Our Company
Lane Saunders
Director
Company Dancer
Lane has studied multiple styles of dance since he was 5 and has been teaching many styles of dance and tumbling for over 10 years. Lane is a former company member of Sierra Nevada Ballet for 3 years and has been a featured dancer and choreographer for the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual Spirit of the Season show for several years. He has also performed and been featured in several local performances including Fascinating Rhythm’s Library series of plays and The Producers. Additionally, he is a regular professional dancer/model for Karen Burns Productions. Recently, he has performed with the Western Nevada Musical Theater Company in Newsies as Romeo and Spot Conlon, and in Mary Poppins as Bert.
Kiara Saunders
Administrative Director
Company Dancer
Kiara began dancing at age 3 and danced competitively and professionally until she was 21 before quitting to focus full-time on obtaining her degree in physics. She performed in full-length ballets including Peanutcracker, Giselle, Coppélia, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliette, Maxfield Parish: A Painter’s Love Story, and The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore. She has also performed in a musical theatre productions of The Phantom of the Opera and Mary Poppins, as well as many other short performances, and she has performed with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Santa Tappers for over 6 years and counting. Kiara now works for the State of Nevada as a metrologist, and enjoys running the company with her husband, Lane.
Alexandria Bennett
Company Dancer
Alex joins the Dapper Tappers as one of the youngest performers in the company. She is no stranger to the stage, and dance (tap in particular) is her passion and love. Alex has been training and competing in dance since she was five years old. She joined Dapper Tappers, performing in the 2023 Reno Phil’s Spirit of the Season and the Dapper Tapper 2023 summer music video. She has been in several WNMTC shows which have included 2022 Holiday Inn (dance troupe), 2023 Newsies (dance troupe), 2023 Mary Poppins (dance troupe), and the upcoming 2024 Cinderella (primary dance troupe). She also joined the CHS Theatre Arts show 2024 Mean Girls (Rachel Hamilton and dance captain). Alex is excited to be a part of such a talented, inspirational, and wonderful group that come together for the love of tap! Thank you all for the support and encouragement along the way, helping her to fulfill her dreams!
Laura Gamett
Company Dancer
Laura is about to enter her Senior year of high school. She has been dancing at Kia’s Fascinating Rhythm dance studio for almost nine years, but she has been tapping for 11 years. Some of her recent accomplishments with tap include winning title with her tap solo at Starbound National Talent Competition and receiving a “Tap into the Network” scholarship at the prestigious Energy competition. Her current tap solo “Golden Hour” has also won first place overall and first place for tap at several competitions. She has a love for performing and has participated in 4 years of the local theater series “Jack and the Book Stack”, tapping her way through each show. She is so excited to be joining this company and is ready to spread her love of tap!
Amanda Giles
Company Dancer
Amanda Giles grew up in Las Vegas where she was studio-trained from a young age and continued dancing at Las Vegas Academy of the Performing Arts. She attended the Tap Into the Network summer intensives in L.A. with Gregg Russell and Ryan Lohoff and performed alongside their company, Tap Sounds Underground. Amanda now calls Reno home after over a decade. Outside of continuing her career in the mental health field, she enjoys skiing, traveling, and spending time with her partner and two pups.
Alyssa Kleszyk
Company Dancer
Alyssa Kleszyk has been dancing since she was two. She has been trained in many different styles of dance but has always taken a particular liking to tap! She is currently a student at UNR majoring in dance, and she coaches the competitive dance team at Fascinating Rhythm. She has also performed for the past few year with the Santa Tappers and the Reno Philharmonic in the Spirit of the Season show.
Jake Nichols
Company Dancer
Jake is thrilled to be joining Lane’s Dapper Tappers! Jake started his dance journey back in 2008 at Western Nevada Performing Arts Center, and later with Forever Dance. He's trained in hip-hop, jazz, ballet, contemporary, lyrical, and tap. Competing since he was young, Jake has taken classes under many choreographers including, but not limited to, Gregg Russell, Mike Minery, Judy Rice, and Chris Jones. He has also been performing on stage for 12+ years, with no plans of stopping. He wants to thank every director and choreographer who helped him get where he is today!
Josh Nichols
Company Dancer
Josh is a trained dancer and musical theatre performer. He has been dancing since the age of 3 with an affinity for tap and musical theatre. He was a competition dancer with Western Nevada Performing Arts Center and Forever Dance in Northern Nevada and also participating in dances conventions. He has also grown his dance skills in many community theatre productions with Youth Theater Carson City, Western Nevada Musical Theater Company, and wild Horse Stage Co plus Wild Horse Children’s Theatre. He’s recently been seen dancing in Holiday Inn, Newsies, and A Chorus Line in Carson City, Nevada. Josh is so excited to keep growing his skills and learning more underneath Lane’s Dapper Tappers.
Kyla Olsen
Company Dancer
My name is Kyla Olsen, I'm 15, and here is my dance story. When I was two, I was enrolled in dance classes. At this time my sisters were already dancing and I would always want to move around with them and dance just like they did. I always looked up to them and still do to this day. Slowly overtime I started trying different and new styles of dance which led me to try competitive dance in 2018 and I've been doing it ever since. In 2019 I wanted to try theater and I did just that, I performed in Matilda with The Western Nevada Musical Theater Company. This opened my eyes to a new type of performance that I fell in love with. I am currently in Cinderella which performs in May of 2024. Dance has taught me so many things in life such as how important it is to have a good work ethic, how to be brave and take risks, and how to be myself. I am extremely happy, that I have the opportunity to work with such talented artists from so many different companies. I am grateful for the Dapper Tappers. I can't wait for people to see the incredible work that has been put into the company.
Andrew Paiz
Company Dancer
Andrew Paiz is a local dancer, choreographer, and teacher who graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in Spring 2023 with degrees in Dance and French. During his time at UNR, Andrew worked with the Miami-based guest artist Rosie Herrera, and he was given a leading solo role in her dance film Encanto. Andrew also has danced in works by the Switzerland-based physical theater artist Shinichi Iova-Koga and the local contemporary choreographer Maggie Stack, as well as in pieces by professors Nate Hodges and Rosie Trump. Andrew has had the pleasure to perform and choreograph for a variety of events including the Reno Dance Festival, American College Dance Association regional conferences in Utah and Arizona, Northern Nevada Pride, and many of the dance shows at UNR. Andrew has also been a guest choreographer for TMCC’s dance shows, as well as for Damonte Ranch High School’s dance team. Andrew is currently an instructor at Embrace Dance Company and at Dancin! Performing Arts Center, teaching hip hop, contemporary, and jazz. However, tap is what originally made him fall in love with dance, and as such he is thrilled to be a company member of The Dapper Tappers!
Kaitlin Vairo
Company Dancer
Kaitlin has been dancing since the age of 5. She competed in dance competitions as a child and was trained in ballet, tap, jazz, and musical theater. She joined a ballet company as a trainee at the age of 12 before working her way up to an apprentice, then company corps, and finally to a demi-soloist before leaving to focus on school. Kaitlin has performed in full length ballets such as Peanutcracker, Giselle, Coppélia, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and Sleeping Beauty, in addition to many other smaller performances. She has also performed consecutively with the Reno Philharmonic in the Spirit of the Season show.