Judges

Kym began her dance training at the age of three and has trained extensively in ballet, jazz, musical theatre, lyric, and contemporary. She has been a dance educator for more than 35 years studying in Boston, New York, and California and has a wealth of experience in varied dance genres. She has proven herself in the competition industry through her award winning choreography and competitive success of her students. They have won many prestigious awards, nationally and internationally, and have obtained professional careers as dancers with Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise ships, So You Think You Can Dance, New England Patriots Cheerleading, and on Broadway. Growing up she was involved in the pageant circuit and has coached many students participating in the Miss America and Miss Teen USA Pageant program. Kym’s greatest joy is teaching and instilling her
love of dance into students of all levels and ages and as a judge seeing each performer come alive on stage!

Lily Flanders, an Orlando native, is a versatile dancer and performer with a broad range of
experience. She began her professional career at 18 in “Jungle Book: Alive with Magic” at Walt
Disney World. After living in Japan for a year performing at Tokyo Disney Resort in “One Man’s
Dream II”, she moved to New York City, studied at Steps on Broadway, and danced at Lincoln
Center in the 2018 “Table of Silence Project”. Lily’s love for travel led her to perform as both a
dancer and aerialist with Celebrity Cruises for three contracts, and later return to Tokyo for
“Broadway Christmas Wonderland” in 2022. Her U.S. credits include performing in
“Extravaganza: The Vegas Spectacular” at Bally’s Las Vegas and “The All New Piano Men” at
the Palace Theatre in New Hampshire. She is excited to be a part of the Nexstar panel of
judges and wishes all dancers the best of luck!

Mx. Lingo Kelleher (they/them/theirs) is an autistic and nonbinary dancer, choreographer, and visual artist. They are Acrobatic Arts certified and hold a BFA in Dance with a concentration in Choreography from Dean College.
A self-proclaimed “swarm of excited bees”, Lingo loves to spread their joy for dance, accessibility, and the arts wherever they go! They have been dancing for over fifteen years and have a robust background in acrobatics, ballet, tap, jazz, modern, improvisations, and contemporary dance styles. Lingo has self-produced several dance films and has had their work presented at dance festivals, film festivals, and multiple dance productions/performances. Some of the most notable works Lingo has choreographed include Ruminate, Hypnopompia, and Paranoia.
As their thesis in their final year of their BFA program, Lingo was given the opportunity to create a choreographed work entitled Ever Yours, Vincent. Mentoring under Kristina Berger (Erick Hawkins Dance Company Principal Member) and Stephen Tracy-Ursprung MFA (Dean to the School of the Arts at Dean College; Little Women, 2019, Principal Dancer), they conducted extensive research on the life and art of Vincent van Gogh; their choreography and writings combined primary sources with historical documents into an immersive exploration of how movement in one artistic medium could be transferred into others.
Currently, Lingo is a faculty member and choreographer at multiple dance studios in the greater- Boston area, teaching classes in acrobatics, contemporary, and improvisations.

Rebecca Erwin has been dancing since the age of seven and trained at Vicki Jo Dance Studio, competing in jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, heels, folkloric, and hip hop.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Public Relations from Bowling Green State University and was a four-year member of the BGSU Dance Team and BGSU Nationals Dance Team, competing at the Universal Dance Association (UDA) College National Championship and earning a Top 20 national ranking.

Rebecca currently teaches tap, ballet, jazz, acrobatics, and hip hop at Marjorie Jones School of Dance in Columbus, Ohio. A certified dance competition judge for over five years, she has judged across the country with UDA, Stageone, and Ohio Dance Masters (ODM). Rebecca is thrilled to be joining the Nexstar family for the first time this season and looks forward to celebrating dancers and their hard work throughout the weekend.

Samiyah Lynnice holds a BFA in Dance Performance from The Hartt School and is a graduate of New World School of the Arts Dance Program in Miami. She spent seven years with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble in Colorado, where she was nominated for the Princess Grace Award. Her notable performances include premiering Micaela Taylor’s “Resist” at the 2019 American Dance Festival, premiering Cleo Parker Robinson’s “Standing on the Shoulders” at Vail International Dance Festival in 2021, and performing as Firebird. She is the Repertoire holder to Winifred R. Harris’s work, Associate Artistic Director of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. She has also performed with Anita Baker on “The Songstress Tour”and has appeared in television and film. Additional training includes: the Academy of Ballet Arts, Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, and DunDu Dole Urban African Ballet. Ms. Lynnice is excited to begin her first season with Evidence, A Dance Company.

Tonya Ferrucci began her dance training at the age of three and has studied under the late Bette-Ann Monti Rossi for the past 30 years. Her dance training is both extensive and impressive and she was well known in the competition world winning many prestigious regional and national awards. She has trained in Boston, New York, and spent a brief time in California pursuing her dancing career. She was the owner and director of APAC Dance, Inc., one of the most successful studios in the New England area. Her students have won many prestigious regional and national awards including Petite Miss Dance of New England; Petite Miss American Dance Awards, Junior Miss Candance North America, dance-off champions and many national dance scholarships. Her students were gold medal World Dance Champions for the United States in Reisa, Germany. Her unique choreography has been the recipient of many regional and national awards as well. Tonya loves sharing her passion of the artform dance to the next generation of artists.