Theatre and Dance Faculty

Tonya Beckman

Tonya Beckman is an AEA/SAG-AFTRA actor and dialect coach.
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Abby Bender

Abby Bender is the Instructional Technologist for the Scene Shop. Abby grew up in Shippensburg, PA and started working at her local performing arts center in high school.
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Mary Buckley

Mary Buckley is Associate Professor of Dance and Director of the EJS Women’s Leadership Program at George Washington University. Read More

Dana Tai Soon Burgess is a leading American choreographer and cultural figure. He is the Smithsonian’s choreographer in residence. Burgess has been referred to as “not only a Washington Prize, but a national dance treasure” (Washington Post Pulitzer Prize dance critic Sarah Kaufman).
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Hayley Cutler

Hayley Cutler (she/her) is a choreographer, performer, artist organizer, and dance educator. She is the founder and Artistic Director of darlingdance, a project-based dance company in its eleventh season, and co-founder of artist neighbor collective, an ongoing curatorial performance project.
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Danielle Drakes

Danielle A. Drakes is equal parts artist and educator. She has been a professional theater practitioner in the DC area for more than 15 years.
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Laurel Gray

Internationally recognized dance scholar, choreographer, performer, and costume designer, Laurel Victoria Gray specializes in women’s dances from Silk Road cultures and the Islamic World. Read More

Carl Gudenius

Carl Gudenius is the Program Head of Theatre & Dance. In addition to teaching scenic and lighting design at GW and directing its Graduate Production Design Program, Professor Gudenius is an active professional designer.
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Krissy Harris

Krissy Harris is a DMV-based, LGBTQIA+ dance artist and educator. Her research is anchored in gender studies, feminism, queerness and challenging power abuse.
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Jennifer Hopkins

Jennifer J. Hopkins is a performing artist who spends her free time teaching fitness.
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Leslie Jacobson

Leslie Jacobson has spent over 40 years producing, writing, directing, and teaching theatre committed to addressing societal challenges and to giving voice to people often marginalized by the dominant culture. Read More

Sigridur Johannesdottir

Sigridur is a costume designer who specializes and focuses her teaching on reproducing historical costumes based on research as well as dance costumes. She is the resident costume designer for Washington Stage Guild (DC), Ambassador Theatre (DC), and MetroStage in Alexandria VA.
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Jodi Kanter

As a scholar, she has been trained to apply the theoretical lens of performance to everyday practices and so, while her methodology is consistent, the subjects of her work vary wildly—from, for example, end of life health care to contemporary dramatic literature to the American Presidency. Read More

Dalton Lamberth

Dalton Lamberth is a management professional and an avid lover of the arts and culture scene. He believes in providing a positive, practical, and productive environment in his work life and to those around him.
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Bill Largess

Bill Largess has been a theatre artist in the Washington area for over 40 years. He is a founding member of The Washington Stage Guild, a professional theatre in downtown DC and has been artistic director since 2008. Read More

Sidney Monroe

Sidney Monroe (they/them) is a community-based theatre artist whose work is situated at the intersections of race, gender and class. Through creative strategies, Sidney facilitates art-making and conversations with communities to spark dialogue, raise visibility and celebrate marginalized bodies.
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Erica Rebollar

Erica Rebollar was born in Madrid, began studies at Washington School of Ballet, and completed her BFA in dance at Cornish College of the Arts and MFA in dance at UCLA.
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Giselle Ruzany

Giselle Ruzany MA LPC Ph.D. (candidate) is a psychotherapist with a Master's in dance/movement therapy and has been a guest artist in 2016 and 2019 as well as an adjunct professor since 2011 at the Corcoran Theater & Dance Program. Read More

Allyson Currin Stokes

Professor Stokes is the writer of numerous original plays, which have premiered on stages around the country such as, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Signature Theatre, Mosaic Theater of DC, WSC Avant Bard and many others. Read More

Gerrad Taylor

Gerrad Alex Taylor is an actor, director, and educator based out of the DMV region.
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Adalia Vera Tonneyck

Adalia Vera Tonneyck is the Instructional Technologist for the Costume Studio. Adalia has worked as a designer, assistant designer and made costumes at the following theatre companies: the George Washington University, the Folger, Adventure, Synthetic, Signature, Next Stop, Constellation, the Madeira School, Brave Spirit, Charlottesville Opera and Howard.
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John Traub

John is currently the Assistant Professor of Production Management & Technology at the George Washington University, where he teaches numerous classes in Production Design and serves as the Technical Director for the Theatre & Dance Program. He also works as a subject matter expert in Arts Management, Production Design and fabrication for a large variety of clients throughout the East Coast. Read More

Tanya Wetenhall

A specialist in dress history, Professor Wetenhall’s teaching encompasses fashion and costume history, world dress practices, ballet design history, material culture and the decorative arts. Her research explores the manifestation of national identity in design and the aesthetic and cultural intersections of Russia, France, and Great Britain in the late modern period. Read More

Alec Wild

Alec Wild is Director of Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University. He has directed more than 70 productions at theaters across the country, including the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Chautauqua Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theater (San Francisco), Milwaukee Shakespeare, and the Great River Shakespeare Festival, which he cofounded and where he served as Producing Director for eight years.
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Matt Wilson

Matthew R. Wilson is a union actor, director, and movement/combat choreographer, as well as a published playwright and theatre scholar. He is a two-time Helen Hayes Award recipient and seven-time nominee, and he has performed and taught at theatres, festivals, and universities around the world.
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Maida Withers

Known for her daring in movement and innovation as a choreographer, Maida has created a significant body of work for Maida Withers Dance Construction Company, over 150 dances of breadth and vision, involving a process of experimentation and collaboration. She has been creating visionary collaborations with global partners for more than 50 years. Read More

Jaysen Wright

Jaysen Wright is an actor, director, and teaching artist based in his hometown of Washington, DC. He is the Director of Breaking Ground, an organization for LGBTQI+ people of color in the DMV that provides community and support while also creating an original, devised work that explores themes of sexuality, racism, transphobia, physical abuse, mental health, substance abuse, and living with HIV/AIDS through music, dance, spoken word, and theater.
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Irina Wunder

Ms. Wunder is on the faculty of the Department of Performing Arts at American University in Washington, DC and Ballet NoVa Center for Dance in Arlington, VA. She taught at the Dance Institute of Washington and the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC.
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