"Our passion is in teaching the fun and joy of the art of dance and pairing it with high-quality choreography, experienced instructors, and a fun, supportive environment our students can be themselves in!"
Growing up in the dance industry we never could have imagined we would be living the dream of studio owners, working with our students and choreographers to put on such an extensive production! As sisters, we have always been collaborative and supportive with each other and now we get to share it all with you.
We’d like to thank Cory and Alfredo Fragoso- Gram for all their guidance and support these last few years, as we transitioned the business and for all their teachings since the day we met. We are extremely proud of what we’ve created along with our talented faculty . It has been the experience of a lifetime! A special thank you to our dance families for sharing your children with us and trusting us to provide a vulnerable , safe space for them to grow and create.
Carly Puffenbarger is one of the studio owners at BC Dance . Carly started competitive dance at the age of five years old. She has studied in all genres of dance, but her true passion has always been tap. At BC Dance she finally realized that her dreams of tapping professionally were within reach under the right masterful teachers. At the age 13, Miss Puffenbarger was the first student to join the Teaching Assistant Program at the conservatory. She did not just excel but flourished in the program and soon became one of the teaching faculty several years later. She has had the professional opportunity to perform with Sole Talk Youth Tap Company in Los Angeles and to train with the world renowned ,all female performance troupe, The Syncopated Ladies, founded by Chloe and Maud Arnold. Training with the Syncopated Ladies has been the opportunity of a lifetime for her and she continues growing her knowledge of tap each month. Carly has also studied with Sarah Reich at Tap Music Project in the summer of 2019. She learned how to expand on her knowledge of dance by learning how to intertwine music and dance in the most beautiful ways. A big part of Miss Puffenbarger’s life has been training with Zachary Kelley’s Tap company, Tap’d Out for the past three years. This summer, she willl be touring Europe as Tap’d out performs at many different venues across the world. In 2024, Carly hopes to compete in the tap world championships alongside many of her teammates . What she loves most about these experiences is not only how much they influence her dancing, but how they grant her the opportunity to share this knowledge with her students. Carly looks forward to the coming year at BC Dance, enriching the young artists in the arts and taking the dance genre of tap to new heights
Studio Co-Owner Madison Puffenbarger grew up as a competitive dancer in the Tucson area and began her studies at BC Dance when the studio opened in 2014. Throughout her high school years she trained in the BC Dance Pre-Professional program. Madison performed in various soloist roles from The Nutcracker like the Snow Queen, Dew Drop from Waltz of the Flowers, Arch Angel, Spanish and Mirlatons as well as all other corps de ballet parts. She was the Emerald Jewel in Sleeping Beauty, danced in Paquita and La Bayadere staged by Lorin Mathis, as a Willi from Giselle, staged by Dr. Jessica Zeller and as Griselda the Stepsister in Cinderella. Puffenbarger has performed modern works from Norman Walker in Daughters of Eve, and Shelly Hawkins in Poeiades. In the summer of 2017 Madison trained at the Perry Mansfield School for Performing Arts working with Eliza Clark, Loni Landon, Erika Pujic, Gabriel Williams, Antonio Brown, Ilana Goldman, Christopher Compton and Tamara Dyke-Compton. She’s summered extensively with the Muse Experience under the founding director Jessica Starr. She’s performed with artists like Katie Hazard, Ian Chubb, Hailey Hoffman, Matt Fata, Cameron Willie, Ryan Lohoff, Sienna Lyons, Boi Boi and Andye J. in Los Angeles. Her depth of experience has given Miss Puffenbarger a higher perspective and vision. She began teaching assisting at the conservatory at only 14 years and choreographing extensively for the competitive division. Her choreography has platinum-ed and placed at competitions like New York City Dance Alliance against some of the toughest competitors in the United States. Upon graduating high school she was accepted to multiple premier collegiate dance programs, however after becoming a co-owner of the conservatory she decided to focus her passion and knowledge into the students at BC Dance.
Renowned teacher, choreographer, and arts administrator, Mr. Walker studied Dance with Gertrude Shurr, May O’Donnell, Martha Graham, Robert Joffrey, Valentina Pereyslavic, Nala Najan, and many others. He has taught for the O’Donnell-Shurr Studio, Bathsheba and Bat-Dor Companies, New Zealand School of Dance, Ballet Philippines, H. S. Of Performing Arts in NYC, Utah State Univ., Butler University, and was Chair of Performing Arts at Adelphi University. He has taught all over the world. Mr. Walker was Artistic Director of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and School, was chosen as Dancer of the Month for Dance Magazine, is listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, and in Who’s Who in America.
As a dancer he was the lead dancer in his own company and with May O’Donnell Dance Company. He has appeared or was guest artist with Yurok and Guest Artists, Pearl Lang and Company, Pauline Koner and Company, Boston Ballet, Ballet Philippines, among others.
Mr. Walker and his partner, Cora Cahan, have appeared as Guest Artists with the Shreveport Symphony, the New Orleans Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic Symphony. He has restaged several works of Ted Shawn for a number of companies as well as dancing Shawn’s roles.
As a choreographer of over 245 ballets and modern dance pieces, from major solos to full-evening works he has created works for such companies as Norman Walker Dance Company, Joffrey Ballet, Harkness Ballet, Ballet Philippines, Bathsheba and Bat-Dor Companies, Boston Ballet, Dance Kaleidoscope, Adelphi Dance Theatre, Dennis Wayne’s Dancers, National Ballet of China, and many more internationally.
Reyman-Hughes was born in New York City, where she began her dance training at the age of fifteen. She trained with Istvan Rabovsky and at the American Ballet Theatre School with Valentina Pereyslavic, Olga Merinowa, and Patricia Wilde.
In 1977 she began her professional career with Dennis Wayne’s Dancers in NYC. Over the course of her twenty-two year performing career she also danced as a principal dancer with Cleveland/San Jose Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Dayton Ballet and Ohio Ballet under the direction of Ian Horvath & Dennis Nahat, Robert Barnett, Dermot Burke, and Jeffrey Graham Hughes respectively. She also performed as a guest artist with small companies in the United States.
An artist recognized for her versatility, Ms. Reyman-Hughes has danced a range of roles, including Tzarina, Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop, Dying Swan, Giselle, Juliet, Lizzie Borden in deMilles’s Fall River Legend, Emilia in Limon’s Moor’s Pavane, the Partisan in Jooss’ The Green Table, The Woman in His Past in Tudor’s Lilac Garden, Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother in Holder’s Cinderella. She danced principal roles in an extensive Balanchine repertoire including Tarantella, Square Dance, Minkus Pas de Trois, Agon, Apollo, Serenade, Four Temperaments and Nutcracker. Ms. Reyman-Hughes has also performed in works by Butler, Van Dantzig, Lubovitch, Byrd, Arpino, Flindt, Falco, Louis, Fokine, Massine, Nault and many others, including her husband Jeffrey Hughes. In 1990, she performed in Scotland at the Edinburgh Festival in Flemming Flindt’s The Overcoat with Rudolf Nureyev. As a principal dancer with Cleveland/San Jose Ballet, she had many roles created for her by Artistic Directors Dennis Nahat and Ian Horvath. She has also participated as a dancer in New Steps, a choreographic workshop in Ohio and in Festival of Life, a benefit for children and adults with AIDS in Atlanta.
Ms. Reyman-Hughes was ballet mistress for Ohio Ballet, interim ballet mistress for Hong Kong Ballet, and was on the staff of the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts. She has guest taught throughout the U.S. and has choreographed two chamber ballets that have been performed in Ohio and Switzerland. Locally, Ms. Reyman-Hughes has taught at Ballet Arts in Tucson and briefly worked as a part-time ballet mistress for Ballet Tucson. Most recently she worked as Co Artistic Director of Tucson Regional Ballet for the past 9 1/2 years. She has also choreographed a number of ballets for Academy of Ballet and Tucson Regional Ballet and restaged all classical ballets for TRB including Paquita, La Bayadere, Act II Swan Lake and Giselle, among others. For the summers of 2015-2017, she was a guest teacher for Orlando Ballet School’s summer intensive. She is also a certified Gyrotonic® Expansion System Level I Instructor.
Ms. Reyman-Hughes is grateful to the many teachers who have inspired her throughout her career and would especially like to thank Maggie Black, Alonzo King, and Wilhelm Burmann.
Tucson native, Whitney Kimmel began dancing at the age of 5 and joined competitive dancing at the age of 8. She was classically trained by our founder Cory Fragoso-Gram along with Tammy Dyke-Compton & Elizabeth George of the University of Arizona for most of her time studying the disciplines of ballet, jazz, lyrical, tap and acrobatics. In BC Dance’s first year, Whitney joined the company as a senior before moving to New Mexico State University for college. While she pursued her collegiate studies, Whitney was the captain of NMSU’s pom team, The Sundancers, for 3 of the 4 and became a 3 time All American. In her tenure she became an instructor, choreographer and technique coach. Her team performed at many prestigious events including the NFL halftime show and March Madness. Throughout Whitney’s competitive career she won several titles and awards including 3 time All-American. During this time she had the benefit of working with many reputable choreographers in the industry including Sonya Tayeh, Mandy Moore, Andy Pellick, Suzi Taylor and Tony Testa. She was highly regarded and won multiple awards. As our newest addition to the BC Dance Faculty, Whitney brings not only incredible talent but a depth of knowledge in classical training in multiple genres. She is looking forward to working with our dancers to develop and refine their skills, preparing them to chase their passion for dance and support them throughout their dance journey.
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