The Dance Waterloo Team
Morgan Teel
Founder | Artistic Director
Morgan Mackay Teel is the Artistic Director & Founder of Dance Waterloo. When she isn’t producing a new choreographic project for Dance Waterloo, you can find her working with an individual, partner, group, and business clients as a Certified Enneagram Coach, helping them find fulfillment and joy with how they spend their time in life. She is also a Recruiting Coordinator for a tech start-up. Morgan holds an MFA in Dance from The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from The University of Southern Mississippi. Her artistic works have premiered nationally in Florida, Wisconsin, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Indiana, and New York as well as internationally in Italy.
Stephanie Albrecht
Executive Director
Stephanie Locklear Albrecht is an experienced leader with a diverse background in program management and digital strategy. Skilled in relationship-building, business management, and enhancing the customer experience, she is passionate about driving growth and innovation in the arts and education sector and thrives in creating meaningful and impactful experiences. Stephanie’s most recent role as the Director of Digital Strategy & Development at Dance Waterloo follows a decade-long tenure across various pivotal positions at Ballet Austin.
A native Austinite and proud Texas Longhorn, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from The University of Texas at Austin, a testament to her deep connection with this community. As a new mom of a 2.5-month-old, Stephanie embarks on this new and thrilling chapter, cherishing the solid roots that have always grounded her.
Stephanie is eager and excited to contribute to the dynamic future of Dance Waterloo, and looks forward to working closely with the team to make a lasting impact on our community and the arts.
Mia Moi
Project Director
Mia Moi was born and raised in Houston, Texas, where she received professional classical ballet training and multi-disciplinary competition experience. Since moving to Austin, she has refined her training in tap, jazz, heels, hip-hop, and contemporary and performed with dance collectives like Ventana Ballet, ARCOS, Early Era Collective, Articulate Austin, and Tapestry. Mia continues to freelance with local Austin companies in performance, choreography, teaching, and film. From teaching at various studios to featuring in short films and commercials, Mia strives to grow her dance discipline in all areas. She also holds Bachelors’ degrees in Communication Leadership and Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Jessica Gray
Outreach and Operations Coordinator
Jessica Gray started dancing at the age of 2 in Rowlett, TX. She pursued dance in many ways as a young child and in her high school years. She competed with both her drill team and competitive studio teams and was also in theatre and musicals. She attended The University of Texas at Austin and received her BFA in August of 2015. While attending UT, Jessica had the pleasure of working with many current choreographers and with the classical works of choreographers, the late Robert Battle (Brooklyn) of BattleWorks, Paul Taylor (New York), Charles O. Anderson (Austin), Kate Watson-Wallace (Brooklyn), and her favorite Mark Morris (Brooklyn) of Mark Morris Dance Group. She also got to choreograph in many student-run shows as well as her final main stage show as a senior member of Dance Repertoire Theater. Upon graduating in 2015, Jessica auditioned for us and has been a season regular for 5 years. Jessica has taught dance all over Austin and is currently a teacher at Head To Toe and Dance Elements.
Laura Merkel
Choreographer
Laura Merkel graduated with a B.A. in dance performance from Hofstra University, summa cum laude. After graduation, Laura lived in NYC for a couple of years, dancing in modern and jazz dance companies and training in yoga and Pilates. In 2016, she relocated to Austin, TX, and joined Dance Waterloo. In this company, she has the pleasure of working as a dancer, choreographer, teaching artist, and bodyworker. Outside of her work with Dance Waterloo, Laura teaches young dancers at Dance Xplosion and she started her own online fitness business, Laura Merkel Fitness. In 2019, she collaborated with fellow Dance Waterloo member, Rachael Hulse, to create a 2 hour-long dance installation, “Save/Reload,” as part of Revolve Austin. Laura is grateful to have found a home among Austin’s dance community!
Andie Duong
Dancer | Teaching Artist
Andie Duong grew up dancing in Des Moines, IA where she studied ballet, contemporary, modern, and tap. While working towards her BFA in Dance at UT Austin, Andie performed in several of UT’s Dance Repertory Theater’s shows including Fall for Dance, Momentum, Fortitude, and Transcendence – which Andie also choreographed a piece for. Before graduating in 2019, Andie worked with choreographers such as Andrea Beckham, Gesel Mason, Kirven Douthit Boyd, Erica Gionfriddo, Adrienne Hurd, Ananya Chatterjea, and Netta Yerushalmy. Andie has been living, working, and dancing in Austin since, and began working with Dance Waterloo in 2020.
Lily Kazanoff
Choreographer | Dancer | Teaching Artist
Lily Kazanoff (she/they) is a choreographer and dancer based in their hometown of Austin, TX. Lily is a professional grant writer and international researcher dedicated to hyperlocal yet high-impact projects. She loves to travel and learn new languages – and discovers ‘found’ movements along the way. Fusing semiotics with play, Lily has created pieces featured by the American College Dance Association regional finals, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School of Austin, and Live Action Set. In this past year, Lily has continued her decade-long collaborations with Dana Duren/Venus Wheeler Collective and began teaching, dancing, and choreographing with Dance Waterloo.
