Happendance

In 2002, Missy entered the graduate dance program at Arizona State University to earn an MFA degree in dance. After completing her degree Missy returned to Lansing where she currently serves as the Artistic Director of Happendance Professional Company, producing all concerts and outreach performances. At Happendance School, Missy teaches ballet, jazz, hip hop, modern dance and creative classes for young children in addition to running Happendance 2.

Missy is a former Happendance School student who also served as a teaching assistant to the program for 5 years. After graduation from Haslett High School, Missy attended the University of Michigan, completing her BFA in dance in 1998. Missy then auditioned and joined the Happendance professional company and Happendance School staff. She also served as the Dance Faculty Liaison at Lansing Community College from 1999-2002. Once again a Lansing area resident, Missy seeks to make dance her full-time career.

Andrew is a Monterey, California native who began his dance studies at Pacific Grove High School. He won a competitive scholarship to study at Stephens College where he received a BFA in dance. He went on to dance with Mordine & Company Dance Theatre in Chicago and with Indiana Ballet Theatre NW. Andrew has taught at Columbia College in Chicago and is currently teaching at Danceworks, Happendance, and Greater Lansing Ballet Company in Lansing. He auditioned for Happendance professional company in August 2004 and was accepted with full-status. Andrew was served as the Artistic Director of the company's education outreach team Happendance To Go in 2005-2006, and co-directed the Winter Concert in 2006.

Matt, a long-time member of the Happendance family, started his dance training at Happendance School at the age of 12. He continued his training at Lansing Community College and received a full scholarship to attend the American Dance Festival in 2003. After an internship with Happendance in 1999, he joined the company with full status in 2001. In 2004, as an innovative extension of Happendance, Matt conceived and implemented a showcase for emerging choreographers. This initiative has since developed into the CD Project. In 2006 Matt co-directed Happendance’s winter concert “Man in a Can”. He moved on to be the artistic director of Happendance To Go, the company’s education team, in 2007. As a company member with Happendance, Matt has worked with guest choreographers Joan Hartshorne and Leanne Schmidt.

Most recently Matt has returned from a 9-month residency in Philadelphia where he worked with choreographers Philip Grosser, Jennifer Morley, and Kun Yang Lin. He is excited to return to Happendance this year to dance with his Happendance family and continue his leadership of the CD project.

Amanda grew up in metropolitan Detroit, where she trained in Cecchetti ballet with the Rosemarie Floyd studio in Royal Oak. She attended Interlochen Arts camp and was a dance major at Western Michigan University. After getting her certification in Massage Therapy and opening her own business, Amanda auditioned for Happendance in the fall of 2005 and was accepted as a full status artist. Amanda has also been a member of the children's outreach program, Happendance To Go, for the past three years.

Daniel Holt has been dancing for three and a half years at Lansing Community College (LCC). He began dancing after watching his sister’s career through LCC’s dance program. During his time at LCC he has studied ballet, modern, jazz and tap with an emphasis on ballet. In addition, he has choreographed three pieces, including one in Happendance’s Community Dance Project 2007. Daniel currently serves as the Artists' Representative to the Happendance Board of Directors.

Anna started gymnastics when she was two and by the age of eight she was competing for Southern Indiana Gymnastics School. She came to Michigan State University to compete on the gymnastics team. She graduated with a degree in Kinesiology, and now she is almost finished with her masters in Exercise Physiology. In the winter of 2008 she will take a temporary leave of absence from Happendance To Go while she tours with AntiGravity.

Emma Martin grew up as a Happendance student taking classes in ballet, modern, and jazz along with serving as a teaching assistant for five years. She will complete her training there this year as well as at the Academy of Dance Arts. She has been a member of Children’s Ballet Theater of Michigan since 1999 and will be dancing her last show with them this May as a graduating high school senior. Emma has attended summer dance intensives at Joffrey Midwest, ABT-Detroit, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School, the latter two locations on scholarship. She was accepted into the Happendance professional company as well as the To-Go team in August 2007.

Katie was raised in Canton, Michigan. She studied Cecchetti ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, and lyrical dance at studios throughout metropolitan Detroit. Katie performed with the Plymouth-Canton and the Livonia Civic ballet companies, and continued her study of advanced Cecchetti ballet as an undergraduate at Michigan State University. After receiving her B.A. in Political Theory with a specialization in French she worked in France for a year where she performed with a contemporary jazz company under the direction of Jean Greffet, formerly of the Paris Opera Ballet, and studied traditional French folk dancing. Katie auditioned for Happendance in September 2005 and was accepted as a full status artist performing in the 2006 Winter Concert and as a dancer with the company's education outreach team Happendance To Go. Since then she has taught tap and begun her studies in modern dance choreography as a guest choreographer for the Community Dance Project. Formerly the Artists' Representative to the Happendance Board of Directors, Katie now serves as a Member at Large.