffrey School of Ballet through summer intensives. She has performed in many works such as The Nutcracker, The Little Mermaid, and Anything Goes. Kate has also served as her high school’s theatre department dance captain for the past 2 years, choreographing and performing in musicals for the school. This is her fourth season with GUDC and she is very excited for all that is to come!

Lily is a senior in the College, majoring in government on the pre-med track, and is in her fourth season with GUCD. She is originally from Agoura Hills, California and began dancing when she was three years old at California Dance Theater. She joined the studio’s company, Pacific Festival Ballet, when she was nine. Her training rests primarily in ballet and pointe, but she has also trained in modern, contemporary, jazz, and tap. While in the company, Lily had the opportunity to participate in productions including The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. Lily also attended the American Ballet Theatre summer program and studied with ABT soloist, Gabrielle Brown, for seven years. In her junior year of high school, she began volunteering with Ballet for All Kids where she taught ballet classes. She was also the dance captain of her high school’s productions of Cabaret, In the Heights, and Pippin.

Caroline is in the College double majoring in Biology and French on the pre-med track. Originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, Caroline began her dance training at the age of five at the Boston Ballet School. There, she performed in the annual production of The Nutcracker, as well as a spring showcase. Later, she continued her classical ballet training at the Brookline Ballet School under the direction of Parren Ballard and Trinidad Vives. Her repertoire includes featured and corps de ballet roles in The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, Coppélia, and original works by Parren Ballard, among others. Throughout her dance career, Caroline attended summer programs at Boston Ballet School, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, and the Washington School of Ballet. This is her fourth season with GUDC.

Marialaura is a junior majoring in Global Affairs and Business and this is her third season at GUDC. She was born in Quito, Ecuador and has moved around the world throughout her life. She began strict rhythmic gymnastics training in Madrid, Spain and through that began classical ballet. She continued her classical training in Moscow, Russia under a teacher from the Mariinsky Ballet. She has completed intensive cuban-style training at the Art of Classical Ballet in Pompano, Florida under Magaly Suarez and Adiarys Almeida. Marialaura has also danced Flamenco from a very young age and loves Salsa, Merengue and Bachata. In her more recent home of Bogota, Colombia she danced at Ballet Anna Pavlova under Ana Consuelo Gomez and Jaime Diaz, dancing various soloist and principal roles in Don Quixote, The Nutcracker and La Bayadere. There, she also started her exploration of contemporary dance and identity as a choreographer, winning Best Young Dancer in Colombia for her self-choreographed piece “El Olvido” (Oblivion).

Olivia is a junior in the College, hoping to major in English and minor in Business Studies and Journalism. She is from Norwell, Massachusetts and she began dancing at three years old. She competed as part of the Dance Factory Plymouth’s elite company and trained in ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, tap, and pointe. Olivia has also participated in summer intensives with Joffrey Ballet School, Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, and South Shore Ballet Theater, to name a few. At her high school, Olivia choreographed several pieces for her school’s dance department, in addition to choreographing an original dance show.

Annabelle is a junior in the SFS with an international politics major. This is her third season with the company. Originally from Tennessee, she has lived all over the US and also in Germany. She began dancing at 3 and focused heavily on classical ballet. She has also trained in modern, contemporary, jazz, tap, ballroom, and musical theatre. She has performed in The Nutcracker for the Nashville Ballet and the High Point Ballet. Her favorite roles include Snow Queen and Marzipan Lead. She has attended the summer intensive programs of the UNC School of the Arts, the Kansas City Ballet, and the Texas Ballet Theatre. She also is a two-time recipient of the Laine Lea Classical Ballet Scholarship, as well as a full scholarship to the Charlotte Ballet Summer Intensive. She was also an apprentice with the Winston Salem Festival Ballet Company and performed with them in their professional production of Dracula.

Cate is a junior in the College studying computer science. She has practiced ballet since the age of four when she started dancing at Bemus Pointe Ballet with Molly Vine.  At the age of nine she started dancing at Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet, where she practiced ballet and modern.  She was part of the pre-professional division from the age of thirteen which provided her with numerous performance opportunities each year.  Some of her favorite parts include the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker, Balanchine’s Sylvia, and Balanchine’s Serenade.  She has attended summer intensives at the School of American Ballet and the Chautauqua School of Dance since she was eleven years old.

 Alex is a sophomore in the College, majoring in psychology on the pre-law track. This is her second year with GUDC and she is beyond excited to be dancing in this great company! Alex has been dancing since she was five years old in Waukesha, Wisconsin. She began her dance journey at Studio One Dance Company and then moved to Accent on Dance at the age of eight. Alex was first involved in developmental programs until she was nine, then she started competitively dancing and training in many styles of dance: ballet, tap, jazz, musical theater, contemporary, modern, and hip-hop. At Accent on Dance, Alex had the opportunity to assistant teach younger classes, and continued her student teaching to local students during her summers. In high school, she was a part of the Broadway Company, an audition-only musical theater group. Alex was a lead dance performer in three fall musical productions: The Wedding Singer, Mamma Mia! The Musical, and Catch Me if you Can. Also through the Broadway Company, she choreographed and directed many numbers for the three spring productions of Musical Theater Nights, led auditions for current and hopeful members, and held the position of Dance Captain her senior year.

Stephanie is a sophomore in the College. She is originally from Houston, Texas where she began dancing at the age of 4 at J&H Dance Company. Her training primarily focused on traditional Chinese folkloric dance, ballet, and contemporary where she then became part of the junior elite competition team, performing at regional and national competitions, including America’s Got Talent. After moving to Columbia, Maryland, Stephanie then joined the Studio Dans Dance Company Senior Elite Competition team where she then trained in ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz, hip hop, musical theatre, and tap.  She was also part of her high school’s Senior Dance Company and was given the opportunity to choreograph multiple group, duo, and solo pieces. Stephanie was able to perform pieces by multiple esteemed choreographers such as Maddie Rodrigue, Kathleen Laituri, David Gourov, Dana Keane, Alicia Canterna, Haley Nachlas, Nathaniel Hunt, and Ricki Huff and work with other professionals including, Dmitri Malikov, Joe Lanteri, Suzi Taylor, Andy Pellick, and more. Throughout her dance career, Stephanie attended and participated in numerous competitions, conventions, showcases, productions, galas, and masterclasses, receiving many top-scoring awards and scholarships. This is her second season with GUDC and she is excited for all there is to come!

Yee Xin is a sophomore hoping to major in Marketing and this is her second season at GUDC. She is from Penang, Malaysia and started taking ballet lessons at the age of four. Under the Royal Academy of Dance exam curriculum, she completed up to the Grade 8 and Intermediate Foundation level. At six years old, she started Latin dance lessons, and participated in local Latin dance competitions. For high school, she attended The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, where she trained in ballet, contemporary, jazz, and hip hop. She was a dancer and choreographer in the Lawrenceville Dance Team and the inaugural Lawrenceville School Dance Collective.

Kyra is a sophomore studying nursing and is originally from Newtown, Connecticut. She began dancing at the age of 6, and competitively at the age of 10 training in styles such as ballet, contemporary, modern, and jazz. For the past 3 years, she competed with Thrive: The Essence of Dance on their senior intensive company and worked under choreographers such as Gabriella Sibeko, Rudy Abreu, Luke Romanzi, Courtney Schwartz, and Evan Debenedetto. She competed at various competitions including Break the Floor Productions, The Dance Awards, and YAGP, and her group even received a perfect score in 2021. She was also cast as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the company’s annual nutcracker performance. She currently teaches summer classes and choreographs solos for current competition dancers at Thrive. Additionally, Kyra was captain of the Newtown High School Varsity Dance Team which won the title of CT State Champions in the jazz division and 1st runners up in hip hop.

Hailey is a sophomore in the McDonough School of Business studying finance. She is originally from outside of Cleveland, Ohio, where she danced at Kibler Dance Academy for 15 years. Here, she danced competitively for 10 years in the styles of jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and hip hop, and for 5 years, she was an assistant dance teacher for dancers ages 2-10. At Hudson High School, Hailey was the co-captain of the Dance Line, and she performed at her commencement ceremony.

Cecelia is a sophomore in the college studying psychology. Cecelia began dancing when she was two years old. She trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, and contemporary at Wilmington Dance Academy. She was a part of the pre professional program there and competed in many annual conventions and competitions. Cecelia also trained at North Atlantic Ballet in addition to Wilmington Dance Academy. At North Atlantic ballet, she was a ballet apprentice performing in a yearly production of the Nutcracker and other productions such as The Little Mermaid, and Cinderella. In addition, Cecelia attended intensive summer programs including Intergrarte Ballet, Burklyn Ballet Theatre, and the Click Boston..

Zoe is a sophomore in the College, studying Political Economy and French. Zoe is from Northern Virginia, but started doing ballet in southeast Wisconsin at the age of 4. She owes her dance training to schools and teachers around the country, including Milwaukee Ballet School, Virginia National Ballet (VNB), the Washington School of Ballet, and the faculty of the Smith College Dance Department. Under the direction of Rafik Hegab and Dina Fadeyeva at VNB, Zoe performed alongside the professional company in classical and contemporary ballets like The Nutcracker, Aida, Carmina Burana, and more. Zoe also spent a summer with the Washington School of Ballet professional training division, learning invaluable lessons from Rinat Imaev and Xiomara Reyes. In her year at Smith College, Zoe continued her ballet journey with Rodger Blum, and contemporary and composition with Sarah Lass. This is her first year with GUDC, and she is so happy to be a part of the dance community at Georgetown. 

Claire is a sophomore in the SFS studying Science, Technology, and International Affairs. Claire is originally from Arizona where she began dancing at the age of three at Impact Dance. There, she trained for 13 years in many styles including contemporary, jazz, ballet, lyrical, ballroom, hip hop, and tap. The studio competed at many conventions both nationally and regionally such as Velocity, Radix, and Hollywood Vibe. This allowed Claire opportunities to dance in a music video and on stage with musical artists as well as the chance to work with choreographers like Travis Wall, Talia Favia, Blake McGrath, Kyle Hanagami, and Kent Boyd. For all four years of high school, Claire was a member of her school’s nationally ranked pom team, the Highland Hawkettes, and she served as a gameday captain in her senior year. Additionally, she was a member of her school’s One Image Dance Company where she choreographed pieces for the annual concerts.

Hailee is a freshman in SFS with a focus in Science, Technology, and International Affairs. She is originally from Westchester County, New York, where she began ballet training at the age of 3. Upon receiving ballet training from instructors from the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, such as Raven Wilkinson and Rose Marie Menes, she went on to continue performing pre-professionally with the Westchester Ballet Company at 14. Combining Cecchetti and Vaganova technique, she performed various roles in The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Graduation Ball, and Sleeping Beauty. Hailee also has a background in Horton modern, contemporary, lyrical, and jazz. She danced with her high school’s dance company, eventually choreographing both contemporary ballet and lyrical numbers for community-wide  performances.

Alice is a freshman in the McDonough School of Business hoping to major in management and minor in psychology. She was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She started dancing at the age of three at Oriental Arts Education Center, training primarily in folkloric and ballet styles. Alice entered the competition dance world at the age of 6, where she won numerous first place titles at national dance competitions like Showstopper, Starquest, and Dance Showcase. She also had unique opportunities to perform at city-wide galas with the mayor, charity concerts with her non-profit organization, Music of Harmony, the America’s Got Talent stage, and more. She also assisted in teaching a ballet class for young children for two summers. In high school, Alice joined the Kinkaid Dance Company in her freshman year, eventually rising to become president of the company and of her school’s National Dance Honor Society division. Through this position, Alice has been able to choreograph twice in the Spring Student Choreography Projects, as well as organize many community outreach and company bonding events. She has also participated in her high school’s annual musical for all four years, acting as lead dance captain for three consecutive years in Bright Star, Carrie, and The Hello Girls. Alice is extremely grateful to be a part of GUDC this year, and she is so excited to dance with the rest of the company!

Evelyn Slatoff is a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences and is hoping to study English. This is her first year with GUDC and she is so excited to be part of the company! Evelyn is from New Canaan, Connecticut and began taking ballet lessons at two years old with New England Academy of Dance. She has continued ballet for sixteen-years and has trained extensively in the Cecchetti style including pointe work. She also enjoys contemporary modern, jazz, and serving as a teaching assistant for young dancers. Some of Evelyn’s favorite dance experiences include performing in Swan Lake, Paquita, and her studio's annual Nutcracker. 

Beatrice is currently a freshman in the College, planning to major in Biology of Global Health. Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Beatrice began dancing at the age of 4 with the Dance Arts Studio. She soon transitioned to Palmetto City Ballet School where she has been trained primarily in ballet and contemporary for the past eight years. Beginning in middle school, she was selected for the studio’s youth ballet company and performed in school-wide performances and minor roles with the professional company. Later, she began taking a larger part in the professional company’s performances each year, and was given the opportunity to perform solos and duets alongside company members. Her performance experience includes The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Thumbelina, The Snow Queen, and several original works choreographed by Jonathan Tabbert and Stephen Gabriel. During her training, she has also had the opportunity to dance at the Orlando Ballet summer intensive, the Governor’s School intensive, and Burklyn Ballet. This is Beatrice’s first year with the company.