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/Jazz
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 Kim 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.
Myles Kercher
Contemporary Dance
Myles Kercher is a multidisciplinary artist and instructor, working within contemporary dance, performance art, and movement theatre. He studied at some of the world’s leading contemporary dance programs, including Arts Umbrella and Nuova Officina Della Danza, performing pieces and mentored by artists and choreographers including Tom Weinberger, Lukas Timalak, Jiri Pokorny, Jeremy Alberge, Andrea Miller and Olivia Ancona. Over the past two years, Myles has independently presented his choreographic work around the Greater Boston area and was recognized as Arts New England Magazine’s 10 Emerging Artists 2025, he’s work was described as “…dynamic, emotionally charged, and deeply human—a fusion of contemporary dance and theatre that resonates beyond the physicality of movement.” – Celine Gomes.
Maddie Beaulieu
Youth Program
Maddie Beaulieu has 15 years of dance training and performance experience dancer and has been teaching for the past 5. she has trained primarily in jazz, contemporary, and hip hop, and has also taken classes in Los Angeles to expand her craft. she is passionate about creating a positive, motivating environment where dancers can build confidence. Maddie is excited to be joining the MAGMA team and to share her love of dance with her students.
Ramon Alves
bio coming soon