ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Luke A. Loffelmacher is the Owner and Artistic Director of Alley Kats Tap Studio & Company, established in 2010 and currently leading into the 2024-2025 seasons. Master Teacher of tap dance, Luke still gets heavily involved in local theater going back to the ACLOA days and performing in the 1996 production of 42nd Street at PopeJoy Hall. Luke’s choreography contributions include Albuquerque Little Theater’s musical productions of Addam’s Family and Singing In The Rain, and Musical Theater Southwest productions including Rock Of Ages, Company and both productions of American Idiot. Luke is also no stranger to movies and music videos, where in the 2000’s you can find him featured in the Love N’ Dancing (2009) and Defective Man (2009).

CORE A

Janine O’Neill-Loffelmacher grew up East of the Sandia mountains and started her dance education at Fishback Studio of the Dance in the late 1990’s. She studied tap dance under Diane Gutierrez for six years before focusing on her acting and performing in high school. She started performing in and around the Albuquerque community after graduating Manzano High School in 2007. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from UNM in Theater with an acting emphasis. She was soon able to put her tap dance and acting together by performing in musicals at Musical Theater Southwest, where she met Luke Loffelmacher and was introduced to Alley Kats Tap Company. She started to study tap with Alley Kats in 2012 while continuing to perform at multiple community theaters in Albuquerque. Some notable roles include Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical (MTS), Regina in Rock of Ages (MTS), Amy in Company (MTS), Susan Hendrix in Wait Until Dark (ALT), Heather in American Idiot the Musical (the original and revival at MTS), Kathy Seldon in Singing in the Rain (ALT), and Mary Haines in The Women (The Adobe Theater). Janine became a proud Core A member of the Alley Kats Tap Company in 2013 and has been performing with them ever since. She began teaching for Alley Kats in 2019 and has enjoyed sharing her love of tap dance with students of all ages. Janine has been a public school teacher with APS since 2013 and has taught First Grade, Third Grade, and Kindergarten. She went back to UNM and earned her Masters of Arts in Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies. She has been married to Luke Loffelmacher since 2016, and they have a beautiful daughter, Liberty Rose, who was born in 2020.

CORE A

Annmarie Garcia Sheahan is a dancer, choreographer, and educator based in Albuquerque. She began dancing at the age of 5 and hasn’t stopped since.

Annmarie has been a member of AKTC since 2014, and begin teaching tap and jazz for the company shortly after. She is the founder and artistic director of BreakingEven—a mixed level, mixed-genre, all-female adult dance troupe—as well as the choreographer for the Rio Rancho Youth Chorus. Annmarie has also worked with both Musical Theatre Southwest and the New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus as a choreographer and featured dancer. 

Annmarie holds a PhD from the University of New Mexico, where she is an adjunct professor. She is an active researcher and scholar in the field of English Education and currently teaches Language Arts and Film Studies at Rio Grande High School. 

CORE A

Sarah has danced as a Core A member of Alley Kats Tap Company for over a decade. Born and raised in Albuquerque, Sarah has danced with, taught, and choreographed for dancers of all ages and levels at Alley Kats Tap Studio, BreakingEven Dance Troupe, La Mesa Dance Academy, NDI of New Mexico, and Sandra’s School of Dance.

Sarah holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and Human Development from Connecticut College and a J.D. from the UNM School of Law. As a civil litigator, she compassionately represents injured New Mexicans and their families through a trauma-informed lens.

CORE B

Michelle Eiland began her dance training at the age of two following a cancer diagnosis and losing her left eye. She is trained in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, Celtic, Latin dance, and character movement. She performs, choreographs, teaches, and assists for many theaters and companies in town.

Michelle is dedicated to accessibility and equity of education, celebrating diversity through her work. She is fluent in four languages and teaches Spanish at Public Academy for Performing Arts (PAPA). She is honored to have roots in such a deeply devoted arts community here in the Land of Enchantment.

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