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Teaching Artists

Rose Bedard

Rose Bedard

Rose Bedard, affectionately known as “Rosie B.” is a freelance artist, choreographer, and teacher under her LLC 2INSPIRE Dance. She can be found inspiring, teaching, and choreographing at local studios and universities in and outside of Vermont. She is the creator/director of her own adult dance company, SynRgy Dance Company. Rose has the pleasure to work with many dance studios around the state on a recreational and competitive level as well as continuing her own training in NYC, Boston, and beyond. She has been coach of the Mt. Mansfield Union dance team for 16 years.

Tom Cleary

Pianist/keyboardist/composer Tom Cleary teaches in the jazz studies program at UVM, coordinates the Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø jazz program, and teaches private lessons in his home studio. He co-leads the jazz quartet Birdcode with vocalist Amber deLaurentis, and has performed and recorded with Mike Gordon, Ray Vega, Ellen Powell, Brian McCarthy, Patricia Julien, and Jamie Masefield. His work in musical theater includes music direction for shows at Northern Stage, Saint Michael's Playhouse, and UVM Theater. Visit his and .

Rob Crites

Rob Crites is a professional entertainer, circus performer and instructor. His performances include stilt-dancing: in Paul McCartney's European tour, with Jennifer Lopez on the American Music awards, and juggling on stilts in Aerosmith's "Jaded" music video. Movie performances include "Water for Elephants", "OZ: The Great and Powerful", and "Beauty and the Beast: 30th anniversary".  TV performances include Dancing with the Stars, GLEE, Celebrity Circus and General Hospital. In addition to performing, Rob Co-coordinated Cirque du Soleil's "Cirque du Monde" program in Los Angeles for 12 years teaching social circus to at-risk youth and now teaches several programs for Circus Smirkus here in Vermont. 

Amber deLaurentis

Amber deLaurentis

Amber oversees the vocal jazz program at University of Vermont, where she teaches voice and co-directs the UVM Jazz Vocal Ensemble with husband Tom Cleary. Amber regularly performs alongside Tom as a member of jazz quartet Birdcode, which recently released its first recording, You Are Here. As a songwriter, Amber released her second full-length record, Innocent Road, in 2019. She has performed with Marcus Roberts, Judi Silvano, and Ben Folds.

Rhonda Pagnucco

Rhonda Doonan

Rhonda Doonan (she/her) has been exploring dance and movement practices since her first Irish step dancing lesson as a child. Rhonda enjoys studying somatics and expressive movement as pathways to wellness, self-discovery, creativity, joy and healing. She enjoyed a long career as a speech-language pathologist and brings her passion for inclusivity and accessibility to her work at the Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø. Rhonda is a nationally certified Pilates instructor, Shake Your Soul®-Yoga of Dance certified instructor, and is currently enrolled in the Dance for PD® dance teacher course.

Uncle Erok

(he/him/they/them) is a local artist, activist and poet who strives to create work that inspires joy, wonder, deep connection and liberation. From large-scale murals, banners, flags and protest signs to astrological woodcuts, freestyle poetry and upcycled clothing, erok offers a big and tiny array of artwork. Erok has been print making for over 20 yrs working in DIY styles of both screen and block printing. Often he's working with community to make prints and art used in parades, protests and campaigns for climate justice and human rights.  

 is a Vermont-based singer-songwriter who has been playing and writing music by ear since childhood. A multi-instrumentalist, she taught herself piano, guitar, and several other instruments. She studied music education at The Crane School of Music and is currently completing her master's in education. For the past two years, she has been fortunate to work closely with the Vermont All State Music Festival Modern Band Ensemble and is passionate about engaging students through popular music education. Mikayla shares her love of music as a teacher at Winooski School District, where she teaches piano, chorus, and digital music. Learn more at www.mikayla.us

Sam Kurnit

Sam Kurnit is an actor, voiceover artist, improviser and educator. He has studied at The Second City in Chicago, as well as iO and The Annoyance Theatre. He has acted in films, TV and commercials, and provided voiceover for film narration, audio books, and video games. 

 

Sam brings a gentle and enthusiastic energy to the improv classes he teaches. He is also a huge nerd! Ask him about Star Wars, video games, and D&D. 

 is a musician and educator based in Essex, Vermont. Kristin’s specialties include vocal coaching, curriculum design, classroom music instruction, music direction, songwriting, arrangement, and choral conducting. Kristin grew up just outside Milwaukee. At the age of 18, she moved to New York to attend NYU for an undergraduate degree in Music Education. As a classically-trained, contemporarily-influenced vocalist and educator, Kristin offers a versatile training experience for students of all ages.

is the founder of the Montpelier-based Cardboard Teck Institute. He is the co-creator of the PinBox 3000 cardboard tabletop pinball machine kit (with Pete Talbot). He co-conceived the original Hadestown (with Anaïs Mitchell), now on Broadway. He has worked as a youth advocate, librarian, café owner, educator, puppeteer, artist, game master, and entrepreneur in Vermont for 20+ years. He has a BA in Theater from Northwestern University and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College.

Sara McMahon

Sara McMahon

Sara has been involved in the research, teaching, performing of movement as a form of artistic and personal development for the past 40 years. Her teaching approach draws from elements of Bartenieff Fundamentals, Body-Mind Centering, basic principles of anatomy and kinesiology, and improvisational and modern dance techniques. She has extensive training in Modern Dance, Body Mind Dancing, and is a ® certified teacher.

Deb Margolin

Deb Margolin

is a playwright, actor, and founding member of Split Britches Theater Company. She is the author of numerous plays, including Imagining Madoff, Turquoise, and Bringing the Fishermen Home, as well as 10 solo performance plays which she has toured throughout the US, the most recent of which is 8 STOPS, a comedy concerning the grief of endless compassion! 8 STOPS takes a long, humorous, tender look at motherhood, the suburbs, the fear of death, and the inheritability of ideas.

Quinn Rol

Born and raised in New Mexico, Quinn worked as an actor in NYC for 7 years, and is now a resident of Burlington's ONE.  In 2021, he put up an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado which raised over $2,000 for the BHS Drama Club so they could afford to put on their next show! He is a Poetry Out Loud teaching artist with the Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø and performs with the VSO's Musicians In Schools program.  He serves on the board of the Off Center, is co-creator of The Front Porch Follies, and a co-founder of the Furnace Theatre Ensemble; a group of performers dedicated to practicing the highest standards of compassion in their craft.  He is an acting teacher and coach specializing in the Voice/Body, and is the only Designated Teacher of the Linklater Voice technique in Vermont. MFA Columbia University.

creates performance experiences, and conceptual artworks for stage, site, and film. Hanna holds degrees and certifications in dance therapy, psychology, performance, choreography, vinyassa/yin/restorative yoga, non-profit management, and arts integration. Hanna has been a dancer in many US companies and collaborative performance groups, and has worked internationally as an independent artist, choreographer, and movement and mindfulness teacher. Hanna launched ANIMAL Dance in 2022, a performance and production company based in Burlington. 

 is a comedic storyteller, producer, and teaching artist. As a storyteller, Susanne’s work has been featured on WGBH Stories from the Stage, NPR, HBO's Inspiration Room, and CBS Sunday Morning. She is a 2021 recipient of a Webby Award for her story House on Fire and was named the Best of Valley Voices Storyteller by New England Public Media in 2016 and 2022. Susanne is currently a StorySlam producer for The Moth and the creative director for Say it Forward Productions.

(they/them) is a playwright, dramaturg, performer, and educator who tells stories about healing, self-discovery, and community. They received a Vermont Arts Council/NEA Creation Grant to develop their play Breakfalls, which was nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and premiered at Vermont Stage in 2024. Their plays have been developed in NYC, London, and across the country with Roundabout Theatre Company, Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø Theater, American Stage, Theatre503, Urban Stages, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hartford Stage, Barter Theatre, and more. Gina was the 2021 winner of the Kernodle New Play Award, the 2020 winner of the New Works Initiative at Good Luck Macbeth, a 2019 winner of the Columbia@Roundabout New Play Reading Series, and a 2022 artist-in-residence at Ragdale. They have been a guest lecturer at Hunter College, NYU, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Vermont. MFA Playwriting: Columbia University. BFA Drama: NYU Tisch.

 has worked professionally in theatre for over 20 years as a director, choreographer, actor, singer, dancer and arts educator. Credits: Broadway (42nd STREET, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, 110 IN THE SHADE, and FINIAN’S RAINBOW) , plus three National tours, one European tour, and over 55 productions in professional theaters across the country, including Ragtime at the Kennedy Center and Kiss Me Kate at Paper Mill Playhouse, ( where Newsies debuted.) She's also appeared on TV in Person of Interest, Celebrity Ghost Stories, As the World Turns, The Late Show with David Letterman, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Her directing and choreographing credits include work at AMDA, Middlebury College, Seton Hall University, CVU and more. She has her BFA from The Boston Conservatory and MFA in Theatre Pedagogy from Idaho University. www.ElisaVanDuyne.com

Bob Wagner

An acclaimed member of Vermont’s vibrant musical community, Bob Wagner is celebrated for his soulful guitar work, evocative songwriting, dynamic live performances and his collaborative nature. As longtime guitarist with Vermont singer-songwriter Kat Wright, Wagner has spent 10+ years touring nationally, performing at esteemed venues such as the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Webster Hall in NYC and NPR’s Mountain Stage. In 2025 Wagner began touring with Mike Gordon’s solo project, performing with the Phish bassist at the Joy Theater in New Orleans.  Bob is also known for organizing and leading tribute concerts and benefit events. Notably, he serves as bandleader for the Hug Your Farmer music series now entering its 3rd year at Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø Theater in Burlington, raising over $500,000 to date for disaster flood relief and other agricultural initiatives in Vermont.  Additionally, Wagner’s forthcoming debut record is slated for summer 2025 release. Recorded in Burlington,VT and Nashville, TN, the record features guest appearances from Oliver Wood and Jano Rix (The Wood Brothers) as well as revered guitar player from Sturgill Simpson’s band, Laur Joamets. 

Janice Walrafen

Janice Walrafen is a multi media artist/sculptor/puppet maker/teacher/community celebrant living along the Winooski River in Central Vermont.  For almost 4 decades she has been creating larger than life puppets, masks and costumes to celebrate the cycles of the seasons with community pageantry. It began in 1987 with the All Species Project, which is founded on the principles of ecology, and celebrating the interdependence of all life. Much of what she does can be seen at:

"When we create and wear masks and costume representing another species of life, imagine seeing through their eyes, we find we can learn to be earthlings, not just human beings. Puppet theater is a powerful way to build community and narrate stories to inspire respect for all of life."

Additionally, she makes decorative Art Tiles and teaches art, both in the studio and community centers.

(she/her) enjoys working as a presenter, clinician, and guest conductor across the region. She currently serves as the Chair of the NAfME Council for Choral Education, and she directs the Catamount Singers at the University of Vermont, where she is also on the voice faculty. Stefanie is the executive director of the non-profit organization Music-COMP. After completing her BFA in Musical Theatre from Ithaca College, Stefanie toured nationally with a Children’s Theatre Company. Since moving to Vermont, she has appeared as a vocalist, pianist, and music director for TURNmusic, the Vermont Philharmonic, Lyric Theatre, and more. Stefanie’s work as a studio vocalist can be heard on a number of albums, including the recent self-titled album by The Saturn People’s Sound Collective.

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