Carey McKinley
Adult and Youth Programs
Carey McKinley’s career spans from performing with prominent dance companies (Snappy, Prometheus, Batuke do Norte, Sun Ho Kim), to guest performing with major artists (Bobby McFerrin, Sara Rudner, Reggie Wilson, David Parker), to working with start-ups on the environmental forefront and in technology (Harvard Green Campus Initiative, YouthStream Media), and to designing dynamic, integrated curricula (Winsor School, Cambridge School of Weston, Harvard, Babson, BU, Tufts). Carey’s choreography has been produced at UNC-Chapel Hill, Harvard School of Design, Bard College, UW-Milwaukee, Earthdance, Somerville Arts Council and at local schools and studios. Her philosophy centers empowerment, integrity, connection and integration, and her classroom/studio is a container for contagious courage.
Jillian Chavez Oliveira
Modern Dance – Adult and Youth Programs
Jillian Chavez-Oliveira is a dance maker and improvisor, performer, and educator. Modern Dance and Improvisation are her mediums of expression where she can integrate her internal landscape via somatic movement/exploration in tandem with her preferential aesthetics. She loves encouraging her students of all ages to move outside of one’s comfort zone to discover new ways of moving and being. Jillian had always loved to dance, but began a more serious study when she attended Windhover Summer Dance Intensive for the first time in the summer of 2015. It was there she met MAGMA Director Sarah Swift and teacher/choreographer Sallee Slagle, with whom she studied after Windhover, eventually also dancing in Slagle’s company, Forty Steps Dance. She went on to receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Dance Studies from Hampshire College in 2021. She was tremendously influenced by professors Deborah Goffe and Lailye Weidman, whom she worked closely with during her four years at Hampshire. Jillian is also currently working towards certification in Pilates and training clients at Boston Body Pilates.
Laura Dow
Tap
Laura Dow is an accomplished tap dance instructor with over 20 years of experience teaching students of all ages and skill levels. A long-time Gloucester resident and the owner and operator of The Vista, Laura grew up on the north shore and discovered a love for tap dance at a young age and began taking classes with the Jenkins in Peabody.
Laura began teaching dance to children at the School of Creative Dance in Lynn. She taught at the Gene Murray school in Salem from 2001-2010. During that time Laura also taught children and teen tap for Kimberly Blisard’s Cape Ann Center Dance. She has been teaching adult classes in Gloucester since 2018.
Laura is known for their patient and supportive teaching style, which encourages students to learn at their own pace while challenging them to reach new levels of skill and creativity. She believes that tap dance is a unique and expressive art form that anyone can learn with dedication and practice.
Sarah Fader
Youth Program
Sarah Fader has taught ballet, creative movement, and theatre classes for children most of her adult life, and on the North Shore for over 15 years. She studied dance and theatre at Mount Holyoke College and graduated cum laude with a degree in English Literature. Sarah began her ballet training at the Hartford Conservatory and the Hartford Ballet Company and continued her studies with Edward Villella of the New York City Ballet and William Anderson of American Ballet Theatre.
In addition to ballet, Sarah has studied Jazz, Modern, Musical Theatre, and African dance, as well as Afro-Cuban and Cuban-Modern with the Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, in Havana. She choreographs for and performs with several theatre companies on the North Shore, including Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe, Sleepy Lion, and Henry Allen’s Folklore Theatre.
Lissa Geggis
Creative Movement / Ballet, Youth Program
Lissa has a passion for teaching dancers of all ages and believes in helping each dancer thrive in their own abilities. Lissa began her dance training at Ipswich Moving Company School of Dance. While in high school she created an independent study with Jenny Carlson to learn dance pedagogy. She continued her dance training in college under Christine Bennett-Richard and Barbara Sholes. Lissa chorographed and danced in multiple performances and was a featured performer in her senior year. She earned a B.A. in Early Education and Care with minors in Dance and Psychology from Curry College. In her senior year she received the Dance Department Award.
Mestre Chuvisco
Capoeira
Mestre Chuvisco was born and raised in Belo Horizonte in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil. He began training at 11 years old with Grao Mestre Dunga, himself a student of Mestre Bimba, creator of Capoeira Regional. Chuvisco was graduated to Mestre in 1977. He founded Associacao de Capoeira Mandingueiros dos Palmares later that year and has been teaching ever since.
The Associacao de Capoeira Mandingueiros dos Palmares is an internationally recognized capoeira organization founded by Mestre Chuvisco. It is dedicated to the preservation of capoeira and Afro-Brazilian culture through education. Mandingueiros dos Palmares has schools all over the United States from Florida to Virginia to Texas to Rhode Island.
Ramon Alves
bio coming soon