Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios Ashley Anderson is a choreographer based in Salt Lake City. This summer she was awarded the Mayor’s Artist Award for Service to the Performing Arts at the Utah Arts Festival. Her recent dances have been presented locally at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, the Rio Gallery, the BYU Museum of Art, Finch Lane Gallery, the City Library, the Utah Heritage Foundation’s Ladies’ Literary Club, the Masonic Temple and Urban Lounge as well as national venues including DraftWork at Danspace Project, BodyBlend at Dixon Place, Performance Mix at Joyce SOHO (NY); Mascher Space Cooperative, Crane Arts Gallery, the Arts Bank (PA); and the Taubman Museum of Art (VA), among others. Her work was also presented by the HU/ADF MFA program at the American Dance Festival (NC) and the Kitchen (NY). She has recently performed in dances by Ishmael HoustonJones, Regina Rocke & Dawn Springer. Teaching includes: the American Dance Festival Six & Four Week Schools, Hollins University, the University of Utah, Dickinson College Dance Theater Group, University of the Arts Continuing Studies, Packing House Center for the Arts, the HMS School, the Virginia Tanner Dance Program, Salt Lake Community College and many high schools and community centers. Ashley currently directs “loveDANCEmore” community dance events using the resources of ashley anderson dances (a registered 501c3). Her projects with loveDANCEmore are also shared in Utah’s visual art magazine, 15 BYTES, where she serves as the dance editor. She holds B.A.s with honors in Dance and English from Hollins University as well as an M.F.A. in Dance from the Hollins University/American Dance Festival program under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield. ashleyandersondances.com — lovedancemore.org
Megan Brunsvold is a dance and theater artist formerly based in New York City who has been performing, choreographing, and teaching throughout the country for the past 15 years. Originally from North Dakota, she received a Master’s Degree from the University of Washington and completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Utah. Throughout her career she has had the pleasure of collaborating with exceptional artists in concert dance, theater, and opera. One of the highlights of her career was performing with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. Some of her educational work includes serving on faculty for 6 years at Trollwood Performing Arts School in Minnesota, and as rehearsal director and instructor in the Young Dancer’s Program at Summerstages Dance Festival in Massachusetts.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
ALEXANDRA JANE BRADSHAW originally hails from the Canadian Rockies, but has spent her more recent years dancing in Israel, San Francisco, London, New York City, and Houston. She holds a BFA in Dance and a BA in Literature from the University of California, Irvine and additionally studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge University, The Ailey School NYC, and YogaWorks NYC. Before joining RirieWoodbury Dance Company in 2011, Alexandra performed internationally with Rami Be’er, Todd Courage, Robert Moses, Janice Garrett, Catherine Galasso, David Dorfman, and Loretta Livingston. An active certified yoga teacher since 2006, she also teaches dance and choreographs for diverse populations ranging from disabled children to college students to senior citizens throughout Utah, the United States, and abroad. Alexandra has collaborated with fellow Salt Lake City artists Liberty Valentine, Ashley Anderson, Mason Aeschbacher, and Brad Beakes for both live performance and dance film.
Mary Lyn Graves is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Now in her third season with Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company (Salt Lake City, UT), she has performed throughout the United States in works by Doug Varone, Jonah Bokaer, Johannes Wieland, Alwin Nikolais, Martha Graham, Daniel Charon, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, and Karole Armitage. Mary Lyn has taught dance and movement across the country to diverse groups ranging from elementary-aged children to college students to senior citizens and has led master classes at Colorado State University, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Wichita State University, and Brenau University in Georgia. Mary Lyn trained at the University of Oklahoma, from which she received a BFA in Dance in 2012, and at the Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios Juan Carlos Claudio University of Utah Assistant Professor; B. S. Utah State University; M. F. A. University of Utah Juan Carlos obtained his M. F. A. degree from the University of Utah, Department of Modern where he currently holds the position of Assistant Professor. Currently, he teaches all levels of Contemporary Dance Technique, Dance in Culture, Dance and Community, Dance Composition and choreographs for the Performing Dance Company. Juan Carlos is currently working towards his Dance for Parkinson’s Disease teaching certification from the Mark Morris Dance Center and Arts and Aging professional teaching training from the National Center for Creative Aging. He is 2014- University of Utah’s Professor Off Campus developing a Community Engagement Project in Cross-Cultural Awareness, Identity and Empowerment through Dance. He is a member of the National Dance Educators Organization (NDEO), Utah National Dance Educators (UDEO) and the American Dance Therapy Association (ADAT). Juan Carlos is the creator and director of the Panamá Dance and Cultural Exchange: a study abroad program dedicated to pedagogy, service and volunteerism at orphanages and in-need communities in and around Panamá. Juan Carlos was awarded the Lowell Bennion Center Community Engaged Scholar of the Year (2014), nominated the Chi Omega Favorite Professor of the Year (2013), the Dee Winterton Award for mentoring and the University of Utah Student Teaching Choice Award for excellence in teaching (2009). Juan Carlos has been nominated for Salt Lake City Weekly’s ARTYS Best Individual Dancer in 2014, 2013 and 2000. Locally, Juan Carlos has danced with the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Stephen Koester’s Dance Koester Dance and Stephen Brown’s SB Dance. In New York City he danced with Séan Curran Company, Bill Young/Colleen Thomas & Dancers, Keith Johnson/Dancers, and John Allen/Project. He has been a guest artist at the Berlin State Ballet School in Berlin (2014), the 2nd Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition and the 1st Beijing Dance Academy Summer Workshop (2013), Utah State University in Logan, Utah (2010), Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana (2009), OPEN LOOK- International Dance Festival (2009) in St. Petersburg, Russia and the Harare International Arts Festival in Harare, Zimbabwe (2008). Professor A’Keitha Carey is an artist/scholar who hails from the Bahamas. She received her B.A. in Dance from Florida International University, an M.F.A. in Dance from Florida State University, a Certificate in Woman's Studies from Texas Woman’s University and is currently working to complete her PhD in Dance at Texas Woman’s University. She has published the article “CaribFunk™ Technique: Afro Caribbean Dance, Caribbean Feminism and Popular Culture” in the Journal of Pan-African Studies and has several forth coming publications in multiple interdisciplinary journals illustrating the breadth and width of her work. A'Keitha created CaribFunk™ technique, a genre fusing Afro-Caribbean, ballet, modern, and fitness principles. The technique addresses the politics of “identity” and “becoming” through the exploration of the hip wine (circular rotation of the hip). Focusing on Black feminist writer, Audre Lorde’s use of the term erotic, in the sense that women achieve empowerment and knowledge through an energy—a creative energy that provides an awareness of self, history, and our bodies, A’Keitha argues that the hip wine is a practice of erotic power. The technique is rooted in an Africanist aesthetic and Euro-American expression coalescing the vertical and horizontal. It embodies Caribbean performance and politics, Caribbean popular culture as a methodological and pedagogical practice and explores Jamaican Dancehall and Trinidadian Carnival as a reservoir of knowledge that investigates the sensual and spiritual. Her research attempts to redefine Black femininity, establishing the relationship between the technique and Caribbean popular culture, addressing why it is important to student of color in academia, and reinforcing the marriage between Caribbean dance, sensuality, strength, and the erotic as power. This futuristic philosophy and technique attempts to rupture “tradition and history—breaking the aesthetic of the institution—exhibiting a hybridized pedagogy and technology of (re) imagination through a Diasporic consciousness. Critical Race Theory, Black Feminism/Womanism, Popular Culture, Critical Pedagogy, Cultural Studies and Curriculum Studies are her areas of interest. www.caribfunk.com
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
Anna Corvera is originally from St. Louis, MO where she started dancing at age three. Currently she teaches Modern, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Composition, and Improvisation at Casper College in Wyoming where she choreographed Urinetown: The Musical this fall, and looks forward to collaborating on a Hip Hop version of Lysistrata with the Q Brothers of Chicago this spring. She holds an MFA from The College at Brockport: State University of New York and a BFA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign as well as trained at The Ailey School. She started her teaching career at New York University Department of Recreation which led to choreographing commercials for Coca Cola and a music video for Atlantic Records. Her choreography has also been commissioned by the Brockport Symphony Orchestra and Wyoming Symphony Orchestra. She has performed the work of choreographers Bill Evans, Darwin Prioleau, Telly Fowler, and Cheryl Johnson, as well as performed with the St. Louis MUNY Opera, St. Louis Cultural Flamenco Society, Six Flags, and The Lucky Artist Theater Company. Recently, she has taught workshops at American College Dance Festival in Texas, Missouri State Thespian Conference, Colorado State Thespian Conference, and Wyoming Thespian Festival. This will be her second year teaching at Utah Dance Education Organization High School Festival!
Bradley Beakes born and raised in Southern California, Brad began his formal dance training at the age of 15 at Dellos Dance and Performing Arts. He later immersed himself in modern dance at California State University, Fullerton. While based in Los Angeles, Brad performed in Celebrate Dance, Los Angeles Invitational, Palm Desert Choreography Festival: Concert Under the Stars, Mike Esperanza’s BARE Dance Company, and performed/choreographed in the American College Dance Festival. He also had the privilege to dance with Visions Dance Theatre where he was recently recognized as the 2010 Lester Horton Award Winner for “Outstanding Male Performance’ in Macarena Gandarillas’ work “Always Remember Never to Forget.” In 2010, Brad moved to NYC to attend The Ailey School and shortly thereafter joined Naganuma Dance, performing in venues such as the Merce Cunningham Studio and SummerStage. Currently, Bradley dances with Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
Leah Nelson DelPorto, originally from Los Angeles, received her BA in Dance from Barnard College, Columbia University. For 10 years, she has been Co-Artistic Director of a duet dance company called fivefour. Their work has been presented in Colorado, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Utah, and numerous venues in New York City. While performing in NY for 10 years, she worked and toured with Deganit Shemy & Co, and collaborated and performed with choreographers including David Hurwith, Nora Stephens, and Benjamin Asriel. She has recently been seen dancing with Movement Forum, and her solos have been presented in Salt Lake City, New York, and Massachusetts. Leah continues to create and perform work through collaborations and solo processes. She loves teaching Contact Improvisation and an organic movement driven dance class.
Natalie Desch, Juilliard BFA, performed with the Limón Dance Company (19962001) before joining Doug Varone and Dancers (20012012.) During her time with Varone, she originated roles in over twenty-five works and served as co-rehearsal director (2009-2012.) Natalie has been a soloist with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and worked with Varone at several regional opera and theater companies. She has taught at three Limón and ten Varone summer workshops, the Bates Dance Festival (2003, 2010), the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (2009-2011), and was a faculty member at Hunter College in NYC (2005-2012.) Natalie has staged the works of Varone, Limón, and Jiri Kylián on companies and universities, and her choreography has been presented at venues throughout the United States. In 2008, Natalie earned her yoga certification from YogaWorks NYC, and in 2014 earned her MFA in dance from the University of Washington in Seattle. She is currently on faculty at Utah Valley University, Weber State University, and Westminster College.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
Sara Gallo received her MFA degree in Dance from California State University Long Beach in 2011 and BFA degree in Dance from the University of Montana, Missoula in 2004. While living in Missoula, she worked with the Mo -trans Dance Company, under the direction of Amy Ragsdale and Karen Kaufman, as both a performer and a teacher for master classes and artist residencies while on tour. After leaving Montana, Gallo spent several years in the San Francisco Bay Area teaching, choreographing, and performing as a member of several notable dance companies including kelly kemp & company, Leyya Tawil's Dance Elixir, Aura Fischbeck Dance, and Gretchen Garnett and Dancers. While pursuing her graduate degree, she had the pleasure of dancing with Southern California based choreographers Cyrus Parker-Jeannette, Keith Johnson, Christin Sperry-Garcia, and Holly Johnston. Gallo’s own work has been presented in concerts and festivals in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, and numerous other cities throughout the Western United States. Additionally, she has choreographed dances for the American Ballet Theater’s Summer Intensive Program and AMDA Los Angeles. Beyond performance and choreography, Gallo’s true passion has always been dance education. She has taught students of all ages in colleges, universities, public schools and private studios. As full-time faculty at Dixie State University, she teaches technique and theory courses, works with the DSU Dance Company, and choreographs for the Theatre Department’s musical productions.
Pamela Geber Handman is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Dance at the University of Utah where she also serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Among the array of courses she teaches: contemporary modern technique, improvisation, composition, dance kinesiology, teaching methods, advanced principles of teaching and has served as director for the department’s Performing Dance Company, a company for which she regularly choreographs. Pamela has been on faculty at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Bennington College’s July program in Vermont and has taught both dance and music in several K-12 schools throughout New York City. She holds an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle with an emphasis in dance science and education, a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with an emphasis in performance and choreography, and a certification in Carl Orff’s teaching pedagogy for dance and music from Bloomingdale House of Music in New York City. She has performed professionally with Sara Rudner, Wendy Perron, David Gordon, Fred Darsow and in works by Stephen Koester, David Dorfman, Susan Marshall, Doug Varone, Mark Dendy, Zvi Gotheiner as well as reconstructions by Vaslav Nijinsky, Alwin Nikolais and Doris Humphrey. Pamela has performed duet works with partner, Eric Handman, including original and commissioned choreography. She has had an ongoing fascination with somatic areas of study and experiential anatomy. She has been a student of the Alexander Technique, Ideokinesis, Bartenieff Fundamentals and Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement, continuing to integrate somatic principles and practices within her own courses. She is also one of the co-founders of the Dance Kinesiology Teachers’ Group has been a long-time member of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science. Her writing in this area has been published in the Journal for Dance Medicine and Science and an upcoming chapter on Dance Conditioning is forthcoming in 2015. With a recent interest in working with special needs populations and mixed ability communities, Pamela organized and co-taught a workshop entitled “Jump Start”: a dance and story-sharing workshop for individuals with Down Syndrome and their families. A documentary film is currently being finalized as a means of advocating for an integrative and arts-inclusive education for individuals with special needs.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios Lorin Hansen is a passionate instructor, performer, and lifelong student of Samba and Afro-Brazilian dance. Lorin earned her BFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah in 2005, and has been studying Samba and Afro -Brazilian dance since 2001, with world-renowned teachers in Brazil and California such as Rosangela Silvestre, Maisa Duke, Ana Laidley, Dandha da Hora, Rodson de Jesus, and Danielle Lima. Lorin is the Artistic Director and founder of Samba Fogo, a music and dance company that has toured nationally with their unique fusion of Samba and Afro-Brazilian dance, live music and martial art, fused with contemporary dance and fire spinning. Lorin’s ability to communicate information, engage students, and manage a classroom has resulted in much success for Samba Fogo. In 2009, Lorin received a second-level teaching certification in Silvestre Technique (an Afro-Brazilian / modern dance fusion form) from Rosangela Silvestre and the Escola de Dança (School of Dance) in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. She is also certified in Zumba and serves as Dance Liaison for the annual California Brazil Camp. Lorin has been teaching Samba dance and percussion since 2006, for various schools and institutions including the University of Utah, Fitness on 7th, Repertory Dance Theatre, Baile Dance Fitness Studio, and Utah Valley University. Lorin has been brought in as a guest instructor and resident artist by numerous institutions and events, including the American College Dance Festival, Utah Dance Education Organization, Westminster College’s Artsbridge program, Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake Arts Academy, Utah Arts Festival, and Regional Dance America. Lorin is a fun, engaging and inspiring teacher, and has taught numerous people how to samba over past eight years. She is a strong believer in the power of dance to teach self-empowerment, encourage health and fitness, and build community.
Deja Mitchell holds a B.S. in Modern Dance from Utah State University. She has traveled to Africa to continue her studies in West African Dance. Presently, she teaches African dance at Weber State University, Repertory Dance Theater’s Community School, the Eccles Community Art Center and Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind. Deja, also, teaches Gentle Movement for Seniors. She was honored to receive the Ogden Mayor’s Award for the Arts, RAMP grant awards for African dance performance and educational assemblies. She has been featured in Fuse Magazine. Deja performs with Africa Heartwood Project Dance & Drum Ensemble. Deja is a member of Ogden City Arts Council and a board member for Imagine Ballet Theater.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
Stephen Koester is a Professor as well as Chair in the Department of Modern Dance at the University of Utah. He was formerly co-Artistic Director of Creach/Koester, an all male dance company based in New York City, which toured throughout the US, Canada and Europe. With partner Terry Creach, Stephen received five consecutive choreographic fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, plus a choreographic fellowship from the New York State Foundation for the Arts. Creach and Koester also received the Bonnie Bird North American Choreographic Award along with extensive additional choreographic/company support. In addition to his professional activities with Creach/Koester, Stephen was a guest artist at numerous colleges and universities throughout the country and continues to choreograph and teach both nationally and internationally. He has made over 135 dances. His work has appeared in the repertories of the RirieWoodbury Dance Company, Repertory Dance Theatre, Pittsburgh Dance Alloy, Dance Forum Taipei, among others, including his own company Dance Koester Dance, which presented several Salt Lake City seasons. In 2004, Stephen won Repertory Dance Theatre's “Sense of Place” National Choreographic Competition, setting a new work on the company, and in 2006 received a Utah Arts Council Established Artist Grant to support his company choreography. At the University of Utah, Stephen regularly choreographs, and teaches improvisation, composition, technique, and graduate seminars. In 2002, Stephen received the College of Fine Arts Faculty Excellence Award for creative research, and in 2008 was named a University Professor. Sharee Lane was a soloist dancer with Ballet West from 1970-1979 under Artistic Directors Willam F. Christiansen and Bruce Marks, and was a member of the Ballet West Artistic staff and Assistant Director of the Ballet West Conservatory under Artistic Directors, John Hart and Jonas Kage from 1989-1999. From 2010, as an Associate Professor with the University of Utah’s Department of Modern Dance, Professor Lane teaches upper and lower division ballet technique, freshman seminar, advanced principles of teaching, and directs, as well as choreographs for the Department’s Performing Dance Company. Also, as guest faculty for the Department of Ballet, she teaches upper division technique and pointe. Her works have been performed internationally at the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin (Berlin, Germany), and at the Vaganova Dance Society’s 20th Anniversary Gala in Edmonton, Canada, and nationally for the Snowy Range Summer Dance Festival at the University of Wyoming, and the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music. Professor Lane has been a recipient of three Thomas D. Dee Grants, and in 2006, received the prestigious Philip and Miriam Perlman Award for Excellence in Student Counseling and Advising of students (campus-wide). Nominated for the College of Fine Arts Scholars Program, Professor Lane has presented her research “Through the Looking Glass: Examining the Impact of Mirrors in Technical and Artistic Development in Female College Ballet Dancers” for the Corps de Ballet International Conference at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Honolulu, Hawaii, and at Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah. Professor Lane, along with colleague Professor Olaf Hoefer, Director of Repertoire of the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin, Co-Directs the Cultural Exchange Program between the University’s Department of Modern Dance, the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin, Ballet West, and the Ballet West Academy, for students, teachers, and musicians. As well as being a frequent guest teacher for Ballet West, Ballet West II, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Northwest Dance Project (Portland, Oregon), Cincinnati Ballet, and Repertory Dance Theater, Professor Lane continues her association as adjudicator and master teacher for the Montana Dance Arts Association and for MusicFest Northwest in Spokane, Washington.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
Joanne L. Lawrence -- received her B.A. Degree in Ballet from The University of Akron, in Ohio, her M.F.A. Degree in Dance from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and additional training as a scholarship student and performer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in NYC. She has performed, choreographed, and taught for numerous modern dance and ballet companies throughout the eastern U.S. Joanne has pursued additional studies at the Laban-Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, with the Society of American Fight Directors, in various countries of West Africa, and with Erasmus University’s Dance as Integrated in Humanities and Society in The Netherlands. Since 1985, Joanne has been involved in cross-curriculum development and pedagogy, outreach programs to public schools and underserved populations, and performance as a tool for education and joy. She has directed dance programs at Alfred University, New York, and Huntingdon College, Alabama. Currently, Joanne is Professor of Dance at Weber State University, Ogden, Utah. She is a member of the Society of Dance History Scholars, charter member of the National Dance Education Organization/Utah Dance Education Organization and lifetime member of the American College Dance Festival Association. Her hobbies include hiking with her dogs and anything to do with food: gardening, cooking and eating.
Patricia Meredith has BFA and MFA degrees, with emphasis in Ballet performance from the University of Utah and did extensive post-graduate study at The Ohio State University and U.C. Berkeley. She danced with Ballet West, the Utah Opera Company and was a charter member of Ballet Salt Lake and Jazzin’ Dance Company. Patricia was hired as the Dance Director at Scottsdale College and later Snow College, where she developed full-scale dance programs. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at Southern Utah University.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
Pamela S. Musil, MA, is a Professor of Dance at Brigham Young University where she heads the Contemporary Dance Area. She teaches Kinesiology for Dancers, Teaching Methods of Contemporary Dance and other courses within the contemporary area and the Dance Education major program. Prior to her work in Higher Education she taught dance in a secondary public school setting and was recognized as the National Dance Association’s K-12 Dance Educator of the Year. Her scholarly research addresses pedagogy within 7-12 and higher education settings; and genderrelated issues of dancers in adolescence, young adulthood and higher education. Current projects include an interdisciplinary collaborative textbook about K-12 arts literacies and an edited series of chapters on gender issues in 7 – 12 education. Her research has been published in the Journal of Dance Education and Research in Dance Education. She has presented in China and Italy and taught pedagogy workshops in Mumbai and Bangalore, India. She currently serves as President of the Utah Dance Education Organization. She is a certified Level I Franklin Method Educator (FME).
Denise Purvis is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Southern Utah University teaching ballet, modern and tap technique, composition, creative dance for children and K-12 methods. She is also artistic director of Shifting Velocity Dance Company. Prior to joining SUU, Purvis designed and directed the dance program for the Chesterfield County Specialty Center for the Arts at Thomas Dale High School in Chester, VA. From 2008 until 2012, Purvis danced with Starr Foster Dance Project in Richmond, VA, and she has consistently worked with various free-lance choreographers since 1999. A strong advocate of the arts and arts education, Ms. Purvis serves on the board of the Utah Dance Education Organization as higher education representative. Locally, she serves on the board of the Cedar City Arts Council as the dance arts representative. .
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
Jana Shumway received her BA and MA from Brigham Young University in Dance Education. She has taught dance at The Waterford School (for 10 years); Brigham Young University (for 8 years); William Penn Elementary as part of the Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program (for 6 years); and has recently returned to BYU as a Visiting Professor to teach contemporary technique and dance education classes. She is also the co-artistic director of BYU’s Kinnect Dance Co.
Amanda Sowerby received her MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah and her BFA in Dance from the California Institute of the Arts. She worked for several years with the Gary Palmer Dance Company in California’s Bay Area and assisted in setting new and repertory pieces on the National Ballet of Peru and the National Ballet of Chile, as well as implementing outreach programs in dance for Bay Area community members. She has performed with the National Ballet’s of Chile and Peru, Enrico Labayan’s Lab Projekt USA, Yasmin Mehta’s California Contemporary Dancers and Todd Courage. Amanda’s own choreographic work has been presented at NYC’s Dance Theatre Workshop, SF’s Theatre Artaud, Diesel Cathedral, Dance Mission and SLC’s Rose Wagner Theater. While completing graduate work Amanda cofounded Paradigm Dance Project; a dance organization designed to foster arts education for under-served populations. In addition to her faculty position at WSU, Amanda served on the board of the Utah Dance Education Organization as the Higher Education Representative from 2007-2013. Inside the Department of Performing Arts at WSU, Amanda can be found choreographing, teaching technique classes, dance and technology, dance pedagogy and dance kinesiology.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
Erik Stern holds a B.A. in Biology from UC Santa Cruz and an M.F.A. in Dance from CalArts. Erik danced with Tandy Beal & Company for 10 years, has appeared as a guest artist with Repertory Dance Theatre, and in works by Remy Charlip and others. In addition to his extensive dance experience, Erik’s choreography draws on his background as a musician and actor. As a professor at Weber State University, he teaches technique (Modern and Rhythm Tap), Improvisation, Choreography, Music for Dance, as well as dance outreach, dance education and general education courses. He has choreographed over seventyfive works for students and professional dancers. From 1999-2002 Erik was the Endowed Artist for the WSU College of Arts & Humanities. In 2002 his duet on WSU students, “Table of Content,” was performed at the Kennedy Center as part of the American College Dance Festival Association’s national meeting. As the 2010-11 Eccles Honors Fellow, Erik created and taught a new colloquium, “The Body of Religion.” Stern’s evening-length work Demolition Derby: when a mind loses its license to drive premiered in Utah, was performed in New York City in 2007, and forged collaborations with the University of Utah’s Center for Alzheimer’s Care, Imaging & Research, and the Utah and New York City Chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association. Demo Derby received the WSU Exemplary Collaboration Award in 2007. Since 1987 Erik has co-directed the Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble with Karl Schaffer. The company has received over 50 grants, including seven from the National Endowment for the Arts, and toured throughout North American, including performances at the Kennedy Center. In June 2009, the ensemble performed at the World Science Festival at New York University, and in July 2010 at the Bridges 2010 conference in Pécs, Hungary. The ensemble’s work connecting mathematics and dance was covered in a March 2010 article of Dance Teacher Magazine. Erik’s commentary on Alzheimer’s disease and the arts appeared in the April 2009 issue of Academic Medicine and he co-authored “MathDance with Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern,” which describes their long-standing educational work connecting dance and mathematics. As a Teaching Artist with the Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education Program, he instructs students and educators throughout the U.S. in arts integration.
Wendy S. Turner is a costumer for the University of Utah Children’s Dance Theatre and Virginia Tanner Creative Dance Programs. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts, a Master’s degree in Dance Education/teaching higher educationadministration, and Professional Certification from the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. Wendy has danced professionally, taught at Southern Utah University, Dixie State College, and in children’s programs, both in New York and Utah. Her involvement and creative development with costumes began with her mother, designer Cynthia Turner, and has always been incorporated in every aspect of her career.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
Nina Vought has an MFA in Scenic Design, and designs and builds costumes as well. In addition to teaching Acting and The Performers Body, she teaches Yoga. She enjoys using yoga and meditation as tools for wellness. She gets a kick introducing students to the vast array of benefits of both in and out of the classroom. When she’s not in the classroom, you’ll find Nina in the kitchen creating vegan delights or in the loft standing on her head.
Kori Wakamatsu is an Assistant professor at Brigham Young University in the Contemporary Dance Area. Before entering higher education, she taught at Jefferson Junior High and Riverton High School. She received her MA in Dance from California State University, Long Beach; a Theatre Endorsement from the University of Utah; and a BA in Dance Education from Brigham Young University. She has been honored to work on many collaborative projects such as: the Thought of You animation; The Nightingale play; Provo Sites mobile dance series; and the Theatre Engine project.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
Joni Urry Wilson began her dance career as a child with Virginia Tanner, and has continued performing and teaching nationally and internationally for the past 30 years. She received an Honors BFA from the University of Utah and an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Mills College in Oakland, California. Ms. Wilson has taught dance at Mills College, Purdue University, Weber State University and University of Hawaii and workshops for teachers across the state as well as internationally. She is an artist-in-residence for the Utah Arts Council, Salt Lake Arts Council and VSA/Art Access. Joni is Studio Director for the University of Utah Tanner Dance Program where she teaches students of all ages and abilities. Her full-time teaching includes classes for Virginia Tanner studio classes, The Children’s Dance Theatre, and Dancers with Disabilities classes.
Shannon Vance is from Salt Lake City, Utah where she is currently pursuing an MFA in Modern Dance at the University of Utah. Shannon recently received a teaching assistantship in the dance department for the 2008-2009 academic year and looks forward to teaching dance at the university level. Before returning to school for her graduate work, Shannon was the director of the Mountain View High dance program teaching modern, ballroom, aerobics, and directing dance company. While at Mountain View two of her works, “How Many Does it Take to Tango” and “Protecting Ophelia” received top honors at the 2006 Utah Shakespeare Festival. She also choreographed three major musicals; Little Mary Sunshine, Beauty and the Beast, and Les Miserables. Shannon holds a B.A. in Dance Education from BYU where she toured with the Ballroom Dance Company and was a member of Dancensemble, a contemporary-modern student-choreography company. Shannon’s dance background also includes jazz, lyrical, ballet, precision, hip-hop, character, and dance twirl. Her dance philosophy is based on the integration and promotion of all dance forms and frequently choreographs using multiple genres. Shannon performed in the 2007 Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert, the 2002 Olympic Opening Ceremonies, and was a topfive finalist at the Miss Dance Drill USA pageant, 1998. Shannon is presently teaching/choreographing for Emotion Dance and involved in various local dance projects.
Utah Dance Education Organization
State High School Dance Festival 2015 Adjudicator and Master Class Teacher Bios
A heartfelt thank to the following individuals who have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into making this Utah Dance Education Organization Dance Festival possible:
Pam Musil
Amanda Sowerby
Sean Guymon
Chara Huckins
UDEO
UDEO
UDEO
UDEO
President
President Elect/
Business
High School Dance Festival
Site Coordinator
Manager
Ai Fujii Nelson
Adeena Lago
Denise Pruvis
Megan Brown
UDEO
Trophies
UDEO
Scholarship
Higher Education
Coordinator
Treasurer
Representative
Chair
