Fran Beaumont
Fran Beaumont, originally from Richmond, Virginia began her training with the School of the Richmond Ballet. After graduating from Appomattox Regional Governor’s School, with a focus on dance, she continued her education in England at The Hammond School where she studied dance and choreography. In 2016, she graduated with a Level 6 Degree from Trinity College in Professional Dance and received her teaching certificate in Pilates. Fran has trained with Jasmine Grace, Starrene Foster, Jane Elliott, David Needham, Anthea Garratt, Alison Hughes, Tara Penick, Arnott Mader, Lee Johnston, Antonia Barron, and Christine Eccleston-Tuohy. She currently works as a stagehand with the Richmond Ballet and choreographs for Appomattox Governors School. Fran joined Starr Foster Dance in 2016.
ANGELA PALMISANO
ANGELA PALMISANO (Dancer), originally from Baltimore, Maryland, has been dancing since the age of two. She has had the pleasure of training at the prestigious George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson, Maryland for high school and also in the Department of Dance and Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University. Angela is a certified Flexologist at StretchLab in Williamsburg, Virginia and joined SFD in 2014.
SHANNON COMERFORD
Shannon Comerford, who grew up in Amelia, VA, got her start dancing at Joy’s School of Dance. She continued her dance education at Radford University and graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance in 2015. While at Radford, she performed in many main stage productions, as well as at the New York Jazz Choreography Project and served as an apprentice for d a n a h b e l l a DanceWorks. Since graduating, Shannon has danced as a guest dancer for local RVA and DMV artists and was a company member with RVA Dance Collective for several years. Through her time with the company she worked with several notable choreographers including Eric Rivera, Miguel Perez, LaWanda Raines, Vicki Fink and Kelly Bartnik. In addition to performing Shannon has a huge passion for choreography and teaching. She loves creating and continuing to help nurture and cultivate other dancers’ journeys. Shannon joined SFD in 2022.
MOLLY HUEY
Molly Huey, originally from Pennsylvania, is a dance artist, videographer, and media artist, among other things. They perform, choreograph, teach, capture, create, and recreate often. Molly has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance, specializing in performance and choreography, and a Bachelor of Arts in communication, graduating from Slippery Rock University in 2019. A few highlights include performing on the Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Stage with ACDA selected works, at the Joyce Theater in New York for the University Partner’s Showcase, the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh for PearlArt’s 3600 Seconds of Solos, at Dixon Place in New York for WhiteWave’s SoloDuo Festival, at Schenley Park for Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s Open Air series, in Brooklyn Bridge Park with Currents (take.6), and in Philadelphia for the Koresh Artist Showcase. They look forward to exploring more stages. Molly is the Media Specialist at Richmond Ballet and joined Starr Foster Dance in 2022.
MADISON ERNSTES
Madison Ernstes, born in China and raised in Richmond, Virginia, began her dance training at Dancers’ Studio and later danced competitively at Dance Destination. She continued her dance journey at the University of Richmond where she served as both a member of and company captain for the Department of Theatre and Dance’s company, University Dancers. She was also a member of the Department’s Electrics Crew. Additionally, she choreographed two original dance works that premiered in University Dancers’ Annual Concerts. After graduating with a BA in Dance and BS in Biology in 2020, Madison attended Radford University and received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy in May 2023. She is currently working with Fox Rehabilitation in Richmond, VA. Madison joined SFD in 2023.
Roya Baker-Vahdani
Roya Baker-Vahdani began her dance training at the age of 3 with Dance Fremont in Seattle, Washington under the direction of Artistic Directors Vivian Little and Mary Reardon, dancing for them until the age of 17. In 2018-2020 Roya trained under Artistic Director Megan Philipp at State Street Ballet Professional Training Program in Santa Barbara, California. In 2020 – 2021 she danced for Columbia Classical Ballet in Columbia, South Carolina under the direction of Radenko Pavlovich. Roya moved to Richmond, VA in 2021 to join Stavna Ballet where she danced under Artistic Director Shannon Hunter McConville for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. Since leaving Stavna Ballet, Roya has been focusing on freelance dance and in 2024 was a guest dancer in Starr Foster Dance’s Curious Intentions Performance, Page to Stage III, and SPITTING IMAGE in 2025. In addition to freelance dancing, Roya is working on completing her BA degree in Psychology and will be joining SFD for the 2025 Season.
