Injury Prevention and Self-Care

LIZ BOROM got her start in South Carolina studying classical ballet with the Columbia City Ballet. She was a soloist for the Spartanburg Civic Ballet before receiving an honors scholarship to attend the SC Governors School for the Arts where she trained under the direction of Edward Villella, Mel Tomlinson, and Sandra Neil. She continued her training in all genres of dance and studied in several notable studios and programs from SC to NYC. She went on to study dance performance and choreography in college at UNCC and Coker College.

Since college, Liz has been teaching, choreographing, and dancing all over the US for the past 25 years. Professionally, she has danced in commercials, film, television, and performed with several professional companies throughout the US.

Liz is currently on faculty as an Adjunct Dance Professor at Western Carolina University in NC. She is also on faculty for several dance conventions and she travels nationwide teaching and choreographing.

Liz’s choreography has won multiple awards regionally and nationally. She writes a blog for dancers and dance teachers on her website geared toward using innovative ways to build dance technique and improve competition performance. Her classes teach dancers independent thinking and problem-solving. She is constantly seeking ways to expand creativity in young dancers and foster diversity.

You can find out more about Liz on her website www.lizbdance.com

Holly Mehedin, originally from New Jersey, began her dance training with Julie Caprio of the Hamilton Ballet Theatre. First immersed in Ballet and Jazz; she later added Tap, Modern and Musical Theatre to her repertoire. As a graduate of Mercer County, Holly received her Associate Degree in the Fine Arts-Dance. From anatomy and kinesiology, to ballet, jazz, and modern; her education increased her passion for dance. She thrives on education, and has studied in private and classroom settings with some of the best, including guidance from teachers such as April Cook, Shea Sullivan, Justin Boccito, Aaron Tolson, and Julie Garofalo. She also kept perfecting her skill set at Koresch School of Dance, and spent time performing with the Ballet South Company of New Jersey. She has been teaching for 21 years and has made it her top priority to give her students the best education possible. She focuses on anatomy and injury prevention in her classes, and is currently back in school pursuing her degree in Physical Therapy. She loves educating her dancers about the benefits of self care, and is excited to begin working with T Spheres!

Lisa trained at Giacobbe Academy of Dance in New Orleans, LA. She started her professional career at age 16 with The Jackson Ballet. When she left Jackson Ballet she went back to New Orleans & joined Delta Festival Ballet dancing many Principal roles in ballets such as La Fille Mal Gardee, Arthur Mitchell's Holberg Suite, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Nutcracker & Fernand Nault's rock opera ballet Tommy. After several years with DFB she moved to NYC & danced For Michael Kraus & New Choreographers on Pointe. When she moved to LA she danced Snow White in Disney's Symphonic Fantasy national tour & Anybody's in West Side Story at Sacramento Light Opera as well as some film & television work. She now teaches ballet primarily for Dana Foglia Dance Programs and Self Care for Dancers for T Spheres and is so very happy!

BLAKE STANLEY is a prodigious young choreographer and educator. Mentee of popular contemporary dance legend Mia Michaels, he is not only the recipient of numerous traditional national choreography awards, but is also on the forefront of new methods of injury prevention pedagogy, certified in the T Spheres Injury Prevention method. His mentees and students include dancers at the most prestigious performing arts schools (LaGuardia Arts, Frank Sinatra, Mark Twain), pre professional companies (Alvin Ailey, Joffrey, Ballet Academy East), and acceptance into universities, (NYU-Tisch, Marymount, Pace). Blake received his formal education at the Indiana Ballet Conservatory, as a full scholarship student, and consistently trained with industry leading choreography icons and educational leaders. He was a guest performer for the Joffrey Ballet, and continues to be an advocate for the Make A Wish Charity Foundation. Blake is a previous director of Brooklyn Center for the Arts, and currently holds residencies at several studios and universities across the United States.

JAIMIE GOODWIN grew up training under Denise Wall. She has gone on to perform on SYTYCD both as a contestant and an Allstar. She has also appeared in commercials, movies, and television shows including Dancing With The Stars, Ellen, Glee, Rock of Ages, High School Musical 3, Mad Men, Two and A Half Men, and many more. She’s enjoyed making appearances on the Emmy’s, The Academy Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, and The American Music Awards as well as working with several artists such as Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Kylie Minogue, and Miley Cyrus. She has also enjoyed the theatrical world of touring with Travis Wall’s Shaping Sound. When she’s not performing she nurtures her passion to share through teaching. Jaimie has choreographed for and taught dancers all over the world through conventions, at studios, and at universities. She has overcome several severe injuries that have led her to be an advocate for wellness and injury prevention in dancers and she has most recently been certified in Sugarfoot Therapy’s injury prevention conditioning program as well as working alongside T Spheres to bring the knowledge of wellness and longevity to our community.

STEPHANIE SHUMWAY grew up in the dance world, performing, competing, teaching, and training with today’s most renown teachers and choreographers. At the age of 14, she was accepted into the Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program, where she fell in love with the art of ballet and continued to train there for 3 years. Having gone through many low back injuries from dancing her entire life, she found a new appreciation for bodywork. Shortly after finishing high school, Stephanie became a Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Massachusetts. Since then, she has been able to incorporate both of her passions into everything that she currently does. Teaching her students on proper body alignment, self-care through massage techniques, and encouraging her massage clients to practice self-care and stretching in-between sessions has been a goal of hers ever since embarking on her career path. Stephanie is eager to begin her journey with the T Spheres team and looks forward to educating the world on the benefits of this incredible product.

NY based movement artist, teacher, choreographer, model and dancer HILARY HARISON is a well versed artist with background in many different genres. Starting her training very young, and has worked her way up. She now is sharing her knowledge with students by teaching and judging across the country. She is currently a performer in “Beings Dance” under Emily Bufferd, faculty at Eglevsky Ballet and Kanyok Arts Initiative, and judging for In10sity Dance. Credits include “In The Heights” film, Rachael Platten “Waves”, Capezio anniversary, and Dizzyfeet Gala. When not dancing, she can be found modeling and consulting with Capezio. Most recently Hilary has taken on learning new modalities of moving and knowledge of the body. She is a 200hr Registered Yoga Teacher and certified teacher in Tspheres. Hilary is an ABT Certified Teacher, who completed the ABT teacher training intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of ABT’s training curriculum. Be sure to keep an eye out for Hilary Harrison as this is just the beginning.

VANESSA LAUREN has always been a mover, she grew up dancing in the Bay Area and now resides in San Diego, CA, as a choreographer, dance instructor, barre instructor, and is in the process of obtaining her personal training certification. Her most impactful training growing up in the Bay Area was under Chris Jacobsen (Adrenaline Dance Convention) and Sonya Tayeh (SYTYCD). Vanessa went on to graduate from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in journalism and dance, and from there began her journey of teaching and choreographing. Her passion for learning and cultivating the connection between mind and body has brought her into great avenues and created wonderful connections, like T Spheres and working for Revive Dance Convention.
Vanessa believes that each dancer already has everything they need within themselves, they just need the presence and guidance to find it, feel it and then grow, so that they can enhance both their movement and personal journey.

Alexa has been a dance educator for over a decade, advocating for "smart" dance training, with special focus on anatomy and the mind-body connection. She graduated magna cum laude from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts 2014 with her B.F.A. in Dance having received the University Dance Work Scholarship and Dance Express Choreography Award. Alexa is currently a NASM Certified Personal Trainer with a Performance Enhancement Specialty and certified in Progressing Ballet Technique. Her students have gone on to perform in the National Tour of Matilda, to attend Boston Conservatory, University of the Arts, Alvin Ailey’s Pre-Professional Program on merit scholarship, and more! Alexa has worked with choreographers including Larry Keigwin, Brian Brooks, Doug Elkins, Ginger Thatcher, & Stefanie Battan Bland and performed in the Princeton Dance Festival & at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. As a member of Zella Dance Company, Alexa performed across the United States and she toured internationally with the production Uma Saudação à Whitney Houston. In 2017 Alexa founded Lambarri Dance Arts, in memory of her grandmother Nilda Lambarri who passed from Dementia, to provide a space for young dancers to grow as artists while developing their technique incorporating functional methods to train in "smart" and more efficient ways.

Melanie is dedicated to providing young dancers with elite level dance education that incorporates not only technique but awareness of the body. She is a graduate of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University 2016 with a B.F.A. in Dance cum laude and was the recipient of The James Dickson Carr Scholarship. Melanie is currently certified in Progressing Ballet Technique and FLX Athletics. She has worked with choreographers Jessica Lang, Nick Bruder, Kate Weare, Jennifer Freeman, Kim Gibilisco, Keith Thompson, Paulette Sears, Randy James, Doug Elkins, and John Evans. As a member of The Movement Playground she has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.) and Jacob’s Pillow. Melanie is a graduate of the Christine Valmy International school and will soon be a licensed esthetician in both NJ & NY. She is a professional makeup artist having represented Estee Lauder, MAC Cosmetics, and the Coty Brands and has worked with Brooklyn Fashion Week, Jaqlin Medlock Photography, Eryc Taylor Dance Company, Kid Super 2(x)ist, and SJR Photography. Melanie has always been an advocate for self-care and not only continues to further her own education, but shares all of this important knowledge with all of her students.

Born and raised in Costa Rica, LORENA PEREZ recently graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, acquiring her MFA degree in dance with an emphasis in performance and pedagogy. Throughout her life as a dancer, Lorena has performed in a variety of venues from television to non-profit events, such as Nigel Lythgoe’s Dizzy Feet Foundation in Los Angeles, Dancing with the Stars, Costa Rica and the first Broadway musical in Costa Rica, West Side Story. She has also performed works such as “Grace” by Ronald K Brown in Radio City Music Hall and worked in site specific performances for choreographer Kate Harpootlian. She recently performed her first work as an apprentice with VALLETO dance company and is currently part of the faculty at Ballet Hispánico and Dance Management studio. In her ten years of teaching dance and choreographing, she has had the opportunity to teach at the NYU Future Dancers and Dancemakers program and choreographed for the SADC company and for various concerts at the Jack Crystal Theater. As an educator, she seeks to protect and help dancers lengthen their artistic careers through a preventative approach to injuries. Therefore, she is immensely honored and thrilled to join the T Spheres team as a new certified injury prevention instructor.