Brianna Schunk

Brianna Schunk (Ballet, Contemporary, Modern) is originally from York, PA. She grew up training in all genres of dance, including ballet, pointe, lyrical, modern, jazz, musical theatre, hip-hop, breakdance, and bellydance, graduating from Heart n' Sole Dance Academy in 2016. She also spent the latter part of her youth performing in local musicals and plays, including Side Show (Cossack), Into the Woods (Rapunzel), the Music Man (Zaneeta), and others. 

Miss Bri moved to Wilkes-Barre in 2016 to attend Wilkes University. During her time at Wilkes, she became a member of the Conservatory family, teaching classes from 2018-2020. She also participated in the productions, performing roles such as Lead Chinese, Lead Spanish, Marching Doll, and Snow Queen (the Nutcracker), as well as Cygnets (Swan Lake) and Pas de Trois (Waltzes from Vienna). Her university performance credits include Cupid (Carmina Burana) and Connie (A Chorus Line). In addition, she performed in numerous original pieces by both university faculty and student choreographers. She also spent time training outside of school, attending summer intensives to study with the Jose Limon Dance Company, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Parsons Dance, and Doug Varone and Dancers. She graduated in 2020 with a dual major in English and Individualized Studies in Dance, with a minor in Women's and Gender Studies.

After graduation, Miss Bri returned home to Heart n' Sole, where she taught and choreographed for three years. She has also provided audition training and pageant choreography to her community. She also spent a year studying with the Limon Dance Company through LimonPro and LimonLaunch. During this time, she performed excerpts of famous Limon works, including There Is a Time, Miss Brevis, and Dances for Isadora. She has also performed excerpts of Suite Donuts, a new piece choreographed for the company by Chafin Seymour, and What Initiates from Magic, an original (digital) piece by Jonathan Frederickson. She has also premiered two original solos - Slow Poison (by Annmaria Mazzini) and Interrupted (by Xedera Townsend).

Miss Bri is also an avid member of the academic community, having both poetry and academic articles published, her highest achievement being published in the Norton Field Guide to Writing, 6th Edition. She is currently attending Simmons University online, pursuing her Master's in Library and Information Science. She hopes to become a dance historian and archivist after graduation. In her free time, Miss Bri does cosplay, plays video games, and dresses up her sweet kitty-cat, Mina.