Learn from the best.

You requested them; we got them! New guests artists join returning favorites for the most well-rounded faculty you’ll find anywhere.

Keynote Speaker: Joan Myers Brown

Joan Myers Brown has been a force in the modern dance world for more than 40 years. She has not only created and sustained the world-class dance company Philadanco, but she has opened doors for countless dancers through her unending commitment to the dance community. Brown’s early influences include Antony Tudor, who broke Philadelphia’s color barriers by inviting her to study with him, and Marion Cuyjet and Sydney King, local pioneers who established dance schools for black dancers during the pre-Civil Rights era. As a teenager, Brown performed with Tudor’s Philadelphia Ballet before studying with Karel Shook at the Katherine Dunham School in New York. Brown established the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts in 1960 and founded Philadanco 10 years later. She has invited choreographers as diverse as Alonzo King, Blondell Cummings, Elisa Monte and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar to set dances on the company. Philadanco’s dancers combine technical prowess with the strength of spirit imparted to them by her artistic direction. In 1991, Brown founded the International Association of Blacks in Dance.

Guest Artists

Internationally renowned producer/director/choreographer and master teacher, Michèle Assaf has worked on Broadway, off-Broadway, regional and international theater projects and has trained dancers for the past 25 years. She has directed and choreographed tours for such stars as Mariah Carey, Mick Jagger, Michael Bolton and Matchbox Twenty, and has created internationally acclaimed multimedia operas for The Houston Grand Opera and Opera Pacific. She is the artistic director of Broadway a Tropea, an international convention held in the South of Italy, and is currently on faculty at Broadway Dance Center.

Sheila Barker teaches and choreographs across the U.S. and abroad, and is currently on faculty at Broadway Dance Center and Marymount Manhattan College. She has performed and choreographed for musical theater, dance companies, music videos and television.

Joshua Bergasse recently staged and directed the opening number of BC/EFA’s Gypsy of the Year benefit in NYC, working with 27 members of the original Broadway cast of West Side Story, including Chita Rivera and Carol Lawrence. His numerous New York and regional choreography credits include Captain Louie, The Whos’ Tommy, South Pacific, Smokey Joe’s Cafè, West Side Story and the national tour of Fame. He has performed on Broadway and in national tours, including Movin’ Out, Hairspray, The Life and West Side Story. He is currently a faculty member at Broadway Dance Center and the Manhattan Dance Project.

Thom Cobb was named the 2006 Dance Educator of the Year by the Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. He is an associate professor and senior faculty member of Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania’s department of dance, where he teaches dance fundamentals, introduction to dance, introduction to creative dance, improvisation, and modern and jazz technique.

Seán Curran, renowned modern dance choreographer and artistic director of the Seán Curran Company, was a Bessie award-winning dancer with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and an original cast member of the off-Broadway hit Stomp! A guest faculty member of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Curran has choreographed for ABT Studio Company, the Metropolitan Opera and the Broadway production of James Joyce’s The Dead, among other international credits.

Bill Evans has been the artistic director of the Bill Evans Dance Company for more than 30 years. He is currently a visiting professor/guest artist in the SUNY Brockport Department of Dance, where he directs the annual Bill Evans Summer Dance Intensive and Evans Modern Dance Technique Certification Program. He teaches master classes in Evans modern dance technique and repertory, rhythm tap, Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals, dance conditioning/applied kinesiology, improvisation, choreography and dance pedagogy.

Eric Franklin is the founder of the Franklin Method, a revolutionary mind/body approach to movement. He has taught the method at New York University, The Juilliard School, The Royal Ballet School and American Dance Festival. A dancer, educator and author, he has written several books in the mind/body field, including Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance. In addition to a BFA from NYU, he holds degrees in body therapies ideokinesis and body mind centering.

Mignon Furman, director of the American Academy of Ballet in New York City, is the creator of ballet programs that help teachers in the ballet education of their students ages 5 and older. Her Performance Awards Program is now part of the curriculum of studios across the U.S. and in 9 countries. Before moving to New York, she formulated the program for ballet as a subject in the public school system for the South African Department of Education, and was invited to join the government committee for the introduction of ballet as a school subject throughout South Africa. Her many honors include a fellowship from the Royal Academy of Dance, the Naomi Press Award for her work in South Africa and an induction into the Hall of Fame of the Dance Library of Israel for her work in that country.

Former New York City Ballet dancer Linda Hamilton, PhD, is a lecturer, a psychologist in private practice, and the author of the book Advice for Dancers. She has been offering advice to dancers in a monthly column for Dance Magazine since 1992.

One of the first to apply the study of kinesiology to his classes, David Howard has influenced generations of dancers, teachers, choreographers, ballet masters and artistic directors. Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova, Gelsey Kirkland, Rudolf Nureyev, Peter Martins and Cynthia Harvey all trained with him. As a dancer, Howard performed with The Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet (later The Royal Ballet) and The National Ballet of Canada, and starred in Fosse’s Little Me. From 1977 to 1995, Howard directed the David Howard School of Ballet (later the David Howard Dance Center). He is currently a faculty member at the Eugene Lang College of the New School University and teaches daily at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center.

Since 1972, Finis Jhung has been a mainstay of the New York dance scene. He has taught dancers of New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and the Joffrey, Ailey, Taylor, Graham and Cunningham companies, as well as Broadway stars, aspiring professionals and adult beginners. Currently on faculty at Broadway Dance Center and Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, he has taught at all the major New York studios as well as at festivals, workshops and ballet competitions throughout the U.S. and Europe. His innovative teaching methods have been proven to make ballet easier to understand and more enjoyable to learn, while preserving the essential qualities that make it a great performing art.

Caroline Kohles is a Black Belt–certified Nia instructor, leading workshops focused on brain-body connection and on deepening the connection to dance through Nia. A former professional modern dancer, she co-founded her own company in NYC, was a scholarship director at Steps and developed a creative movement program for children at The Alvin Ailey School.

Known on the dance floor as “America’s best loved couple,” Melanie LaPatin and Tony Meredith represented the U.S. for over a decade at the World Latin American Dance Championships and have won the world’s most prestigious ballroom dance titles. As seen on season three of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” they have choreographed some of the most memorable pieces of dance for both film and television. They are the artistic directors and founders of Dance Times Square Studio in New York City.

After only five years performing with the Giordano Jazz Dance Company, Jon Lehrer was promoted to associate director, working alongside Artistic Director Nan Giordano. In addition to his works for GJDC, he has choreographed for dance companies around the world, including Thodos Dance Chicago, Le Jazz Groupe of Monterrey, Mexico and Kannon Dance of St. Petersburg, Russia. He continues to teach master classes throughout the U.S. and abroad, serves on the faculty of the Jazz Dance World Congress, Dance Masters of America and Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, and is a guest artist at numerous colleges around the country. In July 2007, he founded his new dance company LehrerDance.

Julian Littleford was a principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company for eight years. After studying and teaching Pilates with Alan Herdman in London in the 1970s, Littleford became a founding member of the Physical Mind Institute and a corporate member of the Pilates Method Alliance. He has operated his own studio in California since 1990 and was the athletic trainer for Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion tour.

Andrea Markus received her master’s of art in dance and dance education from New York University. She has studied dance and drumming with the masters of the national companies Les Ballets Africains and Ballet Djoliba in West Africa and currently co-directs and dances with Magbana Drum & Dance in New York City. Markus has taught West African dance to students in grades K–12 and now teaches African-based modern dance at NYU.

With more than 30 years of experience in the dance and entertainment industries, Pat-Y-O has choreographed, staged and directed for top companies and artists on film and television in the U.S. and Mexico. As a master teacher of hip hop and Latin, his teaching credits include Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, New York Dance Experience and International Teachers of Dance, Inc. In addition, Pat-Y-O has produced two instructional videos entitled “Off Da Hook” and “Hip-Hop You Don’t Stop.”

A graduate of the National Ballet School of Canada, Judy Rice has performed extensively with The Joffrey Ballet, The National Tap Dance Company of Canada and American Ballet Comedy. She has 20 years of experience teaching for regional companies and festivals, as well as for The Joffrey Ballet School, The Joffrey Ballet, Steps on Broadway, Broadway Dance Center and Peridance. Since 1990, she has been an associate professor of dance at the University of Michigan.

Bob Rizzo recently received the Artistic Achievement Award from Chicago National Association of Dance Masters. One of the leading producers of educational dance videos in America, his videos feature the techniques and choreography of some of the latest and most influential choreographers working today. Aside from teaching master classes worldwide, he has taught for the undergraduate program at New York University, as well as professional classes at Steps on Broadway.

Best known for her extensive repertory of dances, choreographed in collaboration with children, Ellen Robbins has been teaching dance since 1966. She has taught dance education at Sarah Lawrence College and is a guest lecturer around the country and abroad. She has been on the faculties of the 92nd St. Y, Bennington College July program and ArtsConnection, a performance arts project of public school children, and has directed the Young Dancers School at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina. Her numerous awards include the 1993 Arts in Education Round Table Award and a 1986 Bessie (New York Dance and Performance Award) for her work with children.

Cathy Roe is the owner of Cathy Roe Video Productions, which has produced more than 150 internationally distributed instructional dance videos, and Cathy Roe’s Ultimate Dance Competition and Convention. Her credits include serving as dance director for the University of Hawaii, choreographer for Hong Kong television, studio owner, master teacher for numerous organizations and musical theater choreographer.

An Emmy-nominated choreographer, Gregg Russell has danced in, directed and choreographed for movies, commercials, television shows and music videos. Russell teaches at EDGE Performing Arts in Hollywood, has his own corporation, 3D Dance Network, Inc., and directs the L.A.-based tap company Tap Sounds Underground.

Germaine Salsberg is renowned for expertise in teaching tap technique to all levels. Currently on the faculty at Broadway Dance Center and NYU'S Musical Theatre program at Steinhardt School of Education, she has privately coached stars of Broadway and film. She is a frequent guest teacher throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Mexico, and has taught for Dance Masters, Dance Educators, NYC Dance Alliance, and NAADA. As assistant to Tony Award winner Danny Daniels, she trained the child dancers for the Broadway and tour productions of The Tap Dance Kid. Besides her own concert work, she has choreographed productions of Anything Goes, 42nd Street, Crazy For You and Dames at Sea and assisted Richard Sabellico on George M!

Diane Smagatz-Rawlinson has been involved in InterPlay for Youth for nearly 20 years and was one of the first certified leaders of the work worldwide. She holds a BS from Ohio State in dance education and an MFA in performance and choreography from UW-Madison. She taught college level dance for seven years before becoming the dance teacher at Wheeling High School in Illinois in 1991. She has been a writer/contributing editor/advisory board member for Dance Teacher and Dance Spirit magazines since 1997.

Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards has been a part of almost every major tap movie or show that has appeared since the 80's, including Tap with Gregory Hines. In addition to opening the Harlem Tap Studio in New York City, she continues to appear as a special guest for shows and festivals around the world. She is the Tap Advisor for Dance Magazine and the official Tap Spokesperson for Capezio/Ballet Makers, Inc. Her extensive stage credits include Broadway, off-Broadway and the international tours of shows such as Black and Blue, the Tony Award-winning Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk and Imagine Tap! Currently filming for MTV’s hit television series MADE, her choreography can be seen in the show TAAP: The Art & Appreciation of Percussion which premiered in NYC in 2002, and in Michael Jackson's music video “Rock Your World.”

Deborah Vogel is a dancer, master teacher and author whose numerous articles on dance technique and injury prevention have appeared in Dance Spirit, Pointe and Dance Teacher magazines. Vogel co-founded the Center for Dance Medicine in NYC. A faculty member at Oberlin College and the OC Conservatory of Music, she currently writes the free injury-prevention newsletter Dancing Smart.

More to come. Check back for announcements!