Marcellus Harper has an expansive background in project management and event production. He has worked as a Program Analyst for the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA). He was among the first seven employees of the TSA Taskforce mandated by Congress to create and develop the agency and federalize our nation’s transportation security infrastructures. Prior to his work with the TSA, Mr. Harper worked as a Project Coordinator for Marriott International’s corporate marketing department, where he was directly responsible for the development and implementation of several industry events for the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. Mr. Harper has worked for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Harvard University coordinating special projects to assist research and treatment work for HIV/AIDs patients in Africa. Mr. Harper was a Meyerhoff Scholar at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) where he studied biology and theatre and was a double national medalist in the NAACP’s ACT-SO Program in biology and oratory. Marcellus is the 2011 recipient of the Memphis Urban League Young Professionals’ Change Artist Award in recognition of his achievements towards “positive community influence and unwavering commitment to the arts”. Marcellus holds a Bachelor’s degree in non-profit administration and performing arts and serves on the boards of Tennessee Association of Dance and the Historic Broad Avenue Arts Alliance.

Lenore Pavlakos Morales is a native of Brooklyn, NY and graduate of The Juilliard School where she received her BFA Degree in dance. Her professional career includes Eglevsky Ballet, Maryland Ballet & Eugene Ballet before joining Dance Theatre of Harlem under the direction of Arthur Mitchell.  She quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to Soloist and later Principal dancer. In her 11-year tenure with DTH she worked with masters such as Fredrick Franklin, John Taras, Suzanne Farrell, Jacques D’Ambroise, Geoffrey Holder.  Featured roles include: Waltz Girl in Balanchine’s “Serenade”, Medea in Michael Smuin’s “Medea”, “Desdemona” in Jose Limon’s “Moors Pavane”, Princess of Unreal Beauty in John Taras’s “Firebird” and “Myrta” in Fredrick Franklin’s staging of “Creole Giselle”. In addition to performing, she served as assistant rehearsal director to the company and Master Teacher for their “Dancing through Barriers”, outreach program both in the US and abroad. Lenore performed as guest artist to various companies in the US. Ms. Morales was a featured model for Capezio ads and has been seen in Oprah, Mademoiselle, Pointe, and Dance Magazine as well as Italy’s Io Donna.  

Following her performing career Ms. Morales served as Director to The Harkness Youth Ballet @ 92nd Street Y and later Ballet Mistress to Staten Island Ballet. Recently, she was delighted to serve as guest Rehearsal Director to Dance Theatre of Harlem, NYC during their 2021-2022 season. In 2022, Lenore joined Collage Dance Collective as Rehearsal Director during its 13th Performance Season. Additional teaching includes ballet faculty at Rutgers – Mason Gross School of the Arts,West Virginia Dance Festival, Scarsdale Ballet Studio, American Ballet Theatre JKO School, Academy of Dance Arts, Marymount Manhattan College, New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble,

Luisa began her training at Ebateca Escola de Ballet, directed by Juliana De-Vecchi. In 2014 she moved to Miami, FL after receiving a scholarship to attend the Miami City Ballet School pre-professional program, directed by Darleen Callaghan. While a student with the Miami City Ballet School, she had the opportunity to perform works by George Balanchine such as Western Symphony, Stars and Stripes, and Theme and Variations. Luisa has also worked with choreographers Maribel Modromo, Olivier Pardina, Maria Torija, Geta Constantinescu, Ebtiz and Lourdes Lopez. In 2016 she graduated from Miami City Ballet School and moved to Memphis, TN to join Collage Dance Collective. This is Luisa’s tenth and final season with the organization.

SANTIAGO CASTAÑEDA was born in Medellin, Colombia and began his ballet studies at the age of 8 at Andrea Wolff Ballet. After completing high school, Santiago moved to Miami and continued his training at the Miami City Ballet School on scholarship. As a student at MCB, Santiago had the opportunity to perform several Balanchine ballets and classical ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia and Ballabile. Santiago has had the pleasure of originating roles in works choreographed by Gerald Ebitz Durante Verzola, Ariel Rose and Pam Tanowiz. In 2014, Santiago participated in the Youth America Grand Prix finals where he won two scholarships to the Harid Conservatory and Houston Ballet School. In 2018, Santiago joined Miami City Ballet as an apprentice. As an apprentice, Santiago has performed George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Jewels “Diamonds”, Midsummer Night’s Dream and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. He also performed works by Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp and Justin Peck. This is Santiago’s seventh season with Collage Dance Collective

Rickey Flagg II attended the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and was also part of the Hartt School Community Division under the direction of Miguel Campaneria. Rickey continued his training with Mr. Campaneria in Cary, NC dancing roles in Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Spring Waters Pas De Deux and excerpts from Raymonda. Mr. Flagg has choreographed solos for the Youth American Grand Prix and World Ballet Competition, several of which placed in the contemporary category. In 2012, Rickey was awarded a full scholarship to attend Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Professional Training Program under the direction of Virginia Johnson. Upon completion of the training program at DTH, Rickey was offered a contract with Charlotte Ballet II. This is Rickey’s eleventh and final season with Collage Dance Collective.

JAKOBE GEDDES was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and raised in Nanaimo, BC, Canada. He began his dance journey at Kirkwood Academy of Performing Arts. At the age of 13, he moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, to continue his ballet training at The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School (RWB). While attending the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Jakobe performed in productions such as Peter Pan, Twyla Tharp’s Princess and the Goblin, The Nutcracker, as well as excerpts from Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and La Fille Malgardé. After graduation, he joined RWB’s Aspirant Program. A year later, Jakobe joined The Ailey School Scholarship Program. He completed his training at Ailey, performing in Christopher Huggins’ work during the Spring Concert, as well as Alvin Ailey’s Memoria and Hope Boykin’s Chasing the Spirit at the Spirit Gala. Jakobe has attended summer programs at The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Ailey School, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

This is Jakobe’s third season with Collage Dance Collective.

Diyah, born and raised in Kissimmee, Florida, began his training at The Osceola County School for the Arts at the age of 14. After graduating as the 2nd Place Winner of the 2019 ‘National Dance Education Organization’s; Artistic Merit, Leadership, and Academic Achievement Award’ for Florida Diyah was accepted to the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and awarded the Class of 2023’s ‘Presidential Scholarship’. As a student, Diyah had the pleasure to learn with organizations such as Giordano Dance Chicago, The TL Collective, GagaLab NYC, and SpringboardX: Revolutionary Clash. These programs prepared him to attend Summer Intensives such as Ballet BC’ 44 Summer Dance Intensive, The Jacobs Pillow Summer Intensive Contemporary Program, and The Alonzo Kings LINES Contemporary Ballet Summer Intensive. Diyah began his professional career as a Guest Soloist with the City Ballet of Boston, performing numerous classical ballet projects. Including his performance as a Featured Soloist in The Urban Nutcracker, which earned him a mention in the Boston Globe for his “breathtaking” performance. In 2022, Diyah continued earning his degree as a company member with The Philadelphia Dance Company (aka. Philadanco!) where he performed until 2024. Now, Graduated ‘Summa Cum Laude’ with a B.F.A in Contemporary Dance Performance Diyah has performed works by inspiring choreographers that helped shape him into the Artist that he is today such as Milton Myers, Christopher Rudd, Eugene Hill Sagan, George W. Faison, Christopher Huggins, Bernard Gaddis, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Jennifer Archibald, and Nijawwon Mathew’s to name a few. Diyah has also performed at the American Dance Festival, the Crypto Arena, and The Joyce Theatre.

This is Diyah’s third season with Collage Dance Collective.

MAYA HAWKINS began dancing at the age of three at the Ballet Memphis School. At 15, Maya joined the Collage Dance Corps where she had the opportunity to perform works by Sidra Bell and Kevin Iega Jeff. Following her high school graduation, she studied at the School of Pennsylvania Ballet under the direction of Arantxa Ochoa and in 2015 she joined The Washington Ballet as a trainee where she performed in Septime Webre’s Carmen, The Nutcracker, Coppelia, and George Balanchine’s Serenade. Maya was a trainee at Cincinnati Ballet from 2016-17 dancing in Kirk Peterson’s Coppelia, Victoria Morgan’s The Nutcracker, as well as excerpts from Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. She then danced with Charlottesville Ballet in Virginia for 3 seasons, where she performed various roles in the Nutcracker and in works by Keith Lee. Maya has attended summer intensives on scholarship at Dance Theatre of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Orlando Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Carolina Ballet and Alonzo King Lines Ballet.

This is Maya’s sixth season with Collage Dance Collective.

LAUREN HUYNH, born and raised in Plano, Texas, began her training at the Hathaway Academy of Ballet. She was a recipient of the Nordan Fine Arts Scholarship at Texas Christian University (TCU) where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. During her time at TCU, she was selected to travel to Rwanda to continue TCU’s ongoing relationship with the SEVOTA Peace Institute; she was awarded the TCU Mission Statement Scholarship; and she received the Senior Legacy Award honoring her antiracist work and activism. As a student, Lauren received scholarships to train in programs with Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, BalletX, Oregon Ballet Theatre, and Joffrey Ballet. Lauren has performed works by notable choreographers such as George Balanchine, August Bournonville, Nacho Duato, Ulysses Dove, Amy Hall Garner, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Jennifer Archibald, among many others who have shaped her into the artist she is today. Lauren’s professional career includes dancing with Bruce Wood Dance, Asian American Ballet Project, Regenerative Beings, and Chattanooga Dance Theatre. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow International Inside/Out Dance Festival, Virginia Arts Festival, and St. Louis’ Spring to Dance Festival.

This is Lauren’s sixth season with Collage Dance Collective.

VICTORIA JAENSON, originally from Kampala, Uganda, began her formal dance training at the age of seven at the Brattleboro School of Dance in Vermont. She later studied at the Rock School for Dance Education (Philadelphia, PA) under directors Stephanie and Bo Spassoff. Victoria spent a year studying at The Hartt School at University of Hartford, under Stephen Pier in 2017. Victoria went on to join Charlotte Ballet II (Charlotte, NC) under artistic director Hope Muir for two seasons where she performed excerpts from Alonzo King’s Map, Medhi Walerski’s Petit Cérémonie, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Nutcracker, Peter Pan, Christian Spuck’s Leonce and Lena, as well as Matthew Hart’s Sleeping Beauty. In January 2020, Victoria earned 2nd Place in the Senior Classical Division at the Ballet Beyond Borders dance festival in Missoula, Montana. In the summer of 2021, she performed with Des Moines Metro Opera as a dancer for the operas Platée and Queen of Spades. Victoria then went on to dance with Ballet Theatre Company (West Hartford, CT) for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, under Stephanie Dattellas.

She has had the pleasure of performing roles like Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, the lead in the Sapphire scene in Aladdin, Princess Florine in Marius Petipa’s Bluebird pas, Swan Lake pas de trois, including as a soloist in Odyssey by Melanie Ramos, Serenade in A by Paul Mejia, Conspicuous Figures by Calvin Bittner, Melodies by Marguerite de Anguera, and Pieces of a Legacy by Derek Brockington. Victoria has also worked with Dimensional Dance (Hartford, CT), under Ruth Lewis, performing the lead in Whole-Souled Women: The Story of Prudence Crandall and Sarah Harris, sharing a powerful story about education for young Black girls in Connecticut in spring 2022, and as Ruth in The Story of Ruth in summer 2023. Other companies she has guested with include City Ballet of Boston (Boston, MA), AMA Dance Theatre (Mystic, CT), and with New England Ballet Theatre (Hartford, CT).

This is Victoria’s fourth season with Collage Dance Collective.

EMMA JENNINGS was born in Silver Spring, MD and began her ballet training at The Washington School of Ballet when she was six years old. At age 13, she trained at Maryland Youth Ballet under the tutelage of Michelle Lees, Julie Miles, and Rhodie Jorgenson where she performed roles such as Snow Queen in The Nutcracker and as a studio company dancer in works created by Christopher Doyle.

Emma has attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre (NYC), Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem and Miami City Ballet on full scholarship. She has also taken part in programs including the Alonzo King LINES Summer Workshop and the Kennedy Center Master Class Series where she worked with masters Matthew Rushing and Suzanne Farrell and more.

Emma received her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Towson University and graduated in Spring 2022 with honors. While on a talent-based scholarship, she gained her knowledge from professors such as Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, Caroline Rocher Barnes, and Runqiao Du. She performed in many works including Pretty Is… by Ray Mercer and the lead role in Paquita in addition to choreographing many works. While in university, Emma served as the Treasurer for the National Honors Society of Dance Arts and earned several awards, such as the “Jim Snyder Award for Technical Excellence.”

Following graduation in Fall 2022, Emma attended the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s Graduate Program under the direction of Marjorie Grundvig, where she performed in Terrence Orr’s The Nutcracker, the Sleeping Beauty Pas de Trois and Paquita. Emma has received her Zena-Rommett Floor-Barre Certification along with completing a pedagogy course from the Washington School of Ballet.

This is Emma’s fourth season with Collage Dance Collective.

NIA LYONS, a Chicago native, has trained with The Dance Theatre of Harlem, Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, and Chicago High School for the Arts. Nia’s diverse training includes classical ballet, modern, African, Latin, jazz, and hip hop and has taken her around the world to numerous countries, including Barcelona, St. Thomas, and South Korea. This is Nia’s seventh season with Collage Dance. She looks forward to inspiring and mentoring young dancers while continuing to break barriers herself.

Fábio Mariano was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and started dancing when he was 14 years old. He trained at Maria Olenewa Dance School and performed in big productions of ballet and opera at Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, such as The Nutcracker, The Rite of Spring, Aida and Marguerite & Armand. Taught by renowned Brazilian and Russian teachers from Kirov Ballet, he graduated in 2014. In Brazil, he performed classical and contemporary works by different choreographers with Caetano Cia. De Dança, directed by Thiago Caetano and Companhia Jovem de Ballet do Rio de Janeiro, directed by Dalal Achcar and Marisa Estrella. Fábio joined Corpo de Baile Campos dos Goytacazes in 2014, where he performed classical and contemporary works. He also choreographed a contemporary ballet for the company. In 2016, he moved to the U.S. to join Atlantic City Ballet (NJ) and performed soloist and leading roles in full length productions of The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Dracula and Carmen. Aside from dancing, Mr. Mariano has been a ballet teacher for more than 10 years. In 2020, he co-founded the online platform Blacks in Ballet alongside Ingrid Silva and Ruan Galdino to highlight ballet dancers of color. Fábio Mariano has been an artist with Collage Dance since 2017 and is in his seventh season.

LAUREN PHILSON began her dance training at 3 studying jazz, tap and ballet. She spent her summers at American Ballet Theater in NYC, Boston Ballet, School of American Ballet, Colorado Ballet and Houston Ballet. At age 13, she was invited to join the Houston Ballet Academy’s full time year-round professional division program. When her family relocated to Colorado, Lauren continued her training at Colorado Ballet Academy and performed the role as Myrtha in the academy’s production of Giselle.

Lauren has performed on some of the world’s most celebrated stages, including the The Kennedy Center where she debuted the role Firebird in Kevin Thomas’s Firebird and the Wortham Theater in various roles in Ben Stevenson’s and Staton Welch’s debut of The Nutcracker with Houston Ballet. Lauren’s repertoire also includes George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux, Prodigal Son and Valse-Fantaisie, Durante Verzola’s Luminescent, Kevin Thomas’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Christopher L. Huggins’s Enemy Behind the Gates, Amy Hall Garner’s Saint Glory, Ulysses Dove’s Vespers, Geoffrey Holder’s Dougla, and Septime Webre’s The Wizard of Oz.

When not dancing, Lauren teaches dancers all over the world. She is an instructor of an adult class at Collage and has guest taught at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Academy (Denver) and at Academia Andrea Wolff Ballet (Colombia).

Lauren is returning for her seventh season with Collage Dance Collective.

Raquel Smith began her training at age six at Lauridsen Ballet Centre. She then went on to train privately with Roberto Almaguer, where she developed a true love for dance. While in L.A., Raquel earned the opportunity to train with Debbie Allen and perform in the prestigious production The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker. Raquel continued her training on scholarship at San Francisco Ballet School, where she danced alongside the company in performances like The Sleeping Beauty, Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote, and Helgi Tomasson’s Little Waltz. In 2019, she joined Richmond Ballet II, where she worked with choreographers such as Val Caniparoli and Levi Marsman. From there she joined Nashville Ballet as a company apprentice where she had the privilege of dancing under the direction of Paul Vasterling and working with several world-renowned choreographers. In 2021 she was selected as one of 11 dancers from around the world to be invited by MoBBallet to be an apprentice for “Reframing the Narrative,” a historic 3-week residency at the Kennedy Center, during which Raquel danced under the direction of Tony-nominated and Bessie Award-winning choreographer Donald Byrd. This is Raquel’s third season with Collage Dance Collective.

JORDAN TATE (MEMPHIS, TN) began his training in the Collage Dance Conservatory at age 8. In 2020, Jordan was selected by Kevin Thomas, artistic director of Collage Dance to join the Professional Division. There he studied under and performed work by esteemed choreographers including Joshua Manculich, Kevin Iega Jeff, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Amy Hall Garner and Kevin Thomas, to name a few. Jordan joins Collage Dance Collective as a Trainee for the 2025-26 performance season.