Even Before They Were Superstars, They Were Showstoppers!

Julie Coxon - former Showstopper regional overall winner, National TV Show dancer and Top 10 National Finalist has danced for Busch Gardens, VA, was a featured dancer in a Japanese film, choreographer and dancer for the Miss Pittsburgh pagent, and is now under contract with the Bloc Agency of New York. Recently Julie toured with the TJ-Max...Hashbro USA Gymnastics World Tour as a dancer. Other accomplishments includes apperances on: the WB-TV for a Dupree Revival, A&E-TV for Celebrity Pool Tournament, Free 4 Life as a freestyle dancer, music videos for new artists, choreography reels as a dancer, BDC instructional video, and clubs in NYC as a performer.

 

Cori Yarckin - This former Showstopper is a rising singer and dancer. She has appeared on Broadway and the Disney Channel. Additionally, she was on Making The Band with O-town, and played Camile on the Disney show Noah Knows Best. Her website is http://www.coriyarckin.com.

 

Rachael Washington began dancing with San Diego's Academy of Dance Arts at the age of 4. She participated in many Showstopper competitions always winning the highest awards with her tap routines. At the age of 14, she and her two brothers (Joshua & Je'kob) began writing and singing their own Christian hip-hop and rap music. Their band is called "Souljahz". They have travelled all over the US and Europe and signed with Warner Bros. last summer. They won two Dove awards for their music in April - Best Album for "The Fault is History" and best single for "All Around the World". Their website is http://www.thesouljahz.com.

 

Jenna Dewan danced with Bruce Lea Dance Factory in Fort Worth, Texas and has moved onto the main stage all over. She has danced with Janet Jackson in her "All For You" World Tour as well as P. Diddy in "We Invented the Remix" World Tour. She was an assistant choreographer for MTV's Hip Hopera, "Carmen". Jenna has also danced in music videos with Missy Elliot, Janet Jackson, Toni Braxton, Mandy Moore, and the A-Teens. She performed with Kelly Clarkson on American Idol in "Miss Independent". She danced for Justin Timberlake at the MTV Music Video Awards and the Grammys, and with Pink at the American Music Awards. Her website is http://www.jennadewanonline.com.

 

Emilee Dupre' Has honed her song and dance skills since age 3 at Cheryl Lee Studio of Dance in St. Petersburg, Florida. Emilee was a member of Les Jeunes Danseurs youth ballet company and a high score awards-winning competitor at Showstopper. She performed in featured roles on the cast of Fosse, the national tour.

 

Jason Janas - originally hails from the northern New Jersey area, and more recently from Charlotte, NC. His dance education is highlighted by his tenure as a charter member of the New Jersey Tap Ensemble, where Jason began his rhythm tap career under the direction of Ms. Deborah Mitchell.

His interaction with other with tap dancers such as Mike Minery, Karen Calloway Williams, and Paris Mann of the NJTE, and with Ted Levy, influenced and ignited his career. He has performed with Mike Minery at the Supper Club in NYC, and more recently with Adrienne Canterna in Washington DC attended by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Besides personal performances, Jason teaches nationally, and has instructed at Rhythm Dance Studio in Charlotte NC for several years. His tap dance choreography won the nationally televised July 2001 Showstopper National Talent Competition, while his choreography received a Runner-Up award for July 2002.

He just finished Soul to Soul with Barbra Duffy and Diane Walker, and recently produced, choreographed, and directed his own show at the Zachary Scott Theater in Austin, Texas. He is going in Spain for a show with Tapestrys director Acia Grey.

Jason continues to teach and choreograph from coast-to-coast while he continues to grow as a rhythm tap dancer.

 

Kristen Oei -
Kristen attended Showstopper competitions for nearly 10 years. She has won Regional Competition Top Soloist and National acclaim as a top 3 Soloist and Duet/Trio competitor. Since then Kristen has danced with The Dixie Chicks on the 2000 Country Music Awards, and toured with Fame The Musical. She was on tour with the First National Tour of Elton John's "Aida" where she was a member of the ensemble and was an understudy for the role of Amneris, the Egyptian Princess. Kristen was also on a European tour of "West Side Story", and on the original cast of "We Will Rock You" in Las Vegas. She toured with the musical "Wicked" where she is also the assistant dance captain.


Venessa Fisher - From Watertown, Ontario, Canada, she was crowned Miss Universe Canada 2004 on January 25, 2004. She will represent Canada in the Miss Universe Pagent on June 1, 2004 in Quito, Ecuador.

Venessa is a Showstopper, having competed at our Grand Island show and is the daughter of a dance teacher, Linda Collins, of Burlington, Ontario.

Venessa is in her final year of high school, and plans on attending university next year. She is an award-winning dancer, having studied ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern and tap for over a decade, and has spent many years as a dance teacher, most recently with her mother's studio. Venessa's goals are to perform on Broadway and on screen, prior to receiving a degree in Broadcast Journalism.


Jennifer Russell
Jennifer has performed principle roles on Broadway, appeared on nationally aired television shows as well as off Broadway and regional theater productions, television commercials, corporate industrials and as a runway and print model for several dancewear companies. She is currently pursuing a college degree in Tampa, Florida while continuing to choreograph, teach, perform and judge competitive events. Jennifer is also a member of the University of South Florida “SunDolls” Dance Team. Just a few of her Showstopper accomplishments include Overall Junior National Champion, Junior National Jazz and Acrobatic Division Champion, TV Show opening number dancer, and TV Spokeskid. http://www.JenniferRussell.com

 

Neeley is from Muncie, Indiana and used to dance at Cole Academy. She is a new member of the NFL Colts cheerleading squad!

 

BRIAN SHEPARD was playing the roles of Dance Captain/Vlad Vladikoff/U.S. Wickersham Brother, Yertle the Turtle in the touring production of Seussical the Musical starring Cathy Rigby.
http://
www.seussical.com

He recently served as dance captain in Broadway's Annie Get Your Gun and understudied/ performed as Tommy Keeler. He also appeared in both the Broadway production and national tour of Peter Pan. This former Showstopper winner from Deborah's Stage Door has proven his talent and skill as a world class performer.



 

Chase Brock danced in the opening number of the Showstopper television show in 1997. In 2000, he made his Broadway debut in the original cast of Susan Stroman's revival of THE MUSIC MAN. Since then, he has assisted choreographer Ann Reinking on the Broadway production THE LOOK OF LOVE and choreographer Kathleen Marshall on the Broadway revival of WONDERFUL TOWN. His choreography credits include the 2004 opening number for NOTHING LIKE A DAME (St. James Theatre) starring Tony Award winners Sutton Foster and Karen Ziemba; the film LOVE, MOM starring Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins; an original work for THE 2002 ELAN AWARDS honoring Ann Reinking; and the opening number for one of Dancers Responding to AIDS and 107.7 Lite FM's BROADWAY IN BRYANT PARK concerts, starring Karen Ziemba. Alumnus, Broadway Theatre Project.

 

Glen Meynardie competed in Showstopper events with Kellys Dance Academy of Bayou la Batre for almost ten years. During those ten years, he competed in approximately ten to twelve routines per competition and has been a part of the top small, large, and duet/trio groups in many different categories like acrobatic dance, jazz, and lyrical jazz. Glen has also taken top regional soloist three seperate times.

Since then, Glen has made many different achievements. He has performed for Celebrity Cruise Lines as a dancer and Walt Disney World Florida as a gymnast/stunt performer at Animal Kingdoms Journey into Junglebook. Glen also was a choreographer and instructor for American All Staff Dance Drill Team Camps with "Twitch" from the Wade Robson Project. In the summer of 2003, he performed his own choreography in the American Dance Festival Student Concert, and performed Donald Mckayle's "Ashe" and Shen Wei's "Near the Terrace" and "Folding" in the festival repertory class showings.
Glen is now living in Alabama teaching all areas of dance at Robin Adams Performing Arts Center and is the choreographer for the school's award winning Southern Exposure Dance Company.

Glen's mother recently passed away. Therefore, he is dedicating every performance he does to the memory of his mother. These are just a few of the accomplishments that Glen Meynardie has achieved. We anticipate even more great achievements from this talented person.

 

Jeanna Raney

Jeanna Raney is certainly no stranger to the stage and lights. As a former Showstopper, she performed tap dancing with the South Carolina Performing Art Center. You may recognize her from the movie Beautiful or as the 2001 Miss South Carolina.

 

Amy Costanzo danced for the West Coast School of the Arts in Cypress, CA, and she was a top winner with her performance - Cabaret - at the 2000 Showstopper East Coast National Finals in Myrtle Beach. She has been a Laker Girl for three years now, and has also appeared on the MTV movie awards, Jamie Kennedy Experiment, and Showtime Dreams on Fox Sports.

She attends Cal State Fullerton with a major in Communications, and now is a dance instructor for a dance studio.

Can You Help Us?
We are currently gathering information on previous Showstopper participants, to showcase here in our "Look Where They Are Now" section.
If you have any information on anyone who has participated in Showstopper events and has pursued a career in any kind of performance-related career, please email us with a photo at information@showstopperonline.com so that we can honor them here!

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