Andrè Robles (he/him/his) is a dancer/choreographer, and educator based in Albany, NY. He has danced
for the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company, Dresden SemperOper Ballet (Germany), Metropolitan Opera
Ballet, Teatro Colon, Ulster Dance Company, and Ajkun Ballet Theatre. His training began in NYC at
Westside Dance Project and was further developed through the School of American Ballet, Joffrey Ballet
School, San Francisco Ballet School, and The Ailey School. Andre is on the faculty at Skidmore College
and many local dance schools in the Capital Region. Andre holds degrees from American University,
Empire State University, and Queensborough Community College. He hails from Brooklyn, New York.
Archives: Team Members
Team Members
Abigail Rollins
Abigail (Abi) Rollins is an arts executive and nonprofit leader with nearly 20 years of experience
in the nonprofit performing arts sector. Her track record as a strategic thinker, creative problem-
solver, and “Jane of all trades” administrator, has enabled her to successfully manage and grow
small, founder-led arts companies into professional mid-size organizations.
Abi is originally from Athens, Ohio, where she began her dance training at an early age. She
went on to study Dance and Psychology for her undergraduate studies at Kenyon College and
earned a Master of Arts Administration degree from Boston University in 2010.
Abi moved to the Berkshires in the fall of 2019 to join Berkshire Opera Festival as Executive
Director and was elected President of the Board of Directors in 2023. Abi has been fortunate to
have worked, interned, or volunteered with many wonderful organizations throughout her career
including, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Boston
Ballet, Trisha Brown Dance Company, and Danspace Project.
Abi was first introduced to Berkshire Pulse when she started taking community classes there in
2023 following a nearly 15-year hiatus from dancing. She was immediately struck by the warmth
and encouragement she received from her teacher and the other intergenerational students in
the class which has inspired her to resume her dance journey. She is thrilled to be joining the
team at Pulse and for the opportunity to apply her skills and experience as their first Executive
Director.
Katelyn Sanchez
Katelyn A. Sanchez is an artist drawn to narrative and how it can contextualize and illustrate where we are in time and place. She explores this in archiving, dance-making, teaching, performing, reading, researching, and collaborating.
In the last year, Sanchez moved to MA to begin working as a project archivist at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, presented a solo at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, co-produced and presented work in the second installment of Show ‘n Tell, a performing arts series, crafted audio descriptions for dance concerts and taught at The Wooden Floor in Santa Ana and Dancemark Studio in Lomita, CA.
Some highlights from the last few years include working closely with John Heginbotham as a rehearsal assistant at The Wooden Floor for his pieces, Boss and Nova, graduating from San José State University with a Master’s in Library and Information Science, performing in alexx shilling’s film rendition of Nothing There There (Topography), and co-choreographing a 30-minute music film for Jane Free Music which went on to be awarded Best Short Dance Film by San Francisco Arthouse Short Festival.
In 2018, Sanchez graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a BFA in Dance and a BA in English Literature.
Olivia Sblendorio
Olivia Sblendorio spent her toddler years making up her own dances in her mom’s Broadway dressing rooms. After dancing through NYC, performing her way through Vassar College, flailing her way through Dell’Arte Int’l School of Physical Theatre’s Professional Training Program, and trapezing her way through Ringling Bros. Circus, Olivia settled into the Vaudeville life, performing one-woman shows in Fringe Festivals, streets, and hospitals across the world, teaching circus, and joining amazing physical theatre and dance ensembles across the country. Outside of the performing arts, she is certified in feminine leadership, and brings that work to her teachings of embodied intuition, somatic empowerment, as well as family and small business budgeting. Eight years into being a Berkshire resident, Olivia is thrilled to be teaching and performing more in her new home town.
Fiona Scruggs
Born in Tübingen, Germany, Fiona Scruggs is a dancer, choreographer, researcher, educator, and writer. Fiona is an American Ballet Theatre Certified Teacher (Pre-Primary-Level 5) and received her classical ballet and contemporary training at Radford University with Inessa Plekhanova, Aleksey Plekhanov, and Deborah McLaughlin, Salzburg International Ballet Academy with Ildiko Pongor and Amelia Wanderlingh, Next Generation Ballet, Louisville Ballet, and Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts with Donna Carver. She has performed lead and ensemble roles from ballets including The Nutcracker, Chopiniana, and Don Quixote, musicals including Oklahoma! and Anything Goes, and numerous contemporary and modern works.
Fiona’s choreography has been presented at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (MA), 5×5 Dance Festival (CT), The Foundry (MA), Bard College at Simon’s Rock (MA), Chesterwood (MA), Choreography on the Edge (NY), Wandering Dance Festival (MA), Salzburg International Ballet Academy Gala (Austria), and Radford University (VA). She is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer of Qualia Dance Collective,
the Director of Communications & Marketing at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, and a contributing dance writer for The Berkshire Edge. Formerly, she was a Teaching Artist Fellow through the Massachusetts Cultural Council Creative Youth Development program, the School Programs Coordinator at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and has modeled for fashion designer Samantha Pleet. Fiona received a bachelor’s degree in dance education, summa cum laude, from Radford University.
Rick Shrum
Rick Shrum has been drumming since age 3 when his dad (also a drummer) gave him his first drumsticks and began teaching him classical percussion. Rick played in school orchestras, concert stage bands, drum and bugle ensembles, percussion ensembles, and rock bands. He credits Arthur Hull, from Santa Cruz, as his primary teacher of African drumming. He began studying Afro-Cuban drumming in his 20s and has been playing and teaching this art for the last 30 years. In the 90s Rick played for Dance Kinetics (now called Yoga Dance) at Kripalu. Having been a Waldorf teacher for almost 20 years, Rick has taught drumming to all of his classes incorporating rhythm into the learning process. He has played for Afro-Caribbean dance classes at the Berkshire Pulse for the last six years. Rick has led drum circles at Mountainside drug alcohol rehab center. Having a Masters degree in neurobiology Rick has been a registered nurse from 2010 to present.
Michael Siktberg
As an arts educator, Michael has taught for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer DARTS program at Tanglewood, The Flying Cloud Institute, The New York Kids Club, Falls Village Children’s Theatre, and the Soundry Music Studio. As an actor he has walked and talked on many stages (Sharon Playhouse, Stages St. Louis, Bucks County Playhouse, The Ogunquit Theatre, Theatre by the Sea, Cumberland County Playhouse, Yorktown Stage, as well as touring companies with Chamber Theater Productions and American Family Theatre) and is a member of Actors Equity. Originally from the Hudson Valley NY, Michael received his training at the American Music and Dramatic Academy, The Simon Studio, and has coached with director Richard Sabellico. He is also on the staff at Dewey Memorial Hall, where he frequently produces and hosts events. Michael lives in Sheffield with his wife Ruby and their three cats.
Noel Staples-Freeman
Noel Staples- Freeman was born and raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts. She currently
resides in Pittsfield, MA. Graduating from Emerson College in 1987 with a B.S. in
Children’s Theatre/Performing Arts and Dance, Noel’s career spans over five decades,
primarily focused on teaching and performing in the Boston and Lowell Public Schools,
locally and internationally.
Her dance journey began at age 11 at The Billie Pope School of Dance in Roxbury,
followed by training at renowned institutions such as The Boston Conservatory of
Music, The Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts, The Art of Black Dance and Music, and the
Koumpo West African Dance Company.
Throughout her career, Noel has achieved numerous milestones, including
performances during Nelson Mandela’s visit to Boston in 1990, participation in Dance
Africa at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and appearances at Jacob’s Pillow. Notably,
she received the 1995 Commonwealth Award of Massachusetts as a member of the Art
of Black Dance and Music directed by DeAma Battle and performed in Senegal, West
Africa, at the Sorano Theatre for the President of Senegal as part of the Koumpo West
African Dance Company directed by Ibrahima Camara.
Noel is also recognized for her support and contributions to Aashka Dance School in
Hyde Park, MA, receiving the Commonwealth Award in 2016 and a Certificate of
Recognition from the City of Boston in 2023. As the Founder and Director of Uprising
Dance Theatre since 1983, she leads an intergenerational group focusing on traditional
and contemporary dance, music, and theatre from the African Diaspora. The group
offers community classes, lecture demonstrations, and Kwanzaa celebrations
throughout New England.
In recent years, Noel has expanded her involvement in community work, as a member of
Common Good Co-operative Urban Farm founded by Kafi Dixon and participated as a
panelist for “From Racism to Covid-19: Black Women in Community & Ongoing Public
Health Crises” at Harvard Medical School in 2022.
In 2023, she graduated from the inaugural Community Health Workers Engaging in
Integrated Care (COHERE) program at Tufts University School of Medicine, further
integrating her passion for dance with holistic healthcare practices.
Diana Steele
Diana Steele is a lover of the arts who is passionate about making things run smoothly. Her professional background is in office logistics and workplace dynamics. Most recently she worked in the Human Resources department at The New York Times. She left that role to move to the Berkshires where she rediscovered her love of theater, especially Shakespeare. She has starred in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Cherry Orchard, Julius Caesar, and The Winter’s Tale.
Diana graduated from Wesleyan University in 2014 with a BA in Economics and East Asian Studies, where she was a member of the varsity squash team. When she is not at work, she enjoys taking long walks with her dog, playing Dungeons & Dragons, and curling up with a good book.
Brianne Szymanski
Brianne Szymanski specializes in dances of the Vintage Swing Era including Lindy Hop, Charleston, St. Louis Shag, Collegiate Shag, and American Vernacular Solo Jazz. Brianne has offered class series and workshops in these forms at The Ohio State University, Ohio University, and other communities for the past nine years. Previously, she was a Ballet instructor with the Toledo Ballet Association and other venues in Ohio and Michigan, teaching students varying in age (3 to adult) and skill (Creative Movement to Advanced Company classes). Brianne also performed with the Toledo Ballet’s Company for six years with a repertoire that includes various roles in The Nutcracker, Giselle, Peter Pan, and numerous original productions. She continued her dance training at The Ohio State University, and at the graduate level at Ohio University. Brianne is credited as an accomplished competitor, placing frequently in local and regional Lindy Hop and Jazz competitions with improvised and choreographed work. Presently, Brianne performs as a freelance dancer and instructor. She also serves as the Community Engagement Programs Manager at Jacob’s Pillow.