Faculty

KENNETH LIPITZ has had a long international career as a dance artist/educator. 
For ten years he danced as a soloist with ballet companies of the highest echelon,
such as the San Francisco and Pennsylvania Ballets, as well as the National Ballet of
Canada.  In 1975, he turned his energies to modern dance, serving as associate ar-
tistic director/principal dancer for Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers and artistic
director of the Concert Dance Company of Boston.  As associate professor of
dance at UMass/Amherst, he recently retired from nineteen years of teaching at
Smith, Mt. Holyoke and Amherst Colleges as well as the University, where he also
served as artistic director of the University Dancers and was a finalist for the
UMass Distinguished Teaching Award.  He can now devote himself entirely to
NEDC.  Ken has choreographed over fifty ballets and modern dance works for
professional companies, college dance majors, NEDC and the New England Dance
Theater.  Ken has been a Guest Artist/ choreographer and director for Springfield
College, as well as public and private schools across the U.S. and Canada.  He is
also a certified dance movement specialist for the Commonwealth of Massachu-
setts.

SHELLEY ZIEBEL, artistic and administrative director of NEDC and NEDT, re-
ceived her B.Sc. in Dance from SUNY Brockport.  She began her dance career
performing children’s parts in the New York City Ballet, under the direction of
George Balanchine.  Her early training included study at The School of American
Ballet, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, and as a scholarship student at the
original New Dance Group Studio in NYC.  For ten years she was a principal
dancer with Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers and the Concert Dance Company
of Boston, performing works by many of the world’s most renowned choreogra-
phers.  Her choreography has been performed by companies in both Canada and
the U.S.A.  Shelley and husband Kenneth Lipitz, are charter members of the Pio-
neer Valley Performing Arts Charter School’s Circle of Artists.  Ken and Shelley,
married for thirty years, have a son, Hayden, 15, and a daughter, Isadora, currently a
Five College Dance Department senior dance major, and member of the Lorraine
Chapman and David Parker Dance Companies of Boston and New York City.

ALISON PERCY has been with NEDC and NEDT since 1987.  She received
her B.A. in fine arts from Elms College.  Ms. Percy has taught dance in Wilbraham,
Amherst, Enfield, CT, and at Elms College, as well as fine arts courses at Holyoke
Catholic High School.  As an artist, her work has been exhibited at several local
galleries and can be seen in private collections throughout New England.  Ms.
Percy attended the prestigious Harvard Summer Dance Program in 1993.

ELIZABETH WOOD Born in Germany, Elizabeth saw her first ballet at age
three and has been dancing ever since.  She grew up in Hampden, MA where she
studied dance with Anatole Bourman, Tatiana Ourousoff, and Billy Austin and spent
her summers studying in NYC. Professionally, she has performed with the Con-
necticut Valley Regional Ballet, Massachusetts Ballet, and Enfield Jazz Ensemble.  She
received her B.A. from Marymount College.  Ms. Wood joined the faculty of
NEDC in 1991. Currently, she teaches at NEDC and at Elms College for NEDC. 
Elizabeth has also choreographed for both Western New England College and the
Drama Studio.

JOSH GOLD is a self-taught Funk dancer and Hip-Hop culture educator.  Start-
ing his career in 1996, Gold studied Breakin; (origin:  South Bronx, NYC), and
Mime (technique; Robotics, Isolation & Wavin’).  Partaking in electronic music
based gatherings known as Raves, he soon discovered a dance form that would
become his true passion, Funk Styles.  He teaches Funk Dance at NEDC, and the
Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter HS, and performs pretty much everywhere
he goes.  In 2005, he was the UMASS Spring Concert opening for Nas at the
Mullins Center.  “The show was amazing, dancing in my hometown for over ten
thousand people, wow.”

MEGAN BROWN is currently a junior at UMASS/Amherst where she is pur-
suing a B.F.A. in Dance.  At UMASS she has studied with Billbob Brown, Tom Va-
canti, former NEDC faculty, Samantha Kenney, and with NEDC director, Kenneth
Lipitz.  She has been dancing for 18 years under the instruction of her mother, and
UMASS alumna, Karen E. Brown.  She has performed  at UMASS as well as in nu-
merous community theater productions.  Megan teaches hip hop at UMASS and
teaches ballet, tap, and jazz dance  as well. She loves working with all ages and in all
forms of dance.  Megan joined the faculty of NEDC in 2006.