Stephanie graduated Cum Laude from the University of California, Irvine with a BA in Dance and a minor in Management. She studied under notable choreographers such as Loretta Livingston, Lisa Naugle, Molly Lynch, Diane Diefenderfer, Jodi Gates, and Sharon Wray. Stephanie lived in Hollywood for a year after graduation studying with Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company and at The Edge PAC. She moved to New York City in August of 2012, and since then she has freelanced with many companies including Glitter Kitty Productions, The Pic PAC, Reject Dance Theatre, and Delineation Dance. 

Stephanie has been choreographing since she was in high school and founded MachineHDance in 2013. Her work has been presented at various festivals including Fertile Ground at Green Space, Dance Astoria, and the Sans Limites Dance Spring Season.

Stephanie continues to create work for MachineHDance and the company has produced several evening length performances such as  "Spring Cleaning" and the "MachineHDance Spring Season". The company successfully hosted a summer intensive and outreach program titled "INterACTION" - bringing dance to children in Queens, through funds granted by the Queens Council on the Arts.   

In addition to her professional dance and choreographic endeavors, Stephanie teaches young dancers throughout the tri-state area. She taught at six locations during the 2018-2019 season while completing her M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education. She directs the Dance Team, Early Childhood Department and is the Staff Manager at Breaking Ground Dance Center in Pleasantville, NY. She is also thoroughly involved with Dance Matters NYC in Queens, NY directing the dance enrichment programs alongside studio owner Mariana Sanchez. The 2019-2020 season will bring Stephanie back into classrooms at Acadeomy of the City Charter School, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School as well as in Dance Matters NYC headquarters studio in Sunnyside. Now armed with over a decade of teaching experiernce as well as her Master's Degree, Stephanie is looking forward to her continued work in the classroom with creative young minds - helping to shape the confident art-making of the future generation. 

Stephanie Deere
Founder and Artistic/Executive Director 

Cristina Gustaitis is a dancer, choreographer, and dance educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Cristina began her formal training with the Indiana University Ballet Theatre in Bloomington, Indiana. She graduated, summa cum laude, with a BS in Dance Performance from Ball State University in 2011 and has since had the opportunity to study and perform in Italy, France and Sweden as well as throughout the Midwest and East coast. In addition to her work with MachineHDance, she is a company member of Treeline Dance Works and a guest artist with Falcon Dance. Her recent performance credits include UPPAdanse, France, American Dance Guild Festival, NYC, Dance Chicago, Chicago, Breaking Ground Festival, AZ and Abundance International Dance Festival, Sweden. Her choreography has been shown in venues throughout the city including The Tank, Transpecos and The Royal Theater. Aside from performing, Cristina enjoys bringing the arts to children as a faculty member at Williamsburg Movement and Arts Center and Breaking Ground Dance Center. MachineHDance has allowed Cristina to pursue dance in all aspects of her career including performing, choreographing and teaching. She is thrilled to be part of a creative group of individuals under the fearless and inspirational direction of Stephanie Deere.

Cristina Gustaitis
Founding Company Member

Rebecca Hite received her MFA in dance choreography/performance from Smith College, and her BA in dance from Connecticut College. She has interned with BoSoma Dance of Boston, MA and Parsons Dance of New York City, and was fortunate enough to spend five months in Sydney, Australia, studying Graham technique and dance composition. Rebecca has performed works by renowned artists such as David Dorfman, Lisa Race, Heidi Henderson, Adele Myers, Nicholas Leichter, Jeremy Nelson, Wally Cardona, and Monica Bill Barnes. She has taught at Smith College, Amherst College, the American College Dance Festival’s New England Region, Middle School 217 in Briarwood, Queens, and at multiple New York-based dance studios and senior centers.  Rebecca has performed with The Feath3r Theory under the artistic direction of Raja Kelly, Naomi Goldberg Haas/Dances for a Variable Population, MachineH Dance, and is co-creator and co-artistic director of Reject Dance Theatre.  She obtained her Pilates Mat certification through Equinox Fitness. Rebecca's work has been presented at Triskelion Arts in Brooklyn, NY, Built on Stilts Festival in Martha’s Vineyard, MA, MixMatch Dance Festival in Los Angeles, California, Trinity Repertory Theater in Providence, RI, the Astoria Dance Festival in Astoria, NY, The Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, plus many more.

Rebecca Hite

Founding Company Member

​Rachel Nuñez is a dancer, dance teacher, and yoga teacher currently based in Queens, NY. Originally from Stowe, Vermont, she moved to New York after graduating from Middlebury College with a B.A. in Dance and Sociology. In addition to performing with MachineHDance, she dances for Mark Lamb Dance, and works collaboratively with artists of other mediums; most recently, she created/performed in a dance film with photographer/musician Kevin Aranibar, and created and presented work for Quorum, a trans-continental art exchange facilitated by JKL Collective. In addition to performing, Rachel teaches dance and yoga throughout the greater New York area, taking great joy from sharing her love of movement with as many bodies as possible. 

Rachel Nuñez

Company Member - 5th Season 

Chloe Benitez is a dancer and Gyrokinesis Certified instructor in New York. She is originally from Southern California, where she trained at The Orange County School of the Arts in the Classical Contemporary dance division. She then continued her education at the Boston Conservatory where she received a BFA in Contemporary Dance in 2015. After graduating, Chloe moved to New York to further challenge herself and grow as an artist. In New York she has had the opportunity to work with local dance companies: MachineHDance, Sans Limites Dance, Zullo Raw Movement and Arch Ballet.

Chloe Benitez

Company Member - 5th Season 

Originally from Bloomington, Indiana, Holly studied dance and literature at Oberlin College. She is co-artistic director of Muliebris Dance Theatre and has shown her work at such places as The Tank, Dixon Place, Spectrum, Green Space, and Team Gallery. She has danced for Eva Dean, Caroline Brethenoux, Jeff Davis (Glitter Kitty Productions), Rachel Cohen (Racoco), and Cristina Gustaitis and currently dances with Vashti Dance Theater under the direction of Fatima Logan-Alston. Holly is delighted to be dancing with MachineHDance. 

Holly Heidt

Company Member - 1st Season 

​Rachel Nuñez is a dancer, dance teacher, and yoga teacher currently based in Queens, NY. Originally from Stowe, Vermont, she moved to New York after graduating from Middlebury College with a B.A. in Dance and Sociology. In addition to performing with MachineHDance, she dances for Mark Lamb Dance, and works collaboratively with artists of other mediums; most recently, she created/performed in a dance film with photographer/musician Kevin Aranibar, and created and presented work for Quorum, a trans-continental art exchange facilitated by JKL Collective. In addition to performing, Rachel teaches dance and yoga throughout the greater New York area, taking great joy from sharing her love of movement with as many bodies as possible. 

Anieya St. Juste

Company Member - 1st Season 

"Pack Behavior" choreographed by Stephanie Deere premiered at the MachineHDance Spring Season at Triskelion Arts in April of 2017. Since then the piece has been updated and performed twice more in the 3rd Annual Spring Cleaning: March Madness as well as the WR Arts Summer Showcase. The piece explores pack behavior in a tongue-in-cheek manner, utilizing athletic movement, partnering, facial expression, and loud rhythmic music to transplant the audience. The result is a highly competitive modern dance piece in which team work is fragile and emotions run high. 

Photo Credit: Eric Bandiero

Pack Behavior

The 3rd Annual Spring Cleaning maintained it's roots in popular culture influences, improvisation, audience participation and an influx of theater elements. The company goes on a journey to explore the differences between dance in a competitive and often cut-throat environment in juxtaposition with other team sports. 

The audience is asked to consider what makes dance an art form instead of a team sport and to evaluate their current notion of sports behavior, team loyalty, as well as competition between and among human beings. The show, choreographed and written by Stephanie Deere in collaboration with the dancers was held at Wild Heart Performing Arts Studio located in Astoria, NY on March 29th, 2019
Photo Credit: Eric Bandiero 

3rd Annual Spring Cleaning: March Madness

"Garden of Glass Red" choreographed by Stephanie Deere is a contemporary ballet piece that premeired at the 6th Annual Dance Astoria Festival held in Astoria, NY. The piece combines ballet technique with the beauty and strength of movement inspired by birds - flight, gliding, landing, and poise in their dynamic stillness. The piece is set to House of Glass Red Parts 1 and 2 by Too Many Zooz - a Brooklyn-based instrumental group. 

Photo Credit: Eric Bandiero

Garden of Glass Red

“In the Deep Shade” choreographed by Cristina Gustaitis, explores the motion of life as continual waves of moments, emotions and experiences. The dancers individually seek peace within the motion but are at times driven to rely upon the support of the other dancers in the space. These support systems of continual give and take eventually help bring the group back to the peaceful realization that everything comes in waves. 

In The Deep Shade premiered at the 1st annual MachineHDance Summer Festival at The Royal Theater in July of 2016. The piece has since been performed twice at the CBG Dance Festival and the MachineHDance Spring Season in 2017. 

Photo Credit: Eric Bandiero 

In The Deep Shade

​“INterACTION”, which premiered in August, 2016 at The Secret Theatre was the first outreach program of its kind made possible (in part) by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. The purpose of the program was to bridge the gap between educational and professional dance. Students participating in the program worked alongside MachineHDance company members in order to not only learn choreography but to create it themselves. "INterACTION" was the finished product of many MachineHDance rehearsals in addition to 25 hours spent with Queens youth between the ages of 9 and 17. It is the goal of the company to continue this trend of providing professional dance opportunities to youth and underpriviledged creatives across the country and the world. 
Photo Credit: Eric Bandiero 

INterACTION