Richard Strimer  grew up in Trenton, Michigan and graduated high  school with a desire to pursue a career in acting. He attended  Michigan State University on an acting scholarship and graduated  four years later with a BA in Theatre with an emphasis in dance.   Following graduation, Richard moved to Chicago and began his  performing career and also began his path of teaching tap at  Columbia College. Richard has had the opportunity to work in  theaters throughout the Chicagoland area including: Candlelight  Dinner Theatre, Drury Lane Evergreen Park, Theatre at the Center,  Drury Lane Oakbrook and Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.  Regionally Richard has worked at Carousel Dinner Theatre in Ohio  and Fulton Theatre in Pennsylvania. Richard’s career has spanned  over fifty mainstage productions ranging from ensemble to  lead. Standout roles include: Bobby Child in  Crazy for You   (Joseph  Jefferson Award Nomination), Cosmo Brown in  Singin’ in the Rain  (Joseph Jefferson Award Best Supporting Actor in a Musical),  Action in  West Side Story  and Bill Calhoun in  Kiss Me Kate.

Abby Ladin grew up in the East Coast traditional folk music revival of the 1970s. As a dancer Abby was clogging by the age of 6, performing with her sister Evie by age 10, and touring nationally at 18 with the dance and music company Rhythm In Shoes (RIS). Abby has collaborated with musician and composer Malcolm Dalglish in The Welcome Table, a midwinter spectacle including original dance, music and choral arrangements of poems by Wendell Berry. In 2013 Abby joined a cast of percussive dance all-stars for Carry It On, a film and performance project celebrating the Wheatland Music Organization’s 40th anniversary festival in Remus, Michigan. Abby plays stand-up bass and sings harmony vocals in White Mule, founded by the late Garry Harrison, with whom she recorded the legendary  Red Prairie Dawn album in 2000.  She and husband Sam Bartlett reinforce the rhythm section of The Hogwire Stringband with master fiddler, Brad Leftwich.  Abby lives in Bloomington, Indiana with Sam and their three hilarious kids.

Kristen Bennett has been teaching dance in Michigan for over 11 years. She grew up in central Michigan and started dancing when she was in the fifth grade and hasn’t stopped. Her early training was in jazz and rhythm-based dance forms. Kristen continues to practice and teach many different styles of dance including jazz, tap, ballet, modern, hip-hop, musical theatre and social dance. Kristen earned her B.A. in Dance and English from Grand Valley State University, after which she spent time teaching at various dance studios in Grand Rapids, Marquette, Mt. Pleasant, and Alma.

​Currently entering her ninth year of teaching dance at Alma College, she is also the recruitment coordinator for the Theatre and Dance Department. Kristen frequently collaborates with percussive dancers and live musicians, researching what happens when different styles of dance find common ground in the rhythms they create together. Most recently, she taught a master class and presented her work at the American College Dance Association Festival. Kristen is also the co-Artistic Director of Third Coast Dance Company, a modern dance company founded in March 2016. She has had the opportunity to teach across the U.S. and internationally and looks forward to continuing her work in mid-Michigan.