Judges

Kyle Kershner is a professional dancer, instructor, and choreographer based in Central New York. He grew up dancing at CMC Dance Company in Cicero, New York. Following his high school years, he attended the University at Buffalo with a double major in Dance and Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. While at UB he participated in several performances as both a dancer and choreographer. He was also a part of the prestigious pre-professional Zodiaque Dance Company, which is going on its 50th anniversary this year. Following graduation, he received a contract to perform on a cruise ship with Norwegian Cruise Lines. Over the last two years, he has completed three contracts with the company working with world-renowned choreographers and directors. Cruising has fostered his love of traveling taking him to all seven continents and over 50 different countries. Kyle is thrilled to be back on land spreading his love of dance to the next generation of dancers.

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!

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.