ARTISTS OF RENEWAL
Jeremy Bensussan
Jeremy is a performer in the Twin Cities. He earned a BFA in Dance from the University of Minnesota in 2010. Jeremy has danced seven seasons with Minnesota Dance Theatre, fourteen seasons with the Flying Foot Forum, and began his career with Out on a Limb Dance Company in 2001. New York dance credits include Dusan Tynek Dance Company and The Bang Group. Regional musical theater credits include Fiddler on the Roof (New York), 9 to 5 (Ohio), Annie Get Your Gun (Wisconsin), French Twist (Minnesota), Heaven (Minnesota), La Cage Aux Folles (Minnesota), and CATS (Rhode Island). Jeremy was the regional producer of the new musical Golden Boys by Horace Turnbull. Jeremy was nominated for a 2014 MN Sage Award for Outstanding Performer. He is the recipient of the 2015 MN Sage Award for Outstanding Performance for his participation in the Eclectic Edge Ensemble’s Lost Voices in Jazz. He left dance to pursue a nursing career but enjoys participating in dance projects intermittently and is now a medsurg nurse at the VA Medical Center.
Harper Best
Harper has been training as a student at Concept Pavielle in Minneapolis for the past two years and spent two summers honing her technique at the summer intensive at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Before then, she studied at the school of Kansas City Ballet. In 2024, she performed as part of Loyce Houlton’s Nutcracker Fantasy in Snow and Flowers. Harper is a rising senior in high school.
Angelina Elliott
Angelina is a junior in high school and has trained at Summit Dance Shoppe since the age of 8. She has received extensive recognition at regional and national competitions including Youth America Grand Prix, Universal Ballet Competition, Radix, and The Dance Awards, performing original works by choreographers such as JayJay Dixonbey, Nick Meola, Kirstin Russell, and Stephanie Wise. In December 2024, Angelina made her debut in the principal role of The Flower Queen in Loyce Houlton’s Nutcracker Fantasy. Angelina’s training includes summer intensives at New Jersey Ballet and San Francisco Ballet School.
Kaitlyn Gilliland
Kaitlyn trained with Loyce and Lise Houlton and at the School of American Ballet (SAB) in New York City, where she earned the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise in 2004. She danced with the New York City Ballet (NYCB) from 2006 to 2011 and was named the company’s 2010 Janice Levin Dancer. After leaving NYCB, Kaitlyn became a sought-after freelance artist and began working with Twyla Tharp Dance in 2014. She has since created and performed leading roles in numerous Tharp works, appearing most recently in the 2022 Bessie Award-winning revival of In The Upper Room at New York City Center. Upon returning to Minneapolis, Kaitlyn founded A Dancer’s Place Productions to create meaningful performing opportunities for local dancers. She also continues to stage Tharp repertory around the world and leads the ballet programming at Summit Dance Shoppe in Plymouth, MN. Kaitlyn has previously served on the faculty of the School of American Ballet and as New York City Ballet’s Assistant Children’s Rehearsal Director. She holds a BA from Columbia University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Peter Hoffman
Peter is a Minnesota native and is currently a member of Collide Theatrical Dance Company. He has performed original works by international choreographers Loyce Houlton, Lise Houlton, Kaitlyn Gilliland, Dario Mejia, Giselle Mejia, Reit Velthuisen, Regina Peluso, Jolene Konkel, and other local choreographers. Peter is very excited to perform in this project!
Lise Houlton
Best known for her effortless, fluid style and dramatic sensibility, Lise began her dance career with Minnesota Dance Theatre, then moved at the age of 19 to the world renowned Stuttgart Ballet under the leadership of Glen Tetley. After two years in Germany, she joined American Ballet Theatre where she danced principal roles and worked closely with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova, Rudolf Nureyev, Gelsey Kirkland, Kevin McKenzie and others. She has danced principal roles for some of the greatest ballet choreographers of the last half-century, among them George Balanchine, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Antony Tudor, Glen Tetley, Paul Taylor and Jerome Robbins. Lise served as Minnesota Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director from 1995 to 2023 and choreographed several works including Sidetracks, House on Fire, Bred in the Bone, Alchemical Wedding, A Piece A Chord, Rumblings, The Enchantment, Edifice Wrecks, Point of Departure, Point of Reference, and Fallings.
Katie Johnson
Katie received her BFA in Dance from the University of Iowa, where she was the recipient of the Iowa Center for the Arts scholarship. She trained at Butterfield’s school of Dance, Mark Morris Dance Center, STEPS, River North Dance Chicago, and Beijing Dance Academy in China. Katie has worked with Tania Perez-Salas, The Joffrey Ballet, Duarte Dance Works, Ballet America, and was a company member with Minnesota Dance Theatre from 2008-2018. She has performed works by Jiri Kylian, Jose Limon, Dwight Rhoden, Louis Falco, Elisa Monte, Hope Boykin, Emery LeCrone, Jeffery Bullock, George De la Pena, Wynn Fricke, Mariusz Olszewski, Loyce Houlton, and Lise Houlton, amongst others. Katie is a 2011 SAGE Award nominee and a 2012 SAGE Award winner for Outstanding Performer. In addition to her performing career, Katie was a Capezio Dancewear model and was highlighted in Lee Lynch’s book, Amazing MN (2017). She served as a repetiteur and rehearsal director for Minnesota Dance Theatre’s 2023-2024 season. Katie currently teaches and choreographs for numerous dance schools throughout the metro area.
Emily Pitts
Emily is a freelance dancer in the MSP area, recently working with local companies such as Continental Ballet, DanceCo, and A Dancer’s Place. She has also recently guested with Mannakin Theatre and Dance in San Francisco, CA, performing in their 2025 Spring Show and their 2024 International Choreographer’s Festival in San Francisco, collaborating to present an original work by Traci Finch (of Mannakin Theatre and Dance) and performing well-known duets by Miro Magloire (of New Chamber Ballet). Previously, she danced professionally with the Minnesota Dance Theatre company from 2019-2024, performing works by Lise and Loyce Houlton, Elayna Waxse, Zach Manske, Alanna Morris-Van Tassel, Alexander Hille, Javan Mngrezzo, and Nia-Amina Minor. Emily also is a local choreographer who has created contemporary and neoclassical works for professional companies and local students. Emily holds a B.S. in Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development from the University of Minnesota. She currently is on ballet faculty at Summit Dance Shoppe.
Connor Simone
Connor (he/him) is a Twin Cities dancer, performing artist, and teacher. He received training at Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, the TU Dance School, and the University of Minnesota. Connor has previously danced with TU Dance, HoneyWorks, Hatch Dance, and Threads Dance Project and most recently spent four seasons with James Sewell Ballet in Minneapolis. Connor has performed works by artists such as Marcus Willis, Kjara Wurst, Gregory Dolbashian, Berit Ahlgren, Gregory Vuyani Maqoma, Will Couture, Carl Flink, Sidra Bell, and Maurya Kerr among others. Alongside performing, he also teaches at Elevé Performing Arts and Ashley Ballet Arts Center.
Olivia Thornton
Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Olivia began her dance training at Hopkins Dance Company under the direction of Leslie Daly, where she trained for 15 years. Following her graduation in 2018, she continued her studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, earning a degree in Ballet Performance. While at CCM, she performed in a wide range of classical and contemporary works including Cinderella, Arpino’s Birthday Variations, Balanchine’s Serenade, and several new creations. In 2020, Olivia joined Ballet Fantastique as an Apprentice, advancing to Corps de Ballet for the 2021–2022 season. From 2023 to 2025, she was a Company Artist with James Sewell Ballet, where she performed original works by James Sewell including Whaling Waters, Appalachia Waltz, and Arm Jive, featured in productions such as “Pointed Humor” and “In the Shadows”. She also danced in world premieres by acclaimed choreographers Shohei Iwahama (Gathered Now Shared) and Penelope Freeh (Unfashioned Creature), and appeared in Minnesota Opera’s production of Romeo and Juliette. Olivia has been a guest artist with Minnesota Dance Theatre in Loyce Houlton’s Nutcracker Fantasy (2023) and their Spring production in 2024. She also performed in Loyce Houlton’s Nutcracker Fantasy with A Dancer’s Place Productions as a guest artist in 2024.
Seylon Versalles-Shiggs
Seylon is a videographer and multimedia artist with a focus on capturing movement and memory through a documentary lens. For Renewal she served as the lead videographer, working closely with choreographers, dancers, and directors to preserve the project at its core while transforming other aspects of it to fit into a modern context. Seylon approaches film as both documentation and interpretation—aiming to honor the original work while offering a new way for audiences to engage with it. Her role in Renewal included concept development, on-site filming of dance and interviews, and post-production editing. This project reflects her commitment to thoughtful, movement-driven storytelling, and continues her exploration of how film can serve as a living archive for the art of dance.
Elayna Waxse
Elayna (she/they) is a Minneapolis-based choreographer, dance artist, and educator whose work bridges contemporary dance and mental health. They have created works for Minnesota Dance Theatre, Carleton College, the University of Minnesota Dance Department, Threads Dance Project, and St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, among others. Their choreography has been recognized nationally, including selection for the 2023 American College Dance Association National Festival Gala and a feature in The Minnesota Star Tribune’s Top Ten Dance Performances of 2022. Elayna danced professionally with Minnesota Dance Theatre, Colorado Ballet/Colorado Ballet Studio Company, Black Label Movement, BodyCartography Project, and with Cie. Ismael Ivo at ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival and in São Paulo, Brazil. They were a member of TU Dance from 2012 to 2019, where they were part of the original creation team of Come Through, the collaboration between TU Dance and Grammy-award-winning musical group Bon Iver. Elayna is a 2019 recipient of a McKnight Fellowship in Dance, through which they worked with choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith on an original solo. Most recently, Elayna served as Interim Artistic Director for Minnesota Dance Theatre in 2024. They are currently the Dayton/Hudson Visiting Instructor at Carleton College, and recently founded Elayna Waxse Movement Project.