National Board

The National Board of the daCi USA Chapter is elected by the membership. A new board is installed every three years.

Duties of the National Board are to fulfill the objectives of daCi USA, host meetings of the membership, and carry out the business of daCi USA among other responsibilities. 

Read more about the specific details of each board position by clicking here.

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Heather Francis

Chair - Salt Lake City, Utah

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Heather Francis holds an MA in Teaching Artistry from Wayne State University and a BA in Dance Education with a minor in Math Education from Brigham Young University (BYU). She is finishing an MS degree in Instructional Psychology and Technology at BYU. As the Research and Design Coordinator for the BYU ARTS Partnership, she designs professional development in the arts for school teachers, conducts research & evaluation, and manages design products. She has co-directed the BYU Kinnect Dance Company as adjunct dance faculty and taught methods courses for children's creative dance. She lives in Salt Lake City in a joyfully-noisy and dance-filled home with her toddler and husband (a drummer).
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Kathryn Austin

Chair-Elect - Winter Garden, Florida

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Kathryn Austin, Member at Large a nationally-recognized dance educator who has used her businesses and talents to serve the West Orange and Lake county communities in Florida for the past 30 years. Dr. Austin has over 40 years of teaching experience in the private sector, University, public school system and community education as well as frequent guest teaching, lecture demonstration, artist-in-residencies and conference presentations to her credit. In October of 2005, she was awarded the Outstanding Dance Educator Award for the Private Sector by the National Dance Education Organization and has been Teacher of the Year at her school and Arts Teacher of the Year subsequently. Austin is an active member of several state and national dance organizations, including a former Board of Directors member of Dance and the Child International-USA. Dr. Austin is a frequent presenter and guest speaker at conferences throughout the United States in addition to her teaching and writing. Dr. Austin is a freelance choreographer having worked for Nickelodeon, Universal Studios - Florida, the Orlando Magic, the Florida Motion Picture Association and various musical theatre productions and is the full-time ballet instructor at the Osceola County School for the Arts in Kissimmee, Florida. Austin is active in her home community and is an involved member of the First United Methodist Church of Winter Garden including the roles of Director of Worship, Sunday School teacher for over 28 years and currently, Lay Leader. Dr. Austin is the mother of three children and a devoted mentor to many more.  
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Jennifer Florey

Treasurer - Yuma, Arizona

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Jennifer Florey, Member at Large Originally from Midland, MI, Jennifer started her dance career at the age of six dancing at Dean/ Black School of Performing Arts, Inc. Mrs. Florey went on to study Dance Education, Physical Education, and Exercise Science at Hope College in Holland, MI. While at Hope, Mrs. Florey performed with Insync Dance Theatre, dANCEpROjeCt, and Hip Hop Anonymous. She also got the chance to perform with Chicago Tap Theatre during their residency at Hope College, and in Chicago at their Tidings of Tap performance. Jennifer completed her student teaching in the city of Chicago, became assistant director of Auroris Dance Company in Chicago suburbs, and then moved to Yuma, AZ to run the dance program at Kofa High School. She has been teaching at Kofa High School, inspiring young dancers, for the past 6 years. She has written a music selection for the daCi newsletter and presented at the NDEO national conference in 2017 and 2018. She looks forward to growing as a dance educator and expanding her knowledge with each presentation and conference she attends. She recently graduated with her Master of Arts in dance education from UNCG, under the mentoring and advisment of Dr. Mila Parrish. Jennifer is a driving force in the field of dance education. She has been an active member of AzDEO and NDEO for the past 4 years and contributes endless hours to the dance community within and out of her school.
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Amy Munro Lang-Crow

Secretary - Phoenix, Arizona

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Amy Munro Lang-Crow, Member at Large is currently a dance educator and pom coach at Valley Vista High School in Surprise, Arizona. This is her 14th year teaching and coaching at Valley Vista. Amy was given the opportunity to start the Dance Program and Spirit Line program at Valley Vista in 2006 and they have since grown leaps and bounds. The dance program is comprised of 10 dance classes and approximately 290 students. The Spirit Line program has seen many successes in the past 11 years with 2 Overall Division 1 Coed State Championship titles, the Cheer Squad placing 1st at AIA state in 2014, Pom Line placing 1st at AIA state in 2016 and in 2017 and making it to USA nationals in California. The Pom Line took 1st place at 2017 USA Nationals in Intermediate Large category, making history for Valley Vista. She received the Kathy Lindholm-Lane Dance Educator of the Year for 2017 awarded by AzDEO. In 2017, she was blessed to be honored with Dysart Hero through her school district. For 7 years now she has held the role of instructional leader for the Fine Arts Department at her school. She is past co-treasurer of the Arizona Dance Education Organization (AzDEO) and is the current President for AzDEO. She graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Education from Arizona State University under Dr. Mila Parrish, Kathy Lindholm Lane and Becky Dyer. While at ASU she held the historian position on the AzDEO student chapter. She earned some of the following scholarships while at ASU; Artsbridge, Marilyn Stroud Scholarship and the Kathy Lindholm-Lane Scholarship. She also received her secondary teaching certificate from the College of Education. Amy earned her Masters of Arts in dance education at University of North Carolina Greensboro through the MADE program in May of 2019. She has presented statewide and nationally for dance education advocacy. She has helped work on the daCi newsletter alongside Dr. Mila Parrish and other phenomenal board members. She has been able to contribute a hip hop lesson plan and was the co-author for the article 'Advancing the Arts through MINDPop' in the Spring/Summer 2018 daCi USA Newsletter. Amy Crow loves what she does! She truly enjoys coaching and teaching but above all is a proud mother of her 9 year old son, Brayden.
Joy Guarino

Joy Guarino

National Rep - Buffalo, New York

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Joy Guarino, Chair is a Professor of dance and Coordinator of the dance program at SUNY Buffalo State, teaching studio technique, choreography, and dance theory courses. Professor Guarino is also the College’s Faculty Coordinator for Service-Learning. Ms. Guarino earned her MFA from Temple University and holds a NYS Teacher’s Certification in Dance. She has combined her passion for dance and community welfare to develop a unique higher education program and conduct her scholarship that focuses on kinesthetic learning, dance/movement integration, service-learning, and community engagement. As a practitioner and consultant in the arts-in-education profession, both personally and as a mentor for her students, she is committed to finding innovative and practical ways of designing and implementing meaningful arts curricula for diverse populations. Her creative work accentuates the use of mixed media and audience participation and she has presented her choreography internationally. She enjoys working collaboratively with professionals, students, and community partners all over the world; achieving extensive knowledge and experience in the field. chair@daCiusa.org
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Nicki Flinn

Past National Rep - Holland, Michigan

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Nicki Flinn, National Representative M.A. is an Associate Professor of Dance at Hope College. She specializes in and advocates for dance pedagogy, curriculum development, arts integration, assessment, and dance for all ages. She developed a K-12 dance program and worked as a public-school teacher for 15 years. Nicole is the director of StrikeTime Dance Theatre, a pre-professional student company that promotes dance outreach for children. Her professional involvement beyond campus includes serving on the NDEO Membership Engagement Advisory Committee and is a member of the board for several organizations including Dance and the International Child (DaCi) USA, SHAPE Michigan, and Michigan Dance Council. Nicole was a leading member in the dance portion of Michigan’s Arts Education Instruction and Assessment Project. She has made numerous state and national presentations at professional meetings, and her publications include articles in Journal of Dance Education, DaCi USA, and the SHAPE Michigan Journal. nationalrep@daCiusa.org
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Madeline Cantor

Newsletter Editor - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Madeline Cantor, Newsletter Editor is director of the Dance Program at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania where she teaches technique, composition, original repertory, dance appreciation, arts teaching and directs the School Performance Project. Current activities related to the teaching of dance to children include teaching dance combined with math to 2nd and 3rd graders; directing Dance TAG (Teaching Artists Group) which is a peer-to-peer program in Philadelphia of continuing professional education; and is a member of the advisory board charged with reviewing dance lessons on PE Central, a national physical education resource. newsletter@daCiusa.org
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Chara Huckins

Member Liaison - Salt Lake City, Utah

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Chara Huckins, Membership Relations started dancing at the age of three with Virginia Tanner's Children's Dance Theater. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in modern dance from the University of Utah where she was the recipient of the Elizabeth R. Hayes Scholarship. She holds a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction Creative Arts in Learning from Lesley University. Chara is a certified movement specialist that has brought the magic of dance to students and teachers with her performances, dance classes, choreography, and professional development workshops through the Utah Artist-in-Education Program. She performed both contemporary and historical modern dance with Repertory Dance Theater for 19 years. Chara teaches and choreographs for the Children's Dance Theatre. She has been a dance educator for over 20 years. She is presently a dance specialist for the Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program where she inspires hundreds of students to learn and perform through the art form of dance. delights@daCiusa.org  and  membership@daCiusa.org
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Deborah Lipa-Ciotta

Member-at-large - Buffalo, New York

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Deborah Lipa-Ciotta, Secretary founded Creative Dance for Children Classes in 2001 and Pleien Dance Company for ages 7-18 in 2009 where she currently directs and teaches creative dance, modern dance technique and composition for children ages 3-18. She is also a full time faculty member at Tapestry Charter School, a Buffalo, NY public school for children, parents and teachers who believe in weaving together the humanities, sciences, arts and social responsibility. Ms. Lipa-Ciotta instructs Kindergarten through 5th grade dance as a core component of Tapestry’s Expeditionary Learning program and helps in the role as the K-5 Arts Team Leader. Prior to joining Tapestry, she was on the faculty at the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts Dance Department (grades 5-12) from 1989-2006. She is also a proud graduate of the Buffalo Public School-Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, majoring in Dance, under the faculty of Yvonne James-Brown, Hannah Raiken-Schulman and Peggy Swartz. Ms. Lipa-Ciotta is New York State Certified in K-12 Dance and received her BS in Dance and MA in Dance Education from the State University of New York College at Brockport where she wrote a thesis on a Discipline-Based Dance Education Curriculum Model. secretary@daCiusa.org
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Vincent Thomas

Member-at-Large - Towson, Maryland

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Vincent E. Thomas, Member at Large dancer, choreographer and teacher, received his MFA in Dance from Florida State University and a BME in Music from the University of South Carolina. He has danced with Dance Repertory Theatre (FSU), Randy James Dance Works (NY/NJ), EDGEWORKS Dance Theater (DC), and Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (MD). His choreography has been presented at various national and international venues including DUMBO Festival (NY), Velocity Festival (DC), Modern Moves Festival (DC), Philly Fringe (PA), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (UK-Scotland), Barcelona and Madrid, Spain, Avignon, France, Athens, Greece, Bari, Italy, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Taipei. He received rave reviews for his performance of “Come Change” (2012) and “iWitness” (2014) in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Vincent was the Movement Coach/Choreographer for Everyman Theater’s Brother’s Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney in Baltimore, MD (2012) and Mosaic Theatre’s Unexplored Interior by Jay Sander in Washington, DC (2015). He is the Artistic Director/Choreographer of the national touring What’s Going On project. Vincent was awarded the 2011-2012 Towson University Student Government Association Faculty Member of the Year, a 2014-2015 NextLook Artist for the University of Maryland College Park and Joe’s Movement Emporium, a 2012-13 American Dance Institute Incubator Artist (MD), a 2016 Baker Artist Award finalist, the 2017 Pola Nirenska Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance (DC), and the 2019 USM Board of Regent’s Faculty Award forExcellence in Research/Scholarship/Creative Activities. He is an Urban Bush Women BOLD Facilitator, faculty member for the UBW Summer Institutes (NY), and Professor of Dance at Towson University (MD). His multi-dimensional company VTDance builds on the use of contemporary dance, improvisation, text/ movement, a variety of sound sources, and collaborations with other artists, including dancers, musicians, poets, visual artists, and others [to be discovered]. These ideas coupled with witty, poignant, athletic and gestural movement are the rich palette for VTDance.
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Sara Malan-McDonald

Member-at-Large - Phoenix, Arizona

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Sara Malan-McDonald, Member at Large is a Phoenix, AZ based freelancing academic teaching a variety of classes throughout the greater Phoenix area including the Maricopa Community College system and Arizona State University. Additionally, she has taught several guest artist residencies. Fueled by her love of intergenerational dance and her belief that everyone who has the desire to dance has the right to do so, she created C3 Dance, where she teaches dance as a means of expression and healing to primarily under resourced youth and hosts annual dance festivals in collaboration with Dance and the Child international (daCi). Sara has performed in professional dance works of Babs Case, Mary Fitzgerald, Ann Ludwig, Kelly Roth, Karen Schupp and Kristin Tovson. Through her dance company, SM2Dance (founded in 2015), Sara tells movement stories, and works to address complex issues from a distinctly feminine, feminist perspective. Sara earned her MFA in Dance from Arizona State University and two BFA degrees, in Dance and Art History, at Brigham Young University. She is mother to four, soon to be five, young children.
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Cally Flox

Member-at-Large - Draper, Utah

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Cally Flox, Member at Large is the founding director of the BYU ARTS Partnership working to increase the quality and quantity of arts education within the BYU Public School Partnership, serving five school districts. For 14 years, she has convened partners to create and present professional development programs currently serving over 1000 teachers each year. Her team has produced open-source materials for teachers and principals. She worked with the Utah State Board of Education to offer the Arts Integration Endorsement for elementary teachers and has 85 teachers currently enrolled in the program. With a bachelor’s degree from Utah State University, she taught dance and math in K-12 schools. She is a licensed administrator with a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from BYU. Cally taught dance and creative development for people of all ages and completed additional training in sensory integration, and the neurophysiology of learning. She is a co-author of the book A Teachers’ Guide to Resiliency Through the Arts and has presented both as a keynote speaker and workshop provider for children and adults. She is on the Utah board for Dance and the Child International and recently presented for their international conference in Australia.
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Enya-Kalia Jordan

Member-at-Large - Brooklyn, NY

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Enya-Kalia Jordan, PhD ABD, holds a BA in Arts & Letters Dance from Buffalo State University, MFA in dance from Temple University, and currently a doctoral candidate at Texas Woman’s University. In 2023, she was named an “Artistic Visionary,” honored as Temple University's 30 under 30 and awarded Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Spouses Education Scholarship. Enya-Kalia artistic directs of Enya Kalia Creations (EKC) and co-directs Bashi Arts. EKC is in the midst of an arts & social justice residency with the CUNY Dance Initiative, partnered with Brooklyn College School of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts and BAX: Brooklyn Arts Exchange from 2023 -2025.
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Karen Kuebler

Member-at-Large - Towson, Maryland

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Karen Campbell Kuebler (EdD, MA, BFA) loves sharing her passion for Dance with children through adults. She teaches Dance Integration in Baltimore Elementary Schools. Karen returned to Towson University in 2009 and specializes in Dance History and Education. From 2022 to 2024, Karen served as the graduate director of the Interdisciplinary Arts program. Karen presents her energetic workshops in local to international venues. In 2018, Karen presented two interdisciplinary workshops combining French and Dance in Martinique. Karen is a founding board member of the Maryland Dance Education Association (MDEA) and is excited to serve on the daCi BoD.

Past daCi USA Board of Directors

Board of Directors 2020 - 2023
Chair: Joy Guarino
Chair-Elect: Heather Francis
Secretary: Deborah Lipa-Ciotta
Treasurer: Carol Day
National Representative: Nicki Flinn
Past National Representative: Chris Roberts
Newsletter Editor: Madeline Cantor
Member Liaison: Chara Huckins
Members-at-Large: Cally Flox, Kathryn Austin, Amy Munro Lang-Crow, Vincent E. Thomas, Jennifer Florey, Sara Malan-McDonald

Board of Directors 2017 - 2020
Chair: Anna Mansbridge
Chair-Elect: Joy Guarino
Secretary: Marlene Strang
Treasurer: Carol Day
National Representative: Chris Roberts
Past National Representative: Mary Lynn Babcock
Newsletter Editor: Mila Parrish
Membership Relations: Madeline Cantor
Members-at-Large: Nicki Flinn, Heather Francis

Board of Directors 2012 - 2017
Chair: Chris Roberts
Chair-Elect: Anna Mansbridge
Secretary: Judith Nelson
Treasurer: Kathleen Kingsley
National Representative: Mary Lynn Babcock
Past National Representative: Marilyn Berrett
Newsletter Editor: Mila Parrish
Membership Relations: Madeline Cantor
Members-at-Large: Kathryn Austin, Amy Markgraf Jacobson, Rachel Kimball, Marlene Strang, Jeanne Traxler

Board of Directors 2009 - 2012
Chair: Joy Lurie Friedlander
Chair-Elect: Chris Roberts
Secretary: Judith Nelson
Treasurer: Janina Dobkowski
National Representative: Marilyn Berrett
Past National Representative: Jannas Zalesky
Newsletter Editor: Lynnette Overby
Members-at-Large: Kathryn Austin, Mary Lynn Babcock, Madeline Cantor, Amy Markgraf Jacobson, Kathleen Kingsley, Anna Mansbridge, Lisa Welsh

Board of Directors 2006 - 2009
Chair: Sam Baumgarten
Chair Elect: Joy Friedlander
USA National Representative: Jannas Zalesky
Past National Representative: Anne Green Gilbert
Secretary: Judith Nelson
Treasurer: Jeanne Traxler
Newsletter Liaison: Lynette Overby
Members-at-Large: Marilyn Berrett, Janina Dobkowski, Denise Rapp, Chris Roberts, Mary Lynn Smith

Board of Directors 2003 - 2006
Chair: Jannas Zalesky
Chair Elect: Sam Baumgarten
Newsletter Editor: Mila Parrish
USA National Representative: Anne Green Gilbert
Secretary: Margot Faught
Treasurer: Jeanne Traxler
Past USA Representative: Ranjanna Devi
Members-at-Large: Marilyn Berrett, Joy Friedlander, Eddie Bolton-Howard, Lynnette Overby, Denise Rapp, Becky Smith Slettum, Mary Lynn Smith, Jan Tremon-Jenkins

Board of Directors 2000 - 2003
Chair: Mary Ann Lee
Chair Elect / Newsletter Editor: Jannas Zalesky
USA National Representative: Ranjanna Devi
Secretary / Treasurer: Anne Green Gilbert
Past USA Representative: Maxine DeBruyn
Members-at-Large: Sam Baumgarten, Dawn Clark, Elayne Enyard, Joy Friedlander, Eddie Bolton-Howard, Karen Kaufman, Joni Urry Wilson

Board of Directors 1997-2000
Chair: Anne Green Gilbert
Chair Elect: Mary Ann Lee
USA National Representative: Maxine DeBruyn
Secretary: Joy Friedlander
Newsletter Editor: Jannas Zalesky
Past USA Representative: Sara Lee Gibb
Members-at-Large: Ranjanna Devi, Dolores Plunk Smith, Theresa Purcell Cone, Eddie Bolton-Howard, Gene Leyden, Millicent Simmons, Joni Urry Wilson