Meet The community
behind the daily episodes

Jim Cooney
Jim's artistic mission is to inspire conversation, affect change, and bring communities together. As a director/choreographer, Jim specializes in new musicals and reimagined revivals, though he's equally excited to tell stories through virtually any medium. It’s his greatest passion to create experiences for contemporary audiences that will stay with them long afterward. He’s also the founder of Amplified Artists, an online membership community helping performing arts professionals from performers to producers and everyone in between. It’s focused on working from the inside out and integrating all aspects of your artistry, money, and health to create a career and life you love. Gain access to in-depth trainings, guest workshops, a library of resources, industry discounts, and networking opportunities, plus one-on-one support through live Q&A calls and member forums. You can become a member by going to www.AmplifiedArtists.life, and you can learn more about Jim and connect with him at www.JimCooney.me.

Carlos Neto
Carlos Neto has choreographed and directed for Warner Brothers, SyCo Music, Sony BMG, Atlantic Records, Brooklyn Nets, Britain’s Got Talent, Matchbox Twenty, Melanie Martinez, Sergey Lazarev, the Broadway production of Circolombia, The Fringe NYC, ITV’s Got To Dance, Samsung. Enjoy his Choreography Showreel HERE!

Jessica C. Warchal-King
Philly-based performer, choreographer, educator, and arts advocate. She earned her MFA in Performance and Choreography from Temple University, where she was awarded a Teaching/ Research Assistantship, a Dance Scholarship, and the Temple University Rose Vernick Award for Artistic Transformation. Jessica earned her BA in Dance and Anthropology from Muhlenberg College where she received the Dance Leadership Award and was the Assistant to the Director of the Muhlenberg Community Dance Center. Jessica is also a trained instructor in Dance for PD - a program developed by the Mark Morris Dance Group to bring dance to people with Parkinson's Disease and a Power Pilates Mat I & II Certified Instructor.

Kathryn Boland
Kathryn Boland, MA, RYT-200, R-DMT, is a dance writer, educator, and overall enthusiast. She currently writes for Dance Informa, and has also contributed to several other dance journalism projects. Also a Dance/Movement Therapist, dance teaching artist, yoga instructor, and political organizer, she's particularly passionate about the the potential of dance as a tool for individual and social empowerment. Find her show on dance and social justice on YouTube -- Move for a Movement! Additionally, she runs a holistic wellness and social/emotional learning program for studio dancers, based in yoga and mindfulness, called Mindful Movers. She believes that everyone deserves to feel whole and healthy, and experience the joy and freedom movement brings. Outside of work and moving her body, Kathryn enjoys music, comedy, time in nature, and a chat with a good friend over coffee (socially-distanced these days, of course).

Alaina Tary
teaches dance in Baltimore. She is a graduate of Baltimore School for the Arts and holds a BFA in dance from The Juilliard School. She has danced professionally in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., performed as an aerialist onboard Celebrity Cruises, and toured with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Alaina knows not every dancer's journey is the same and it's important to be able to create your own path and define your own success. She started her blog, off-the-marley.com, as a way to share the many lessons she's learned along her journey and help inspire the next generation of dancers and dance educators.

Katie Flashner
a.k.a. The Girl with the Tree Tattoo, is a ballroom dancer and blogger. Her mission is to inspire and motivate dancers to take ownership of their dance journeys, so they can connect with who they truly are and perform with greater confidence and joy.
Katie has been studying ballroom dance since 2012 and has successfully competed as an amateur ballroom dancer since 2014, most recently winning the World Champion title in American Smooth. Since starting her blog in 2015, Katie has welcomed thousands of visitors who value her openness and willingness to share the good, the bad, and the awkward of her journey while shedding light on the rarely addressed mental and emotional aspects of being a ballroom dancer.

Shannon Dooling
Shannon is a dance artist, educator, writer, and advocate who is on a mission to empower and engage students, teachers, performers, and audiences through the transformative power of dance. She has taught in universities, K-12 schools, dance studios, and community programs, and her choreographic work has been presented in New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and throughout Arizona. For creative inspiration, you might enjoy checking out her #ChoreographyAdventures

Katrena Cohea
is the CEO of Different Drummer Dance, a studio and online education platform that's on a mission to promote dancer wellness; giving dancers and teachers resources on topics like body positivity, growth mindset, and mental health. Katrena danced professionally in California before moving to upstate New York to start Different Drummer Dance.

Matilda Veje
is a twenty-something professional dancer, originally from Denmark but based in sunny Los Angeles, and she’s the writer behind the dance- and lifestyle blog “Love Notes To LA”. (Instagram: @mathilde.veje)
Dance brought Matilda to all parts of the world to perform and teach, from China, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Belgium etc. etc. – but somehow she always returned to California.
As a foreigner it took 2 years of draining paperwork (and lots of yelling into a pillow) to get an American work visa, but she has now lived in LA for 3 years and is in love with the city and crazy industry she’s in.
Love Notes To LA is for you if you’re a perfectionist, a realists, if you love practical how-to guides and if you walk around with big dreams and lots of passion in your stomach, but don’t really know where to start. Come hang out on the blog, and read all about auditions, body image, how-to lists and tips and tricks for moving to Los Angeles!
Matilda’s philosophy is that there’s nothing you can’t achieve with an overpriced ice coffee in one hand and confidence in the other, and there’s no road you can’t travel in sweatpants if you just believe in yourself.

Denise Caston-Clark
is is director of Tap Dance Detroit and the annual Motor City Tap Fest. She was a Radio City Rockette for 10 years and toured nationally with the Tony Award winning musical, Crazy For You. Denise has also had the honor of performing the choreography of Savion Glover at a showcase in New York City. She performed on tour in Australia, dancing all over the continent in Elvis to the Max. Her choreography has been seen in many productions in which she performed, including shows at Caesars Windsor in Ontario, Canada.

Dance Teacher Web
is the trusted online dance resource that deepens continuing education skills and fosters a positive community filled with motivation and support for dance studio owners and teachers. Through our unique Dance Teacher Web membership options, dance teachers and studio owners take their teacher training or business development to new heights from the comfort of their studio, home or office. Members get 24-7 access and prolonged mentoring through articles, how-to videos, choreography and business tips. Our mission is to provide instantaneous results.