Student Stories
Laura Brick- Class of 2010
Laura Brick-Kempski started her dance journey at the age of 3 in Miami, Fl. The bulk of her training happened in Tampa, Fl at Brandon School of Dance Arts and Howard W. Blake High School for The Performing Arts. Laura loved training in all different styles; ballet, modern, tap, jazz, hip-hop, really any genre she could be a part of. Her training at Blake High School opened her eyes to concert dance and allowed her to dive into the world of teaching and choreographing. Laura graduated from Blake High School in 2010. After graduating from Blake, Laura attended the University of Utah where she attained a BFA in Modern Dance and a minor in psychology. Her time at ‘The U’ shaped and prepared her for a very full career post college. She is and was so thankful to maintain her relationship with her instructors at Blake. She was privileged to set work and teach at Blake during her breaks at the University of Utah. While attending ‘The U’, Laura participated in numerous summer programs such as Northwest Dance Project’s LAUNCH, American Dance Festival, Hubbard Street, Alonzo King’s LINES, and Ballet West. She performed in the Modern Department’s Performing Dance Company from 2010 to 2014. In that time, she was privileged to perform in works created by Andrea Miller, Merce Cunningham, Twyla Tharp, Marc Bogaerts, Eric Handman, Shaun Boyle, and Sharee Lane. As a graduating senior, she was awarded “Outstanding Performer.” Her time at ‘The U’ provided opportunity to travel to Germany and Panama. She trained with the Berlin Sate Ballet School in Germany and taught dance to many different demographics in Panama. Post graduation, Laura was honored to perform at The Kennedy Center in Eric Handman’s work and able to help write a grant to bring to him to Blake High School to facilitate a residency and build a relationship between the high school and the university. Since that time, numerous students have been accepted and made the choice to study dance at The University of Utah. After graduating, Laura joined Odyssey Dance Theatre in Salt Lake City, UT. The company has provided her ample opportunity to perform, teach and choreograph. Odyssey has been an incredibly challenging and equally rewarding company. The company requires proficiency in ballet, jazz, tap, ballroom, hip-hop, modern, and acting. It’s been incredibly exciting to perform in Germany, Switzerland, and Tel Aviv. Touring Europe and the Middle East has definitely been a highlight of her career. While performing with the company, she has taught at several local studios, high schools, and universities. Laura has been adjunct faculty at Westminster College and Utah Valley University. She has choreographed several pieces for Odyssey Dance Theatre and Utah Valley University. Currently, she is an adjunct professor at Utah Valley University and a full time Company member with Odyssey Dance Theatre.
Jackson Kettell- Class of 2012
Jackson came to Blake High School as a transfer student from Pinellas County in 2010, and was welcomed into the Blake Dance Program with the opportunity to continue his dance education. While at Blake, Jackson was one of the few students that took part in the dual ballet program with the Patel Conservatory. He went to school in the morning at Blake High School and trained at the Patel Conservatory in the afternoons, allowing him to perform in both Blake’s dance programs and Patel’s programs. While at Blake, Jackson was given the opportunity to attend the National High School Dance Festival. At this event, he was offered over 20 professional contracts and college scholarships. He accepted a full scholarship from Jacksonville University, where he earned a BFA in Dance. At Jacksonville University, Jackson dove into college life and was given many opportunities to perform. He represented Jacksonville University in Shanghai, China and was a guest artist each year for local dance performances in the eastern United States. In 2017, Jackson accepted a position with the Ballet Theatre of Maryland as a Soloist, and in 2018 he was promoted to a Principal Dancer. In 2020, Jackson took a position with Ballet Virginia as one of their Company Members. Jackson attributes his success with the training, guidance and opportunities he received at Blake High School.
Watch Jackson dance with members of Ballet Virginia and listen to his interview in this episode of WHRO’s Curate by clicking here.
Hannah Fontaine Barr- Class of 2013
Hannah graduated from Blake High School in 2013, having studied in the dance department under Albena Arnaudova and Kelly Rayl, and received the Master Certification in Dance Award. She was a trainee with Next Generation Ballet and attended the Alvin Ailey BFA program with Fordham University on scholarship. Hannah continued her formal training at Houston Ballet Academy and Atlanta Ballet before being promoted to Atlanta Ballet’s second company. She went on to dance with Oklahoma City Ballet’s Studio Company, dancing works by Septime Webre, Helen Pickett, George Balanchine and Robert Mills. She was selected as the Studio Company Representative and toured with the main company as a studio company dancer. Hannah has also attended the summer programs of Orlando Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, the French Academie of Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and the International Ballet Master Classes in Prague. Hannah is the recipient of the Suffolk Signature Sponsorship and is gratefully looking forward to continuing representing their pointe shoe brand. She is also a two-time recipient of the SERBA (Southeast Regional Ballet Association) scholarship, was nominated for the Spotlight Award for Dance and has received American Ballet Theater Certification with Merit. Hannah has modeled for Paul Mitchell and Modern Luxury, and has appeared in the film Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and the TV series Love, Victor. Hannah is now a company dancer with American Contemporary Ballet in Los Angeles, California. She was selected to represent the company in their promotional material as well as to professionally manage their social media platforms. Hannah is extremely happy and grateful to be a company dancer with American Contemporary Ballet, an exciting, relevant, and visionary ballet company.
sasha alvarez - Class of 2013
Sasha Alvarez is originally from Tampa, FL and began dancing at the age of 6, starting her formal dance training at the age of 15 with Next Generation Ballet at the Patel Conservatory under the direction of Peter Stark and Ivonne Lemus. While in Tampa, FL Ms. Alvarez attended Howard W. Blake High School of the Arts where she trained with Albena Arnaudova and Kelly Rayl. During high school, Sasha performed and competed at various dance competitions regionally and nationally including NYCDA Outstanding Senior Dancer 1st Runner Up, The Dance Awards Senior 1st Runner Up, and Youth America Grand Prix Top 3 Semi Finals. After graduating high school Sasha attended Point Park University, led by Rubén Graciani, graduating with a BFA in 2017. Sasha continued her training at prestigious summer programs including Nederlands Dans Theatre, ABT, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Danza Italia and Miami City Ballet. She has performed works by prominent choreographers such as George Balanchine, Emery LeCrone, Septime Webre, Garfield Lemonius, Norbert De La Cruz, Bobbi Jean Smith, Ronin Koresh and James Gregg to name a few. In 2016, Sasha was invited by Ramona De Saa, director of the Cuban National Ballet School, to perform at the Cuban International Dance Festival in Havana, Cuba.
Professionally, Ms. Alvarez has danced with Helen Simoneau Danse at NYU Center for Ballet and Arts, Hammerstep NYC at Mana Contemporary Museum, and most recently joined Parsons Dance Company Fall of 2018 touring the USA and Italy performing various works by David Parsons, Paul Taylor, and Trey McIntyre. Sasha was also a featured dancer in a commercial for Italian designer Loro Piana's new shoe line, The Rare Walk that debuted in New York City's Meatpacking District. Alongside her love of dance Ms. Alvarez is a 200hr RYTT certified Power Vinyasa yoga teacher, cultivating her awareness and alignment of dance through her teaching. Sasha is actively teaching yoga and dance in the Tampa Bay area.
Philippli Jackson - Class of 2013
Philippli Jackson Jr is an African American Artist who started dancing in the third grade and continued his path throughout middle and high school which he chose to attend Howard W. Blake. Upon graduating from the Dance Program with the guidance of his teachers Albena Arnaudova, Kelly Rayl, and Amanda Richards, he also attended the Straz Center for Performing Arts. He focused on Contemporary Ballet and it guided him to Jacksonville University after attended he decided it was best to start professionally dancing. He has been with Tampa Modern Dance Company, Walt Disney World Castle Stage, and currently employed under Celebrity Cruiseline which he will be performing onboard the Inagural Celebrtiy Apex sailing 2020. In his free time he hopes to continue traveling as well as perform at events where he will present his music production. Not only an artist, Philippli is incredibly passionate and driven in any thing he does and will always present a quality that is majestic and warm in any performance.
Chelsea Caso- Class of 2015
Chelsea Caso was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. She grew up dancing at Karl & DiMarco and furthered her dance education by attending Blake High School. Chelsea also attended the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s summer intensives. Upon graduating high school, she moved to New York City where she was a part of Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester and was signed with the MSA talent agency. Chelsea has danced in the feature film The Greatest Showman, The Grammys, The Jonas Brothers’ music video, and more! She is currently living in Los Angeles continuing her dance career. She is so thankful that Blake was the stepping stone for her career that expanded her knowledge of what the dance world has to offer.
Adia Hollist - Class of 2016
Adia Hollist, a native of Tampa, Florida, began dancing at Artz 4 Life Academy at the age of 5 where she was introduced to African, Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet and many other styles of dance. Adia then began training in ballet under the direction of Paula Nunez while further developing her skills in African Dance, dancing with Jai Hinson’s Dundu Dole Urban African Ballet. Adia has also been a leading performer in their annual production of The Family Blessing for several years. While attending Orange Grove Middle Magnet School for the Arts and Blake High School, Adia was chosen to perform in Youth American Grand Prix’s Tampa Gala Night alongside many professionals from 2014-2019. While at Blake, she traveled with her class to New York each year to participate in American Ballet Theatre’s student certification, the Youth American Grand Prix Finals and to take classes throughout the city. As a senior at Blake, Adia choreographed her first piece, which fueled and inspired a love for choreography that has continued to grow. After graduating high school, she choreographed for many high school dance departments and local dance studios, and performed multiple shows with Tampa City Ballet as well. Adia is now studying dance at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Adia’s love for movement has no style boundaries. At the Boston Conservatory, Adia has performed leading roles in Mark Morris’s Gloria, Jose Limon’s The Choreographic Offering, and Bradley Shelver’s Tongues, along with many other brilliant pieces. Throughout college Adia has also broadened her style horizons by collaborating with many up-and-coming musicians.
Abbie Mel- Class of 2017
Abbie Mel has been training in dance for as long as she can remember. In addition to studio training and competitive dance, Ms. Mel had the opportunity to further her skills and experience under the direction of Albena Arnaudova and Kelly Rayl at Blake High School. Abbie began receiving professional opportunities in Los Angeles while still in high school, and is grateful that the Blake faculty and administration was able to guide her professionally and academically. She graduated with honors and now lives in California where she works as a professional dancer and actor. Abbie has worked with artists such as Justin Beiber, Nicki Minaj and Karol G, trained under some of the world’s best known choreographers, and performed on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. She is grateful to Blake High School and to the Dance Department for the incredible training and support she received.