ABOUT GARET&CO

Our Mission

Led by Garet Wierdsma, Garet&Co is a professional contemporary dance company based in Northern CT working to strengthen and celebrate the contemporary dance community in their local region.

Garet&Co's mission is to create a safe, sustainable and uplifting space for local dancers to train and perform at the highest level of contemporary dance. Garet&Co has created a home for contemporary dancers, where dancers can gain both training experience and paid work opportunities in a positive environment, while being supported as both dancers and humans.

Garet&Co’s choreographic work dissects emotions on the stage, dealing with themes of struggling mental health and the search for peace within chaos. Pulling from her own experiences first and then collaborating conceptually and in movement with the dancers, Garet hopes that her work gives audiences the opportunity to fully experience the joy, devastation, and catharsis of contemporary dance. Garet strives to create art that comes from a place of personal truth; work that is both guttural and beautiful. Garet&Co believes that art changes the world, and the company is passionately and actively working to be generators of light. Inspired by her own experiences, both positive and negative, in the dance world, Garet works to create safe and positive environments where art and humanity can be at the forefront.

Garet&Co has performed across the Northeast, most notably at Symphony Space, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, The Warner Theatre, Dixon Place, and TADA Emerging Artists Theatre.

Press

Check out these beautifully written articles highlighting Garet&Co's Work!

Inside Dance Podcast Interview

The Creators: Sitting down with Garet Wierdsma

Sun shines on Garet&Co's ‘ECLIPSE’

EYE ON THE ARTS: LOCAL DANCE COMPANY INSPIRES AUDIENCES WITH EMOTIONAL PERFORMANCES

Garet&Co: Out of the box, into the round

Garet&Co: ECLIPSE 2024

ECLIPSE – one-night-only dance celebration!

Meet the
Generators of Light

About Garet

Meet the Founder

Garet Wierdsma is a multidisciplinary artist from a small town in CT, and is the creator and director of Garet&Co. She graduated from NYU Tisch with a BFA in Dance in May 2021.

Garet was selected as the Choreography Fellowship Recipient for Sacred Heart University in January 2022, and was selected for Young Choreographers Festival 2022 in NYC.

Garet's work with Garet&Co has been showcased at Symphony Space, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, The Warner Theatre, Dixon Place and TADA Emerging Artist Theatre amongst many other theatres and studios across the Northeast.

When not dancing and creating, Garet also teaches as often as she can. Garet believes that art changes the world and is passionately and actively working to be a generator of light.

Professional Members

Madelynn Brown

Soloist & Professional Member
Madelynn Brown is a Connecticut native currently residing in Boston, Massachusetts. Madelynn is a student at the Boston Conservatory and is a member of their inaugural class of commercial dance majors. At the Boston Conservatory she has performed works by Jessica Franco, Raul Cruz, Anthony Burrell, Jun Kuribayashi, and Heather Easley. Performance titles include Boston Conservatory’s “WinterWorks”, Berklee’s “Alicia Keys Great American Song Book” at MGM Music Hall, “Monkey Business” a Cirque Du Soleil Collaboration, and “Usher’s Tribute Indoctrination Show” at The Agganis Arena. Madelynn has had her choreography showcased at Jennifer Hill’s SWAN DAY, Connecticut’s National Dance Day, and was a part of Emerging Artist Theatre’s 2022 “New Work Series” in New York City. Madelynn has performed as a soloist with Garet&Company in New York City, Brooklyn, Saratoga Springs, Philadelphia, Hartford, and parts of New Jersey, and was Garet&Co’s first guest choreographer in the 2023, “ECLIPSE”. Madelynn loves teaching and believes it is her way of spreading her passion to the next generation.

Kyleigh Olivier

Soloist & Professional Member
Kyleigh began dancing at the age of three in Massachusetts and trained in a variety of styles,
including ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, modern, hip hop, and pointe. She recently graduated
summa cum laude from The Hartt School in May of 2021 with a BFA in Dance and a
concentration in Ballet Pedagogy, along with a Business Management minor. While she was
training at The Hartt School, Kyleigh had the opportunity to perform repertory by multiple
prominent choreographers, including Martha Graham, José Limón, Merce Cunningham, Jules
Perrot, Gabrielle Lamb, and Lar Lubovitch. Kyleigh is also honored to have received the 2019
Elena Delvecchio Rusnak Dance Education Scholarship and the Hartt Dance Division Senior
Outstanding Achievement Award while pursuing her BFA degree. In her time at The Hartt
School, Kyleigh discovered her passion for teaching dance and community outreach as she
worked with diverse groups of students in her internships. She is also grateful for her opportunity
to serve as Dance Director of the Prism Project in 2020, leading movement activities for children
with exceptionalities. Kyleigh has been teaching at Connecticut Dance Academy since 2019 and
has greatly enjoyed helping the talented and ambitious students to continue to grow in their
technique and artistry. She is excited to join Garet&Co again in its third season and continue to
dance alongside many talented artists as the company grows!

Evie Sondag

Professional Member & Soloist
Evie is originally from Norman, Oklahoma and began her formal dance training at Webster University in St. Louis where she studied with Maggi Dueker, Beckah Reed, Betsy Brandt, Xi Zhao, Michael Uthoff, Dawn Karlovsky, and Monica Newsam. Evie has also participated in guest artist residencies with Gregory Dawson, the Limón Dance Company, Ballet Hispánico, and Abby Z and the New Utility. Evie graduated in December of 2022 with a BFA in dance with an emphasis in modern dance. In 2023, she danced as a company member in the Modern American Dance Company (MADCO) in St. Louis for their 46th season. Evie recently reallocated to New Haven, and is excited to begin her Connecticut dance career as a professional member of Garet&Co!

Eveline Vergnani

Soloist & Professional Member
Eveline Vergnani was born and raised in western Massachusetts. Eveline started her dance journey at the young age of two years old. Her passion for dance increased throughout the years as she trained at New England Dance and Gymnastics Center, and at the age of six years, she joined their competitive dance and gym teams. She spent seventeen years training there in many styles, including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, and Tumbling. As part of the competitive teams, as well as at an individual level, Eveline has won numerous top awards at both regional and national levels. Focusing her efforts on dance training, she has trained with some of the best choreographers in the industry, has also spent time training at the AMDA College summer program, and is currently attending the CLI Conservatory in Southampton, MA. In addition to continuing her training, she is teaching dance at New England Dance & Gymnastics Center, and she continues to be a professional member and soloist with Garet&Co based in Connecticut.

Cassie Lorom

Marketing Manager & Professional Member
Cassie Lorom is dancer and teacher born and raised in Western Massachusetts. Cassie has been trained locally. Over the past 17 years, Cassie has earned experience in ballet, pointe, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, modern, acrobat, tap, musical theater, and hip hop. Cassie performed in Albany Berkshire Ballet’s Nutcracker for 7 seasons. In 2015, Cassie was honored to earn the role of Clara. The following year, Cassie was cast as a pointe soldier. In 2020, Cassie received the Miss Dancer’s Image scholarship. Cassie has choreographed and taught at her home studio over the past years as both an assistant and lead teacher. She has currently taken on the role as a professional member of the CT based contemporary dance company, Garet&Co. Cassie has performed many times in CT and NYC with Garet&Co in 2022 and 2023. This year, she will be completing her sophomore year at Westfield State University as a Health Science major, with aspirations of becoming a Physician Assistant. Cassie is thrilled to dance with Garet&Co for another season!

Brianna Albanese

Professional Member
Brianna Albanese is a dancer, dance educator, and choreographer from Southington, CT. She grew up competing at her home dance studio, Centerstage Dance Studio in Southington, CT, training in various styles such as ballet, tap, hip-hop, jazz, modern, lyrical, break dance, and contemporary. She expanded her dance training in high-school, at Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts(GHAA), Hartford, CT, where she majored in dance. In 2022, Albanese graduated from Central Connecticut State University with her B.S. in Dance Education and is now a certified dance teacher for pre-K-12th grade. She was a member of the CCSU Dance team for four years, where she led the team as president for two seasons, competed nationally with hip-hop and pom, and choreographed halftime performances. She was also a member of the contemporary company, DanCentral, where she was the public relations manager, choreographed for showcases, and was a soloist in the piece “Yellow Brick Road”, choreographed by Emily Bufferd. Currently, Albanese is a Dance Educator at R.J. Kinsella Elementary School, coaches Middletown High School's Dance Team, teaches dance at dance studios, and is a professional dancer for Garet and Co. She spends her summers traveling around the Northeast, instructing dance camps, as a Universal Dance Association Instructor. Albanese wants to be remembered as someone who consistently brings a positive light into her students' lives, while creating positive relationships with each and everyone of them. She aspires to always make dance enjoyable for all and hopes that her students will grow to love dance as much as she does.

Emma Brockett

Professional Member
Emma has been dancing since the age of 7, training at a local studio in various styles including jazz, tap, ballet , lyrical, modern and contemporary and started dancing competitively when she was 13. Emma discovered a strong passion for ballet early on in her teens and was excepted into the Joffery summer program at age 16, and a year later at 17 she was accepted into the trainee program at New England Ballet Theatre in Connecticut under the direction of Victoria Manning. Post-High School, she went on to join New England Ballet Theatre professional company as a Demi-Apprentice. With NEBT she got to dance in shows like “Cinderella” and “Fantastic Toyshop,” choreographed by Rachael Gnatowski, and guest pieces such as “Painted Lady” choreographed by Jacob Taylor, and has performed in NYC at the Alvin Ailey Theatre in Gnatowski’s piece “B-side” and understudied for Saki Morimoto’s piece “Focus Point.” Emma began teaching and choreographing at 15, and has continued teaching ballet classes and privates at both competition schools and New England Ballet theaters school program. She loves to work with kids and watch them grow as dancers each year and wants to continue teaching in her future and leading the next generation to greatness and is looking forward to continuing her dance career.

Sydney Champagne

Professional Member
Professional member Sydney Champagne is originally from New Hartford, CT, and has been dancing for over 17 years. As a teen, she served as captain for the competitive dance team at D.A.N.C.E. by Kristin for several years, while training in ballet, lyrical, tap, and jazz. She then began to expand upon her dance journey at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) as a dance education major with a specialization in entrepreneurship. There, she dances and choreographs for the CCSU contemporary dance company, Dancentral, also serving as its vice president. She also teaches contemporary, ballet, and lyrical to students ages 4-17 at the Alyce Carella Dance Center in West Hartford, CT. Sydney adores making meaningful connections with audience members, peers, and students. It is imperative to her that she takes dance education beyond just learning dance techniques to integrate real-world skills like resilience, empathy, self-concept, and creativity. When she is not dancing, Sydney enjoys practicing yoga, hiking, making jewelry, cooking and baking, and spending time with her kitties!

Maria Citarella

Professional Member
Maria Citarella is a dancer, teacher and choreographer from Long Island, NY. Maria began dancing at the age of 4, learning from various studios on both the east and west coast. She graduated from Sacred Heart University in May of 2019 with a liberal arts degree and minors in dance, psychology, social work, and human rights. Her work includes performances with artist Ali Berke as well as music videos for Pianos become the Teeth and Michael Minelli. She had the privilege of performing at locations such as Lincoln Center, Times Square, Carnegie Hall and Orange County, LA. Maria currently resides in New Haven, CT and continues to teach and perform throughout the community. As an educator, she aims to create a safe space for students to express themselves fully and as a performer, she works to create a deep and meaningful connection to her audience. She believes movement to be our most precious form of connection to both ourselves and others, and works to integrate this knowledge of dance into her personal and professional lives.

Kamryn DeAngelis

Professional Member
Kamryn DeAngelis is from Farmington, CT and currently resides in Boston, MA. She began her dance training at age five in a variety of styles as a competitive dancer. She is an alum of the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Half-Day Program where she began training in ballet and modern. At the academy she was able to perform in many pieces including “Exit Like An Animal” by Larry Keigwin, staged by Brandon Cournay. Kamryn is currently entering her second semester as a contemporary dance major at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee where she intends to earn a BFA. At the Boston Conservatory she recently performed “Chaconne”, a piece by José Limón, staged by Kurt Douglas. She has been a dancer with Garet&Co for two years and performed in many pieces with the company in Connecticut and New York.

Marina DeThomas

Professional Member
Marina DeThomas is originally from Sandy Hook, CT, and has been dancing & performing for over 15 years. She attended Rockwell Dance Center, where she trained in ballet, contemporary ballet, modern, jazz, and musical theatre. She continued to perform and train with the UConn Dance Company for all four years of undergrad, where she choreographed three pieces for the company's semester showcases, and served as the External Affairs Chair, planning social and community events for the company. Marina currently works in the health technology field and is an advocate for increasing mental health accessibility. She is passionate about starting conversations around mental health and how we can use our creativity and artistic platforms to share our personal struggles. Marina is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to perform with Garet&Co for Season 3 and looks forward to building a strong contemporary community within CT. In her free time, she enjoys baking and cooking for family & friends, hanging out with her cat, and going for walks!

Tatyana Johnson

Professional Member
Tatyana Johnson began dancing at the age of three at Connecticut Concert Ballet. Since
then, she has trained with multiple teachers including Jane Levin, and Susannah Marchese. She has spent some time ballroom dancing; and found herself enjoying swing and salsa the most. In 2020, Tatyana was able to keep dancing by being apart of the first online Broadway Dance Center summer program; where she focused on Musical Theatre dance and quickly fell in love with the style. In early 2021, she was thrilled to become apart of Dimensional Dance in
Hartford, where she participated in the premiere of “Prudence Crandall and Sarah Harris:
Whole Souled Women.” Since then, Tatyana has worked with the 78 Dinner Theater, and Sonia
Plumb Dance Company. She is very excited to be taking part in the third season of Garet&Co.