Co-Director - Vivian Little
Vivian Little founded Dance Fremont! in September 1996. She was an original member and performed as a Principal of Pacific Northwest Ballet from 1974-1977. She was a soloist with San Francisco Ballet from 1977-81. After her performing career, she continued to work as a ballet mistress at El Teatro Municipal de Lima, S.A. and on the faculty of Walnut Hill Performing Art School in MA and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle. Vivian has taught as a Guest Lecturer in the University of Washington Dance Department and Cornish College of the Arts.
In addition to teaching ballet to children and adults at Dance Fremont!, she also co-directs Dance Fremont! based performing company, Fremont Danceworks!
Co-Director - Mary Reardon
Mary Reardon started teaching at Dance Fremont! in September 1996. During her professional career she danced with Cincinnati Ballet, Rhode Island Repertory, Chautauqua Opera Company and the Carl Ratcliff Dance Theater. She earned her degree from the University of Cincinnati and later operated her own school in Georgia for ten years. Mary and Vivian Little joined forces in the fall of ‘99 to co-direct Dance Fremont!. Together they have founded Fremont Danceworks, a contemporary company for students who make dance their primary focus. In addition to her teaching at Dance Fremont!, Mary has taught as a Guest Lecturer at Cornish College for the Arts and is occasionally seen as a dance specialist in our public schools.
Mary Kay Bisignano-Vadino
Mary Kay Bisignano-Vadino has danced and choreographed with Next Stage Dance Theater since its formation in 1999.
For the past 20 years Mary Kay has been studying, teaching, performing and choreographing dance. Mary Kay has an MA in choreography and performance from UCLA. Her work has been seen in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and locally at New City Theatre, Dance on Capitol Hill, Dance Centre Seattle, Allegro Dance Festival, On the Boards, Bumbershoot and Arts Edge. Currently Mary Kay teaches Modern Dance at Dance Fremont! and dances through life with her husband and three children.
Steve Casteel
Steve Casteel was born in Tacoma, WA and received his early training from Jan Column school of classic ballet. At age sixteen he joined Boston Ballet II. In 1987 he joined Houston Ballet where he was promoted to soloist and performed many of the great classical works such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Coppélia, and Cinderella. With Houston Ballet, he performed works by such renowned choreographers as Christopher Bruce, Sir Kenneth McMillan, Ben Stevenson, and Paul Taylor. In addition, he has performed with Oregon Ballet Theatre, Diablo Ballet and locally in works by Kay Englert, Dominique Gabella, Dale Merrill, Deborah Wolf, and Krispen Spaeth. From 1997 to 1999 he worked for Washington Contemporary Ballet in Tacoma as Assistant to the Director. Steve has a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts.Erin Mitchell
Erin Mitchell has been teaching dance and movement studies in the greater Seattle area for over ten years. She has been on the faculty at Velocity, Dance on Capitol Hill, Seattle Central Community College, and California State University at Long Beach. From 1996 to 1999, she taught dance to K-12 for the City of Mountlake Terrace’s Parks and Recreation department. She currently teaches ballet at North Seattle Community College and works in the theater program at Edmonds Community College.
Ms. Mitchell has performed with many Seattle choreographers including Jeff Bickford, Mary Sheldon Scott, Jean Campbell, and Deborah Birrane. She has created her own work for 12 Minutes Max, Velocity’s Under Construction Series, Bellingham’s Dance Gallery, Edmonds Community College, and most recently, The Seattle Nesting Project. She is a member of ThreeWay, a dance collective that performs in Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle and has recently started her own production company, Feather Play Productions.
Ms. Mitchell holds a B.F.A. in dance from Cornish College of the Arts and a M.F.A. from California State University at Long Beach.Brenna Monroe Cook
Originally from Oak Park, Illinois, Brenna Monroe-Cook began her dance training at the Academy of Movement and Music under the direction of Stephanie Clemens and performed extensively with the affiliated MOMENTA Performing Arts Company. She went on to receive her BFA from The Juilliard School under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy. Professionally she has worked with Buglisi/Foreman Dance, Thang Dao Dance Company, Subtle Changes, Riedel Dance Theatre and enjoyed five years of international touring with the Limon Dance Company. Ms. Monroe-Cook continues to teach Limon technique and stage repertoire for various companies and schools nationwide as well as presenting her own choreographic work. She also received her Pilates Certification from the Kane School of Core Integration in New York City and is an active Pilates instructor.
Paula J. Peters
Ms. Peters received her early training in ballet, modern, jazz and tap at British Dance Academy in Renton, WA under the direction of Sandra Baca. In October of 1991 she joined Spectrum Dance Theater (Seattle, WA) as an apprentice and immediately moved on to become a full company member where she remained for 13 years. She also served as SDT's rehearsal director from 1998 to 2005. With SDT she performed lead roles in works by numbers choreographers, including Ann Reinking, Margo Sappington, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Claire Bataille, Danny Buracezki, Daniel Ezralow, Trey McIntylre, Donald Byrd, Wade Madsen and Dale A. Merrill, touring throughout the US, Germany, The Netherlands and Mexico. In addition to working with Spectrum she performed in many local industrials and has taught as a guest teacher at many local dance studios and workshops throughout the west coast. Upon retiring from Spectrum Dance Theater in May of 2005, she joined Next Stage Dance Theatre, a local Seattle Modern Dance Company under the direction of Dominique Gabella.
Guest Faculty
Kitty Daniels
Kitty Daniels is the Chair of the Dance Department at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. She began her professional career as a ballet dancer, performing with companies in the United States and Europe. She continued her performing career in modern dance, performing with the Bill Evans Dance Company, Concert Dance Company of Boston and Beth Soll and Dancers as well as numerous Seattle independent choreographers including Pat Graney, Long Nguyen, Erin Matthiessen and Wade Madsen. Internationally-known as a teacher of ballet, modern dance and dance kinesiology, she has taught at the Bill Evans Summer Institutes of Dance, London Contemporary Dance School, California State University Summer Arts Programs, University of Washington, Boston University, Mount Holyoke College and Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts, and has been a guest company teacher to the Mark Morris Dance Group. She has worked clinically as a dance kinesiologist, assisting kinesiologist Karen Clippinger. She holds a B.A. from Goddard College and an M.A. in Dance Kinesiology from Lesley College. She specializes in the application of dance science to dance technique education.Dominique Gabella
Dominique Gabella is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Next Stage Dance Theatre. For the past 30 years Dominique has been choreographing for dance companies in North and South America and in Europe, as well as teaching Martha Graham style and ballet. Originally from Switzerland, her international career has lead her to dance with the Zurich Opera under the direction of Nicolas Beriosoff, Rudolf Nureyev and Michel Descombey; with Gray Veredon and the "Tanz Forum" in Cologne, Germany; with Ray Phillips Contemporary Dance Theater of Zurich, Switzerland; Anne-Marie Parekh's Akar, in Bern, Switzerland; and Maurice Béjart's Mudra in Brussels. From 1987 to 1997 she co-directed and performed in her own company Dance Music Light, an internationally acclaimed modern dance company based in New York City. Jack Anderson, of the New York Times, described Dominique as "A strong, forthright dancer". In 1997 she moved to Seattle where she regularly performs. Dominique co-founded Next Stage Dance Theatre with Bridget Thompson in 1999. In 2002 she received the GAP Award from Artist Trust for her project with NSDT: "Embrace Wolf….return home". She guest teaches at Dance Fremont! and at the University of Washington .
Kathleen Mills
Kathleen Mills studied with composer Romeo Cascarino and concert pianist Susan Star in Philadelphia, and with Broadway conductor Lehman Engel at BMI’s Musical Theater Workshop in New York City. Her performing experience includes appearances in several musicals, notably 5th Avenue Theater Company’s productions of Cinderella, Jesus Christ Superstar, My Fair Lady and in a national tour of Mame starring Juliet Prowse. Her work with Dance Fremont! since 1997 also includes writing and directing the Summer Musical Theatre Camp's show for the past 11 years. Kathleen created the narrative role of “Nana” in the premiere performances of The Steadfast Tin Soldier, A Story Ballet. Her gift of composing music for dance and bringing the enchantment of theater into the lives of children is evident in her work and throughout this production. Kathleen continues in her twenty-fifth year as a private piano instructor and is currently employed at St. Anne's School as a music specialist for grades K through 8.Kabby Mitchell III
Kabby was a soloist with Pacific Northwest Ballet and on faculty for the last 20 years. He has an Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa, and has performed with the Dance Theater of Harlem, Nederlands Dans Theater and the Oakland Ballet. He is a well known choreographer who has created works for PNB's Offstage program, Spectrum Dance Theater, The Rep and most recently "Black Nativity" at Intiman Theater. Mr. Mitchell is currently on faculty at The Evergreen State College.Jason Ohlberg
Jason is originally from Fresno, CA. He received his formal dance training at the State University of New York at Purchase. Professionally, Jason has danced with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Dance Kaleidoscope, Jan Erkert and dancers, and Wade Madsen and Dancers. In 1997, Jason founded Same Planet Different World Dance Theater in Chicago where he acted as artistic director and head choreographer for four years. Jason’s choreography has been seen throughout the country and locally on the apprentice company of Spectrum Dance Theater, Men in Dance, Lehua Dance Theater, Cornish Dance Theater, Fremont Danceworks, The Seattle Children’s theater and Arc Dance Productions. Jason has been on faculty at Barat College, Jordan Academy, the school of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the University of Washington, Spectrum Dance Theater, Arc Dance Productions, Dance Fremont and the Y.A.I. program of the Seattle Children’s Theater. Jason is a certified authentic Pilates instructor with Metropolitan Pilates in Seattle.Kimberly Ruess
Kimberly teaches that dance technique can improve through a heightened awareness in how the body works, and that creative expression can flow from honoring one’s own experience of movement through their body. Currently, Kimberly is studying with Eric Franklin through the Franklin Method Teacher Training, a method of imagery for movement, goal setting, relaxation and health. (certification in March 2007)
Kimberly Ruess trained at School of American Ballet and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She most recently has performed ballet and modern dance in Seattle with Arc Dance Productions, Lehua Dance Company and Dance Fremont. She is a certified Aston-Patterningâ Practitioner, a system for physical change and transformation combining movement education, fitness and ergonomics with structural bodywork and spiraling massage. In addition she is a licensed massage therapist, certified Pilates Instructor and has a BA in Anthropology from the University of Washington.Keith Sabado
Keith (Modern) was born in Seattle and moved to New York City in 1978. From 1980-1984 he performed with several New York modern dance companies, among them the companies of Pearl Lang, Pauline Koner, Hannah Kahn, Jim Self and Rosalind Newman. From 1984 to 1994 he was a member of the Mark Morris Dance Group, and in 1988 he received a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) for his work with that group. From 1994 to 1997 and again in 2001 he was a member of Mikhail Baryshnikov s White Oak Dance Project. In 2000 he danced with the Lucinda Childs Dance Company during its 25th anniversary year. Most recently he has performed with Richard Daniels, Johannes Wieland and with Paradigm. He has also danced leading roles in opera productions directed by Peter Sellars and Martha Clarke. Keith teaches ballet, modern dance and Pilates and is currently on the faculty at Sarah Lawrence College.Lynn Simonson
Simonson created this technique more than 35 years ago when she began teaching individuals with previous injuries and/or alignment problems. The development of the technique came through anatomically studying the limitations and possibilities of each student’s body. Dancers work within their natural turnout line, not forced range of joint motion, and not hyper-extending their knees. Her goal was to create an intelligent and logical way to prepare the body for dance without injury.
Simonson, internationally renowned Jazz Dance educator, creator of the Simonson Technique, and a founding director of Dance New Amsterdam (formerly Dance Space Center) has taught for 40 years and has been training students to become teachers for 25 years.Lynn Wyckoff
Lynn is a performer and costume designer with Seattle Early Dance, and has appeared in concert with Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Early Music Guild operas Venus and Adonis, and Il Ballo della Ingrate, and The Seattle Academy of Baroque Opera. She has studied baroque dance since 1998 with Anna Mansbridge and Catherine Turocy, and appeared in the New York Baroque Dance Company's production, With Sword Drawn, He Dances. As a teacher of ballet, jazz, and character, she has served on the faculties of Pacific Northwest Ballet, Olympic College, Western Washington University, and Everett Community College, where she was also choreographer for the annual musicals. She directed her own school and company, North Seattle Ballet, for eleven years, producing the full-length ballets Coppelia and The Nutcracker. Ms. Wyckoff holds a BFA in Ballet from the University of Utah, and an MA in Dance Theatre from San Francisco State University.Janis Zetlen
Janis Zetlen is a graduate of UCLA’s dance program. In Los Angeles she performed and produced with renowned companies including SHALE, Lewitsky Dance Company and ProMotion. She has developed and organized visual art exhibitions and programs for over 20 years. Janis has worked with Mary Jane Eisenberg, Tina Gerstler, Bela Lewitsky, Lar Lubavitch, Mark Morris, Rudy Perez, Sara Rudner, Clay Tagliaferro, Twyla Tharp, William Whitener, and regional artists. In Los Angeles, she taught Ballet and Modern at the Group Studios, Studio West, and Santa Monica College. Since moving to Seattle, she has taught at Dance Center Seattle, Phinney Neighborhood Center, Washington Contemporary Ballet, and in public and private school programs. Currently, Ms Zetlen teaches Ballet and Nutrition at Dance Fremont!. Since 1999, she has been a member of Next Stage Dance Theater, based at Dance Fremont!.
.png)