Tuscaloosa Community Dancers
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Tuscaloosa Community Dancers Summer Intensive 
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August 3-5, 2021       |    The Dance Centre 

The Tuscaloosa Community Dancers Summer Intensive is a 3-day intensive workshop for students ages 7+. There will be 3 levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Your dancer will be placed according to their appropriate technical level. They will receive their level placement upon arrival on the first day, and it is at the faculty's discretion if they need to move levels. Students will attend daily ballet technique, pointe (if applicable) and variations classes, as well as modern dance, improvisation, ballet jumps & turns and seminars on topics important to the developing dancer.

Our Mini Summer Intensive is a 3-day intensive workshop for students ages 5-6. Students attend daily ballet classes as well as supplemental classes to prepare them for an audition setting.

Intensive, Workshop & Audition Attire: 
  • Ladies: Black leotard, pink tights under leotard and inside shoes, flat and pointe shoes (if applicable). Hair must be neatly and securely tied back. Skirts may be allowed at the intensive and workshop only, not at the audition. 
  • Gentleman: White dance shirt, black or grey tights, and ballet slippers.

*By registering for this intensive, you do not have to register and pay for the Nutcracker workshop & audition. Check the box at check out yes or no when asked if auditioning for Nutcracker.
Click Here to Register

                    MEET THE FACULTY 
Ages 7+
Aiden Nettles- ABT® Certified Teacher, University of Alabama Dance Department Instructor
Courtney Rich- Progressing Ballet Technique 
Certified Instructor
Emily Bromberg- Ballet de Barcelona dancer, trainee instructor, and company rehearsal coach
Haley Winegarden- Julliard School of Dance, former TCD member
Jamie Kilgore-
ABT® Certified Teacher, ASFA Ballet Preparatory Academy Program Director, ASFA Dance Department adjunct faculty 
Jennifer Lauren Quarles- Miami City Ballet Principal, former TCD member
Mary Margaret Scalici- Certified Pilates Instructor, University of Alabama at Birmingham ballet teacher, ASFA Dance Department adjunct faculty, former TCD member


Ages 5-6
Alden Phillips- Tuscaloosa Community Dancers Artistic Director, ​former TCD member
Jamie Kilgore- ABT® Certified Teacher, ASFA Ballet Preparatory Academy Program Director, ASFA Dance Department adjunct faculty 

Scroll for their bios!

Sample Schedule 
*subject to change

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Aidan Nettles
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Aidan Nettles, MFA, is a Full Time Teaching Instructor of Dance at the University of Alabama. Nettles received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Dance at the University of Alabama and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) with Distinction from the University of Roehampton in London, UK. During her tenure at UA, Aidan presided over the Nu Delta Alpha National Dance Honor Society and served as UA Parent Ambassador before graduating with honors as a Blount Scholar. Throughout her matriculation at Roehampton, she taught 
dance at the Roehampton Dance Society and Amplified 
Arts Academy; served as program representative for postgraduate dance studies; presented a paper at the Young Conference at Ghent University in Belgium; and later served as the Young Conference Chair. Nettles received the International Excellence and Roehampton Vice Chancellor’s Award for scholarly achievement. Since 2015, Nettles served as counselor and recently Assistant Director of the American Ballet Theater Summer Intensive. Nettles danced with Alabama Repertory Dance Theater, Dance Alabama! and Dance Collection. Precollegiate dance study includes training from Tina Trinkler, the Nutmeg Conservatory in Torrington, CT; and studies with Mira Popovich, Eleanor D’Antuono, Kirk Peterson, Moses Pendleton, and many more. Nettles enjoys teaching ballet, contemporary and jazz to children and youth; and has choreographed and scored competitive programs and television performances. Aidan Nettles is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. 


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Courtney Rich
Courtney Rich, a native of Bay St. Louis, MS, began her dance training in 1988. She studied classical ballet under the direction of Sharon Loiacano at the Coast Youth Ballet Academy for twelve years. During those years she became a Senior Company Member of the Coast Youth Ballet Ensemble and played the role of Clara in the company's production of "The Nutcracker" as well as several soloist pieces in their yearly productions. Courtney has taken dance courses all over the Southeast, including studying at the University of Southern Mississippi, Giacobe Academy of Dance, Ballet Magnificat and Mobile Ballet School. She has been awarded scholarships and studied at schools such as the Rock School in Pennsylvania, the Virginia Ballet School and the Joffrey Ballet in New York City. During her college years, her love for dance brought her back home. While obtaining a B.A. In Criminal Justice & Psychology she returned home to teach ballet at the Coast Youth Ballet Academy. She is now married to her husband John and has three children Cayler Ann, Beckam and Lawson. After teaching for numerous years in several dance schools on the Mississippi Gulf Coast she now resides in Tuscaloosa. She continued her dance education and received her Progressing Ballet Technique certification in 2018 and is very excited to begin her 14th year teaching Classical Ballet at The Dance Centre.


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Emily Bromberg
Emily Bromberg began her dance training at Rolann’s School of the Dance in Orlando, Florida when she was 2 1/2 years old and later, at Orlando Ballet. 
At 14 years old, Emily won a scholarship to Kirov Academy of Ballet (Universal Ballet), where she boarded and trained for their academic year and summer. Ms Bromberg completed her dance training at Boston Ballet School and danced with Boston Ballet’s corps de ballet for performances of Giselle, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.
While earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Rhode Island College, Emily danced principal roles with Festival Ballet Providence, under the direction of Mihailo Djuric. She later danced principal roles with Colorado Ballet. 
In 2010, Emily moved to Miami, where she spent the spent the past 11 years as a dancer with Miami City Ballet. She retired from the company this year, having earned the rank of Principal Soloist. During Miami’s off-seasons, Emily performed and trained dancers all over the world.  
During the pause In Miami City’s performances due to the pandemic, Ms Bromberg has discovered a new passion for teaching and is thrilled to help every new student she meets!
This year, Emily will be heading to Europe to dance with Ballet de Barcelona. When she’s not rehearsing her own roles, Emily will be teaching classes for Barcelona trainees and running company rehearsals. 


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Haley Winegarden
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Haley Winegarden is a dancer and choreographer who currently studies at The Juilliard School in New York City. She graduated high school from the Alabama School of Fine Arts in 2019 under the direction of Wes Chapman. She has attended several summer programs such as Ballet Magnificat!, Ballet Austin, American Ballet Theatre NYC, Richmond Ballet, and the Virtual American Ballet Theatre Collegiate Intensive. Haley has danced in 3 TCD performances of The Nutcracker. She performed roles such as Snow Queen, Dew Drop Fairy, and Arabian. Over the course of her career thus far Haley has performed work by choreographers such as Wes Chapman, Margi Cole, Hannah Kahn, Robert Battle, Nadine Barton, Mark Morris, George Balanchine, Ohad Naharin, James Whiteside, Sonya Tayeh, Donald McKayle, Amy Hall Garner, and others. Haley has also choreographed many of her own works that have been presented in Juilliard Student Choreography Workshops. Her piece “returning” choreographed in the fall of 2020 was invited to be presented in a virtual Sunday Matinee performance hosted by the Dance Theatre of Harlem in February 2021. This piece was also commissioned by Orlando Ballet II and was performed by their artists in May 2021. Haley has been recently selected to be one of 6 choreographers in her class to choreograph for Juilliard’s Choreographers and Composers performance in the fall. Haley is beyond excited to work with the dancers of Tuscaloosa Community Dancers. Tuscaloosa has always been a place that felt like home to her, and she is grateful for the chance to get to work with dancers in this city!


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Jamie Kilgore 
Jamie Kilgore Kilgore trained at the ASFA under Dame Sonia Arova, Thor Sutowski, and Therese Laeger, where she had the opportunity to work professionally with the Alabama Ballet. Simultaneously, she performed as a soloist with the Alabama Dance Theatre. She graduated with the Prix D’Excellence de Danse Award in 1998 and immediately joined the San Diego Ballet as a soloist. She returned to Birmingham in 2002, and obtained a degree in Social Work from UAB in 2005, where she developed a dance program for foster children. During this time, she also appeared as a guest artist for Birmingham Southern College, and Columbus Dance Theatre. Kilgore is currently ballet mistress and founding company member of Arova Contemporary Ballet, established in 2006. Since 2012, she has been a teacher in the Dance for Parkinsons program. Kilgore is Program Director for the ASFA Ballet Preparatory Academy, and adjunct faculty with the ASFA Dance Department. Jamie is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering.


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Jennifer Lauren Quarles
Jennifer Lauren is a native of Tuscaloosa, AL. At age three, she began her training at The Dance Centre, later with Royal Academy of Dance and the Alabama Ballet Pre-Apprentice Program. Lauren’s summers were spent attending American Ballet Theatre intensives. In 1998, at age 16, she joined the Alabama Ballet under the direction of Wes Chapman and Roger Van Fleteren. In her nine years under Chapman, she performed principal roles in numerous full-length classics including Giselle, Firebird, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Don Quixote and others, as well as many principal Balanchine roles.
In 2007, Lauren joined Miami City Ballet as a member of the Corps de Ballet and was promoted to Soloist in 2011. In 2014, she was named one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch.” During her tenure with MCB, Lauren has been featured in principal and soloist roles. In 2015, she was promoted to Principal Soloist and then to Principal in 2017.


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Mary Margaret Scalici
Mary Margaret Scalici is a skilled and versatile dance teacher and certified Pilates instructor who has both depth and breadth of experience. She has served as a member of the faculty for The Dance Foundation, the Alabama Ballet Center for Dance, the Alabama School of Fine Arts, the Alabama Dance Festival, Birmingham – Southern College, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. This summer marks the nineth year she has been on faculty for the American Ballet Theater Summer Intensive at the University of Alabama and Virtual Intensive. Her commitment to helping dancers understand the importance of injury prevention through cross-training with Pilates and how to access the full potential of ones body has allowed her to work with dancers of all ages and levels of experience. 
As a professional dancer Mary Margaret understands the value of cross-training for injury prevention and maintaining overall health and longevity in the field. Like so many dancers she suffered a dance-related injury and was referred to physical therapy for rehab. It was in physical therapy she was introduced to Pilates which has now become a critical component of her own routine and a method she shares professionally. In 2009 after years of study and teaching Mary Margaret became a certified Pilates teacher through the BASI Comprehensive Teacher Training program with a focus on Pilates for Dancers.
It is her passion to introduce young dancers to importance of preventing injury and the concept of cross-training and as a result has been successful at integrating Pilates in the curriculum for young dancers at both the Alabama Ballet Center for Dance and the Alabama School of Fine Arts. For most, injury is inevitable but it does not have to end a career or even side-line a dancer long term. Dancers that engage in cross training are stronger overall and able to recover faster than those that do not. 
Mary Margaret remains committed to the performance arts and has danced professionally with Southern Danceworks under the direction of Teri Weksler, where she has been a member since 1998. As well as Sans Pointe, which she joined in 2007. She has been a student of dance since a very young age and studied dance at both Point Park College and at the University of Alabama where she graduated with a BA and majored in dance.
In 2012 Mary Margaret started teaching Dance for Parkinson’s. Brought to Alabama in 2012 by Southern Danceworks, this class is based on a model developed by the Mark Morris Dance Group and Brooklyn Parkinson Group, and is taught and recognized internationally. In 2019 Southern Danceworks partnered with UAB Arts in Medicine to provide this class for the PD community.
In 2019 Mary Margaret was invited to teach for a collaborative study between the University of Alabama Birmingham and The Lakeshore Foundation entitled Movement to Music. This study tracks the benefits of rhythmic based movement for patients suffering from neurological and physical disabilities.  
Along with teaching Pilates and dance to a wide variety of students in the community, she also teaches Pilates at her home studio. 


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Alden Phillips
Alden Phillips was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where she grew up training at The Dance Centre, the Alabama Ballet, and performed with the Tuscaloosa Community Dancers starting at the age of 8.

As a young dancer, Alden toured with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular performing the role of "Clara". She was the 2012 Tuscaloosa County Distinguished Young Woman and was granted the Druid Arts Award for Dance Artist of 2013. Alden pursued her dance training at the State University of New York at Purchase where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Arts Management. At Purchase, she had the privilege to perform works by George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Kimberly Bartosik, Sarah Mettin, John Heginbotham, Jason Parsons, and Claire Porter among others. She was also selected to perform at New York Live Arts for two seasons with the Purchase Dance Company. While training at Purchase, she spent her summers participating in programs such as San Francisco Conservatory and Impulstanz International Dance Festival in Vienna, Austria. Professionally, she has danced with project-based company CBGDance in New York City and toured with Odyssey Dance Theater in Utah for their "Thriller" production.
She is currently a dance instructor at The Dance Centre where she teaches ballet, jazz, contemporary, and preschool classes. She has directed TCD's Nutcracker for three seasons, directed and choreographed TCD’s 2018 Spring Show, Benjamin Britten's “Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra” performed with the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, and TCD’s 2020 Spring Show, featuring excerpts from Cinderella, a premiere of her contemporary work, and a guest performance of George Balanchine's "Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux” from Miami City Ballet dancers. She is so excited to be a part of the 50th anniversary season with TCD! 
For more information, click here!
  • Home
  • Next Up
  • REGISTRATION
  • '21-'22 Company Members
  • About TCD
    • Artistic Staff
    • Board of Directors & Staff
    • TCD Contributors
    • Dance Community Members
    • University of Alabama Department of Theatre & Dance
  • Outreach
    • Boys and Girls Club
    • Science of Dance
  • Sponsorship Information
  • Contact us
  • Newsletters
  • Past Performance Photos
    • Nutcracker 2006
    • Nutcracker 2007
    • Spring Repertory 2006
    • Spring Repertory 2007
    • Nutcracker 2008
    • Nutcracker 2009
    • Spring Repertory 2009
    • Spring Repertory 2010
    • Nutcracker 2011
  • Nutcrackers Past