Guest Dancers
Sean Scantlebury Guest Dancer
A member of Battery Dance since 2003, is a performer and teacher who is equally adept within the styles of modern, ballet and hip-hop. A native of Barbados, He became a member of Ballet Tech, performing in the Company’s for 10 years. During his first season with Battery Dance in 2003, he took part in a residency in Kraków, Poland, performing for the European Conference on Tolerance. Since then he has performed, taught and led Dancing to Connect workshops across the planet. His hip-hop classes have served as a magnet for urban youth everywhere. In New York, he has served as Battery Dance’s teaching artist at public schools.
Fredrick Davis Guest Dancer
Travels the world as a professional ballet dancer, but his personal journey began with a broken family and homelessness.At age 11, Davis’ first exposure to dance changed his life. In 1998, he was encouraged to audition for the Department of Chattanooga Parks and Recreation Dance Alive program offered in collaboration with Ballet Tennessee. Despite a turbulent personal life, he found inspiration and support from instructors at Ballet Tennessee, Center for Creative Arts, his church family and a caring community. As a result of his determination and the support he received, he was invited to study at the prestigious Joffrey Ballet School and eventually joined the company at Dance Theatre of Harlem. Davis returns to Chattanooga every summer as a guest artist in the Dance Alive program that first inspired his love of dance.
Josep Maria Monreal Guest Dancer
From Barcelona Spain started to dance at 18 years old at Theater Jazz at Coco Comin and Carles Ibañez Ballet. Later with El Magatzem and finished his studies at Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. He moved to New York City to study at Steps on Broadway as an international student. He had the opportunity to perform works from Jennifer Archibald Dance Company at Summer Stage Festival in Central Park, New York. He danced with Jana Hicks and Marijke Eliasberg as a member of The Next Stage Project. He has collaborated in different projects with Fernando Carrillo and Julia Ehrstrand. He has also worked and performed with Martz Contemporary Dance Company in Europe, touring to Bucarest, FJK Dance Company during the season 2016-2017, including a two month international tour in China and Isadora Project with Natalia Osipova as a principal dancer in Costa Mesa, California and Moscow, Russia.
Richard Ye Guest Dancer
Richard received modern, jazz and classical dance training from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and the Milwaukee Ballet School. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has performed throughout the United States, as well as Japan, China, Ukraine, Russia, Canada, Ecuador and the Caribbean with many dance, opera and musical theater companies, including the Cincinnati Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Wylliams/Henry Danse Theater and the Metropolitan Opera. He is certified in levels Primary through Five in the American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum.
Taylor Kindred Guest Dancer
Mr. Kindred began training at Ballet Arts Academy in Missoula, MT and furthered his dance education
at the Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington DC and The Ellison Ballet in New York.
Taylor has appeared with Connecticut Ballet, Orange County Ballet, Universal Ballet of Seoul,South Korea,
and Ajkun Ballet Theatre. Taylor's repertory includes traditional ballets such as Cinderella,The Nutcracker,
Les Sylphides, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, La Bayadere as well as contemporary works by
choreographers Possohkov, Baca, Briones, Zachary and Ajkun.
As a ballet instructor, he has taught for the LUDT Dance in Italy Festival, Westchester County public schools
and many studios in NYC. Taylor has toured across the USA, Italy, and Australia to perform and teach.
Elisabeth Jeffrey Guest Dancer
Started her classical training under the tutelage of Carlos Stroia in Minnesota at the age of seven. She went on to train at the Joffrey Ballet School under a full merit scholarship when she was fourteen. During her years there, she attended workshops with schools such as the American Ballet Theater, the Houston Ballet School, the Washington Ballet School, and the Royal Ballet School of Covent Garden. She also performed with Arts Umbrella Dance Company in Vancouver, Canada, and Peter Pucci Plus Dancers in NYC. Upon graduation from the Joffrey Ballet School, she accepted invitations from Complexions Contemporary Ballet to attend workshops and company classes. Elisabeth is also currently a member of Periapsis Music and Dance. She has performed roles in The Nutcracker, Raymonda, Le Corsaire, Gisselle, Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Flames of Paris, Paquita, Serenade- George Balenchine, Samsera- Margo Sappington, Birthday Variations- Gerald Arpino, Billboards Willing and Able- Peter Pucci, Hoopla- Peter Pucci, Kettentanz- Gerald Arpino, Capriccious- Trinette Singleton, Onegin. Check out her website at: elisabethjeffrey.com
Robin Gilbert Guest Dancer
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts. She currently works with Balam Dance Theatre, Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble, Periapsis Music and Dance, and Ballet Verite, as well as performing Baroque dance with Carlos Fittante. Past credits include Connecticut Ballet, Dallas Ballet Collective Body Dance Lab and Peter Pucci Plus Dancers to name a few, as well as performing in musicals and in film and television. In her non-dance life Robin a professional drummer/vocalist for the rock band The Generators, which is led by her multi-talented husband Manny Campos.
Janna Davis Guest Dancer
Janna Davis grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and had the opportunity to train under many wonderful teachers at places such as the Governor’s School for the Arts and Academie de Ballet. She decided to forego a tan to further her training at summer intensives including The Juilliard School and Boston Ballet School. She graduated from James Madison University with a BA in Theatre and a BS in Communication Sciences, before continuing her dance education on scholarship at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She has danced with ACFCLA and Keshet Chaim Dance in Los Angeles, as well as danced and acted commercially and in film and television. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and continually training at The Sag Conservatory. Outside of performing she is a loving wife, a licensed cosmetologist, and had a side career as a trade show model in which she founded the networking group United Trade Show Talent. All this before realizing that it was still ok to want to be a ballerina when she grew up...
Dafni Mari Guest Dancer
Dafni Mari was born and raised in Greece, where she studied in the professional dance school of Despina Gregoriadou, and the School of Pharmacy at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. After graduating from both schools, she was accepted to Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, where she gained her Master's of Dance Science. While in London, she was an associate member of Ballet Black Neoclassical Company and also participated in many dance and artistic projects.
Searching for new opportunities, she moved to New York and joined Ajkun Ballet Theatre, “Yuka Kawazu-Danse en l'air”, and most recently, Benjamin Briones Ballet. When Ms. Mari is not on stage or in the studio, she works as a dance scientist, health coach and dance instructor.
Lucia Campoy Guest Dancer
Lucia is from Murcia, Spain, where she earned her Ballet Diploma from the Conservatorio Superior de Arte Dramático y Danza. New York has given her a great opportunity to expand her horizons. She’s a freelancer now and dances for Benjamin Briones since he founded his company. Also she has become a Feldenkrais practitioner practicing in NYC and focusing primarily on children. Special thanks to her family and husband for their unconditional support and to Benjamin for his hard work and trust.
Jordan Fife Hunt Guest Dancer
Felipe Escalante Guest Dancer
Originally from Mexico, Felipe began his studies of dance at the age of six, learning and performing the Mexican folk dance that had its natural development in this region of Mexico. He then embarked on the study and performance of different styles of dance, performing with companies like “Ciudad Interior”, “Aletheia, Cuerpo Escénico de Mexico”, “Epicentro”, “Cuando Muere el Sol” around the world. He is happy to join Benjamin Briones Ballet as a Company Member.