Deanna is a fourth generation performer, starting with her great-great-aunts, who had a vaudevillian sister act, The Wilson Sisters. The legacy of performers continued with her great aunt and mother, and the phrase dancing "out of the womb" was made literal when Deanna's mother went into contractions with her while teaching a dance class. Deanna's first moment in the limelight was when she was born and a group of medical students asked to observe the delivery. Hence, it is with no exaggeration that when asked how long she has been performing and dancing, she answers, "Since birth!"
Growing up in Brooklyn, Deanna's first memories include rushing after school to commercial auditions and ballet class at School of American Ballet, while scarfing down Milano cookies and a banana on the F train. Other notable childhood memories include memorizing all the female lines from her mother's productions of 42nd Street and Oliver! while her older sister sportingly played the male roles, prematurely learning the meaning of the word inebriated while rehearsing sides for a cereal audition, and accidentally pulling off the tail of the Mouse King in New York City Ballet's The Nutcracker. Several hours were spent with her sister at Broadway Dance Center, where they would peer through the observation windows of Frank Hatchett's class when not playing Cat's Cradle or tap dancing alongside their mother who assisted Judy Bassing. The two blondes were known by Hatchett as "The Girls!!!" and it was here that Deanna took her pink tutu off long enough to fall in love with tap and jazz and learned the importance of being versatile.
Deanna has spent the last two decades leaping from one genre to the next, from being in national commercials for Twix and Tide to dancing principal roles at the Kansas City Ballet to graduating summa cum laude with a degree in psychology to scoring the role of Meg Giry in Broadway's Phantom of the Opera. She has performed at Lincoln Center, The Joyce, The Kennedy Center, Fox Theater, and City Center.
When not performing, Deanna can be found working on her novel, teaching ballet and tap at Broadway Dance Center, sweating in Randy Skinner's class in one of her late grandmother's headscarves, listening to true crime podcasts, checking out stacks of books from the NYPL, baking chocolate chip cookies, knitting sweaters, and wondering when she is going to have time to start a new painting. Her best friend is her foam roller and her worst enemy is her love for running. An old soul, she is obsessed with Golden Age musicals, Ginger Rogers, crown moulding, and Cary Grant. Shameless hobbies include eating cheese, figuring out new ways to consume chia seeds, and desperately searching for those hard to find apple fritters at Dunkin' Donuts. Hobbies that don't necessarily involve food include spending time with her husband, Derek Roland, a fellow artist/tap dancer/writer.
One day she will write a play, take up the cello, and finally learn how to ride a bicycle. But regardless of where her time is spent, one thing remains to be her passion: storytelling.
Growing up in Brooklyn, Deanna's first memories include rushing after school to commercial auditions and ballet class at School of American Ballet, while scarfing down Milano cookies and a banana on the F train. Other notable childhood memories include memorizing all the female lines from her mother's productions of 42nd Street and Oliver! while her older sister sportingly played the male roles, prematurely learning the meaning of the word inebriated while rehearsing sides for a cereal audition, and accidentally pulling off the tail of the Mouse King in New York City Ballet's The Nutcracker. Several hours were spent with her sister at Broadway Dance Center, where they would peer through the observation windows of Frank Hatchett's class when not playing Cat's Cradle or tap dancing alongside their mother who assisted Judy Bassing. The two blondes were known by Hatchett as "The Girls!!!" and it was here that Deanna took her pink tutu off long enough to fall in love with tap and jazz and learned the importance of being versatile.
Deanna has spent the last two decades leaping from one genre to the next, from being in national commercials for Twix and Tide to dancing principal roles at the Kansas City Ballet to graduating summa cum laude with a degree in psychology to scoring the role of Meg Giry in Broadway's Phantom of the Opera. She has performed at Lincoln Center, The Joyce, The Kennedy Center, Fox Theater, and City Center.
When not performing, Deanna can be found working on her novel, teaching ballet and tap at Broadway Dance Center, sweating in Randy Skinner's class in one of her late grandmother's headscarves, listening to true crime podcasts, checking out stacks of books from the NYPL, baking chocolate chip cookies, knitting sweaters, and wondering when she is going to have time to start a new painting. Her best friend is her foam roller and her worst enemy is her love for running. An old soul, she is obsessed with Golden Age musicals, Ginger Rogers, crown moulding, and Cary Grant. Shameless hobbies include eating cheese, figuring out new ways to consume chia seeds, and desperately searching for those hard to find apple fritters at Dunkin' Donuts. Hobbies that don't necessarily involve food include spending time with her husband, Derek Roland, a fellow artist/tap dancer/writer.
One day she will write a play, take up the cello, and finally learn how to ride a bicycle. But regardless of where her time is spent, one thing remains to be her passion: storytelling.
Photos by Bjorn Bolinder