Wildcat Performing Arts Academy - NMU Theatre and Dance

Jim Davis

Jim is excited to join the Department of Theatre and Dance at NMU this year, having spent the last 25 years on the faculty at Detroit Country Day School, 7 of those as Executive Director of the Arts and the 18 years before that as Technical Director and Resident Designer. Some of his favorite recent shows include Mean Girls, Puffs, Little Shop of Horrors, Spamalot, and Eating Rhode Island, which performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Jim has also designed numerous shows in the Detroit area in his career, and is an active member of USITT, having recently presented a session on teaching Lighting Design at the 2026 annual conference. Jim holds a BFA in Theatre from Wayne State University, and a MS in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University.

Julia Feldman

Julia Feldman trained under Pamela Hayes at Pamela Hayes Classical Ballet and began her professional career with Sacramento Ballet in 2011, where she is currently a Company Artist. She discovered her passion for choreography through the company’s annual choreographic showcase, creating a new work each year since 2012. In 2019, she was selected for the National Choreographer’s Initiative in Irvine, California, under the direction of Molly Lynch. In 2021, she was one of three choreographers commissioned to co-create a new Nutcracker for Sacramento Ballet, led by Artistic Director Anthony Krutzkamp. The following year, she was selected for the New York Choreographic Institute’s Spring Session, directed by Adrian Danchig. She has since premiered three original works for Sacramento Ballet, presented in April 2022, March 2025, and October 2025. In 2026, Feldman premiered new works with Smuin Contemporary Ballet and the Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works, and was named the winner of Milwaukee Ballet’s choreographic competition, Genesis. In July, she will return to choreograph for the National Choreographer’s Initiative in its final year. In 2015, Feldman co-founded Capital Dance Project, a collective of professional dancers based in Sacramento. The company focuses on creating world premiere works in collaboration with local visual artists and musicians. Feldman has created eleven works for CDP to date and has played an integral role in shaping the organization’s mission, management, and creative direction behind its 2020 Digital Series and its annual outdoor festival Behind the Barre.

Kaitlyn Frotton

Kaitlyn Frotton is an international teaching artist and actor with experience performing and directing in NYC, London, Las Vegas, Philippines, Edinburgh, Seychelles, and regional markets throughout the USA.  BM in Musical Theatre, Rider University, (Mark Twain Comedy Award, KCACTF Nationals), M.A. Classical Acting London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.  She holds a UK Global Talent Visa for her work as an actor and director abroad.

Directing/Teaching credits include Tunnel Theatre Co., NYC (featuring Tony Award Winning Alice Ripley, and Hamilton’s Michael Luwoye), Boden’s Performing Arts College, London (Classical Acting Teacher), William T. Sherman School, NYC (Director/Choreographer), McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ (Shakespeare and Devising Teacher), and KIPP Lab High School, Newark NJ (Resident Theatre Teacher and Curriculum Creator). Kaitlyn is thrilled to be back in the beautiful UP and looks forward to learning from the talented community at NMU. 

Karina Johnson

Karina Johnson started ballet at the age of four in Irvine, California, and was trained by such accomplished teachers as Charles Maple, Amanda McKerrow, and John Gardner from American Ballet Theatre, as well as Evelyn Cisneros from San Francisco Ballet. She attended ABT, Boston Ballet, and American Academy of Ballet summer intensives throughout her years of training, as well as competed in the Youth of America Grand Prix competition for five consecutive years. Starting in 2007, Karina worked on a degree at The University of Utah as well as guesting with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s The Nutcracker for three years. In her senior year of college she became a trainee with Ballet West, performing as a supplemental corps de ballet dancer. Karina graduated in 2010 with a BFA in Ballet, and afterwards spent a year as an apprentice at Smuin Ballet in San Francisco before moving to join the Sacramento Ballet. There she had the privilege of performing in such renowned ballets as Ron Cunningham’s The Great Gatsby, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmina Burana, Rite of Spring, Cinderella, and The Firebird, as well as Trey McIntyre’s Wild Sweet Love, and George Balanchine’s Western Symphony, Who Cares?, Rubies, and the First Regiment Lead in Stars and Stripes. One of the highlights of Karina’s career was performing the first act Pas de Trois, and Cygnettes in Swan Lake, one of the hardest and most rewarding ballets to perform.

After retiring from her career with the Sacramento Ballet in 2015, Karina helped found the dancer-run company Capital Dance Project, choreographing, performing, and organizing their summer performance series. After eight years of dancing professionally, and 5 more of helping run a project-based company, she decided it was time to pass on her love and knowledge of dance to the next generation... bringing her to NMU! Karina and her husband Iver, who was also a professional dancer with the Sacramento Ballet, moved to Marquette in May 2020 to pursue new career paths, be close to family, and start a family of their own. While not teaching ballet, Karina spends her time with her baby girl Juniper, and on the side painting and selling large abstract paintings at art festivals and shows.

Christopher Houston

Chris Houston, M.B.A., is a director, choreographer, and assistant professor of dance. He
was the artistic director for three Cirque du Soleil world tours as well as the company
manager of the resident show, Joya, on the Riviera Maya, Mexico. Chris’ many
choreography credits include work with Cirque du Soleil, the famed Crazy Horse Paris at
the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Jean Ann Ryan Productions, and for Michael Flatley, the
creator of Riverdance, in London on the BBC.
Born in Scotland, Chris trained as a performer in London and was in the original London
West End productions of Miss Saigon and CATS. He was then one of fifty dancers
selected to be a part of Celine Dion’s game-changing Las Vegas residency, A New Day.
Chris also joined Celine on her Taking Chances World Tour before serving as a performer
in Viva Elvis by Cirque du Soleil. He was in the original cast of Light Seeker the musical in
Singapore, he has also performed in CHICAGO, and in the original cast of The Merry
Widow at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera—directed and choreographed by the
multiple TONY Award winner, Susan Stroman. Chris also played the title role of the
Trickster in Kooza by Cirque du Soleil.
On screen, Chris has performed on Oprah, Ellen, The Jerry Lewis Telethon, Miss
Universe, A New Day: Live in Las Vegas, Celine: Through the Eyes of the World, Taking
Chances World tour DVD, and too many live broadcasts to count for both Celine Dion
and Cirque du Soleil. 
Chris is also a doctoral candidate at Teachers College in Columbia University where his
research interests are at the intersection of dance and the performing arts and adult
learning and leadership. He also supports research at the Arnhold Institute for Dance
Education Research, Policy, and Leadership in New York City.

Jill Grundstrom

Jill Grundstrom is an Associate Professor, Artistic Director, and Assistant Department Head in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Northern Michigan University (NMU). A proud NMU alumna, she created and launched the University’s Dance Major in 2020 and serves as the Artistic Director of the North Coast Dance Festival.

Jill holds degrees from Northern Michigan University and New York University and is currently a doctoral candidate at Columbia University, where she is studying Dance Medicine and Science. Her professional certifications include the Luigi Jazz Technique, Giordano Jazz Technique, American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum, the Dance Medicine Education Initiative, and she is a certified Hamrick Method Master Trainer.

With over 25 years of professional dance teaching and choreography experience, Jill has worked for prestigious organizations such as American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and So You Think You Can Dance. She has performed professionally nationally and internationally, and has studied with and demonstrated for some of the most distinguished artists in the commercial dance world. She also serves as a guest instructor for Eisenhower Dance Detroit's Uprooted intensive.

Jill’s choreographic portfolio includes more than 30 full-length dance and theatrical productions, including the world premiere of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, a ballet created in collaboration with composer Dr. Griffin Candey, the feature film Our State Fair, and commercial choreography for music artists. Her current research focuses on dance-related injury rehabilitation and leadership in the dance field. She has recently co-authored two published articles with her research teams and is dedicated to further integrating dance science with artistic practice.

In addition to her academic and creative work, Jill actively collaborates with, reviews for, and adjudicates performances, presentations, and proposals for the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA), and the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS).

Andrew Bourgoin

Andrew Bourgoin - Broadway: Aladdin, Mean Girls. Regional Theatre: Over 75 credits at the Ordway, Guthrie, Ogunquit Playhouse, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, North Carolina Theater, and more. Frequent collaborator with Tony Awards Winner, Santino Fontana. Producing: Hennepin Arts Spotlight Showcase (2020-Present), Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health, The Root Beer Lady on Tour, American Theatre Orchrestra™, and more. Teaching: Eugene O’Neil Theater Center, Northern Michigan University, University of Central Arkansas, Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul). Board Member at Alive & Kickin. Training: St. Olaf College - Music, HarvardX - Contract Law. Member: PMI, AFM. @andrewbourgoin @bourgoinproductions

Kristen Beth Ludwig

Kristen Beth Ludwig (Williams) is a professional actor/singer/dancer with an extensive career spanning Broadway, national tours, and regional theatres across the country. She was most recently seen in the new Broadway musical Paradise Square.  Other Broadway credits include Hello, Dolly with Bette Midler, Pippin, and the original Broadway casts of Nice Work if You Can Get It with Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara, Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster, and Promises, Promises with Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth.  She originated the role of Sibella Hallward on the first national tour of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and starred as Dale Tremont in Top Hat in London’s West End.  Her regional theatre credits include Kiss Me Kate (Kate) at Sacramento Music Circus, Million Dollar Quartet (Dyanne) at Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, and Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Betty Haynes) at the Ordway St. Paul, as well as many others. She has been a featured soloist at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, and New York’s Town Hall.  

As an educator, Kristen Beth is passionate about educating the next generation of performers and has taught master classes in Musical Theatre Dance Styles, Audition Technique, Acting Through Song, and Musical Theatre Scene Study. She has taught at AMDA NY, University of Michigan, University of Oklahoma, and Syracuse University, among others. She is a graduate of The University of Oklahoma and a proud member and Councillor of Actors Equity Association, the National Labor Union for Stage Managers and Actors.

Paul Truckey

Paul Truckey has been a member of the NMU Theatre faculty since 2003. While at NMU, he has directed numerous productions including Romeo and Juliet, Cats, Noises Off, Building Madness, Into the Woods, A Paper Tiger in the Rain – 2014 Panowski Playwriting Award (PPA) winner, The Comedy of Errors, 1776, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, A Flea in Her Ear, The Mousetrap, ACTletes, The Foreigner, The Full Monty, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tell-Tale – 2006 PPA winner, Closer Than Ever, Burning Mona Lisa in the Reptile House – 2004 PPA winner, and Our Town. Among his acting credits are leading roles in Les Miserables (Broadway and national touring companies, over 2,600 performances), A Little Night Music, Rockland, The Fantasticks, The Problem, Utah! The Musical (Original Company), Sunday in the Park with George, Guys and Dolls, Romeo and Juliet, Nine, Three Sisters, The Mikado, and She Stoops to Conquer. His TV credits include The Rosie O’Donnell Show, The Today Show, and the 1998 NBA All-Star Game Halftime show. He has served as a respondent for numerous productions entered in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and in 2011 was presented KCACTF Service Award for the state of Michigan. Paul teaches a broad range of theatre classes including Acting, Intermediate Acting, The Theatre Experience, Modern Drama, Audition, Theatre Careers, Musical Theatre Performance, Shakespeare’s Plays, and Directing Theory. He has also led multiple study abroad trips with NMU students to London and Scotland, and leads the biennial New York City field studies experience. Paul is a member of Actor’s Equity Association.

Keli Crawford-Truckey

Keli Crawford-Truckey is the Director of Artistic Development for the Panowski-Memphis Playhouse on the Square Playwriting Competition Partnership. She has served as a stage director and adjunct professor at Northern Michigan University for over 20 years. With more than 50 directing credits to her name, her recent notable productions include Jesus Christ Superstar, Ghost Soldiers, The Wolves, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Full Monty, Proof, Sweeney Todd, Bears, Doubt, Harvey, Into the Woods, among many others.  Professionally, Keli has worked as a stage manager and staff member on both the Broadway and national touring productions of Les Misérables. She has also contributed to off-Broadway productions such as And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little at the Producers Club and Cloud Nine at the Bank Street Theatre in New York City. Keli’s academic focus is in acting, directing and new play development. Keli holds a BFA in Directing and Performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.