Director - Meg Morrissey
Meg grew up dancing at the Georgia Dance Conservatory in her hometown of Marietta, Georgia. She trained in classical ballet with GDC and performed as a company member of the Ruth Mitchell Dance Theatre for fifteen devoted years. With RMDT, she had the opportunity to perform in Regional Dance America and the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association’s conventions, as well as attend master classes in Atlanta, Pittsburg, and New York City, before graduating in 2008.
Meg then went on to continue her study of ballet, contemporary, jazz, and modern dance at Northwestern University in Chicago, graduating with a B.A. in Dance and a B.A. in International Studies. Here she also discovered her passion for choreography and teaching dance, which she brought back with her to Atlanta in 2012.
Along with teaching classes and workshops around the greater Atlanta area, Meg headed the dance program at Pace Academy from 2012 - 2014. Meg has been a company member of Sideways Contemporary Dance Company, Graffiti Dancers, and Fuerta Dance Company. Her choreographic work has been featured by the New Movement Project, two seasons of Atlanta's Dance Canvas, and Zoetic’s: MIXTAPE. Meg is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Fuerta Dance Company, as well as the owner and Director of the Druid Hills Dance Center. Her passion for working with young dancers and artists, creating innovative new works of choreography, has played a major role in shaping DHDC and Fuerta into what they are today. She looks forward to every new season with her students and professional dancers!
Assistant Director - Olivia Rowe
Olivia is the Assistant Artistic Director of Druid Hills Dance Center in Decatur, Georgia. She is also a professional dancer, choreographer, educator, and stage manager. She is currently a candidate for a Masters of Arts in Dance from California State Long Beach, and will graduate with the degree in December 2024. In 2018, she graduated from Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance.
As a choreographer, Olivia seeks to discover and reflect the beauty of the human experience through expressionism. Olivia is blessed to work daily with the dancers of the Druid Hills Dance Company, choreographing countless works there since her start in 2019. Most recently, her work has received the 2024 Artistic Excellence and Performance Award from the Kennesaw State University High School Dance Festival for her work Danu. Choreographic credits include WAKE, presented by The Esthete Collective alongside Fuerta Dance Company, Real Man a music video for Desmond Meyers, and works in festivals such as The Seeds We Plant, Excuse the Art, FEMMEfest, Fall for Fall, 3 Contemporary Dance Project, and Palette Project. She has also produced work for the Kennesaw State Dance Co. in their annual Senior Spring Showcase, and local dance company Ballet Southeast.
Olivia is a current company member with Fuerta Dance Company, and has been performing with the troupe since 2019. Additional professional performance endeavors include companies City Gate Dance Theater, Ballet Southeast, and Gotta Dance Contemporary (now Admix Project), where she has performed both classical and contemporary works.
In high school, Olivia trained at Atlanta Academy of Ballet as a professional trainee, as well as Balletmet Columbus and Nashville Ballet. She received her early dance education at Impact Dance of Atlanta. In college, she was privileged to study Gaga dance technique at the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, Israel.
As an educator, Olivia has fostered a love of dance in students of all ages. She is experienced in teaching classical ballet, contemporary, modern, pointe, lyrical, cross-training, and pas de deux. She incorporates pedagogical and kinesiological principles learned in her collegiate studies into all classes, encouraging safe and healthy practice. Olivia has taught for many studios and schools across Metro-Atlanta, but is happy to call Druid Hills Dance Center “home.”
Instructors
Abi Grassler
Abi is a San Francisco native who moved to Atlanta in 2015 to attend Emory University. She graduated in 2019 with a double-major in Dance and Movement Studies and Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. Although she started as a competition dancer and cheerleader, she trained primarily in contemporary-modern while attending Emory. Abi had the opportunity to perform for Greg Catallier, Kendra Portier, and Sally Raddell, as well as student choreographers during her time in the program, and was awarded the department’s Vail Scholarship in 2019. Since graduating, Abi has performed for independent Atlanta-based choreographers Jacquelyn Pritz, Catherine Messina, and Amelia Jazwa, and is currently dancing with Fuerta Dance Company. She is excited to share her enthusiasm for movement with young students and create a space to foster success among aspiring dancers.
Lauren Michelle
Lauren is a freelance movement artist new to Atlanta. She has performed in soloist and ensemble roles throughout the U.S. with Chicago Repertory Ballet, the Portland Opera, Point Park University's Conservatory Dance Company, and in other freelance projects.
Lauren received her Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Point Park University. Her diverse training has included studying and performing alongside companies such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, NW Dance Project, Shen Wei Dance Arts, Houston Contemporary Dance Company, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.
She is thrilled to be back on stage, making her Atlanta debut with Fuerta Dance Company and the Esthete Collective.
Jenn Klammer
Jenn is an Atlanta based creative, movement artist, and educator. She has received her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from the University of Florida. In 2019, Jenn moved to Atlanta and has worked with various artists in the area including ALA Dance, Bautanzt Here, and Fuerta Dance Company. She specializes in Limon and Release Modern, Contemporary, Leaps and Turns, and Conditioning. She has an emphasis on strength and power in all techniques.
Abigrace Diprima
Abigrace is from Lawrenceville, GA and trained at Gwinnett Ballet Theatre, subsequently receiving her BFA in dance from University of North Carolina School of the Arts under Dean Susan Jaffe. She went on to dance in Oklahoma City Ballet’s Studio Company and Ballet Tucson as an apprentice. As a company member, she has danced with Eugene Ballet, Texture Contemporary Ballet, Kayzer Ballet, Bluebird Uncaged, Jana Taylor and Dancers, and Pasadena Dance Theatre. Some of her favorite ballets to dance have included Balanchine's "Serenade" and "Donizetti Variations", the Mazurka variation and pas de deux from Les Sylphides, as well as works by Suzanne Haag and Alan Obuzor. She most recently performed in the European Royal Classical Ballet (Krolewski Ballet) US tour of Swan Lake. Abigrace is happy to return home this season to dance professionally with Gwinnett Ballet Theatre.
Evelyn Henry
Evelyn is a contemporary, jazz, and tap choreographer who started dancing in Kennesaw, Georgia. Since the age of 2, she has trained in the styles of ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, lyrical, and hip hop, and she was a member of Bravo Dance Center’s competitive company for 8 years. During this time she competed at numerous competitions, including Youth America Grand Prix, and she has performed in numerous shows and community events. Evelyn graduated in May 2024 from the University of Florida Honors College with a degree in Pre-Professional Biology and a minor in Business Administration. During her time at UF, she was a member of the Dazzlers Dance Team for 3 years and held the roles of co-captain and captain for 2 years. As a Dazzler, she had the opportunity to perform at sold-out football and basketball games, serve as an ambassador for the University, and choreograph pieces for the team. Evelyn recently moved back to Atlanta and is now pursuing her master’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. She is thrilled to join Druid Hills Dance Center for the 2024-2025 season and share her love for dance with her students!
Jen Fenner
Jen is a hip-hop choreographer hailing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Her dance career started with a co-ed dance troupe at Florida State University. Post graduation, she moved to Dallas, TX, to begin her professional choreographer career. It was there that she began teaching middle school students through the DEA Youth Dance Program. She then went on to teach at Dallas International School. Throughout her time in Texas, she was a part of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) to DFW Airport promotional tour, Choctaw Casino promotional tour, and RAW Dallas.
Since moving to Atlanta in 2016, she has been able to collaborate with local choreographers, as well as showcase her work at the Harlem Globetrotters pre-show. She continues to instruct various beginner, intermediate, and advanced training classes throughout the metro Atlanta area.
