In 2012, Emily and her mom Barbara purchased the dance studio formally known as Rohanna Dance Productions in Annapolis, Maryland. As Level Dance Project, the studio is flourishing with Emily’s commitment to classical training and an overall well balanced base of technique.

Raised just outside of Baltimore, Maryland, Emily began her training early with a concentration in ballet. In her youth, Emily trained in and around the DC metropolitan area at schools such as Kirov Academy of Ballet, Washington Ballet, and Mid-Atlantic Center for the Performing Arts. Realizing her passion for dance, Emily finished high school early to further her training. She attended Anne Arundel Community College as a dance major for two years under the direction of Lynda Fitzgerald. Emily was also a member of the AACC dance company and traveled to the American College Dance Festival Association for training and performing. After completing two years of college, Emily moved to New York City to begin dancing professionally with :Pushing Progress, a company under the direction of Calen Kurka. Emily has worked with choreographers such as Chris Hale, Maya Escueta, Shelly Masenior Hutchinson, Melissa Wolfe-Rosebro, and many others renowned in the field. Emily eventually moved back to the Baltimore area to be closer to her family and began teaching at various dance studios until she had the opportunity to purchase her own.

As a continuation of her own education, Emily has received her masters pilates degree through The Pilates Center in Colorado. Pilates is very influential in Emily’s teaching and choreography, focusing on correct alignment and use of breath in movement. A trained master teacher striving to bring her passion to dancers everywhere, Emily still finds time to fulfill numerous requests each year to travel across the country teaching and choreographing at other studios and judging at dance competitions. Emily has received countless choreography awards over her many years of teaching/choreographing, with a strong concentration in contemporary and lyrical.

Shanley has been teaching at LDP for the past 10 years. She began her dance career in Annapolis MD, with Rohanna Dance Productions as a competitive dancer. Shanley credits a lot of her training to Emily Martin (owner/artistic director of LDP), Tammy Musco (ballet teacher at LDP), and Sarah Keller (former choreographer and teacher at LDP) who choreographed a majority of her solos and group dances during her time at Rohanna. She also danced for Broadneck Dance Company at Broadneck Senior High, coached by Melissa Bell. She was nominated as an All-State dancer, a recipient for top All-County dancer, and a co-captain assisting Melissa Bell with her company. In 2009, her choreography was selected to perform in Philadelphia, at a national gala showcase, where pieces were hand selected all over the globe. Shanley shortly began to train with :Pushing Progress intensive/company, allowing her to expand her knowledge with choreographers and teachers throughout NY, such as Calen Kurka, Chris Hale, Stacey Tookey, Brian and Scott Nicholson, Shelly Hutchinson, Maya Escueta, Anna Vollmar, and Kathy VanDereedt. During these winter and summer intensives, she had the opportunity to perform in :Pushing Progress showcases, and learned extensive knowledge about technical and anatomical value for dancers. In 2011, she was honored to receive the highest scoring female soloist at VIP Dance Competition Nationals. She also received a scholarship for Maryland Distinguish Scholar of the arts in dance. She had the opportunity to perform her solo with the most profound artists in MD that summer, at Coppin University. That fall, Shanley attended Goucher college, as a Dance/English major, performing and growing in ballet and modern. She was asked to perform in the Fall and Spring gala showcase choreographed by Trebian Polland, Rick Southerland, Katherine Morris, Elizabeth Ahearn, and many more. The following year she was accepted into the :Pushing Progress training program in NY. Here, she had the opportunity to work more privately with Calen Kurka and Chris Hale. Throughout the year, she was able to work closely with choreographers such as Lauren Adams, Sidra Bell, Jen Lancaster, Bryn Cohen and Loni Landon. After almost 17 years of training and performing, Shanley finally pursued her passion in creating and choreography. Now Shanley works for Level Dance Project, pushing her own choreographic limits and the students that surround her. 

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Danielle began dancing at the age of three. She trained at numerous studios competitively and attended several summer programs including The Rock, Point Park University, The Rockette Intensive, New York City Dance Alliance, The Pulse On Tour, The Collective, Boston Ballet, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. In 2009, Danielle was a finalist for the Maryland Distinguished Scholar Award for Dance and was highlighted as Teen of the Week in the Maryland Gazette. In the same year, Danielle joined Oasis Dance Ensemble, directed by Michelle Smith. As a member of this ensemble, she performed at the Jazz Dance World Congress in Chicago in 2009 winning the Silver Leo’s Award as well as attended the Capezio A.C.E. Awards in New York City in 2010. She also had the opportunity to perform with JazzFuzion at the Peter Norton’s Symphony Space, supporting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.

Danielle attended Towson University graduating in 2014 with a double major: B.F.A. in Dance Performance with a K-12 Teacher Certification as well as a B.S. in Exercise Science. While at Towson, Danielle was a member of the Towson University Dance Company. She attended the American College Dance Festival as well as performed at The Kennedy Center on Millennium Stage in 2012. She worked with various choreographers including Troy Powell, Elisa Clark, Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, and Runqiao Du. She had the privilege of performing “Hands Singing Song”, a soloist role originally choreographed by Jawolle Willa Jo Zollar (1997) founder of the Urban Bush Woman dance company (restaged by Catherine Horta-Hayden). For two years, Danielle served as a company member performing with VT Dance; a local dance company in Maryland directed by Vincent E. Thomas. She performed at many venues with this company including Baltimore Theater Project, Dance Place, and American Dance Institute.

Currently, Danielle teaches and choreographs at local competitive dance studios throughout Maryland as well as within the Anne Arundel County Public School System. Aside from remaining close to her passion for dance, Danielle has taken pride in her interest for physical therapy. She plans to broaden her educational background in the field of therapy in hopes to work closely with dancers.

Mariner grew up training in dance 6-7 days a week with a focus in ballet, contemporary, jazz and tap. She was a competitive dancer, taking classes all over the country and each spring, danced in her studios annual ballet. She spent summer continuing her training at The Rock School for Dance, as well as several other dance intensives including The Protegè Movement. There Mariner studied under Stacey Tookey, Jason Parsons, Anneke Hanson, and many other incredible teachers and artists. Mariner began teaching at Level after graduating and has become an invaluable member of the teaching staff.

Mark Orsborn is a tap dancer, choreographer and master teacher born and raised in Washington, D.C. He is a former soloist with the Tap America Project (TAP) and was featured at the Kennedy Center 25th Anniversary and Smithsonian 150th Anniversary. Mark was a member of the pre-professional tap company "Tappers With Attitude" (TWA) and later cast in the Debbie Allen production of “Brothers of the Knight”. He co-founded his company, The JaM Project, in 2007 and has been recognized by The Washington Post, Dance Spirit, and numerous film festivals for his projects. The JaM Project was a finalist at the 2016 Capezio Ace Awards, which recognizes the top emerging choreographers in the commercial dance industry. In 2017, the company's show, "Good Times, Bad Times" premiered a 30-minute set at Dancerpalooza's "25 Live" in Long Beach, CA and a 60-minute set at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. The JaM Project recently wrapped up Season 2 of NBC's "World of Dance" and continues to perform around the country.

Mark is the founder and director of The JaM Youth Project, which has attracted young tap dancers from all over the country and received support from news outlets and national recording artists, The Doobie Brothers. Tap dance films created by the company have screened at the L.A. Dance Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, Philadelphia Screendance Festival, American Dance Festival's "Movies by Movers" and Cascadia Dance & Cinema Festival (Vancouver, BC). They have also been featured in Dance Teacher Magazine. 

Mark's choreography was recognized in 2015 by the Young Choreographer's Festival in NYC and he co-choreographed the closing number at both the 2015 and 2016 Fred & Adele Astaire Awards in New York. Mark is currently on faculty for numerous tap dance festivals including DC Tap Fest, Jersey Tap Fest, OC Tap Fest, RIFF: Rhythm in Fusion Festival, and Taps Alive!

Somaya Reda grew up in Odenton, MD where she began dancing at the age of 3. By 12, she was training in Millersville, MD at Spotlight Studio of Dance. During her time at Spotlight, Somaya was trained in the McGovern Method. She continued to train with world renowned teachers and award winning choreographers in different styles of dance including jazz, ballet, contemporary, tap and lyrical. This included Master classes with Denise Wall, Travis Wall, Rasta Thomas, Stacey Tookey, Destini Rogers and Ivan Koumaev, to name a few. Under the tutelage of Spotlight Artistic Director, Winnette McGovern, Somaya won numerous regional and national competition titles and scholarships, including Miss Dance of the United States (USTD) and Miss Dance Educators of America (DEA).

After graduating high school in 2012, Somaya continued her dance studies at Point Park University Conservatory of Performing Arts with a concentration in jazz. During her 4 years in Pittsburgh, PA, Somaya found her passion for teaching, choreographing and training young dancers for a career in the professional world. In September 2016, Somaya became an NBA dancer for the Cleveland Cavalier Girls Dance Team for the 2016-2017 season. While volunteering and being an ambassador to the community, she continued teaching and choreographing in Cleveland, OH. Somaya has been awarded choreography awards, while her students have won numerous technical and performance awards. She has also served as a judge and teacher for dance competitions and conventions. Somaya is so excited to currently be back in her home state of Maryland training young dancers.

A Baltimore native, Christina began her training in 2000 with White Marsh Ballet Academy under the instruction of Sandra Harris and Shari Bickel. In 2012, Christina was accepted into George Washington Carver Center for Arts for dance and technology. There she was a part of Inertia Dance Company from 2014-2016 and danced in many modern works and ballets such as Petrushka and The Fire Bird. After graduating high school in 2016, Christina began dancing professionally with the Ballet Theatre of Maryland (BTM). While dancing with BTM, she danced in the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet and many more. Christina stopped dancing professionally in 2020, but still enjoys taking class and teaching her love of dance to her students!

Amanda began taking dance classes at 3 years old. Her formative years were spent almost entirely at The Dance Studio (Currently Jill Listi Dance Studio) in Lafayette, Louisiana. During those years, she also spent time training at Delta Festival Ballet in New Orleans and teaching for Ms. Jill at her studio. After high school, Amanda attained her bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wyoming and her master's degree in Space Systems Operations Management from Webster University. After college, Amanda began teaching again throughout the country and found a passion for teaching the next generation of dancers. Level feels like home to Amanda, and she feels fortunate to be a part of our dance family.

Amanda is also an AFAA certified group exercise instructor. You may find her teaching Les Mills BodyJam, Ujam and bungee fitness at local gyms.

Michelle started gymnastics at the age of 7 and became a competitive gymnast attending local, state, and regional championships. At the age of 13, she shifted to competitive dance. She trained and competed in ballet, jazz, lyrical, acro, tap and hip hop. In addition to competing in regional and national dance competitions, she also has performed in Walt Disney World and the Pro-Bowl halftime show in Hawaii. Throughout high school, Michelle taught a variety of dance classes at her dance studio on Long Island.

After graduating from high school, Michelle attended Penn State University where she was a member of the Penn State Orchesis dance company. She danced in and choreographed dances throughout her college years. After earning her undergraduate degree, she attended graduate school at the University of Maryland where she earned her Master’s in Education degree.

Michelle has always loved working with young children. She was a third grade teacher for 7 years and a staff development teacher for 8 years. She is currently a language acquisition teacher, working with students in kindergarten through fifth grades. She’s excited to combine her passion for dance with her love of teaching children.

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!