Faculty Gallery

Ben Weston is a Certified Associate Drumming Instructor with Tam Tam Mandingue Djembe Academy (TTM) Winston-Salem, a branch of the TTM international school of West African drumming. Locally, he runs classes, conducts workshops and presentations, and performs. At the Governor's School, he plays for West African and Modern dance classes.

Over the last 25 years, Alisa Caldwell has created and perfected an amazing blend of African dance, contemporary movements, and creative choreography, performed to the captivating power of drum rhythms. This technique exercises both mind and body, and also feeds the spirit. She has a strong personal and professional desire to share the beauty, culture, and passion of West African dance. In 1988, Alisa began her primary dance training at the Imani School of Dance in Greenville, South Carolina, where she eventually began instructing and choreographing creative and traditional African dance routines. She performed in the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. She also trained with Chris Thompson and the Cultural Ensemble and Nubian Roots Cultural Center under the direction of Gerri Chisolm in Charlotte, North Carolina. Having the desire to perfect her art, Alisa continued her training with The Larocque Bey School of Dance Theatre under the direction of Master Dancer/Drummer Baba Jerome Hunter in New York, New York. Alisa has performed in numerous cultural and international festivals and has served as instructor, choreographer, lecturer, and judge at various dance conferences, workshops, and competitions. Through her extensive experience in African, Creative, and Liturgical dance, she is now a much sought-after teacher, performer, and choreographer.

Candace Dickinson, soprano, received her Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO where she studied with Julie Simson. She also holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice performance from Converse College where she studied with Dr. Beverly Hay. Candace made her professional debut as Hermione in Strauss’ Die Ägyptische Helena at the Santa Fe Opera in 2001 where she later returned as a guest artist in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. She has worked with such conductors and as Alan Gilbert and Martin Isepp. Her opera roles include Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff, Barbarina in Marriage of Figaro, Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, and Lia in L’Enfant Prodigue by Debussy. Her concert work includes being the soprano soloist for Faure’s Requiem, Bruckner’s Te Deum, and John Rutter’s The Mass of the Children. Regionally, she has performed with the Opera Company of North Carolina, the Greater Anderson Musical Arts Consortium, The Greenville Chorale, The Foothills Philharmonic, The Greenville Pops Orchestra, The Augusta Choral Society, and GLOW. In addition to being a singer and a singing teacher, Candace is also a voice for the actor instructor and she studied with Patsy Rodenburg at Michael Howard Studios in New York City where she completed all levels of Shakespeare’s Heightened Language workshops taught by Rodenburg. She frequently performs in recital and in collaboration with other musicians. She serves on the faculty of the Drama Department at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities in Greenville, SC.

Jayce is a professional actor, director, playwright, and designer from the Seattle area of Washington state. He came to South Carolina in 1990 and earned his MFA from USC in 1994. While at USC, Jayce studied voice and speech with Ralph Zito. While in Columbia, Jayce was a staff member of TRUSTUS Theatre where he served as actor, director, assistant artistic director, and technical director. He has served as a resident vocal coach at The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and for the South Carolina Shakespeare Company. Jayce is also a founding member of The We’re Not Your Mother's Players comedy improvisation group and is currently the Co-Artistic Director of the Distracted Globe Theatre Company.