Brooks Dance Center
Katie Brooks, Owner/Artistic Director
Katie started dancing at a young age. She attended high school locally at Massabesic and graduated from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, with degrees in Psychology and Dance. In 2006, she moved back to Maine to start her family. Her dance resume includes; the Roger Williams Dance Theater Company and she currently dances in the Southern Maine-based modern/contemporary company “Sonardance.” Katie has taken classes with some of the most well known choreographers in the industry including Tabitha and Napolean Dumo (SYTYCD, Monsters of Hip Hop), Brian Friedman (Monsters of Hip Hop), David Scott (Pulse Tour), Brooke Lipton (Pulse Tour) and Shane Sparks (Monsters of Hip Hop Conference). She has studied under the direction of Kelly Wicke Davis, Sean Curran, Gary Shore, and Kathy Bennett at Roger Williams University. She has performed in countless shows to include Live and Dance Strong 2009, 2010 and 2012, The Fab Show 2010 and 2011, Thornton Academy’s Annual Dance Performances, Pickerton’s Annual Dance Performances and Sonardance showcases from 2009-current. She has performed in the fundraiser Let’s Dance with the Stars for several years. Dancing is an amazing and integral part of Katie’s life. She looks forward to choreographing for several years to come.
Sasha Malone
Sasha graduated magna cum laude from Long Island University’s Honors program earning her B.F.A. in Dance Studies with a concentration in Psychology. She continued her post-graduate studies at Mills College in Oakland, CA where she trained extensively in modern dance composition and performance. Upon her return to NY, she worked as a freelance dancer and teaching artist with Circle of Dance Repertory Company, performing in notable venues such as the Duke Theater on Broadway, P.S. 122, and Clark Theater in Lincoln Center. Ms. Malone is the director of the dance program at Berwick Academy and is artistic director of SONARdance and co-artistic director of New England Dance Project. In New England she has presented pieces with the Portland Ballet, the Cassandra Project, Dance Complex, Portland Youth Dance, the City Theater and many more. Her work has been described as “athletic and thought provoking, bringing classic modern dance to the next level” (Boston Globe). Sasha is excited to be joining Brooks Dance Center!
Jessi Allaire
Jessi began dancing at the age of three and has taken classes in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, and hip-hop. She attended school locally in the Massabesic School System and continued her education at Rivier College. It was there that she was a co-founder of the school dance team, The Raiders’ Rhythm. She then went on to graduate magna cum laude from the University of
Maine at Farmington with a degree in elementary education, followed by a summa cum laude Masters Degree in Literacy from the University of New England. Since the age of 10, Jessi has been attending various annual dance workshops, including Dance Olympus, Maine Dance Teachers’ Club, and Monsters of Hip-Hop. Jessi has taken classes under many well-known
choreographers including Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo, Nick DeMoura, Anthony LoCascio, Brian Santora, and Mario Velez among many others. For the past fifteen years she has been teaching dance to students of all ages, and is also a classroom teacher for the Sanford School Department. Jessi is excited to combine her passions for both teaching and dance at BDC.
Sarah Choroszy
Sarah has been a part of the Maine dance community since she was three years old as a student, performer, teacher, and choreographer. She has a B.A in Dance Performance from Rhode Island College where she worked with choreographers such as Marta Renzi, Bill Evans, and Angelica Vessella. Sarah has also performed with local Maine dance company SONARdance since 2012. In addition to performing, Sarah has choreographed pieces for the Rhode Island College Dance Company, Thornton Academy Dance Company, Community Dance Project, and Studio 48 Dance. She also augments her dance education by attending a range of conventions and intensives such as the Bates Dance Festival, the David Dorfman Dance Intensive, NUVO, the American College Dance Association, and is a member of the National Dance Educators Organization. In her teaching, she uses safe strategies to promote healthy technique. Sarah loves teaching all dance styles, and strives to bring a well rounded dance education to young dancers in Maine.
Kelsey Lloyd
is currently studying to receive a B.A. in Dance and a B.S. in Nutrition from the University of New Hampshire. She has had eighteen years of dance experience, starting at Sole City Dance (formerly known as Arts Rochester) studying ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, modern, choreographic process as well as being in SCD’s Ensemble performing throughout the Seacoast. In 2013, she began dancing with New England Dance Project and has continued to work with the company creating group and solo choreography. She has performed with other companies on the seacoast such as Annex Contemporary Dance Company and Sonar. Kelsey danced on both Jazz, Tap, Aerial Company and Ballet Company at UNH for all four years of her college experience. In 2019, she has also become a certified personal trainer and a certified beginner aerial instructor. Currently, Kelsey is teaching at two studios focusing on styles such as Aerial, Jazz, Lyrical, and Tap. She is looking forward to bringing her passion for performing and choreographing pieces for others to all the beautiful dancers at Brooks Dance Center.
Meghan Dube
Meghan Dube fell in love with dance at an early age, but did not take her first dance class until she was 7 years old (1999). In 2005, Meghan declared that dance was more than just a hobby and decided to train at a professional level with Ballet New England (Portsmouth, NH). During her years of training, Meghan also studied with MOMIX, Pilobolus Dance Theater, Parsons Dance Company, Alvin Ailey, and Evidence Dance Company (2006-2010). Meghan has performed with Maine companies Vivid Motion and Maine State Ballet (2003-2005); and was a member of a Boston-based Neoteric Dance Collaborative, having performed with them in NYC, Boston and Maine (2009-2012). In 2006, Meghan began assisting her dance teachers with the younger dance classes. Meghan immediately found her passion in teaching; in 2008, Meghan began teaching on her own (Ballet New England [2008-2009]; Great Bay Academy of Dance [2009-2010]; Konservatoriet[2010-2015]; The Dance Annex Studio [Summer 2013]; City of Portland, ME [2015-2016]; Corinne's School of Dance[2011-present], Brooks Dance Center [2019-present]). Meghan recognized how beneficial dance was and how it had a therapeutic impact when she encountered her first student with Autism (2011). From there, Meghan aspired to teach dance to those with Special Needs. Meghan completed two degrees: A.S. In Business Administration (2013) and B.S. In Recreation Therapy (2015). Meghan expanded her knowledge by working as an Education Technician for children with Autism and other developmental/intellectual disabilities (Waban Projects Inc., 2015-2017). In 2017, Meghan founded Dirigo Therapeutic Movement and developed the dance program A Chance to Dance for dancers with special needs. Meghan looks forward to a life long journey of teaching and sharing her love for dance with all individuals and abilities.
Emma Campbell
