Alanna Morris-Van Tassel

Alanna Morris-Van Tassel (Company Member) is a native of Brooklyn, New York. She began dancing at age 5 studying a variety of dance styles. She is a graduate of the La Guardia High School of Music and Art & the Performing Arts. Alanna received her B.F.A. from The Juilliard School, under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. She has worked professionally with Nathan Trice/Rituals. Alanna received the 2011 SAGE Award for Outstanding Performer, and a 2015 McKnight Fellowship for Dancers. Alanna joined the company in 2007.

Randall Riley

Randall Riley (Company Member) has been ministering, performing, and studying dance since his late childhood. Having trained at diverse schools such as The Rock School at Pennsylvania Ballet, The Ailey School, Ballet Atlantic, and Long Island University Brooklyn Campus’ BFA Program. Randall has worked with a plethora of artist from Earl Mosley, to Darrell Moultrie, Nathan Trice and most recently Ron K. Brown. Former member of Steps Repertory Ensemble and Ronald K. Brown/Evidence a Dance Company, this is Randall’s first season with TU Dance.

Elayna Waxse

Elayna Waxse (Company Member) received her early training with Alecia Good, and at the Kansas City Ballet School, spending summers at the School of American Ballet. She continued her training at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School as a Professional Division student, where she performed frequently with the company. Elayna has been a member of Minnesota Dance Theatre, Colorado Ballet and Black Label Movement, where she performed works by Dwight Rhoden, George Balanchine, Loyce Houlton, and Christopher Wheeldon. Most recently, she performed with Cie. Ismael Ivo e Grupo Biblioteca do Corpo at ImPuls Tanz Vienna International Dance Festival 2014, and in São Paulo, Brazil. Elayna has danced with TU Dance since 2012.

Taylor Collier

Taylor Collier (Company Member) is a native of Washington, D.C. where she trained at the Washington School of Ballet under the direction of Mary Day and Rebecca Wright. She most recently received her B.F.A. in Dance from Dominican University of California/Alonzo King Lines Ballet B.F.A. Program. She has attended summer programs at the Rock School of Dance, Houston Ballet, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. In 2014, she performed in the San Francisco Opera’s production of Showboat. Taylor joined TU Dance in 2014.

Youthen Joseph

Youthen Joseph (Company Member), born in Trinidad and Tobago, came to New York City at the age of six. He began his training at John Dewey high school under the instruction of John Michael Goring and studied at The Martha Graham School for Contemporary Dance, Alvin Ailey, Alonzo King Lines Ballet Training Program and Deeply Rooted. He has performed work by Alonzo King, Martha Graham, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Andre Zachary, Obediah Wright, Kevin Iega Jeff, Lee Wei Chao and Eleo Pomare. Youthen has performed with the Graham Ensemble, Renegade Performance Group, Balance Dance Theater, and Whitney Hunter/ Medium. This is his first season with TU Dance.

Tara Cacciatore

Tara W. F. Cacciatore (Company Member), from St. Louis, Missouri, graduated with honors with a BFA in Dance from Webster University and recipient of the Chalot Douglas Trust Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts. While in college she performed at the Kennedy Center in Iyun Harrison’s Union, a role created for her. She has worked professionally with Karlovsky & Company Dance, Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company, ANNONYArts and aTrek Dance Collective. Tara has performed in lead roles such as Anonymous by Jessica Lang and One choreographed by Uri Sands, where she was first introduced to his work. Tara joined TU Dance in 2014.

Alexis Staley

Alexis Staley trained at Baltimore School for the Arts and studied summers on scholarship at Boston Ballet, Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Point Park University, The Ailey School, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Alexis graduated from the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA at Dominican University (CA) in 2014, and toured Latin America doing community outreach, performances, and workshops with Juntos Collective. She has been an apprentice with River North Dance Chicago and has danced professionally with Pursuit Productions and San Francisco Opera. She joined TU Dance in 2015.

Kaitlin Setzke

Kaitlin Setzke (Company Member), a Wisconsin native, received her formative training from various dance centers throughout the Milwaukee area. In high school, she worked with Denis Malinkine, head master of The Milwaukee Ballet, as well as professors from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She was first introduced to TU Dance through Toni Pierce-Sands while studying at the University of Minnesota, where she completed her BFA in Dance in 2014. Kaitlin’s performance credits include works by Uri Sands, Donald Byrd, Larry Keigwin, Andre Tyson, Bill T. Jones, Ananya Chatterjea, and Shapiro & Smith.

Adam McGaw

Adam McGaw is a native of Detroit, Michigan, where he received his Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree in Dance at Wayne State University (2015). He has performed works by Doug Varone, Fernando Melo, Maxine Doyle, Dwight Rhoden, Marguerite Donlon, Julie Bour, Sonya Tayeh, Belinda McGuire and many more. Adam is an alumni of Springboard Danse Montreal and spent last season dancing with Visceral Dance Chicago. This is Adam’s first season with TU Dance.

Photo©Michael Slobodian

Christian Warner

Christian A. Warner began his professional career at the age of seven in the NetWorks touring production of Oliver! The Musical, and later joined the east coast tour of Disney’s The Lion King as Young Simba, making his broadway debut two years later. He graduated from HSPVA in Houston and Point Park University in Pittsburgh with a BFA in dance. Christian has acquired repertoire by Sonya Tayeh, Troy Powell, Thang Dao, Dwight Rhoden, Larry Keigwin, Jessica Hendricks, Mark Morris, Bennyroyce Royon and Luke Murphy, and Stacey Tookey. He most recently worked for Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre and joined TU Dance for its spring season.