MEET THE FUSION DANCE ACADEMY TEAM

Maddi grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, dancing at her mother's studio, where she also began teaching at 16. In high school, Maddi toured with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp's International Ballet Ensemble before training at COCA St. Louis. There, she was selected to join the pre-professional company, Ballet Eclectica. Maddi continued her education at the University of Iowa where she earned a B.F.A. in Dance and B.A. in Journalism, graduating summa cum laude. In addition to performing the works of faculty, adjunct professors, and graduate candidates, she toured with the University's Dancers in Company and choreographed pieces for various concerts. Maddi's capstone was the performance of her B.F.A. solo choreographed by Princess Grace Award winner, Rachel Meyer.

Upon graduation, Maddi moved to San Francisco, working in Silicon Valley and swing dancing with the Someday Sweethearts. She spent a year with family in North Carolina, also performing with the Asheville Ballet. Finally, Maddi returned home to St. Louis, where she worked in marketing at a regional Broadway theater while also performing with both Leverage Dance Company and Karlovsky and Company Dance. She was scheduled to perform in the annual Spring to Dance Festival in May 2020.

Maddi currently works full time as Marketing Manager for a mental health therapy practice. She is thrilled to be teaching at Fusion after a long few years away from dance during the pandemic!! Her teaching style is technique-focused, but her ultimate passion is fostering confidence in each dancer, helping them celebrate their strengths and grow as unique individuals. 

Alexis Baynard is a graduate of UW-Madison with degrees in Dance and Education Studies. She will return to UW-Madison in the Fall of 2023 to persue an MS in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis- Higher Education. Alexis grew up in Minnesota where she competed in dance for eight years and choreographed competition pieces for 2 years. She is excited and eager to return to competitive dance with Fusion Dance Academy. She specializes in contemporary styles and looks to incorporate outside interests into her work. In her free time, Alexis enjoys rock climbing, paddle boarding, and movies.  

Molly was born and raised near Madison, Wisconsin. She is a dancer, performer, choreographer and educator. She received her training locally at Virginia Davis School of Dance and continued her training at Loyola University Chicago's Dance Program where she graduated with her Bachelor's Degree in Dance and minor in Musical Theater. 

Molly most recently graduated from the Professional Semester at Broadway Dance Center in New York City where she had the opportunity to train and perform works of world renowned choreographers such as Emily Greenwell, Marc Kimelman, Matthew Steffens, Andrew Wilson, and Maleek Washington. Furthermore, she trained and performed with the Mandala Dance Company in Rome, Italy, New York's Theater Barn, Madison Contemporary Dance and in numerous concerts and festivals in the Chicago area. 

Molly is an ambassador for Chicago The Musical with theater MAMA, and is an artist of RAW: Natural Born Artists in Chicago. Molly has been teaching dance for around six years and was an instructor for National Dance Alliance (NDA.) Alongside performing, and teaching, Molly has a love for fashion and styling and spending time with her family, friends, and dog Mabel. 

Harmony’s passion for dance began at age 3.  She developed a love for competitive dancing at age 6 where she had the opportunity to travel all over the Las Vegas and West Coast area competing. 

When Harmony was 8 her family moved to Wisconsin where she joined the Fusion Family as one of Fusion’s first dance students!  After dancing with Miss Tina for several years Harmony began assisting and later teaching classes. 

Throughout her entire high school career Harmony participated on the DeForest dance team. She was team captain her junior and senior year.  Upon graduation from high school Harmony went on to Madison College and received her associates degree in Early Childhood Education, she continued to teach at Fusion during her time at college. 

Harmony’s love of teaching children and dance is a perfect fit here at Fusion!

Rae Slager was born and raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin. At age three, she began dancing at Laura Coté School of Dance in Wilmot, Wisconsin and became an avid lover of tap dancing. At Coté’s studio, she spent several years studying under universally recognized tap choreographer and performer, Nico Rubio. 

From eight to eighteen, she competed competitively in tap which sparked an interest in choreographing. Her choreography has won multiple awards for technicality and originality and has reached national levels. 

Since 2017, Rae has enjoyed teaching tap dance to students of all ages with a focus on rhythmicality, tap history, and self-expression. She is certified as a Youth Protection Advocate in Dance which provides additional training in classroom management, safety, and body positivity. Outside of the studio, you may catch her rock climbing or spoiling her two lovable cats, Mina and Cookie.

Emily Utz is a dancer, choreographer, and collaborator. She grew up in St. John, Indiana dancing at Cedar Beach Arts Center. Emily continued her training at Ball State University where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance, graduating cum laude. There, she worked closely with Sidra Bell to create an evening-length work alongside her company. In addition, she performed in productions such as The Nutcracker, Swing!, Spamalot, and Mad World at the university and local theaters and choreographed several works for various showcases. After graduation, she moved to Florida and received her Master of Arts in Linguistics. 

Emily has taught modern and jazz at Dance Innovations PAC and the Premier Academy of Performing Arts in Indiana, where she choreographed “Coffee” (The Nutcracker) and “Diablo Rojo”. 

Currently, Emily is a PhD student at UW-Madison and applies her linguistic knowledge to dance to find more interesting ways to develop and communicate through movement. Emily is a lover of technique (much to the chagrin of her students!) and strives to help every dancer grow and perform to the best of their ability. Choreographically, her goal is always to create playful, dynamic movement that brings joy to both the dancer and the audience.

Aaron Vokoun is a Continuous Improvement Engineer based in Madison with a passion for triathlons, ultrarunning, gymnastics, dance, and cheerleading.  He and his wife (Jessica) and 7-year-old son (River) lived in Oklahoma for about 10 years and prior to that in Wisconsin for 10 years.  Originally from Tulsa, OK, Aaron studied Chemical Engineering and Business at the University of Tulsa and was a cheerleader and heavily involved in Theater.  Prior to college, he traveled and performed with a Theatrical Dance Production Company.  He has coached gymnastics, cheerleading, stunting and more at both gyms and studios across the U.S.  He brings over 25 years of experience in coaching and competing with high schools and colleges including (UW Wisconsin Cheer, OSU Cheer and TU Cheer).  He has worked with performers, gym coaches and cheerleaders over the years including Trinity Valley Community College (featured in Season 2 of the Netflix Program “Cheer”).  He is looking forward to serving the students and parents at Fusion Dance Academy. Aaron’s energy will help raise the overall participation and excitement in the Acro Program.

Jessica Vokoun has been performing and teaching dance for over 25 years. Her teaching merges a variety of influences from modern, post-modern, and jazz artists with whom she has studied: from Graham technique, to Cunningham technique, Dunham and Horton, Release and Counter Technique, Gaga and Contact Improvisation, and the Fosse repertoire (via Chet Walker).  As a tenured professor at the University of Tulsa, she directed the dance program, choreographed over a dozen musicals and collaborated on interdisciplinary performances. Her choreography has been presented at the New Genre Festival, American College Dance Festival, Crystal Bridges, and Movement Research NYC. Ms.Vokoun completed her MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography at UW-Milwaukee. She has performed internationally with the dance-theatre company NC5, and across the US with The Bell House, Tulsa Modern Movement, Living Water Dance, Li Chiao Ping Dance, Kanopy Dance and the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company.  As a video artist, Ms. Vokoun has collaborated with Tulsa Modern Movement, The Bell House, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, da:zain and Ko-Thi Dance Company.  She founded and directed the Oklahoma Dance Film Festival for 12 years, and has curated several dance-film programs for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Wisconsin Film Festival.