Meet the women of Sasso & Company!!

Founded in 2014 by Artistic Director, Lacey Sasso, Sasso & Company is a Boston-based contemporary dance company.  Meet the nine women who have dedicated their time, talent, and passion for dance in order to bring you Deeply Rooted this February at the Dance Complex in Cambridge, MA!!

LACEY SASSO – FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, SASSO & COMPANY

In 2014, Lacey founded Sasso & Company, a Boston-based contemporary dance company. Prior to that, Lacey attended Missouri State University where she earned a B.F.A in Dance Performance with a minor in Psychology. While attending MSU she was a member and senior rehearsal director of Inertia Dance Company, which promotes literacy through creative movement. Lacey has performed internationally at the 19th Congress on Dance Research in Larnaca, Cyprus, as well as the first Congress on Dance Pedagogy in Bogota, Colombia.

Lacey spent six seasons with Undertoe Dance Project (NYC) under the direction of Dana Fisch, where she served not only as the Jazz Captain, but she was also the resident Jazz teaching artist. Her choreography was presented in the annual New York Season, Astoria Dance Festival, and Undertoe Dance Festival. In Boston, Lacey was a member of Six One Seven Dance Collective for four seasons. Alongside this, she has had her choreography presented at Third Life Choreographer’s Series (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017), Monkeyhouse Productions, Art Beat, Dance Astoria, aMasSiT, Dance for World Community (2014, 2015), and NACHMO Festival (2017, 2018).

Additionally, Lacey has spent five summers as a guest artist in residence and co-program director of Endless Mountains Dance Camp at Camp Ballibay for the Fine and Performing Arts (Pennsylvania, USA). She has been on faculty at Boston University, Walker’s Dance and Gymnastics, and Raquelle’s Dance and Fitness.

In August 2015 Lacey graduated from William James College with a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy. Following graduation, Lacey relocated to the United Kingdom. She has been on faculty with the Royal Academy of Dance’s Step into Dance, Montage Theatre Arts, Kew Dance Arts, and SOTO Dance. She performed in Akram Khan’s Big Dance Trafalgar Square and continued her training in jazz, modern, and ballet at Pineapple Arts.

Since returning to Boston this fall, Lacey has jumped back into the studio as company member of Project 31, faculty of South Shore Ballet Theatre teaching jazz and modern as well as with Sasso & Company to create Deeply Rooted.

COLLEEN RODDY – SENIOR REHEARSAL DIRECTOR

Colleen Roddy is currently in her third season with Sasso & Company serving as both a Senior Company Member and the company’s Rehearsal Director. Colleen received her early training at Gloria Jean’s Studio of Dance under the direction of Gloria Jean Cumming and Stacy Eastman and New Haven Ballet under the direction of Phillip Otto. She received her B.S. in Health Studies and Minor in Dance as well as her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Boston University. Most recently, Colleen completed her DPT Academic Practicum Project entitled: Project B.I.N.D.: Inclusion Hip Hop Dance Class at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester. As a member of the USA Dance Team, she has performed at Madison Square Garden in NYC and competed across the U.S. and Germany at the World Dance Championships receiving the Gold medal as a soloist and team member. Colleen has received recognition for her work including Young Choreographer Awards from American Dance Awards and North American Dance Championships. Since 2013, she has had the honor to present her work at the American College Dance Festival, Urbanity Next Residency Series, Jose Mateo Dance Festival, BU Dance Faculty Concert, BU Dance Showcase, and Kelley Donovan’s Third Life Choreographer’s Series. Colleen now serves on the faculty at Boston University in both the Children and Adult Dance Divisions, and as a guest teacher and choreographer across several New England schools. She has performed with Six One Seven Dance Collective, BoSoma2, Urbanity Underground, Transit Dance Company, and as a backup dancer for SNL Comedian, Hannibal Buress.

TIA DEVINCENZO

Tia grew up dancing in the Boston area, joining the competitive dance world at the age of 8. Throughout high school Tia taught dance at the Dance Studio of Wakefield and performed as a soloist and member of the senior competitive dance team. Her solo accomplishments earned her a spot as an Elite Performance Dancer at Excel in Motion where she traveled and taught alongside professional dancers including Allison Holker, Ellenore Scott, Alex Wong, tWitch and others.  Following her passion for dance Tia attended James Madison University as a major in dance. She graduated in 2016 with dual degrees in Dance and Journalism. As a member of the Virginia Repertory Dance Company, a pre-professional modern contemporary company, Tia had the opportunity to work with outstanding choreographers including Laurie Eisenhower of Eisenhower Dance, Xan Burley and Alex Springer of Doug Varone Dance Company.  The VRDC performed at the American College Dance Association and participated in an enrichment program in Martinique. Internationally, Tia had the privilege to study dance in London at the Royal Academy of Dance and Art, working with professors from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She hopes to return to London for grad school one day!  Upon returning to Boston, Tia has been working as a freelance artist, teaching dance and became a certified 200 HR Yoga Alliance instructor. She is a member of Urbanity Underground and is in her first season with Sasso & Company!

CAYLEY DORR

Cayley Dorr is a contemporary dance artist and teacher based in Providence, RI. In 2017, she earned her BA Summa Cum Laude in Dance/Performance Studies and Educational Studies from Roger Williams University, where she received the Kelli Wicke Davis Excellence in Dance Award. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, she also spent three months deepening her physical research of contemporary dance forms, improvisation, and physical theatre in London, UK. She is currently a Choreographer in Residence with OnStage Dance Company in Malden, MA, and her original work has been presented at Roger Williams University, the Third Life Choreographer Series, Built on Stilts Festival, and Tiny Dances at the Zeiterion Theatre. Cayley is honored to be joining Sasso & Company for the first time this season.

KENZIE FINN

Kenzie Finn began her dance training at Center Stage Dance Academy in Plymouth, MA. At fourteen, she transferred out of her local high school to pursue intensive dance training at the Boston Arts Academy. At the BAA, she had the opportunity to work with professionals such as Ina Hahn and Sean Curran while also broadening her range of dance styles and understanding of movement concepts. Upon graduating, Ms. Finn began work on her B.F.A. in dance choreography at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus where she trained under Dana Hash, Elizabeth Goheen, Kim Jones, and Colleen Thomas. Kenzie has also studied at the Regional and National High School Dance Festivals, as an intern at the Bates Dance Festival, and as a scholarship student at The University of the Arts “Summer World of Dance”. While in New York, Kenzie also became one of the inaugural members of Calvin Wiley Dance Theatre in Manhattan. Since returning to Boston, Kenzie performed with Tribe, The Dance Company from 2005-2012, serving as the organization’s operations assistant and coordinator of Tribe’s workshop and masterclass series. Kenzie is the Artistic Director and founder of Project 31, a visceral contemporary dance company based in Boston and the South Shore. Kenzie has performed with Six One Seven Dance Collective under the direction of Kendra Heithoff, and is excited to be dancing with Sasso & Company this season.

PIP GAMBLE

Pip started dancing when she was very young and found a passion for it straight away. She started competing at the age of nine and continued until her senior year in high school. Pip trained at Monroe Dance Academy in CT starting in 2011 where she was a member of the performance and competition company as well as the Peridance Capezio Center Summer Intensive. The company had a mission of community engagement through performance opportunities. Pip has worked with Dancers Responding to AIDS (Purchase College) and Dancefest (Stamford CT). She has also performed at 9/11 Table of Silence, David Merrick Tribute (NYC), the Orange Bowl Halftime Show (Miami, FL) and with the Jacquelyn Buglisi Company at the Lincoln Center in New York City. Pip is currently a freshman at Simmons College as a Physical Therapy major and continue to pursue her passion for dance as a member of Sasso & Company.

JULIE JOSEPH

Julie has been dancing since she was three years old, beginning at Roses School of Dance in Hawthorne, New York. There, she was a member of the competition team for nine years, after which she graduated and began attending Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. She now is an active member of Brandeis’s all-inclusive dance team, Adagio, as well as the leader of the audition based subset, Dance Ensemble. She has also become an avid choreographer. She has performed as a backup dancer for comedian Hannibal Buress, and has performed on Broadway at the Symphony Space stage for Stampede, a percussive dance festival. She has continued to dance around Boston working with Onstage Dance Company, and as a member of Drumatix, a drumming and tap company. This is Julie’s first season in Sasso & Company, and is eager to see where her dance journey continues.

MICHELLE MARQUIS

Michelle started dancing at age two and quickly fell in love. Shortly after, she started competing in styles such as ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, hip hop, and modern. By Junior year of high school she became a student at the New England Civic Ballet to focus more on training in contemporary and classical ballet. Michelle graduated from Plymouth State University and holds a B.S in Business Administration and certificate in Dance Pedagogy. During her time at Plymouth State she was a member of the Dance Division and Contemporary Dance Ensemble as a performer and choreographer. She has also worked with choreographers and companies such as Urbanity, Mziyanda Mancam, and Broadway Choreographer Jesse Robb. She attended master classes with BoSoma, Deca Dance Theatre, Pantos Project, Tremaine and many more. Michelle was even given the opportunity to privately dance with The Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York City. After graduation, she furthered her studies in dance education and performance as an intern with Neoteric Dance Collaborative performing at the Southern Vermont and Shaker Village Dance festivals. She has continued to dance around the East coast performing with BellyBeat Dance Company, Tributary Dance, and Danceworks. Michelle is so excited to be dancing in her first season with Sasso & Company!

KATIE PAQUIN

Katie Paquin began dancing with Festival Ballet Providence at the age of 4 and continued her training there until she was 18. She was a member of Festival Ballet’s Junior Company from 2005-08. She performed many ballets with the company including Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Don Quixote and her most notable role with the company was Clara in The Nutcracker. She spent her summers at Bossov Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive performing in Coppelia and Don Quixote. In 2010 she began dancing with Providence Ballet Theatre and in 2016 she began dancing with Cambridge Dance Company and continues with both companies. Katie is currently working as a freelance choreographer and has choreographed at Rhode Island College, Providence College, Providence Ballet Theatre, Cambridge Dance Company and in collaboration with the New York Mandolin Ensemble. She has also presented her work at a few dance festivals including The 2012 Perceptions Dance Festival in New York City and the 2014 Boston Contemporary Dance Festival. She graduated from Rhode Island College in 2013 with a degree in Psychology and Dance where she was a member of RIC’s dance company and was chosen to be the recipient of the Helen Forman Special Talent full scholarship. She received her Masters of Education in Counseling from Providence College and is currently working in Financial Aid at a college in Boston. This is Katie’s first season with Sasso & Company.

KELLY WOODRUFF

Kelly originally started dancing as a means to develop strength and flexibility for figure skating. She began taking jazz and ballet classes at a small studio in Cupertino, CA. In high school she switched gears to focus solely on dance, and started competing with her dance team in kick, jazz, and lyrical. She then moved to Boston to attend Tufts University, where she studied Quantitative Economics and Dance. At Tufts she danced with a couple on-campus contemporary and hip hop groups and focused on developing as a choreographer. After college, Kelly spent a few seasons dancing and choreographing for DanceWorks Boston. This past summer she had the opportunity to dance and perform with Boston Community Dance Project (BCDP). This is Kelly’s her first season with Sasso & Company.

Behind the Artistry and Ticket Information:

Learn more about Deeply Rooted here.

Purchase ticket for our upcoming performances on February 23 & 24, 2018 here.