Mariah Layne French
Mariah (Founder/Artistic Director, Choreographer, Costume/Lighting Designer/ Outreach Coordinator, CEO and Principal Dancer) earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from The Ohio State University in 2005, where she was awarded the Undergraduate Research Grant for her Honors Thesis, “Forging New Territory in Artistic Expression”. Before attending OSU she majored in dance on scholarship at Ball State University, and performed as a member of the Ball State Dance Theater from 2001-2003. Mariah also studied Spanish, African, and Caribbean dance at Florida International University in Miami. She received her primary training from the Fort Wayne (IN) Ballet under the direction of Michael Tevlin, and from Northeast School of Dance with Beth Schiebel, where she performed as a member of its nationally recognized Jazz and Tap Companies. Mariah has worked closely with many distinguished masters and choreographers, including: Jeff Shade, Diego Salterini, Gregg Russell, Bebe Miller, Gary Lund, David Reuille, Lori Belilove, Freddie Moore, Susan Hadley, Rosiland Pierson and Yvonne Peters. She continues to cultivate her craft as an active member of the Columbus Dance Community.
Mariah has been an instructor at Charisma Centre for the Arts since 2004, teaching Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Modern, African and Dance Repertory. Her award winning choreography has been performed in Indiana, Florida, Colorado, and in Ohio. It has been featured at many community events throughout central Ohio including performances at The Columbus Dance Theater, BalletMet Columbus, King Arts Complex, Columbus Performing Arts Center, in the Columbus Dances Series, in 60x60 produced by New York based Vox Novus, at The Ohio State University's Sullivant Hall and at international dance conferences, where she teaches master classes in jazz technique.
In 2007 Mariah and her husband Phil founded Xclaim. They reside in Columbus, Ohio with their two vivacious children. Mariah thanks God for the overwhelming provision and opportunity he has given her to share and pursue work she loves.
Ryan Bolden
Ryan, (Dancer/Choreographer) a native of Columbus, Ohio, attended AIMS middle school and Fort Hayes High School where he specialized in dance. He has studied classic forms of dance at BalletMet Columbus, and break-dance with his uncle BHB (an internationally known and respected Hip-Hop master). Within the Central Ohio Hip-Hop community Ryan is known as a talented dancer, instructor and choreographer. He has performed with Capacity, Transit Arts, and the Sawyer Hip-Hop Dance Team. Ryan recently graduated with his Associates degree in Music from Columbus State. He aspires to take his dance expertise to a national level. Ryan has been dancing with Xclaim Dance Company since it’s opening season in 2008.
Stephanie Hall
Stephanie (Dancer/Choreographer) holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Ballet from Texas Christian University. She has been a member of the Exaltation Dance Company for the past 3 years and travels every year to Israel as a member of the Tabernacle Dance Company for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. In 2005, Stephanie received her Pilates Mat certification from the PhysicalMind Institute out of New York City, and developed Pilates By Design in 2007. She currently resides in Columbus, Ohio where she dances, teaches and continues to work as a freelance artist. Stephanie is a founding member of Xclaim Dance Company.
Sara Long
Sara (Dancer/ Web Mistress/ Photographer) has been dancing since the age of 10. Her training has included classical ballet, modern, jazz, African, lyrical and ballroom, studying under Robert Cole (formerly of The National Ballet of Canada), Mariah Layne French, Daryse Osborne, Freddie Moore, Aaron Chen, Jeff Lewis, Lisa Cole, and Franklin White (formerly of Britain’s Royal Ballet). She performed four and a half years with the Central Ohio Youth Ballet, including lead roles in The Nutcracker, Giselle, Swan Lake and Rodeo. A 2010 high school graduate, Sara plans to take a year off to pursue her interests in photography and traveling. Sara is excited to join Xclaim for her second season.
Kelsey Schafer
Kelsey (Dancer/Choreographer/ Publicity & Fundraising) is a graduate of John Carroll University. During her years at John Carroll, she founded the JCU Dance Ensemble, which allowed her to grow as a dancer, choreographer, and director. She was active as a JCU varsity cheerleader and member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. During the summers she led cheerleading, dance, and theatre camps for kids at the Macedonia Recreation Center. Here in Columbus, Kelsey is a graduate student at the Ohio State University pursuing her PhD in Biophysics. In addition to dancing with Xclaim, she also teaches at NorthPointe Dance Academy. She aims to inspire others through dance, as dance continuously inspires her.
Deena Schmidt
Deena (Dancer/Choreographer) grew up in Minneapolis, MN. She trained at Summit School of Dance, Ballet Arts Minnesota, the Boston Conservatory (summer intensive), and the University of Akron where she received a B.S. in Mathematics, Biology and Dance. Deena also has a M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Math from Cornell University. While a graduate student, she was a Principal Dancer with the Ithaca Ballet Company, dancing lead roles in The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Swan Lake to name a few. Deena has worked with various dance companies, student groups, and many distinguished artists/choreographers, including: Sean Curran, Luis Fuente, Tom Smith, Andy Caroll, Byron Suber, Jim Self, Jumay Chu, Risa Cohen, Cindy Reid, Rafael Grigorian, Linda Muir, James Sewell, and Barry Leon. This is Deena’s second season with Xclaim. As for her day job, she is a Postdoctoral Researcher at OSU’s Mathematical Biosciences Institute.
Laura Schoessler
Laura (Dancer/ Rehearsal Assistant) was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. She was nine years old when she began dancing at Charisma Centre for the Arts. Laura has studied jazz under Mariah Layne French for the past 5 years. She has also studied with notable masters, Jeff Lewis, and Freddie Moore. She continues to pursue professional dance training through various venues. Laura has performed as a part of the Exaltation Dance Company and junior company since 2003. She is a founding member of Xclaim. She has danced with Xclaim in past “Columbus Dances”, “60x60”, various community outreach and arts events and Xclaim’s mainstage performances “Xtra!” and “Hands and Feet”.
Samuel Walker
Samuel (Dancer/Choreographer) is from Derby, England. He is a graduate of Newcastle Performance Academy. He achieved an Associates degree in Musical Theatre and a BA in Contemporary Dance. He started acting at the age of 8, but didn't discover his passion for dance until he was 15, when he performed his first tap number in ‘Guys and Dolls’. Sam's experience includes various performances; Swing Fever, The Creation, Gypsy, West Side Story and many dance works. In his final year before graduation Sam produced various works of his own, which were performed in professional venues with Naya Aerial Dance Company. He now desires to use dance, as a means to help people become confident with their own bodies, be creative and enjoy movement as a means of worshiping God and having fun. He is a founding member of Xclaim, a lead instructor at Bethlehem Dance Education and Ministry Arts , and freelance choreographer.
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