Meet our New 2018-19 Faculty Members
Carter Crew has been dancing at Arts Together since the age of three and has been a member of the Rainbow Dance Company for 10 cumulative years, which holds a special place in her heart as the granddaughter of Lemma Mackie, Arts Together’s founder. She has studied modern dance, ballet, jazz, hip hop, safety release technique and contemporary at Arts Together, NC Dance Institute, American Dance Festival, UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC-Greensboro. Currently a graduate student in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Carter is excited to have classes of her own this fall and can't wait to meet her dancers!
SIGN UP for Carter's class: Hip Hop Kids (ages 7-9) on Saturdays!
Susan Comer Fisher is a native of Raleigh and grew up singing and dancing at Arts Together. She has a bachelor's degree in music from Northwestern University, a master’s degree in theater education from New York University, plus a master's degree in special education; however, Arts Together was her first arts school, and she is thrilled to be teaching at such a special place. With over 15 years in arts education, Susan specializes in creating collaborative experiences where ALL children are able to enjoy the magic of the arts.
SIGN UP for Susan's class: Multi-Arts Sampler (ages 3-5) on Fridays!
Diandra Jones is a world-ranked competitive-turned-professional Irish Step Dancer who toured North America and Europe for five years with Trinity Irish Dance Company, before studying and teaching multicultural dance forms. She has guest taught at universities and performing arts institutes throughout the US as well as in Dominica, Barbados, Argentina, Ghana, and the US and British Virgin Islands, where she most recently worked as a choreographer, dance scholar, performer and teacher. Diandra is also a yoga and pilates teacher, writer, musician and performance artist and is thrilled to join the faculty at Arts Together.
SIGN UP for Diandra's World Dance Workshops (ages 16+) on Thursdays!
Misty Santos attended Southeastern College in Wake Forest where she studied music and early childhood education. Her career with children began after she was a mother and decided to open a licensed, in-home daycare to afford her the opportunity to stay at home with her own children. From there, she went on to work as the Assistant Program Director for the Salvation Army’s after school program in Raleigh, to teaching preschool for four years, then becoming a full-time nanny and now coming back full circle to teaching preschool at Arts Together. Misty is married with three adult daughters and a wonderful granddaughter. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time in the mountains, cooking, gardening and being with her German shorthaired pointers.
Megan Mazarick is a choreographer, teacher and performer. Growing up, she took dance classes with her mom at Arts Together. As a choreographer, she makes work that is humorous, political, theatrical and personal, often including a stop-motion physicality and love of fantasy. She has shown work internationally (Singapore, Bulgaria, Egypt, Poland, Australia and Hungary) and throughout the US (Philadelphia, San Francisco, Minneapolis, New York City and others). As a performer, she has worked with Susan Rethorst, Keith Thompson, Marianela Boan, Merian Soto, Anonymous Bodies and members of Lower Left. Holding a BFA and MFA in dance (University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Temple University), Megan has also taught technique, improvisation and composition classes at studios, festivals and universities around the globe.
SIGN UP for Megan's classes: Pre-Ballet & Pre-Jazz (ages 5-7) on Wednesdays and Int. Teen Modern Technique (ages 13-19) on Mondays!
Steven James Rodriguez Velez was born in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, and grew up studying Karate, Judo and Kong fu. He became recognized in black belt at the age of 13, and it was then that he decided dancing was his passion. Steven moved to San Juan in 2004 to study dance at the Rio Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico and discovered his love for contemporary movement while working under Petra Bravo, founder and artistic director of Hincapie. Later, he was invited to join Hincapie as a company dancer. In 2009, he joined the company Andanza and worked with respected choreographers from Puerto Rico, Spain, Brazil and Canada. In 2015, Steven moved to North Carolina and began working with Ronald West, dancer and founder of Black Irish Dance Company. Since then, he’s joined several other dance companies in the Triangle, including Blackbox Dance Theatre. Steven instructs dance classes at The School of Carolina Ballet, Ninth Street Dance Studio and others, and is excited to be teaching this year at Arts Together!
SIGN UP for Steven's classes: Beg./Int. Ballet (ages 10-14) and Int./Adv. Ballet Technique (ages 14+) both on Thursdays!
