So You Think You Can Dance

Michael Cherry – Hip Hop

Michael Cherry started dancing in 2007 with the hip hop dance team, Fusion, at NC State in Raleigh, NC. He became one of the team’s choreographers in 2009 and the director in 2010. Outside of Fusion, he has choreographed and danced for many different events such as conference openers, workshops, and various other performances. Through dance, he has been able to travel to places like Utah, Philadelphia, Tennessee, and many places throughout the Carolinas. In 2010, he started an organization called More Than Dance that raises donations through dance workshops and donates the proceeds to charitable organizations. After graduating NC State in 2011 with a degree in Textile Engineer, he moved to Greenville, SC to work as an engineer, but still dedicates a majority of his time to dance. Recently, he was the hip hop instructor at the Movement Dance Company, choreographer for the Jack and Jill Beautillion, and performed with the Greenville Little Theater (Legally Blonde/Jesus Christ Superstar/All Shook Up). He’s greatest hope is to use his talents and passions as a way to serve and give back to his community.

Lindley Mayer – Contemporary Jazz/ Lyrical

Lindley Mayer is a wonderfully talented actor, dancer and model. She is highly capable in all respects and has proven to take on many different roles in her career. She has the unique ability to act and dance as a energetic teen, and then to model as a sophisticated young woman. Her enthusiasm and abilities make her the perfect fit for any role.

Lindley has recently moved back to her home state of South Carolina to further pursue her acting career and dancing career in the local area. Previously, Lindley had moved to California from South Carolina at age 18 to pursue her dancing and acting career. She has danced since the age of 3 and more than anything her passion is to entertain and perform. She most recently appeared in the role of Kaysa Minox in the movie Hunger Games: Catching Fire. She has also been seen on the ABC Family series Bunheads. She also appeared on the hit television series such as Glee, The Walking Dead and America’s Got Talent. Lindley also worked on shows such as America’s Victorious, Shushybye, and the Camp Rock 2 Promo with Chucky Klaphow. Lindley can be seen in music videos with Miley Cyrus, Green Day, Jo De La Rosa and Brian Anthony. She appeared in commercials for Nintendo, NASCAR, ESPN, and Wachovia. She played the principal role of “Reese” in the Lifetime movie “Bastard Out of Carolina”, directed by Anjelica Huston where she played the younger sister of the talented Jena Malone. She performs for many shows in Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel for a New Year’s event with E Plus Productions and danced on the contemporary company “Mashup” for three seasons. She is experienced in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Hip-hop, Contemporary, Modern, and Lyrical.

Lindley has done choreography for many National Champion competition teams. Lander University received National Champions in 2010, 2011 and 2012 with her choreography. She is also the choreographer and lead dancer for the BabyFirst television show called “Shushybye”. She has also regularly played the role of the Magic Carpet in Disneyland’s “Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular.” She was Miss South Carolina Teen 2005 and along with finishing in the top 5 in the Miss South Carolina competition, she won overall talent for 2 consecutive years. Lindley founded her very own non-profit (501c3) organization called L.A.D.Y Bugs Across America; Lindley’s Alliance for Disabled Youth and has always enjoyed giving back to the community. Her organization was founded to support her two younger siblings and all children with disabilities.

Cesar Jaramillo

Cesar Jaramillo is the founder and director of Jaramillo’s Latin Dance Academy, which is an institution dedicated to teaching different international rhythms. The dance academy was founded in 2005 with the primary purpose to preserve and promote Latin American culture in our community. The school began by teaching Colombian folklore dance and has expanded to add artistic expressions from Latin rhythms, modern and urban.

Naina Dewan – Bollywood

Naina Dewan is a Dance Artist, Educator, Choreographer, and Certified Alexander Technique Teacher. Her undergraduate studies were at the State University of New York/Geneseo, University of Rochester, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with a Concentration in Dance and her graduate studies were at the American Center for the Alexander Technique & New York University in New York City. Naina has performed with the Albany Berkshire Ballet, Marya Kennett Ballet Theatre, Geneseo Dance Ensemble, Sharon Fogarty Dance Theatre, Diane Young Dance Company, with NY choreographers Emily Faulkner (Emily Faulkner Dance) & Jody Sperling (TimeLapse Dance Company), Creatures of Habitat/Stefanie Weber, and at the New York Dance Now! Festival and Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

She has taught at the State University of New York at Geneseo, American Center for the Alexander Technique in New York City, University of Colorado at Boulder, Northwood Academy in Toronto, Barrington Stage Company and Berkshire Dance Theatre in Massachusetts, and Carolina Ballet Theatre. Her work was recently performed at Front Porch Art Collective’s Greenville Arts Festival. She is the Artistic Director of Naina Dewan Company, a modern dance company based in Greenville, and is a DanceArts Greenville faculty.

Anita Pacylowski – Contemporary

DanceArts Director, Anita brings the experience of working with great masters of the contemporary and modern dance such as Jacqulyn Buglisi (Martha Graham) , Connie Dinapoli (Paul Taylor) , Judith Jamison (Alvin Ailey), Peter Pucci (Pilobolus Dance Theatre) Nils Christie (Nederlands Dans Theater), Alonzo King (Alonzo King Lines Ballet) and Dwight Roden (Complexions Contemporary Ballet) and others in the medium of Contemporary dance. This compilation of understanding is fused into classes that train the body and mind through demands of high degree of physicality and input from the dancers, encouraging them to execute movement with intention, curiosity, and empathy.