UNITING THE WORLD THROUGH DANCE SINCE 2003



Get ready to step into the STUDIO with TOP talent and with Planet Dance Cincinnati’s exhilarating Faculty!

GUEST ARTIST SERIES!

SUMMER SCHEDULE ABOVE STARTING JUNE 3RD, 2025

GUEST ARTIST SERIES FACULTY

CARLOS NETO: A regular at Planet Dance Cincinnati, Carlos hails from Portugal and currently lives in NYC>

Carlos Neto has choreographed and directed for Warner Brothers, SyCo Music, Sony BMG, Atlantic Records, Brooklyn Nets, Britain’s Got Talent, Matchbox Twenty, Melanie Martinez, Sergey Lazarev, the Broadway production of Circolombia, The Fringe NYC, ITV’s Got To Dance, Samsung.

In 2014 NYIT Awards presented him with the honor of “Outstanding Choreography/Movement” for his off-broadway work. Worldwide, Carlos has danced for the Dutch show BLAZE; 

played the role of ‘Sudsy’ in West End’s hit show Some Like It Hip Hop; portrayed John Travolta’s character in the Nintendo video game Grease, and danced for PS3 Sony Dance Star Party. 

He was featured in the Bloomingdales 2015 commercial in the USA, choreographed Rob Thomas’s come back single “Trust You”, Melanie Martinez’s “Training Wheels” video and was the creative director of the largest dance competition in the world World Of Dance. 

He is a faculty member at the 3 most prestigious dance schools in NYC – Broadway Dance Center, Alvin Ailey and Peridance. Carlos is one of the selected Expert Contributors to Backstage.com

JENNIFER RUTHERFORD: Jennifer Rutherford moved to New York City at 14 to train at the School of American Ballet under full scholarship, learning from many well-known dance masters. She joined the New York City Ballet at just 17 years old. While dancing with the company, she originated roles in "Reliquary" choreographed by Peter Martins, as well as "Symphony in 5 Movements" choreographed by Robert LaFosse. Jennifer danced in over 50 Balanchine ballets and performed throughout the United States and South America.

Upon retiring from dance, Jennifer began teaching ballet at the Otto M. Budig School of Cincinnati Ballet and was the kids Nutcracker coach for two seasons. Jennifer has run her own preprofessional ballet program with many students currently working as dance professionals.

Jennifer has choreographed for Exhale Dance

Tribe and for the Professional Training Division at Cincinnati Ballet. She worked as principal faculty at Cincinnati Ballet, helping guide dancers to their professional ballet careers. Jennifer has taught Ballet for Planet Dance for past 15 years.

MAKAHLA ROSS: Dancing professionally since age 16, Makahla intensely trained in contemporary, hip-hop, jazz, tap, and ballet. Early on in her professional career she danced for Contemporary dance company, Exhale Dance Tribe '25 to Watch' Dance Magazine.

Currently, she still works in coordination with today’s top choreographers. As a featured dancer along side superstars such as Pharrell, Twenty One Pilots, Thomas Rhett, Soulja Boy, Daft Punk, Vanilla Ice, etc., or Award Show performances (such as during The American Music Awards, The GRAMMY’s (Pepsi's "Half-time" Show), The Streamy Awards, Makahla has been in-demand for years.

Moreover, she has been a featured dancer in so many music videos - such as the world wide, chart topping Akon, Pitbull, and Dj Felli Fel hit “Boomerang,” to the Kreayshawn smash single “Go Hard,” to international success, Pixie Lott's single “All About Tonight." From performing live on the Red Carpet, in front of 10 MILLION viewers, to dancing at the world-famous Radio City Music Hall, to choreographing on the TV show “Majors and Minors,” Makahla's career won’t cease.

ERIN DOWNEY: Erin earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, completing the degree in December 2009. Ms. Downey was a member of professional dance company, Exhale Dance Tribe and continued on to choreograph several works on the company.

Erin is a certified yoga instructor as well as currently serving as Vice President of Global Corporate Sales and Head of New Corporate Sales at Wheels Up since February 2020. Prior to this role, Erin held the position of Manager of Charter and Agency Sales and Services at Delta Private Jets from August 2011 to February 2020.

MADDY CUNDIFF: Maddy started her young dance training in the Middletown, OH. Her preprofessional years, she trained under the direction of Missy and Andrew Hubbard at Planet Dance Cincinnati and Butler Tech Ohio. Maddy continued to dance with Exhale Dance Tribe at the Broadway Series Theater, Aronoff and abroad in New Zealand at the New Zealand Arts festival, a collaboration between Exhale Dance Tribe and Ōkareka dance company. Maddy performed one season at Kings Island. She is a graduate of the CLI conservatory. Most recently, Maddy got off the GUTS tour with Olivia Rodrigo.

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