Team Group: Teaching Artists

Sayer Mansfield has spent the past decade working as a full-time company dancer with Compagnie Marie Chouinard (Montreal, QC) and Pilobolus Dance Theater (New York, NY). Sayer holds a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She received her classical training from The Royal Academy of Dance, Boston Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet and continued her contemporary training abroad at Trinity Laban in London, UK, and The Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance in Austria. Sayer has been an adjunct faculty member and guest artist and choreographer at Jacob’s Pillow, Phillips Academy Andover and Roger Williams University. She is a 400hr RYT™ yoga teacher and has been teaching yoga, dance, and embodiment practices for over 14 years. Sayer works as a mentor and coach offering embodiment counsel and support on an individual basis. Through a lineage of incredible teachers, a lifelong devotion to studentship, and personal experience, Sayer has created a unique voice and vision in her approach to the embodiment of self-inquiry, healing, resilience, expansion, and artistic freedom. She now works independently and in collaboration as a performer, choreographer and teacher. Sayer has presented her work in New York City, Montreal, and The Berkshires. 

Maggie McRae began traditional dancing when she was 12 years old at Sierra Swing Dance Camp and Centrum’s Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. She was one of the organizers of the Brevard College Contra dance in 2010 and 2011. She began calling contra dancing in 2018 under the mentorship of Jon Greene. Maggie is on both the Lenox and Sheffield Contra Dance committees. Maggie has called in Poughkeepsie, NY, Lenox, MA, and Cornwall, VT among other dances. She also has a growing repertoire of family dances and has taught community dance/contra dance at Berkshire Pulse in Housatonic, MA, and at the Oldtone Roots Music Festival. Maggie also has a working knowledge of a variety of Scandinavian dances, a passion that began while she was living in Norway, which she has continued to nurture.

Crane Morehouse is a certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher.  She did her training outside of Boston in 2008 and excelled in the training.  She began teaching on a regular weekly basis in 2010.  She taught at a studio in Great Barrington for 11 years and at Kripalu Yoga Center.  She has also done workshops abroad.  During the pandemic, she continued teaching on Zoom.  Crane is a very enthusiastic teacher, devoted to this form of yoga that creates deep peace and happiness. 

Originally from Washington, D.C., Tara grew up studying ballet and theater. She earned her B.A. in theater and religious studies at Yale University, where she also began studying African dance. At this time Tara began exploring her heritage through African studies at Yale, and was awarded a fellowship to study traditional dance and drumming at the University of Legon in Ghana, West Africa. For the past 25 years, she has studied with many African and Afro-Caribbean artists in Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston. Her primary mentors have been Issa Coulibaly and Joh Camara of Mali; Youssouf Koumbassa of Guinea; Fatou N’Diaye and Astou Sagna of Senegal; and Jean Appolon of Haiti. Tara has taught at numerous studios, colleges and schools throughout MA, including Jacob’s Pillow, Smith College, Cape Cod Community College and many more. In addition to African dance, Tara has also practiced yoga and meditation since she was a child. Tara recognizes the practice of African dance and drumming as a tremendous force for healing, meditation, empowerment and community. It is her greatest honor to share the inspiration of these ancient traditions.

Raymon “Red Ink” Padro is an accomplished Hip Hop dancer hailing from Hartford, CT. His dance journey began in 2009 at the age of 8 when he joined the Kalligraphy dance crew. After learning about Litefeet in 2018 through YouTube, he had fully immersed himself in the art by 2021. Since 2022, he’s been a dynamic member of the Brooklyn Nets’ Team Hype and has also joined Bombsquad, an critically acclaimed Litefeet team. Passionate about the dance style, Raymon is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and experience with aspiring dancers, aiming to share the Litefeet community with the present and future generations.

Click here to see Raymon teaching Litefeet at Studio 860!

Jovanina Pagano (she/her) began her explorations in dance and movement as a competitive gymnast and subsequently as a gymnastics coach. She studied classical music performance in college and spent many years as a professional violist in New York City, during which time she continued her movement studies through the dedicated practice of Contact Improvisation, Afro-Haitian folkloric dance, Body-Mind Centering, and Iyengar Yoga. In 2002, Jovanina founded Bared Soles, a dance company dedicated to the creation of dance events and workshops for enthusiastic dancers of all ages and abilities.  She has shared her love of dance and yoga with New York City public and private schools, St. John the Divine, Heifetz International Music Institute, Jackson Hole Dancer’s Workshop, Key West Dance Company, Earthdance, Omega Teen Camp, and the NYC City-Wide Youth Opera. Jovanina is also a clinical social worker and therapist, working with adolescents and young adults in private practice. jovaninapagano.com

Madison Palffy is a performer, dance-maker, and multi-disciplinary artist based in western Massachusetts. She holds an MFA in Dance and Choreography with an emphasis in Somatics and Improvisation from University of Colorado, Boulder. Her work is driven by a sense of experimentation and artistic cross-pollinationand has taken the form of films, installations, and evening length performances. Her work has been shown at Studio 303 (Montreal), The Iron Factory (Philadelphia), Ponderosa (Germany), The School for Contemporary Dance and Thought (Northampton, MA), GreenSpace (NYC), AS220 (Providence, RI), The Dairy Arts Center (Boulder, CO), and throughout New England. As a collaborating artist, she has had the pleasure of performing in work by Anya Cloud, Wendy Woodson, Lailye Weidman, Katie Martin, Chris Aiken, Angie Hauser, Kathleen Hermesdorf, and Paul Matteson (among others). Other collaborations include movement direction for Sleater Kinney’s music video “High in the Grass”. As an educator, Madison has been on faculty at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts High School, Berkshire Pulse, School of Contemporary Dance & Thought, Northampton Center for the Arts, Block 1750, Ape Co Movement School, and The Spark Performing Arts Center. She was a graduate teaching assistant at University of Colorado Boulder and has been a guest teaching artist at Keene State College, Amherst College, Hampshire College, Moving Target Portland, Earthdance Workshop & Retreat Center, and the Williston Northampton School. She is currently an adjunct faculty member in the dance program at Keene State College and teaches at Berkshire Pulse and Loculus Studios.

Miriam Piilonen is a musician, dancer, writer, and professor of music theory at UMass Amherst. Miriam grew up in Blacksburg, VA where she was a member of the Hoorah Cloggers Appalachian dance troop. She holds a PhD in music theory from Northwestern University, an MS in human development from Virginia Tech, and a BM in composition from New England Conservatory.