Director Beverly Mendez
Beverly Borough Mendez graduated suma cum laude with a theater and dance degree in 1974 and she has been performing and working ever since. Every opportunity to learn something new, greedily grabbed.
After graduating, she moved to NYC, where she studied with Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Finis Jung, Robert Christopher, Milton Myers, and many others.
She attended Dramatic Arts Workshop, where she studied acting with Howard Green, and Jon Penninger. She supplied funds for her “continuing education” by working in Dinner Theaters in NJ, stage managing, and choreographing.
Deciding to go on the road, she played Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Lucy in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown at the Merry Go Round Playhouse in Miami. A season at The Appleton Repertory Company in Wisconsin gave her the opportunity to play Mina in Dracula, Sandra in 1000 Clowns and Louise in The Imaginary Invalid, with The Imaginary Invalid performing also at the Milwaukee Repertory Company. Along with performing roles, Ms. Mendez was teaching daily dance class to the acting company and choreographing The Taming of the Shrew.
Moving on to San Francisco, she choreographed and performed in Tournanog at The Embassy Theater, and taught modern dance at The Sanfrancisco Women’s Center. Back to Florida, having been given an Artist in Residence Grant through the CETA program, Beverly had the opportunity to play Mary in Little Mary Sunshine along with teaching dance at St Leo University in Tampa.
Back to NY, she choreographed the off broadway show Ludwig – A Lighthearted Musical Comedy About Love at the Royal Court Theater, and played Irene in When We Dead Awaken at the NYC Repertory Company. She choreographed for the Sidewalks of NY Acting Company and was a singer in 3 performance art pieces by composer Lisa Karrer, and Blue Blood by visual artist Gina Wendkos.
She danced with the Phyllis Rose Dance Company for 7 years, performing a wide variety of dance styles and touring the NY tri-state area. She was a contribubting choreographer for the PRDC as well. Ms. Mendez was the Artistic Director of Licensed Movers Dance Company in NYC for 2 years. Directing and choreographing two full length dance theater productions at Showcase Studio NYC.
Moving to Fredericksburg in 1990, she developed a theater-dance program teaching dance to kids and adults, producing full length dance-theater productions for 7 years through the Fredericksburg Parks and Recreation. She taught in a variety of dance studios until she met Jen Cleaton and concentrated her classroom work at Fredericksburg Ballet Centre.
She taught Modern Dance and Ballet technique at Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg for 4 years and was on the faculty at the University of Mary Washington for 18 years. At UMW she taught Modern Dance and Dance Improvisation. She is proud to have founded and directed the first Faculty-Student Dance Concert in 2006.
In 1993 Beverly created, with co-creator Carolyn Seklii, Fredericksburg Dance matrix, a professional dance company of adult dance artists which performed throughout the area for many years. In 2016, Fredericksburg Dance morphed into Dance Matrix & Company, becoming a 501c3 non-profit company. With Ms. Mendez at the helm, DMC became an important part of the Fredericksburg, VA arts landscape, creating performance events for all performing artists in the area to participate in..
Ms. Mendez was on staff at Fredericksburg Ballet Centre in Fredericksburg for 25 years, Ballet Mistress and Artistic Director for the last 13. As a director/choreographer at FBC, she has staged the full length ballets: Cinderella, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Giselle, La Bayadere, and one-act productions of: Rodeo, The Red Shoes, The Midsummer Night’s Dream, Firebird, and Aurora’s Wedding.
Ms. Mendez’s latest adventure is creating the DMC Performing Arts Center in February of 2022. A cozy brick and mortar to house the Company, and create a performing arts hub for adult artists in the ‘Burg to gather, create, rehearse, and teach.
I have lived a crazy life, and I’m not stopping yet! Stay tuned for more adventures!
Dance Matrix Company Members
Dance Matrix has a revolving membership. Some individuals dance with us on a long-term basis, while some dance with us when they are in town or available. For our new season, we are thrilled to be working with these 9 amazing dancers:
Christy Hawkins
Christy started dancing when she was six years old and has made dancing a lifelong passion. She has a B.A. and a M.A. from Brigham Young University (BYU), specializing in ballet and ballroom dance. She performed worldwide as a member of BYU Theatre Ballet and BYU Ballroom Dance Company. She is the mother of four and has lived in Stafford, VA since 2012. Besides dancing, Christy loves to watch movies, read books, and visit and hike in the national parks, all with her active family. She joined Dance Matrix Company (DMC) in 2015 and is a member of the Board of Directors for DMC.
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Katie Fatiga
Katie Fatiga has always loved to dance. She realized that she wanted to dance in a more professional way in college after taking an improvisational dance class with Beverly Mendez. Since then Katie has enjoyed taking classes at FBC, and performing with Dance Matrix. When she is not dancing, Katie keeps busy teaching Middle School, raising her two children and running races. Katie joined Dance Matrix in 2016
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Deborah Bennett
Deborah Bennett started studying the art of ballet at 5 years old. She went to watch her friend take a ballet class and fell in love. Deborah trained in the Cecchetti method of classical ballet in South Africa and England and has been dancing professionally since age 16. She came to America to study under master teachers in New York. She got married and has not left. She has danced professionally in South Africa, New York, New Jersey, and Virginia. She has been teaching ballet at M&S Studio of the Performing Arts in Central Park, Fredericksburg for many years. Yoga is her second love. She says, “Yoga has kept me injury-free and in good shape so that I can still enjoy dancing. Dance is my therapy.”
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Patrick Mayer
He has studied ballet, jazz, musical theatre, modern, hip hop, and lyrical.
Patrick Mayer has been dancing since the age of 3 at Fredericksburg Ballet Centre.
He has had soloist parts in Don Quixote, Giselle, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and The Nutcracker.
Patrick premiered his first self-choreographed solo with DMC at the 2020 Performing Arts Festival. He is enjoying his first season as a DMC dancer.
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Becky Brassfield
Becky Brassfield has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She has studied everything from jazz to modern to hip-hop, with her favorites tyles being tap and ballet. She gained experience teaching and choreographing as a member of Fusion Dance Team during her time at Virginia Tech. Becky danced with DMC as a guest Artist in the Summer of 2016, and is now a full company member.
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Kori Terrell Joseph
Kori has been dancing in Fredericksburg since the age of five.
She has danced with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Ballet Met in Columbus, Ohio, Michigan Ballet Seminar, and Richmond Ballet.
She is currently an instructor at Avery Ballet and Creative Movement Dance.
Mrs. Joseph has danced on and off with DMC for 16 seasons, and has created many choreographic works for the company over the years.
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Jackie Jerndal
Jackie Jerndal was born and raised in South Africa. She started dancing when she was 5 years old. She came to the United States in 1988 and was dancing in and around NYC before moving to Virginia and finding Dance Matrix. She is extremely happy to have the opportunity to be dancing again, and says it keeps her young!
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Laura Embertson
Laura has been dancing since she was 6 years old. She was in a Hip Hop Funk dance troupe in Santa Cruz, CA until age 14. She danced throughout high school including in musical theatre. After she completed her BS at University of California, Davis, Laura focused on modern dance and salsa in Los Angeles. There she danced at Piece College, including in their performance of the musical, Caberet. Returning to Davis for her MS she continued dancing contemporary and ballet through the university. When she moved to DC she began performing with the DHH Company in Arlington, VA.
Laura is thrilled to have found adult classes at DMC studio and even more excited to join the Dance Matrix Company this year 2023. Dancing is when Laura feels the happiest and she makes it a point to incorporate dance into her life as her family expands. She believes all people should make room for creativity and hopes she will continue to meet kindred spirits through dance.
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