Current Artists & Collaborators
Morgan Joanne Grube
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Founder, Choreographer, Dancer, Creative Mentor
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Morgan Joanne Grube is a Cleveland-based movement artist who earned her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Kent State University. Upon graduation, she received several prestigious awards, including the G. Harry Wright Scholarship and Kent Dance Ensemble Guest Artist Award, reflecting her dedication and excellence in dance. Following her graduation, Morgan began her professional career with the Philadelphia-based company, Cardell Dance Theatre, while concurrently training on scholarship at The Ailey School in New York City. In 2019, she joined Cleveland-based company, Dancing Wheels Company, where she spent five seasons performing in new and repertory works. In her final two seasons, she also took on the roles of Rehearsal Director and Wardrobe Manager. During this time, Morgan had the pleasure of working with choreographers such as Stephanie Martinez, Ronald K. Brown, Catherine Meredith, Jamal White, Mark Tomasic, and Tiffany Mills.
In 2021, Morgan launched a choreographic project for local artists, which has led to commissions and creative residencies from Kent State University, Bellingham Repertory Dance, GroundWorks DanceTheater, Cleveland Dance Festival, Detroit Dance City Festival, Mark DeGarmo International Dance Festival, and Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival, among others. In 2023, Morgan was awarded the Michigan Residency Award by Detroit Dance City Festival and became a GroundWorks DanceTheater Discovery Residency Artist. Presently, Morgan is a dancer for Dominic Moore-Dunsons, The Remember Balloons Tour, STILGO dance + tech, and Ajayi Dance while concurrently developing her company, MoJo Co.Lab and an online movement program focused on accessible movement practices for everyone.
Celina Naima Speck
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Artistic Advisor
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Celina Naima Speck is a Swiss artist, living in San Diego, CA. She earned her degree in Contemporary Dance at the University of the Arts (Zürich, Switzerland) where she danced in works by Itzik Galili, Barak Marshall, Michael Schumacher, Ihsam Rustem, and Adrijana Danchevska. She danced with The Dancing Wheels Company and School for five seasons. She has performed works by Donald Byrd, Marc Brew, Catherine Meredith, Morgan Walker, and many more on national and international tours. Celina is passionate about making dance spaces more inclusive and teaches for the NeuroDance program in San Diego.
Jade Holloway
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Dancer, Collaborator
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Jade Holloway fell in love with the art of dance the moment she stepped into the studio at age 3. With extensive training in ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap, hip hop, musical theatre, and acro, she has traveled the country to compete and perform on some of the dance world’s biggest stages.
Her career includes numerous awards and accolades, including the tremendous honor of being crowned champion of World of Dance Chicago in 2021.
Alongside her professional pursuits, Jade is a dedicated teacher and competition director to many talented students. Sharing her knowledge, passion, and love for dance—just as her own mentors once did—is one of her greatest joys. It fills her with pride to see her students pour their hearts into bringing her artistic vision to life.
While continuing to grow as both a performer and educator, Jade is excited to see where her journey leads next.
So far in her career, she has had the honor of working with Morgan on two incredible projects: Where I End and You Begin and Happily Ever Never. Being in the space and learning from Morgan is always a surreal and unforgettable experience.
Kylie Karam
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Dancer, Collaborator
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Kylie Karam (she/her/hers) is a dance artist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Kent State University with a B.F.A. in Dance and a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship as a member of the Honors College. During this time, she was awarded the Xavier Atienza Scholarship, the Cowperthwaite Scholarship, and the G. Harry Wright Award in Dance. Karam supplemented her training with several intensives at companies such as SALT Contemporary Dance, New Dialect, BODYTRAFFIC, and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Additionally, she has had the great privilege of performing works by Norbert De La Cruz III, Micaela Taylor, Rena Butler, Amy Hall Garner, Hope Boykin, and Brandon Lee Alley.
Following her graduation, Karam joined The Movement Project as a Seasonal Company Member. Currently, she is in her first season with the Dancing Wheels Company. She also works as a Cleveland-based freelance artist and has presented her own choreography at the 2024 Cleveland Dance Fest and the 2025 OhioDance Festival.
Karam first began working with Morgan Grube in January 2024. Since then, she has been involved in several processes with Grube and has performed MoJo Co.Lab works at Detroit Dance City Festival, Cleveland Dance Fest, and Kent State University.
Annette Ellis
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Dancer, Collaborator
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Angelina DiFranco
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Dancer, Collaborator, Vocalist
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Angelina DiFranco is a dance artist, writer, and choreographer. She graduated from Kent State University with honors in May 2023 and holds a BFA in dance and a BA in English with a concentration in professional writing. She is currently in her third season with Dancing Wheels where she has performed both nationally and internationally. Working with Dancing Wheels has given her the opportunity to earn the Dementia Friends Program Certificate and the Dancing Wheels Teacher Certification, providing her with the knowledge and certification to teach people with dementia/alzheimers and instruct in the Dancing Wheels’ method of physically integrated dance. As a choreographer, her work has been performed at Cleveland Dance Festival, the Museum of Contemporary Art, OhioDance Festival, and CDF Akron Series. Alongside her work as a dance artist, she has taken part in See Chicago Dance’s critical writing fellowship and has been published in See Chicago Dance, Luna Negra, Brainchild, Arts Air, and The Movement Project’s Blog. Angelina has worked with Morgan Grube on various processes including “Venus” for CDC Fest in Orlando and Dance City Festival in Detroit, “Happily Ever Never” for Cleveland Dance Fest, and as a vocal artist in “Where I End and You Begin.”
Emilyann Dustman
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Dancer, Collaborator
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Emilyann Dustman (she/her) graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Akron with a BFA in Dance in 2024. Dustman has participated in numerous residencies through NCC Akron, working with esteemed figures such as Gibney, Christopher K. Morgan, Helanius J Wilkins, Cara Hagan, Alexandra Barbier, Ben Needham-Wood, and John Heginbotham. Additionally, she accepted a scholarship to attend Groundworks 2022 Winter Intensive. Dustman was honored to perform in 'Spurious' under the mentorship of Stephen Petronio, choreographed by Jessica Bennett.
As an educator, Dustman served as the Artistic Director for Tempo Dance Company, worked with Akron After-School outreach programs, and continues to work for various competitive studios.
In 2022, Dustman joined Cleveland Dance Company as a company member, choreographer, and outreach facilitator. Her additional company experience in 2024 included a seasonal contract with The Movement Project and a full-time touring contract with Dancing Wheels Company. During her time with Dancing Wheels, she collaborated with esteemed choreographers such as Glauco Araujo, Catherine Meredith, and Amy Hall Garner.
Dustman was honored to premiere Mojo Co. Lab's 'Where I End, and You Begin' at the 2024 Detroit Dance City Festival and is eager to continue collaboration with Grube in her creative process.
DeMarco Sleeper
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Dancer, Collaborator
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DeMarco Sleeper is a dynamic dancer, musician, and choreographer from Cleveland, Ohio. He discovered his passion for choreography in high school while working on musical theatre and show choir productions. Despite having no formal dance training, his natural talent and creative vision led to multiple accolades, including honors for outstanding performance, musicianship, and vocal solos. In addition to dance, DeMarco is a singer-songwriter and rapper with a strong background in music production. His multidisciplinary artistry has been featured in numerous stage productions, and he has choreographed for youth theatre programs throughout Northeast Ohio. He began his professional dance career with Dancing Wheels Company in Cleveland, later joining Full Radius Dance in Atlanta, where he trained, taught, and toured nationally. He went on to perform with AXIS Dance Company, becoming a vital member of the Bay Area dance community. His work has been recognized in national media campaigns and dance publications for its originality and impact in the field of disability arts. DeMarco has returned to Cleveland to continue his work with Dancing Wheels, bringing with him a wealth of experience and a bold artistic voice. DeMarco will be performing with MoJo Co.Lab in in the near future!
Trinity Stevens
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Dancer, Collaborator
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Trinity Stevens is a dancer/movement artist based in northeast Ohio, who received an Associate of Arts from Kent State University and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Cleveland State University. At CSU, Stevens completed the coursework for the Dance in Community major, Theatre Studies minor, and Arts Management certificate while also participating in the CSU Dance Company. Stevens has previously been a dancer with Seiche Dance Collective and The Dancing Wheels Company. They most recently spent the spring 2025 semester working in the Cleveland State University Theatre & Dance Department and serving as a teaching artist for DANCECleveland. Stevens has attended the Boston Ballet Adaptive Dance teacher training, Dark Room Ballet’s teacher training, and was an Access Intern for Full Radius Dance. It is their hope to apply these experiences towards the goal of creating more healthy and inclusive dance environments. Stevens has worked with Morgan Grube on various processes including Marrow (2023 OhioDance Festival) and Where I End and You Begin (2024 Dance City Festival). They are excited to revisit the latter work with MoJo Co.Lab in 2025!
Samantha Fox
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Dancer, Collaborator
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Samantha Fox is from Canton, OH, and she began dancing at 2.5 years old. Dance has remained a significant part of her life ever since. Samantha holds a BFA in Dance from The University of Akron and has nearly a decade of professional experience, including 4.5 years as a company member in The Dancing Wheels Company in Cleveland. Samantha has trained and performed with various artists and companies, such as The PGK Project, Amy Marshall Dance Company, David Rousseve, and Doug Varone & Dancers. Additionally, she spent five months living in Israel, where she worked directly with Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. Samantha has more recently performed in 12 semi-seasonal showcases with the Cleveland Dance Project, one of which she was a choreographer. Samantha had the pleasure of meeting and working with Morgan Grube for the first time during CDP’s 12th season showcase. Following that, Samantha was ecstatic to be granted the opportunity to work with Morgan again for the premiere of “Where I End and You Begin”.
Founding & Former Ensemble Artists
Marissa Thomas
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“inside Outsider”, “Marrow”
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Marissa Thomas (she/her) is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance at The Ohio State University in 2019. Marissa is a Main Company Dancer with South Chicago Dance Theatre. She has previously danced as a Company Dancer with the Dancing Wheels Company in Cleveland, OH. Marissa has had the honor of performing and collaborating in works by choreographers Donald Byrd, Dianne McIntyre, Crystal Michelle Perkins, and André M. Zachery and performing in historic works by Merce Cunningham and Donald McKayle. Marissa is also a Teaching Artist for SCDT’s Education Programs, SCDT's Community Programs Manager, and the Tour Manager for the Dancing Wheels Company & School.
Matt Bowman
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“inside Outsider”, “Marrow”
Zach Biggs
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“Happily Ever Never”
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Zach Biggs, was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia and graduated from Radford University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Zach is also a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. During his time as an undergraduate student, he has been in a variety of dance concerts choreographed by faculty and guest artists, as well as performed in and choreographed for student showcases. He also performed the featured role of George in the musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, with the Radford University Department of Theater. In June of 2022, he had his professional debut as a featured dancer in the People’s Bank Theatre production of Kiss me, Kate in Marietta, Ohio. He joined the Dancing Wheels company as an apprentice in 2023 and was promoted to a company member and assistant rehearsal director in 2024. In 2024 Zach started dancing for the Cleveland Cavaliers Scream Team.
McKenzie Beaverson
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“inside Outsider”, “Venus”, “Marrow”
Sara Lawrence-Sucato
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“inside Outsider”
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Sara Lawrence-Sucato hails from Columbus, Ohio, graduated with a degree in Dance Teaching and Choreography (B.A. ’06) and Organizational Leadership (M.S. ’24) from Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, and lives/works in the northeast Ohio (Cleveland) area. She has performed in Columbus with The Dance Cure and Columbus Dance Theatre, as well as with the Mercyhurst Dancers, Lake Erie Ballet, SoMar Dance Works, and Shen and Bones Performance Group in Erie. In her 16 seasons as a dancer with Cleveland’s The Dancing Wheels Company, Sara performed works by noted choreographers Marc Brew, Nai-Ni Chen, David Dorfman, Christopher Fleming, Catherine Meredith, Stuart Pimsler, David Roussève, Ginger Thatcher, Mark Tomasic, Michael Uthoff and Robert Wesner as well as by internationally renowned choreographers Donald McKayle and Dianne McIntyre. Sara is honored to be a Founding Artist from her work with Morgan on “inside Outsider” (2021). Sara serves as Dancing Wheels’ Director of Education and Marketing Manager, is on the board of Creative Spaces Cultural Arts, teaches at Cleveland City Dance, and recently started Sustaining Movement Services, LLC—a platform for her to continue teaching dance and explore new ways to motivate and move people.
IG: @sustainingmovementsvcs
Emma Prochaska
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“Happily Ever Never”
Cody Krause
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“inside Outsider”, “Marrow”
Celina Naima Speck
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“inside Outsider”, “Marrow”, “Venus”
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Celina Naima Speck is a Swiss artist, living in San Diego, CA. She earned her degree in Contemporary Dance at the University of the Arts (Zürich, Switzerland) where she danced in works by Itzik Galili, Barak Marshall, Michael Schumacher, Ihsam Rustem, and Adrijana Danchevska. She danced with The Dancing Wheels Company and School for five seasons. She has performed works by Donald Byrd, Marc Brew, Catherine Meredith, Morgan Walker, and many more on national and international tours. Celina is passionate about making dance spaces more inclusive and teaches for the NeuroDance program in San Diego.
Faythe Lewis
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“Venus”
Zoe Williams
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“Where I End and You Begin”
Willow Freed
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“Venus”
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Willow Freed is a Dancer, Teacher & Choreographer inspired by the physicality in dance that creates a deeper connection into the emotional storytelling and taps into the reality that every human experience is felt first through the body before reaching the soul. She graduated from Kent State University with a B.F.A. in Dance, receiving the G. Harry Wright Award, Outstanding Undergraduate Student Choreographer Award and Guest Artist Honor Award. In her senior year, she was Artistic Director for the B.F.A. Student Dance Festival: Redefining, a virtual concert allowing students to work alongside artists Morgan Joanne Grube and Ray Mercer with the professional film company, Film Forge. Dedicated to creating supportive, safe and motivating spaces in professional and youth dance, Willow has been teaching at Creative Motion Studios LLC since 2019. Continuing to expand and strengthen her knowledge, she has achieved certifications through Aerial Arts Silks, Acrobatic Arts, Red Cross CPR/AED, and Youth Protection Advocates in Dance. She is proud to have been selected as CMS Staff Member of the Year in 2024. Willow is a determined advocate for dancers in all aspects and is excited to support Morgan in her mission to uplift and promote dancers. She feels lucky to have worked with Morgan on many projects and is excited to work on many more in the future.