// Instructors //
Aiko Kinoshita has been involved in contemporary dance for the last 22 years as a choreographer, performer, teacher, and administrator. She creates and performs as ½ of UMAMI Performance, collaborating with Aaron Swartzman and also directs acornDance (www.acorndance.org). She has toured nationally and internationally in her own work and as a member of Lingo Dancetheatre (2002-2007). Her work, which utilizes both set and improvisational material, has been presented nationally and in Canada, Korea and Japan, and in local festivals including On the Boards’ Northwest New Works, Bumbershoot, and Velocity’s NEXTFest. Aiko currently teaches at Velocity where she was Managing Director until 2005. She has also taught at the Universities of Washington and Oregon, Cornish College of the Arts, and other universities nationally. Aiko holds a MFA in Dance from the University of Illinois and is also a Resident Artist and at Open Flight Studio. Her teaching and performative work, reflect her interest in improvisation, natural physicality, dynamic partnering, somatic forms, classical technique and community. She is inspired by this community of artists and her students of all levels.
Amelia Reeber dances, choreographs, sometimes teaches, and is a certified BodyTalk practitioner. In short, what holds her interest in and out of performance is dreaming, the narrative and wisdom of the body, self-knowledge, transformation, nature, and humor. Amelia has performed nationally and internationally with Pat Graney’s The Vivian Girls and in four works of the seminal choreographer Deborah Hay. As a 2011 touring SCUBA artist, she had the opportunity to perform an excerpt of her evening-length solo, this is a forgery, to national audiences, and in the summer of 2011, she performed at the Joyce SoHo as a part of the A.W.A.R.D. Show All Stars! In 2010, she was the Velocity Dancer Center’s Choreographer in Residence. Looking forward to the spring of 2012, Amelia will be in residence at PROJECT; Space Available. This autumn, she had a fabulous opportunity to work in Cambodia with Peggy Piacenza, Gaelen Hanson, and four amazing Khmer dancers. She has received support for her work from many local and state organizations.
Amy O’Neal is a performer, choreographer, dance educator, former co-director of locust music/dance/video (locustsucka.com) and the director of AmyO/tinyrage (tinyrage.com). Over the past decade, she has toured nationally and internationally with her own dance and video work as well as with Reggie Watts, the Pat Graney Company, and was a company member of Scott/Powell Performance from 1998-2004. She has created 2 works for Donald Byrd’s Spectrum Dance Theater and collaborated with Savion Glover at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, and danced in Mark Haim’s “Goldberg Variations” at On the Boards in 2006. Amy teaches contemporary dance technique, funk, and choreography regularly at Velocity Dance Center and with Seattle Theater Group’s “Dance This” and the Young Choreographer’s Lab, which she helped to develop. She has been a guest artist at several major universities in the US as well as Dance New Amsterdam in NYC and has a degree in dance from Cornish College of the Arts. Amy was choreographer in residence at Bates Dance Festival in 2007, at Headlands Center for the Arts in 2008, and took part in the US/Japan Choreographer’s Exchange through Dance Theater Workshop and the Japan Society in 2009. She has received funding for her work with locust and AmyO/tinyrage from all the major funders in Seattle (including an Artist Trust Fellowship and Stranger Genius short list in 2004) as well as DanceWEB (Vienna, Austria), the National Dance Project, National Performance Network, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and the Creative Capital Foundation. She is proud to be a Seattle based artist.
Catherine Cabeen, MFA, Artistic Director of Catherine Cabeen and Company (CCC), dancer, and choreographer, has received choreographic commissions from On the Boards, Donald Byrd’s Spectrum Dance Theater, the American College Dance Festival NW, the Visa2Dance Festival in Dar Es Salaam, Moving People Dance Theater, Pig Iron Theater Company, Arc Dance Company, Lehua Dance Company, and the Cabiri, among others. Cabeen currently performs in her own work and with Richard Move. She is a former member of the Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company (1997-2005), and was Jones’ Assistant Choreographer on the original production of Sring Awakening at the Atlantic Theater. She is also a former member of the Martha Graham Dance Company and Pearl Lang Dance Theater among others. In Seattle, where Cabeen has been based since 2006, she has performed in Boost, Paige Barnes’s Here/Now, numerous 12MM, OtB’s NWNW Festival, Acorn Dance, the Chamber Dance Company, and as a guest artist with Donald Byrd’s Spectrum Dance Theater. Cabeen teaches throughout the United States; contemporary dance technique and composition, 20th century dance history, and workshops based on movement and gender. Cabeen is also a certified yoga instructor and frequently teaches for the Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s Education Outreach Department. For more information, see catherinecabeen.com.
Douglas Ridings is a Yoga teacher, a dancer, an actor and a singer. He approachs these various disciplines as integrated arts of the body. Like Bharata, legendary author of the Natya Sastra, performance is a kind of Yoga sadhana or discipline with the ideal being mokshya or spriritual liberation for both the performers and their audience. He is happy to stand in this lineage and feel immensely grateful for the oppurtunity to transmit this vidya of the body, mind and emotions through performance and teaching. douglasridings.com
Ellie Sandstrom, a Seattle Magazine 2009 “Spotlight Award Winner”, is originally from Minneapolis, where she began her movement training in the early 80′s with Minnesota Dance Theater and later BalletArts Minnesota. She has studied various forms of dance technique, body conditioning, composition, improvisation and performance techniques throughout her life at many celebrated dance festivals and schools across the country including Cornish College of the Arts, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance. She is based in Seattle and has worked consistently with dance companies, locust and Scott/Powell Performance since 2000, and has been touring nationally with both groups since 2004. She is known to bring many other projects into the mix, both live stage and film work. She has been commissioned to create new dance locally and nationally and uses the name SANDSTROMMOVEMENT for her choreographic work. She has taught at many prestigious schools and universities in Seattle and across the country. She currently teaches at Velocity Dance Center (since 2002) and at the Northwest School (since 2006). See sandstrommovement.com for more information.
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GwendolynPayton came to yoga from a dance background, and began studying yoga in 2000 and has completed numerous intensive trainings and teacher trainings with SloBody and other schools. Drawing from extensive studies in classical and modern dance, Pilates, Gyrotonics®, and other modalities, Gwendolyn brings her love of movement to teaching conditioning-infused yoga in a clear, effective and efficient way.
Jaret Hughes has 14 years of dance experience, with Hip Hop being his specialty along with training in Modern, Jazz, Ballet and African. Jaret has 11 years of choreographing and teaching experience with all ages, including 8 years at Elizabeth’s Dance Dimensions in Bellevue, Washington. Jaret’s choreography credits include the L.A. Clippers Spirit Dance Team (guest choreographer), Seattle Supersonics Dance Team for 5 years, founder of 2wisted Elegance from Seattle and LA’s debut of 2wisted Elegance with the help of his good friend Joey Cooper, Modazz Competition Teams at Elizabeth’s Dance Dimensions, co-choreographer and dancer for EVE in LA, and assistant choreographer / assistant Artistic Director for the “Invitation Feedback” video contest submission for Janet Jackson. Jaret Competed on Destination Stardom in Hawaii. Jaret’s performances include: Seattle’s Kube 93′s Summer Jam for 3 years with Twisted Elegance, which included sharing the main stage with artists such as Destiny’s Child, Ginuwine, Busta Rhymes, Blackstreet, Naughty By Nature and many more; various Hip Hop shows throughout Seattle including Daniel Cruz’s Battle of Seattle Remix 3 and 4 and, most recently while living in LA for 2 1/2 years, performances with Breed OCLA for numerous dance competitions and guest performances for the DVD Release Party for “Step Up 2: The Streets”. Jaret has shared his choreography expertise with various high school and college dance teams throughout Washington, California and Idaho.
Jody Kuhner is one half of drag dance duo The Cherdonna and Lou Show, performing regularly around Seattle at venues including On the Boards, Century Ballroom, The Triple Door and various other clubs. Jody joined the Pat Graney Company in 2008 following her internship with PG Company’s prison project, Keeping the Faith in 2007. She is also currently performing in a new project with Mark Haim. This year she will be working with the Seattle-based dance/sound performance company Salt Horse on their newest artistic venture. From 2003-2009, Jody was a member of d9 Dance Collective. She has presented choreography at On the Boards, Velocity Dance Center, and the Joyce SoHo NYC. When Jody’s not performing or rehearsing, she is teaching at Velocity Dance Center, or working as Dayna Hanson’s administrative assistant. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of South Florida. Visit www.cherdonnalou.com for more information.
Karn Junkinsmith has taught for over 25 years. She is primarily a modern dancer, choreographer, dance filmaker and performance artist. Her ballet pedagogic mentors include; Francoise Martinet (Joffrey), Hannah Wiley (Ballet West), Jocelyn Lorenze (NYC). She has a MA in dance from the University of Iowa and BA in dance from Mount Holyoke College. A scholarship student at workshops by Twyla Tharp, Alwin Nikolai, and Mark Morris; Karn was an award winning R.A.D. (Royal Academy of Dance) student when she was a child.
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Kate Wallich duos as both choreographer and dance artist creating works that are generated in collaboration with concept designer/dancer Lavinia Vago (SEA/NY) and multi-instrumentalist/pop singer Lena Simon (SEA/LA). She has presented her work as part of the Seattle International Dance Festival/ Beyond the Threshold, The BOOST Dance Festival, On the Boards/12 Minutes Max, and Velocity Dance Center/Founder’s Theater. A graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and Cornish, Kate has worked with and been mentored by artists Tonya Lockyer, Zoe Scofield, KT Neihoff, and Olivier Wevers. Her teaching style has been influenced by the teachings and practices of Ohad Naharain (Gaga), Zoe Scofield (zoe|juniper), Rudolf Van Laban, Wade Madsen, Louse Bedard, Margie Gillis, William Forsythe, and many others.
KT Niehoff was the 2007 dance artist of the Year by Seattle Magazine. She was also a featured artist in Dance Magazine’s April, ’08 issue, “International Women in Dance” and is a 2006 Fellow at the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC). In 1998, KT created Lingo, a roving band of artists, brave hearts and lunatics, which has since been the major platform for her work. Lingo’s work has been presented in Canada, Germany, Japan, Ecuador, and Cuba, and throughout the U.S. including On the Boards (Seattle), SUSHI (San Diego), Joyce SoHo (NYC), Alverno Presents (Milwaukee), Jacob’s Pillow, Inside/Out (Mass), The Southern Theater (Minneapolis) and others. Lingo’s artistic integrity has been recognized by The National Endowment for the Arts, The National Dance Project, The National Performance Network and Arts International. KT has been teaching worldwide for over 15 years at institutions including the SNDO (Amsterdam), The Hong Kong Arts Academy, Oberlin College, Cornish College of the Arts, Tisch School of the Arts, and others. She was the co-founder/director of Velocity Dance Center in Seattle from 1996-2006. Press Quote: “These seven dancers (including Niehoff) were virtuosos. Movements whipped through their bodies, an impulse starting at one foot and traveling to a shoulder with such clarity and articulation, you could see it hit each joint along the way.” -Janice Steinberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, April 2006. For more information about KT, visit lingodance.com
Lila Hurwitz is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner who has been teaching since 1987, including one of Seattle’s longest-running weekly Feldenkrais classes since 1995. She’s performed with Lucia Neare’s Theatrical Wonders, Nina Martin, Karen Nelson, Lisa Nelson, Oslund & Co./Dance, Stephanie Skura, Crispin Spaeth Dance Group, Linda K. Johnson, Bebe Miller, Ann Carlson and many others. More at www.feldenkraisteachersinseattle.com
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Louis Gervais (MFA) has a long distinguished career as an actor, dancer, choreographer and solo artist. He has performed with more than thirty professional dance companies in performances throughout the world. As a solo artist, Louis has written, created and toured his theatrical dance to critical acclaim since 2000. He received his MFA in dance from the UW in 2009.
Mark Haim is a Choreographer, Teacher & Dancer. Formerly Artistic Director of Mark Haim & Dancers and Companhia de Danca de Lisboa. Commissions include Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballet Frankfurt, the Limon Dance Company, the Joffrey II Dancers, the Rotterdamse Dansgroep, the Silesian Dance Theater, Companhia de Danca Contemporanea, Companhia de Danca de Lisboa, Cornish Dance Theater, CoDanceCo. Restagings include The Joffrey Ballet, the Bat-Dor Dance Company of Israel, Djazzex, the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, Cornish Dance Theater. Grants from the NEA, New York Foundation of the Arts, National Performance Network, ArtsLink, Harkness Foundation and the Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs. Work has been presented at the Kennedy Center, American Dance Festival, Danspace Project, On The Boards, among others. Faculties of the American Dance Festival (1993- present), NYU- Tisch School of the Arts (1995-6), the UW Dance Program (2002-08) and Reed College (2009). BFA from The Juilliard School and an MFA from Hollins University.
Markeith Wiley is a California native now living in Seattle WA. He is a dance maker, performer and instructor or many styles in the greater Seattle area. He holds a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts. Markeith has studied under Mark Haines, Wade Madsen, Jason Olberg, Sofia Careras, Daniel Cruz, KT Niehoff and many others. He has performed with Cruz Control, Sandstrom Movement, The Seatown Allstars, The Sho, Saint Genet and DeLaRue Presents. Markeith is co-founder of Stitch Movement Collective as well as the Artistic Director of The New Animals. Markeith is currently a Lingo company member and the choreographer of Washington Ensemble Theater’s first musical, The Callers.
Maya Soto has been creating/performing/teaching dance in Seattle since 1999. She earned her BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts and draws inspiration from integrating a wide variety of movement styles. Maya teaches and directs the dance program at the Arts and Academics Academy, a public high school of arts and sciences; and co-directs NWDS, a collaborative modern dance company. Her work has been shown at On the Boards, Bumbershoot, the Firehouse Performing Arts Center, Tacoma Museum of Glass and the JFFA Festival. NWDS has received support from Allied Arts Foundation and Walrus Performance Productions. Maya has worked with LeGendre Performance Group, Big Red Dance Company, Amy O’Neal and SANDSTROMMOVEMENT. Her most recent project, Soto Style was featured in the BOOST Festival, BAM Artsfair, Annex Theater, Arts In Nature and the Pink Door. For more info: sotostyledance & nwdancesyndrome
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Melanie Skinner danced professionally with the Pacific Northwest Ballet for 15 years touring all over the world and performing principal roles in works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Peter Martins and Paul Taylor. After retiring from her long career as a ballerina, she could not seem to find a workout that was fun and inspiring until she took a ZUMBA class! After getting certified as a ZUMBA instructor, she started teaching at the Mount Baker Community Clubhouse and Velocity Dance Center. She loves to watch people get joy from her ZUMBA workout and loves the outlet that ZUMBA provides. She lives in Madrona with her husband and young daughter.
Ratna Roy, Ph.D., started her training in Odissi dance in 1972 under Guru Fobinda Chandra Pal, and from 1977 until his death in 2003, she trained under Adiguru Pankaj Charan Das. One of his most senior disciples, she has performed extensively as a soloist in India, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Great Britian, the Baltics, South Africa, Indonesia, Singapore, the Phillipines, China and Japan. In the U.S., she is well-known for her own choreography based on her dual heritage as an Indian and an American. Ratna has published several articles in both Indian and U.S. journals as well as a well-reviewed book, Neo-Classical Odissi Dance, and has received fellowships and awards for her dance and scholarship, including the Advanced Fulbright Fellowship (1985), American Institute of Indian Studies Fellowship (1988), National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship (1988), Summer Fulbright Fellowship (1988), Arts International Award (2001), Fund for Folk Culture Award (2005), Washington State Arts Commission’s Master Apprenticeship Award (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010), the Gordon Ekvall Tracie Memorial Award from Ethnic Heritage Council, WA (2008), and Washington State Art Commission’s Fellowship Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts (2008). Currently, she is a Senior Faculty Member in Dance at The Evergreen State College and Artistic Director of Urvasi Dance Ensemble. Her company was featured, widely broadcast, and hailed as record-breaking in preserving the most ancient choreographies in the tradition of Guru Pankaj Charan Das in December 2011 International Festivals in Orissa, India. Ratna has developed her own choreography on historical themes as well as socio-political themes, based on her graduate work in American Literature and Ph.D. in African American Literature, and her present work as a South Asian specialist.
Ricki Mason has been living and working in Seattle since 2003. From 2003 until 2008 Ricki directed contemporary performance group LAUNCH dance theater, which was presented by On the Boards, Velocity Dance Center, Bumbershoot, and Century Ballroom. Ricki’s favorite commissions include The Yard at Martha’s Vineyard and Velocity’s Bridge Project. Her work has been supported by 4Culture, Artist Trust, The Bossak Heilbron Charitable Grant Foundation, and Open Flight’s Flight Deck Residency. Ricki currently collaborates with dance artist Jody Kuehner as The Cherdonna and Lou Show. She also performs as Lou Henry Hoover in various cabaret venues, including in such productions as The Swedish Housewife’s House of Thee UnHoly and Lily Verlaine’s Land of the Sweets and Through the Looking Glass. Lou is one third of Seattle’s pop movement Dance Belt, a trio that performs such favorites as Beyonce’s Put a Ring on It, and teaches at Century Ballroom. Ricki also teaches Embodied Movement for Performers at the Academy of Burlesque and Ballet and Modern at Velocity Dance Center. Since graduating from the University of Michigan with a BFA in Dance, she has danced for choreographers Laura Curry, Alex Martin, Karl Frost, and Corrie Befort. She was also a member of d9 Dance Collective. Currently, Ricki dances with Lingo dancetheater under the direction of KT Niehoff. More info at www.rickimason.com
Rosa Vissers is a performer and dance maker from the Netherlands. She has performed nationally and internationally and holds an MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah. Before moving to the United States, Rosa completed her conservatory dance training at the ArtEZ Dansacademie in the Netherlands, studied at the Budapest Tanciskola in Hungary, and performed with dance companies De Meekers and Canvas Performing Art. Rosa has taught at the University of Utah, Idaho State University, University of Washington, ACDFA, University of Oregon, NDA Northwest conference and currently teaches ballet at Velocity Dance Center. Her choreography has been performed in the Netherlands, Hungary, Utah, and Idaho. Locally she has shown her work at !Artslaunch!, SiteWorks, 12MinMax, Move!, 8@8, Here/Now, the Pink Door, and On the Margins. Rosa currently works at Velocity Dance Center as the development & marketing manager, and was a co-artistic director of Dance Art Group for two years. When she is not in the studio or at work in the Velocity office, Rosa volunteers with Yoga Behind Bars.
Sarah Lustbader is a certified GYROTONIC®/GYROKINESIS® instructor and dancer/artist currently residing in Seattle. After graduating with a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts, Sarah spent a year in NYC where she continued her dance career and completed her certification. She has had the pleasure of dancing professionally with many renowned artists throughout the U.S. including Moving People Dance Theater (NM), Corrie Befort (WA), and JD/Dansfolk (NY), and is excited to be back in the Seattle community where she currently dances with Catherine Cabeen and Company (WA). Sarah is originally from Santa Fe, NM, where she first fell in love with the Gyrotonic Expansion System®. Not only did the system change her body and inform her dancing, but it also gave her a greater sense of self-awareness and well-being, which she now strives to see her clients experience as well.
Sheri Brown Butoh found Sheri at the turn of the millenium. For the past twelve years, she has expanded her butoh-instigated performance venues from North and South America, and from Asia to Europe, working collaboratively in 26 cities with over 100 international artists across all genres, but especially dance. Sheri’s cultivated inner sense of butoh is fed by having studied with well-over a dozen butoh masters from around the globe, as well as by having taught mathematics for well over a decade. With a broad, global perspective on butoh, Sheri serves as the Artistic/Programs Director of the DAIPANbutoh Collective (www.daipanbutoh.com) based in Seattle, and is currently developing a work integrating butoh sense choreography/philosophy, mathematics of phi, pi, the imaginary number and zero with technology media pioneering in “Divided by Zero.” www.sheribrown.com
Shirley Jenkins As a mature 3-year old, Shirley knew she wanted to be a dancer and never veered from that path. Ms. Shirley Jenkins received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Utah, majoring in Modern Dance with an emphasis in Performance, Choreography and Teaching. Immediately following her graduation in 1975 she was asked to be a founding member of the celebrated Bill Evans Dance Company. She toured nationally with BEDCo as a principal dancer and partner with Bill Evans an average of 42 weeks a year through the Dance Touring Program via the National Endowment for the Arts. This extensive touring took her to the Kennedy Center, NYC, Spoleto Festival in Charleston, Arco Sante, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, Boston, Baltimore, Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego, Bloomington, Ames, Portland, Minneapolis, Anchorage, and many and rural communities throughout the entire US, including Alaska and Hawaii. Ms. Jenkins eventually formed her own company, Strong Wind Wild Horses, and her choreography collaborated with many musicians, including Denny Goodhew, James Knapp, Scott Cossu, Michael Cava, Steve Kim, Tom Bergersen, Fred West, the Kinetics and many others. Ms. Jenkins also founded a nonprofit organization, Dance On Capitol Hill, for the Seattle community. As Artistic Director, she developed dance education programs for the novice to the professional, a performance venue featuring local and international choreographers and a home for her dance company. Ms. Jenkins also established out-reach programs by producing summer dance camps for homeless children. Ms. Jenkins was an Artist-In-Residence at scores of universities and dance communities throughout the U.S., as well as internationally. Her choreographic, teaching, performing residencies included the University of Washington, Cornish College of the Arts, American Dance Festival, Bill Evans Summer Institutes of Dance, Penn State, University of Alabama, Middlebury College, Tennessee Arts Council, Columbia College, Kentucky Out-Reach Programs and international festivals in Bonn, Germany and Taipei, Taiwan. During her career as primarily a ‘classical modern’ dancer, Ms. Jenkins performed and continued to hone her tap skills. Performing solos of Brenda Bufalino and many duets by and with Bill Evans. Ms. Jenkins continues to choreograph for soloists & companies & teaches Modern Technique & Rhythm Tap Class for the Seattle community and is a well-respected Pilates Instructor specializing in athletic injury.
Stephanie Saland was born in Brooklyn, and entered The School of American Ballet at age 15. Three years later she was invited by George Balanchine to join the New York City Ballet and in a 21year career with City Ballet, she was showcased in leading roles under Balanchine’s direction, as well as principal roles in Jerome Robbins’ repertoire. Guest performances included Nureyev and Friends, Giselle with Alexander Gudonov and numerous Live From Lincoln Center and Dance in America films. Before moving to Seattle in the fall of 1993, she taught movement for student actors at Playwrights’ Horizons and helped develop a body-awareness class for actors with theater teacher Caymichael Patten. Since finishing her performance career, Ms.Saland has been a freelance instructor traveling to teach in NY, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Madrid, Mallorca and Mexico. Some of her strongest influences were from teachers such as Stanley Williams, Maggie Black and Tina Bernal. The coaching Stephanie received from Gelsey Kirkland has profoundly shaped the classwork and performance values and remains one of the indelible parts of a long career. She has been equally inspired and informed through other non-ballet sources including Gyrotonics, Pilates, Zeena Romett floor barre and years of a variety of modalities including cranial-sacral, physical therapy, network chiropractic, soma and Aston Patterning and Body Balancing with Mark Kane. Ms.Saland offers a class that is synthesis of information from these systems. She now teaches semi-regular classes at Velocity. Check out full schedule here.
Tonya Lockyer is a generator of performance — solo, collaborative, improvised and otherwise — a critically acclaimed dance artist who has taught and performed internationally; a teacher committed to liberating students into their own direction. She has had the pleasure of studying and working with many gifted artists of improvisation including Lisa Nelson, Deborah Hay, Simone Forti and Pauline Oliveros. Tonya is on the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts and is the Executive Director of Velocity.
Wade Madsen was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he attended the University of New Mexico. Wade has been in Seattle teaching, performing, and choreographing since 1977. He has toured nationally with the Bill Evans Dance Company (1978-1980) and with Tandy Beal & Company (1981 -1982}. He has performed with Amy O’Neal and Amii Legendre dance groups along with Dayna Hansen, A.C Petersen, and Long Nguyen. Since 1979 Wade has been producing work with his own company, ’Wade Madsen & Dancers’ along with various tours nationally and internationally.
Whitney Aguirre is from the Seattle area and lives in Capitol Hill. She holds a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts. She has performed for Seattle Jazz Dance Company, Jerboa Dance, and Walrus Dance Theater. She has presented work at On The Boards 12 Minutes Max program and had choreography commissioned by Bellingham Repertory Dance. Her focus has changed from performance to teaching, and she co-founded Surrender Dance in June 2010, hoping to reach more people with the joy of movement. She believes dance can work powerful good in embracing our bodies, marveling at what they are capable of, staying healthy and making connections with other people.
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