Marcia Cantillana has had an extensive international dance career. Her training in Santiago de Chile included such prestigious institutions as the Arts Conservatory of the Universidad de Chile, Ballet de Santiago, and the Centro de Danza Espiral, where she focused on learning dance pedagogy in addition to her continued training in ballet, modern, and choreography.
      At the age of 22, she was invited to dance with the Compañía de Danza Carabobo and teach at their school in Valencia, Venezuela. In 1996 she moved to Germany, where for four years she danced with Katja Bergmann Contemporary Dance in Hamburg and trained in Pina Bausch's School of Dance at the Folkwang Hochschule. Later she returned to Latin America, teaching at the Universidad Nacional and Academia Superior de Ballet de Costa Rica while dancing with Danza Universitaria. Prior to coming to the United States in the spring of 2003, Marcia was invited to dance with Ballet Ouest, of Montreal, Canada, for their 2002 fall season.
      During 2003-04 Marcia joined The Peak Ballet Theater in Colorado Springs, as a principal dancer and choreographer, as well as a ballet and modern dance teacher for the youth division of the company. It was there she melded her passions for ballet and modern into a unique approach to teaching and choreographing contemporary ballet on pointe.
      Marcia moved to the Bay Area in 2005, where she performed with Moving Arts Dance, and worked for Ross Dance Company as a guest choreographer. Presently Marcia is thrilled to be in her second year with Shawl-Anderson as part of the ballet faculty.

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.

 

 

Tammy Cheney has been performing, teaching and choreographing in the Bay Area since 1993. She is currently teaching dance at the Shawl Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley, Ca. and is a guest lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley in the Physical Education Department. Tammy has been a visiting dance artist at Mills College, a guest lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley for the Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies Department, and served as the director of the dance program and director of the Dance Ensemble at The Katherine Branson High School located in Ross, Ca. Tammy has set dance works on the U.C. Berkeley Dance Company BARD, the Mills College Repertory Company, and A Wing and A Prayer Dance Company in Reno, Nevada. Tammy’s work has been presented at the Dance IS Festival and the Vision Series dance festival. Locally, Tammy has danced for San Francisco’s ODC/San Francisco (1996-2003) as well as: Janice Garrett & Dancers, Robert Moses' Kin, Lizz Roman & Dancers, Charlie Moulton, Sonya Delwaide, and Li Chiao-Ping. Tammy received her B.A. in dance from Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pa.

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.

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.

 

 

 

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.    

 

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.

 

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.

Shannon Fouts is originally from the Washington, D.C. area. As a young student Ms. Fouts performed with the Joffery Ballet Nutcracker at the Kennedy Center, auditioned at the Julliard in New York and for the Boston Ballet Youth program while studying dance at the Maryland Youth Ballet Academy. Recently, Ms. Fouts received her BA in Dance Performance from San Francisco State University. As an Administrator for the Arts she has made a fast progression from Intern to General Manager through her work with Push Dance Company. Ms. Fouts’ desire to teach dance is fueled by 20 years of dedication and passion for the art of dance. Her background in dance includes ballet, modern, jazz and tap.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Julia Hollas is an alumna of the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Julia currently dances with Dandelion Dancetheater and Alyce Finwall Dance Theater. During her 19 years of ballet training, she studied with many teachers of diverse backgrounds and pedagogies, including those of the Royal Ballet School, the School of American Ballet, and the Vagonova School, as well as ballet from a modern dancer’s perspective. Through her teaching of ballet, Julia seeks to convey to students how the physical and intellectual study of technique can better inform and strengthen the body and mind—leaving the individual with more options for movement, thought, and expression.

 

Abigail Hosein holds her MFA in Performance and Choreography from Mills College and her BA in Psychology from Goucher College. In 2002 she founded ahdanco, a modern dance company that has since preformed throughout the Bay Area in three home seasons at Dance Mission Theater and in festivals such as Summerfest, the Vision Series, Monterey Dance Festival, Julia Morgan Center's DanceIs Festival, Raw&Uncut, and Dance Brigade's Harvest Festival. Hosein's work focuses on how the life and imagination of an individual can be shaped, for better or worse, by the totality of psychological content--engaging, inspiring and provoking self-assessment and self-reflection in viewers. ahdanco's repertory consists of a wide range of modern dance diverse in style, structure and content and includes collaborations with composers, poets, and visual artists. Hosein has performed locally with DanceRepertory/San Francisco and Mills College Repertory Dance Company, as well as with the NC based Elon Dancers Repertory Company and Moving Liturgy Dance Company. Abigail teaches at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center and Santa Clara University (part time), and has been guest choreographer at Berkeley High, College Prep High, and Dance/10 Performing Arts School. She also teaches with the San Francisco Performances' Dance Mentors program which sends choreographers into public schools to share their creative vision with students. Please check on upcoming performances at www.ahdanco.org.

 

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.

 

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.

Katie Kruger studied dance at UC Santa Barbara, in New York, and in San Francisco. She has taught dance to high school students for the past eight years and has been teaching at Shawl-Anderson since 2002. She continues to perform with various choreographers in the area, most recently with Patricia Banchik/Kineses. Her classes focus on how to move with strength, ease, and joy while acquiring technique.

 

Eric Kupers (Dandelion Dancetheater co artistic-director/ensemble director/performer) has co-directed, choreographed, and performed with Dandelion since its inception, creating numerous works that have been presented throughout California, nationally and internationally. He is deeply influenced by his work as a performer in the companies of Della Davidson and Margaret Jenkins. Eric is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Cal State University East Bay and is heading up the development of the "Dance for All Bodies and Abilities" Program at the university. He has been an artist-in-residence at ODC Theater, CELLspace and the Jon Sims Center for the Arts. Eric has received grants for his projects with Dandelion and collaborating artists from the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, Irvine Foundation (with Dance USA), Princess Grace Foundation, Rockefeller MAP Fund, San Francisco Arts Commission, Wattis Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Theatre Bay Area CA$H Program, and the Cal State University East Bay Faculty Grants. He has created commissioned works for Big Moves, Cal State University East Bay, California Choreographers Festival, Dancing in the Streets/NYC, and choreography for projects by John Killacky, California Shakespeare Festival, and Highland Summer Theatre. More info at www.dandeliondancetheater.org

 

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

 

 

 

Coco Liboiron Coco Liboiron is a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley in the Graduate School of Education, Language and Literacy. Her dissertation is titled: "Embodied Literacy: Learning to Dance and Dancing
to Learn in a First Grade Classroom." She beleieves that it is never tutu late to learn ballet. Her students' ages range from 4 - 81 years old.

Coco began studying classical ballet and modern dance at an early age. She became a member of the Royal Academy of Dancing, London, England and began teaching classical ballet in 1972. Coco is currently teaching and performing in the Bay Area and loves to share her love of ballet.

She studied classical ballet with Dame Ninette de Valois, founding director of The Royal Ballet, London England, Julia Faron and David Blair, Royal Ballet in London, Finis Jung, Harkness Ballet, NYC, Richard Gibson, former director of the Joffrey Ballet, NYC and Linda Nebbs, Montreal,Canada among others.Coco was the prima ballerina for Les Ballets Russes de Montreal under the direction of Mischa Berkut. Member of a mime troupe and Russian classical folk dance company, Kalinka, Montreal, Canada. In 1980, she became an independent choreographer/dancer and performed both internationally and locally. Solos were created for her by Eva von Gensky, founder of Les Ballets Jazz, Montreal, Edward Desoto, Limon Dance Company,NYC, Richard Gibson, former director Joffrey Ballet, NYC.

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.

 

Jetta Martin is a dancer, teacher and choreographer in the Bay Area. She began dancing at age four and trained for ten years with Berkeley City Ballet under Grace Doty. She attended summer programs with Dance Theatre of Harlem, American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey, Lines, Limon, Jacob’s Pillow and ODC.

Jetta’s love for choreography and teaching began at Berkeley High under Marcia Singman and continued throughout college at Harvard University. As a Harvard student Jetta performed with and choreographed for the ballet, modern and jazz companies. She was also selected to perform and choreograph for Forté, a performance of student excellence. Her most recent choreography credits include Ross Dance Emerging Choreographer’s Night in San Francisco and Regional Dance America’s Craft of Choreography Conference in Seattle, Washington.

Jetta has performed premieres of works by Robert Moses, Susan Shields, Cornelius Carter and Jeff Shade. She has danced professionally with Ronn Guidi. Jetta currently dances with Jacinta Vlach’s Liberation Dance Theatre and Natasha Carlitz’s Dance Ensemble. She also teaches at Henry Berg’s The Ballet Studio in SF. Jetta loves teaching and has worked with all levels and ages of dancers.

 

Suzanne Martin is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and a gold-certified Pilates expert. Listed in Who's Who for Professionals, 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 ACSM trainer, 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 and courses in the Pilates Method and nutrition. She has published extensively in Dance Magazine, Pilates Style, Penguin Books, the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science as well as others. Contact: Smartin2 at pacbell dot net www.totalbodydevelopment.com.

Jenna McClintock received her early training with Ronn Guidi at the Oakland Ballet
Academy. She joined the professional company when she was fourteen as an apprentice, and at sixteen became a full company member. While with the Oakland Ballet, Ms. McClintock performed and toured all over the country, as well as the Virgin Islands and Paris, France dancing a wide range of ballets. In 2001, Ms. McClintock joined the Richmond Ballet, where she worked with Jessica Lang, Mauricio Wainrot, William Soleau, Colin Conner, and Malcolm Burn. Ms. McClintock has taught ballet since 1999 and has choreographed works for both the Oakland and Richmond ballet academies and the University of Richmond, Virginia. She continues to perform for Oakland Ballet and is on staff at its school. Ms. McClintock joined Diablo Ballet in the Spring of 2008.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Corrine Nagata teaches a Horton based technique class. She has taught at The Ailey School, Dance Theatre of Harlem and for New York City Ballet’s Jacques D’ Amboise. After attending San Francisco School of the Arts, she graduated in the Advanced Placement Program from the North Carolina School of the Arts. She is proud to have danced for Bay Area's Janice Garrett and Savage Jazz Dance Company.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Anne-René Petrarca re-located to the San Francisco Bay area in 2009 after 20 years in New York City.  She is a modern dancer, choreographer and Alexander Technique teacher. The last several years Anne-René has been developing the skill of integrating Alexander Technique into her modern dance technique class. This has been a rewarding and successful process.  In NYC she was on the Faculty at Dance New Amsterdam (modern) and the Assistant Faculty at The Juilliard School dance division (Alexander Technique). Recently she was a visiting artist at Sarah Lawrence College, Hope College and was commissioned by Long Island University-Brooklyn to set a work on the dance department. Since 2000, she has been working with Jane Kosminsky (from The Juilliard School) and has assisted her at National Conventions and in the making of her DVD; For Dancers; The Alexander Technique.  In the Bay Area she is currently teaching modern technique at Shawl-Anderson and  Alonzo King Lines Dance Center. She maintains a private Alexander Technique practice that caters to performing artist. Anne-René travels as a guest artist to universities and studios across the country teaching a variety of classes. She continues her work with the Next Stage Project as guest choreographer and continues to choreograph and perform her own works

 

Jill Randall is the Program Director here at Shawl-Anderson. She began teaching children's and teen modern classes at the Center in 2000 and has taught in many K-12 public schools throughout the Bay Area. She is the Co-Director of the Dance IS Festival, a multigenerational festival for high school groups, college dance departments, and professional choreographers. She performs with Nina Haft & Company, Paufve Dance, and has also worked with choreographers Dana Lawton and Martt Lawrence.

 

 

Reginald Ray-Savage, director of the Savage Dance Company, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He began dancing, having followed an attractive young lady to class, at Katherine Dunham's Performing Arts Training Center in East St. Louis. His teachers there, in ballet, tap, jazz and Dunham technique, were outstanding alumni of Miss Dunham's company, including Lenwood Morris, Norman Davis, and Archie Savage. Mr. Ray-Savage does not take lightly the fact that his was the last generation of dancers to be trained by many of these "old school" teachers. His respect for them can be found today in every class he teaches and every piece of his choreography.

 

 

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.

 

Charles Slender, Artistic Director of FACT/SF, has worked as a dance artist - performing, teaching, and
making choreography - in Hong Kong and Mexico, and throughout Europe, the United States, and Russia,
where he lived from 2006 to 2008. His choreography has been described as "whip smart and sinuously
stealth" and as a "balance on the edge of kitsch and something more serious; paradoxical and interesting".
Charles graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in both English Literature and Dance and Performance
Studies; his primary interests include subconsciousness, passive-aggression, and proximity.

 

 

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!

 

Breton Tyner-Bryan is a graduate of the University of Utah with a BFA in Ballet Performance. She has performed with Hartford Ballet, Utah Ballet, Kunst-Stoff, Project Agora, Labayen Dance, DO NOT DANCE UK, and Deborah Slater Dance Theater. Additionally she has performed works by Marius Petipa, Kirk Peterson, Alonzo King, Robert Moses, Charles Moulton, and Donald Byrd. Breton received her training at the School of the Hartford Ballet and Ballet West Academy. She has taught for DO NOT DANCE UK, Dance Base Scotland, Dance Mission Youth Program, ODC Youth Program, Shawl-Anderson, School of the Arts SF, LINES Ballet/San Francisco Dance Center, and the Professional Children’s School. An avid photographer her work has been used by various dance companies, schools and artists in San Francisco.

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. A new transplant to the Bay Area, she believes in celebrating young dancers' individual gifts and always finding joy in movement.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

Katharina Worthington (-Sauder) started her dance training in Switzerland where she received her first nationally recognized choreography award at the age of 16. After moving to Los Angeles she attended California State University Long Beach on scholarship and graduated with a BFA in dance. She performed the works of Neta Pulvermacher, MarthaGraham, Douglas Nielson and Terre O’Connor, among others. In addition, Katharina studied intensively in NYC and received her Horton Pedagogy Certification at the Ailey School in NYC. She has had the great honor of teaching dance internationally in China, Indonesia and Europe. Currently, Katharina is staff teacher at San Francisco Dance Center/ Alonzo Kings Lines Ballet and guest teacher for the SF School of the Arts (SOTA). Before moving to San Francisco, Katharina worked as an active performer and choreographer in the New York City dance community.

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