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Dr. Sherlyn Harrison Dr. Sherlyn E. Harrison is an early childhood administrator with the Pittsburgh Public School district and a champion for young children. Currently, she oversees a high-quality early learning program for children ages birth to three. Preparing their youngest learners for school success while supporting families is the work that Dr. Harrison and her staff are dedicated to daily. ​ Dr. Harrison's work experiences happily marry education and psychology with an emphasis on the healthy functioning of the African American family. She is a mother, mentor, advocate, and educator. Centering race while elevating issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice are primary to the work that she has been passionate about for over 25 years. ​ In the spring of 2021, Dr. Harrison earned the degree of Doctor of Education in Leadership & Administration from Point Park University. Her research focuses on promoting positive racial identity in young African American children, specifically exploring how parents' effective racial socialization practices can be integrated into early childhood. ​ Dr. Harrison aspires to contribute to the early childhood community by developing and supporting programs different from what she experienced as a young child, that is programs that authentically value the diversity of children and families and actively disrupt systemic racism and discrimination. Guiding parents and educators in their effort to instill positive racial identity in young African American children is pivotal to achieving this end.

Dr. Joni Carroll Dr. Joni Carroll has served as Faculty with Hill Dance Academy Theatre since 2011. Joni is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania and started dancing at the age of two. She received her early training from Sharon Filone and Sarah Purvis at the Lake Erie Ballet School and from Sandra Little-Barnett at the Little Dance Studio. Joni previously danced with Jazz Kids Dance Company, Lake Erie Ballet Company, and Maude Baum and Company Dance Theatre. As a dancer for Jean Ann Ryan Productions, she performed for Norwegian Cruise Lines on board the MS Norwegian Crown in South America and the Caribbean. Joni was previously a dance Teaching Artist at the Inner-City Neighborhood Art House and the Lake Erie Ballet School in Erie, PA and with Eba Center for Dance & Fitness in Albany, NY. Joni attended summer dance intensives at the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Ballet Tucson, and the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts. She participated in Regional Dance America and Project Dance NYC for several years, where she performed in Times Square and was exposed to a variety of teachers and choreographers. She studied with a number of artists including but not limited to, Christina Maria Adelhardt, Laura Alonso, Jefferson Baum, Maude Baum, Mary Beth Cabana, Wes Chapman, Cheryl Cutlip, Manfred Fishbeck, John Gardner, Jean Gedeon, David Howard, Melinda Howe, Carla Hughes, Tauna Hunter, Joe Istre, Nate Johnson, Jon Lehrer, Ying Li, Catherine Little, Luigi, Stacey Kabasinski, Arnott Mader, Kevin Maloney, Patty Maloney, Jiabin Pan, Jonathan Phelps, Greer Reed, Gina Ribera Illingworth, Lesley Bories Scalise, Suki Shorer, Robert Steele, Michelle Van Doeren, Joan E. Van Dyke, Karl Von Rabenau, Robert Vickery, and Tracey Vogt. As Faculty at HDAT, Dr. Carroll had the opportunity to learn and perform choreographic works by Tamica Washington-Miller of Lula Washington Dance Theatre and Cleo Parker Robinson of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. She also is a member of International Association of Blacks in Dance and is a previous national recipient of the National Dance Education Organization’s Artistic Merit, Leadership, and Academic Achievement Award. Dr. Carroll is currently an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy and Therapeutics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy where she conducts stakeholder- and community-engaged research. Dr. Carroll's research is motivated by what she sees in practice – the unfortunate, fragmented healthcare that people receive, the health disparities that exist, and the unmatched accessibility and potential of community-based pharmacists to help people live their healthiest lives possible. Dr. Carroll also provides direct patient care for people with tuberculosis at the Allegheny County Health Department’s Pulmonary Clinic. Dr. Carroll holds a B.S. in Biology from Mercyhurst University, where she was a member of the Mercyhurst Dance Team, and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Pittsburgh, where she performed with Pitt Ballet Club. Joni also completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency at the Stratton VA Medical Center and a Pharmacist Practice Development Fellowship with the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and Gatti Pharmacy. Dr. Carroll has provided adapted movement classes for adults with cerebral palsy and traumatic brain injuries at United Cerebral Palsy in Pittsburgh. Dr. Carroll is one of several faculty #DrDancer at HDAT and firmly believes the arts and sciences can and should co-exist together. She sees the intersection between dance, the arts, health, preventative care, and wellness and utilizes her strengths in these areas to promote holistic wellbeing through dance. Dr. Carroll believes everyone has the right and capabilities to dance and is committed to passing this passion on to her students.

Leslie Anderson-Braswell Leslie Anderson-Braswell’s love for dance began at three years of age, and became her ultimate life’s journey at the age of twelve when she joined the children cast of Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, under the direction of choreographer Nicholas Petrov in 1969. In 1971, Leslie became one of the youngest members of the corps de ballet, dancing in a variety of renowned classical ballets for three seasons. During the summer of 1972, Leslie spent the summer at Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theater of Harlem in New York; her goal was to one day return as a dancer for Arthur Mitchell’s African-American ballet company. In 1973, Leslie auditioned and was accepted into the exclusive pre-professional Stuttgart Ballet School, in Stuttgart, West Germany. While in Stuttgart, Leslie performed with the Stuttgart State Opera, in addition to the assigned roles with the Stuttgart Ballet School and Company. In 1975, Leslie auditioned, and was invited to join the Geneva Ballet, in Geneva Switzerland; however, Leslie longed to return to the United States to work with Arthur Mitchell, the first Black principal dancer of George Balanchine’s, New York City Ballet. Upon returning to New York as a member of The Dance Theater of Harlem, she performed and toured extensively throughout America and Europe. Unfortunately, due to an injury, Leslie had to leave Dance Theater of Harlem, and professional ballet, much earlier than anticipated. In 1979, she became the first dance teacher hired to teach ballet at Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, originally located in Homewood and today known as CAPA 6-12 located in downtown Pittsburgh’s cultural district. She has been a member of the Dance Department faculty for 35 years, where she has inspired a generation of aspiring dancer. Equally prominent teaching credits include Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Academy of Musical Theater, where Leslie taught for 16 years. As a result of working at the Academy, many of her former students have reached the pinnacle of success in dance; they include McArthur Genius recipient, choreographer/ dance artist Kyle Abraham, “Kinky Boots” star and Tony Award winner, Billy Porter and many others. In August, 2012, Greer Reed bestowed the highest honor upon Leslie Anderson Braswell, the ballet teacher of her youth and mentor, by naming an award, The Brazzy Award, in her honor, for outstanding lifetime achievement in dance education and mentorship. The award is presented to two professional dance artists, selected, by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette dance critic, Jane Vranish, for their excellence and contributions to the professional dance community. Presently, Leslie has also been working with another former student, Ayisha Morgan-Lee, MAM, founder and director of Hill Dance Academy Theater, a successful, new innovative arts education institution located in Pittsburgh, PA, where she teaches Ballet and Pointe to advance students in HDAT’s Pre-Professional program. In 1986, Leslie was awarded an Outstanding Distinguished Teacher Award, presented at the White House by President Ronald Reagan. She was honored with an Outstanding Woman of America Award in 1982, and the Outstanding Artist Award from the Pittsburgh’s Greater Legacy Council, in celebration of African-American Artists.

Hill Dance Academy Theatre is a 501c3 non-profit organization located in the Historic Hill District of Pittsburgh, PA. We were founded in 2005 by Ayisha Morgan-Lee, Ed.D. We train students ages 3 - 18 in various styles of concert dance, fitness and nutrition, and leadership skills. ​ Our Mission To provide professional-level training in Black Dance traditions, history, culture, and aesthetics that engages and empowers students to pursue careers in Black dance. Our Story Hill Dance Academy Theatre (HDAT) , Home of Ju.B.Lation Spirit Filled Feet, developed out of Ayisha Morgan-Lee’s passion to ensure that children, ages 3 to 18 years old, who wanted to dance, would be able to with HDAT . After completing her BFA in Dance at Howard University, and while in her first year of graduate school, students and parents, that she had previously taught, asked her to start classes again so that they could dance. In October 2005, in the George House of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, in the Hill District, Hill Dance Academy Theatre opened its doors to twenty children ages, 3 to 6. In 2007, armed with her Masters in Arts Management (MAM) degree, and with the support of Pittsburgh City Parks and Recreation, HDAT moved to a new home studio with mirrors and barrés in West Penn Recreation Center. In that same year, HDAT established, Ju.B.Lation: Spirit Filled Feet, a Liturgical, pre-professional dance company that uses dance as the artistic voice to celebrate the Cultural, Spiritual and Sacred traditions of the Black Church experience. Beginning in 2008, HDAT created an eight-week summer intensive and coupled with enrollment growth, classes expanded from a Saturday schedule to include three evenings a week for advanced students. In 2010, HDAT became a 501c3 nonprofit organization and moved to the former St. Benedict the Moor School. On July 23, 2021, HDAT purchased 27,000 sq.ft. from the Diocese of Pittsburgh and today Black dance has a permanent home at 2900 Bedford Avenue in the historic Hill District community. HDAT ’s mission, to provide professional level training in Black Dance traditions, history, culture, and aesthetics that engages and empowers students to pursue careers in Black dance, has remained the core focus and intentionally drives the curriculum, programs, performance and development of faculty and students. A culturally responsive arts ecology and the holistic approach to the arts is designed to engage, serve, and provide opportunities to students who aspire to careers on the concert stage. Students receive training from experts in diverse genres of dance, and disciplines that support dance. Annually, master national dance artists set choreographic works on dancers, and they have exceptional performance opportunities in venues such as the August Wilson African American Cultural Center where they present seasonal performances and HDAT ’s annual Spring Dance Concert. Since 2005, HDAT has grown as a leader in dance education; teaching artists have tenure of over eight years. Annually, 5,000 students in public, private, parochial, charter schools and youth-serving organizations participate in 780 classes in the Historic Hill District arts community, home of August Wilson and many great Black jazz and music artists. ​ Training the Future of Dance The Academy provides a holistic Dance curriculum for students ages 3-18 while developing, training and challenging student’s physicality, creativity, and performance skills in and out of the studio to prepare them for the rigors of a professional Dance career. All dancers are required to study Ballet and techniques in African, Jazz, Modern, Hip-Hop, Theater, Tap, Capoeira, Liturgical Movement and Dance Composition. Classes are held after school and on weekends. ​ Throughout the year HDAT offers students opportunities to attend outside performances, conferences and festivals, travel and perform locally and nationally. HDAT focuses on dance teachings and studies steeped in a learning environment that supports the discipline of dance, and the development of the dance body while linking Black cultural traditions and history to excellence in preparation and performance. ​ Students are placed in the following levels based on age, skill, commitment, and progression... Creative Movement Pre-Academy Pre-Professional Academy ​ The Morgan-Lee Arts Centre Since its founding, HDAT has worked to create equitable places, spaces, activities, and practices for Black and Brown artists. In 2021, HDAT began working to expand their facility with the goal of creating even more opportunities for Black and Brown dance students and dance professionals. Thus, they set out to acquire the former St. Benedict the Moor Parish school campus, rectory, and convent at 2900 Bedford Avenue to accommodate their academy’s six levels of pre-professional dance education. ​ Beyond obtaining the room needed to teach its growing roster of students, HDAT wants to offer opportunities for expanded community access, community buy-in and creative engagement in Black arts across the Pittsburgh arts ecosystem. HDAT ’s “forever home” also hosts a variety of diverse Black and Brown artists who work across many artistic mediums, contributing to a stronger Hill community and more economic opportunities for Black and Brown artists in diverse artistic disciplines. Meet the Team Staff Ayisha Morgan-Lee, EdD Founder, CEO, and Artistic Director Email: amorganlee@5678HDAT.org Read Bio Michia Carmack Artistic Associate mcarmack@5678HDAT.org Read Bio Jennifer Phillip Director of Operations Email: jphillip@5678HDAT.org Read Bio Veronica Morgan-Lee, PhD Director of Fund Development Email: vmorganlee@5678HDAT.org Read Bio Eric A. Smith Director of Marketing and Communication easmith@5678HDAT.org Read Bio Dan Rice Director of Maintenance Email: drice@5678HDAT.org Read Bio Meet the Faculty Faculty Read Bio Leslie Anderson-Braswell Advance Ballet and Pointe Read Bio Michia Carmack Horton, Leaps and Turns Read Bio Joni Carroll, PharmD Jazz Read Bio Kaila Carter Beginner Ballet, CM Read Bio Indira Cunningham CM, Modern, Fitness Read Bio Bria Goldsmith Repertoire Read Bio Celeta Hickman Afro-Caribbean Read Bio Akin Lowman Capoeira

10th Annual Spring Dance Concert Soundtrack A number of you have asked for the concert soundtrack. You can download it for a limited time only. You can move and groove to the gospel sounds from this year's concert in the comfort of your own home.

Ayisha Morgan-Lee, EdD Founder, CEO, and Artistic Director Ayisha's Bio Artist's Statement At the age of twenty-one, Ayisha became the Founder, CEO, and Artistic Director of Hill Dance Academy Theatre (HDAT). Ayisha received her Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh Out of School Learning Education program. She was selected, in 2016 as one of 50 international and national leaders in the Arts to attend the yearlong program by the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program. In 2017, she was voted to serve on the board of The International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD) and in 2021 she was voted to lead the organization as Board Chair. Ayisha is an adjunct faculty member at The Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School where she teaches Modern Dance to student’s grades 6th-8th. From 2009 to 2010, she served as the Education Director for Pittsburgh’s Dance Alloy, teaching dance, and developing art programs for public schools. For three years, she was a Teaching Artist with The Heinz Endowments Culturally Responsive Arts Education (CRAE) Program. From 2014 to 2018 she was an adjunct faculty member at City High School where she taught Dance to seniors. In 2015, she received the YWCA Young Business Professional Award; in 2010, she was named as a Pittsburgh Courier’s Fab 40 young professional leader in the Arts and selected as a member of Leadership Pittsburgh LDI XXVII class. She has choreographed musicals and been a stage manager at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater. A 2007 Carnegie Mellon University graduate with a Master’s in Arts Management and a Magna Cum Laude graduate in 2005 receiving a BFA in Dance and Theatre from Howard University. She interned with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and apprenticed with August Wilson Center for African American Culture. In 2003, she performed at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in South Africa with Kuntu Repertory Theatre in Mahalia and Lady Sings the Blues and created a documentary on Indigenous Dance in South Africa funded by a Howard University fellowship. Ayisha is a member of Pittsburgh Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Pierian, Inc. She and her husband Eric and their daughter Aniyah are residents of Pittsburgh’s Historic Hill District community the home of August Wilson and his Ten Cycle plays. Ayisha is a member of St. Benedict the Moor Parish.

In the News Hill Dance Academy Theatre to receive $150,000 grant from the National Endowments for the Arts as part of the American Rescue Plan [Washington, DC] Read about American Rescue Plan Download Press Release Interview: CROSSINGS Listen to Books and Bridges Podcast's Interview: CROSSINGS Hill Dance Academy Theatre participates with the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council to help "Restart the Arts" post pandemic. Read About the Art Council's Artsmoblie Two local youth arts organizations present “Crossings,” a powerful choral ballet exploring racial justice Read Kidsburgh's article on CROSSINGS Northeasterners recognize HDAT at Champagne Sip Pittsburgh Courier Dreams Made Real: Hill Dance Academy Theatre Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pittsburgh Northeasterners host National Convention Pittsburgh Courier YWCA honors 7 trailblazers at Leadership Luncheon Pittsburgh Courier YWCA's 33rd annual Tribute to Women held at the Westin Pittsburgh Post-Gazette NANBPW Annual Founders Day Pittsburgh Courier

Make an Investment Dance Hill Dance Academy Theatre is a registered 501(c)3 not-for-profit charitable organization that relies on the financial support of individuals, corporations, and foundations to achieve its mission to prepare the next generation of Black and Brown students for the concert stage. Donations by mail (check or money order written out to) ​ Hill Dance Academy Theatre 2915 Webster Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Donate to Dance First Name Last Name Email Address I’m donating in the name of: Choose an option Organization\ Honoree name: Leave us a comment: Tell us how you heard of us: Enter the amount you wish to pay: $ Donate Now Thank you for helping us make a difference!

Celeta Hickman

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Hill Dance Academy Theatre's COVID-19 Policies and Procedures We are eager to welcome you back safely to Hill Dance Academy Theatre for in-person classes and events and we commit to putting the safety of our students, families, faculty and staff first. We have implemented layers of defense based on guidance from health authorities to minimize risk of COVID-19 transmission. Masks will be required for all participants and visitors regardless of vaccination status. Proof of vaccine is not required for entry to the facility; however, Hill Dance Academy Theatre strongly encourages our dance friends and community members to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Facility and Seating capacity will be reduced to 50% to allow for safe and comfortable social distancing between participants, visitors and audience members. If you are showing any of the following symptoms Fever over 100.4 Cough Shortness of breath Difficulty breathing New loss of smell New loss of taste Vomiting or nausea Congestion Running nose Or in the past 14 days been in contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19, had contact with a person in the process of being tested COVID-19 or had contacted with a person suspected of having COVID-19) To not enter the facility and consult your doctor immediately. Hill Dance Academy Theatre staff are going the extra leap to ensure that everyone is safe and comfortable when entering our facility. When you arrive you’ll notice these additional considerations: Complimentary hand sanitizer Disposable masks will be available if you need one We will continue to closely follow CDC and Allegheny County Health Department’s guidelines and update our policies accordingly.