Our Ensemble
CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Meet the talented individuals who make up the CommonWealth Dance Collective. Each member brings their unique skills and passion to create unforgettable performances.
Artistic Director, Choreographer, and Lead Dancer
Sheila Graziano
Sheila has been dancing since she was 5 years old. Tap dancing as a youth led her to explore other genres of percussive dance as an adult. She has been the artistic director for several dance teams since the 1980s. She has taught countless dance workshops, and mentored many individuals along the way.
Sheila is a 2023 Michigan Heritage Award (MHA) recipient. The MHA is the highest recognition for a traditional artist in the state of Michigan.
Dancer
Emily Evans
Emily's interest in percussive dance began in 6th grade when she saw a tap performance for the first time in a school talent show. As a teen, she took tap with Susan Filipiak and Appalachian clogging with Connie Jo Ferguson. When she returned to Michigan in 2012, she began dancing again, including tap, clogging, and Irish. She has performed with the CDC since 2016 and completed a Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship with Sheila in 2017.
Dancer
Meagan McGee
Meagan began Irish dancing at 11 years old. She has danced with Ardan Academy of Irish Dance, Irish Dance Company of Lansing, Leim Irish Dance at the University of Michigan, and McCartney Irish Dance. In 2017, she began studying with Kieran Jordan, who teaches old-style Irish step dancing and the improvisational form of sean-nós dancing. She also took old-style step dancing classes with Rebecca McGowan. In 2023, Meagan joined the CDC, where she began learning Appalachian clogging.
Dancer
Maeve Devlin
At age 6, Maeve began Irish step dancing and danced with the O’Hare School of Irish Dance until she was 16. She took a brief hiatus while in college, then started contra dancing in 2014, which re-introduced her to folk dance and music where she began learning Appalachian clogging. Maeve joined the CDC in 2022. She is also a Contra and English Country Dance caller.
Dancer
Diane Scarpace
Dance has been a lifelong passion of Diane's, starting with the foundation of tap throughout her childhood. Her interests as an adult have ranged from swing, Lindy Hop, and Cuban Salsa, to flatfooting, tap, and clogging. She began performing with the CDC in 2023. In addition to percussive dance, she currently enjoys Cuban Rueda, Contra, Zumba, and rock and roll/blues dancing.
Dancer
Emma Rieb
Emma’s interest in folk dance and music began in college when she was introduced to contra dancing in New England. After moving to Ann Arbor for graduate school, she learned additional forms of folk dance, including English country dancing and Appalachian clogging.
Emma joined the CDC jn 2021 and is completing an apprenticeship with Sheila focused on Ottawa Valley step dancing and the historic Marley dances from the Vaudeville era. She also organizes contra dances and serves as the president of the Ann Arbor Community for Traditional Music and Dance (AACTMAD).
Musicians
Michael Bean & V Cieri
V is a fiddle player with a background in classical music, having completed a Bachelor of Music from Western Michigan University and a Master's in Music from Florida State University. While an undergrad, V began performing with a local trad Irish band in Kalamazoo and discovered a love for Celtic-style fiddle playing. Since completing their Master's, V has taught privately along with performing with the CDC and several local and regional bands.
Musician
Nate Jacobson
Nate has been playing fiddle since he was ten years old. In high school, he joined the Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic and subsequently was introduced to Appalachian clogging. After taking a hiatus during college, he returned to Saline and has since been performing with the CommonWealth Dance Collective and some other groups, including the Stout-Hearted String Band and Pearl Street String Band.
Musician
Myron Grant
Myron’s musical background crosses many styles, starting with church choir when he was a kid, to rock-and-roll, folk, country, bluegrass, contra, swing, and jazz. He has been playing professionally since 1968, starting with the rock band Loves Alchemy until 1973. With the Commonwealth Dance Collective, Myron has been playing guitar and harmonica since 2004 along with a fiddler, currently with Brad Battey who is also in Big Fun.
Musician
Brad Battey
Brad is an accomplished, innovative fiddler of many styles from contra and square dance music, to English, swing, and Scandinavian. Brad has also been known to play nyckelharpa for English and Scandinavian couple dancing. Based in Ann Arbor, MI, he is a pillar of the Michigan traditional music and dance community.
CommonWealth Alumni
&
Collaborating Artists
Dancer
Alina Soltis
During high school, Alina performed with the Fiddlers ReStrung and completed a Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship with Sheila in 2014. In college, she dual majored in American Vernacular Dance and was Dance Captain of the Davis & Elkins Appalachian Ensemble.
Alina has had the opportunity to work closely with and learn from other professionals, including Emily Oleson, Laurie Goux, Becky Hill, Matt Olwell, Nic Gareiss, and Sharon Leahy. She has experience working with the Augusta Heritage Center and has taught and assisted beginner Appalachian step dancing workshops. Her goal is to accurately represent past historical percussive dances, along with sharing her love of dance with others.
Dancer
Adam Wheeler
Adam began dancing at the age of 10 after seeing the Cottonwood Cloggers perform locally in Southeastern Michigan. In his teen years, Adam danced with various clogging groups across the state of Michigan. He also joined a youth performance group called the Earth Angels, which brought to life the music and spirit of the 50s and 60s. Adam danced at the International Clogging Expo parade in D.C. (2002). Adam, and dance partner Laura Laymon, competed at the 2005 Junior Olympics in New Orleans and took home a silver medal. Adam attended Mars Hill University in North Carolina where he joined the Bailey Mountain Cloggers. The team claimed 5 national titles over the course of his time with BMC. Adam also served on the leadership team and as team captain his senior year. In 2010, Adam was inducted into the America’s Clogging Hall of Fame All American Team. Adam has had the wonderful opportunities to represent clogging and the United States at international folk festivals with BMC in Spain (2009) and Germany (2011). Adam is a proud member of American Racket, and has traveled with the group to Korea (2012), North Carolina (2017), and Brazil (2019) to similar international folk festivals. After returning to Michigan in 2014, Adam reunited with Sheila Graziano and began dancing again with the CommonWealth Dance Collective, as well as teaching clogging to the Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic, a local high-school performance group.