​JENNIFER OWEN
Co-Founder, Artistic Director
Jennifer Owen is the Artistic Director of Owen/Cox Dance Group, an ensemble she co-founded with composer Brad Cox in 2007. She has choreographed over fifty new works for Owen/Cox Dance Group, including two commissions by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and works commissioned by Island Moving Co. of Newport, RI, Kansas City Dance Festival, Kansas City Baroque Consortium, and Kansas City Chamber Orchestra. She has also created nine new works for Kansas City Ballet's In the Wings choreographic workshop, and a winning entry for the 2006 Columbus Choreography Project. Owen is the recipient of a 2000 Princess Grace Honorarium. Prior to founding Owen/Cox Dance Group, Owen enjoyed a 13-year international ballet career. After training with Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, School of American Ballet, and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, she went on to dance with the Russian State Ballet, Moscow Renaissance Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, BalletMet, and was a guest artist with the National Ballet of Turkmenistan. She has performed principal roles in Giselle, Don Quixote, George Balanchine's Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and Donizetti Variations, and the central pas de deux in Todd Bolender's Arena.

Emily Mushinski
Artistic Director - Take the Stage
​Emily Mushinski grew up in the Kansas City area. She started dancing at the age of 3, and fell in love with movement. At the age of 11, she began training at American Dance Center under the instruction of Kristopher Estes-Brown and Jennifer Tierney. She was a member of American Youth Ballet and performed lead roles in ballets such as The Firebird, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. 

Emily received her BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase College where graduated summa cum laude and was the recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award. Emily has attended summer intensives with Joffrey Midwest, Boston Ballet, LINES Ballet, Ballet X, and Trisha Brown Dance Company. Emily has a diverse performance background and has performed works by choreographers such as George Balanchine, Trisha Brown, Gregory Dolbashian, Gabrielle Lamb, Caili Quan, Kameron Saunders, and Manuel Vignoulle. In 2015, she studied for a semester at Codarts University in Rotterdam, Netherlands. In 2018, Emily trained in the Elite Training Program and performed with Budapest Dance Theater in Hungary.

Emily started teaching dance at the age of 14 when she traveled to Panama and conducted free dance classes in rural villages near the Darien Rainforest. Her passion for the arts and for encouraging youth to discover their potential was strengthened through her work with JUNTOS Collective, Panama Mission Foundation, and India Gospel League. 

Currently, Emily teaches dance and yoga in the Kansas City area. She also continues to dance professionally with Owen/Cox Dance Group, where she has been a company member since 2017. In 2021, Emily became the Artistic Director of Take the Stage, an in-school dance outreach program. She lives with her husband and their beloved Doberman, Doris, in Overland Park. 

STACY BUSCH
Operations Manager
Stacy Busch is a composer and performer. Stacy is the founder and president of No Divide KC, an arts non-profit that creates events for social causes. Stacy's work has been performed nationally and throughout Kansas City. Stacy is a 2020 Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Fellow. She has received grants from ArtsKC, Charlotte Street Foundation, ArtSounds and the UMKC Women's Council. Stacy received her MM in composition from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her BM in composition from Western Michigan University. ​​​

MARCUS OATIS
Rehearsal Director
Mr. Oatis began his dance education with the summer program Ailey Camp and his music education under the tutelage of his grandfather Sylvester Heath. These experiences afforded Mr. Oatis the opportunity to study at additional programs to include Smith Sisters Dance Studio, The Center Dance, Kansas City Ballet, the Ailey School, and Paseo Academy of the Fine and Performing Arts. In 2008, Mr. Oatis joined the Kansas City Ballet as a professional ballet dancer under the direction of William Whitener. Mr. Oatis was able to perform works by esteemed choreographers such as Val Caniparoli, Bruce Marks, Peter Martins, Robert Hill, Ib Anderson, George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, and Yuri Possokhov. After retiring from the stage, Mr. Oatis was appointed the Johnson County Campus Manager and later the Principal of the Lower School for Kansas City Ballet School. Additionally, Mr. Oatis has taught dance classes to students of all ages at various studios as a guest and faculty member to include Omaha Academy of Ballet, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, Ailey Camp, University of Missouri-Kansas City, and the Kansas City Ballet School. Mr. Oatis has also served as a Treasurer, Deacon, and Administrator at New City Church.In 2013, Mr. Oatis founded Providence School of Arts. As a native resident of Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Oatis is committed to contributing to the development and growth of the Metro area.

CHRISTINE COLBY JAQUES
Rehearsal Director
Ms. Colby Jacques comes to the Midwest from New York City where she debuted on Broadway as a principle in the original cast of Bob Fosse's Dancin'. She continued working with Mr. Fosse in the Broadway revival and First National Tour of Sweet Charity as Ursula and one of the legendary Spender Girls. Other credits: Radio City Music Hall Rockette; film - Annie, A Chorus Line; music videos; National and local TV commercials; Wolf Trap Farm Park (Dancer in Residence); Guest Artist - Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre Workshop, Kansas City Ballet (Souvenirs); Spokesperson for Danskin's The Magic of Dance hosted and narrated by Margot Fonteyne; Artist in Residence - Stephens College, K-State, College Conservatory of Music (Cincinnati); Christine continues to teach Master Classes throughout the country.