ASHLEY MURPHY
Ashley began her dance training with Carol Anglin at age 3. At age nine, Ashley was accepted into the pre-professional division at Carol Anglin Dancenter (1993-2002) where she became a member of Louisiana Dance Theatre (LDT), an Honor Company of Regional Dance America. As a member of LDT, she performed at national and international dance festivals including the Regional Dance America/SW Festivals throughout Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas; Jazz Dance World Congress at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and at the Tanzsommer Innsbruck Festival with performances and tours of Germany, Austria, and Italy. At the Joe Tremaine National Finals in Orlando, FL, Ashley received the Dorothy Prinkney National Tap Award. As principal dancer in Carol Anglin's Harlem, she performed for the Martin Luther King's Peoples Concerts with the Shreveport Symphony as well as the Shreveport Opera's Samson et Dalilah, annual Moscow Ballet Nutcrackers, the premiere of William Joyce's The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs; SRAC'S ArtBreak and Christmas in the Sky performances; and annual performances at the Red River Revel. Each summer Ashley trained with an international faculty at Louisiana Dance Foundation's Summer Dance Festivals. She also attended summer programs at New York's Joffrey Ballet School and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. In 2002, Ashley went on to train and perform with Dance Theatre of Harlem's "Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble." The following year, she was accepted into the DTH Company and toured with them to 16 of the United States and 4 foreign countries including Germany, Italy, and Greece. The company also spent 2 months in the United Kingdom touring cities such as London, England; Belfast, Ireland; Plymouth, Wales; and Glasgow, Scotland and many others. Ashley taught for the DTH Pre-Professional Residency at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC earlier this year. She recently represented Louisiana Dance Theatre in the Regional Dance America performances at Houston's Woodlands Pavilion (April 2006) and at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS (June 2006) where she was a soloist in Jimmy Gamonet de los Heros' choreography. Ashley was recently featured on PBS in 2006 in a performance in the Gold Room at the White House for President and Mrs. Bush and 100 guests honoring Dance Theatre of Harlem's founder and artistic director, Arthur Mitchell. Ashley is the daughter of Susie and Herbert Murphy of Shreveport. She is a 2002 graduate of Magnet High School and is currently pursuing her college degree in NYC while fulfilling her dreams of dancing professionally with a world renowned ballet company. Ashley is currently undergoing intensive training at Dance Theater of Harlem and performing with its "Dancing Through the Barriers Ensemble."


BRANDI COLEMAN
Now in her sixth season as a performing and teaching artist with Chicago's Jump Rhythm Jazz Project, serving as Rehearsal Director since 2003. Brandi leads both choreographic residencies culminating in the re-mounting of JRJP repertory and workshops in Jump Rhythm Jazz Technique across the country. Some of these residencies include University of Minnesota, Duluth, Western Kentucky University, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, the University of North Texas, Ohio Northern University, Fort Wayne Ballet, the University of Alaska, Anchorage, and most recently, a 3-week residency in Finland. She has also served as a faculty member of the JRJP Jazz and Tap Intensive, both in Lexington, Massachusetts and at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In Chicago, Brandi has taught the Jump Rhythm Jazz Technique to public school students under the auspices of the Gallery 37 Outreach Program and has been an Adjunct Lecturer of the faculty of the Northwestern University Dance Program teaching the technique to undergraduates in dance, musical theatre, and acting since 2002. She has also assisted Billy Siegenfeld in re-mounting JRJP repertory for concerts of the N.U. dance company, Danceworks, since 2002. Brandi began her training at Carol Anglin Dancenter in Shreveport, LA and was a charter member of Louisiana Dance Theatre. As a member of LDT, she had the opportunity to perform at the Jazz Dance World Congress in Chicago and at Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center, as well as at Regional Dance America Festivals, including the National Festival at Houston's Jones Hall. She also received scholarships to study at the Giordano Dance Center (Chicago), Tremaine Dance Center (Los Angeles), and at the Jazz Workshop of Jacob's Pillow (Massachusetts), where she first studied Jump Rhythm Jazz technique with Billy Siegenfeld. As a member of JRJP, Brandi is a featured dancer in an upcoming, 2007 PBS Documentary which honors Billy Siegenfeld and his world renowned Jump Rhythm Jazz Project.