Brooklyn Egli

Brooklyn Egli has been a part of Ascend since its opening in 2020 and trained with members of the Ascend faculty for 11 years. She has achieved many merits as a competitive dancer including, top ten placements, honorable mention at California Dance Classics, and scholarships to the Institute of American Musical Theater in New York City as well as Inaside Chicago Dance Summer Intensive where she attended for 2 consecutive years. Last Summer Brooklyn attended Point Park University’s summer intensive in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on a 50% scholarship. Brooklyn is excited to announce her acceptance to Point Park University (Miss Melissa’s alma mater!) and will be pursuing her dance major this Fall.  We are so excited to see Brooklyn pursue a collegiate path in dance and look forward to watching her journey through college and beyond!

Julian Rodriguez

Julian Rodriguez has been a part of Ascend since its opening in 2020 and has been training with members of the Ascend faculty for 10 years. As a competitive dancer Jules received top 12 placement for her Contemporary solo at Youth America Grand Prix in 2021, as well as numerous overall placements and competitive scholarship opportunities. Jules has attended a variety of Intensives including, Joffrey, Ballet Austin, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Francisco Gella Pre-Professional Dancer Institute, Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet Intensive, and will be attending Zeitgeist Dance Theater’s Intensive in New Mexico this summer. Jules pursued her full apparatus Pilates Certification under the direction of Miss Melissa is fully certified Balanced Body Pilates instructor. Jules auditioned for and was accepted into several Collegiate programs including: University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Hartford University in Connecticut, Tisch School of the Arts in New York City, SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance in New York State and last but not least, Fordham University in New York City where she has decided to attend this fall to pursue a major in dance.  We are so proud of Jules and all her accomplishments and are excited to see where her continued commitment to excellence takes her!

Brynn Summers has been a part of Ascend since its opening in 2020, and trained with members of the Ascend faculty for a total of 8 years.  Brynn received many accolades as a competitive dancer with Ascend, including numerous overall wins, competition titles, honorable mentions for both Contemporary and Classical works at California Dance Classics, as well as scholarships to Milwaukee Ballet School, Ballet Austin, Ballet Arizona and acceptance into University of North Carolina School for the Arts, and Nashville Ballet. We are excited to announce Brynn will be training with New York Dance Project in New York City in the Fall, where she received a full ride tuition scholarship based on her California Dance Classics performance work and scholarship video submissions.  We are so happy for Brynn and all her accomplishments and look forward to watching her perform for many years to come!

Paityn Lauzon

Paityn grew up in Phoenix, Arizona where she received her early dance training at Arizona Dance Artistry with Melissa Chowdhury, Samantha Gobeille. After the closing of Arizona Dance Artistry, Paityn continued her studies with Melissa Chowdhury and Kristina Nadjafi at Ascend Dance Academy. Paityn went on to study at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she graduated in three years with a Bachelor of Science degree in Ballet and Astronomy/Astrophysics. While at IU, she studied under notable dancers and educators including Carla Körbes, Michael Vernon, Kyra Nichols and Sarah Wroth. Throughout her studies Paityn placed in numerous competitions, the most notable being first place at the Arizona Chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition, where she then proceeded to rank top 5 nationally in 2021. Paityn was also recognized as a Premier Young Artist and Founders Scholar at Indiana University. Upon graduating college in 2022, Paityn began dancing professionally with Nevada Ballet Theatre as an apprentice. She was quickly promoted after one season and is currently a company artist with NBT.

Some of her most memorable performances include, The Waltz Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Für Alina by Edwaard Liang, Deuce Coupe by Twyla Tharp, and the role of Giselle in Giselle.

Nora Kyle

Nora Kyle trained with members of the Ascend faculty for 8 years and has participated in summer intensives at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Ballet Met training programs. While participating in our Peak Company she was one of two dancers to receive the New York Dance Experience Scholarship award from Starbound. Upon graduation, Nora was accepted to University of Hartford’s Dance Performance Program, University of South Carolina’s Betsy Blackmon Dance Program, and Texas Christian University’s School of Classical and Contemporary Dance. Nora is so thankful for the faculty at Ascend and their consistent belief in her in realizing her goals. She believes the teachers at Ascend have not only helped prepare her as a dancer but as a whole person and have provided her with a community she is proud to say she is a part of. Nora is excited to be attending Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas where she has received scholarships and is majoring in Ballet.

Kendall Sokal

Kendall Sokal trained with members of the Ascend Faculty for 10 years. She was accepted into GCU as a Dance Major, Michigan State and University of Arizona as a Dance Minor and Western Michigan’s dance team. She is forever grateful to her teachers at Ascend for everything they have given her and for being able to be back to dancing with us for her senior year. Kendall is attending Michigan State University as a Kinesiology Major and Dance Minor.