DancEast Youth Ensemble
The Program
For many years DancEast Collective has been offering young dancers opportunities to learn from professional choreographers and improve their technique and performance skills outside of their usual classes. In line with our mission, this season we extended an opportunity to the wider Nashville community, giving dancers from across the city the chance to participate in the process and work with exceptional choreographers. This year, we are pleased to welcome Asia Pyron, Amanda Reichert, and Mollie Sansone as guest choreographers. You can learn more about each of these incredible choreographers below.
The Audition
The 2025-2026 audition will be held on Saturday, September 20th and is open to all dancers ages 9-18 with previous dance experience who are ready to commit to rehearsals and be part of this exciting production! Choreographers will create 3-4 original pieces for the show on Saturday, February 28th, and all dancers can expect to be cast in at least one piece!
The Performance
Our 2026 Youth Ensemble performance will be held on Saturday, February 28th, at 4th Story Theatre.
The Cost
The cost for one dancer to participate in the DancEast Youth Ensemble varies based on involvement level. Fees help DancEast Collective pay choreographers and cover production costs such as costumes, venue rental, sound, and lighting. We never want cost to prevent a dancer from participating, so we offer need-based scholarships for the program. We are committed to honoring every scholarship application we receive and providing the financial support needed to ensure that every dancer who wants to be a part of the program will be able to join in the excitement.
Your Support
Join us in empowering the next generation of dance talent! We're working to secure scholarship opportunities for our DancEast Youth Ensemble, and each contribution helps us reach that goal. Whether large or small, your tax-deductible contribution directly supports aspiring young dancers in our Nashville community, helping them pursue their artistic dreams and develop their skills.
Meet the 2025-2026 Choreographers
Asia Pyron is a freelance choreographer and the director of PYDANCE. Asia is originally from Atlanta, GA but received most of her early training at Interlochen Arts Academy in Northern Michigan. After graduating highschool, Asia attended the Boston Conservatory at Berklee where she received her B.F.A. in Contemporary Performance and Composition in 2020. During her time in Boston, she formed her dance collective, PYDANCE, and performed in local dance festivals such as the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Onstage360, and the Boston Conservatory WinterWorks concerts. Upon arriving in Nashville, Pyron acknowledged the lack of professional dance opportunities and realized Nashville needed PYDANCE to help build a sustainable dance environment for the community. PYDANCE partners with local businesses and unconventional venues such as restaurants, museums, and parks to bring dance to more diverse audiences.
PYDANCE has received grants and residencies such as the Brave New Works Lab with Oz Arts Nashville, the Metro Arts THRIVE Grant, South Arts Cross Sector Impact Grant in partnership with Creative Parks Nashville, South Arts Express Grant in partnership with Kindling Arts Festival, Mare Nostrum Elements: Emerging Choreographers Series, and the Animata Arts Residency. With eleven organizational partnerships, weekly community dance classes, and three original productions, PYDANCE celebrates five years of bringing more professional employment and concert dance exposure to Nashville. Asia has been commissioned as a guest artist at institutions and companies such as the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Nolte Academy, DanceLab NY, and URBANITY. Asia currently resides in Nashville, TN, where she continues to create work for PYDANCE and other dance organizations throughout the country.
Amanda Reichert is a freelance dancer and choreographer originally from Lawrence, KS. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance from Chapman University, where she was recognized as the Donna Cucunato award winner for outstanding contribution to dance. She has since worked as a freelance artist in both New York City and Nashville, collaborating on projects with Holly Johnston, Mike Esperanza, Suku Dance Lab, Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup, and MersihaMesihovic/CircuitDebris, among others, and credits the artists she has danced with along the way for both brief and deep influence on her creative process.
She has presented work for the Young Choreographer's Festival at Symphony Space and Center for Performance Research in NYC, the Kindling Arts Festival,
The Barbershop Theater, and COOP Gallery in Nashville, TN, at Festival Nómada in El Salvador, and b12 Dance Festival in Berlin. She is a recipient of a Metro Arts THRIVE award and is currently collaborating with Metro Parks Dance Division and Animata Arts alongside Sarah Salim and Kathryn Wilkening to help curate residency opportunities for artists in Middle Tennessee. She is also a co-founding member of the Garage Collective, a Nashville-based improvisation group.
MOLLIE SANSONE began her ballet training in North Carolina with Melissa Hale-Coyle, Claudia Folts, Lisa Leone, Mel Tomlinson, Rebecca Massey, Patricia McBride, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, and Maniya Barredo. During the summers, she attended the Joffrey Midwest Workshop, the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory, and Atlanta Ballet. Sansone’s career began with Nashville Ballet in the summer of 2004. During her nineteen-year tenure, she performed works by choreographers such as Paul Vasterling, Jirí Kylián, George Balanchine, Christopher Bruce, Salvatore Aiello, Val Caniparoli, Cathy Marston, Jennifer Archibald, Gina Patterson, Stephen Mills, Christopher Stuart, and Matthew Neenan. Her most notable lead roles include Juliet in Vasterling’s Romeo and Juliet, Lizzie in Vasterling’s Lizzie Borden, the Survivor in Mills’ Light, The Chosen One in Aiello’s Right of Spring, the Turning Girl in Balanchine’s Who Cares?, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Dew Drop Fairy in Vasterling’s Nashville’s Nutcracker, and Mattie in Marston’s Snowblind.
Sansone was a School of Nashville Ballet part-time faculty member since 2005. She also taught for Nashville Ballet 2 and the main company. Sansone premiered her first original choreographic work in 2019 titled Mash the Pigeon for Nashville Ballet 2. For the main company, she choreographed works such as Bootleg Sugar Lips, and Fortitudine, among others. She was also commissioned by Chattanooga Ballet to choreograph a new work titled Élégiaque. Once she was titled the Resident Choreographer of Nashville Ballet in 2022, Sansone choreographed an excerpt for Vasterling’s collaboration titled Anthology. She then choreographed for the short film titled Wild Swans, also produced by Vasterling. In the summer of 2023, she attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts’ Choreographic Institute. Her most recent work with Nashville Ballet, titled Speak, premiered in their 2024 Attitude series.
Sansone performed with North Carolina’s former MOTION Dance Theater, where she danced original works choreographed by Nick Kepley, Gabrielle Lamb, and James Gregg. In 2013, she was the recipient of the Individual Artist Fellowship awarded by the Tennessee Arts Commission. She also set Vasterling’s Cinderella on Sacramento Ballet. As an actor, Sansone performed the role of Louise in Carousel with Asheville Lyric Opera, and West Side Story with Studio Tenn. She also performed in and acted as the assistant choreographer for Studio Tenn’s Cabaret.
