Rachael Coad grew up in Northern Virginia where she started dancing at two years old and never looked back. She trained at the Virginia School of the Arts through high school and
received her BFA in Ballet and Modern Dance with Honors from Texas Christian University in 2011. Her summer studies included Ballet Austin, Ballet Magnificat!, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Ad Deum Dance Company, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. She danced professionally throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex with Epiphany DanceArts, wild goose chase dance, and Zion Dance Project. Her extensive teaching experience in DFW included many studios and school programs, most notably the Texas Ballet Theater. She was thrilled to return to the DMV area in 2018 and now lives in DC with her husband and two young daughters. She performs locally with The Lions Den and Aru Dell’Arte and also had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of a residency at The Kennedy Center’s new REACH space with Printz Dance Project (based out of San Francisco). She stays busy moving and grooving with all her students at The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, Joy of Motion Dance Center, and The Washington Ballet School’sDance DC program in the public schools. She is thrilled to add UpRooted Dance to her repertoire and dance family and can’t wait for our May show at Glen Echo Park! 
Julianna Raimondo is a DMV-based dancer, choreographer, educator, and marketer. She graduated from James Madison University (’20) magna cum laude, receiving her B.A. in Dance with a minor in theater. During her undergraduate career, Julianna was a member of the Virginia Repertory Dance Company, performing and teaching in studios and schools throughout VA. She currently dances with DC based contemporary/modern companies including GRIDLOCK Dance, The Ramdance Movement, and UpRooted Dance. Julianna teaches all genres of dance and choreographs for the competitive team at The Newman Dance Center in Annapolis, MD and is also a guest artist for Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Julianna presented choreography in both the 2021 and 2022 Richmond Dance Festivals. Most recently, she and co-choreographer Chloe Conway presented new work in the 2022 Coalescence Showing and were also selected as choreographers for NACHMO 2023. Administratively, Julianna serves as the Communications Manager for Dance Metro DC and also works with Dance Place as their Communications Assistant. She is ecstatic to continue laying down roots in the DMV dance community, and is always reaching for opportunities to connect and share art, whether that be through education, administration, performance, or creation.
Yvonne Faith Russell started her dance journey at Green Hills School of Dance in Nashville, TN. At 10 years old, she began her formal training at Nashville Ballet and continued her education at The University of Alabama, where she graduated summa cum laude with a major in dance and a double minor in English and creative writing. She manages two careers in publishing and performing arts and is the author of A Word to the Wise: Lessons I Learned at 22 and Mature & Complete: A Devotional Journal for Healing, Value, and Satisfaction in Christ. Yvonne Faith has worked both in front of and behind the camera, producing and performing in various dance films as well as music videos. In 2018, she was awarded “Best Performance” in the Dance Alabama Film Festival by an internationally acclaimed group of judges. Yvonne Faith has performed with Shackled Feet Dance, The Ramdance Movement, Aru Dell’Arte, Janusphere Dance Company, and others in her professional journey. She currently works as a freelance artist, performing both concert and film-based work in the DMV area.
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Carrie Monger (Co-Artistic Director) received a minor in dance from James Madison University and a Master’s Degree in Counseling from William and Mary. She began dancing professionally in the Metro DC area with Jane Franklin Dance in 2001. Since then, she has performed works by a variety of choreographers including David Dorfman, Israeli choreographer Amir Kolben, Ursula Payne and Vincent Thomas. Carrie was a founding member of Bosmadance and performed with Daniel Burkholder/The Playground. She performed in Geneva, Switzerland and Judson Church with choreographer Kelly Bond. She has choreographed and collaborated with a variety of other companies and visual artists in the area. She currently works as a Movement Artist in Residence at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital.
Luisa Lynch (she/they) is a queer mixed-race dance artist and educator based in Silver Spring, MD. In her work, practice, and life, Luisa reimagines dance through reclamation of the body, and aims to highlight intersectionalities of all identities and selves. Luisa graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance (2021) from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield. During her time at UArts, Luisa performed and collaborated in works by Douglas Becker, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Curt Haworth, Marguerite Hemmings, Annie Rigney, Katie Swords Thurman, and Emily Wexler. Luisa became a certified Level 1 Franklin Method Educator under the direction of Eric Franklin and Shannon Murphy (2022). Since entering the DMV dance community, she has worked with modern dance companies Heart Stück Bernie and Uprooted Dance. Her first professional work, Halo-Halo: Mixed-Mixed is an in-process evening length performance that has had sections premiere at Rhizome DC, as well as Dance Exchange and Atlas Performing Arts Center as a part of NACHMO DC 2024. Luisa is currently a teacher, manager, and the Director of Operations at Bethesda Dance Center in Bethesda, MD. She is grateful to the DMV dance community for welcoming her with open arms.
Sophie Witmer, JMU Alumna, is thrilled to dance with UpRooted. She graduated in the class of 2020, achieving a BA in Dance in her hometown of Harrisonburg, VA. As a senior, she Co-Directed JMU's Associate Dance Ensemble and was a member of Virginia Repertory Dance Company. Her choreography was featured for student and mainstage dance concerts, Studio Theatre plays, and earned her a research grant in 2019. During her time at JMU, she had the privilege of learning works by Doug Varone, Kyle Abraham, Danceworks Chicago, Stephanie Liapis, Christopher K Morgan, and many more. She utilizes her Teaching Licensure in Dance Education by pouring into her students as a full-time Dance Educator, teaching all ages in Jazz, Ballet, and Contemporary. Sophie currently lives in the DMV and is excited to continue collaborating with local artists.
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Stacey Yvonne Claytor is the proud Founder and CEO of C4 Performing Arts in Fairfax, VA and Artistic Director of the newly formed Claytor Company, a professional dance company under the C4 umbrella. Stacey is a passionate and dedicated performing artist, arts educator and arts advocate whose work has carried her from classrooms to great performance venues around the world. Stacey studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater and Dance from James Madison University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from The George Washington University. Stacey is very happy to be working with her college bud Keira Hart and performing in this exciting project, with the incredible Uprooted dancers, that celebrates the artistic legacy of Hilma af Klint.
PREVIOUS UPROOTED COMPANY MEMBERS
DC Metro Area: Kristin Hatleberg, Rachael Appold, Kathryn Harris Banks, Stefanie Quinones Bass, Amanda Blythe, Caroline Barna, Ashayla Byrd, Chloe Conway, Lilia Browning Cohen, Amelia Cox, Jaedra DiGiammarino, Amie Doughty, Heather Doyle, Katie Sopoci Drake, Kate Folsom, Sarah Hamang, Michelle Hayes, Sara Herrera, Pirjo Garby, Sarah Gosselin, Raeanna Grey, April Gruber, Mary Lane, Brittney Leasure, Pinling Lin, Ashlee McKinnon, Mariel Procter, Althea Skinner, Alison Talvacchio, Jennifer Rivers, Lori Yuill
Charlottesville, VA: Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, Lori Jablonski, Rachael Shaw, Kelly Silliman, Jessie Laurita-Spanglet, Dayle Todeshini, Aaron Wine.
DC Metro Area: Kristin Hatleberg, Rachael Appold, Kathryn Harris Banks, Stefanie Quinones Bass, Amanda Blythe, Caroline Barna, Ashayla Byrd, Chloe Conway, Lilia Browning Cohen, Amelia Cox, Jaedra DiGiammarino, Amie Doughty, Heather Doyle, Katie Sopoci Drake, Kate Folsom, Sarah Hamang, Michelle Hayes, Sara Herrera, Pirjo Garby, Sarah Gosselin, Raeanna Grey, April Gruber, Mary Lane, Brittney Leasure, Pinling Lin, Ashlee McKinnon, Mariel Procter, Althea Skinner, Alison Talvacchio, Jennifer Rivers, Lori Yuill
Charlottesville, VA: Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, Lori Jablonski, Rachael Shaw, Kelly Silliman, Jessie Laurita-Spanglet, Dayle Todeshini, Aaron Wine.