Faculty/Staff Bios

The following is a list of previous faculty and staff, many of whom will be back in 2010.

Faculty and staff members are chosen for the Texas Arts Project based on the individual teacher's professional and instructional experience. All faculty members are of the highest caliber and communicate with students in a positive, constructive, and encouraging manner. The core faculty has an established professional relationship allowing them to work closely with one another to guide each student to his or her next level.

Every student, regardless of his/her goals, should receive the best possible training. The faculty and staff take pride in making sure all students receive personalized training and individual attention. No two artists are alike. Therefore, it is very important for each student to know how to approach his or her craft in a safe and thoughtful manner. 

Our students are taught the value of fine arts so they may become a life-long supporter of the arts regardless of the paths they may choose.

Daniel Adams

(Director/Choreographer, Musical Theatre Teacher)
Danile Adams...(more to come)

Carson Alexander

(Counselor, Acting Teacher, Residential Director)
Carson Alexander (BFA in Acting, Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist Univeristy) loves TAP CAMP! He graduated from St. Stephen’s where he studied acting throughout high school and was active on the Helm stage. Carson is a New York City resident, where he starred in a one-man show Off-Broadway. Theatre has been his passion since he was 13 and he hopes to make it his life work.

Carla Anderson

(Guest Artist)
Carla Anderson...(more to come)

Bea Baldwin

(Visual Arts Instructor, Youth Art Camp )
B.Baldwin (BFA Univ of Colorado, MFA Univ of N. TX) is in her 23rd year teaching art in Independent schools. She taught Saturday and summer workshops at Ft. Worth Modern Art Museum for 15 years, ages 5-18. Bea taught grades K-8 at Ft. Worth Country Day School for 11 years, taught H.S. art and held the position of Department Head at Chatham Hall School for girls, Chatham, VA for 6 years. This is her 4th year at SSTX. She is a painter and printmaker.

Kelly Bales

(Junior and Senior Camp Director/Choreographer)
Kelly Bales served as Director/Choreographer for TAP Junior for the past 4 years and Choreographer for TAP Senior in 2009. She has taught for Austin Musical Theatre and Footworks Academy. Kelly has worked as assistant director and choreographer for a number of middle and high schools and most recently for Summer Stock Austin. Kelly was an original member of Austin Musical Theatre's Junior and Senior Companies and participated in over a dozen professional shows with Austin Musical Theatre at the Paramount Theatre. Kelly also played the role of Irene in Crazy For You at Zilker Hillside Theatre and occasionally performed with The Small Stars, an Austin rock band.

Michelle Brandt

(Guest Artist)
Michelle Brandt...(more to come)

Travis Brendle

(TAP Production Stage Manager)

Travis graduates this year with a BFA in Theater Design and Production with an emphasis in Stage Management at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Favorite credits as a stage manager include Assassins and the US Premiere of the opera Rappaccini's Daughter at CCM, Assassins  and Thoroughly Modern Millie with Summer Stock Austin and The Rimers of Eldritch and Who Will Carry the Word at St. Stephen’s, where he graduated from the Theater Focus Program. Travis also assistant directed, choreographed, and stage managed many St. Stephen’s Middle School productions including Fiddler on the Roof and Les Miserables. On stage, Travis could be seen in such shows as Carousel (Mr. Snow), Working, and 42nd Street (Julian Marsh) with Theater Focus and Guys and Dolls (Nicely) and You’re…Charlie Brown (Charlie Brown) with Austin Musical Theater. Travis was also a lifetime member of the Austin Musical Theater/Broadway Texas Junior and Senior Company and performed in all of their Summer Musicals, as well as the Performers Workshop and Stage Three. Travis was a TAP camper in 2004 and a Tap Jr. counselor in 2006, and Production Manager in 2007 and 2008.

Carmen Clements

(Visual Arts Instructor, Youth Art Camp )
Carmen is an artist with a MA and BFA in Fine Arts from the Univeristy of Iowa; educator and designer of art classes for preschool, elementary, middle school, high school, college and continuing education. Her professional experience includes working as an art editor, interior architectural designer, gallery manager, and art exhibitor. In addition, she is an accomplished pianist and Nia instructor. Born in Ft. Worth, Texas, she has lived and worked in the midwest, on the Texas coast, in London, England and now resides in Austin (for the past 14 years). Carmen is a mother of three daughters and granmother to three grandchildren. Life is good. She loves St. Stephen's.

Buckner Cooke

(Head of Filmmaking, Senior Camp)
Buckner is a graduate of the University of North Texas. Buckner has been working professionally for ten years. His work in the music industry has been broadcast both national and internationally on MTV and he served as the Music Video Judge at the 1999 SXSW Film Festival. In 1999 he co-founded Red Frame Productions, a full service production company in Austin Texas. Since that time, Buckner has worked as a Producer, Director, Director of Photography, and Sound Mixer for several diverse types of film and video projects. Over the course of the last several years Buckner’s work has been screened at film festivals including SXSW and Slamdance as well as being broadcast nationally on PBS and ABC. Buckner has been the head of Filmmaking for Texas Arts Project since its inception in 2003.

Paul Davis

(Technical Design, Senior Camp)
Paul is an active set designer in and around Austin. He has also worked as a scenic artist for the Dallas Theatre Center, Portland Stage, and Connecticut Repertory Theatre; and as Scene and Costume Designer for Finborough Theatre in London, England. In 2004, Davis was nominated for his work on The Importance of Being Earnest, as well as a B. Iden Payne Award for The Drawer Boy. His students have placed among the top in the state at the Texas Thespian Convention for set, costume and mask design. Many have also qualified for National Competition is Set and Lighting Desgin.

Rona Ebert

(Tap Teacher/Tap Choreographer, Senior Camp)
Rona began studying ballet and tap at the age of 8, in many schools across the country as she traveled with her military family. Arriving in Austin at age twelve, she began professional ballet training with Eugene Slavin and Alexandra Nadal (Slavin-Nadal School of Ballet). Under their direction, she danced with Austin Civic Ballet (now Ballet Austin) for eight years. After graduating from U. T. with a B.F.A. emphasizing graphic design, she joined Austin On Tap, a nationally touring company based in Austin. Ms. Ebert traveled the with the company for five years and in 1990, joined Tapestry Dance Company, followed by Estampa Y Española, a local Flamenco company. A serious injury put a stop to her career for two years. Upon recovering in 1996, Ms. Ebert began working with Scott Thompson and Richard Byron, directors of Austin Musical Theatre She was graphic designer for the company until 2002, and has danced in their productions of Peter Pan, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Music Man and Celebrate Austin Musical Theatre, The Wizard of Oz as well as numerous Gala productions. In addition to her professional career as a graphic designer, Ms. Ebert has taught tap and ballet for over 20 years at various locations including Austin Civic Ballet, The YMCA, the Slavin Nadal School of Ballet, and Austin Musical Theatre.

Lisa del Rosario

(Co-Head of Dance/TBallet & Modern Teacher & Choreographer, Senior Camp)
Lisa began her dance studies at the Margo Marshall School of Ballet and the Cleveland San Jose School of Ballet. She continued her training as a presidential scholarship student at the University of Texas at Austin where she received her B.F.A. in Dance. She also studied classical piano and violin for many years and in her later years Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi, Vipassana Meditation, Taoist Meditation, and the Feldenkrais Method of movement education. Lisa danced professionally in the Philippines with The Philippine National Folk Dance Company, Bayanihan. She currently dances locally with Moving Voices Dance, Sharir/Bustamante Danceworks, Sheep Army/Elsewhere Dance Theatre, Subclavian Groove Dance Company, Yellow Tape Construction Co., and other independent choreographers. Lisa has taught and choreographed at the UT Informal Classes, the Dougherty Arts School, the McCallum High School Fine Arts Academy, and the Creative Movement and Pre-Ballet divisions of the Ballet Austin Academy. She is thrilled to be in her third season teaching for the Texas Arts Project at St. Stephen's Episcopal School. Lisa is also undergoing training in New York City to become a Guild Certified Practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method.

Taylor Edwards

(Guest Artist)
Taylor Edwards...(more to come)

Kasey Eggleston

(Guest Artist)
Kasey Eggleston...(more to come)

Michael Fariss

(Guest Artist)
Michael Fariss...(more to come)

David Gallagher

(Guest Artist)
David Gallagher...(more to come)

Kirk German

(Residential Director, Senior Camp)
Kirk German has worked in the arts and education for over ten years in three states. At Middlebury College in Vermont, where he graduated with honors with a degree in theatre, literature, and art history, he worked extensively as a playwright, director, actor, and stage manger. He also worked as an RA, a feature writer for the campus newspaper arts section, and as a DJ for the local radio station. During the summers, he taught extensively for a variety of theatre camps and arts education enrichment programs, including a two-month stint as an RA and instructor for the Exploration Summer Program in Wellesley, Massachusetts. After graduating, he worked for a year as an assistant dean and residence hall director at Middlebury College while also writing and directing for Middleground Children’s Theatre Company. Since returning to his hometown of Austin, Kirk has performed with several companies including Austin Lyric Opera, TexArts, Austin Playhouse, Different Stages, Naughty Austin, and Theatre at the J, for which he received the B. Iden Payne “Best Ensemble” award along with four other actors. He has directed several children’s shows, including James and the Giant Peach for the Austin Scottish Rite Children’s Theatre and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown for kidsActing. During the day, Kirk has happily worked for the past five years as a teacher of English and theatre at Huntington-Surrey High School in Hyde Park.

Monique Huff

(Guest Artist)
Monique Huff...(more to come)

Stacey Huston

(Jazz Choreographer, Senior Camp)
Stacey is happy to be involved with TAP as often as possible. After graduating from UT with a Business degree, she attended The University of California at Irvine and graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Dance, Theater and open-by-audition-only Choreography program. At UC Irvine and an away-program in NYC, she studied dance, voice and acting under such renowned greats as Susan Stroman, Uta Hagen, Donald McKayle and Harry Garland to name only a few. Stacey has been involved in partner dancing in one way or another for over 13 years. She tested out and is certified through American Style Gold levels and competed heavily in International Latin for 3 years. Her rankings include top six placements in Rising Star events in many national competitions like California, Nevada, Washington, Virginia, and Florida. Upon completion of her competing career in 1996, she was ranked 7th in the U.S. and 13th in the World in Rising Star Latin and Jive styles. Her vast experience includes Feature Films, Television appearances, Commercials, Special Gala events, and stage productions. Her most recent work has been 5 years with stage show productions in theaters and hotels in California, New York, Philadelphia, and finally overseas on cruise ships. She has quite literally been around the world and back. 

Heather Huggins

(Co-Head of Dance/Jazz Teacher/Acting Teacher, Senior Camp)
Heather has taught at Baylor University, Ballet Austin's Musical Theatre Division, Musical Theatre Institute at St. Stephens Episcopal School, Footworks Dance Center, Zilker Academy, Performers' Workshop, Young Actors' Shakespeare Project, Kids' College and DanceWorks. Regionally she has performed with Austin Musical Theatre, Broadway Texas!, Hyde Park Theatre, Vortex Repertory Theatre, Sharir + Bustamante Danceworks, Silver Star Productions, Waco Musical Theatre, Inc., Zachary Scott Theatre Center and Zilker Theatre Productions. Her recent performance credits include Rhonda in You're No One's Nothing Special, Frenchie in Cabaret, Kathleen in Chopper and Lilianna in Windblown, conceived by Kimmie Rhodes and directed by Joe Sears. Heather is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance, where she was a member of Dance Repertory Theatre under the direction of Yakov Sharir, Lyn Elam and Jeffery Bullock. Heather received her MFA at the Boris Schukin Insititue at the Vakhtangov Theatre, a studio of the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT) in Moscow, Russia. She now spends most of her time as the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of DA! Theatre Collective.

Larry Lehew

(Head of Technical Theatre Program, Senior Camp)
After spending some time at Yale School of Drama, Larry moved back to Texas build a high school theatre program in San Antonio. He served as the Master Electrician at the UT Performing Arts Center for several years. He holds a BA in Arts Administration from St. Edward’s University, where he worked on many shows. Larry has worked as a Lighting Designer, Set Designer, Technical Director and Robotic Lighting Consultant for theatre companies, educational institutions and lighting organizations around the country.

Robin Lewis

(Guest Artist)
Robin Lewis...(more to come)

Jill Lieberknight

(Guest Artist)
Jill Lieberknight...(more to come)

Kaite McDowell

(Guest Artist)
Katie McDowell...(more to come)

 

Dr. Michael McKelvey

(Musical Theatre & Voice Instructor; Senior Camp)
Dr. McKelvey coordinator of Music at St. Edward’s University, received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Texas. Performance credits include work with Austin Lyric Opera, The State/Live Oak Theatre, Austin Musical Theatre, Austin Shakespeare Festival, and Mary Moody Northern Theatre, Dallas Opera, Shreveport Opera, Theatre Three, Deep Ellum Opera Theatre, New Texas Music Festival. He has been a musical and vocal director for Austin Musical Theatre, The State Theatre Company, and Austin Playhouse. This past year Dr Michael Mckelvey won Austin Critic’s Table award for best musical direction and received his third B. Iden Payne nomination. He has served on the faculties of Concordia University, St. Stephen’s School, Broadway Texas/AMT Academy, The Zilker Academy @ Footworks and Mountain View College. He also runs a private vocal studio in north Austin, opened a new theatre production company in Austin, where he has won a number of awards for Best Director and Best Musical Director.

Ginger Morris

(TAP Artistic Director)
Ginger graduated with a BFA in Theatre and a minor in Speech Communications from the University of Texas – Austin in 1998. While in college, Ginger worked as Assistant Stage Manager and Academy Director for Austin Musical Theatre where she produced the Annual All-Youth Summer Musical for three years and garnered two B. Iden Payne Awards for “Best Play for Youth.” She also had the opportunity to direct productions with St. Edward's University, Zilker Theatre Productions, Austin Scottish Rite Children’s Theatre and Second Youth Family Theatre. Ginger directs and choreographs for middle schools and high schools in Central Texas including Dripping Springs, Leander and Austin school districts. She is co-founder of Summer Stock Austin, where she has directed Footloose, West Side Story, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Little Shop of Horrors with high school and college students.

Aaron_Moten

(Guest Artist)
Aaron Moten...(more to come)

 

Lisa Orr

(Visual Arts Instructor, Youth Art Camp & Head of Ceramics, Ceramics Camp)
For 23 years Lisa Orr has been professional potter and student of ceramics.  She completed an MFA at the NYSCC at Alfred University in 1992 and later received grants including a Fulbright and a MAAA/NEA.  Her work is in numerous public and private collections including the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, and the permanent collection of WOCEF in Korea.  Currently she teaches, lectures and shows nationally and internationally.

Alan Shorter

(Vocal Coach and Musical Theatre Director, TAPAdvanced)
Alan Shorter received his BA in Acting/Directing from Indiana University and his MFA in Theatre Arts with a Directing Concentration from Minnesota State University. Mr. Shorter worked as an Instructor, Music Director, Artistic Associate, Stage Director and Composer for The Children’s Theatre Company & School in Minneapolis. He served as Director of Music Theatre for Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Graduate Assistant in the Department of Theatre and Dance for Minnesota State University and Musical Theatre BFA Program Coordinator/Assistant Professor for The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Mr. Shorter has worked professionally as a Stage Director, Choreographer, Actor, Musical Director and Composer for college departments, organizations and theatre companies across the country. He is associated with The Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival, The American Composers Forum, The American Federation of Musicians, The Theatre Communications Group and The Educational Theatre Association. Mr. Shorter is currently an Assistant Professor/Performance Faculty for Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX.

Dustin Struhall

(Guest Artist)
Dustin Struhall...(more to come)

David Valdes

(Head of Acting, Senior Camp & Director, TAPAdvanced)
David is currently the Director of Theatre and an acting teacher for the Theatre Focus program at St. Stephen's Episcopal School. Prior to coming to St. Stephen’s, he was Theatre Department Chair and Arts Facilitator (fifteen years) at one of the top ten nationally ranked performing arts high schools in America. David was awarded “arts educator of the year” from the Milwaukee Magazine in 1998. He has directed many award winning plays and musicals in Milwaukee and many of his former students have gone on to study at the some of the top pre-professional acting programs in the country. He was hired by St. Stephen’s in 2000, to design and develop a curriculum, which is the Theatre Focus program. His goal as a theatre educator is to make it clear to student actors that the classroom is an extension of the stage and that the stage must always be a classroom. His goal is to guide actors through a “process” rather than a “product” oriented curriculum. David has his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and has MFA graduate training from Boston University and Minnesota State University. This is David’s fourth year with TAP and has enjoyed working with these students. “We all seem to have one common denominator; a passion for the stage.”

TAP 2010

BOARDING CAMPS

Senior Camp

Ages 13-18 or Entering grades 8-12
Dates June 6 - 27
General Tuition $2475
Filmmaking $2675
$500 deposit

Advanced Camp
(Video Submission Required)

Ages 15-18 or Entering grades 11-12

Senior Advanced
Dates June 6 - July 2
Tuition $2875
$500 deposit

Week-Long Advanced
DatesJune 27 - July 2
Tuition $575
$100 deposit

Junior Camp

Session 1 Beg - Int
Ages 9-12 or entering grades 3-7
Dates June 13-19
Tuition $1075
$200 Deposit

Session 2 Int - Adv
Ages 9-13 or entering grades 4-8
Dates June 20-26
Tuition $1075
$200 Deposit

MEALS
Three meals a day are provided starting with dinner on check-in days and ending with lunch on check-out days.

DAY CAMPS

Youth Art Camp

Ages 5-10
Dates June 7-11
Half Days 9am-12pm or 1pm-4pm $175
Full Days (ages 7-10 only) 9am-4pm $275
$100 Deposit

Ceramics Camp

Ages 12-17
Dates June 7-11
9am-12pm $175
$100 Deposit

Youth Musical Theatre Camp

Ages 5-10
Dates June 7-11
Half Days 1pm-4pm $175
Full Days (ages 7 and up) 9am-4pm $325
$100 Deposit

MEALS
Lunch is provided each day for Full Day Campers and on Friday for ALL Musical Theatre Camp Participants.