Andrea Belser
Musical Theater, Dance/Movement, & Acting
Andrea McCormick is a performing artist and instructor from Cleveland, Ohio who has received her Bachelor of Arts from Wright State University in Theatre Studies, with an emphasis on Dance and Applied Voice. Beginning with ballet at three years of age, she also continued her studies in various dance forms, including tap, African folk dance, liturgical/spiritual, jazz, musical theatre dance, modern/contemporary, hip hop, and Latin ballroom.
Post college, under the stage name “Andrea Belser”, Andrea has remained extremely active in the northeast Ohio theater community, receiving 2008 Best Actress in Cleveland for her role as Juliette in “I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda” at Dobama Theatre, and nomination as 2012 Best Actress in Cleveland for her role as Pecola in “The Bluest Eye” at Karamu House Theatre.…
Terry Boyarsky
Music, Dance/Movement
With over 45 years of experience as a teacher of Dalcroze Eurhythmics and a lifelong performer of chamber music, pianist Terry Boyarsky believes that every person is musical. Her thirst for musical collaboration led to chamber music, choral singing, improvisation, folk dance, accompaniment, and creating ceremony. She specializes in integrating music and movement into the curriculum. Her unique, multifaceted approach evokes deep listening and playful experimentation.
A favorite interdisciplinary project was a collaboration with a Taipei puppeteer and Cleveland dancer to create “Young Dreams – Life in 3 Parts,” an intimate work of puppetry, dance, and improvised music, sponsored by Cleveland Foundation Creative Fusion Program.…
Sara Caplinger
Visual Arts: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, & Printmaking
Sara Caplinger lives in Northeast Ohio and is a multidisciplinary artist that is continually seeking out new forms of expression through the visual arts. Sara’s background as a teaching artist is in the area of trauma. Sara has several years under her belt teaching grades K-12 through the trauma informed lens and working with at-risk youth. The trauma informed approach not only addresses the five areas of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) but transforms our understanding on what art can do in the classroom. This learning method is more process based than product base and creates a culture of agency, creativity, empowerment, decision making, and mindfulness.…
Diana Chittester
Music, Singing/Songwriting, & Guitar
Diana Chittester has been building a reputation as one of the area’s most gifted guitar players, intimate songwriters, and forceful vocalists over the past decade, releasing a series of albums that display her growing confidence and ability to communicate feelings that are deeply personal yet universal.
Diana has shared the stage with Lyle Lovett, Gin Blossoms, The Accidentals, Joan Osborne, Peter Mulvey, Chris Trapper, Lisa Loeb, and Colin Hay; performing at PACs and venues across the Eastern US & Canada including Kent State PAC, Stocker Arts, Showplace Centre, Evening Muse, Music Box Supper Club, and The Ark.…
Sheela Das
Music: Multi-Instrumentalist & Songwriting
Sheela Das is the artistic director and founder of Creative Concepts in Music. With more than a decade of teaching through the arts, she has directed, produced, and delivered compelling workshops and original stage and video productions for students, community members, and professional venues alike.
From songwriting workshops, instrumental music, playwriting and puppetry camps to classroom residencies, Sheela brings her multi-instrumental talent to the joy of hundreds of audiences each year. She has composed more than 350 original, interactive songs and 49 Youtube videos to teach the curriculum in grades K-12 in subjects ranging from social emotional learning to language arts and science.…
Richelle Denes
Visual & Traditional Arts: Printmaking, Illustration, & Ceramics
Ricki Denes is a printmaker and illustrator whose work reflects her life, mostly pertaining to health and illness. She graduated with her B.F.A. in printmaking and a B.S.ED. in art education from Ashland University. Denes is currently on the Ohio Arts Council’s Teaching Artist Roster and has worked with both Ashland High School doing print demonstrations and a 4-week teaching artist placement at East Knox Elementary School. In addition to the Ohio Arts Council, Denes is a printmaking instructor at the Wayne Center for the Arts.
RECENT PROJECTS: “Print Club”, East Knox Elementary School (Howard), Grades K-6.…
_ ESQYRE
Music, String Quartet, Classical Music, & Orchestral Performance
The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. A former BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. In its home town of New York, the ensemble serves as season artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
The Escher Quartet tours the U.S. extensively, performing in numerous cities and venues including New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Rockefeller University, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, La Jolla Music Society, Savannah Music Festival, and Chamber Music Society of Detroit.…
Tom Evert
Dance/Movement
Tom Evert has been a creative force in creating and performing original choreographic works with a company of dancers, working intensively in arts-education programming and creating festival-like community events in Ohio for 38 years.
Tom currently serves as artistic director of DANCE EVERT, which he founded in 1986. He holds BFAs in both painting and dance from Ohio University and has enjoyed a world-class touring career with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York City. He has created a major body of work for which he has received eight Individual Excellence Awards in choreography.…
Yasufumi Ishida
Multidiscipline: Storytelling, Japanese Traditional Theatre, Origami, & Kamishibai
Inspired by a movie “Patch Adams”, Yasu came to the United States to become a professional hospital clown. Earning a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre for Young Audiences, he also graduated from the Chavez Studio of Magic, the world’s most prestigious magic school. He beautifully imbues the essence of traditional Japanese culture into his magic and storytelling. Yasu has enthralled family audiences all over the United States, including performances at the Disney Summer Stage Kids in New York, the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. (the world’s largest festival of Japanese culture outside of Japan), the Florida Storytelling Festival, the Hawaii Book & Music Festival, the Tryon Super Tuesday Children Festival (NC), KIDabra International and Touhill Performing Art Center (MO).…
Kimberly Jarvis
Dance/Movement
Kimberly Crislip Jarvis is an educator, choreographer, and administrator, known for her exceptional contributions to the creative arts. With an impressive educational background, Kimberly holds degrees and certifications from respected institutions such as the Scandinavian Institute for Physical Culture in Denmark, the American College of Sports Medicine, Malone University, and the University of Akron.
Throughout her career, Kimberly has collaborated with Kent State University, Ballet Magnificat! in Jackson, Mississippi, and Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts, where she had the privilege of working alongside esteemed dancers such as Merce Cunningham, Meredeth Monk, Craig Patterson, Patricia Lent, Susanna Chaffey, Jennifer Way, Milton Myers, and Dianne McIntyre.…
Douglas Laubacher
Visual Arts, Comics & Cartooning
I’m a cartoonist from Northeast Ohio. My comic strip “Unbound” runs in a handful of papers spanning Stark, Carroll and Tuscarawas Counties. I have nearly a decade of experience teaching every age group the art of cartooning and cartooning adjacent classes. I’ve taught students as young as 3 and as old as 93. I’ve taught in libraries, senior centers, museums, schools and community centers. I pursued Fine Art and English in College because ever since I was twelve I knew, this is what I wanted todo. I hold a BA in Fine Art from the University of Mount Union, am a certified substitute teacher and a member of the National Cartoonist Society.…
Sara Lawrence-Sucato
Dance/Movement
Sara Lawrence-Sucato (BA Dance & MS Organizational Leadership from Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA) hails from Columbus, Ohio and lives and works in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Sara has worked in various capacities with The Dancing Wheels Company & School since 2006. She danced in the company for sixteen seasons performing works by noted choreographers Marc Brew, Nai Ni Chen, David Dorfman, Christopher Fleming, Catherine Meredith, Stuart Pimsler, David Roussève, Ginger Thatcher, Mark Tomasic, Michael Uthoff and Robert Wesner as well as by internationally renowned choreographers Donald McKayle and Dianne McIntyre. She served as the company’s Tour Manager for thirteen years and as Rehearsal Director for three years.…
