NYIDE - Key Persons
Devon McLeod is a business minded, Marketing & Consulting Industry focused junior executive who holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from New York University Stern School of Business. Devon was a Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar at NYU, President's Service Award Winner, and John Stevenson Leadership and Community Building Award Winner. Her expertise lies in diversity and inclusion work and event production. Her breadth of event knowledge spans from large scale festival productions, to weddings, to intimate cultivation dinners. Currently, Devon is a Field Marketing Coordinator at Wunderkind and a Wedding Manager at The Get Together Events Co. in NYC. Ms. McLeod has also held a position as the Coordinator of Major Gifts and the Young Patrons Circle at the New York City Ballet. She is the NYC Director at the New York Institute of Dance & Education Inc, the New York Dance Festival, and Reaching For Higher Ground Consulting. She also worked as a Production Assistant at Once the Musical on Broadway and is the Community Outreach Chair of the Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre Board of Directors, a 501c3 non-profit organization. Devon is the NYC Rehearsal Director and a First Company Soloist for the Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre/Sean McLeod Dance Experience. Over the past several years Devon has acquired multiple levels of certification in McLeod Technique Modern, Reinforced Motor Function and MT Apparatus, and has travelled extensively internationally and in the US teaching and assisting in Workshops, Master Classes, and Teacher Certifications.
While completing her BS in Business at the NYU Stern School of Business she earned over $150,000 in Scholarship support. At NYU she worked in the NYU Stern Undergraduate Office of Student Engagement, was a Stern Undergraduate Orientation Leader and Cohort Leadership Program Guide, and was appointed Social Media Director of the Stern Street Team. Devon was also the Vice Chair of the NYU 1831 Fund, helping lead the fund from 20% senior class participation rate to 50% in just one year. She was invited by Dean Peter Henry to join the Stern School of Business Diversity and Inclusion Task Force that includes Stern Undergraduate and Graduate Deans, professors, and students to address the Schools forward thinking on Inclusion and Equity. She was also Co-Chair of the Stern Student Council Student Advocacy Committee.
In 2009, Devon traveled with the Sean McLeod Dance Experience to England where she performed in "Roarin' the 20's" at the Haymarket Theatre, her international dance debut! Ms. McLeod subsequently traveled and performed with the company nationally to Wilmington, Delaware's Grand Theater and New York City's famed Symphony Space. In 2012, she toured to Winnipeg, MB for the Moving Inspirations Festival where they worked with Casimiro Nhussi, artistic director of NaFro Dance Productions, Zab Maboungou, founder of Compagnie Danse Nyata Nyata and Kevin A. Ormsby, Artistic Director of KasheDance and performed at the Gas Station Arts Centre. In 2014, she was named the New York City Rehearsal Director for Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre and has since performed at Alvin Ailey's Joan Weill Center for Dance and toured to Germany and Italy. More recently Devon has traveled to Israel with NYU's MLK Scholars, spent a five-month tour studying and working in Prague, Czech Republic, and has traveled to Greece, Vietnam, Cuba, and more.
Hana Ginsburg Tirosh holds a BA in Education Policy from Princeton University and an MFA in Dance Performance and Teaching from Purchase College, SUNY. Currently a member of Ariel Rivka Dance, Matthew Westerby Company, Valerie Green/Dance Entropy, and Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre, she has also performed with Mark Dendy Dancetheater, Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theater, Riedel Dance Theater, Yuka Kawazu/Danse En L'air, Tamara Saari Dance, Lane & Co, KDNY, and Amy Marshall, among others. She was a founding member of 360° Dance Company, serving as a dancer, General Manager, Board Member and Rehearsal Director from 2006 - 2014. Hana is the New York City Director for the New York Institute of Dance & Education.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director of Services of the New York Institute of Dance
- Janet Collins Fellow
Jerami Kipp, is Director of Services of the New York Institute of Dance and Education and the New York Dance Festival, holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the State University of New York at Purchase, and is a founding choreographer for the Sean McLeod Dance Experience debut in Basingstoke, England.
Jerami was also an Audio Engineer/Production/Composition creator at Purchase College Conservatory of Dance. He served as an audio engineer for both the Conservatory of Dance Department and multiple graduating candidates. Editing and mixing audio tracks. Composing work for choreographers. He did Pre-Production Editing for White Nite Production where he was an Account Associate. He did primary Playbill Layout and Design, as well as sales. He marketed, sold, and delivered advertisement placements for the New York Dance Festival where he additionally delivered and oversaw production of all New York Dance Festival Playbill.
Jerami Kipp is a Janet Collins Fellow, an International Performer, and accomplished African Hand Drummer and educator. Jerami has studied dance and arts administration through the Applied Study Program at the New York Institute of Dance of Education and drumming with Rusted Root's Jim Donovan, Ghanaian drum master Etse Nyadedzor, and additionally with Elie Kihonia Master Drummer from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Jerami has worked with several notable choreographers including Nora Daniel, Pam Tanowitz, Victoria Dale, Dianne McIntyre, Luca Veggetti, Thomas Warfield, and Sean McLeod. Jerami traveled extensively including England, Vancouver, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago.
Kierstyn Zaykoski is Director of Operations for the New York Institute of Dance & Education, the New York Dance Festival, Reaching for Higher Ground Consulting, and part of the Executive Implementation team for the Global Dance Initiative. Kierstyn is Executive Team and Principal Company Member of the Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre/Sean McLeod Dance Experience. She works as a Certified Personality for the American Master Class Tour. Kierstyn has led many forums and was the Chair of IGNITE - Cayuga County's Young Professionals Organization as part of the Chamber of Commerce. She has hosted Republican and Democratic Debates, Political forums, and facilitated trainings and Panel Discussions. She is well versed in graphic and video design, as well as marketing and advertising and leads the NYIDE Media Production division for NYIDE's Global and National footprint. Kierstyn has taught and tutored all ages for over a decade both in person and online, with a specialization in communication. Kierstyn is a McLeod Technique and Reinforced Motor Function ® Certified Teacher and collegially a graduate of State University of New York at Potsdam with a degree in Early Childhood/Childhood Education and minor in Dance.
Kristin Bauer-Gross is an actor, commercial model, speaker and model coach. She is based in the beautiful Finger Lakes Region in upstate NY but travels extensively.
Kristin has aired in over a 100 commercials and have been published in many magazines and catalogs, walked in 100+ fashion shows, featured in dozens of tv shows and films. She spent her 20's based in Miami Beach modeling full time, and has evolved into traveling for Forbes 500 companies, major automotive brands and corporate clients as a presenter and spokeswoman.
Today in this new world, her talent career is focused on acting in commercials, tv, film, corporate trainings and helping others get their start in this industry. Bauer-Gross assists people in getting started, avoiding scams, finding representation, and booking paid work. She has offered coaching, classes and a series on Instagram called "Model Tips" to help those getting started in a model or talent related career, side hustle, or passion pursuit.
On the other side of the camera, she is a former Booking Director at AMS Models & Talent (now TMT Agency) 2010 to 2012 & also worked in Scouting at Elite Models NYC in 2003.
In 2019 she competed for Mrs. New York America and represented my home region of Central New York. Her platform "Courage to Dream" empowers women and girls to find the courage to go for their dreams & goals, no matter what they may be and in spite of naysayers.
Lorienne Beals is an accomplished international performer and educator. Having trained at Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Studio Harmonique in Paris, and the New York Institute of Dance & Education, Lorienne has performed and taught internationally for more than fifteen years. She has been the VP of Operations for the New York Institute of Dance and Education, core faculty of the American Master Class Tour series, Associate Director of the Sean McLeod Dance Experience, and Director and Principal with Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre. Lorienne has been a faculty member and an Associate Producer of the New York Dance Festival. Currently she serves as Development Director for Story Tapestries; a non-profit providing arts integrated performance and educational programs based in the greater Washington, DC area.
Ms. Beals is a native English speaker, is fluent in Italian and holds a Bachelor's degree in French, as well as having achieved three professional designations recognized in the finance industry. Lorienne is also as well versed in the corporate world as she is in dance, and has seamlessly weaved an approach to business and dance that allows her to do both at the International level.
Lorienne spent a year living and working in England for ITT Corporation, and performed and taught for Fairfields Arts Centre, the Basingstoke Academy of Dancing, and helped administer the first England certification workshop for "MT Reinforced Motor Function®" at the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD) studios in London, for the Society of Teachers of Alexander Technique (STAT). Lorienne is certified to teach, and is one of only a few authorized to certify teachers in MT Modern (McLeod Technique) and Reinforced Motor Function ®. While living in southern Maryland, she taught McLeod Techniques, classical ballet, jazz, hip-hop and musical theatre dance in Washington, DC and multiple cities in Maryland, and she choreographed for Chrysalis Dance Company at Mount Airy Performing Arts Center, receiving multiple awards in national competitions. Lorienne performed as a guest artist with VTDance directed by Vincent Thomas at the Kennedy Center and with Ballet Teatro Internacional directed by Alvaro Maldonado at the Shakespeare Company's Harman Center for the Arts.
Ms. Beals has toured with the unique, interactive dance company, "The Family Dance Company," and was a featured artist in the International Drummer and Dancer Tour. She has performed in a multitude of productions including the Great Blue Heron Music Festival to an audience of over 6,000, as well as at venues in Manhattan, Pittsburgh, Delaware, and other US cities, as well as in England, the Caribbean, and Tunisia, France and Italy.
Since arriving in Italy, Lorienne has created the "Dance Across Borders" initiative to share her passions for dance and language by organizing educational trips and exchanges between dance schools. In these last years, Lorienne has been honored to perform the works of multiple choreographers including Joe Alegado, Angelo Monaco, Natalia Vinas Roig, Francesca Foscarini, Ornella Pegoraro, Barbara Canal, Jean Marc Boitière, Michela Negro and Cristiano Cappello collaborating with Compagnia Kronos and GruppoEtra. She currently resides in Northern Italy and continues to work and travel as an educator, performer and choreographer.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- President
- Executive Producer, Award Winning Businessman
Sean McLeod is an Executive Producer, Award Winning Businessman, and American Director and Choreographer whose work spans more than 30 years and 3 continents. He works in New York City, across the US, and internationally in the West Indies, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Sean is founder of Reaching for Higher Ground Consulting, President of the New York Institute of Dance & Education, and President and Artistic Director of the Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre.
Raised in the household of a New York Human Rights Commissioner and founding President of a local NAACP chapter, Sean McLeod's path to engage social change was activated at a young age. Starting on stage at 11 as the only professional Black child actor in the famed New York State "MGR" Theater, Sean also practiced Chinese and Japanese martial arts, gymnastics, swimming and diving. Understanding future challenges as a Black man, his parents required him to become multidisciplinary in the arts and business. Using these skills for 31 years, McLeod fought to gain sustainable support for Black people, women, and People of Color, through Social Practice work that challenges the foundation of American acceptance for ill constructs affecting women's rights, inclusion of Black people, people of color, LGBTQIA+, and the poor.
Sean delivers multi-disciplinary work as a choreographer, dancer, playwright, director, and executive producer of dance, film, tv, and the stage via acting and direction. He also employs music as a composer, singer, songwriter, and player. McLeod was raised in Urban dance and neighborhood culture, studied at SUNY Purchase, has completed multiple Limon Teacher Certifications, and studied Classical ballet with greats like Gayle Young, Mette Spaniardi, Rosanna Seravalli, Bettijane Sills, and Maestro Corvino. Mentors like Kazuko Hirabayashi, Juilliard's Elizabeth Keen and Dr. Berryman Johnson of Howard Univ, challenged him to embrace the void of Black dance technique creation in our industry and create a dance technique of innovation for classical ballet and unifying intersection for Modern Dance vocabularies. Sean studied African origins of dance and drumming with tours to South Africa, the Caribbean and with masters like Assane Kante, Elie Kihonia, Etse Nyadedzor, and fell in love with Latin polyrhythms, world culture, and luminaries like Carmen de Lavallade showed him he was worthy. This inspired creation, including the New York Dance Festival, Harriet Tubman Freedom Music Festival, Community of Color World Culture Celebration, Moving Past Racism Series, the MLK: Conference for Men, and more.