Faculty

Dance Program Coordinator and Lecturer

Sarah Carey is passionate about dance, movement, and people. Her belief in the transformative power of the arts is shaped by both her personal journey and professional experience. Originally from Rochester, NY, her multifaceted career in dance has encompassed roles as a performer, educator, director, choreographer, and collaborator across the U.S. and abroad. In New York, she trained with distinguished companies and artists, including the Limón Dance Company, Alan Danielson, Risa Steinberg, Carla Maxwell, Sue Bernhard, Doug Varone and Dancers, PUSH Physical Theatre, Garth Fagan Dance, and Bill Evans. Sarah holds a B.F.A. in Dance from Belhaven University and an M.Ed. from Cleveland State University.

In Ohio, Sarah has worked with Tri-C, Cleveland State University, Ohio Contemporary Ballet (formerly Verb Ballets), DANCE Cleveland, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, American College Dance Festival, Beck Center for the Arts, and others. She joined Tri-C in 2009 as an adjunct dance faculty member and has advanced to her current role as full-time lecturer and coordinator of the college dance program. Sarah is committed to creating opportunities for students to develop both as dancers and individuals, emphasizing hands-on experiences, skill development, and professional networking. Notable projects include co-directing and choreographing an award-winning dance film featuring Tri-C students, faculty, and local professionals, as well as directing The Mix, a live concert integrating dance and recording arts students with guest artists B-Boy Tony Fresh and DJ Young Guru. Sarah has also facilitated partnerships with DANCECleveland and Tri-C Performing Arts to bring guest artists, master classes and workshops to Tri-C from leading companies such as PILOBOLUS, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, PHILADANCO!, and Camille A. Brown.

At Cleveland State University, Sarah served as the assistant to the director of dance, a rehearsal director, and an adjunct faculty member. As rehearsal director for the CSU Dance Company, she was instrumental in bringing works by Antonio Brown, Teena Marie Custer, Amy Miller, Annie Morgan, and others to the stage for annual performances at Playhouse Square. Sarah also thrives behind-the-scenes in dance production roles, having served as assistant stage manager and backstage crew member for CSU Dance Concerts at Playhouse Square.

Sarah is deeply grateful for Cleveland’s vibrant dance community and enjoys supporting fellow dance artists. She taught company classes for the dancers of Ohio Contemporary Ballet (Verb Ballets) and served as a teaching artist with DANCECleveland’s Read to Learn...Dance to Move program, leading in-school sessions throughout the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to promote both dance and literacy.

Her professional performance credits span a range of works by notable choreographers, including José Limón, Alan Danielson, Doug Varone, Amy Miller, Larry Keigwin, Nicole Wolcott, Lynn Deering, Bill Wade, Sara Whale, and more. As a young performer, she performed in the national tour production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Sam Harris. Local performance highlights include TEDx@CSU with Lynn Deering, Playhouse Square's Dance Showcase, Opera Cleveland, Cleveland Public Theatre's DanceWorks, and Beck Center for the Arts.

Sarah is also a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant and graduate of Tri-C’s PTA program. She integrates her knowledge of anatomy and movement science into her teaching, offering a holistic approach to dance training that fosters students’ physical and artistic development. Through her own experience with injury and the challenges of recovery, she recognizes the importance of educating others to prevent/recover from injury, and prioritizes overall health (physical, mental, and spiritual).

Sarah is dedicated to furthering the lives of others through dance. She views movement as a precious gift and aims to inspire people to move, be curious, learn, create, and connect!

Madalyn “Madds” Antonette Lucier is a practitioner of multiple Hip Hop and Street Dance genres, specializing in House dance. Beginning her dance journey at age 28, she trained in New York City for five years and has since returned to Cleveland to build with the community in her hometown. Madalyn serves as a teacher, ‘10K Elite’ performance team member, and as Associate Director for 10K Movement, a local platform for Hip Hop & Street Dance — providing education, performances, and events for the local and larger Street Dance community. Prior to dancing, she fell in love with Hip Hop for its playfulness, social justice imperatives, and story-telling powers.

Madalyn teaches Hip Hop and Street Dance classes at Tri-C in addition to her work with 10k Movement and the Cleveland Cavaliers Scream Team. In the classroom, she challenges students to develop technical skill, groove, musicality, body awareness, and creativity. She also stresses the importance of historical and cultural context behind the dance, to allow for more authentic musical and individual expression to come forward

Alyssa Wilmot is a dance professor and choreographer who has been dancing her entire life. The Cleveland native has trained in a wide variety of dance forms, music, theater and fitness and has over 20 years of teaching at the college level. Wilmot holds a B.A. in philosophy, dance and political science from the College of Wooster and an MFA in dance choreography and performance from Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California. She holds numerous Pilates and fitness certifications and has danced professionally in California, Philadelphia and New York, and at Jacob's Pillow, which was the highlight of her performing career. Wilmot has been an adjunct dance professor at Tri-C since 2011 and an adjunct faculty member/visiting artist in dance at numerous colleges and universities in Ohio and California. She loves sharing her passion for dance with the Tri-C community.

Kay Eichman received her early ballet training from Pat Leclercq in New Orleans. She later studied on full scholarships at the National Ballet in Washington, D.C., the National Ballet of Canada, the C.R.R. de Nice in France and the Joffrey Ballet Center in New York City. Eichman left the Joffrey II company to join the Cleveland Ballet under the directorship of Dennis Nahat and Ian Horvath in its inaugural season. A distinguished 15-year career ensued, including principal and soloist roles. She had the distinguished privilege to work professionally with Rudolf Nureyev, Agnes de Mille, Cynthia Gregory, Flemming Flindt, Anna Markard, Victoria Simon, Michael Ladd and José Limón. She danced in many traditional and contemporary works, including Theme and Variations, The Four Temperaments, Agon, Concerto Barocco, Serenade, Rodeo, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker. She also had the opportunity to perform at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Eichman spent one season in Germany as a principal guest artist with the Giessen Ballet.

Kay Eichman has served on the faculties of the Minnesota Ballet, the University of Akron Dance Program and Dance Institute, and the Cleveland School of the Arts. She is currently the ballet mistress at the Tri-C Creative Arts Dance Academy and serves as an adjunct faculty member at the College. Eichman received the 2016-2017 School of American Ballet National Visiting Fellow. She was also awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for her commitment, consistent dedication and teaching excellence from Tri-C. She was named Outstanding Teacher by the University of Akron Dance Institute and received an Appreciation Award from the Cleveland School of the Arts. Her work with preprofessional dancers has helped more than 30 students gain professional work. In addition to teaching and choreographing, Eichman teaches company class for the Ohio Contemporary Ballet, where she has had the pleasure of setting her choreography. Eichman has served on the faculty of the IABD Conference and Festival and has taught at the Joffrey Ballet Summer Session. She has participated as a talent judge throughout the United States with Dance Caravan, Dance Explosion, Dynamite and others.

Teaching Interests: Classical ballet technique, teaching all ages (from young to professional), mentoring, discipline, respect, kindness and love

Professional Interests: Ballet, choreography, staging ballets, music, lighting, creative progress, collaborating with other choreographers, mentoring