WHO WE ARE
At Flux Flow Dance we believe all dancing bodies are beautiful. We are a queer led space that promotes body positivity, agency, and playfulness in every class. We see every member of the community as an artist and encourage people connect with movement and their bodies in the way that feels right for them as individuals. There is a beautiful supportive community at Flux Flow ready to welcome you. Whether you are getting back into movement or have never taken movement class before, there is something at Flux + Flow for you!
Russell Lepley
CO-FOUNDER + CO-CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Fili Pelacchi
CO-FOUNDER + CO-CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Fili (they/them) and Russell (he/him) are queer dance artists who co-founded Flux + Flow Dance and Movement Center in 2017 to create an inclusive, joyful space for dance. This space—and the community that has grown around it—is an extension of their values which are grounded in the conviction that all dancing bodies are beautiful regardless of age, race, size, gender expression, and dis/ability. Russell and Fili see every member of their community as an artist and they take great care in assisting them to connect with movement and their bodies in the way that feels right for them as individuals.
Fili (from Florence, Italy) and Russell (Columbus native) each had international dance careers spanning a decade before meeting one another in a contemporary dance company in Munich, Germany. Their personal and artistic connection motivated them to found FluxFlow Dance Project in Columbus. In addition to sharing their love of dance through teaching, they create dance theater performances in collaboration with local artists and members of the Flux + Flow Dance Center community.
MEET OUR TEAM
Kelly Hurlburt
CONTEMPORARY LAB
Kelly began her training in a small town academy in Ohio. She then received her B.F.A in Dance at The Ohio State University, with a special focus in Alternative Medicine and Movement Therapies. Currently, she has roots as an artist, teacher and performer in Columbus, Ohio where she can be found as an instructor at BalletMet and Flux + Flow, creating or coproducing new work or facilitating contemporary and improvisational dance in the community. She is the co-director of SeaBus, a dance company based in Columbus that explores the intersection of contemporary and improvisation. Throughout her career, she has performed in the work of Bebe Miller, Susan Van Pelt Petry, Rami Be’er, Mats Ek and Noa Zuk. Kelly spent half a year training and performing in Israel. She also danced and collaborated in, "The Dancing Hills of Jutland," a dance film set in the natural landscapes of Denmark; directed by Ann Sofie Clemmensen and while abroad in Denmark, as well as while performing on tour in China, she assisted in leading many workshops and master classes. She advocates and supports dance in the Columbus Community as a founding member of Columbus Dance Alliance. Most recently she has expanded her role at Flux + Flow Dance & Movement Center by joining FluxFlow Dance Project as performing artist and administrative staff. Her interests in holistic health and alternative medicine deeply influence her dancing and teaching style, allowing her to focus on creating safe, mindful and wholesome experiences for movers and makers; both novice and experienced.
Leiland Charles
BALLET
Leiland was born in Baltimore, Md. He first stepped into a dance studio at the age of three with The Howard County Ballet in Ellicott City, Md. under the direction of Kathi Ferguson. Throughout his training, he attended summer dance programs at The Rock School for Dance Education and Springboard Danse Montréal. Leiland furthered his artistic training at The Juilliard School where he received his BFA in spring 2014. While at Juilliard, he performed works by Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Alexander Ekman and many others. He has gone on tour with Juilliard Dance to Edinburgh, Scotland to perform in the International Festival and was featured in the March 2013 issue of Dance Teacher Magazine with world-renowned anatomy professor, Irene Dowd. Upon graduation, Mr. Charles joined Alberta Ballet in Calgary, Canada, dancing numerous soloist and principal roles including the Cavalier in Edmund Stripe’s The Nutcracker and Benvolio in Jean Grand-Maître’s Romeo & Juliet. After three seasons with Alberta Ballet, Mr. Charles joined BalletMet in 2017. Some of his favorite works with BalletMet include William Forsythe’s Slingerland Pas De Deux, George Balanchine’s Rubies, and the solo male part in Justin Peck’s In Creases. Leiland is currently in his third season with BalletMet.
Mara Frazier
BALLET
Mara Frazier has taught dance for 25 years in a wide range of settings including BalletMet Dance Academy, SpectorDance, and the American Academy of Ballet; Catholic University, Ohio State University's Department of Dance, and Dance Place. At Flux + Flow, Mara enjoys teaching ballet, contemporary, and youth creative dance and is passionate about dance’s capacity to build connection to self and others. Her early days of ‘living room dancing’ now inspire her youth creative and contemporary teaching with the core belief that young people thrive when they can share their ideas and practice skills in community. Mara began her training in Buffalo, New York at age 8 with David DeMarie and Maris Battaglia. She also studied at the Virginia School of the Arts and BalletMet Dance Academy, and was a trainee with Pick of the Crop Dance and Music. Mara holds a BFA in Performance and MFA in Directing from OSU Dance. She also performed professionally with Carla and Company, Fran Spector, and Natalie Marrone. Mara is Assistant Professor and Curator of Dance in the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute at The Ohio State University Libraries, where she supports creative activity, teaching, and research with dance archives. She enjoys bringing new life to dances from the past and has collaborated with OSU Dance and BalletMet 2 to stage works by Graham, Sokolow, and Knust and recently worked with OSU Dance and the George Balanchine Foundation to recover and record a lost section of Balanchine’s Agon.
Candice Igeleke
DANCE VIBES + EXPLORATION
Candice Igeleke, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, with creative passions that intersect education, yoga, dance and various art mediums has been living in Columbus, Ohio for 7 years. Candice, the CEO of Candice Flows LLC, began dancing as early as 5, immersed herself into acting in high school, and completed her 200 hour yoga certification with Raw Yoga 614 in 2021. Her dance repertoire includes the genres of Traditional West African, Hip Hop, Contemporary modern, HBCU style dance, and African Diaspora inspired movement, thus making her movements flow inside eclectic choreography that truly displays her love for a diverse array of dance. With this, Candice is forever a student and an educator who welcomes any opportunity to grow, move, and learn so she can teach with strong technique and an unleashed energy to lift her students and audiences to soar with her. Additionally, she has a strong foundation in early childhood education, serving in schools and in her community contributing to the village it takes to raise the child. She has studied under Gamal Brown (Onyx Production) and Thiossane West African Dance Institute, a graduate of the Lincoln Theater Incubation Program, part of the inaugural cohort of Emerging Black Dance Choreographers sponsored by Cleveland based dance company Mojuba! and most recently, she participated in The Ohio State University Department of Dance as a guest assistant choreographer with a work entitled, A Mother’s Walk (2021).
Jeffery Clark
TAP
Jeffrey Clark Jr. is a tap dancer living in Columbus, Ohio. After studying various forms of dance while growing up and attending tap festivals and classes across the country, Jeffrey joined Tapestry Dance Company performing in national and international venues under the direction of Acia Gray and Matt Shields. Since then, he has spent time in Seattle, Washington, learning and helping to produce dance workshops like the Dianne Walker Experience, attending tap jams, and teaching classes at VAM Studios under the direction of Veronica and Mark Mendonca. Jeffrey is continuing his studies, attending classes and tap festivals around the country and in Columbus, and cultivating his own classes. He is deepening his improvisational practice by immersing himself in his local jazz community and considering his lineage and relationship to jazz and tap dance. Most recently, Jeffrey performed in Michael Love’s (RHY)PISTEMOLOGY! (OR, TO KNOW THROUGH THE RHYTHM) at Lewis center for the arts at Princeton. Jeffrey is passionate about dancing for joy and creating a safe and enjoyable environment for learning and performance.
Alicia Hann
MODERN TECHNIQUE + DANCING MINDFULNESS
Alicia is a dance educator, performer, and choreographer based out of Columbus, OH. Alicia began her dance training in early childhood focusing heavily on the study of ballet. She later pursued a study of modern dance at Ohio University where she received a BFA in Modern Dance Performance and Choreography. Alicia fell in love with modern/contemporary dance and its’ endless possibilities for creative physical expression. Alicia is a Dancing Mindfulness Facilitator, certified through The Institute for Creative Mindfulness. Alicia has had the privilege of facilitating Dancing Mindfulness experiences in therapeutic, classroom and community settings. She also teaches modern, contemporary, and ballet technique classes to students ranging from ages 3 to 76 in various studio settings throughout Columbus. Alicia is currently performing with Hixon Dance Company and serving as their rehearsal director. She is also freelancing choreographic projects throughout the Midwest. Alicia has worked with various choreographers from around the country. Notably, Miki Orihari, principal dancer from the Martha Graham Company in a reconstruction of Graham’s early works ‘Heretic’. She has also worked with Kelsey Bartman of Texture Contemporary Ballet in Pittsburgh, Hannah Williamson of Mutual Dance Theater in Cincinnati, MADCO based out of St. Louis, Columbus Modern Dance Company, and Alexandra Bodnarchuk of ABDP who is currently creating work in Minneapolis. Alicia’s hope is to pass along the ability to tap into an inherent joy of moving and self-discovery. She hopes to be able to foster an appreciation of dance as a physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual pursuit.
Abby Dorn
YOGA
Abby Dorn has been teaching yoga fulltime for the past 14 years. She completed 500 hour certification with BeYoga/Ishta Yoga in New York City in 2002. In 2003, she completed a prenatalyoga training with Carrie Parker Gastelu, and in 2004 she became certified to teach Itsy Bitsy Yoga TM for babies and toddlers. Over the years, she has been influenced by many teachers including Mark Whitwell, Alan Finger, Leslie Kaminoff, Erich Schiffman, Ana Forrest, Lois Nesbitt, and Krishna Das. She is eternally grateful to all of her teachers (especially her children and her yoga students!) who share their yoga and help to guide her on the journey. Abby believes there is a yoga practice for everyone, and she specializes in adapting the practice to the needs of the student(s). She loves working with all ages, levels of experience and physical abilities, and regularly teaches prenatal, yoga for babies, toddlers and kids, beginners, yoga for cancer, chair yoga, and slow flow. Abby’s approach is a blend of hatha and vinyasayoga and is inspired by the needs of each unique class. She simultaneously nurtures and challenges her students with a steady, mindful, breath led practice that incorporates detailed alignment instruction, flowing sequences and many options for personal adaptation. Abby sees yoga as a practice of active gratitude for the life we are given; as full body, mind, spirit participation in the movement of the life force through us; and ultimately as an experience of the divinity within ourselves.
Cherelle Brown
RHYTHM + RELEASE
Bio Coming Soon
Brianna Smith
TAP
Brianna Smith is a tap dancer, educator, and choreographer based in Columbus, Ohio. Growing up in Toledo, Ohio, Brianna started her choreographic endeavors at the age of 15, and was a member of the Detroit Tap Repertory, a pre-professional tap dance company based in Detroit, Michigan. Throughout her career, Brianna has undertaken tap dance training at various tap festivals across the U.S. and has taught at various dance studios in Northwest Ohio, Central Ohio, and Southeast Michigan. In 2018, Brianna competed in the IDO World Tap Dance Championships in Riesa, Germany. As a dance educator and choreographer with 10 years of experience, Brianna deeply enjoys cultivating an inclusive creative space that welcomes dancers to build confidence and love for dance. In Columbus, Brianna actively performs with local jazz musicians, serves as a dance instructor and mentor to local youth, and continues multidisciplinary dance training as a member of the Artisan Dance Collective. As Brianna continues her artistic learning journey, she is passionate about further immersing herself in percussive instrumentation and her ancestral connection to tap dance.
Elyse Kassa
STUDIO MANAGER + STRETCHING & CONDITIONING + CONTEMPORARY
Elyse Kassa is a multidisciplinary movement artist based in Columbus, Ohio. Originally from New England, Elyse moved to Ohio to obtain a B.F.A. in Dance: Performance & Choreography from Ohio University. Elyse’s solo and collaborative work has been selected for performance at Blockfort Gallery, Synergy Dance Series, Columbus City Dance Showcase, Cleveland Dance Festival, and the East-Central ACDA Gala Concert. Elyse is deeply passionate about uplifting her dance community– both locally and globally. She has traveled internationally to train at the b12 festival in Berlin, Germany, with help from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. She serves as the Studio Manager and a teaching staff member at Flux Flow Dance Center, volunteers as an administrative assistant for Columbus Community Dance Class, and holds a Leadership role within Columbus Dance Alliance. As a choreographer, performer, and educator, Elyse is invested in process, research, and keeping it light. She loves making people laugh.
Christopher Layton
DIPS + GROOVES
Christopher Layton is a 27 year-old Creative Movement Artist/Choreographer/Performer born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He is continuing to nurture his education in the styles of Jazz, Vogue, Contemporary, Modern, and styles within the Hip-Hop diaspora. His professional career as a performance artist started 2015 dancing and training with local non-profit arts organization Transit Arts as a member of the Transit Arts Hip Hop Dance Crew. He transitioned into being a company member of local adult dance crew Tru Kingdom Mega Crew in 2018 and was appointed Head Captain/Assistant Choreographer/ Assistant Administrator by late 2019. During that time, through partnerships and collaborations, he became a principal dancer and company member of Xclaim Dance Company. Now, as an independent artist, he is a 2x Greater Columbus Arts Council Fund for Artists Grant recipient, fellow of the Lincoln Theatre’s Expand Your Horizons Artist Incubation Program 2024 cohort, and inaugural fellow of The Ohio State University’s first annual H.A.T.CH (Holistic Approach to Transformative Choreography) Incubation Program curated by the Department of Dance Chair Charles O. Anderson in collaboration with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.
Erica Alvarado
BALLLET
Erica Alvarado was born in Tucson, Arizona, and began her dance training at Ballet Arts in Tucson under the direction of Mary Beth Cabana, where she attended many prestigious summer intensives. After graduating from high school, she joined Ballet Tucson and worked closely with ballet masters Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner from American Ballet Theater, where they selected Alvarado to perform leading roles in many Antony Tudor ballets. In 2011 Erica, joined City Ballet of San Diego as a principal dancer. At City Ballet, she performed principal roles in The Firebird, Carmen, Giselle, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, as well as principal roles in the George Balanchine works Square Dance, Who Cares, La Source, Donizetti Variations, Allegro Brillante, Serenade, Tarantella, Walpurgisnacht, Concerto Barocco, Apollo, Tschaikovsky Pas de deux, The Four Temperaments and Agon. In 2017, Alvarado joined Atlanta Ballet where she performed Kitri, The Sugar Plum Fairy, The Snow Queen, and other leading roles in Helgi Tómasson’s 7 for Eight, Stanton Welch’s Tu Tu and More, Craig Davidson’s Remembrance Hereafter, Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine, as well as in Scarlett's world premiere of Catch. Alvarado joined Ballet Met in 2022, and has performed the Sugar Plum Fairy, Dorothy in Edwaard Liang’s Dorothy and the Prince of Oz, as well as many featured roles in ballets by Liang, Ma Cong, Twyla Tharp, Justin Peck and Ulysses Dove to name a few. Alvarado has been teaching students and professionals of all ages since 2011.
Caitlin Valentine
BALLET
Caitlin Valentine began her training in New Jersey before joining Orlando Ballet at age 16, led by Fernando Bujones. She later danced at Colorado Ballet as a soloist. Throughout her career, Caitlin has performed not only soloist roles, but also numerous principal roles including Kitri in Don Quixote, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Giselle in Giselle, Dorothy in Dorothy and the Prince of Oz, Cinderella in Cinderella, Daisy in The Great Gatsby, The Survivor in Light/The Holocaust and Humanity Project, Lise in La Fille mal gardée, Tinkerbell in Peter Pan, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Guinevere in Camelot. She has been featured in contemporary works by Edwaard Liang, Val Caniparoli, Matthew Neenan, Dwight Rhoden, Amy Siewert, and Christopher Wheeldon and has enjoyed performing lead roles in George Balanchine’s Rubies, Serenade, Square Dance, Who Cares?, Allegro Brillante, Theme and Variations and Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free. Caitlin’s awards and honors include a Bronze Medal at the New York International Ballet Competition in 2003, Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2005, and a Jury Award recipient at the USA International Ballet Competition in 2006.