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teaching faculty
Shawl-Anderson is known for its intimate classes and excellent teaching staff. Our faculy brings years of experience as performers, choreographers, and teachers. Many of our staff members are active as artistic directors, choreographers, and performers in the Bay Area Dance Community.
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 Elyna Anderson is a senior at UC Berkeley, where she studies Geography and Modern Dance. She appreciates the sincerity of children and has worked as an assistant dance instructor for Shawl Anderson's youth classes for 2 years. Each week she looks forward to escaping academia and entreating the fantastical world of movement and make believe.
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 Mary Armentrout began dancing at age three and sampled just about every form of ballet and modern before getting a degree from Sarah Lawrence College. She is primarily a choreographer and directs the Mary Armentrout Dance Theater. In this guise she creates performance installations, incorporating elements of theater, voice, video, and visual arts, as well as movement of many varieties, in her work. Her work has been seen at many Bay Area venues including ODC Theater, the LAB, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, as well as in Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Berlin, and Paris. She has also taught movement and dance of many varieties to people from age 4 to age 60+, for the last 25 years. Her understanding of movement and the human body is informed by her study of Cunningham, Limon, Release, Contact Improv, Corvino ballet, Butoh, Aikido, Authentic Movement, Alexander, Mahler-Klein, and of course Feldenkrais. She is pursuing her certification in the Feldenkrais Method and is thrilled to start envisioning and embodying a Feldenkrais practice designed specifically for dancers and movers.
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|  Hally Bellah-Guther started dancing at the age of 16. Inspired by her Berkeley High School dance teacher to choreograph and take modern and jazz classes, she auditioned for The San Francisco Ballet School on a whim and was accepted. After studying and performing there her senior year she went to the The North Carolina School of the Arts where she earned her BFA in ballet with a minor in modern.
After graduating she danced in the Bay Area and then for four years in NYC Some of the companies she danced with are: Deborah Slater and Friends, The Ruth Langridge Dance Company, and the San Francisco Opera Ballet. In New York: The Rebecca Kelly Dance Co, New York Theater Ballet, The Eglevsky Ballet and The Armitage Ballet. With these companies she toured nationally and internationally including two European tours, a State Department tour to Central America and a televised performance in France in the work of Karole Armitage. She also toured North America for 6 months as the lead dancer in the musical "The King and I."
In 1991 she joined the Komische Oper in Berlin, Germany where she danced for 5 years, in neoclassical productions of Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and Cinderella as well as modern works of choreographers from around Europe. She also performed as a guest artist with The Tanz Fabrik, a modern company in Berlin. Besides teaching the Beginning Adult's ballet class at Shawl-Anderson, she works as a Certified Personal Trainer and has been teaching dance and movement for 7 years at her three children's schools. In the February '05 Dance Magazine she was interviewed and pictured in an article about dancing in Europe. She has recently completed work in 3 yoga videos in which she is a featured demonstrator.
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Andrea Brosnan received her training at Berkeley Ballet Theatre, Shawl Anderson and U. C. Santa Barbara. She graduated with honors from St. Mary’s LEAP (Liberal Education for Arts Professional) Program in 2004. She danced professionally for Berkeley Ballet Theatre, Santa Clara Ballet Company and Nguyen Dance Company has been teaching in the Bay Area for over ten years. She taught, choreographed and performed in Germany and has worked with local choreographers including Patricia Banchik’s Kinesis and Aileen Kim.
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 Tanya Chianese obtained a B.F.A. in Modern Dance and B.A. in Art History from the University of Oklahoma, before her performing career took her dancing across the USA and parts of China. She has taught dance to all ages and levels, and has instructed programs for at-risk children and visually impaired kids and adults.
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 Maurice Charrière has danced and taught in the Bay Area for over 20 years, including Berkeley City Ballet and Shawl-Anderson. He has performed many duets with his wife, Reenie, and was a member of the RPMs, Jade Dance, Sara McLennan and Rebecca Saltzer Dance Theater among others. Adept at both Ballet and Modern dance, he strives to infuse his classes with both technique and improvisation.
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 Afterearning her BA at Point Park University, Tammy Cheney began her professional career in Chicago and has been performing, teaching and choreographing in the Bay Area since 1993. She danced for ODC/San Francisco (1996-2003) as well as for Janice Garrett & Dancers, Robert Moses' Kin, Lizz Roman & Dancers, Charles Moulton, Sonya Delwaide, and Li Chiao-Ping. She was a featured dancer in the film The Matrix Reloaded. Ms. Cheney has been on faculty at the University of California at Berkeley in both the Physical Education and the Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies Department. She has also been a visiting artist at Mills College and served as the director of the dance program and the Dance Ensemble at The Katherine Branson High School located in Ross, CA. She teaches dance at the Shawl Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley where she is currently Artist In Residence. Ms. Cheney has choreographed for the U.C. Berkeley Dance Company, BARD, the Mills College Repertory Company, A Wing and A Prayer Dance Company in Reno, Nevada and for Alonzo King LINES Summer Dance program. Ms. Cheney’s work has been presented at the Spring Salon at the Shawl Anderson Dance Center, the Dance IS Festival, and the Vision Series dance festival. In the fall of 2010 her work was presented as part of the 2nd Sunday series at CounterPULSE and at the WestWave Festival at the Cowell Theater.
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Sandra Chinn is a ballet teacher for ODC Dance Company/SF, Smuin Ballet, SF Dance Center (Lines Ballet), Shawl-Anderson Dance Center and guest ballet teacher for touring companies Paul Taylor and Matthew Bourne's New Adventures (Nutcracker!, Swan Lake, and Edward Scissorhands). In New York City, she was a company member of Dennis Wayne's Dancers, Finis Jhung's Chamber Ballet USA and Bob Bowyer's American Ballet Comedy. She was featured in the off-Broadway dance show "Funny Feet," for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination as "Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical." She is a graduate of the National Academy of Arts (Champaign, Ill.), and she continued her studies at the Joffrey Ballet School and intensively with Maggie Black. Teacher training includes seminars in Vaganova technique with Karen Morell. She is a native of Berkeley, CA, and has a BA in Computer Science from Mills College.
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 Jessica Damon is a dancer, choreographer, video artist and teacher of dance and somatic therapies. In each of these creative modes, Jessica loves to explore the dancing edges of physicality, fluidity, and intense humanity. Her movement draws on the technical vocabularies of Jose Limon and Merce Cunningham, as well as the aesthetic sensibilities of Contact Improvisation and African Diasporic forms. She received an MFA in Dance from CU Boulder and runs a movement re-education studio, Alley 49 Somatic Arts, in Oakland.
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 Wendy Diamondhas trained in the Bay Area, London and New York. She has had a wide range of experience in ballet and modern dance and has performed throughout California, New York, and toured various other states. Her mentors include Sally Streets (ballet) and Terry Sendgraff (aerial modern dance). Her ballet teaching credits include Shawl-Anderson Dance Center since 1988, SFSU Dance Department since 1996, NYU Tisch Dance Summer Intensive, Paul Taylor Dance Co company class, BBT, SF SOTA, CSU Summer Arts Festival, Lamorinda Ballet, EB Center for Performing Arts, Cazadero Music and Art Camp. Wendy has also taught modern dance, improvisation, partnering and repertory.She believes that elements of many forms of dance are interconnected and that a breadth of training will improve all dancers.
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 Marina Eglevsky was born in New York City and is the daughter of Andre Eglevsky, world reknowned Danseur Noble, and Leda Anchutina, pupil of Michael Fokine and former soloist with the New York City Ballet. Marina grew up backstage with New York City Ballet, taking George Balanchine's company class and travelled with her father and mother in the United States and abroad. Her formal dance training began in her parent's school and later she studied at the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre School.
At a very young age, Marina performed professionally in New York City Ballet's productions of the Nutcracker, with the Eglevsky Ballet Company and as a guest in various companies and engagements. At the age of fifteen, Marina joined the Rebecca Harkness Ballet Company and launched her own very successful dance career. She later was principal dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Hamburg Staatsoper Ballet, under the direction of John Neumier. She danced with dancers such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Lawrence Rhodes, Helgi Tomasson and skater John Curry, and danced leading roles in ballets such as Giselle, Swan Lake, Romeo and Julliet, Rodeo (Agnes de Mille) and Cinderella. Marina was a featured artist in the Broadway revival production of Brigaddon under the direction of Vivian Matalon and Agnes de Mille.
Marina's teaching career began with the North Carolina School of the Arts as a faculty member and guest artist. She has also taught all around the United States. In addition to teaching, Marina also coaches professional dancers and stages various ballets for professional companies all around the world including several Balanchine Ballets, which she has exclusive rights to.
Marina currently lives in Berkeley, Calif. As well as teaching in the Bay area, Marina teaches and stages ballets with the Diablo Ballet. She also maintains a private practice in bodywork, specializing in medical massage work and the Rosen Method. Her private practice also includes training and instruction on the White Cloud system, an exercize system designed for neuro-muscular coordination, flexibility and strength and rehabilitating and preventing injuries.
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Rachelle Feldman grew up studying and performing ballet at Maryland Youth Ballet with national acclaimed teacher Hortensia Fonseca, and modern dance with Anne Waugh Allan among others. She also served as Ballet Mistress for Columbia Dance Theater and taught creative movement and beginning ballet to children. She earned a bachelor's degree in Dramatic Arts - Dance at the University of California, Berkeley where she received the Julia Payne Award for Dance Scholarship and Choreography.
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 Carolyn Goto has a cumulative experience of 20 years teaching beginning, intermediate and advanced levels for both children and adults. Her earliest influences were Merriam Lanova, Alan Howard and Richard Gibson. Her influences as a professional dancer include Henry Berg, Sue Loyd and Maggie Black. As a Principal Dancer with Oakland Ballet and Ballet Met in Columbus, Ohio her experiences ranged from La Sylphide, Coppelia, Nutcracker, La Boutique Fantasque to Cakewalk. She has worked with choreographers spanning ballet history from Leonide Massine, Eugene Loring and Ruthanna Boris to contemporaries such as Betsy Erickson and Val Caniparolli.
As a teacher, it is her desire to do more than demonstrate what dance and technique look like, but rather to Impart an understanding of How to achieve desired results. Her teaching seeks to achieve a blending of artistry, integrity and musicality along with a knowledge of movement, placement and technique.
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 Nina Otis Haft is artistic director of Nina Haft & Company, a contemporary dance performance group based in Oakland. Her choreography has been presented locally as part of summerfest/dance, Dancers' Group Bread and Butter Series, The Bay Area Dance Series, Sundays at Sinai Jewish Culture Series, Festival at the Lake, as well as in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Portland and Novosibirsk (Siberia.) Nina's work has been supported by numerous public and private funding sources, including the Alameda County Art Commission, the Clorox Company Foundation, the CA$H Program of Theatre Bay Area, the Zellerbach Family Fund, and numerous generous individuals. She has been honored as a recipient of the City of Oakland Creative Artist Choreographer's Fellowship, and has served as Artist in Residence for the California Arts Council and at the Djerassi Resident Artist Program in Woodside, CA. Recently, Nina became a participating member of CHIME, Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange, a program of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. In addition to teaching modern dance at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, Nina is on the faculty at the University of San Francisco and at Cal State University Hayward.
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Joanna Harris After many years of dance training as a child and teen-ager in NY with the Duncan Dance Guild, The New Dance Group, Graham, Limon and Cunningham, Joanna arrived in the Bay Area in 1957. She came to study at Mills College with Marian Van Tuyl, and Eleanor Lauer. As a graduate student she worked with Van Tuyl on IMPULSE, the annual of dance, and upon graduation taught at UC Berkeley where she choreographed and performed for the Department of Drama and Music, 1959-69. She formed her own company, the Monday Night Group, toured California, founded the Department of Performing Arts at UC Santa Cruz and the Creative Arts Therapy program at Lone Mountain College. Currently, Dr.Harris is on the faculty of the Osher Life Long Learning Institute, Berkeley, an instructor at the Modern Dance Center, Berkeley, and a teacher of special classes for seniors. She also writes essays and reviews for various publications and lectures on "Jewish dance pioneers, Tamaris, Sokolow and Maslow" as well as on her forthcoming book "Beyond Isadora: Bay Area Dancing, 1915-1965.
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 Abigail Hosein is the Artistic director of ahdanco, a modern dance company, presenting work at a variety of venues throughout the Bay Area. Hosein holds her MFA in Performance and Choreography from Mills College and currently teaches at Santa Clara University and Shawl-Anderson Dance Center. She has performed locally for Dance Repertory/San Francisco, Hudson Dance, and Barely Complete Productions. Additionally, Hosein’s work has been commissioned by College Prep High School, Berkeley High School, the Shawl-Anderson Youth Ensemble, and San Francisco Performances’ Dance Mentor Program. More at www.ahdanco.org
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 Antoine Hunter grew up in Oakland and began dancing with Dawn James at Skyline High School. Mr. Hunter performed in many musical plays for various companies and theaters such as The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre as Joseph in Black Nativity, The Wiz with Belazio Theater, Love Life Foundation, and OET. He attended California Institute of the Arts for two years and is currently completing his B.A degree in dance at St. Mary's College of California. Mr. Hunter studied at the Paul Taylor Summer Intensive in 2003 and 2004, West African with Masters C.K. and Betty Ladzekpo for seven years, and with Reginald Ray-Savage and Zafra Mariam for ten years. He is currently a faculty member at East Bay Center of the Performing Arts and Co-Director of Urban Ballet in Richmond, as well as a teacher at the Malonga Casquerlaurd Center for the Arts. He also performs with Alayo Dance Company and is an instructor and rehearsal director for the Ross Dance Company. Antoine hopes to show people with hearing or any kind disability that they too can reach their dreams. Antoine is the director of Urban Jazz Dance Company. Please visit the website at www.AntoineHunter.com.
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Kate Jordanis an American performer, choreographer and teacher who finds the ability to passionately have theses three loves an essential blessing to her life as an artist. Since completing her M.F.A in Dance at The State University of New York at Brockport in 2004, she has toured the United States and international communities sharing her curiosity for movement, human expression and human connection through dance.
Her choreography has been has been presented at numerous festivals and theaters including The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage (Washington, D.C), WHITE WAVE DUMBO DANCE FESTIVAL (NYC), Painted Bride Arts Center (Philadelphia), Norristown Dance Festival (Philadelphia), The Torpedo Factory Arts Center (Virginia), Dance Place (Washington D.C.), Greenburg Theater (Washington, D.C.) Centro Cultural Miguel Angel Asturias (Guatemala City), and ICPNA (Lima).
Kate has spent her most recent 5 years in Washington, D.C. performing extensively with contemporary companies CityDance2, Bosma Dance, Karen Reedy Dance and Kate Jordan Dance Projects. She also performed with DancEvert and Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. From 2009-2012 she was Co-Founder/Director of the Eureka Dance Festival, an organization dedicated to supporting new works by DC-area artists and community engagement in the creative process through mentorship programs, workshops and performances. She has also been on faculty at CityDance Center at Strathmore, The Washington Ballet, National Cathedral School, and has been a guest teaching artist for Company E, Bowen McCauley Dance, Kirov Academy and Maryland Youth Ballet.
Kate currently lives in the San Francisco area where the trees are rich with inspiration.
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 Julie Kane is a dancer, teacher, choreographer, performer, and explorer of movement and beauty. A native of Oakland, her early movement experiences included gymnastics and acrobatics. Later she trained at the Pacific Ballet Institute in Palo Alto. Julie earned a BFA and 14 years later an MFA in the University of Utah’s Dance Department where she was on scholarship/ teaching assistantship. Upon returning to the Bay Area, she danced in the acclaimed CONTRABAND - an award winning collective of interdisciplinary artists. She continues to perform with Dandelion Dance Theater and Navarette x Kajiyama. Julie has taught, choreographed and performed both in the US and abroad. She currently teaches dance at various colleges and dance institutions round the Bay Area and is building a private practice in Pilates. Julie recently returned to school to earn a degree as a Physical Therapist Assistant.
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 Sarah Keeney is a dancer, performer, teacher and choreographer in the Bay area. She took her first ballet class at the age of three and began teaching at fourteen. Sarah has taught and choreographed in public and private schools, studios, art galleries, outreach programs, and for the San Diego State and UCSD competition dance teams. While earning her degree at UC San Diego, she received the first Dance Faculty Award for Performance and Choreography. As the Education Outreach Coordinator for the performance art company Xdrop, she took her passion of teaching to Guatemala where she taught classes and organized a show at a Guatemalan orphanage.
Sarah moved to the Bay Area in 2008. The new loves she found here have been release technique, contact improvisation and aerial dance. She has greatly enjoyed performing with Facing East Dance and Music, Jessica Damon, Scott Well & Dancers, punkkiCo, and Bianca Cabrera. She is grateful to share her appreciation of movement and dance.
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 Katie Kruger has been teaching and dancing professionally in the bay area for the past 15 years. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara's Dance Dept. she continued training in both NYC and San Francisco, where she has had the opportunity to dance with various companies and choreographers including: Donald McKayle, Pickle Family Circus, Rebecca Johnson, Patricia Banchik, Tammy Chenney, and Randee Paufve. She is currently a member of Paufve Dance. She has taught children from ages 2 to 18 in ballet, creative movement, modern, improvisation and composition classes. She has taught in both public and private sectors of education focusing on the individual child and what they have to offer. Her classes nurture the students love for dance, creativity, and challenges their own personal growth in technique. As well as teaching ballet and modern at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, Katie is the Youth Program Coordinator and is happy to answer any questions you have concerning your child's dance classes.
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 Dana Lawton is the director of Dance at St. Mary's College Dance Department, a faculty member at Shawl-Anderson Dance Studios in Berkeley and is a certified yoga instructor. She is a former member of Janice Garrett and Dancers based in San Francisco. Awarded Outstanding Performer in the 2000 Vision Series, she was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award for her performance in Garrett's Wayfarers. Dana holds an MFA in Choreography from Mills College and a BFA in Dance from California Institute of the Arts. She is a 2006 Artist-in-Residence at Shawl-Anderson. www.danalawtondances.org
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 Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, Nicole ‘Coco’ Liboiron is an educational consultant and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Education in Language & Literacy.
Coco became a member of the Royal Academy of Dancing in 1972. At age 15 she demonstrated for Dame Ninette de Valois’ teacher-training courses at the Royal Academy, London England. Her extensive training inlcudes classical ballet, jazz, modern ballet and mime and studied with Julia Faron and David Blair, Royal Ballet ; Rochelle Zide-Booth and Richard Gibson, Joffrey Ballet, Finis Jung, Harkness Ballet,Eva von Gensky, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Edward Desoto, Limon Company and received a full scholarship at Harkness Ballet in NYC. Coco danced at Les Ballets Russes de Montreal under the direction of Misch Berkut and became an independent dancer and choreographer in 1980. She has extensive teaching experience locally, nationally and internationally including Canada, China and Peru.
Coco’s classes are based on Royal Academy of Dance comprehensive examination syllabi. The underlying philosophy of these levels is to expand upon embodied knowledge and understanding of ballet technique. The ethos is to provide a ballet syllabus that challenges and inspires students technically, artistically, musically and creatively with exercises and variations that encourages critical thinking and physical fitness while developing a sense of theatre, movement dynamics and musical interpretation; and to uphold all the elements of traditional ballet as well as including ballet movement aligned with the changing styles of today.
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Lesley Lighthiser was born and raised in Truckee, CA where she started dancing around the age of three. In high school she became an original member of InnerRhythms Dance Theater and taught beginning ballet for Sierra Nevada Dance. She earned her BA from Denison University in Ohio in Theater and Dance where she had the opportunity to work with incredible artists such as Gus Solomons, Gill Wright-Miller, and Headlong Dance Theater. Post-graduation Lesley had the chance to work again with Headlong and be part of the first class of the Headlong Performance Institute in Philadelphia. Lesley relocated back to the west coast where she has been teaching ballet for ages 2-30 and choreographing new work for Sierra Nevada Dance. She moved to Berkeley in spring 2012 and is pleased to join Shawl-Anderson Dance Center’s youth program this summer.
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 Rogelio Lopez earned his BA in Theater Arts and Dance from CSU Fresno and his MFA in dance at CSU Long Beach. Rogelio has had the pleasure of working with wonderful choreographers such as David Dorfman, Bill Young, Joe Goode, Terry O’Connor, and Andrea Woods, among others. Besides dance, Rogelio studied theatrical scenic, lighting, and costume design and enjoys drawing and painting. He has won two Lester Horton awards for best performance in a small ensemble and set design for Girl Falling Toward the Sky, choreographed by Keith Johnson. Rogelio is presently in Keith Johnson Dance Company, and currently a faculty member at Cerritos Community College and Loyola Marymount University.
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 Troy Macklin grew up in San Ramon and began dancing at San Ramon Valley Dance Academy at the age of 5. He is a 2008 alumnus of The Juilliard School where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. While at Juilliard, Troy studied modern dance and composition, and began choreographing and teaching. He has taught arts literacy courses for children and began a summer arts outreach program of his own, spreading arts awareness and education across the SF Bay Area. He was a principal dancer, rehearsal director, and teacher with Rebecca Davis Dance Company in Philadelphia, PA in 2008. In 2009 Troy freelanced in Philadelphia and New York City with several dance collectives including Breath Dance Project, Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theater, and 360 Degree Dance Company. Troy has traveled across the world teaching dance, spreading arts education, and showcasing his choreography at numerous venues from New York to Texas to California. He is currently a teacher and continues to pursue his teaching and choreographic career in the SF area.
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 Suzanne Martin PT, DPT, CP is a doctor of physical therapy and a gold-certified Pilates expert, as well as an award-winning author and DVD-producer. She has 25 years of experience in the health and movement fields, blending art and science into her instruction. She is a Master ACE and ASCM trainer (with a specialty in exercise for cancer rehabilitation), and maintains a private Pilates/physical therapy practice, Total Body Development in Alameda, California. As a performing arts specialist, she conducts nutrition seminars for the School of the San Francisco Ballet, and is the lead physical therapist for Smuin Ballet in San Francisco. Through Pilates Therapeutics®, she provides instructional DVD’s (available for CE credit), and courses in the therapeutic application of the Pilates Method and nutrition. For further information and to see her teaching schedule, go to www.pilatestherapeutics.com.
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Bridget McCarthy’s passion is working with people in meaningful ways to promote living conscious, healthy and joy-filled lives. As a Certified Pilates instructor recognized for her warm, intelligent, effective and humorous approach, Bridget inspires people to be their best selves by providing a centering, energizing and holistic workout for the mind, body and spirit. Having studied ballet, modern, jazz, tap dance and gymnastics from the age of 5 in the Los Angeles area, ballet at the New York City Ballet's School of American Ballet at age 16, African, Mexican Folklorico, Korean, Persian, Irish dance and Contact Improv during and after university, Bridget has extensive experience and understanding of how to properly and effectively work the body.
Bridget believes the ideal exercise experience is both challenging and fun at the same time. She brings a sense of humor and a commitment to teaching proper body mechanics to create a stimulating and useful whole person workout. Bridget believes, as did Joseph Pilates, that we each have unrealized abilities to transform our lives through the simple and dedicated practice of caring for our mental, physical and spiritual health. Connecting with our bodies to develop and celebrate our abilities in living vibrant and healthy lives is a practice Bridget loves to share with others.
Please visit her website, www.breathemovebewell.com to learn more!
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Juliana Monin took her first modern class at Shawl-Anderson and is thrilled to be here combining her loves of children and dance. After graduating magna cum laude from Amherst College with a BA in psychology, she danced professionally in NYC, before leaving to teach yoga in Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. She has performed with Mo Miner and currently is working with Nina Haft and Facing East Dance and Music. In her classes, students are introduced to the elements of dance such as space, time, and force. Through playful explorations students not only gain a mastery of movement but also learn the artistry of bodily expression.
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Kerry Mehling formed her company Talismanic Physical Theatre in 2005. She holds an MFA in Choreography from UC
Davis and a BFA in performance from the University of Utah. Kerry has performed and toured in the companies of Sideshow
Physical Theatre, Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Della Davidson Dance Theatre, Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, and
numerous bay area companies. In her travels, Kerry has had the opportunity to teach and choreograph nationally as well as iinternationally. Ms. Mehling continues to teach throughout Northern California, while creating her own works and
collaborating with many inspiring artists.
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 Maureen "Mo" Miner came to the Bay Area from Illinois where she was an Assistant Professor of Dance at Illinois State University. She received her B.S. in Psychology and then went on to get her MFA in Dance Performance at the University of Iowa. She has performed with Jennifer Kayle and Company, Shelter Repertory Dance Theatre, Charlotte Adams and Dancers, Duarte Dance Works, Sara Semonis, and in works by Miguel Gutierrez and Lucas Crandall. In the Bay Area she has worked with Project Bandaloop and is currently dancing with Nina Haft and Company and Katie Faulkner’s little seismic dance company. Mo’s own choreography has been seen at 2nd Sundays, the DanceIS Festival in Berkeley, Watchword Press presents The Whole Story, Bare Bones, and at the Shotwell Studios in San Francisco. She was one of the Artists-In-Residence at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in 2009. Mo currently teaches at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center and University of San Francisco.
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 Katherine Nauman is a Horton instructor, performer and arts administrator. Since relocating to the Bay Area from NYC in 2008 she has taught the Horton technique at: Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, Alonzo King LINES Dance Center/LINES Ballet, UC Berkeley and SF State University. She is also Project Coordinator for visionary, San Francisco based choreographer Sara Shelton Mann.
Prior to her move west, Katherine was teaching and choreographic assistant to her mentor, world-renowned Horton master teacher, Milton Myers. In NYC she taught at Juilliard, LaGuardia High School, The Ailey School and STEPS Studio NYC. She has also taught and performed at prominent festivals and schools around the world such as: Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors (NYC), Jacob's Pillow (MA), Internationale Tanz-Wochen Wien (Austria) and Vortex Jazz Congress (Moscow, Russia). Katherine is a graduate of the Ailey School and has danced for, amongst others: Stanley Love Performance Group, bopi's black sheep/dances by kraig patterson, Maffei Dance Company, Glen Rumsey Dance Project and Makram Hamdan Dance Company.
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 Randee Paufve is a choreographer, dancer and educator with extensive commissioning, teaching and performing credits on both coasts. She is the artistic director of Paufve Dance, an acclaimed Oakland based dance ensemble. Randee’s work has been nominated for several Isadora Duncan Dance Awards, and has been supported by numerous, generous funding bodies and individual supporters. Randee has been awarded multiple choreography residencies in California, Hawaii and Wyoming. She has served on the faculties of UC Davis, Reed College, Lewis & Clark College, University of San Francisco, Cal State East Bay, and Saint Mary’s College, and has taught workshops and master classes for organizations including SF Dancer’s Group, Axis Dance and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Randee is currently an assistant professor of dance at Cal State Sacramento. Please see www.paufvedance.org for upcoming performances, workshops and information about the popular PD performance series 8x8x8 and Bare Bones.
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 Anne-René Petrarca modern dancer, choreographer and Alexander Technique teacher and the founder and artist-director of the dance company Sculpted Motion. She received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee. Since re-locating to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2009 after 20 years in New York City Anne-René teaches modern technique at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center and Alonzo King LINES Dance Center and Alexander for the LINES Ballet Training Program and the Mills College Dance Department. In New York she was on the faculty of DNA (formerly Dance Space Center) and assistant faculty at The Juilliard School. Anne-René's approach to teaching modern dance integrates the Alexander Technique along with influences from various modern techniques,the work of Irene Dowd, Bartenieff fundamentals and Yoga. Movement qualities have organic undertones and contain rich details, strong circular shapes, seamless transitions and complex floor work. This class is designed to challenge the dancer technically and artistically, movement can range from athletic and percussive to lyrical and sensual.This class facilitates an atmosphere that allows the dancer to heighten his/her physical awareness and the expression in the body while experiencing the joy in his/her dancing. Sculpted Motion will be Artist-In-Residence at Shawl-Anderson in 2012. www.sculptedmotion.com
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 Elizebeth Randall grew up in Santa Cruz, CA and trained with Ruth Fisher, Valentina Belova, and at The Studio School of Classical Ballet. She returns to the Bay Area after three years on faculty at Boston Ballet School, where she enjoyed teaching ballet and modern dance to students of all ages. Elizebeth has also taught at Boston Ballet School’s Summer Dance Program, Endicott College, San Francisco State University, Volée Dance, Carlmont High School, Lamorinda Ballet, and at numerous public schools. Elizebeth graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Dance from SFSU and holds an M.F.A. in Dance Performance & Choreography from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied on full scholarship. She has performed professionally as a member of San Francisco-based companies Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Dance Ceres, Davalos Dance Company, Motivity Aerial Dance, Liss Fain Dance, and Paco Gomes & Dancers, New York-based James Martin Music/Dance, and Boston-based Dance Visions and Quicksilver Dance. Her choreography has been featured at the American College Dance Festival and has been presented by Volée Dance, Lamorinda Ballet, Carlmont High School, NYU's Second Avenue Dance Company, and Boston Ballet School.
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 Laura Sefchovich began Pilates training during her sixteen-year career as a professional ballet dancer. When a lower-back injury forced her to re-evaluate her own conditioning, she discovered that regular Pilates training helped her remain pain-free during hectic performing seasons. Laura’s interest in Pilates deepened when she met her mentor and teacher Lisa Goldin, whose work is known throughout the dance community. Under Goldin’s supervision, Laura trained in the classical tradition of founder Joseph Pilates, who described the system he developed as “stretch with strength and control.” Laura received her teaching certification after four years of studying with Goldin, and then received a second teaching certification from Power Pilates in New York under the guidance of her other teacher and mentor Allison Gonzalez. She opened Pilates 580 in April ’07 to offer the finest in Pilates education. At Pilates 580, the student learns a prescribed system of exercises designed to progress seamlessly from one movement to another. Routines carefully alternate stretching and strengthening exercises, resulting in well-toned muscles without bulk. Challenging enough for the strongest athlete yet gentle enough for seniors or those recovering from an injury, Pilates 580 incorporates elements of coordination, concentration, breathing, mobility and stability to harmonize the work of the entire body. Laura hopes her clients will leave Pilates 580 feeling invigorated after a great workout and ready to face the day. She knows that as they begin to see results in their bodies, they too will appreciate the benefits of Pilates training. In addition to her time at Pilates580, Laura Sefchovich also works at Purely Pilates in San Carlos, and for San Francisco Ballet, training dancers in the classical Pilates tradition.
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Nol Simonse grew up in Washington, D.C., and trained at the Boston Conservatory of Music. He moved to San Francisco in 1997 and is a founding member of Kunst-Stoff, Janice Garrett and Dancers (now Garrett+Moulton Productions), and Sean Dorsey Dance. He is also a long time collaborator/performer of Sue Roginski, Eric Kupers, Christie Funsch, Stephen Pelton, and Kara Davis. He produces his own work with Todd Eckert for the 'Shared Space' series, and has had residencies at Dance Mission and Studio 210. He has set work on the Lines summer program, ODC's Dance Jam and Dance Brigade's Grrrl Brigade. Nol teaches modern at the Alonzo King's Lines Dance Center and Shawl-Anderson, and youth ballet at Dance Mission. He has taught technique, repertory, and choreography workshops for adults and teens. In 2009 he received a 'Goldie' (Guardian Outstanding Local Discovery) in dance, and in 2011 an 'Izzy' (Isadora Duncan Bay Area Dance Award) for individual performance. Nol loves labyrinths.
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Isabelle Sjahsam is a performer, director, teacher and creator in works ranging from traditional ballets to interdisciplinary public performance installations. She received her early dance training with Bay Area Royal Academy of Dance teacher, Connie Vaughan, and later completed her BA in Dance at Mills College. She has presented her own work in numerous venues including Temescal Arts Center, CounterPULSE, Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival, and Cal Arts Electronic Music Festival. In 2008, she received a new work commission by Middlebury College Dance Company. Currently Isabelle co-directs ArtFace, an Oakland based dance-theater troupe with Malinda Trimble. Isabelle has also danced with Leyya Tawil's Dance Elixir since 2005.
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April Taylor has been teaching and working with children since 2000. Currently she teaches at the New Conservatory Theater and Thornhill Elementary School. She is a graduate of Mills College with a BA in Women's Studies and Dance. She has been performing for most of her life and working in a variety of artistic areas. Her Child Modern classes are full of movement, improvisation, and fun. This class will explore dance technique, choreography, and personal creativity. Suitable for all levels of young dancers. Join the FUN!
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Shaunna Vella is a choreographer, dancer, and teacher who explores the
unseen layers of the world through movement, and the ritual of
performance. She has been teaching in the Bay Area for over ten years,
and currently teaches at St. Mary's College, Shawl-Anderson, and ACE
Dance Academy. Her movement invention and classes are influenced by
her study of Limon, Cunningham, Ballet, Bartenieff fundamentals,
Release, Yoga, Jazz, Hip-Hop, African, and Butoh styles of moving,
while incorporating playful experiences for authentic movement
investigation. As a dancer, she continues to dance for local
companies such as with Davalos Dance Company, Anne Bluethenthal and
Dancers, Liss Fain Dance, Paufve Dance, Agora Dance Project, Dance
Ceres and Deborah Slater Dance Theater, and with them has had exciting
adventures touring the states and abroad. Her choreography and
performance installations have been seen at ODC Theater,
Counterpulse, Dance Mission Theater, The Garage, Studio 210, and The
Ashby Stage. Shaunna is curious and expansive. She is inspired by the
many teachers, artists and students she has the pleasure to be around
daily.
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 Janet Welsh anet Welsh—dancer, choreographer, educator—is the creator of Core Flow™, a unique fitness system blending elements of Dance, Pilates, Yoga and Bodywork.
She received her Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Mills College in 2000 and her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from California Institute of the Arts in 1982. Janet has also worked closely with chiropractors and Feldenkrais practitioner Pauline Sugine. Engaged with fitness for the last twenty years, Welsh served as Director of Wellness and Fitness for the Mauna Kea Resort in Hawaii, where she developed programming to bridge the gap between the healing arts and fitness. In the 1980’s she built an extensive clientle in Los Angeles, working with the film industry, Elite Models, dancers and at-risk youth. She has danced and choreographed in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, appearing with Donald Byrd, Molissa Feneley and on MTV and other commercial television projects. Her choreography was also featured in the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival.
Janet views the body from an architectural perspective, looking always towards an increased capacity for precision, range of motion, spatial awareness, core initiation of movement, efficiency and overall ease and balance. Currently, she teaches Core Flow™ at Mills College and at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Center in Oakland. Janet also works as a Somatic Arts practitioner at the Claremont Resort and Spa in Berkeley.
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 Amanda Whitehead trained primarily in ballet at The Washington School of Ballet in Washington, DC. She danced professionally with The Washington Ballet from 1994-1996, before leaving to pursue her bachelor's degree in Spanish with a minor in dance at Princeton University. She choreographed for the drama program at The Pennington School in Pennington, New Jersey, for nine years. She has been a dedicated teacher of ballet and modern dance for all ages since moving to the Bay Area in 2006, and she recently became a Music Together teacher. She currently performs with ahdanco (Abigail Hosein Dance Company), FACT/SF, and Nina Haft & Company, and has also performed with Tammy Cheney and Mo Miner.
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 Susan Edgren Williams trained and danced with the San Francisco Ballet, Oakland Ballet (soloist), Royal Academy of Dance London, Palazzo Brancaccio Rome, Alexandra Daniloua New York, and San Francisco Opera. She has taught at Berkeley Ballet Theater, St. Mary's College, Oakland Ballet, The Ballet School Walnut Creek, California Theater Arts, California Ballet, and the Orinda Ballet.
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Jessica Wolf has been working with bodies, in diverse communities, for over 10 years. She is a Hip Hop Fusion dancer, educator, and choreographer. Her movement includes many styles and techniques: hip hop, funk and b.girl styles, tap, contemporary modern, Latin Rhythms, Afro-Folkloric,Yoga, Viewpoints, Printz Dance Fusion and Body-Mind Centering. Please join Jessica as she experiments with all of this in her very unique Hip Hop dance class.
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 Katharina (Kat) Worthington received her BFA in Dance from California State University LongBeach. She holds a Horton pedagogy certification from the Ailey School in NYC and is a National Academy of Sports Medicine certified personal trainer. She regularly teaches Horton at summer intensives throughout Asia and Europe and worked as an active performer and choreographer in the NYC and Bay Area dance communities. She currently teaches Horton Technique at Alonzo King Lines Dance Center in San Francisco and Lines Ballet School. San Francisco Bay Guardian dance critic Rita Felciano noted, “Kat Worthington of Copious Dance Theater challenges the law of gravity.”
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quick links
Anderson, Elyna
Armentrout, Mary
Bellah-Guther, Hally
Brosnan, Andrea
Charrière, Maurice
Chianese, Tanya
Cheney, Tammy
Chinn, Sandra
Damon, Jessica
Diamond, Wendy
Eglevsky, Marina
Feldman, Rachelle
Goto, Carolyn
Haft, Nina Otis
Harris, Joanna
Hosein, Abigail
Hunter, Antoine
Jordan, Kate
Kane, Julie
Keeney, Sarah
Kruger, Katie
Lawton, Dana
Liboiron, Coco
Lighthiser, Lesley
Lopez, Rogelio
Macklin, Troy
Martin, Suzanne
McCarthy, Bridget
Mehling, Kerry
Miner, Maureen "Mo"
Monin, Juliana
Nauman, Katherine
Paufve, Randee
Petrarca, Anne-Rene
Randall, Elizebeth
Sefchovich, Laura
Simonse, Nol
Sjahsam, Isabelle
Taylor, April
Vella, Shaunna
Welsh, Janet
Whitehead, Amanda
Williams, Susan
Wolf, Jessica
Worthington, Kat |
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