Vanessa Beyland

Originally from Southern California, Vanessa holds a BFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She has been on the faculty of USM since 2005, choreographing and teaching many styles of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary and musical theater. Upon moving to Maine in 2001 she danced with Portland Ballet Company (2002 – 2011) and continues to appear as a guest artist. Vanessa is also on the faculty at Portland School of Ballet, and at Casco Bay Movers where she is the director of the Portland Youth Dance II performing group and has been the Assistant Director / Choreographer for Opera Maine since 2023.  Her performing credits include work in CA, CT, ME, NH, NJ, NY, and PA with school, community and professional companies. Recent local credits include –  Maine State Music Theater, Lyric Music Theater, Dramatic Repertory Company, Maine Playwrights Festival, Children’s Museum and Theater of Maine, Opera Maine, Snowlion Repertory Company, Good Theater, SchoolHouse Arts, Windham Center Stage, PATHS, and Stages Youth Theater among others. 

Choreography credits – For USM: Cabaret, Curtain Up!, Little Women, Songs for a New World, The Prom (Maine Premiere), I Love You…Now Change!, Into the Woods, Urinetown, And the World Goes ‘Round, Musical of Musicals, Sondheim Birthday Bash, The Love of the Nightingale, Unlock’d, A Man of No Importance, Reefer Madness, Catch Me if You Can, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Die Fledermaus, The Pajama Game and multiple USM Dance Concerts.  For Opera Maine (formerly PORTopera): Rigoletto. For Dramatic Repertory Company: Fabuloso, Swimming in the Shallows, [Title of Show]. Local high school and community theater productions include: Anastasia, Grease!, Cinderella, Matilda, Shrek The Musical, Spamalot, Little Shop of Horrors, Mama Mia!, Sister Act, The Little Mermaid, The Sound of Music, Kiss Me Kate, Peter Pan, 42nd Street, A Funny Thing…Forum, Guys and Dolls, The Wizard of Oz, Bye, Bye Birdie, Cats, High School Musical, Anything Goes, Newsies, The Pirates of Penzance, Once Upon a Mattress, Pippin, Mary Poppins, West Side Story, Carousel, Legally Blonde, Annie Get Your Gun, The Best of Broadway 2009-2012, and works for Portland Ballet Company, among many others.