Meet the Company

Blair Bresson - Artistic Director - Blair grew up in Chapel Hill and has been studying tap under the mentorship of Gene Medler since age 5. She danced with the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble for 9 years, traveling with the company to perform and take master classes. Blair took a short break from dancing while earning a degree from NC State University, before joining Footnotes in 2014. She works as a Graphic Designer and lives in Raleigh with her husband Joey and their oversized cat, Lenny.

Angelica Leigh - Artistic Director - Angelica is from Farmington Hills, MI and began studying tap, ballet, jazz, and hip hop at a very early age. At 10 years old it became clear that tap was her favorite and she began training under the tutelage of tap legend Robert Reed. Since then she has trained and taken master classes from tap legends all over the world including Bruce Bradley, Isaac Morgan, Diane Walker, Brill Barrett, and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards to name a few. After high school, she took a few years off from tap to pursue a B.A. in Finance from Michigan State University and to work in corporate America. But she reconnected with her love of tap, and joined Footnotes Tap Ensemble, after moving to Chapel Hill, N.C. to complete her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior at UNC-Chapel Hill. She graduated with her Ph.D. in May 2020, and is now a tenure-track professor of Management and Organizations at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

Erin O'Reilly - Artistic Director - Erin began her dance training in Canton, OH and has a minor in Dance from SUNY Fredonia where she studied tap, jazz, ballet and modern dance. She continued her ballet and jazz training at Indiana University where she received a minor in ballet along with her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics. After moving to Durham, NC in 1998 Erin studied tap with Gene Medler and became a founding member of Footnotes in 2002. She lives in Durham with her spouse, 2 children, rescued beagle, and bearded dragon. By day, Erin works as an independent medical writer.

Jennifer Barratt has been a member of FTE since Spring 2016, but put her first pair of tap shoes on long before that. Learning her first shuffle step at the age of 4 at Dance Spectrums in Lawrenceville, NJ, Jen continued dancing through grade school and college. At Ithaca College, Jen became the Chair of Performance and Tap Choreographer of the Unbound Dance Company while completing her Bachelor and Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. She has since taken master classes with tap greats Michelle Dorrance, Sarah Reich, Elizabeth Burke, and Derick Grant. In 2015, Jen moved to NC to start her career in rehabilitation. She is now an OT at Duke University Hospital working primarily on the oncology and hematology units. When she's not at work or tap dancing, Jen enjoys making pottery, hosting theme parties, and spending time with friends. She is grateful to be part of the Footnotes Family.

Christina Billman grew up in Raleigh, NC where she began dancing at age 5, with her tap journey starting later at age 11, and it quickly became her favorite style of dance. She was a competitive dancer at CC & Co. Dance Complex until she graduated high school in 2018, where she studied tap under Emily Shoemaker. Continuing her dance education in college, she received a B.S. in Dance Science from Elon University where she had the honor to continue her tap education under Gene Medler and Footnotes' own Whitney Goodman. Christina is now an Occupational Therapy Doctorate student at Duke University’s School of Medicine as well as a dance teacher at Wake Forest Academy of Fine Arts. Christina is excited to be a new member of Footnotes and to be back on stage doing her favorite thing!

Laura Brandt grew up in Gainesville, FL where she started taking tap, jazz, and ballet at Pofahl Studios at the age of 5. Tap quickly became her favorite, and she continued with it for many years before taking some time off for her education. After receiving a BS and MS in Chemistry, she moved around a lot, trying different kinds of dance in the different places she lived, including salsa, clogging, and contra, but she kept coming back to tap. She finally settled down in the triangle in 2018, working as a web developer, and after coming out of the pandemic started studying tap at the Ballet School of Chapel Hill. She joined Footnotes in fall of 2023 and is excited to be performing with such a great group of dancers.

Jackson Diodati Jackson is from Lawrence, MA, and he began dancing at the age of 8. Although he was taking classes of different dance styles- including jazz, ballet, modern, etc- Jackson always knew that tap was his favorite style. After a few years he joined Aaron Tolson’s youth tap company “Speaking in Taps” and was fortunate enough to learn and take classes from not just Aaron but also Derick Grant, Chloe Arnold, Sarah Reich, and many more. Later in high school, Jackson had the incredible opportunity to compete and win a silver medal at the IDO World Tap Championships. Jackson recently finished his undergraduate education at UMass Amherst, and is now a Physics PhD student at Duke University. He is beyond thrilled to be working and performing with the Footnotes Ensemble!

Becca Gargiulo grew up dancing at DanceArt Studio and Enloe Magnet High School where she studied a wide variety of styles. She continued her dance training in college, graduating in May 2022 with her BFA in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University. Becca has participated in many additional training opportunities, including ones via Commercial Dance Intensive, OM grown dancers, Bates Dance Festival, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She is also a certified teacher of the Elemental Body Alignment System, developed by Scott Putman. Becca returned home to North Carolina in 2022 and joined Footnotes, and now works as the Marketing and Audience Services Associate at the American Dance Festival.

Whitney Goodman grew up with a love of dance. Under the mentorship of Gene Medler, she joined the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble, performed nationally and abroad for ten years, and was fortunate enough to take classes from master dancers including Diane Walker, Sam Weber, Ted Levy, and Michelle Dorrance. Whitney has worked as a sea turtle researcher, special education teacher, and now works as a physical therapist. She also teaches tap at Elon University where she can share her passion for rhythm tap with developing performers. Whitney joined Footnotes in 2007, directed the company from 2013-2017, and absolutely loves performing for local communities and with her fellow Footnotes dancers!

Margo Greenwald grew up in Roanoke, VA and began her dance journey at the age of 3 at Divine Dance Center. After spending years as a competitive dancer, she went off to Elon University to earn her BS in Biochemistry while continuing to explore her love of dance in the classroom, where she had the honor of deepening her long-time love of tap dance under the teaching of Gene Medler. Margo now works as a floral designer in Durham and is thrilled to be a part of Footnotes so that she can continue to do the thing she loves most!

Casey Hall Casey grew up dancing in Rhode Island, where she fell in love with tap! She graduated from Bridgewater State University in 2017 with degrees in both Elementary Education and Math, later earning her Master’s Degree in STEM Leadership. Post-college Casey was a teacher in the public school system in MA for 7 years working as both a Second Grade Teacher and a STEAM Specialist. She danced and choreographed with Danceworks Boston for 10 seasons, trained and performed with Fourth Dimension Tap Company, taught dance classes at several studios and hosted pop-up tap workshops around Boston. In moving to NC in the summer of 2024, she opened a dance studio in Chapel Hill called Studio Move, which she owns and operates. Outside of dance Casey loves spending time with her husband and their puppy Mushroom, and she is thrilled to find Footnotes and have another group to tap with!

Tania Hunt Tania has maintained a lifelong love of tap dance. Originally from Huntington Beach, CA, she began dancing at the age of 5. In high school, she was on the competition team of Huntington Academy of Dance and was routinely top ranked on the regional and national level. She was active in children's and community theatre and attended a high school for the performing arts. Her regional theater credits include South Pacific, 42nd Street, Into the Woods, and Baby. Her educational pursuits took her up and down the state of California to ultimately earn a doctorate of veterinary medicine. All the while, she found teachers and studios in all parts of the state that would help foster her passion for tap. When her career brought her to North Carolina, one of the first things she did was to get involved with the dance community here in the Triangle. She is thrilled to be dancing and performing with Footnotes.

Whitney Lanier is from Cary, NC and began studying tap, ballet and jazz at an early age. She continued her dancing at East Carolina University where she received her BFA in Dance Education. Whitney became the 2009 recipient of the East Carolina University Outstanding Senior Award in the area of Dance Education. She continues to share her passion for dance as a teacher at Premier School of Dance and joined Footnotes in September 2010.

Mallory Loflin grew up in suburban Chicago and began dancing at age 3. After taking ballet, jazz, and tap classes as a child, she realized that tap was her passion. She was placed in advanced classes at age 10 and chosen as a tap soloist for a performance at age 11. In high school and college she took a break from tap in order to pursue unique opportunities, such as performing at Walt Disney World and in the 2011 Orange Bowl halftime show. After graduating from George Mason University with a major in Biology and a minor in dance, she moved to North Carolina. Through participating in adult tap classes in Durham and Chapel Hill, she rediscovered her passion for tap. Currently she works as a production scientist in Raleigh. When she isn’t working or tapping, she likes to craft and complete jigsaw puzzles. She joined Footnotes in 2023 and is delighted to be able to perform and share her love of tap with others.

Amanda Lupacchino Amanda Lupacchino is a performer, director, choreographer and educator from New York City. Amanda grew up studying all genres of dance and started training in tap at the age of 7. She has toured North America with Sesame Street LIVE!, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood LIVE!, Angelina Ballerina and Annie! Her regional theater credits include: The Prom, A Chorus Line, Hairspray, Memphis, Cabaret, Grease, West Side Story, South Pacific, Saturday Night Fever, Mamma Mia and All Shook Up. Amanda received her Bachelors of Science in Liberal Arts from The New School with a concentration in Creative Arts Therapy. She is ecstatic to join Footnotes Tap Ensemble! www.amandaleighlupacchino.com

Crystal Murcia aspired to be a dancer from a young age, dreaming of becoming a Rockette like her first tap instructor as a child in upstate New York. After an extended hiatus to pursue degrees in engineering and genetics, Crystal returned to tap primarily through community arts education programs. The diverse and dynamic instructors she had the privilege to learn from reinvigorated her life-long love of tap and instilled a strong belief in the power of arts education at any age and at any stage. Crystal relocated to North Carolina in 2015 and was delighted to find a new dance home with Footnotes in 2020.

Kat O'Melia began her tap dance journey in 2012 at the Ballet School of Chapel Hill. Shortly after, she joined the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble under the direction of Gene Medler. She began teaching at age 17 and has been teaching ever since. She went on to attend Oberlin College and Conservatory graduating in May of 2023 with a BA in Biology and Geosciences and a minor in Environmental Studies. She currently teaches tap at Ninth Street Dance and Three House Studios in Durham. When Kat is not tap dancing she can be found volunteering with Eyes Ears Nose and Paws service dog organization, watching women’s soccer or rock climbing with friends.

Shuyi Oei started learning to tap dance on Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was extremely lucky to have the incredible Gene Medler as her first teacher. She became obsessed with tap, moved to North Carolina in 2023 (not for tap!), and joined Footnotes shortly after. Shuyi tolerated 10 terrible years of ballet classes growing up and is also an erstwhile martial artist and avid (current) swing and Vernacular Jazz dancer. When not tapping, Shuyi can be found teaching law school classes and also dancing Lindy Hop and Balboa around the Triangle.

Julia Pleasants grew up in Amherst, VA, where she started taking dance lessons at age 6. She owes her deep love of tap to Terri Layne at TERRIfic Time Dance Studio, with whom she spent twelve years dancing competitively and embracing sequins, "happy hair," and (most importantly) smiles. After spearheading the effort to start a dance program at her university, she learned about the non-sequiny side of dance from the incomparable Jenefer Davies. Julia has a Master's degree in Cultural and Creative Industries, and after five years running year-round studios of American Dance Festival in Durham, she is currently working for the Department of Romance Studies at Duke University.

Gabby Ponzini grew up in Wayne, NJ where she began studying tap under the mentorship of Gloria Frances. She was a competitive dancer for over 10 years prior to attending Skidmore College, where she graduated with a minor in dance. Gabby joined the footnotes in 2023 after a brief hiatus from tap dancing while she received her PhD in clinical psychology at West Virginia University. Gabby currently lives in Durham with her two cats Riot and Barlow and works as a Clinical Psychologist at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Shanti Ramsingh Shanti Ramsingh started her tap journey in Davidson, NC at the age of 5, studying under Pam Janas. Tap quickly became her favorite dance style, and after moving to Austin, TX at 13, she continued her training at a local studio where she was a founding member of their competitive tap program. After graduating high school, she became the competitive tap company director at that same studio while also continuing her own tap studies under Acia Gray. Shanti relocated to Raleigh for her first post-grad job after graduating with her environmental engineering degree from UT Austin. She is excited to be part of a passionate and talented community where she can continue sharing her love for tap with others!

Kaitlyn Roosje is from Longmont, Colorado where she started studying tap, ballet, jazz, and modern dance at a young age. In 2015, she moved to North Carolina and continued dancing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Kaitlyn graduated from UNCG with degrees in Dance and Geographic Information Science and a minor in American Sign Language. She now works as a Geographic Technologist and lives in Cary, NC. She joined Footnotes in 2021 and is excited to be working with such a talented group of tappers and to explore her tap dancing passion once again.

Mimi Benjamin - Footnotes Co-founder - graduated from Brandeis University in 1982 with a degree in Theater Arts. She began a career in Musical Theater in NYC with credits including Up In Central Park (Off-Broadway) and the National tour of Fiddler on the Roof. In 1987 she returned to school and received a MD degree in 1991. Mimi moved to Juneau, Alaska in 2010 to work for the Indian Health Service as a family physician. She continues to teach tap dance and performs with the Perserverance Theater in Douglas, Alaska. In 2012, Mimi performed with "Chicks with Chairs", who won "First Place Marching Group" in the 4th of July Juneau Parade and was featured briefly on an episode of Coastguard Alaska. None of it takes the place of dancing regularly with Footnotes Tap Ensemble, the most fantastic group of dancers in the world.

Robin Vail - Footnotes Co-founder - received her training in jazz, tap and ballet in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She holds an undergraduate degree in Theatre Arts from UCLA and a minor in Music. In Los Angeles Robin studied with Jim Taylor and Jamie Pisano, and has studied with Gene Medler since 1995. Robin teaches tap, ballet and jazz at The Ballet School of Chapel Hill where she is a partner and the School's administrator. In 2009 her work was selected for the Choreographer's showcase as part of the NC Dance Alliance's Annual Event in Winston-Salem. She is the North Carolina Representative for the International Tap Association and is on the NCYTE board.