Lisa Genn

Point Volunteer

Lisa Genn is excited to be able to combine her passion for dance with her commitment to community service.  She was a performer and choreographer in both her high school and college dance companies and has studied a wide array of dance forms, from hip-hop to jazz, from belly dancing to ballroom.  Lisa's other past and present volunteer work includes working to develop conflict resolution skills with at-risk youth through Columbia's Peace Games program, serving as a certified counselor on an anonymous crisis hotline, teaching legal research skills to prisoners throughout the New York metropolitan area, and volunteering with the All Stars Project and the East Institute to help create opportunities for development through play and performance to New York City's poor and minority residents.  She graduated summa cum laude from Columbia in 2002 and worked for a year as an assistant editor at Foreign Affairs magazine.  Lisa graduated with honors from the NYU School of Law in May 2006 and has practiced law in the private and public sectors.  Lisa joined the Board of Directors in 2005 and currently serves as HOTR's President of the Board.

Lauren Humm Fakete

Point Volunteer

Lauren is the Lead Teacher for House of the Roses Volunteer Dance Company. She is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who became a New Yorker and HOTR volunteer in September, 2008.  She graduated cum laude from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia with a B.A. in Dance and a B.A. in Political Theory and Law. She received her training from Lionville School of Dance and The Wilmington Ballet Company. She is currently performing with Push Factor Dance Company and CheckIt Dance Company, as well as pursuing her own choreographic endeavors.  She is grateful to have been given the opportunity to lead HOTR in a labor of her two loves - dance and helping others.

Betty Hurley

Point Volunteer

Betty traveled growing up, living in Texas, Clagary, Canada, and spending her formative years in Aberdeen, Scotland. Througout her years of travel and experiencing new cities and cultures, one thing stayed consistent: her love and dedication to dance. In college, at SUNY Geneseo, she graduated with a major in Psychology and minor in Dance. Upon moving to NYC in 2008, she fell in love with Yoga and has since become certified to teach Bikram, Jivamukti, and Hatha Yoga. Betty joined House of the Roses as a volunteer in 2015 in an effort to combine her training in Dance, Yoga and Psychology and help serve her community, and spread her love for dance and children. She is inspired, weekly, by the kids in her center, by their dancing skills and their sweet hearts.

Abi Kerns

Abi Kerns became a member of the House of the Roses in 2016. As a volunteer teaching artist she assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers.

Samantha Muzzulin

Samantha Muzzulin became a member of the House of the Roses in 2016. As a volunteer teaching artist she assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers.

Kira Bucca

Kira Bucca is a fashion, beauty, advertising and photojournalistic photographer based in NYC, but can be seen shooting all over the world. She is known for her moody iconic editorial style, that pulls thew viewer into the image and celebrates its frozen moment in time.When she isn't taking pretty pictures, she is a performing and competing pole dancer and acrobat. While she isn't able to share pole dancing with her HOTR kids, she is excited to be very involved in all forms of dance and to be able to share the different forms with her kids. She is also happily turning into the default HOTR photographer.

Lisa Zhang

Lisa became a member of the House of the Roses in January, 2017. As a volunteer teaching artist she assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers.

Michael Newman

Michael Newman became a member of the House of the Roses in 2016. As a volunteer teaching artist he assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers. 

Ammon Dennis

Originally from Lodi, CA, Ammon Dennis graduated in 1998 with a BA in Dance from Naropa University in Boulder, CO. In New York, he studied with Douglas Boulivar, Marjorie Mussman, Rachel List, and Jana Hicks, and danced for Christopher Caines, John Passafiume, Covenant Ballet Theatre, and Sue Bernhardt, among others. Besides volunteering with HOTR, Ammon is section hiking the Long Path, kayaking the Hudson, meditating, and attempting always to be as authentic as possible.

Jenny Lin

Jenny became a member of the House of the Roses in 2018. As a volunteer teaching artist she assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers.

Laurel Casillo

Laurel is a professional actress living and working in NYC. She grew up studying dance and graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a degree in Theater Performance in 2007. She has performed in plays on Broadway and in many regional houses. She is so thrilled to have the opportunity to volunteer for House of the Roses! She became a teaching artist for the organization in 2017. Working with these inspirational kids combines her love of dance with her love of teaching. It is the highlight of every week to share time, space and creativity with her fellow teachers and their amazing students!

Caryn Williams

Caryn became a member of the House of the Roses in 2015. As a volunteer teaching artist she assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers.

Batel Blechter

Batel was born in Eastern Europe and raised in Israel where she began to dance and practice martial arts at a young age. She has performed and competed in various styles of dance including classical, aerobic, jazz, and hip hop. She currently focuses on ballroom dancing with her fiance who is also her partner- in particular Salsa and Argentinian Tango. Batel holds a masters degree from Columbia University in Statistics and currently work as a researcher at NYU's School  of Medicine. She is inspired by HOTR's mission and enjoys sharing her love for dance with communities around NYC.

Tara Picaro

Tara became a member of the House of the Roses in 2017. As a volunteer teaching artist she assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers.

Lashauna Flowers

Lashauna has been passionate about the arts her entire life. She worked behind the scenes as a costume designer for 10 years in NYC. She currently teaches Dance at Success Academies Charter School and is a certified Bolly X fitness instructor. She has a BFA from Syracuse University and a MA in Education from Touro College.

Stephanie Kaplan

Stephanie Kaplan became a member of the House of the Roses in 2016. As a volunteer teaching artist she assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers.

Amanda Ostrove

Amanda became a member of the House of the Roses in 2017. As a volunteer teaching artist she assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers.

Luísa Righeto

Luisa is a Brazilian contemporary, modern, ballet dancer and a dance teacher. She graduated in Dance (Bachelor and Teaching) at University Anhembi Morumbi (UAM), São Paulo/Brazil – 2012; and she completed the Teacher Training Program at Martha Graham School, New York/USA - Spring 2016. At Graham School she had the opportunity to create/choreography two pieces (a solo and a group piece) named “Tempo” and “Transit.” In Brazil, she danced for Simone Forti’s work at 30th Bienal de Artes de São Paulo, Caleidos Dance Company, Cia Danças Jovem, Ícaro Dance Company, and she participated in 3 video arts. She worked in the office for São Paulo Dance Company (SPCD) with the departments of Communication, Dance Education, Memory Registry and Costume Preparation. As a teacher, she worked with kids and beginner adults teaching ballet and creative dance in Brazil. She also did a volunteer work for Clube dos Paraplégicos teaching dance for disabled people. With the OPT approved, she could start working in New York teaching for kids at Super Kickers, at House of the Roses, at Olympic Ballroom and at Girafas Play & Learn. 

Monica Pereira

Monica became a member of the House of the Roses in 2017. As a volunteer teaching artist she assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers.

José Lopez

Jose is a first-generation Mexican-American from Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of Hunter College with a BA in English Lit – he decided to leverage that in pursuit of his Masters in Education in order to give back to the city that gave so much to him. Currently an ELA teacher for the DOE, he brings to his students (both from HOTR and his own classroom) an ear they can relate to. Not a dancer by any means, he still enjoys volunteering with HOTR and positively influencing the next generation of New Yorkers.

Chiara Arcidy

Point Volunteer

Chiara Arcidy graduated from Columbia University in 2010 with a degree in Psychology. She is currently earning a masters degree in Elementary Education and Special Education at Teachers College at Columbia University. This is her fourth year volunteering with HOTR and she is the Point Volunteer for Mercy Center in the Bronx. Chiara’s experience with HOTR has significantly impacted her life and has encouraged her to develop her skills as a teacher. Chiara has a background in dance, and musical theatre and has been active in these communities since the age of two and never wants to stop! She is loving every minute spent with her kids!

Stephanie Chow

Point Volunteer

Stephanie is the Point Volunteer at the East River Center in East Harlem. She is originally from upstate New York where she started dance class at five-years-old. She continued to take ballet, jazz, tap, and hip-hop classes through her high school years, and eventually joined the Villanova Dance Company when attending Villanova University outside of Philadelphia. After graduating, she eventually made her way to Manhattan and became an HOTR Volunteer in 2012 after being drawn to combining her love of dance with volunteering with kids.

Maria Rivera

Dance/Movement Therapist in Residence

Maria “Mara” Rivera is a dancer, educator, and licensed dance/movement therapist living in New York and who has acquired extensive experience working with children and adults with behavioral and emotional issues. Maria offers clinical supervision to creative art therapist students from different academic institutions and serves as Clinical Supervisor for various non-for-profit organizations such as The House of the Roses and Crossing Points Arts. Maria is currently a faculty member at Queens College and Pratt Institute, where she teaches introductory courses in dance/movement therapy, as well as ethical practice and multicultural competency respectively. Most recently, Maria joined the House of the Roses family as the Dance/Movement Therapist in residence by providing support to point volunteers on how to apply different behavioral therapeutic tools and address the emotional needs of our children participants.

Tess Manning

Point Volunteer

Tess Manning is a veteran teacher and secretary board member for House of the Roses. She is a native Houstonian trained in many forms of dance, although her favorites are jazz, hip hop, and modern.  Tess danced her restless feet on up to the big city to attend New York University and graduated with an Honors B.A. in  International Relations. She now works in technology start ups, including Sailthru and Timehop. Searching for the perfect combination of working with children and letting loose with dance, Tess found HOTR 6 years ago and never looked back - she absolutely loves the unique outreach of HOTR. She loves every minute of this beautiful and joyful organization!

Marisa Femia

Point Volunteer

Marisa is a native New Yorker who joined the HOTR team in February 2015. A lifelong dancer, she earned her B.A. in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College and is currently pursuing her M.S. in Dance/Movement Therapy at Pratt Institute. Aside from dancing with her HOTR students every week, Marisa also teaches at a local studio in Queens. She firmly believes that the arts serve as a creative outlet with healing potential for people of all ages and abilities. And what better way to combine her love for dance and helping others than House of the Roses!

Juan Ospina Londoño

Juan Camilo Ospina Londoño is a Colombian born American Citizen currently residing in Jersey City, NJ. He is a licensed landscape architect who graduated from City College of New York in 2002 with a Bachelor of Architecture in Landscape Architecture. Juan is also a Capoeira Instructor for Carioca Capoeira Group out of NYC. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that involves self defense mixed with dance and music. He is currently teaching Capoeira for the Houses of Roses. Juan is also an artist who loves painting as a hobby.

Danielle Mumpower

Danielle Mumpower is a dancer and actress in NYC. She is originally from Bristol, VA and has been loving the city for four years now. Currently, Danielle is a resident artist with Improbable Stage Company, where she focuses on creating new works based on theatre movement and storytelling. Over the last four years, Danielle performed all over the five boroughs and throughout the east coast. Danielle joined House of the Roses in the fall of 2016, and she is in love! She is thrilled to combine her love for dance and movement, as well as her compassion for people into such a wonderful and rewarding company.

Graam Liu

A passionate musician, dancer, and filmmaker, Graam joined the House of The Roses as a volunteer teaching artist in Fall 2017. He discovered dance just over two years ago through the Piel Canela Dance School, and quickly became passionate about Latin social dancing: bachata, zouk, tango, and more! He also works and studies at the tango school Strictly Tango NYC. As a pianist of over 20 years and a Steinway Educational Partner, he is inspired by how music can emotionally and literally move people. It is his mission to continue learning and to spread the love of dance to all people.

Lauren Gill

Lauren grew up in a suburb of Boston and spent most of her days taking (and later teaching) ballet, tap, jazz, and hip hop classes at her local dance studio before heading off to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. After getting a psychology degree, she became a Teach for America corps member in  D.C. and imparted Earth Science knowledge on her 6th-grade students while getting a masters degree in curriculum and instruction. Now Lauren is the Director of Talent at Venture for America, where she helps connect aspiring entrepreneurs with opportunities to make an impact. Lauren has been volunteering with HOTR since 2014, and seeing the kiddos' smiling faces and silly moves every Wednesday is an absolute highlight of her week. 

Xueni Yang

Xueni Yang is from Beijing China who is studying filmmaking at Sarah Lawrence College. She began serious Chinese dance training when she was four years old and began to study contemporary dance after studying abroad in America. She has participated in many performances in China and toured in the United Kingdom and Greece. Xueni loves to decipher human emotions and help to make stronger connections between individuals through visual storytelling. As she aims to combine dance and film into my creative work, HOTR is a great opportunity for Xueni to fulfill her passion for dance and share her experience with children.

Carolyn Alaimo

Carolyn became a member of House of the Roses in October, 2017. She grew up in Westchester, NY and currently resides and works in Manhattan.  As a volunteer teaching artist she assists with leading free, weekly dance and movement classes in one of our New York City area partner centers

Kim Renfro

Kim Renfro is a California transplant currently living in New York City. She began taking dance classes at age 9 after teaching herself moves from Britney Spears' latest videos. Her dance education continued into high school, where she was the captain of El Molino's Dance Company. Kim graduated with a Bachelor's in Cultural Anthropology from CUNY: Hunter, and now works as a culture reporter for digital media site Tech Insider. 

Victoria Shadle

Point Volunteer

Victoria Shadle, originally from Central Pennsylvania, is now a proud Queens resident and House of the Roses volunteer. Professionally she works at the School of American Ballet as the Assistant to the Executive Director/Board Liaison and is an Advisory Board Member of the National Dance Education Organization. In the past she has worked at the New York City Ballet and was a summer intern at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and Dance/USA. Victoria graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Hofstra University with departmental honors in Dance. Beyond the dance world, Victoria enjoys trying new restaurants, road trips, and watching cheesy Christmas movies. 

Lisa Genn

President

Lisa Genn is excited to be able to combine her passion for dance with her commitment to community service.  She was a performer and choreographer in both her high school and college dance companies and has studied a wide array of dance forms, from hip-hop to jazz, from belly dancing to ballroom.  Lisa's other past and present volunteer work includes working to develop conflict resolution skills with at-risk youth through Columbia's Peace Games program, serving as a certified counselor on an anonymous crisis hotline, teaching legal research skills to prisoners throughout the New York metropolitan area, and volunteering with the All Stars Project and the East Institute to help create opportunities for development through play and performance to New York City's poor and minority residents.  She graduated summa cum laude from Columbia in 2002 and worked for a year as an assistant editor at Foreign Affairs magazine.  Lisa graduated with honors from the NYU School of Law in May 2006 and has practiced law in the private and public sectors.  Lisa joined the Board of Directors in 2005 and currently serves as HOTR's President of the Board.

Peipei Zhou

Director

Born in Shanghai, schooled in Austin, lived in London, and relocated from San Francisco, Peipei Zhou is thrilled to be a Manhattanite.  Even more thrilling is her enthusiasm for HOTR, because children and dancing are two of her favorite things.  Trained in Hip Hop, Salsa, Modern and Jazz, Peipei enjoys all forms of the Arts.  She has performed in Fringe festivals, sat on the board of directors for the Know Theatre, recorded commentaries for NPR and held photo exhibits.  When not sowing rhythm with her steps, Peipei leads a global sales team at Facebook.  Peipei joined the HOTR Board of Directors in 2008. 

Lisa Perfetti

Treasurer

Lisa Perfetti joined the HOTR Board as Treasurer in April 2014, spurred on by her desire to make a difference in children's lives, her love of dance  . . . and a self-proclaimed ability to out-dance her friends. Lisa is thrilled to be contributing her expertise, her energy, and her enthusiasm to HOTR's important work. Lisa’s past volunteer work centered around working in hospitals with a specific focus on children and cancer patients of all ages.  Lisa has a MBA in Finance and Management Information Systems from Syracuse and a Business Management degree (accounting minor) from Ithaca College.  She is also a CPA in New York as well as a Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF).  Lisa is currently a director at AlixPartners, LLP in their Financial Advisory Services practice.

Ash Bhumbla

Board Member

Ash serves on the House of the Roses Board of Directors, where he is honored to support HOTR's passionate volunteers and the many children that they reach every week. Ash is an experienced strategy, finance, and corporate development professional. He is currently Director of Corporate Strategy at International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), a leading creator of flavors and fragrances used in a wide variety of consumer products and packaged goods. Before IFF, he worked at the management consulting firm Marakon on strategy and operations engagements in across a host of industries. He holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. Outside of work, Ash also serves as the Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Class Board. He lives in New York City.

Lauren Humm Fakete

Board Member

Lauren is the Lead Teacher for House of the Roses Volunteer Dance Company. She is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who became a New Yorker and HOTR volunteer in September, 2008.  She graduated cum laude from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia with a B.A. in Dance and a B.A. in Political Theory and Law. She received her training from Lionville School of Dance and The Wilmington Ballet Company. She is currently performing with Push Factor Dance Company and CheckIt Dance Company, as well as pursuing her own choreographic endeavors.  She is grateful to have been given the opportunity to lead HOTR in a labor of her two loves - dance and helping others.

KC Luce

Board Member

KC is delighted to join the HOTR board and to share her passion for dance and movement with New York's next generation. Dance has always been an important presence in KC's life, so much so that she can't actually remember when she started. From classes in a firehouse to performing with the Moscow ballet, KC's first love is ballet, although she enjoys tap, modern and jazz. She is a proud company member of ChEckiT!Dance and has choreographed original dance-theater works for Stable Cable Lab Co. and Punch Theatre. During the day, KC serves as a Development Associate for the Environmental Defense Fund and has supported the fundraising efforts of a number of New York theaters including the Civilians, Signature Theatre and Rattlestick Playwrights' Theater. Originally from the Philadelphia area, KC became a New Yorker in 2010 after receiving her B.A. from Muhlenberg College in English and Theatre. 

Sara Barker

Webmaster

Sara is the webmaster for House of the Roses Volunteer Dance Company, Inc. (HOTR). HOTR  was in need of a new website that would capture their message, captivate the audience, update their content, and have a fresh appearance. Redesigning HOTR's website unites Sara's love for web-design and dance.  She has developed substantial skills in website programming in order to advance her creative and entrepreneurial objectives. Her programming experience has enabled her to exceed the web templates, and use her own personalized code to create exactly what HOTR seeks, and she is incredibly passionate about the community and House of the Roses. In addition, Sara has danced with Denver Academy of Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet School, Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet, and is currently studying at Steps on Broadway's Pre-Professional program.