Contact / About Us | dancevisions.net

Producer/Artistic Director: Margot Parsons

Technical, Staff, Photographer: William Parsons

About Us

DanceVisions, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 1982. The Company has continued its mission: to produce ballet-based choreography, to introduce audiences to established and new choreographers, and to provide performance opportunities to dancers. It has presented Artistic Director Margot Parsons's work over the years and for seven years produced the highly acclaimed Dance on the Top Floor, an evening of dance featuring renowned ballet choreographers from Boston, Chicago, New York, Pennsylvania, and other states, and for nine years produced Dancers at the Robsham, involving modern and ballet choreographers, dancers, and musicians from the Boston area.

Artistic Director and Choreographer

Margot Parsons

Margot Parsons, choreographer and currently instructor of ballet at Boston University, Boston Ballet, and José Mateo Ballet Theatre, and previously for 13 years at Harvard University, 37 years at Boston College, and 27 years at The Dance Complex, has presented over one hundred pieces of choreography. Her past teaching includes The New School for Social Research in New York, Hunter College (NY), The Spence School (NY), Ethical Culture School (NY), The Cambridge School of Weston (MA), Dean College (MA), Suffolk University (MA), The Walnut Hill School of Performing Arts (MA), and at Bradford College (MA) where she initiated the dance major program. As well, she teaches students privately. Her early training in ballet was in Chicago with Richard Ellis and Christine Douboulay and with Eric Braun and Phyllis Sabold and later in New York with Maggie Black, Richard Thomas and Barbara Fallis, at the Harkness School, in modern at the Graham Studio, and in choreography with Anna Sokolow and Bessie Schoenberg. Along with being invited to dance with Agnes de Mille and Pearl Lang, she performed with numerous companies including Choreoconcerts, Larry Richardson, Yuriko, The Ballet Ensemble of New York, in the City Center production of the “King and I,” and in Boston with Dorothy Hershkowitz, Ken Pierce Baroque Dance Company, and with the original cast of “A Dancer’s Christmas,” created and directed by Father Robert VerEecke. Her choreography has been staged on many companies including her own company, DanceVisions, Inc.; the Ballet Repertory class at Boston University; Boston College student and Faculty shows; Harvard Ballet Company; Wellesley College students; Across the Ages Dance; Boston Ballet II; and BalleyNY, at the Alvin Ailey Citi Center Dance Theater. As a producer, she is founder of "Dancers at the Robsham," a highly acclaimed dance event that for nine years featured Boston choreographers, and co-founder of "Dance on the Top Floor," a highly acclaimed event that for seven years featured choreographers from around the country. In 1999, she was awarded the Dance Belt for her contribution to dance in Boston. In 2007, she appeared on TV in the Boston Cable TV show “To the Pointe.” In 2018, she was the first choreographer honored in the Living Legacy Series at The Dance Complex. In 2020, she received the Michael T. Shannon Dance Champion Award from the Boston Dance Alliance as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and producer who shares her love of dance with the Boston Community. Also in 2020, she was honored by the Boston University Dance Theatre Group Honor for teaching and choreography. She appears in the new movie from Kathy Hassinger "To Feel the Earth and Touch the Sky. Living the Legacy of American Modern Dance" (watch the trailer at: https://vimeo.com/647072010 ). She continues to teach, choreograph, and present evening-long concerts of her work. She has collaborated with visual and sound designer Andreas Randow, lighting designer Lynda Rieman, and choreographer Lynn Modell. Over the years she has worked with several composers who have created original musical scores for her choreography: Robin Cho, Ai Isshiki, David Polan, Thomas Oboe Lee, Gregor Loepfe, Carlos Micháns, and Michael Orsillo. She has a BS from the University of Wisconsin and a MA with honors from the University of Utah.

Dancers

Jennifer Markham

Jennifer holds a B.A. in Political Science and History, with a minor in women’s studies from Emmanuel College and a M.S. in Arts Administration from Boston University. She is an ABT® Certified Teacher who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She also holds certifications in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) and Revolutionary Principles of Movement (RPM). Jennifer has taught ballet and PBT classes at schools throughout the greater Boston area, including Boston Ballet School, Boston University, and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. As a dancer, she has performed with the Albany Berkshire Ballet, Boston Liturgical Dance Ensemble, CreationDance, Dreamscape Collaborative and DanceVisions/Margot Parsons Dance Company.

Christine McDowell

Christine McDowell holds her MFA in Performance and Choreography from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and her BA in History from BU. She received her early dance training from Mark and Melissa Roxey at the Mill Ballet School in Lambertville, NJ. As an undergraduate, she choreographed and performed with BU’s Dance Theatre Group, and performed with Tony Williams and Margot Parsons. At Tisch, Christine choreographed and studied under Deborah Jowitt, Phyllis Lamhut, worked with Patricia Beaman as the Dance History graduate assistant, and performed works by Mark Morris and Alex Ketley. Currently, she teaches ballet at BU, BC, and Jose Mateo Ballet Theater, and works for a San Diego-based software company.

Katelyn McMahon

Katelyn McMahon has been studying classical ballet since the age of three at various local studios, eventually moving on to the Academy of Ballet Arts under the direction and instruction of Judith Koeckhoven. She continued to study the Balanchine method at Ballet Workshop of New England, also performing with the Massachusetts Youth Ballet, where she was able to study under great names such as Jacqueline Cronsberg and Adam Luders. She then went on to study ballet and contemporary dance at the University of Hawai'i, ultimately returning home to the east coast to pursue her graduate degree in physical therapy with a focus on dance medicine. After returning to the stage with the New England Civic Ballet Company, where she held soloist and principle roles in various productions, she joined DanceVisions in December of 2013.

Maria Rogler

Maria Rogler began dancing at 4 years old at Dance Explosion in Dedham, MA under the direction of Renae Maccioli-Mcleod and Leticia Guerrero. Maria also trained at the International Ballet Academy of Norwell and Festival Ballet Providence. She has competed around the U.S. and internationally in Atlanta, Georgia and Bari, Italy. In 2018 Maria joined Festival Ballet Providence as a Post-Graduate for a year, and in 2021 she joined the company and danced there for two years. She is now a freelance dancer in the Boston area and is currently a faculty member of Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre dancing in the past three editions of their Nutcracker. She is excited to be a part of DanceVisions Inc. production of Curtain Call this year.

Elizabeth Rookey

Elizabeth is a dancer and dance educator from Framingham, MA. She received her early training at the Walnut Hill Community Dance Academy and went on to join the Walnut Hill High School in 2012. After graduating, she joined Ballet Austin for the 2016-17 season as a part of the Butler Fellowship Program. In 2021, Elizabeth graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Hartt School with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and a concentration in Ballet Pedagogy. While at the university, Elizabeth trained extensively in ballet, Graham, Limon, contemporary and composition, and had the privilege to perform a myriad of works, including the lead in Martha Graham’s Chronicle, a solo from George Balanchine’s Valse-Fantasie, Fascinatin’ Rhythm from Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Primavera in Jose Limon’s Dances for Isadora, and Lar Lubovitch’s Something About Night. Since graduating, Elizabeth returned to the Boston area, and has most recently been teaching at Boston University, Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre and LaPierre School of Dance and performing with DanceVisions, Inc. and Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre. Elizabeth is passionate about sharing the joy of dance, and believes in the value of bringing experience in different dance disciplines to her work, both dancing and teaching.

Amane Takaishi

A native of Tokyo, Japan, Amane began her early training with Mitsuyo Kishibe. At the age of 13, she moved to England and studied ballet with Desmond Kelly at Elmhurst School of Dance, in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet, followed by Central School of Ballet under the direction of Sara Matthews. In 2013, Amane received her bachelor’s degree in Professional Dance and Performing Studies from University of Kent. She has danced with professional dance companies; Eugene Ballet Company, Ballet Tucson, Arizona and A&A ballet in Chicago. In Boston area, she has worked with Margot Parsons, Tony Williams, Gino Di Marco, Janelle Gilchrist, and David Sun. She started dancing with City Ballet of Boston this September.

Ashley Zhang

Ashley Zhang is from Shenzhen, China. She graduated summa cum laude from Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine with a degree of Doctor of Dental Medicine. Ashley is committed to integrating ballet as a part of her busy life in health care. Besides being a dentist, she regularly takes ballet classes in various studios around Boston. She has attended numerous summer intensive programs including Jose Mateo Ballet Theater, Orlando Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Burklyn Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet School. Ashley is very excited to be back on stage again after the Covid shutdown and her knee surgery.

Musicians

Ai Isshiki

Ai Isshiki was born in Germany, raised in Japan, and lives in Brooklyn, New York. As a pianist and improvisor/composer, Ai specializes in providing music for ballet, modern, and contemporary dance classes and performances. She currently plays for the Juilliard School, New York University’s Tisch School of Arts, the Mark Morris Dance Group, and for children at the Brooklyn Waldorf School in their Eurythmy program. Ai has also worked with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, David Dorfman Dance, Boston Ballet, Ballet Arts, Barnard College, Dance New Amsterdam, Gibney Dance, Green Street Studios, Ballet Rox, Boston College, Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, and many more. She frequently appears in theater/film productions, chamber orchestra, new/experimental music concerts, and rock/pop bands. Her original compositions are often written for and found in close collaboration with dances, conceptual performances, and various medias. She received BM in Film Scoring and Composition from Berklee College of Music. A collaborative recording with a poet is expected to be released later this year. Ai feels truly grateful to be back to Boston for this very special celebratory concert of DanceVisions, Inc.

Thomas Oboe Lee

Thomas Oboe Le is a Cambridge (MA) resident and a composer, teacher, and performer with a BA in music from University of Pittsburgh, MM degrees in jazz and composition from New England Conservatory, and a PhD in composition from Harvard University. He is currently Professor of Music at Boston College. His awards include the Rome Prize fellowship, a Tanglewood Composition Prize, two Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships and two NEA Composers Fellowships, a Charles Ives Fellowship, and a Georges Enesco International Composition Prize. He has received commissions including from the Kronos Quartet, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, New Jersey and Omaha symphony orchestras, the Pro Arte and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestras, the violinist Daniel Stepner, and The New England Conservatory of Music. His numerous compositions are available on CD from Nonesuch, BMOP Sound, Koch International Classics, GM, Arsis Audio, and online from bandcamp, Amazon, iTunes, spotify and other digital outlets.

Steven Milton

Steve Milton is an award-winning creative director, brand strategist and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Listen, a NYC based agency working with companies and artists to build deep relationships with their audiences. Milton has helped launch, grow, and reposition some of the world’s leading products and brands including Microsoft, Tinder, Virgin, HoloLens and Jim Beam.

Milton’s sensory-driven approach to brand has been featured in Fast Company, Wired and The Verge, as well as SXSW and CMJ where he has led industry panels on creative collaboration, interactive design and the future of music, art and technology. His work helps audiences understand the profound emotional connection we have with sound and music, and how it helps us relate to products, brands, innovation, and the world around us.

As a performer, Milton has toured internationally, making numerous television appearances and his music has been recognized by Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and others. He has collaborated with a number of musicians and artists around the globe to create immersive experiences that bring new life and dimension to their art.

Milton earned a Master’s degree in Musicology from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied postmodern theory and new media. He is a mentor at the New Museum’s incubator program, NEW INC, and he sits on Grammy nominated ensemble A Far Cry's Board of Friends.