TEACHER BIOS

Awal Alhassan is a traditional Ghanaian performer, born and raised by a drumming and dancing family in Tamale, Ghana. Teaching and performing since the age of 7, he has worked throughout Africa both independently and with groups such as the University of Legon, the National Theatre of Ghana, and the Center for National Culture Dance Troupe, as well as leading the Zosimili after school program for youth. Now in Seattle, he leads and performs in high energy dancing and drumming with Sohoyini and other groups in the Northwest. http://awalalhassan.googlepages.com/

Paige Barnes is an independent choreographer, performer, and teacher from Seattle. She is a co-founding member of Open Flight studio and Locate Performance Group. Since 1996, Paige has performed and produced independent shows in Ecuador, Mexico and Cuba, and throughout the Seattle area. In 2006, her work toured to Minneapolis and Philadelphia through SCUBA's national touring program. She has received choreographic and educational awards from the Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, Artist Trust, City of Seattle Arts and Cultural Affairs and danceWEB (Vienna, Austria) among others. Paige is a certified instructor of the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® and teaches at Gyrotonic Seattle. She received a BA in Dance and Geography from the University of Washington.

Daniel Cruz is experienced in many different types of roles in the dance industry. He has danced for artists such as Prince, Ashanti, Nsync, and Michael Jackson with choreographers such as Wade Robson, Brian Friedman, Fatima, Marguerite Derricks, Tabitha and Napoleon and the like on stage, television, commercials, and video. Daniel was in the national tour of Fame: The Musical. He has appeared and served Dance Captain in numerous productions at the 5th Avenue and Village Theater. He has choreographed for the Sonics Dance Team, Seahawks Half-Time Shows, Microsoft, Nordstrom, The Paramount and Moore Theaters, Tacoma Dome, Key Arena, EMP, KIRO, KCPQ, KUBE and is the director of his dance group, Cruz Control. Daniel and Cruz Control are currently rehearsing for their show at the Moore Theater on February 15, 2008.

DAG/MAR is produced by Dance Art Group (DAG). DAG fosters and promotes the study, practice and appreciation of improvisational dance in Seattle. It produces the annual Seattle Festival of Alternative Dance and Improvisation (SFADI) and other events that encourage and support innovative research and education in dance. DAG is supported by 4Culture, Washington State Arts Commission, the Mayor's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and generous individual donors. More info at www.danceartgroup.org.

For the past 11 years at Velocity, Lila Hurwitz, Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner(sm), has been teaching one of Seattle's longest-running Feldenkrais classes. She's also taught at Cornish, UW, Oberlin College, Hampshire College, Seattle Festival of Alternative Dance & Improvisation, Santosha Yoga, DanceFremont!, Conduit Studio (Portland) and Context Studio (NYC). Lila was a member of the Crispin Spaeth Dance Group from 1996-2003 and has performed with Karen Nelson, Stephanie Skura, CoBrew, Karn Junkinsmith, Molly Scott, Sheri Cohen, Margit Galanter, Bebe Miller, Ann Carlson, Nina Martin (NYC), Oslund & Co/Dance (Portland), Linda K. Johnson (Portland) and others.

Jeromeskee started breakdancing in 1996 and has been performing in b-boy events and competitions ever since. Jerome is a member of several competitive, successful b-boy dance groups: World champion Massive Monkees, Legendary Rocksteady Crew N.Y., and the NBA Sonic's BOOM Squad all stars. Jerome has participated and won numerous B-boy titles throughout the world: London, France, Denmark, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Canada, and areas through out the U.S. He has done performances, taught, and worked for many corporations, publications, and universities world wide. Jerome along with the Massive Monkees crew, was recently featured as one of the coaches on MTV Made, "I want to be a b-boy."

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.

Aiko Kinoshita has been teaching dance for the past 17 years. Her choreography has been presented nationally and in Canada, Korea and Japan. Aiko directs acornDance, holds a MFA in Dance from the University of Illinois and was a member of Lingo dancetheater from 2003-2007.

Wade Madsen has been in Seattle makeing dances, teaching, mentoring, observing, criticing, learning, touring, guest artisting, developing, cooking, eating, dancing, singing, acting, joking, laughing, living, loving, costuming, for thirty years. YOU can always google him if you really want the details.

Amy O'Neal is a performer, choreographer, teacher and the co-director (along with Zeke Keeble) of locust (music/dance/video company) based in Seattle. Amy teaches contemporary dance technique and funk regularly at Velocity Dance Center and has taught and/or conducted residencies at the University of Washington, University of Idaho, University of Oregon, Lane Community College (Eugene, OR), Northwest Vista College (San Antonio, TX), and Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle, WA). Her work has been commissioned by Spectrum Dance Theater, Moving Current in Tampa, FL, and Seattle Theatre Group's Dance This...where she collaborated with Sonia Dawkins and Savion Glover. As a performer, she worked with the Pat Graney Co. for 3 years, was a 6-year member of Scott/Powell Performance, was the lead singer of the Seattle band Marrow for 3 years, and performed in Mark Haim's acclaimed Goldberg Variations. Amy also frequently collaborates with musician/comedian, Reggie Watts. For locust, Amy has received funding from the Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, the international DanceWEB scholarship, the Mary Levine Fund, Artist Trust (Fellowship '05, GAP '04,'06), 4 Culture, the Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation of the Arts, the National Performance Network, and the Creative Capital Foundation. In 2007, Amy will be choreographing for Cornish Dance Theater, will be in residence at Idaho State University, Texas Women's University, and Bates Dance Festival, and will be touring with her company locust. Amy holds a BFA in dance from Cornish College of the Arts.

Kara O'Toole, Executive Director of Velocity Dance Center, has an extensive background as a dancer, educator and artistic administrator within the Seattle and national dance community. She is a founding member of Seattle-based dance organizations DanceNet newspaper, the d9 Dance Collective and Kick, a dance service organization. She has performed professionally with the Pat Graney Company and the Chamber Dance Company. O'Toole has been on the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts, George Mason University and University of Memphis, and taught for 10 years in the University of Washington Dance Program, where she earned her MFA in Dance. O'Toole completed her undergraduate studies at Mount Holyoke College, where she majored in Dance and History.

Michael Rioux began his career dancing for River North Dance Chicago. Since then he has worked with Jump Rhythm Jazz, The Chicago Ballet, Lucky Plush Productions, Nandanse, Luna Negra Dance Theatre, and Mordine & Company. In 2001 Michael founded Impetus Dance Theater and served as Artistic Director for four years before he moved to Seattle. His choreography has been performed by Lehua Dance Theatre, Instruments of Movement, The Chicago Dance Crash, Impetus Dance Theater, Mordine & Company, and Giordanos Jazz Dance Chicago. Michael has been on faculty at Lou Conte Dance Studio, home of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and the school of Spectrum Dance Theatre.

Ratna Roy completed her Masters in English from the University of Calcutta and her Ph.D. in English, with specialization in American literature, from the University of Oregon, USA. Currently, she is Senior Professor, Dance and Expressive Arts, at The Evergreen State College, in Olympia, Washington. She is also a senior disciple of Late Padmashri Guru Pankaj Charan Das and has written several articles on his "Mahari" (devadasi) legacy in classical Odissi dance, little known in its home country, India, today. She has received three Fulbrights (1985-86, 1988, and 1991), National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Award (1989), American Institute of Indian Studies Fellowship (1988-89), Arts International Award (2001), and Fund for Folk Culture Award (2005) for her work on Odissi dance. Most recently she received the Washington State Arts Commission Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program Award as a Master Artist, 2006-07, and 2007-08 and the Gordon Ekvall Tracie Memorial Award (2008) for her artistic contributions to the Pacific Northwest. She is the Artistic Director of Urvasi, a dance company that was featured in the Guru Pankaj Charan Das Festival, 3rd International Odissi Festival, and the Kharavela Festival in Orissa, 2006-2007. America for the Arts has acknowledged Guru Pankaj Charan Das. Odissi dance style as the national heritage of the USA.

Violette Tucker is a dance artist, teacher, and performance coach who explores movement and artistry through integration of body and intellect. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree, with an emphasis on Dance Performance. Notably, she has worked with Claire Porter, Coriolis Dance Project, EBA Dance Theatre, Molly Shanahan/MadShak Dance Company, and with local choreographers Carrie Sargavakian and Lasara Jarvis. Violette and her partner Misha Kaschock have recently formed the dynamic music/movement duo The Test Pilots, whose work has been featured in Velocity Dance Center's Kickoff Extravaganza 2006 and NEXT Fest NW 2006. Her choreographic work demonstrates an equal valuing of movement invention, composition, and performance. Violette's influences include modern dance, avant-garde performance, gritty, joyful expression, phenomenology, poetry, and everyday, habitual movement.