Connor Smethers : Battery Choreographer

Connor Smethers currently lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He has marched seasons with Legends Drum and Bugle Corps, Genesis Indoor, Redline, and Cap City.

In his free time he enjoys disc golf, teaching percussion, and visual design. He spent his past two summers as the battery visual specialist with Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps, as well as a visual designer at Homestead High School, Carroll High School, East Noble High School, and Concordia High School. 

In the indoor season Connor works as a drill writer, visual consultant, visual coordinator, and choreographer. He currently writes/teaches for groups in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois.

Connor is excited to join the Veritas team as a choreographer; he is eager to continue sharing his knowledge and passion with others.

Jackson Sawyer : Battery Visual

Jackson Sawyer is from Dayton, Ohio and lives in Cincinnati. He marched 4 years with the Centerville Jazz Band and Centerville Indoor Percussion. After graduating he marched a season of Bass Drum with Legends DBC in 2022, Veritas 2023, The Academy Drum & Bugle Corps 2023, and ConneXus 2024. Jackson teaches Northmont High School in Clayton, Ohio.  Jackson is currently studying Graphic Design and Esports Management at Miami University. 

Emily McCorvey : Movement Specialist

Emily was born and raised in Franklin, TN and holds a bachelor’s degree in Commercial Songwriting and a minor in music from Middle Tennessee State University. 

Emily has an extensive dance background including ballet, hip-hop, contemporary, tap, and modern. As a performer, she did two years on mellophone at Music City Drum Corps (‘22-‘23), and aged- out at Mandarins (‘24). She also has spent two years with Rhythm X’s Visual Ensemble (‘24-‘25). 

Emily has also taught several years of dance and high school marching band programs. At home she is the Visual Caption Head at Fairview High School and a visual/music tech at Ravenwood High School. She also spends time with other groups like Music City Drum Corps as a Movement Specialist. 

Emily spends a lot of time writing choreography, designing, teaching, and dancing. She loves to tell stories through her work, and teach others how to do so as well! Emily cannot wait to continue sharing her passion this season, and is excited to meet everyone! 

Nora Thompson : Dance Specialist

Movement has always been a core part of who she is. With a diverse background in dance, color guard, cheerleading, gymnastics, and taekwondo, Nora has spent much of her life exploring how the body can be used to tell powerful stories. She believes movement is one of the most meaningful forms of expression.

She performed with Veritas Percussion as a member of the visual ensemble in 2020 and 2022, and has been teaching and choreographing ever since. Returning to Veritas as an educator has been a full-circle experience, allowing her to give back to the activity that helped shape her.

As an instructor, she helps students connect their life experiences to performance, blending emotion and storytelling with strong technical training. Her goal is to develop confident, expressive, and well-rounded movers—thoughtful artists who perform with intention and heart.

Nora believes that “dance is music made visible,” and that the most powerful performances are the ones that make the audience feel something. She strives to help performers become not just skilled dancers, but storytellers who leave a lasting impact through movement.

Josiah WIlliams : Visual Ensemble

Josiah Williams was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. He started his marching career with Veritas on cymbals in 2022; from there, he started his color guard career with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. Following the summer of 2022, he came back to Veritas for his 2nd year on cymbals in 2023. After the winter, he went on to do color guard for The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps for his age out summer and his age out winter with Rhythm X. Josiah has been teaching cymbals and color guard for some of the following groups in the surrounding Indianapolis area: Alliance Indoor Percussion (2years), Tri-West High school, Decatur Central High School (2years), Southport High School, Cathedral High School, Noblesville High School (2 years), and is currently the color guard director for Pike High School.

Gracie Luzader : Visual Ensemble

Gracie grew up in Pittsboro, Indiana where she began her color guard career. She was first introduced to the marching arts in 5th grade and her love for the activity has only grown from there! Her independent marching career began with Legends Drum and Bugle Corps in 2017-2018. She spent the rest of her summers with the Blue Stars (2021-2023)! Gracie spent her winter seasons with Phoenix Independent Open (2018), Veritas (2019), Juxtaposition (2022-2023), and Matrix World (2024). 

During college Gracie would help teach at various programs as needed. After graduating from Ball State with a graphic design degree, she moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to take on her first guard director role at Kings High School. Gracie currently lives in Houston, Texas, and is the director of the Pasadena Memorial High School Color Guard, as well as being on staff at Redemption Guard. 

Having been a part of the visual ensemble in Veritas’ inaugural season, being back to teach is a very full circle moment for Gracie. She is very excited to be back on staff this year, and to help the visual ensemble grow! Dance has always been a big part of Gracie’s life, and she loves sharing that passion with everyone she teaches!