Faculty
Kellie Payne
Summer Pre-Professional Program 2008
Ballet and Modern (Horton Technique)
Kellie started her training at a very early age in the disciplines of ballet (both Vaganova & Cecchetti methods), pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, & modern with her grandmother, a former Rockette. This training was supplemented and enhanced by her work at The Duke Ellington School for the arts and several professional dance companies. She was founding member and ballet mistress of Tony Powell/Music & Movement, and Adrain Bolton Dance Company. With these very successful dance companies Kellie graced many area stages including such venues as The Kennedy Center, Dance Place, Publick Playhouse, and New York's City Center. In addition to being a dancer, Kellie also has 20 years of teaching experience in the DC, MD, and VA areas. Kellie is now Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Fusion Dance Company.
Candra Preshong
Summer Pre-Professional Program 2008
Candra has had the opportunity to study with local talents such as Mark Mejia, Linda Kintz, and Michelle Sarson and many other master teachers on the East and West coast. She studied at Point Park College and received her degree in Psychology from George Mason University. Cultivating a challenging environment for her students and pushing their technical, physical, and stylistic limits is a constant source of inspiration for her. Being able to be part of the process of a dancers training and watching them grow into the poised performer and passionate force onstage is envigorating for her. She believe every dancer deserves everything their teachers can give them.
Getting a late start, she was able to fully appreciate the discipline and hard work that needs to go into a dancers training. She found an immediate marriage between style and technical excellence in her early choreography. Starting Fusion Dance allowed her to delve into the organic nature of movement and to begin pushing the limits of the mind, body, and soul to the absolute extreme. The fusion of many different styles and techniques of dance while creating a journey for the audience is the hallmark of Fusion Dance. The ultimate goal as a company, dancer, and choreographer is to leave people with a feeling of enjoyment, whether in the form of passion, pain, or beauty. The feeling is everything, the feeling is the accomplishment. Fusion has allowed me to grace the stages of the Lincoln Theater, Jack Guidone Theater, and the Ernst Cultural Center and the list grows as the years pass by.