Company

Shoes At The Door Dance Company, Inc. Tampa, Florida

Danielle graduated with her BFA in Modern Dance Performance from the University of South Florida. Upon graduation she enjoyed spending a summer dancing in Paris with fellow USF students and alumni. Danielle is one of the original founders of Shoes At The Door Dance, Inc. In addition to enriching the Tampa dance community with her work with Shoes At The Door, Danielle enjoys supporting the USF Dance Department in her administrative role as Assistant to the Director. Danielle has assisted in developing a modern dance program at Jansen Dance Project and has performed with Bay Area Dance Company, at the Mosaic Dance Concerts, and at previous Four Days of Dance, NewGrounds, and Florida Dances. Danielle would like to thank her husband Jeff for all of his love and support.

Brooke grew up in Longwood, FL where she danced throughout her childhood. She has traveled around the country dancing and performed for several big names including the Backstreet Boys and Busta Rhymes. She even traveled to Paris to study dance abroad. In 2007, she graduated from the University of South Florida with a B.A. in Television Production and a minor in Dance. Currently she works for My TV Tampa Bay as a Creative Services Producer and is a founding member of Shoes At The Door. Brooke continues to pursue her dreams of dancing and performing for audiences everywhere.

Erica Lessner got into dance for the tutus. One sighting of that ring of perfection dancing around the stage and her four year old mind was made up: she would grow up to be a famous dancer. After several years of humbling experiences, Erica now resides in Tampa, FL. In 2007, she graduated from the University of South Florida with her BFA in Modern Dance Performance. While at USF she performed in reperatory such as Fokine's "Les Sylphides," Urban Bush Women's "Bitter Tongue," and worked with choreographers such as Jennifer Archibald, Michael Foley, and Lynne Wimmer. Erica now strives to be an active member of the Tampa Bay dance community; she is currently dancing with Moving Current Dance Collective and teaching for New Tampa Dance Theatre. Her choreography has been presented by USF's Student Dance Production, Mosaic Dance Concert, Mosaic Presents a Collective of Modern Dance, New Tampa Dance Theatre and Dance Theatre of Tampa. Erica is thrilled to be a part of Shoes at the Door Dance Company and eager to make new movement discoveries!

Jeff is the Technical Director for the company. He is a lighting and sound designer who has worked locally with Hat Trick Theatre, The Gorilla Theatre and the University of South Florida. He has designed for theatres from Maine to Key West, but his favorite design gigs are always dance concerts.

Photo by Jennie Petuch

Amanda Roa, dancer and dance educator in the Tampa Bay area, began her dance training in Cape Coral and Ft. Myers, FL at Robin Dawn Dance Academy and Dance Theater Academy. Roa was a dance major at the Cypress Lake High School Center for the Arts. In 2006 she received her B.A. in Dance Studies from the University of South Florida. During her time at USF, Roa studied under distinguished artists as Lynne Wimmer, Michael Foley, John Parks, Sandra Robinson, Jeanne Travers, Andy Noble, and Gretchen Ward Warren. Roa has performed at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts (formerly TBPAC) in Patel Conservatory faculty showcases, and choreographed and performed in the Mosaic concerts. Her jointly choreographed work from Mosaic was featured in the NewGrounds dance festival, Hillsborough Community College Four Days of Dance, and at the Maxwell C. King Center in Melbourne, FL. Roa has taught dance in various capacities at the Patel Conservatory with Patel Conservatory Youth Ballet, Arts Sampler summer camps, as well as classes for Patel Conservatory outreach partners including Metropolitan Ministries, Redlands Christian Migrant Association, and the Parkinson's group at USF.

Amanda Roa

Supporting Members:

Company Directors:

Company Dancers:

Laurel Frye

Laurel Frye grew up in Dade City, FL, where she studied at Blackwood Studios for 15 years. She resides in Tampa, FL. Laurel is currently pursuing her B.A. in International Finance at the University of South Florida, where she has also studied dance. This is Laurel's second season dancing with Shoes At The Door.

Sadie Lehmker

Sadie Lehmker recently graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in Dance with a focus in Dance History and Honors College Distinction. During her time at USF, Sadie was president of the USF Dance Education Organization and public relations chair of the USF Student Dance Production Board. She also had the privilege to study abroad and perform in Paris, France and Marseille, France. This life-changing experience launched Sadie into her last two years at USF, where she continued to study, choreograph, and perform. While at USF, she studied under such distinguished faculty as Lynne Wimmer, Michael Foley, John Parks, Sandra Robinson, Paula Nunez, Jeanne Travers, Dione Noble, and Gretchen Ward Warren, and worked with such guest artists as Angela Banchero-Kelleher and Christine Cali. Sadie was also privileged to be a part of the USF School of Theatre and Dance’s production of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s Serenade/The Proposition. Under the guidance of Leah Cox, Janet Wong and Bill T. Jones, Sadie learned and performed the role created for Asli Bulbul. Now, Sadie is excited to see where her future will take her. Currently, she is the Office Administrator at America’s Ballet School in Tampa, FL. Sadie is delighted to be working and dancing with all the artists of the growing Shoes at the Door Company.

University of South Florida’s School of Theatre & Dance

Jennie Petuch

Esophia Higgins

Jennifer Petuch trained in her home town of West Palm Beach, Florida, on scholarship, at the Academy of Ballet Florida for fourteen years. With thorough training in techniques of Ballet, Pointe, Pas de deux, Modern, Jazz, and Tap dancing, she was able to perform in professional ballet’s with the Company of Ballet Florida in pieces such as Marie Hales’ The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and Sleeping Beauty. With an emphasis of strong technical background in Ballet, the Graham and Ailey modern techniques were also prominent in her professional training. She graduated magna cum laude, from the University of South Florida achieving a Bachelor’s in Dance Studies with a focus in Modern Dance incorporating multimedia choreography on stage. At the University of South Florida, she danced in several faculty and student concerts including Gretchen Warrens’, Les Sylphides, and worked with guest choreographers such as Doug Varone. Jennifer participated in the USF Dance in Paris Program in the summer of 2010 working with well-respected choreographer from Mexico, Claudia Lavista. She also is a pre-professional photographer specializing in incorporating the beauty of nature and the art of dance into many successful compositions. Since having graduated last May she has since been rigorously teaching in the Tampa Bay area and joined Shoes at the Door last August.

Esophia Higgins is a dance performer and choreographer currently based in Tampa, FL. She is a native of LaBelle, FL where she danced her entire childhood. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a BFA degree in Modern Dance Performance. In her years there, she was awarded several reputable scholarships and had the honor of her choreography being showcased at the American College Dance Festival in Tallahassee, FL. During her training at USF, Esophia studied under prestigious faculty such as John Parks, Michael Foley, Lynne Wimmer, Jeanne Travers, Andee Scott, Andrew Carrol, Gretchen Ward Warren, Sandra Robinson, Carolina Garcia and Mariah Maloney. While at USF, she had the pleasure of performing the works of an array of prestigious choreographers such as Talley Beatty, Donald McKayle, Doug Varone, Angela Banchero-Kelleher. This is her first season with Shoes At the Door Company and she is excited about being a part of such an uplifting and powerfully talented family. As a performer, teacher, choreographer and student Esophia strives to explore and be a vessel as she continues on her perpetual journey of pouring the love of dance that God has placed in her heart back into the universe for all to experience.

Madeline Fitzpatrick

Madeline Fitzpatrick grew up in Clearwater, FL where she began her dance training at age 6. After receiving a Walker’s Rising Stars scholarship, she moved to Philadelphia, PA where she attended The University of the Arts. In 2011 Madeline graduated with a BFA in Modern Dance. She pursued the modern dance scene in Philadelphia by working with Philadelphia Dance Projects and performing in a number of works by Nicole Bindler, Megan Mazarick, and Gabrielle Revlock. Madeline has returned to her hometown where she teaches young dancers throughout Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. She is thrilled to be dancing with Shoes At The Door as a project based performed and looks forward to being a part of the Tampa Bay Area’s dance community.