Evjen Academy Team

Rebekah has been teaching and dancing in the Farmington Valley for over 20 years. Prior to her current position at Evjen, Rebekah was the Artistic Director of The Master's School Dance Program for five years. She has always been passionate about dance and the performing arts and studied Musical Theater at the Hartford Conservatory in 2008. Rebekah has been a member of the Poet's Feet Dance Ensemble,  Hartford Youth Dance Initiative and is an alumna of the Evjen Elite Dance Company. Locally, Rebekah has choreographed & directed musicals at Avon Old Farms School. In 2014, Rebekah traveled to Recife, Brazil to teach dance at a school for underprivileged children and assistant direct a full musical theater production involving a collaboration of both American and Brazilian performers. Rebekah is passionate about creating a welcoming and safe environment where every dancer can learn, grow and be inspired! She hopes to instill her love of this beautiful art-form in all of her students.

Founder of Evjen Academy of Performing Arts. Born and raised in San Jose California, Diana has studied, trained and performed throughout the world. From the ages of 13 to 18, Diana was invited to tour Paris, London, various cities in Spain, Ireland and Scotland as a soloist and corps member with the JOD Dance Company. A few of her classical credits include Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf and Mid Summer Nights Dream. Diana holds a BA in business and dance from Hofstra University. From classical to contemporary performances to dance competitions and master classes, dance has always played a huge role in Diana's life. Recently and locally, she has taught dance for the Miss Porter's school, the Hartford Conservatory and choreographed for Avon Old Farms High School.

Brandon is a Connecticut grown B-Boy and choreographer. The cultural phenomena hip-hop was introduced to him early on. Since then he's been immersed in the culture and styles within it. His love for breaking drew him toTony Award winning Hartford Stage Company and the Breakdancing Shakespeare program. After participating in several productions throughout the years he would go on to become the program’s choreographer. His love for teaching hip-hop dance has led him to many studios and educational institutions. Trinity College, Choate Rosemary Hall, The LAB, Double Up Dance Studio, and his Alma Mater Central Connecticut State University are a few of the places that have been morphed into his hip-hop dojo. He continues to share the knowledge on the dance styles within hip-hop culture.

Kristen Greig studied dance at the Greater Hartford Academy of Performing Arts, Montclair State University, and Anaheim Ballet (formerly known as Coast Ballet). She is a former title holder and scholarship recipient from Dance Masters of America (CT, NYC, and Nationals), the Nikolais-Lewis School and Broadway Dance Center. Kristen has been teaching for over 20 years and has taught in CT, NJ, and CA. Her students have won numerous overall awards and titles at competition. Many have gone on to dance professionally in every venue, from music videos to theme parks to Broadway. Throughout her career as a teacher she has received numerous choreography awards and was recently recognized as a Top Teacher by Star Systems National Talent Competition. Kristen is married to "Mr. Joel" and is the proud mom of Ethan and Madison. Miss Kristen currently lives in California with her family and is very excited to be a part of the Evjen Academy family.

Claudia is an Evjen Elite alumnus and has been dancing since she was three. She joined the Evjen family back in 2007 and has been a part ever since. She is currently a junior at Central Connecticut State University working toward a bachelor's in Management with Specialization in Entrepreneurship. She's trained in the styles ballet, tap, jazz, musical theater, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, and modern during her time as a dancer at Evjen Academy, and began to teach when she was sixteen. She is now Evjen's Mini Elite Director and teaches and choreographs for a variety of ages, but primarily the minis and juniors. She adores her students and loves more than anything to share her love of dance with them. She feels so fortunate to be able to work for such a great studio and to have the opportunity to do what she loves.
 

Ms. Michaela Katzman has been dancing since her childhood; she was trained in the Cecchetti Method of ballet under the direction of Betty Seibert at Cheshire Dance Centre in Cheshire, CT. There she also studied pointe, tap, jazz, modern, and hip-hop. Michaela teaches history at the Academy of International Studies in Bloomfield, CT, and has worked for ten years with their Theater Club as their Assistant Director and Choreographer. Michaela joined the Evjen Team in the fall of 2022 as a Ballet and Musical Theater teacher, she also assists with their annual Nutcracker performance. 

Ms. Kroeger received classical training in Fort Worth, Texas, at Gayle Corkery School of Ballet, under Gayle Corkery, Carrie and Li Chou Cheng and Margo McCann. She received additional training at Texas Ballet Theater's summer intensive programs. In 2013, Ms. Kroeger graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Belhaven University and has since most enjoyed learning and performing George Balanchine’s Serenade, Concerto Barroco and Walpurgisnacht. Since graduating, Ms. Kroeger has performed with Ballet Concerto under Margo and Webster Dean, Ballet Frontier of Texas under Chung Lin and Enrica Tseng, Avant Chamber Ballet under Katie Cooper, Ballet Project Orange County under Aly Helman, and Roanoke Ballet Theater under Sandra Meythaler. Ms. Kroeger is currently dancing in her fifth season with Ballet Hartford.

Grace Libucha is an alumnus of Evjen Academy of Performing Arts, having studied under Diana Evjen and Rebekah Barnes from 2006 through 2020 in ballet, pointe, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, musical theater, and modern styles. Following graduation, she attended the University of New Hampshire where she continued her passion for dance studying under Gay Nardone, Mary Beth Marino, and Assaf Benchetrit. She taught young dancers the primary foundations of ballet and lyrical with Evjen Academy from 2018 to 2020, then went on to teach advanced styles of contemporary and jazz with Corinne's School of Dance in Rochester, New Hampshire in 2021. Grace's choreography credits include Farmington High School's Cinderella, as well as several competitive and showcase pieces with Corinne's School of Dance and the University of New Hampshire. She adores the Evjen dancers and continues to work with Elite dancers on their competition routines each year. 

Payton McGrew, originally from Charleston, SC, is currently dancing with Ballet Hartford. During her time there she has performed works choreographed by N-Squared Dance Company, Paiter Van Ypreren, and Danielle Diniz. She previously trained at Point Park University under the direction of Garfield Lemonius and at Classical Ballet Centre under the direction of Melania Ballish Reguerio. During her time at CBC, she participated in two Youth America Grand Prixs (top 12 in ensemble); performed lead roles in Le Corsaire, Les Sylphides, and The Nutcracker; performed alongside Charlotte Ballet in Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux's The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty; and passed the Level 6 ABT NTC exam evaluated by Franco De Vita. She has also spent summers training with Ballet Austin, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, and University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She is a teacher in the Hartford area at The University of Hartford Community Division and at Evjen Academy of the Performing Arts. She teaches students in many different styles. Payton is excited to continue to work with Evjen students this year!

Daniella grew up dancing at Evjen and is now an incoming senior at Muhlenberg College where she majors in dance and philosophy. She has been teaching dance and choreographing since she was 15 years old, starting with studio classes and now creating works on the college stage which range largely in genre and style. Through her studies and compositions, she seeks to challenge traditional notions of dance and what gives it its value and hopes to continue exploring this by making dance in some capacity after graduating.

Leanne started dancing at age four and has trained in jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, musical theater, postmodern, hip-hop, contemporary, improvisation and choreography/composition. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Leanne attended UCLA, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with B.A. degrees in World Arts and Cultures/Dance and Communications. Upon graduation, Leanne was asked to join David Rousseve/REALITY, and has been with the company for 9 years now. Her dancing has taken her around the world and given her the opportunity to perform in iconic spaces such as Jacob's Pillow and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Leanne has taught dance for 14 years around Ohio, Los Angeles, Connecticut, and throughout the states while on tour with REALITY. She recently relocated to New York and is so grateful to get to continue working with her Evjen students remotely on Elite choreography and beyond.

Taylor Pizzoferrato has received her BA in Business Administration with a minor in Dance at Liberty University. Her passion for movement began when she was placed in dance classes at the age of 3. Taylor has trained in various styles such as ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz, tap and hip-hop. Her love of dance meshed with her favor of teaching when she began coaching dancers at the age of 16. She stuck true to that path as she danced and choreographed for dance competitions until she enrolled at Liberty University. At LU, Taylor served as a Captain of Hip-Hop Ministry Dance Crew, D-Trex as well as a member of Lynchburg Dance Connection. Some of her notable choreographies since entering college include D-Trex Dance Crew’s Liberty University Coffeehouse performances, Lynchburg Dance Connection Showcases, and Julian Kim’s “Hands Up” music video and live concerts. Taylor is passionate about training students in a nurturing and inclusive environment and is immensely thankful to do so at Evjen!

Alexandra “Ola” Tarnowski grew up in Old Bridge, New Jersey where she began her dance training at three years old. At age fourteen, she started her classical ballet training at the

conservatory at Princeton Dance and Theatre Studio where she studied the American Ballet Theatre curriculum. After high school, she attended Butler University where she received a B.S. in Dance Arts Administration and a minor in Strategic Communications. Ola started her professional dance career with Ballet Theatre of Indiana, where she performed principal roles such as ‘Mina Harker’ in Dracula and ‘Daisy Buchanan’ in The Great Gatsby; and held the title of Marketing and Public Relations Director for two seasons. She then co-founded Ballet INitiative, a project-based dance collective serving the greater-Indianapolis area, in August of 2020. With Ballet INitiative, she was a performing artist, choreographer, producer/director, Marketing and Public Relations Director for two seasons, and performed principal roles such as ‘the Nutcracker’ in Nutcracker with a Twist, ‘Titania’ in A Mischievous Midsummer, ‘the Queen of Hearts’ in Whimsical Wonderland, and ‘Cinderella’ in Cinderella’s Stardom: From Simple to Show Girl. Ola then started dancing for New England Ballet Theatre as a Company Artist in 2023. She started teaching alongside her dancing career, and has taught ballet, tap, jazz, musical theatre, tumbling, modern, contemporary, and Pilates to students ages 3-adult while holding administrative titles throughout the greater-Indianapolis area. Ola has also been on the Production Team and choreographed for the Carmel Apprentice Theatre’s productions of The Descendants (2020), The Little Mermaid (2021), and The Addams Family Musical (2022); and has her Mat Pilates certification from the National Exercise Trainers Association.

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Noor has trained in ballet, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, modern, and jazz since the age of three. She is a previous Evjen student turned teacher and choreographer! In college, she was a member of the UConn Dance Company for four years. She was also a choreographer for the company, responsible for the group's jazz and contemporary pieces. In her free time, she helps the local high school choreograph their musicals. Noor particularly enjoys mentoring students through their creative process and supporting them in their identity as artists and creators. She feels fortunate to be part fo the Evjen staff and community even after graduating college and as she begins medical school!