Faculty
Karena Birk (she/her)
DIRECTOR
BALLET, POINTE, DANCE COMPOSITION, OPEN BALLET
Karena was born and raised in Seattle, and started taking creative dance at age 3 after insisting on dancing around the living room to Swan Lake every single evening. She received the majority of her dance training at the Cornish Preparatory Dance Program, as well as at the Richmond Ballet, and the University of Washington. She holds an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University, and a BA in Classics from the University of Washington. Before directing Dance Fremont, she has taught ballet and modern dance at many places, including the University of Washington Bothell, Bainbridge Dance Center, Interlochen Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, and Cornish Preparatory Dance. Her professional dance experience includes performing with the Colorado Ballet, Lehua Dance Theatre, ARC Dance, Catherine Cabeen-Hyphen, Redd Legg Dance, and Seattle Dance Project. She has enjoyed the wonderful opportunity to dance works of Trisha Brown, Anna Sokolow, Antony Tudor, George Balanchine, Fanny Elssler, Wade Madsen, Deborah Wolf, Hannah Wiley, and many others. Her MFA studies focused on pedagogy, dance performance, notation, and history, and she holds a Teaching Certification in Labanotation. She has staged a number of historical works from their Labanotation scores, including Doris Humphrey's The Shakers, Donald McKayle's Rainbow Etude, and selections from Helen Tamiris's Negro Spirituals.
Karena believes in the value of dance as a source of inspiration, self-discovery, expression, and fulfillment for everyone who studies it. Every dance student deserves the respect of being given quality training and curriculum, and the integrity of dance education at Dance Fremont has long been an inspiration to Karena. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to support and continue the excellence that Vivian, Mary, and the Dance Fremont community have built.
Mary Kay Bisignano-Vadino (she/her)
ADULT BEGINNING MODERN
Mary Kay Bisignano-Vadino has over thirty years of experience as a dance teacher. She has taught dance to people of all ages in a variety of settings and feels fortunate to be amongst the professional teaching staff at Dance Fremont. Mary Kay holds a Bachelors Degree in Dance from Western Michigan University and a Masters Degree in Choreography and Performance from U.C.L.A. While in Los Angeles she was recognized by the L.A. Arts Council for her choreography. Her professional dance experience began at The Chicago Dance Medium and inspired her toward a career of choreographing and teaching. As an independent choreographer in Seattle in the 90s, her work was featured at New City Theater, On the Boards, Allegro Dance Festival, Arts Edge Dance Festival and Bumbershoot. Her work has also been performed in Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.
From 1999-2009, Mary Kay choreographed and performed with Next Stage Dance Theater under the artistic direction of Dominique Gabella. This company of mature dancers provided a collaborative exchange for creative expression and an opportunity to work with local choreographers. She has choreographed for the Kaleidoscope Dance Company and Fremont Danceworks Company. Mary Kay loves choreographing for these talented young dancers finding it to be some of the most rewarding work of her career.
Mary Kay also teaches creative movement and dance at the Salmon Bay School. She loves sharing dance with elementary school students and finds their curiosity and sense of humor refreshing. Mary Kay is a Certified Yoga Instructor (RYT), teaches at Taj Yoga and enjoys subbing yoga classes at a number of local health clubs. She also volunteers for Street Yoga, a non-profit organization bringing yoga to homeless and at risk youth and teens.
Away from the studio, Mary Kay dances through life with her husband John and their three amazing children Sophia, Anthony and Nicolas. Mary Kay is passionate about teaching. Her students inspire her through their commitment to consistently work hard at finding the joy of movement while realizing their full potential through the shared experience of dancing.
Faith Coben (she/her)
ADULT BEGINNING BALLET
Faith Coben, originally from Sun Valley, Idaho, has danced all her life. She earned her BFA in Dance with a focus on education from Cornish College of the Arts as well as her Pilates mat teaching certificate. Her Pilates ‘lineage’ begins with mentor Michele Miller, a student of Cary Regan, trained by Romana Kryzanowska, and so has a special focus on working with dancers. She received her comprehensive Pilates certification in 2020 from Vitality Pilates in Seattle. Faith teaches a contemporary Pilates style that is grounded in the original athletic style of Joseph Pilates. Her training throughout her life included many areas of the performing arts, but primarily focused on ballet, modern dance, figure skating, and performance production. She has performed the work of a variety of choreographers including José Limón, Corrie Befort & Beth Graczyk of SaltHorse, Jamie Karlovich, Cyrus Khambatta, Kate Wallich, KT Niehoff, Eric Aguilar, & Mary Ann McGovern. Faith is an original member of Ktisk Contemporary Dance, directed by Rachael Forstrom, and is exploring vertical dance and aerial arts in her current performance life.
As a teacher, Faith has been significantly influenced by WA master teachers Christine Juarez & Anne Green Gilbert, and regularly attends continuing education programs to develop her teaching practice. She believes that students deserve creativity-focused and anatomically-based dance education in an egalitarian environment that promotes individual expression and facilitates interpersonal collaboration. Faith shares dance joyfully so that her students may experience dance joyfully, creating a strong foundation for a positive lifelong relationship with movement & the body. She has taught dance and Pilates at a variety of locations in the Puget Sound area, including Dance Fremont, Momentum Dance Academy, Spectrum Dance School, West Seattle Performing Arts, Secret Garden Preschool, Fremont Health Club, and more.
Faith is also a production stage manager, costumer, and occasional lighting designer & ski instructor. She has worked with Dance Fremont in every aspect of the studio, from operations to teaching to production, since 2014, and began the Pilates Conditioning program in 2021.
Eva Crystal (she/her)
MODERN
Eva Crystal grew up in Oregon where she received a foundation in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Contemporary and Acrobatics at Innovative Dance. Eva refined her technique and performance skills studying at NW Dance Project. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and with honors from Loyola Marymount University where she received a B.A. in Dance, focusing on Modern and Composition. She has been featured in works by Sidra Bell, Stephanie Zaletel, Rebecca Lemme and Rosalynde LeBlanc Loo in performances at LMU. In collaboration with Halie Donabedian, Eva has created multiple duets that have been invited to be performed at Annual Dean's Convocations, Annual Spring Student Concerts, ACDA, and MixMatch Dance Festival and as guest teachers and performers at UNCG. She has been awarded scholarships to study with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, BODYTRAFFIC, and Gibney Dance Company. Upon graduating, Eva was awarded an Artistic Merit for Choreography. Eva moved to Seattle in the Fall of 2019 where she began dancing with PRICEarts, Daniel Costa Dance, and Coriolis Dance. She has taught many different dance styles at Ballard Academy of Music and Dance, Spotlight Dance Center, Innovative Dance, and now teaches Modern 6 at Dance Fremont. Collaboration is at the heart of everything that Eva does and she deeply enjoys bringing art to life through movement!
Nicole Flores (they/them)
MODERN, REPERTORY
Nikki is a movement artist originally from Chicago, IL. They hold a BFA from Columbia College Chicago, as well as secondary dance training from AMDA LA. As they approached their senior year of college, they had the great opportunity of being a founding member of Alluvion Dance Chicago and serving as Rehearsal Director in their inaugural season. Since then, they have had the opportunity of performing with companies such as LA Contemporary Dance Company, Psychopomp Dance, and Heidi Duckler Dance Theater. Life has gracefully planted them in the beautiful city of Seattle since 2021. Having been in Seattle for just a short time, Nikki has been so grateful to have performed most recently with Coriolis Dance in their 2021 evening length work: The Art of Seafaring. Nikki has also been selected as a choreographer for The 2023 Bridge Project through Velocity Dance Center and feels so ecstatic to be switching gears and creating more work. As a teacher, Nikki feels it is of the utmost importance to allow their students to find their own creative voice in their class. They strive to create a safe space where movement is a vehicle for students to learn but also find their own sense of self. Nikki is so humbled to be a part of the Dance Fremont Staff!
Charlotte Hart (she/her)
BALLET, POINTE
Charlotte Hart received her early training in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, performing with the New Orleans Youth Ballet. She received her BFA in Ballet Performance with Special Distinction from the University of Oklahoma. Performing professionally with Louisville Ballet, Augusta Ballet, and Ballet Nouveau Colorado (Wonderbound), she danced in classical, contemporary, modern, and musical theatre choreography, and guest performed nationally. Favorite roles include Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, the Blue Girl in Nijinska’s Les Biches, Esmeralda in Tudor’s Fandango, and a Russian girl in Balanchine’s Serenade.
Charlotte has taught ballet in Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Utah, California, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Washington. She spent two years as assistant director for the student company of Ballet Nouveau Colorado and eight years as the assistant coordinator for the OU SummerWind Youth Ballet. Her choreography has been performed by Augusta Ballet II, Western Arkansas Ballet, SWYB, Springville Ballet, the student company of BNC, and at the 2011 International WaTER Conference, and presented at SWRBA and OU’s Young Choreographers’ Showcase, and (directed) OU Composers’ Recital, Frame by Frame, and Degrees of Rotation. As répétiteur, she set Robert Mills’ In Between Dreams on the Oklahoma City Ballet.
During graduate school, Charlotte was awarded the Ballets Russes Archive Fellowship, earned a Graduate Teaching Fellowship, won the Miguel Terekhov Award for Ballet Choreography, and completed Jack Anderson and Camille Hardy’s dance criticism workshop. Outside the studio, she taught and lectured for introductory collegiate general education dance courses at OU. Charlotte graduated in 2012 with her MFA in Dance from OU after successfully defending her thesis entitled Joanna Kneeland’s Therapeutic Barre: A Qualitative Analysis, which explored task-specific warming up for ballet technique. In 2019, she presented some of this research at the DEAW annual conference. Charlotte is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique, Revolutionary Principles of Movement, and has participated in teacher trainings with Ruth Petrinovic, Maria Vegh, Finis Jhung, and Terry Goetz & Ann Green Gilbert.
She currently lives in Edmonds with her husband, two sons, and two cats. Charlotte loves being in the studio, being ballet nerdy, and collaborating with all dancers to reach their potential as movers, artists, and humans.
Aubra Julia Heller (she/her)
CREATIVE DANCE, PREPARATORY DANCE, BALLET
COMMUNITY & ADMINISTRATION
Aubra was a student at Dance Fremont from ages 3-18. Working as Dance Fremont's Community & Administration Manager and a studio teacher are her ideal jobs because they combines two things that bring her joy; dancing and working with kids. Aubra has enjoyed sharing her love of movement with young dancers in childcare centers, public schools, and yoga/dance studios. Her number one priority is creating a space where students can use dance to express themselves, learn, and have fun. Aubra graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Washington with a Major in Dance and a Minor in Education, Learning, and Societies with a focus in infant, toddler, and elementary education and psychology.
Christina Kennedy (she/her)
MODERN, ADULT BEGINNING-INTERMEDIATE BALLET
Christina Kennedy received her early training, from Sally Tierney, in the Cecchetti Method of Ballet. She has studied with teachers in Vaganova and Balanchine style during Dance Theater of Harlem Residency programs and a summer at the Washington School of Ballet. Growing up near Washington D.C. gave her the chance to perform at the Kennedy Center multiple times. She has studied many dance styles including Modern, Broadway Jazz, Lyrical, African and Tap. While earning her BA from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County she danced with the faculty directed, Phoenix Dance Company. After moving to Seattle, she danced with Redd Legg Dance, badmarmar, and Ashani Dances. Performance may be the reward for hard work in the studio but being in class is her favorite part of dancing. Her teaching style is geared toward keeping dancers healthy while making a very demanding art form fun to learn. She continues to read books about dance and take classes around the city to keep in touch with the mind of a student.
Una Ludviksen (she/her)
BALLET
COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
Una Ludviksen is a freelance dance artist and Dance Fremont’s Communications & Marketing Admin. Una grew up in Seattle, and is a proud Dance Fremont alum! She holds a BFA in Dance Performance from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. At Purchase she performed works by George Balanchine, Chuck Wilt, Ana Maria Lucaciu, Emily Kessler / POGO and others. While in college, she was awarded the opportunity to study at the Amsterdam University of the Arts where she learned works by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Ohad Naharin, and Emio Greco.
In New York, Una performed with the Merce Cunningham Trust, most recently in a gender-role reversed staging of Doubles (1984), and as a cast member of the Los Angeles production of Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Celebration. She reprised her solos at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Works & Process series, Fall For Dance North at AGO Toronto, and Musicircus at the Fisher Center at Bard College. Una is a member of Dylan Crossman Dans(c)e, appearing in full-length premieres at the 92Y Harkness Dance Festival and Abrons Arts Center. Una also performs with Lindy Fines’ company, GREYZONE, premiering their first evening-length work, ASSEMBLY at the Oklahoma International Dance Festival in 2021, and at Paul Taylor Studios in 2022. Since moving back to Seattle, Una choreographed and performed in co.— (Emma Lawes and Maya Tacon) SHOW 2, and Emily Schoen Branch’s Flight / An Evening of Dance and Drinks in partnership with Lagunitas Brewing.
Robbi Moore (they/them)
MODERN, REPERTORY
Robbi A. Moore (they/them), from Hamden, CT, began dancing at New England Ballet and continued at Dee Dee’s Dance Center and New Haven Ballet. Robbi is an alumnus of Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts, the Ailey Summer Intensive, Cunningham Trust Workshop, Jacob’s Pillow’s Commercial Dance Program, and the Complexions Intensive. They graduated magna cum laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program and danced with Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre, The Steps Repertory Ensemble, AATMA Performing Arts, Whidbey Island Dance Theatre, Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center, Karin Stevens Dance, the Guild Dance Company, Kinesis Project Dance Theatre, The Gray, PRICEarts, Coriolis Dance, Khambatta Dance Company, and Spectrum Dance Theater.
Jasmine Morgan (she/her)
CREATIVE DANCE, PREPARATORY DANCE, BALLET, MODERN
Jasmine Morgan was born and raised in Seattle, WA. She started her dance training at Pacific Northwest Ballet from age 7-11 years. At the age of 12 years, Jasmine discovered Dance Fremont and that became like her second home.
She danced in Fremont Danceworks Company from age 12-18 years performing in many lead and ensemble roles choreographed by Carla Maxwell (Artistic Director of the Limón Dance Company), Kabby Mitchell III (former soloist of Pacific NW Ballet), Hannah Wiley (founding Artistic Director of University of Washington’s Chamber Dance Company), Mary Kay Bisignano-Vadino (Dance Fremont Faculty), Mary Reardon and Vivian Little (Co-directors of Dance Fremont).
Jasmine’s love for dance has transformed into a passion to teach dance. She taught ballet to adults and children at American Dance Institute in 2006, volunteered at the YMCA teaching ballet to beginning adults and is currently teaching a dance class for people with developmental disabilities. Jasmine loves being with people, so being able to teach them her passion is a true joy.
Austin Sexton (she/her)
BALLET, POINTE
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Austin Sexton is thrilled to be returning to Dance Fremont as Curriculum Development Director. With more than a decade of experience in dance leadership, Austin is passionate about the intersections of pedagogy, performance, and joyful self-expression. She is proud to have served youth and families in her work at Lake Washington Girls Middle School, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Spectrum Dance Theater, and Momentum Dance Academy, a not-for-profit community school serving Burien and South Seattle. At Momentum, Austin has helped to mount full-length classical ballets including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty, all the while promoting body positivity, mental health awareness, and a multicultural environment. Her choreography has been commissioned by the Seattle International Dance Festival, Intrepidus Dance, and Seattle Children’s Theater summer camps, among others. From 2012-2019, Austin co-led Relay Dance Collective (RDC), which mounted the work of both emerging and established artists: Wade Madsen, Amy Johnson, Alana O Rogers, Markeith Wiley, Lauren Edson, Cheryl Delostrinos, Imana Gunawan, and others. For six years, RDC helped to create bridges within, and create new audiences for, the Seattle dance community. As a queer, white woman dedicated to antiracism, Austin envisions ballet and modern dance as spaces of rigor and technique, in addition to liberation and possibility.
Fiona Vigdor (she/her)
BALLET, OPEN BALLET
Fiona Vigdor began dancing ballet at the age of 4 and hasn’t stopped since. Born and raised in Santa Fe, NM, she started her training under Andy Prince at Prince Ballet. She continued her studies with Gisella Genschow at the Santa Fe Dance Foundation through high school. In 1996, Fiona attended the Boston Conservatory and studied a mix of modern and ballet under Jennifer Scanlon, Yasuko Tokunaga, Donna Silva, Anamarie Sarazin and Elaine Bauer, among others. She also studied with Marcus Schulkind outside of the Conservatory.
In 2001, after graduating with a BFA in dance, Fiona moved to New York City to continue her dancing. In 2004, she joined Alan Good dance, who she closely studied with and performed with for 5 years. During her time in New York, she also continued her ballet training with Christine Wright, Marjorie Mussman, Jocelyn Lorenz, Zvi Gotheiner and Graciela Kozak. In addition to dancing, Fiona also received her Pilates certification from Sal Anthony’s Movement Salon in 2004. While in New York, she continued to study Pilates closely with Clarice Marshall and also studied with Deborah Lessen, and Maya Aubrey. Fiona continued to dance, perform and teach Pilates in New York, until 2010, when Fiona and her husband decided to move to Seattle.
In Seattle, she has choreographed and danced with Bellingham Repertory Dance as well as Relay Dance Collective and has taught Pilates at Pilates on 10th and Lift Pilates. Fiona has also attended Anne Green Gilbert’s Summer Dance Institute for Teachers. Fiona loves helping dancers learn how to make clear connections in their body through the use of imagery, anatomy and rhythm.
Christine Weh (she/her)
PRIMARY DANCE, BALLET, PRE-POINTE
Christine Weh began her training in Portland, Oregon, with many influential teachers including Heather Renk and Mary Hunt. She performed as soloist and ensemble with Portland Community Ballet under the direction of Lila Zali protegé Cynthia Tosh. Christine earned her BFA in Dance cum laude from Cornish College of the Arts where she was fortunate to work with choreographers Mary Sheldon Scott, Pat Hon, Tonya Lockyer, and Gary Masters from the Limón Dance Company. Additionally, she has performed with Weaving Dance, Chimera Dance Theater and Sapience Dance Collective. She has studied Creative Movement under Gail Heilbron and Christine Juarez, and completed Anne Green Gilbert’s Summer Institute for Teachers in 2014. Christine has been teaching her love of dance in ballet, creative movement and modern techniques for over 15 years. She has served as faculty for many schools in the region including The Dance School (also serving as Director of Education), Dance Time and Woodinville Dance Academy. Christine is currently on faculty at Cornish Preparatory Dance, where she served as Administrative Assistant for 10 years. She is the Dance Specialist for Secret Garden Preschool and continues to perform locally in independent artist productions. Christine is eager to be a part of the inspiring faculty of Dance Fremont. Her teaching goal is to provide students of all ages with the necessary tools for accomplishment, joy, and participation in dance.
Guest Faculty & Faculty Alumn
Vivian Little (she/her) Director Emerita
Vivian Little, originally from Bellingham, WA became one of the original members to form Pacific NW Dance and performed as a Principal Dancer from 1974-1977. Her professional training in Seattle included teachers and artists such as Janet Reed, Todd Bolender, Melissa Hayden, Nancy Robinson, Ronald Sequoia and Perry Brunson.
Vivian joined the San Francisco Ballet (SFB) in 1977 under the artistic direction of choreographers, Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin. Performing Christensen and Smuin choreography, as well as works by George Balanchine and Frederic Ashton fueled her passion for dance. Vivian’s enthusiasm for teaching came from studying with master teachers Sally Streets, Tatiana Grantzeva, Anatol Vilzak, and Virginia Johnson. Vivian retired from SFB as a Soloist in 1981. After her performing career, she continued to work as a ballet mistress at El Teatro Municipal de Lima, Peru where she had the opportunity to work with Jorge Esquivel (Ballet Nacional de Cuba) and Mario Galizzi (Teatro Municipal de Buenos Aires). She later taught on the faculty of Walnut Hill Performing Art School in Massachusetts and for seven years at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle. In September 1996, “Ms. Vivian” founded Dance Fremont and in 1999 Mary Reardon and “Ms. Vivian” became Co-Directors. Together they shared a vision for the ballet and modern dance integrated program and founded Fremont Danceworks, the school’s contemporary dance company, directing school and company until June 2015. Vivian has taught as a Guest Lecturer in the University of Washington’s Dance Department and from 2007-2016, taught ballet as an adjunct dance instructor at Cornish College of the Arts. “Ms. Vivian” feels an immense gratitude for having been a professional dancer, dance educator, choreographer and dance school director. She strives to bring the richness of this experience into her classroom. She hopes that the discipline and joy that comes from studying dance will support her students in all aspects of their lives.
Mary Reardon (she/her) Director Emerita
Mary Reardon grew up in Erie, PA where she began her life of dance with The Erie Civic Ballet under the direction of Statia Sublette. Her summers were spent at the Chautauqua Institute where she studied under teachers Alexandra Danilova, Melissa Hayden, Jacques D’Amboise, and Patricia McBride.
Mary earned a BFA from the University of Cincinnati where she danced with the Cincinnati Ballet under the direction of David McClain. At the University her love for modern dance began to grow while studying the Horton Technique under teacher James Truitte. Modern dance led her to Atlanta, GA in 1977 where she danced professionally for Atlanta Contemporary Dance Company, Lee Harper Dancers, City Center and the Alliance Theater. In 1981, Mary Wells became Mary Reardon and joined The Carl Ratcliff Dance Theatre. She became a soloist and danced with Atlanta’s first modern dance company for six years.
In 1989, Mary changed focus from performing to teaching. She owned her own school in Georgia for ten years, directed the summer dance program for the Governors Honors program of Georgia and continued to teach in the outreach program for The Carl Ratcliff Dance Theatre. In 1999, Mary joined forces with Vivian Little to co-direct Dance Fremont! In June of 2015 Mary stepped down from Co-Directing Dance Fremont. She continues to teach at the school and is a guest lecturer at the University of Washington.
“My journey across the United States has brought me to understand the amazing gift my parents gave me all those years ago. Dance is like this special club where once you join you are always a part of it. You can meet those other members all your life in any city in the world. I love to teach because I love to introduce children into the world of the dance community. It teaches them to honor their bodies, to work cooperatively, to tap into their creative self. It brings self-awareness to the others around them. The dance world is a special place to be regardless if you choose to make it your life’s work.”
Karel Cruz
Karel Cruz is from Holguin, Cuba, and received his training at Cuba’s Escuela Nacional de Artes. He joined Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1996 and left in 1998 to join Ballet Clasico de Camara in Venezuela. From 1999 to 2000, he danced with Teatro Teresa Carreno, also in Venezuela. After coming to the United States, Mr. Cruz spent a year at the Rock School joining Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2002. He was promoted to soloist in 2007 and principal in 2009. Mr. Cruz retired from Pacific Northwest Ballet in July 2018. He joined The University of Oklahoma as a ballet instructor for the dance department in 2019. In 2013, Mr. Cruz performed as a guest artist with Royal New Zealand Ballet. Mr. Cruz has taught master classes, workshops and privates for over 20 years, creating small group summer course and winter workshops with partner Lindsi Dec. He is PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique) certified. Mr. Cruz started Solu, their dancewear line in 2017 with Ms. Dec.
Danielle Doell
Danielle Doell is a Seattle-based dance and performance artist, choreographer, educator, and floral designer. She graduated from Ohio University in 2014 with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography, with a minor in Arts Administration. Following graduation, Danielle had the pleasure of working for several prominent dance-presenting organizations such as Gibney Dance Center, New York Live Arts, the Dublin International Dance Festival (IR), and The Yard. Doell contributes much of her creative growth and professional development to her time at The Yard, where she began as an intern in 2014 and was later promoted to Artist Educator in 2015. She lived on Martha’s Vineyard for two years working to pilot and build the Making It initiative, a program that promotes kinesthetic alternatives to traditional pedagogical methods in public schools, hospitals, community centers, libraries, prisons, and other outreach centers. During her time at The Yard, Danielle worked with former classmate, Leah Crosby. Together, the two founded LanDforms, their creative partnership. Since 2016, their work has been performed across the country. The two now proudly call themselves a Seattle-based company. Additionally, Danielle dances for the Pat Graney Company.
Kim Holloway (she/her)
A North Carolina native, Kimberly Holloway is a freelance dance artist in Seattle. In addition to earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Belhaven University, she received dance training through the American Dance Festival, Gaga Intensive, and Raleigh School of Ballet. Her choreography has been commissioned by Seattle International Dance Festival, Converge Dance Festival, Out on a Limb (Olympia, WA), Katy Hagelin Dance Project, Störling Dance Theater, enROOT and Abbey Grown, and has also been performed at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is a recipient of fellowships and grants from the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Artist Life Guild, Cornish Arts Incubator, and the Fremont Abbey. Kim performed with companies including Michelle Miller/Catapult Dance, Stone Dance Collective, Maureen Whiting Company, Sandstrommovement, Shannon Stewart, Alana O Rogers, Maya Soto, Storling Dance Theater (Kansas City), and Kinesis Project (NYC). She is on the board of Dance Educators Association of Washington. In 2015, she co-founded Class Exchange in an effort to provide teaching opportunities for less established artists and create affordable professional level classes. She currently teaches at Velocity Dance Center, Dance Fremont, and Bainbridge Dance Center.
Alana Isiguen
Alana Isiguen holds an MFA in Dance from the University of California Irvine and a BFA in Dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her research interests include integrating somatic movement education into dance pedagogy, choreography and performance.
She received her formative training as an apprentice with the Charlotte Ballet, formerly the North Carolina Dance Theater, under the direction of Jean Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride.
Her performance credits include works by George Balanchine, Ohad Naharin, Mark Morris and William Forsythe. Alana furthered her studies at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Chautauqua Ballet, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance in Austria, and with Summer Lee Rhatigan at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. She studied privately with Rebecca Massey at the Piedmont School of Music and Dance, who mentored her in dance pedagogy, staging classical works, rehearsal direction and concert production.
Alana teaches integrated movement sessions in the community, utilizing knowledge from rehabilitation studies, somatics and a comprehensive Pilates certification. Her choreography has been presented at La Mama Experimental Theatre Club in New York, and she has served on faculty at the University of California Irvine, Cornish College of the Arts, Santa Ana College and The School of the Sacramento Ballet. Currently, she is an Artist in Residence at the University of Washington in Seattle and is happy to be a part of the Dance Fremont community.
Emma Lawes (she/her)
Emma Lawes is a Seattle-based dance artist, originally from CT. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and has trained and performed in New York, San Francisco, Israel and Europe. Most recently, she has collaborated with Babette DeLafayette, Liz Houlton, Markeith Wiley, Kate Wallich's YC2, Mary Grace McNally + Artists, Lauren Hlubny, former YC2 dancers to create PILOT, and Undercurrent. In 2020, she founded and produced One on Ones, a residency and mentorship program that centers performing artists, in collaboration with Velocity Dance Center and Nia-Amina Minor.
Lodi McClellan
During her 20-year performing career Lodi danced with the Mark Morris Dance Group, Beth Soll and Company, Nina Weiner and Dancers, the Chamber Dance Company, Louise Durkee, Bill Evans, Llory Wilson, Georgia Ragsdale, Wade Madsen, and other freelance artists. She has taught dance technique at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Boston University, Emerson College, the Boston Conservatory, the University of Washington, American Dance Institute, Strictly Seattle, Dance Fremont, and at many private studios on both coasts.
For 25 years, as a professor at Cornish College of the Arts where she twice received the Excellence in Teaching Award, she taught all levels of ballet in addition to Dance History, Teaching Methods, Performing Arts Criticism, Ballet Repertory, Pointe, and Contemporary Issues in Dance.
Lodi's writing about dance has been published by Dance International, SenseAbility, Curve, Seattle Weekly, Eastside Week, the World Dance Alliance, Contact Quarterly, Teaching Artist Journal, Dance Teacher, The International Dictionary of Modern Dance, HistoryLink.org, and DanceNet, where she served as Co-Editor. Lodi has presented pre-performance lectures at Meany Theater, Seattle Theatre Group, and the Orcas Center and served as a panel facilitator for the Dance Critics Association, SeattleDances.com, and the University of Washington Dance Program.
Kathleen Mills
Kathleen Mills earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Arranging from Combs College of Music. She studied with composer Romeo Cascarino and concert pianist Susan Starr in Philadelphia, and with Broadway conductor Lehman Engel at BMI’s Musical Theater Workshop in New York City. Her performing experience includes singing and dancing in several musicals, notably 5th Avenue Theater Company′s productions of Cinderella, Jesus Christ Superstar, My Fair Lady and in the national tour of Mame starring Juliet Prowse. She has worked as a private music instructor in Seattle since 1989. She is also the composer, lyricist and librettist of The Steadfast Tin Soldier, A Story Ballet produced annually by Dance Fremont since 1997. Her work with Dance Fremont since that time has also included writing and directing the Musical Theater/Costume Design and Production Camp show each summer. Kathleen is passionate about helping students identify and use their talents in pursuit of excellence in mind, body, and spirit.
Paula J. Peters
Paula J. Peters is a professor at SUNY Fredonia. Previously she was on faculty at Cornish Preparatory Dance, Dance Fremont, the University of Washington, and directed the dance minor at Pacific Lutheran University 2013-14. Ms. Peters’ choreographic and performance research includes collaborative works created with Rhonda Cinotto for Contemporary Jazz Dance Project, Seattle. Her choreography has been presented by Men In Dance, Cornish Dance Theater, DanceWorks and Cornish Preparatory Dance Company. Her scholarly research includes the implementation of pedagogy and programs which serve the 21st century dancer and writings on the history of jazz dance, published in Seattle Dance Annual 2013 and presented at DEAW and NDEO national conferences. Prior to completing her B.F.A. in Dance through the Professional Dancers Program at Cornish College of the Arts in 2007, Ms. Peters performed professionally with Spectrum Dance Theater for fourteen years. With Spectrum, she danced and restaged works by choreographers of national prominence such as Ann Reinking, Margo Sappington, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Claire Bataille, Danny Buraczeski, Daniel Ezralow, Trey McIntyre, Donald Byrd, Wade Madsen and Dale A. Merrill, touring throughout the US, Europe and Mexico. She also served as SDT’s rehearsal director from 1998 to 2005. Ms. Peters received her M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Washington in 2011 with a concentration on the history, theory, and practice of American Jazz Dance.
“I fiercely believe that students are people first and dancers second. Therefore, each student deserves the permission to evolve, rather than achieve ‘perfection’ when studying dance. This has led me to create a classroom environment that promotes self-discovery and positively shapes the whole person to become a vibrant, thinking member of society. The gifts of watching students embrace this journey in their own way and become empowered through dance are the reasons why I teach. I am profoundly grateful to be a member of the faculty at Dance Fremont and wish to thank the students and my colleagues for providing me with endless new opportunities for learning.”
Keith Sabado
Keith 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.
Beth Terwilleger (she/her)
Beth Terwilleger grew up in Santa Cruz, California, and always felt free to allow her imagination to thrive. She spent her early childhood years creating worlds, theatrical performances, and dance extravaganzas. At a young age she was introduced to ballet and immediately fell in love. So driven by this new passion, she forgot her roots were truly planted in creation and not personal performance. After spending ten years with Ballet Austin in Texas and freelancing in San Francisco and London, she has re-found her roots in Seattle and spent the past year passionately exploring, generating, and supporting dance works here in this city. She had once thought that this imaginative part of her brain was left in those childhood years but is excited to have found that it does still exist through her choreographic practice.
Since the inception of her new dance company, The Gray, Beth’s work has been presented all over Seattle. She started at Velocity Dance Center presenting a new work through Velocity’s co-production program. She then continued to receive support from Velocity Dance Center through her participation in their 2019 Winter Bridge Project program. She has also choreographed works for 12 Minutes Max, March edition, and a mixed bill evening Base Independent Production at Base: Experimental Arts + Space in Georgetown, Seattle. Beth has also had the honor of creating work this year for Converge Dance Festival as well as a split bill performance with Stella Kutz at YAW Theater. She then went on to revisit her first Seattle work, The Midsummer, at Seattle International Dance Festival in June where it was announced she has been awarded acceptance to their prestigious James Ray Residency Program for their 2020 Season. To wrap up her first year creating in Seattle, Beth premiered a full evening of work at On the Boards this August and a new piece at Men in Dance in October. She wants to thank the incredible dance community here in Seattle for their support and inspiration, especially all of the dancers she has worked with over the past year. They are the drivers of artistic innovations and she is forever grateful for them.