U.P.rootEDD:
A reimaginEDD week of dancing, grounding and self-care
August 2-9, 2025
Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts in Houghton, MI
Tuition: $700 with optional additional activities package add on $120
Experience the breathtaking natural beauty of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula while receiving some of the best instruction in the country in this reimaginEDD program!
Recharge your creativity. Rediscover yourself and your passions. Reignite your inner spark.
Acceptance into U.P.rootEDD is by audition ONLY. Click HERE for audition dates and requirements.
Ages 14+
Intermediate division/Advanced division
Eisenhower Dance Detroit is U.P.rooting and partnering with the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts in breathtaking Houghton, Michigan to offer one week of intensive training by the company’s artistic leadership and professional dancers. Held on the campus of Michigan Technological University, dancers from all over the country are invited to enjoy the beauty of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula while receiving some of the best instruction in the country.
The program will feature:
Classes in a variety of styles and disciplines
Ballet, contemporary, jazz, partnering, contemporary ballet, alignment, EDD repertory, choreography, etc.
Beach yoga, outdoor ropes courses, hikes, paddle boarding, guided improvisation by campfire, journaling and so much more!
Opportunities and free time to explore the beauty of the upper peninsula.
A family friendly summer vacation experience!
The program will close with a culminating performance and reception showcasing the intensive participants.
Lodging accommodations provided for an additional fee. Dancers under 18 years of age will be assigned a chaperone.
Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts
Photo courtesy of Michigan Technological University
Houghton, Michigan
Houghton, Michigan
U.P.rootEDD INFORMATION PACKET
U.P.rootEDD ACTIVITIES
Saturday, August 2: Orientation at McClain State Park- includes dinner
Sunday, August 3: Prospector's Tour, followed by a trip to Agate Beach
Monday, August 4: Kayaking and Paddle Boarding at Portage Paddle Sports
Tuesday, August 5: Boardwalk Yoga class with Allison Mills (Co-Owner of Fresh Coast Yoga)
Wednesday, August 6: Trip to Breakers
Thursday, August 7: Group led hike in South Range
Friday, August 8: Evening Restorative Yoga practice at Fresh Coast Yoga
U.P.rootEDD COMMUNITY MASTER CLASSES
Monday, August 4, 2025
Experience the philosophies and movement style of the professional contemporary dance company, Eisenhower Dance Detroit in a master class setting.
These classes are open to the public!
Ages 10-14 (Intermediate/Advanced level)
Ages 15+ (Intermediate/Advanced level)
Location: Superior School of Dance
417 Quincy St Room 411, Hancock, MI 49930
PURCHASE LUNCH
PURCHASE YOUR ACTIVITIES PACKAGE
REGISTER FOR U.P.rootEDD
If registering multiple students, please fill out separate registration forms.
*Upon registration, tuition is non-refundable.
At least one tuition payment MUST be made by April 15, in order to reserve your place within the program.
Holiday Inn Express Houghton-Keweenaw
August 2-9, 2025
EDD will have a designated staff member/chaperone housed on the hotel premises. All participants under the age of 18 will be assigned a chaperone.
Located on the beautiful Portage Canal
-8 minute (2.6 miles) drive to the Rozsa Center for Performing Arts
Amenities include:
Complimentary breakfast
Free Wifi
Laundry Facilities
Heated Pool, Hot Tub, Sauna
*If selecting a double room, you will be assigned a roommate or may submit a roommate request
**Hotel lodging fees are refundable, minus 3% processing fees, until JUNE 10, 2025
U.P.rootEDD FACULTY & STAFF
Click on the “+” to read about each member of our U.P.rootEDD faculty!
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Lillie Hamilton was raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan and graduated cum laude from Oakland University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. She took part in choreographic processes with Loni Landon, Stephanie Martinez, Stefanie Batten Bland, Mario Bermudez Gil, and Laurie Eisenhower to name a few. While at OU, she received the Outstanding Dance Performance MaTilDa award and had the privilege of studying dance abroad in Berlin, Germany at the Tanzfabrik and the Freie Universität. During her senior year at university, Lillie began as an apprentice with Eisenhower Dance Detroit under the direction of Stephanie Pizzo. Lillie’s favorite memory so far with EDD was their 5-week tour through Alaska in the fall of 2022. Throughout her time with the company, she has performed in repertory works by many acclaimed choreographers including but not limited to: Micaela Taylor, Tess Voelker, Tamisha Guy, Christian Denice, Norbert De La Cruz, Maleek Washington, Joshua Peugh, and WeWolf works. Lillie is looking forward to spending her 9th season with Eisenhower Dance Detroit.
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Isabella Marina Varon is a professional dancer and dance educator based in Detroit, Michigan. She has been a company artist with Eisenhower Dance Detroit since 2023, where she has worked closely with and performed works by a diverse range of choreographers, including Maxine Doyle, Tess Voelker, Yoshito Sakuraba, Christian Denice, Tamisha A. Guy, Rauf Yasit and James Gregg, Joshua Peugh, and Norbert De La Cruz III.
Most recently, Isabella performed principal roles in Rinaldo, directed by Louisa Proske at the Detroit Opera House, as well as in works by Sharon Eyal at Springboard Danse and Scott Jennings at the b12 Festival in Berlin.
Isabella earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College in 2020, with a concentration in ballet. Her training includes prestigious summer programs with American Ballet Theatre and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
Beyond performance, Isabella is passionate about dance education and mentorship. She regularly teaches ballet and contemporary techniques to pre-professional students across the Metro-Detroit area and provides college preparation guidance for aspiring dance majors. Her teaching experience spans colleges, intensives, and festivals nationwide. Isabella is currently on faculty at Viva Dance Company and Spotlight Dance Works. She is also the Off-Ice Training Director at the Detroit Skating Club and was the Associate Artistic Director of Young Dancers Initiative from 2022 to 2025.
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Originally from Miami, Florida, Meagan Cubides began her formal dance training at the Miami City Ballet School and later attended New World School of the Arts High School. In 2019, she graduated from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, where she had the opportunity to perform works by choreographers such as Alvin Ailey, Francesca Harper, Jamar Roberts, Adam Barruch, and Sidra Bell, among others.
During college, Meagan danced professionally with Ballet Hispánico Dos during their 2017–2018 season. She also trained at renowned summer programs including Arts Umbrella Dance, Bodytraffic, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Ballet Austin.
Following graduation, Meagan danced with Visceral Dance Chicago for four seasons. She is currently in her third season with Eisenhower Dance Detroit and also serves as a teaching artist for the School of Eisenhower. In addition to her performance career, Meagan is a certified personal trainer at the Detroit Athletic Club.
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Allison Mills is an RYT 200 yoga instructor at Fresh Coast Yoga who has taught dance for more than 15 years. She teaches modern, ballet, and raqs sharqi-inspired classes at the Superior School of Dance. Allison also runs a vegetable and flower farm with her partner in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Her yoga practice has guided her through multiple illnesses and injuries, including two surgeries, and she believes that all bodies deserve happiness, care, and freedom. Her classes tend to be sweaty, reflective, and nourishing.
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NewDANCEfest and U.P.rootEDD Director, EDD Director of Operations
Ms. Chirio-Humenay graduated with a BA in Dance from Oakland University and joined EDD as a company dancer in 2012. From 2012-2020, she had the pleasure of touring, teaching, and performing with EDD. In 2018, through EDD’s Beyond the Stage Initiative, she was promoted to Company Manager and currently serves as EDD’s Director of Operations. Wearing many hats within the organization, Ms. Chirio-Humenay teaches at The School of EDD and directs several of the projects and programming EDD has to offer including the annual intensives: NewDANCEfest, The EDD Intensive, and the Winter Intensive. She is responsible for national booking and coordination of in-studio workshops, known as The EDD Experience, as well as educational and choreographic residency programs for school systems from elementary to college level. Ms. Chirio-Humenay also manages EDD’s EducatEDD programs which provide high quality educational materials and resources from knowledgeable and experienced professionals to the public and the dance community. A few of these programs include EDD’s monthly Pro-Tips, High School Dance Table Talks, and most recently An Insider’s Guide to Contemporary Dance online course.
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Christina Tasco, BHS, MES, is the Finance and co-Business Manager of Eisenhower Dance Detroit and danced professionally with the company from 1997-2004. During her time with EDD, she has held various positions within the organization including Company Member, Teaching Artist, Student Company Director as well as Director of Education and Outreach, where she managed the company’s Rochester studio and helped to open and direct two additional locations in Birmingham and West Bloomfield. Today, Ms. Tasco continues to work for EDD both administratively and as a teaching artist/choreographer.
Throughout her career, Ms. Tasco has taught numerous master classes and residencies across the state and country. She has choreographed for and taught within a variety of studios, school districts, universities and special events including various fundraisers, musicals, and after school programs.
In addition to her position at Eisenhower Dance Detroit, Ms. Tasco is a special lecturer at Oakland University where she has been on faculty since 2002. She teaches several technique courses as well as Kinesiology, Dance History and Appreciation, and Dance Production. At the university, she received the Most Inspirational Professor award in both 2014 and 2015 and was nominated for a Teaching Excellence Award in 2016. In 2018, Christina received the Order of the Plume for igniting “inspiration within the students.”
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Eisenhower Dance Detroit Artistic Director, Stephanie Pizzo, joined the company as a founding member in 1991. At various points in her dance career with EDD, she served as Resident Choreographer, Associate Artistic Director, and Co-Artistic Director. Ms. Pizzo now leads the company into her 6th season as Artistic Director. She focuses on collaborating with the highest quality national and international artists and creating strong ties within the metro Detroit community through the art of dance. Her recent dance for film work, The Five Tangos, inspired by the music of Astor Piazzolla and created in collaboration with the Detroit Institute of Art and Zazu Creative Studio, featured each contemporary tango danced in an iconic Detroit location.
Ms. Pizzo also believes in educational programming and youth mentorship as key tools to develop community connection. She works to use the art of contemporary dance both as a means to present beautiful, athletic, and engaging repertory and as a vehicle to reflect on and explore issues of social significance. She has set her choreography at Illinois State University, Texas A & M University, and Wesleyan University, along with having staged numerous works by Laurie Eisenhower on companies and universities throughout the United States. Her work has been presented in Tel Aviv as part of Eisenhower Dance Detroit’s production of The Light Show, at international dance festivals in Poland, and most recently on the Inside/Out Stage at Jacob’s Pillow. A native of Clinton Township, Michigan, Ms. Pizzo holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Oakland University. In 2009, she received a Distinguished Alumni or “MaTilDa” award from the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance. She served as a special lecturer in dance at Oakland University for 12 years. Ms. Pizzo set new choreography for Texas Christian University and Texas A & M University in February, 2022.
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Jill Grundstrom is the Artistic Director, Assistant Department Head, and an Associate Professor in Northern Michigan University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. She is also the Artistic Director for the Wildcat Performing Arts Academy. Jill holds a B.S. and Ed.S. from NMU, a M.A. from New York University, and is presently a Doctoral Candidate at Columbia University in New York City with current research focused on dance-related injuries and rehabilitation. She has completed course work and certifications in dance medicine and is certified in the Luigi Jazz Technique, American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum, is a Certified FLX Conditioning Specialist, and a Hamrick Method Master Trainer. Jill has been teaching dance professionally for over 25 years and has choreographed over 30 full-length musical and dance productions in New York City, Los Angeles, Italy, and throughout Michigan, including a full-length, original ballet, East of the Sun, West of the Moon (NMU). She also choreographed an independent feature-length film, Our State Fair. She has previously worked with American Ballet Theatre and Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance and performed professionally in the Midwest, New York, and Los Angeles.
U.P.rootEDD 2023
Scroll through the gallery below to gain a feel for the U.P.rootEDD experience and relive the excitement of our first year bringing our signature summer programming to Michigan’s scenic Upper Peninsula.
Eisenhower Dance Detroit graciously thanks our partners for their generous support in making U.P.rootEDD a success.
QUESTIONS ABOUT U.P.rootEDD?
Email EDD Director of Operations, Lindsay Chirio-Humenay, for more information or questions regarding our summer intensives.