Dancers | dancearttheater

Alex Miegel

Alex Miegel, originally from Fairfax, VA, is a dance instructor at Virginia Ballet Company, C4 Performing Arts, and Rhythm and Arts Center of Virginia. He received his BFA in Dance & Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University and has performed with Theatre West Virginia and West Virginia Dance Company in Beckley, WV. He has been with DanceArtTheater since September 2015.

Moira Ragen

Kari Argabright

Kari Argabright is a graduate of Radford University with degrees in Dance and Elementary Education. She is an elementary school reading specialist teacher. Kari has performed in numerous faculty shows, student works, and guest artist residencies while studying at Radford. She has worked with various choreographers and attended the American Dance Festival and the Christopher K. Morgan winter intensive. Kari's professional dance career includes performances with Theater West Virginia, Kista Tucker insights, and dancearttheater.

Rylee (Leo) Simmons

Rylee (Leo) Simmons is a modern dancer and educator from Baltimore, Maryland. Leo earned degrees in Dance and Mathematics from the University of Maryland. She led the dance program and taught math at Foxcroft, a boarding school in Middleburg, Virginia, for four years, and she currently teaches high school math at The Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland.

Emma O'Brien

Kayla Gray

Kayla Gray began her training at the Sangre de Cristo School of Dance in Pueblo, Colorado, and later earned her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Belhaven University. She has performed works by Erin Scheiwe Rockwell, including Imag[(I)n]e at the Kennedy Center, and has taught ballet, modern, and jazz while continuing to perform and create in Northern Virginia.

Emma O’Brien is a DC based mover with a degree in Political Science and Dance from American University. With a background in contemporary, modern, and jazz, she has danced in works by Britta Joy Peterson, Tatiana Desardouin, and Ronya Lee Anderson. Emma currently teaches ballroom and Latin dances, with plans to compete later this year.

Selina Tran

Selina Tran is a DC-based dancer and artist born and raised in SLC, Utah. Selina earned her B.A. from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA before moving to the other Washington. Prior to her current stint in DC, Selina lived in Vietnam for two years where she worked as a teacher and founded a community center with friends. She currently works at a legal advocacy nonprofit. Selina has trained in modern, jazz, and contemporary styles and was a former competitive cheerleader. She has recently danced in the DC Summer Dance Showcase and NACHMO DC. In addition to being a member with DanceArt Theater, Selina is currently dancing with Effervescence Collective and will be in a new piece by Rae Grey. When not dancing and working, you can find Selina teaching ceramics at CHAW, sewing, knitting, or on an outdoor adventure.

Ella Newman

Ella Newman (she/her) is a dancer, artist, and creator from Falls Church, Virginia, and is a 2025 graduate from Shenandoah University (SU), where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance. She began her dance journey in 2008 with Baileys Dance Company, where she trained primarily in modern dance. In 2017, she began training in numerous styles, including contemporary, jazz, tap, acrobatics, partnering, and ballet at Center Stage Dance and Performing Arts. From 2019 to 2020, she received additional training in modern, ballet, and jazz from the Fairfax Dance Academy. During her time at SU, Ella had the opportunity to work with artists Ehizoje Ezeke (Zojea), Mike Esperanza, and Danielle Sten-Guillermo, as well as train with faculty Tiffanie Carson, Daniel Padierna, Shylo Martinez, Mary Robare, Erica Helm, Lindsay Browning, Ruddy Frias, and Maurice Fraga. She performed at the American College Dance Association conferences in 2022 and 2023, where she participated in work by Becca Hopkins and Tiffanie Carson. Professionally, Ella has performed as a dancer at Kings Dominion’s Grand Carnival in 2023 and Kings Dominion's Haunt in 2025, and also attended Summer Study at Steps On Broadway in New York City in 2024.

Alysea is a self-taught dancer from the local area and commenced her training in modern, ballet, and jazz styles at Fairfax Academy for the communications and the arts. Over the years, she has attended summer intensives at Old Dominion University and The Governors School of the Arts at Radford. She has been dancing with DanceArtTheater since 2023

Alysea Colon

Emily Green

Emily Green (she/they) studied dance at Connecticut College, where she performed in the works of David Dorfman, Lisa Race, Shawn Hove, Rachael Lieblein-Jurbala, and many other influential artists. She has premiered solo and group choreographic works in Portland, OR and Washington, DC. Emily joined DanceArtTheater in 2023 and is excited to be performing and creating in the DMV area.

Laura Murphy

Laura began her artistic journey at the age of three, studying classical ballet and tap at La Maison de La Danse. As she advanced in her technical training, she expanded her repertoire, incorporating jazz, pointe, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, poms, modern, and Bollywood dance. Laura graduated from Mount Holyoke College, earning degrees in Biology and Dance. During her time at Mount Holyoke, she explored the vast kinetic capacity of the body through the unique lens of biology and dance performance. Laura had the honor of choreographing and performing across the Five College Consortium, dancing in works directed by Rose Flachs, Kinsun Chan, Debra Vega, Terese Freedman, and James Coleman. Since, she has been grateful to continue refining her artistry, pursuing performance, choreographic, and training opportunities throughout the DMV region. Recently, she had the pleasure of performing the role of Cratchit in Charm City Ballet's A Christmas Carol. Laura’s passion for movement fuels her drive for excellence and instills within her a sense of determination and a desire to generate compassionate relationships built upon authenticity and empowerment.