Dorrance Dances

Michelle Dorrance

Michelle Dorrance

Elizabeth Burke

Elizabeth Burke is a founding member of Dorrance Dance who spent eleven years under the direction of her mentor, Gene Medler, in the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble. She is an alumna of the School at Jacob’s Pillow and Marymount Manhattan College. Other performance credits include work with Bessie Award winner Nicholas Van Young’s SoundMovement and the American Dance Festival alongside Luke Hickey. She has been described as a “deft and impassioned” dancer by the NY Times.

Emiko Nakagawa

Emiko Nakagawa is a Japanese tap dance artist currently based in NYC. She went on to further develop her tap artistry with Yukiko “Smilie” Misumi’s mentorship at the age of 8, and she served as dance captain on various stages, including ARTN Company’s solo “Legends of Tap” series, and “Tokyo International Tap Festival “from 2015 to 2020 in Japan.  

Before coming to NY, she achieved international recognition through performing at the show “JUBA!” at Chicago Tap Festival, and the show at Big Apple Tap Festival in NY.  

She also has had success at many international tap dance contests. She was a winner of both Woodshed Experience and LA Tap Fest cutting contests in 2019. In the tap dance contest KAWASAKI TAP FESTIVAL in Japan, she won six prizes until 2016 and was the champion in 2017.  

After coming to NY, Emiko works for Caleb Teicher & Company, Dorrance Dance and more of New York based dance companies. 

She is an alumnus of The School at Jacob’s Pillow 2023. 

She successfully made her first circus appearance which New York Circus Project are the presenting organization in 2025. 

Most recently, Emiko was selected for Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” for 2026. 

Her choreographies and performances have been shown at 54 Below, Symphony Space, The Joyce Theater, World of Dance (Headliner), 92NY, Vail Dance Festival and more, and she has a great appreciation for working and performing with amazing artists in U.S. 

Claudia Rahardjanoto

Claudia Rahardjanoto is born and raised in Berlin, Germany, Claudia started her professional dance career at the Deutsche Open Berlin. At fifteen, she fell in love with tap dance under the tutelage of Sven Göttlicher and Marie-Christin Zeisset and moved to NYC in 2003 to pursue a career in tap dance, where she is now a dancer at Dorrance Dance. She hopes to continue to share her love and passion for music and the art of tap dance through her teaching and performing worldwide.

Leonardo Sandoval

Artistic Director

Leonardo Sandoval is a Brazilian tap dancer with Dorrance Dance, and renowned for his unique style, blending America’s great jazz and tap heritage with Brazil’s rich rhythmic and musical forms. A true dancer-musician, he is increasingly in demand as a choreographer, solo dancer, and jazz musician. His choreography, including frequent collaborations with composer Gregory Richardson, has been presented at venues including Jacob’s Pillow, the Yard, the National Folk Festival, and the Battery Dance Festival.

Joel Wenhardt

New York based Joel Wenhardt is a jazz pianist, and collaborator. While completing his studies at Juilliard (BM ‘18, MM ‘23) he has become a regular presence on the Jazz scene, as well an active participant in multi-medium productions. He has played or recorded with Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis, Veronica Swift, Caroline Shaw, Claire Chase, and Brooklyn Rider as well as dancers from Juilliard, NYC Ballet, ABT, Alvin Ailey and more. Currently, he is Musical Directing at the McKittrick Hotel, where he can be found in the Manderley Bar leading The Nightingales. This will be Joel’s 4th time in Vail for the dance festival, and is grateful to call this community his artistic family.

Jayla Chee

Jayla Chee is a New York based bass player and composer originally from the Bay Area in California. Jayla has performed with artists such as Joshua Redman, Samara Joy, Kassa Overall, Kandace Springs, John Faddis, Darren Criss, and Frank Lacy, among many others. Originally a trumpet player, Jayla took up the bass in early high school and soon started performing around at venues around the bay, notably as the house bass player at the old Cafe Stritch session. During these years she was a part of Carnegie hall’s National Youth Orchestra, Monterey jazz’s NextGeneration Jazz Orchestra, and Youngarts. In 2019 Jayla moved to New York and attended the Juilliard school; here she was mentored by Gerald Cannon and Billy Drummond. Since then she has also studied privately with Rufus Reid and Buster Williams. Jayla maintains a busy performance schedule both as a sideman and a bandleader performing her own music, with regular appearances at venues throughout New York, as well as California and other parts of the world. On top of her major musical influences, Jayla derives inspiration from Nature. Her love for natural gardening, hiking, and studying plants and forests can be apparent in her art.

Eliza Salem

Eliza Salem is an artist currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Eliza strives to reach across the domains of creative music through drumming, and loves exploring quiet grooves and colorful improvisatory spaces. Eliza regularly performs and teaches alongside artists they deeply admire, and has traveled across the United States, Europe, India, and Australia on multiple tours. Eliza is largely inspired by their friends, and spends a lot of time learning music, contributing to various projects both live and recorded, or writing with special people in mind. In 2024, Eliza was a finalist and awardee for Next Jazz Legacy. In 2026, Eliza was awarded a Roulette Jerome commission. This will be their fourth consecutive year as a part of Vail Dance Festival’s resident band. Outside of music, Eliza loves cooking, crocheting, fishing, and spending time by the water.