Dancers
Sarah Andrews was born and raised in Northeastern Connecticut, and is passionate about the arts, fitness, and plants! Sarah began dancing at the age of 3 but found her love for the arts when she became a student at The Complex Performing and Creative Arts Centre at age 10. She went on to graduate from Rhode Island College with her degree in Arts Administration and has been working as the Studio Manager as well as a member of the dance faculty at The Complex for the past 5 years. During this time, she has begun developing her teaching practice and has fallen in love with the administrative side of the arts.
She is also currently working toward becoming a certified yoga instructor. In her free time, you can probably find her re-decorating her living room or forcing her cats to snuggle.
After a 3-year performance hiatus, Sarah is so excited to get back to dancing with the company!
Scilla Bennett began dancing in Long Beach, CA after a running injury forced her to try a new activity. She fell in love during her very first class, and never ran again. After moving to Boston, she has performed with Boston Bollywood, Jenny Oliver, Molly Wheat, and OnStage Dance Company. A lover of all the arts, Scilla also enjoys painting, drawing, crafting, and writing. Her classic Virgo nature means that she’s always working hard to improve, and she especially enjoys the process of creation.
Gwen McGovern is a Massachusetts-based dancer and has been dancing since the age of 3 at New England Dance Academy under Stephanie Kemp, Hope Specht, and Jill D’Aguanno. After graduating high school Gwen moved to New York City and studied at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy under Lars Rosager, Janine Aloisi, and Oren Korenblum. She also studied at Dean College under Todd Shanks and Kristina Berger. She now teaches at many different studios across Massachusetts and Rhode Island while also finding her way into the Boston dancing community where she continues to perform in many local settings. She most recently became a member of Fourth Dimension Tap Company outside of Boston, MA, and is so excited to be joining Collective Moments!
Sophia Sabaten is from East Haven, CT and began her dance career with ballroom dance at the age of 11 at Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Hamden, CT. She then continued her dance education at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, CT, where she was introduced to modern dance. There, she choreographed her senior piece on the ideas of partnership and also became a member of ECA’s Repertory Dance Company under the direction of Nazorine Ulysse. She then attended Roger Williams University, earning a B.S. in Architecture and minors in Dance and Business. Being passionate in ballroom dance, she continued competing at the collegiate level, becoming a top finalist under RWU Ballroom. Serving as their Vice President her senior year, Sophia found joy in instructing ballroom technique, and because of that passion, she has continued to volunteer with teaching at Northeastern University’s Ballroom Club. Currently, she is working towards her Master’s of Architecture degree at Northeastern, where she hopes to one day design her own dance studio and better integrate the dynamics of movement and space together. Sophia is very grateful for this opportunity and is excited for the work and creation ahead!
Lisa Giancola hails from small town, Boylston, MA and began dancing at the age of 3 at Karen Jean White School of Dance. She continued her love and passion for dance at Dean College, where she graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Dance. She has had the pleasure to work and perform with New England companies, Ballet Art’s Worcester, Boylston’s Calliope, Stylized Movement, Kinetic Synergy Dance Company, the Ipswich Moving Company, United Tek’Nekz and OnStage Dance Company. Lisa is the Director of Early Childhood Programs at Joanne Langione Dance Center and is also Co-Artistic Director of Boston Based dance company, Evolve Dynamicz. Founded in 2015, Evolve has had the privilege to present works all over New England, including NACHMO NYC and Boston, Southern Vermont Dance Festival, Boston Dance Theater’s trainee showcase of BTDx, and the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival. Evolve has produced three full length shows, SPACES: an Evolve Dynamicz Production (2017), circumnavigation (2018), and LUCIDITY (2019). Lisa hopes to carry her love of dancing, teaching and choreographing onto her JLDC students and company dancers each and every day!
Kate Dube graduated from Paula Meola Dance in 2016, and since then has danced in both Boston and Los Angeles. In 2017 she started training with Boston Dance Theater and understudied work of Itzik Galili, Yin Yue, Sidra Bell, and others. She also co-produced BDTx, a show for emerging, young artists to informally show their works in progress for the first time. After dancing with Boston Dance Theater, Kate began working with VLA Dance under the direction of Victoria Awkward. There she was able to perform in “SAND” and “Bare Velvet”. In April of 2019, Kate moved to Los Angeles to get the scoop on the commercial dance scene. She was able to dance with Geometry Dance Company, and IMMABreathe and most recently became a part of the Lume Dance Collective. Some of her favorite moments in LA include performing in the ACE Awards 2020 and being a part of Foreign Air’s music video for “Illusion” on their debut album “Good Morning Stranger”.
Hannah Kachadoorian is from central Massachusetts where she trained with Paula Meola Dance and Performing Arts for 16 years. During this time she was able to train under many talented individuals in all styles of dance. Hannah has also worked with Jennie & Company, performing as a guest in their fall 2019 showcase. Hannah graduated from Wachusett Regional High School in 2019 and is now following the pre-med track while pursuing a degree in biology and biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Ava L. Untermyer is a Boston based Dance Artist and Educator who encourages us to embrace ourselves, our peers and our communities. Ava teaches at the Curley K-8 Boston Public School and the Joanne Langione Dance Center. Ava is a current member of Evolve Dynamicz Dance Collective and previously danced with NYC based companies, including Sydnie L. Mosley Dances and Estado Flotante. Ava holds a Masters (Ed.M) in Arts in Education from Harvard University and a BA in Dance and World Literature from Pitzer College of the Claremont Colleges.
Nicole Zizzi was born and raised in Buffalo, New York where she started dancing at the age of 2 at Eugenia’s Dance Studio. She trained in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, and Polish Heritage dancing. At the age of 18, Nicole started school at the University of Rochester where she studied Physics and Dance. At Rochester, she trained in contemporary with mentor Missy Pfohl Smith—artistic director of BIODANCE and director of Program of Dance and Movement at the University of Rochester. After graduating college, Nicole moved to the Boston area where she quickly found herself immersed in the rich and vibrant Boston dance community. In October 2015 Nicole and her dance partner, Lisa Giancola, founded their own company; Evolve Dynamicz. Since its founding, the company has performed at events across the Boston metropolitan area as well as in New York City. Nicole is currently pursuing a Master's of Architecture at Northeastern University where she is involved in the research of notational systems used in choreography; specifically looking at the works of Merce Cunningham and William Forsythe. She has dreams of one day becoming an architect— merging her passions for the arts and sciences. Nicole is so excited to be part of Collective Moments Dance and can't wait to see how the company grows!