ELLEN SINOPOLI
Artistic Director
ELLEN SINOPOLI founded the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company (ESDC) in 1991, after settling in the Capital Region from Boston and NYC. Under her direction, ESDC has become one of the premier dance companies in Upstate NY. The Company employs a steady roster of professional modern dancers to bring dance to traditional and non-traditional venues. ESDC dancers are a muse for Sinopoli’s creative process and are applauded for their consistent excellence and artistry, their movement imaginings, and deep professionalism. Ellen Sinopoli and her dancers have created over 100 new works with her many artistic collaborations and projects serving as a conduit to bring together talented artists (both regional and national) from varied genres that include visual artists, sculptors, architects, composers and musicians, poets and storytellers, videographers, photographers and physicists.
Beyond her role as Artistic Director and choreographer, Ellen is also noted for her talents as a master teacher and for her efforts to educate young people about dance. She was Coordinator of Dance Programming at Russell Sage College for 25 years until her retirement in 2020. She has taught at Siena College, Skidmore College, Union College, Albany Berkshire Ballet, Saratoga City Ballet and Guilderland Ballet, among others.
Ellen and ESDC were featured in the March 2019 issue of HERLIFE Magazine. In 2016, Ellen was one of thirteen women featured in the Time Union’s Women@Work magazine highlighting women in the arts. Ellen has appeared on “Schenectady Today”, WAMC’s Roundtable and WMHT’s Local Artist interviews for PBS’ Fall Arts Festival, WMHT’s “Our Town Troy”, WMHT’s AHA series and pre concert interviews on the Sanctuary for Independent Media’s radio station 105.3 FM. In 2002, she received the “Educator of Excellence” award from WTEN, an affiliate of ABC. She was one of the 100 “Women of Excellence” honored by the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2000 and was a recipient of the 2000 Arts Awards from the Albany/ Schenectady League of Arts in the Capital Region of NYS.
EMILY GUNTER
Associate Director
EMILY GUNTER holds her BA in Dance and Classics from Skidmore College. Her training includes working with the dance companies of Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, Stephen Petronio, and Doug Varone, plus Skidmore Faculty Mary Harney, Debra J. Fernandez, and Erika Pujič. Since 2019, Emily has presented original choreography inspired by Greek and Roman mythology at The Egg in Albany; the Tang Teaching Museum in Saratoga Springs; Choreography on the Edge in Kingston & Hudson; and the Hellenikon Idyllion in Selianitika, Greece. In 2024, she was awarded the Brightheart Fellowship by the Paideia Institute, where she visited archaeological sites in the Greek Peloponnese to build choreographic source material for a new solo work. She was a 2025 New York State Choreographers Initiative award winner, a funding opportunity administered by The New York State DanceForce and the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). For Regional Dance America/Northeast 2026 Festival, she was selected as the Emerging Choreographer for Saratoga Springs Youth Ballet. Emily is originally from Hartford, CT and is an avid tap dancer. She is an Assistant Lecturer of Dance at Skidmore College and an instructor at Art in Motion Dance Academy, and is an Arts in Education Coordinator for ESDC. Emily joined the company in 2020.
LIV BUTOWSKY
LIV BUTOWSKY is an artist and educator researching the communal and private natures of embodied creativity and performance. Rooted in Troy NY and the Hudson Valley, her training has spanned the spectrum of classical, contemporary, somatic, and folk dance across the northeastern US and internationally. Liv has presented work at The Tank, O+ Festival, and PS21 Chatham, worked on film and theatrical productions at the Experimental Media & Performing Arts Center, choreographed for Dirt Picture Studio’s forthcoming documentary With The Meltwaters, So Too We Go, and is a NYS Choreographers Initiative awardee. She has written poems for various publications and performed across the country with the National Poetry Slam. Liv is an adjunct faculty member in the Skidmore Documentary Studies Department and joined ESDC in 2024.
KAITLYN COMBS
KAITLYN COMBS is an alumnus of the Hartt School, where she graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance Performance and a Minor in Psychology. There, she worked with several esteemed choreographers such as Hope Boykin, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Pascal Rioult, and Tamisha Guy, as well as Hartt faculty members Katie Stevinson-Nollet and Stephen Pier. She also performed various modern works, including José Limón’s Suite From a Choreographic Offering and Miki Orihara’s premiere arrangement of Martha Graham’s Canticle for Innocent Comedians. Kaitlyn even performed Martha Graham’s Primitive Mysteries at The Joyce Theater. She is originally from Maineville, OH, where she studied at the Ballet Tech of Ohio under Claudia Barrett and Ka-Ron Brown Lehman and danced in numerous Cincinnati Ballet productions as a child. In 2019, her move to the east coast began at the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory. Kaitlyn joined the company in 2024.
KYRA PAULSEN
KYRA PAULSEN, raised in the Capital Region, began her dance journey at local studios. She showcased her young talent performing with the New York City Ballet at SPAC, The Great Russian Nutcracker by Moscow Ballet at The Palace Theater, and ESDC’s own Egg Kids Project. Transitioning to New York City at fourteen, she trained at the Joffrey Ballet School and graduated from the Jazz & Contemporary Trainee Program under the direction of Angelica Stiskin and Michael Waldrop. In collaboration with Joffrey, she graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Music, Dance & Theater from New Jersey City University. Kyra has worked with esteemed artists such as Yin Yue, Yoshito Sakuraba, Jason Luks, Adrian Lee, and Michael Peña. She has even performed in New York Fashion Week for Marc Jacobs in collaboration with Karole Armitage. Notably, she made her television debut on ESPN+ while performing at the FISU World University Games Opening Ceremony held in Lake Placid. Kyra joined the company in 2023.
LYDIA SOUEIDAN
LYDIA SOUEIDAN is a multidisciplinary artist working across contemporary dance, modern dance, and aerial arts. Originally from Virginia, she moved to New York City at age 15 to train in the Jazz & Contemporary program at Joffrey Ballet School under Michael Blake and Angelica Stiskin. After graduating, she performed and choreographed with Spark Movement Collective, Guilty Pleasures Cabaret, EBDance, Open Dance Ensemble, and Robert Redick Dance Collective while also building experience in arts administration, including serving as Program Director for CORA Dance and Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, and most recently supporting administration and teaching adult classes at Ballet Arts Studio in Beacon. In 2024, she relocated to the Hudson Valley to engage with a new creative community, producing original work and collaborating with emerging artists who blend dance, live music, and visual art. In early 2026, she co-founded BOUND Aerial Collective, a movement collective that blends aerial arts with contemporary dance and sonic immersion. She joined the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company in Fall 2025.
FRANCES TEPPNER
FRANCES TEPPNER graduated from Jacksonville University with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Psychology. During her time at Jacksonville University she trained with and performed the choreographic works of faculty members Lana Heylock, Yidi Lin, and Katherine Levitz and performed modern dance works choreographed by guest artists Jens Bjerregaard, Yoshito Sakuraba, Doug Varone, and Norbert De La Cruz III. While in Jacksonville she trained under Jacksonville Dance Theater founders Katie McCaughan and Rebecca Levy and performed dance works under contract with Jacksonville Dance Theater. Frances is originally from Central Florida and joined the company in 2024.