2026 Fall Convention Faculty 

 

Patrick Lavallee​

Patrick is a dynamic and versatile performer and educator, known for his wide-ranging skills

across various artistic disciplines. With a passion for both performing and teaching, he brings a

unique blend of creativity, dedication, and experience to every project and classroom he engages

with.

Currently serving as a business representative for Actors Equity Association in the New York

City office. His extensive career spans across stage, film, and education. On stage, Patrick has

showcased his talents in various Broadway national touring productions such as 'Billy Elliot the

Musical,' Twyla Tharp’s 'Movin’ Out,' and '42ND Street.’ His regional repertoire includes

standout performances in 'Chicago,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'Bullets Over Broadway,' 'Anything

Goes,' 'Singin’ in the Rain,' 'West Side Story,' 'South Pacific,' 'Spamalot,' 'The Producers,' and

more.

Patrick's talent has been recognized through performances at the Orb Theatre in Tokyo, Japan,

Vibra São Paulo in Brazil, and in North America at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.,

Radio City Music Hall, and New York City Center. Additionally, he has showcased his talents

aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and has collaborated with The JaM Project and Broadway

Dance Lab in New York City.

His on-screen presence includes a featured role in the Coen Brothers' film 'Hail, Caesar!'

alongside Channing Tatum, and appearances on 'Saturday Night Live' and 'The Tonight Show

with Jimmy Fallon.' In music videos for Keith Urban's 'Never Coming Down' and Donaher's 'No

Other Dude.' Noteworthy commercial credits include work for MediaCom, Budweiser, and

CNN.

Academically, Patrick holds a Bachelor's degree in Performing Arts from Oklahoma City

University, with additional training at Point Park University. As an educator, he has

choreographed and led master classes at various conventions, competitions, and studios, while

also serving on the faculty of esteemed institutions such as The American Musical and Dramatic

Academy.

 

Ann Cooley

Ann is an award winning director, choreographer and movement artist whose work reaches global

audiences across multiple storytelling mediums, dance being her foundation and first love. Delighted to

be teaching as a guest artist, inspiring dancers and helping the next generation of professionals cultivate skills

to triumph in class, auditions and professional settings.

Ms. Cooley is a Former Radio City Rockette: 14 Years as Associate, Event Direction & Coordination / Line

Captain / Swing. Radio City Music Hall, Nationwide. Rockette Experience and Intensives in professional

training. Original faculty. Utilizing multiple examples of precision and synchronized movement and styles

drawing upon the traditional to the contemporary. Students apply their own physical energies in dissecting

short length pieces of movement. Fundamentals of teamwork and awareness of kinetic energies developed.

Advanced classes focus on longer selections with emphasis on development for professional auditions.

Direction Choreography Movement- Theatrical Highlights, Musicals: Victor/ Victoria (National

Tour), Grand Hotel (Shanghai Mandarin translation),The Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Today Show,

National Appearances, Rockettes), The Will Rogers Follies (National Tour, Arrow Rock Lyceum), Christmas

In The Air Rand Prod.@MGM’s (Borgatta, Beau Rivage and Inaugural National Tours), The

Producers (Hilton Head), Peter Pan & Little Shop of Horrors (Theatre By The Sea), Bee Hive (Arrow

Rock), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Off Broadway), Singin’ In the Rain & 42nd

Street (Seoul Opera, Korean translations), R-Family Cruises w/ the Best of Broadway, OKLAHOMA!, Beauty

and the Beast, White Christmas, Damn Yankees (Regional), The Menhattans (Carnegie Hall & Lincoln

Center). Creative Associate Supervising Pre-production: The Producers (National Tour), Gypsy, Forum, WR

Follies (Sacramento Music Circus, Pioneer Salt Lake), How To Succeed & Cabaret (Encores, LA), Annie Get

Your Gun (Goodspeed Opera, award winner), Ragtime (Kennedy Center, Broadway), Chicago (Flat

Rock), Shine On at Radio City (Good Housekeeping), Chix 6! Plays: Gordon Penn’s Into the

Zone (Columbia@Signature, Mandarin translation Shanghai’s New Space), Protest (Cherry Lane, award), The

Masque of the Red Death (Players, award), USO, Leading Ladies, A Comedy of Errors (Fight Direction). The

Meth in Method, John Patrick Shanley’s The Big Funk, Guardian, (Nylon Fusion), Cowboy Cut (T.

Schreiber), Disarm (Columbia@Shapiro), Kill Hamlet (Columbia @Signature), The Glitch (A.R.T’s Gural

Theatre, NYC) The Arsonists, Fairy Tale Project, Lysistrata (TPAC CUNY). Original devised: Baby

Steps (Prop 8 response), My Man (Nuyorican Poets), UPS Logistics Net Commercial Pop Ups (Chicago

Landmarks), The Future Freaks Me Out (CUNY).

New Plays: The Glitch ART space in NYC.

Current: Working with a neurodiverse comunity in collaboration. New Workshop ‘A Ray of Sun’ To be

filmed, in 2026.

 

Oren Korenblum

Oren Korenblum is an international, NYC-based, award-winning choreographer,

performer, tap dancer, dance educator, influencer, and the founder of the Oren

Korenblum Dance Company in New York City.

He is a Bloch Educator/Influencer and the first male tap dancer to represent the Bloch

brand.

Oren has been in show business for over two decades, performing, choreographing,

and teaching around the world.

He is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York

City. He also trained as a tap and jazz instructor through the International Dance

Teachers Association (IDTA) and studied ballet with the Royal Academy of Dance

(RAD).

In 2022, Oren received the Outstanding Choreography Carbonell Award for Come Out!

Come Out! The New Musical at The Foundry in Florida.

His choreography credits include Important Bridegroom (Off-Broadway), Anything

Goes, Milk and Honey, Cinderella, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the

Forum, Hairspray, One More Yesterday (original production), and many more. He has

also choreographed for NBC’s Red Nose Day, Town Hall NYC, dance competitions and

conventions, music videos, schools, and other platforms.

Oren has performed in Off-Broadway shows including Sugar (Spats Palazzo), My

Princess Diana (Ensemble), and Broadway by the Yearconcerts. He has appeared in

numerous regional productions of classic musicals such as 42nd Street, Mary

Poppins, Cats, Oklahoma!, Singin’ in the Rain, Spamalot, The Music Man, A Chorus

Line, and many more.

He toured across the U.S., Mexico, Colombia, and Israel with The Aluminum

Show dance company and has performed internationally in commercials, television, and

dance shows.

As a dance educator, Oren has taught nationally and internationally for over 20 years,

working with students of all ages, styles, and levels.

He served as director and choreographer for AMDA’s High School Program and

currently teaches at Steps on Broadway, Broadway Dance Center, and AMDA College.

Learn more at www.orenkorenblum.com @taporen on IG and TikTok

​

Megan Drabant

Megan Drabant (Detroit, MI), graduated with an MFA Dance Science from Trinity Laban

Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, England, with her thesis research

focusing on the effects of fatigue on tap dancers. Previously, Megan received a BFA in

Dance from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She performed professionally with the

Michigan Dance Project, directed by Kathy King; Detroit Tap Repertory, directed by

Denise Caston-Clark; M.A.D.D. Rhythms, directed by Bril Barrett; Chicago Human Rhythm

Project’s BAM!, directed by Lane Alexander; and CoCoDaCo Mezzo Company, directed

by Ronn Stewart. She has choreographed for the feature film Needlestick, written and

directed by Detroit-based film writer Steven Karageanes, and has written articles for the

hyperlocal dance portal site, Dance Panorama. In September 2012, Megan was featured

in Dance Magazine for initiating a tap course at Wayne State University. Megan is a

certified STOTT Pilates instructor, PTA Global Personal trainer, AFAA Group Fitness

instructor, and a Gray Institute 3DMAPS and CAFS certified coach. She is a regional

judge for Triple S Dance Competition, and is on faculty with Dancewerks Regional and

National Werkshops- leading sessions in Pilates, contemporary, tap, and dance science.

​

Laurena Barros

Laurena Barros (AEA, AGVA) had the privilege of dancing as a Radio City Rockette, on the

Great Stage at the world famous Radio City Music Hall and on tour nationally (Fox Theater,

Grand Ole Opry House, Grand Palace Theater, The Milwaukee Theater). She has toured

extensively as a musical theater performer throughout the US and abroad, on land with Annie

Get Your Gun and on the sea with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Regional credits include:

 

Paper Mill Playhouse, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, North Carolina Theater, Theater-by-the-

Sea, Downtown Cabaret Theater, and the Fireside Theater. Laurena has taught multiple styles

 

of dance and theater all over the NY metropolitan area. Currently, she serves as the Academic

Department Director in Theatre Dance at AMDA College of the Performing Arts in NYC. As a

choreographer, her work includes: Critically acclaimed Unseen at the Barrow Group in NYC and

the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival; the 25th Anniversary Los Angeles and New York premiers

of the film Dirty Dancing; Molded at Bearnstow Artist Retreat in ME; Children of Eden at

Stagedoor Manor in NY; multiple dance projects for AMDA NY, American Dance Training Camp

in VT, and Horace Mann School in NY. Laurena earned an MFA in Dance from Montclair State

University.

​

Gretchen Kyte

Gretchen began her dance training at the age of three at the Noretta Dunworth School of Dance. Growing up

in the competitive dance circuit, she earned scholarships to train with prestigious institutions and master

teachers, including Gus Giordano, The Joffrey Ballet, and EDGE Performing Arts Center.

Gretchen earned her B.F.A. in Dance with a concentration in ballet from Point Park University while

simultaneously landing her first professional job—as a Radio City Rockette. She went on to perform with the

Rockettes for 12 years. Her career also includes performances on national television such as The Today Show,

international tours like The Magic of Rick Thomas in Korea, and dancing on the Road to Vegas tour with

Collective Soul, celebrating the 100th birthday of Las Vegas.

During her time living and performing in Las Vegas, Gretchen worked in numerous productions, industrials,

and live events. She has had the honor of working with renowned choreographers such as Mia Michaels, Randy

Duncan, Ray Leeper, and Kenny Ortega, and has performed on stages around the world in film, television, and

theatrical productions.

As a teacher and choreographer, Gretchen has taught at studios across the country, including for the famed

Abby Lee Dance Company. She met her husband while working as the dance captain on a cruise ship, later

becoming the production show director. After an exciting eight years in Las Vegas, they returned to Michigan

to raise their family.

Today, Gretchen continues to share her love for the arts through teaching, performance mindset coaching, and

her portrait photography business, Gretchen Noelle Photography where she specializes in fine art images of

dancers.

She is thrilled to return to Dance Masters this weekend - 30 years after being the proud titleholder of "Miss

Dance of Michigan 1996"!

​