Guest Artists
Jennifer Gruener
Jennifer Gruner attended PDT from 2005-2010 and went on to earn her BFA in Ballet from Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music. Ms. Gruener’s New York credits include West Side Story (Broadway), Trip of Love (Stage 42) , Eurydice (Metropolitan Opera) and I Married an Angel (New York City Center). Her regional credits include Barrington Stage Company, Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre. Jennifer has also performed on television on “Saturday Night Live,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Elementary,” the upcoming Amazon series Etoile and the iHeartRadio Music Video Awards with Camilla Cabello.
Laura Gruener
Originally from the suburbs of Philadelphia, Laura received her training at Philadelphia Dance Theater under the direction of Joy Capponi. Laura went on to dance as a company member with Texas Ballet Theater for 8 seasons dancing in rolls such as Fairy Generosity in Ben Stevenson's Sleeping Beauty, in the world premiere of Garrett Smith's Imbue, The Snow Queen in Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker, and in Christopher Wheeldon's DGV©: Danse à Grande Vitesse to name a few. Most recently, Laura danced as a part of the dance ensemble in The Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
Bishop Kaschock-Marenda
Bishop Kaschock-Marenda began his dance training in Philadelphia and is a proud PDT alumni. He attended NYU Tisch Dance where he performed many student choreographed works as well as repertoire from Jose Limon and Laja Fields. He graduated with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Computer Science, and he has performed as a guest artist for the Delaware Dance Company and Baltimore Ballet.
Lila Kushner
Lila Kushner is a contemporary dance artist, choreographer and teacher based out of Philadelphia PA. She recently graduated from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she received her BFA in contemporary dance performance, with a composition emphasis. At the conservatory she performed works by notable artists including T. Lang, Victor Quijada, Brian Brooks, Bradley Shelver and Aszure Barton. Lila is passionate about choreography and making her own work. Outside of the Conservatory, Lila has choreographed works at Philadelphia Dance Theatre. In 2023, Lila won the Regional Dance America NorthEast Emerging Choreography, followed by the Regional Dance America National Choreography Award in 2024.
Lila has danced for Hybrid Motion Dance Theatre in Boston, and is a current Teaching Artist for Pilobolus.
Charles Michael Patterson
Born and raised in Trinidad & Tobago, Charles M Patterson moved to the United States at the age of ten. He began his dance training at the Boston Arts Academy and afterschool program Jeannette Neill studio. Charles received his Bachelor of Fine Art in Ballet Pedagogy from The Boston Conservatory (2016). He accepted his first company contract dancing with Complexions Contemporary Ballet 2016–2017 season. Charles joined Dallas Black Dance Theatre in 2018 and completed his 5th season with the company 2022. Charles is an advocate for spreading the importance of Fine Arts, while continuing to be an activist within the Fine Arts Communities throughout the nation.