Cion started dancing as soon as he could walk. He started with Salsa but quickly fell in love with Modern and Jazz. He went to Creative and Performing Arts High School as a dance major and became dance captain his senior year. He currently works at Sesame Place where he performs as a dancer for their various shows and parades. He recently just got a promotion from Sesame Place to an assistant supervisor for the entertainment department. He has performed in the Thanksgiving Day Parade numerous times and various Atlantic City gigs. He was a member in various dance companies throughout the city such as Grace Dance Theater and Danse4Nia, where he earned the title dance captain. He was a recipient of the Marion B. Anderson award in 2018. He also volunteers as a guest teacher for the Philadelphia school district and has choreographed for dancers throughout the city. He currently is a junior at Eastern University on a dance scholarship and pursuing an exercise science degree as a double major.

Rachel  has a BFA in English (Writing) and Dance from  Eastern University. She is from Salisbury, Maryland, and has 18 years of dance experience mostly from Salisbury Dance Academy where she grew proficiency in numerous styles such as ballet, tap, jazz, modern, musical theater, contemporary, lyrical, and hip hop. She participated in multiple nonprofit organizations like First Position Performance Troupe where she danced for numerous charity events, such as Relay For Life and Horizon, and at Disney World twice on their stage in Disney Springs and in the World Dance parade. With the Eastern Shore Ballet Theater, another nonprofit which she spent 15 years with, she participated in numerous ballets such as Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and The Nutcracker. She has choreographed for her school drama, The Addams Family and a solo entitled In The Rain. At Eastern University, she choreographed Hanging On, Differences Aside, and her senior thesis Found Wandering. Rachel is currently a member of the Glorify Performing Arts Company in West Chester Pa. She is excited to be part of ContempraDance faculty.

Jess  began dancing at age 5 and really started to love it when she tried tap at age 10. She later explored more styles and has tried almost everything, but loves modern, contemporary, jazz, musical theatre, and tap the most. While Jess was studying for her dual major in fine arts and art education at Millersville University, she was a member of Expressions dance and served as the organization’s Modern teacher for 5 semesters.

Along with Expressions, Jess worked as choreographer with the All Campus Musical Organization (ACMO) on two of its main stage productions: Anything Goes (2018), and Pippin (2019). She was awarded for excellence in choreography at the KCACTF for her work on Pippin. In addition to dance, Jess is an art teacher for the Consortium of the Arts program in Upper Merion Township and works as a paraprofessional helping autistic students in Upper Merion School District. Jess is autistic herself and it is her passion to help make the voices of her students heard. She’s currently assistant director and choreographer for the ContempraYouth Dancers. It’s such a joy to have Ms. Jess on faculty at ContempraDance School!

Angel started her journey with dance at age 11.  From there it became a passion, and she knew instantly that she wanted to advance professionally. Angel is a senior at Eastern University majoring in Dance with a minor in Early Childhood Education. Angel trained at L&L Dance Productions of Philadelphia throughout her childhood/adolescence years. Angel is on Eastern University’s Dance Team where she regularly performs at sporting events and dance competitions. Since 2021, Angel has choreographed for Eastern Universities Fall and Spring performances. As a choreographer and dancer, her ultimate goal is to create a safe space where dancers are allowed to express themselves without fear. Angel is very excited to be in Philly Nutt Crak-Up this season as part of the ContempraDANCE Theatre Company. We are also excited to have Angel part of our Contempra faculty. 

Alex has trained with ContempraDance School for over 11 years. She has been assistant teacher for the last few years at the school and is now teaching Hip Hop to the younger dancers. She also choreographs Hip Hop dances for the ContempraYouth Dance Company as well as performs with them. Alex debuted last December 2023 in ContempraDANCE Theatre’s Philly Nutt Crak-Up as a Hip Hoppin Railway rat. She has attended ADTC (American training camps) for the past few years as well as the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy.  We are so excited to have Alex teaching at ContempraDance School.

Beth Ann has a BA in Dance and Drama from Bard College, NY and an MA in Dance/Movement Therapy from Drexel/Hahnemann University. Beth Ann began her dance training with the Swarthmore Ballet Theater where she learned ballet, Martha Graham and Horton modern techniques, and jazz. She continued in college where she added Limon, and Cunningham techniques as well as Hip Hop/Street Funk and Flamenco dance to her repertoire. Beth Ann has been teaching creative movement, modern, ballet, jazz and musical theater dance for over 25 years. She has choreographed and performed numerous original pieces in Philadelphia and New York. She has also choregraphed for a variety of children and adult musical theater productions including “The Music Man”, “Baby”, “Peter Pan”, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.  Beth Ann is a long time faculty member and fantastic! 

Sophia began dance classes at age 3 and fell in love with movement. She began assistant teaching at age 12, where she learned of love teaching dance. She has performed many leading roles in her pre-professional dance career and placed top 12 at YAGP her senior year for classical variations. After high school she spent two years dancing with Nashville Ballet Company in the trainee program and taught her second year there. Afterwards she went to Eastern University where she earned a degree in kinesiology. She is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine. She currently performs with the Roger Lee Dance Company and KCBC. She teaches ballet/pre-pointe/pointe, contemporary, lyrical, and conditioning classes. She has choreographed for competitions such as YAGP, Elite, Elevate, and Access Broadway. She has also choreographed for independent shows and Eastern University’s Dance Department Showcases. Sophia is currently assistant director and choreographer for the ContempraYouth Dancers and a member of our professional company, ContempraDANCE Theatre Company. We are so excited to have Sophia as part of our Contempra faculty!