THD Welcomes New Faculty and Celebrates Promotions

As we begin a new academic year, the Department of Theatre and Dance is pleased and excited to welcome new faculty members, as well as to announce the promotion of current instructors. 2024-2025 also represents the department's third year under the leadership of Eero Laine.  

Let’s meet the new members of UB Theatre and Dance (in alphabetical order).

J. Marc Quattlebaum, MFA (he/him) is excited to join UB as a new Assistant Teaching Professor of Theatre where he will serve as Director of Scenic Art and Stage Properties. He holds an MFA in Scenic Design from Wayne State University and a BA in Theatre and English from Newberry College. His specialties include prop and puppet design, scenic art, and design for children’s theatre.  Most recently Marc served as the Technical Director and a resident scenic designer for Birmingham Children’s Theatre - the nation’s second oldest professional theatre for young audiences - for their 75th and 76th seasons.  During his tenure, he designed Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money, Treasure Island, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Save Hamlet, Stay Awake, and Inside Out.

Before Children’s Marc served as the Prop Master and resident prop designer for the University of Alabama at Birmingham for twelve years. In addition to his work in props, he also served as the resident scenic designer for the UAB Bookends and other touring programs targeted to young audiences. Selected shows included:  Angels in America Part 1 (scenery), The SpongeBob Musical (props and puppets), Savage (props and puppets), Avenue Q (props and selected puppets), Silent Sky (props), and The Sword in the Stone (scenery).

Prior to UAB, Marc taught design and technical theatre courses at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS.  He maintains a freelance career - mostly in scenic design and scenic art. Recent freelance credits include scenic designs for Opera Birmingham, the University of Montevallo, and Red Mountain Theatre. In 2022, Marc was tasked by the Alabama Ballet to recreate the scenic art for elements of Oliver Smith’s 1941 design of Rodeo. Examples of his work can be found at www.jmarcquattlebaum.com. 

Lana Sugarman (she/her) is delighted to be joining UB's Department of Theatre and Dance as an Assistant Teaching Professor. An actor, director, intimacy director, and educator with roots in Western Canada, Lana has worked/played on stages across Canada and the US including Dobama Theatre, Rubber City Theatre, Shakespeare at the Castle, Seat of the Pants, The Citadel, Theatre Northwest, Persephone, Driftwood Theatre, Classic Theatre Festival, Playwright's Local, and the St Lawrence Shakespeare Festival. She is a core member of Seat of the Pants, an ensemble-based, process-driven theatre company based in Northeast Ohio.

Lana is a certified teacher of the Michael Chekhov Technique through the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium, and an Intimacy Director with training from both IDC and TIE. Her creative research explores the intersection of these modalities, and the value of a consent-forward framework in the classroom and rehearsal hall. A certified yoga teacher of 15 years, Lana integrates mindfulness and movement into her teaching.

Outside of the classroom you can find Lana at a farmer's market, paddleboarding, having a dance party or curled up with a cup of matcha and her kitty Smooshie.

Assistant Teaching Professor of Theatre Janet Werther, MFA (they/them) earned their BA in Dance from The University at Buffalo and their MFA in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College. Janet has performed locally with Anne Burnidge Dance and in NYC with The Ballez Company. Their solo show Are You My Mother? was produced as part of the HOT! Festival of queer performance in NYC in 2013. Janet has taught dance and theatre for youth (ages 3+) for many years, especially at The Brooklyn Arts Exchange, where they also worked in arts administration and were in residence artistically with The Ballez.

Over the past decade Janet has taught both Theatre & Performance Studies and Gender & Sexuality Studies at a variety of colleges and universities across New York State. They particularly enjoy teaching and researching at the intersections of performance and LGBTQ+ history and experience. Janet’s writing is published in Studies in Musical Theatre, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, TDR: The Drama Review, and their most recent article on transgender performance and casting in musicals was published in the edited volume Gender, Sex, and Sexuality in Musical Theatre: He/She/They Could Have Danced All Night (2023, edited by Dr. Kelly Kessler).

Janet’s dissertation focuses on contemporary queer feminist adaptations of canonical plays. Some favorite recent projects include their work as the Dance Dramaturg for UB’s production of Men On Boats (2017 dir. Dr. Eero Laine), archival research & dramaturgy for the Bessie Award winning dance work Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and Other Works by John Bernd (2016, chor. Ishmael Houston-Jones & Miguel Gutierrez), and curating & co-producing the 2019 Booth Award ceremony honoring Ishmael Houston-Jones through the CUNY Graduate Center. Janet also enjoys knitting and dancing Contact Improvisation (especially with their three year old twins).

Kerry Ring, originally from Buffalo, New York, has been promoted to Teaching Professor at the University at Buffalo. Ring earned her BFA in dance from the University of New Mexico and her MFA in choreography and dance performance from Mills College in Oakland, California. She has performed as a company member with the Nevada Dance Theatre, Delta Festival Ballet, Santa Fe Opera, Bill Evans Dance Company, and Molissa Fenley and Dancers.  She trained at the Joffrey Ballet School, National Academy of the Arts, as a “Young Artist” scholarship recipient for the American Dance Festival, and the Paul Taylor School.  Three of Kerry’s choreographic works have been chosen for the American College Dance Association’s Gala Performance.  Kerry has performed in new works by Donald McKayle, Robert Moses, Nathan Trice, Paul Matteson, and Ma Bo; and has performed historical works by Paul Taylor, Jose Limon and Anna Sokolow.

Kerry is also Artistic Director of UB’s Zodiaque Dance Company. Her areas of research are ballet and modern dance technique and choreography and collaboration.  Kerry successfully examined through Grade Six both as a student and as a teacher through the Cecchetti Council of America.  She has served as “core ballet faculty” for Dance Master’s of America for over fifteen years.  She is certified in Hatha Yoga through the Temple of Kriya Yoga, is certified in Ultra Barre, was a frequent contributor to Dance Studio Life magazine (2009 – 2016) and is a member of Corps de Ballet International.

Jenna Zavrel has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor. She is an educator, choreographer, and performance artist with creative interests in proscenium group work, dance on film, and music editing and arrangement. Prior to beginning her career as a teaching artist in higher education, Jenna has performed professionally and internationally with notable choreographers: Tim Glenn, Jawole Willa Zollar and Urban Bush Women, Michael Foley, Taye Diggs, Tim Glenn, Lynda Davis, Gerri Houlihan, Anthony Morgan, Richard Haisma and Geomantics Dance Theater, and more.

As a working artist, Jenna’s proscenium work and screen dances are regularly selected for participation in national and international festivals. She has presented her work in France, Spain, Scotland, Greece, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York City, Texas, Florida, Maine, North Carolina, Minnesota, Virginia, and Chicago.

Dedicated to relevant curriculum development, Jenna has implemented University courses in Dance on Film, Composition for Museum Studies, The Marketable Graduate, Holistic Wellness Studies, and an Internship in teaching ballet. Previously, she developed and implemented the dance curriculum for Arts Integrated High School, Oracle Charter School in Buffalo, NY.

As an instructor, Jenna specializes in choreography, dance on film, and technical training in modern and ballet. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Dance (Performance and Choreography) from Florida State University School of Dance and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a Minor in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Potsdam.  Jenna is also on faculty for the national Dance Master’s of America organization, is certified instructor in the Cecchetti method of ballet, and holds a Pilates certification from Body One Studios.