Joe Brack
(Instructor, Theater/Visual Arts)
A native of Boston, Joe received his B.F.A. in theatre and the performing arts from William Carey University in Hattiesburg, MS. After graduation, he was offered the role of "A" in Failbetter Production's presentation of Sarah Kane's
Crave at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Joe toured the U.K. and several parts of mainland Europe on and off over the next several years, and then ended up in Raleigh, NC, where the show
CTRL-ALT-Delete, which he co-wrote, designed, and performed in, was produced. In 2006, Joe moved to the D.C. area and has performed, designed or taught with companies including, but not limited to, The Actor's Theatre of Washington, Source Theatre, The DCAC, Ganymeade Arts, The Washington Improv Theater and Constellation Theatre. Currently, Joe is rehearsing the role of Orestes in Constellation Theatre's production of
The Oresteia, which opens May 9, 2008. Also a visual artist, Joe teaches visual art at Academy of Learning through the Arts Public Charter School.
Joy Elcock
(Instructor, Visual Arts)
Joy is graduating in May 2008 from Howard University with a degree in fine arts. This is her second year with Camp Arena Stage and fifth year of teaching at summer camps. Joy specializes in animation and also enjoys drawing and jewelry making. Joy says, “I love teaching kids about art! There are few things better than seeing the kids discover their talents and creativity as the weeks go by. I look forward to working with your kids and seeing just how creative they can be!”
Meg Greene
(Instructor, Theater/Writing)
Meg is returning to Camp Arena Stage as a graduate of The Ohio State University where she majored in journalism and theatre performance. In college writing courses, she focused on creative writing and wrote for her college newspaper's arts and life section, where she won Ohio State's First Year Writing Award and the Kiplinger Award for Excellence in Journalism. As an actor, she has performed roles in shows ranging from issue-based theater to classical theater and children's theater. With over three years of experience as a teaching artist, she has taught for Columbus Children's Theatre, Ohio State's Theatre Extension Program, Arena Stage and The Abbey Theater of Dublin.
Tiffany Haughn
(Instructor, Dance)
Tiffany is a teacher, choreographer, and performer in the Washington, D.C. dance community. She is currently teaching dance at George Washington University, University of Mary Washington and Arlington Center for Dance. Tiffany has also been on the faculty of George Mason University, Northern Virginia Community College, Ballet Royale Institute, The Dance Institute of Washington, Florida Community College of Jacksonville, Episcopal High School of Jacksonville, Flint Hill School, Levine School of Music and The Virginia Ballet Company. Her choreography has been presented in the D.C. area at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Dance Place, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, The Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, The Dorothy Marvin Betts Theater, Harris Theater, and The Jack Guidone Theater at Joy of Motion. Tiffany graduated magna cum laude with departmental and university honors from Jacksonville University, with a B.F.A. in dance and a B.A. in psychology. She then went on to perform in New York City with The Lindt International Ballet, Saltare Dance Company, Jennifer Walker & Company, and Threshold Dance Company. In New York, her choreography was presented at Dance Space Center, The Bridge, and New Dance Group Arts Center. Ms. Haughn earned her M.F.A. degree in dance at George Mason University.
Paige Hernandez
(Instructor, Theater/Dance)
Paige is excited to return to Camp Arena Stage for her fourth consecutive year. As a teaching artist, Paige has taught throughout the metro area, to all ages, in many disciplines. She has partnered with many organizations including Wolftrap and Arena Stage where she was awarded the Thomas Fichandler award for exceptional promise in theater education. Paige has performed on many stages in the D.C. metro area including Arena Stage, Roundhouse Theatre, The Everyman Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Wooly Mammoth, Imagination Stage, GALA, Discovery Theatre and Charter Theatre as well as others. www.paigehernandez.com
Sarah Hirsch
(Instructor, Music)
Sarah is a Humanities major at Yale University. She is very involved in the Shen Musical Theatre Composition Program, studying songwriting, libretto-writing and lyric-writing. She is president of the student-group NuMu: New Musicals at Yale, which workshops student-written musicals. This past year, Sarah co-wrote a musical, Usher, based on Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Fall of the House of Usher." Usher received a full production at Yale in February, and was just named a finalist in the New York Musical Theatre Festival's Next Link Project.
Anna Jiongco
(Instructor, Visual Arts)
Anna has been drawing ever since she knew how to pick up a pencil, playing the piano since age four, writing poetry since kindergarten and painting since high school. She grew up in NAF Atsugi, Japan, and is completing her B.F.A. in fine arts with a concentration in painting at Towson University. Coinciding with her interest in art, is a passion for reading and writing poetry. Anna says, “I am a very eccentric and creative person and I believe that there is a good sense of energy in all my works not matter what the medium.”
Chitra Kalyandurg
(Instructor, Dance)
Chitra has studied Kuchipudi for 19 years, and currently performs as a company dancer with Bethesda-based Kalanidhi Dance. She has performed throughout the Washington, D.C. area, including the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Society, the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, and Dance Place. In 2007, she toured with Kalanidhi Dance to India, where the company presented "Rasa" at the prestigious Ananya Festival in New Delhi. She is now an assistant instructor at Kuchipudi Kalanidhi and is active in developing lessons to integrate Kuchipudi into school curricula. In addition to performing within the traditional boundaries of the Kuchipudi style, Chitra is currently exploring new avenues of choreography in Indian dance as well as collaborations with different styles. She hopes to continue her academic and performance career in Kuchipudi, and hopes to play an integral role in the expansion of the style in the United States. www.kalanidhi.org
Reyna Mangrum
(Instructor, Theater Design)
Reyna is a recent graduate of Ohio University with a B.F.A. in theater production, design and technology, where she designed a production of The Rainy Season as well as worked on numerous productions including Marat/Sade, Romeo and Juliet and The Laramie Project. She most recently completed the Allen Lee Hughes fellowship program at Arena Stage in costuming where she collaborated on the 2007-2008 season, including 33 Variations, Ella, and Well. Other highlights include Walt Disney World Parks and Resort’s Cinderellabration and Mickey’s Twas the Night Before Christmas. She has worked with children for several years in the capacity of camp counselor, church school arts teacher and mentor. She is so excited to be working with Camp Arena Stage this summer and looks forward to creating unforgettable memories and experiences.
Erin Mapes
(Instructor, Visual Arts)
Erin is happy to be returning to Camp Arena Stage for a second summer! She brings with her a wide variety of talents, from painting to fiber arts to Chinese brush painting. She also speaks Mandarin! Last spring she graduated from Bennington College with a B.A. in visual arts and Chinese, and this spring will obtain her Master's in teaching. Her favorite color is blue, but she is also quite partial to green. She made a memorable appearance as Medusa during last summer's "Superhero-Supervillan-Island Day."
Kelly Smith
(Instructor, Music)
Kelly received her Bachelor’s degree in music from The Boston Conservatory and her Master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music. She is the private voice instructor at The Madeira School where she was the Summer Stage Director and Performing Arts Instructor for Girls First. Kelly performs frequently with Opera Companies in the D.C. area. She made her Summer Opera Theatre debut in June 2007 as Beth in Little Women. As Artist of the Year with the Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia, she performed numerous roles, including Despina in Cosi fan tutte, Pamina, Lucia, and Manon in Fatal Song or The Great Opera Murders, Ernestina in Love’s Luggage Lost andthe roles of Pamina and the First Lady in The (Mini) Magic Flute. Kelly also appeared in several productions with the Wolf Trap Opera Company and Washington Concert Opera. www.kellysmithsoprano.com
Dave Spitzberg
(Instructor, Music)
Dave received his Bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Maryland. He is currently an elementary school instrumental teacher in Prince George’s County, MD. Dave plays drum set and hand percussion for the Roger Hooper Jazz Trio and Covenant Life Church. In 2006 Dave was featured on the cover of the Washington Post’sWeekend section as part of The Eddie Lounge Show. This will be Dave's fourth summer with Camp Arena Stage. He is looking forward to a summer exploring percussion and other creative aspects of music with the campers.
Hilary Trudell
(Instructor, Theater/Writing)
Hilary is a D.C. playwright and teaching artist. Having several plays produced at College of Charleston where she received her B.A. in theater, Hilary began her playwriting career with her play Never Enough, which was selected as a finalist for the regional Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Her most recent play Writer’s Block was produced at Madcap Player’s 2007 Winter Carnival of New Works in D.C. Hilary worked at the Kennedy Center in Theater Programming for three years before joining Arena Stage’s education team to coordinate their 2008 Student Playwrights Project, serving as a teaching artist, dramaturg, director and administrator.
Jjana Valentiner
(Instructor, Theater)
Jjana is a professional actress, teaching artist, playwright and make-up artist. Favorite roles have included Kate in The Taming of the Shrew with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks and Emer in The Only Jealousy of Emer with New York City’s Handcart Ensemble where she is also a company member. Most recently she has been seen as Audrey in As You Like It at the Folger Theatre. This spring she will portray Electra in The Oresteia with Constellation Theatre Company followed by Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth with Rorschach Theatre. She has also written and produced a one-woman show called Funeral Potatoes. Jjana received her B.F.A. in acting from Brigham Young University where she also taught World Civilization (with emphasis on the Humanities) for three years. Jjana also earned an M.F.A. in classical theatre from the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University. Both programs included extensive training in movement, voice, text and acting.
