Susie Thiel is a multi-media artist, choreographer, performer and educator. She is currently the Director of the Dance Program and Associate Professor ofDance at the University of Kentucky. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Western Michigan University and her Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Michigan. She has performed with several modern dance companies, including the New York Dance Collective, Genesis Dance Company, Sharon Fogarty Dance Theatre and the Impulse Initiative. She performed in The Days of ’98 Show for three seasons in Skagway, Alaska. Most recently her work has been presented at the University of Kentucky in Theatre and the Opera Theatre productions, Green Space Studio (NYC), The Seagle Music Colony (NY), Jennifer Muller/Hatch the Presenting Series (NYC), The American College Dance Festival (GA, AR, MS, OH), the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) conference in Miami, The Moving Collective (KY) The Cincinnati Fringe Festival (OH) Anne Bogart’s Barn (NY), the Detroit Dance City Festival (MI) and the Inner Mongolia Arts College (China) and the Hainan Normal University (China.) Susie's research on Folk Dance and women's autobiographical and biographical stories has been presented in the form of choreography and performance and at conferences. She received the University of Kentucky’s 2016 Provost’s Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2020 College of Fine Arts Faculty Service Award.
Theresa Bautista is a freelance dancer, choreographer and instructor who has been hailed by the Louisville Courier Journal as a “delight to watch” on stage. She has performed with Ila Conoley’s ICONography Dance, The Susie Thiel Collaborative, Anna Sapozhnikov’s MOYAMO Dance, Jan Street Dance Theatre, Rachel James, jan street dance theatre and Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company. Ms. Bautista is the founder and Co-Producer of Moving Collective, a Louisville, KY-based organization that presents concerts to promote the work of establishing and emerging choreographers of modern and contemporary dance. She has choreographed works for the University of Kentucky Department of Theatre and Dance, University of Louisville Dance Theatre, Berea College Modern Dance Troupe, the UK Dance Ensemble, Moving Collective, The Center for Women and Families and Empujon. Her work Victims, received Gala honors at the Southeast Regional Ballet Festival in Montgomery, AL and her work, Go Round was recently seen at the Regional Alternative Dance Festival in Kalamazoo, MI. In addition to teaching adjunct at UK, Ms. Bautista also teaches at the University of Louisville both adjunct and at the Dance Academy, Louisville Ballet School, Allegro Dance Theatre and Ellen’s School of Dance.
EveMarie Bessenbach is adjunct faculty within the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Kentucky, and she is on faculty for the UK Summer Dance Intensive. She earned her Master of Arts in Arts Administration at the University of Kentucky, and she served as the Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Department of Arts Administration.
EveMarie has been adjunct faculty within the School of Accelerated Degree Programs at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri since 2015, and she has been on faculty at the Frankfort School of Ballet, Lexington Ballet School, Dance Theatre of Tennessee’s Academy of Performing Arts, and Krupinski Academy of Dance, as well as BalletMet Columbus, where she served as an academy instructor and a teaching artist in the Education Department. EveMarie is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
EveMarie graduated from Butler University on scholarship with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Pedagogy, Summa Cum Laude with Highest Departmental Honors. She also received the first Eileen Poston Dance Scholarship, and she performed with Butler Ballet and Butler Chamber Dance. EveMarie has danced professionally with the Lexington Ballet, Dance Theatre of Tennessee, and Hosanna Sacred Arts, as well as four seasons with Missouri Ballet Theatre as a demi-soloist. She is currently a company artist with Allegro Dance Project in Lexington. EveMarie has worked with numerous choreographers, such as Ron de Jesus, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Jimmy Orrante, Kenneth Tolle, and Robert Philander Valentine. Her favorite roles include the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Autumn Fairy in Cinderella, and Miss Molly in Hard Rock Ballet.
EveMarie’s choreography has been presented at Butler University, Governor’s Derby Celebration, Capital City Expo Festival, and Junior Miss Pageant in Kentucky, Lexington Ballet, Dance Theatre of Tennessee, BalletMet Dance Academy, Missouri Ballet Theatre, Riverfront Dance Festival, and American Dance Troupe. She was selected to participate in the 2017 Indy Convergence, a two week residency in which artists of various disciplines collaborate to create new works of art. EveMarie also choreographed a new work, Joy Unspeakable, as a guest choreographer for Magnum Opus in Madison, Wisconsin in 2018.
Patrick Garr is a New York-based dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and dance teacher currently performing on the Angelica Tour of HAMILTON: An American Musical as Samuel Seabury and Man 2. He was most recently seen as a swing in Mean Girls on Broadway. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a BA in Theatre, Musical Theatre Certificate, and a minor in Dance. Patrick is a proud Contemporary Dance alum of the School for the Creative and Performing Arts and the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts.
Patrick has trained extensively with Giordano Dance Chicago on scholarship, iTheatrics (NYC), Broadway Dance Center, Alvin Ailey, and more. After graduation Patrick moved to New York City to pursue a career in performance.
Patrick’s professional credits include: Jerome Robbins Broadway, Fiddler on the Roof (The MUNY), Mary Poppins (The Lexington Theatre Company), Hello, Dolly!, Aida, Billy Elliot, Big Fish (Music Theatre Wichita). Patrick is on faculty with Groove National Dance Competition, Varsity All Star Dance Competition, Broadway Classroom, and Man In Motion NYC. As a choreographer, Patrick's credits include: Addams Family, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and selections from Matilda, Chicago, Pippin.
He is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association. For more information: PatrickGarr.com or @mrpatrickg
Stephanie Harris is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Dance. She is an educator, choreographer, performer, and director. Stephanie has lectured at the University of Kentucky since 2013 and recently earned her Master of Fine Arts in Dance through Hollins University, Roanoke, VA.
Her work is driven by the process of translating ideas across varied disciplines and the practice of locating those concepts within the body. Her choreography and curriculum are informed by the exchange of ideas that are inspired through interdisciplinary research which focuses on topics such as quantum theory, ephemeral engagement, notions of materiality and embodied inquiry.
Her teaching portfolio includes modern dance, ballet, choreography, dance history and senior seminar. She has also taught master class instruction at the American College Dance Festival at the University of Memphis, UNC Greensboro, Austin Peay University, University of Little Rock at Arkansas, and Kent State University.
Her choreography includes Yielding to Entropy, Vestiges, Confluence and As I Watched you Flew, University of Kentucky Faculty Concert, Madame Butterfly, University of Kentucky Opera Theatre, and Drunken City, UK Theatre & Dance. Performances include The Tongue of the Wise, Travesty Dance Company (Cleveland), Convergence, Downtown Arts Center (Lexington), and The Resonance Project, Downtown Arts Center (Lexington).
Stephanie was with the Lexington Art League for 10 years. For the first 2 years she was their Development Director and then promoted to Executive Director. Prior to that she was the Artistic Director for the Contemporary Dance Collective in Lexington.