Those who took Akira Uchida’s contemporary class in New York City last summer learned a high-energy combination to share with their students back home. Uchida’s style infuses contemporary with an influence of jazz and hip hop, and he danced full-out in front of the class to demonstrate. A popular faculty member with JUMP convention, Uchida […]
With a World Championship title in Latin Ballroom, Erica Marr charmed NYC Dance Teacher Summit participants with a spicy combination that focused on Latin action and leg awareness, along with elements of jazz dance. Marr grew up as a studio competition dancer and specializes in how to increase studio dancers’ versatility with the basic principles […]
Joanne Chapman gave an entertaining rendition of what not to say during a parent/studio director conversation at the New York City Dance Teacher Summit. This panel was created by our team of studio-owner ambassadors, including Chapman and Dani Rosenberg, Becca Moore, Carole Royal, Sue Sampson-Dalena and Jody Phillips. While we enjoyed laughing at the absurd […]
Martin Harvey brought a little movie star charm into morning ballet class at our New York Dance Teacher Summit. (His acting credits include Gossip Girls, All My Children, Dirty Dancing, A Chorus Line, Carousel, plus Metropolitan Opera productions of Carmen and Manon Lescaut.) Educated at the Royal Ballet School in London, he danced many principal […]
Ask Michele Larkin-Wagner and Molly Larkin-Symanietz what sets them and Maplewood, Minnesota–based Larkin Dance Studio apart, and they immediately give the credit to their mom. Shirley Larkin founded the school in 1950 and continued to oversee the growing business until she passed away in 2011. “She put Minnesota on the map for dance training and […]
In Macarena Gandarillas’ jazz class at California State University, Fullerton, a sign in the studio reads, “Never underestimate the power of determination.” This simple mantra embodies what has made this self-described “danceaholic” such an impactful teacher. When Gandarillas came to Los Angeles at age 6 with her family from Santiago, Chile, the language barrier was […]
It was the morning of November 8, 2018, and Jarrah Myles’ first-period choreography students were in last-minute rehearsals for their fall dance concert that evening. “All of a sudden my students’ phones started ringing like crazy,” says Myles, a teacher at Inspire School of Arts and Sciences, a Chico, California, high school whose dance and […]
While taking class in 2006, Marisa Hamamoto felt a tingling sensation in her elbows, then suddenly collapsed to the floor. She was hospitalized and diagnosed with spinal cord infarction, a rare spinal stroke that left her paralyzed from the neck down. Despite being told by her doctor that she may never walk again, let alone […]
When Lisa Johnson-Willingham isn’t at our Dance Teacher Summit teaching the lateral Ts, flat backs and pelvic hinges that are the hallmarks of Horton technique, she directs the Ailey Extension, offering a schedule of open community classes in New York City at the Joan Weill Center for Dance. Before beginning her arts education career, Johnson-Willingham […]
Tapper Anthony Morigerato is known for his crazy-fast feet. In fact, he holds the world record for “most tap sounds in one minute”—1,163, if you’re wondering. He has performed with Michael Minery’s Tapaholics, the musical group Matt and Anthony, Stacey Tookey’s Still Motion, and on several television shows. Here in this photo, he’s sharing some […]