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Faculty
Vladimir Angelov - Choreography/Composition
Vladimir Angelov graduated from the National Ballet School in Sofia, Bulgaria, studied philosophy at the University of Sofia, and completed his Master of Arts at American University. Mr. Angelov s dances have been shown at New Choreographers on Pointe in New York, Paris International Dance Festival, Vienna TanzFest, Kyoto Fall Arts Festival, and the Latin America Ballet Festival in Puerto Rico. He has choreographed new works for American companies such as CityDance Ensemble, Atlanta Ballet, Arizona Ballet, Indianapolis Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Washington Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet, as well as international companies such as Ballet Manila, Alberta Ballet, Nagoya Ballet Theater, Tokyo City Ballet, and Kirov Ballet. In addition, Mr. Angelov has choreographed for Placido Domingo s Washington National Opera productions of Samson et Dalila, I Vespri Siciliani, and Trilogy; the Kennedy Center's musical production of Debbie Allen's Soul Possessed; the Stanislavky Theater s production of Brothers Karamazov; and dances for TV advertisements with Hollywood director Mark Cartie. Mr. Angelov has received many distinguished awards including the Choreography Award for the 1996 Varna International Ballet Competition in Bulgaria and the 2000 Choreography Fellowship Award of the Washington Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Julian Barnett - Professional Modern (Guest Teacher)
Julian Barnett is a Japanese born, New York based choreographer, performer, and teacher. Hailed as a “New York Innovator", Julian founded his Julian Barnett Project in 2005 as an outlet to explore his own individual perspective of physical art.
Born in Tokyo, Japan and raised in California, where he grew up breakdancing, Julian attended the Idyllwild Arts Academy and continued his training in New York at the Joffrey Ballet School and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. His first work, FLOAT, originally premiered in 2003 at the La Mama Theater (NY) and eventually was acquired into the repertory of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Recent commissions include: ORIGIN - Dance New Amsterdam (NY), ECHOLOGUE - SUNY Purchase Conservatory (NY), I DON'T WANT TO FEEL A THING - Bates Dance Festival (ME), and SOUND MEMORY - Danspace Project (NY). Other major presentations include: Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (MA), The Hong Kong Cultural Center (China), SEAD Theater (Austria), and Dance Theater Workshop (NY), amongst others.
As a dancer he has had the privilege of working in the companies of Lar Lubovitch, Doug Elkins, Larry Keigwin, Johannes Wieland, Wally Cardona, and The Metropolitan Opera Ballet. He continually enjoys choreographing for film, video, and theater, and co-founded Alexander Productions, a film production team that focuses and encourages choreographic films. As a teacher he has taught master classes at numerous universities, international conservatories, and continues teaching at Dance New Amsterdam in New York. For more info. visit: www.julianbarnett.com
Culture Shock - Hip Hop
Culture Shock is a non-profit youth outreach organization and professional dance company that teaches hip hop classes at CityDance Center. They are dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles, physical fitness, and community involvement through the power of hip hop music and dance. Culture Shock dancers are trained in foundational and contemporary styles of hip hop dance. Local, national and international dance instructors introduce new and exciting choreography at their weekly company classes which are open to the public and held at the CityDance Center.
Vladimir Djouloukhadze - Ballet
Biography to come.
Elizabeth Gahl - Ballet
Elizabeth Gahl is a graduate of Georgetown University with a BA in Psychology with minors in Theology and Pre-Medicine. As a scholarship student at the Washington School of Ballet, she frequently danced with the Washington Ballet Company in soloist and corps de ballet roles and performed principal roles in school productions. Awards and recognitions include the Lisa Gardiner Scholarship Award from the Washington School of Ballet, the Grand Prix Award at the Philadelphia Regional Competition of Youth America Grand Prix in 2002, and WUSA-TV's Amazing Kids in 2001. Ms. Gahl's choreography has been performed at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater and Millenium Stage, the Youth America Grand Prix Competition, and the Peabody Institute's Spring Showcase at Friedberg Hall. She is thrilled to be a part of the CityDance team working to share and celebrate our love of dance.
Alana Hill - Hip Hop Alana Hill is a local dancer, choreographer and arts educator/administrator. Her passion for dance is cultivated through an unstoppable craving for performance. She has been teaching since 2005, and has held teaching faculty and management positions at CityDance Center, Joy of Motion Dance Center, and Sports Club LA. As a choreographer and performer, Alana has presented work at several noteworthy events, such as Dance Bethesda, Metro DC Dance Awards Opening Ceremony, Maryland Dance Festival, and the Annual MLK Festival hosted by WPGC. In addition to Alana's love of dance and performance, her additional talent lies within her ability to envision an idea and see it to fruition. She loves to create both on stage and off, and has founded her own arts support and production company, Expansion Dance Project, LLC. Through Expansion Dance Project, Alana recently produced a very successful 7 show run of the hit musical The Wiz, and will be presenting Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf" this spring.
Gottaswing - Swing
Gottaswing is the largest swing-only dance instruction company in the United States, teaching a family of swing dances ranging from the Charleston to the Jitterbug. Gotta Swing caters to dancers of all ages and experience levels, and focuses on teaching social swing dance that is easy to use in real-life situations. Visit their website at www.gottaswing.com.
Roudolf Kharatian - Professional Ballet
Roudolf Kharatian was principal dancer with the National Ballet of Armenia from 1967 to 1990, performing all the great leading roles of the classical repertoire. A star of five films, he also toured extensively with the Bolshoi Ballet and Stars of Russian Ballet. From 1979 to 1991, he was Artistic Director of the Chamber Ballet of Armenia. Kharatian is a graduate of the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, where he studied under the great Pushkin alongside classmate Baryshnikov. He also holds a Master’s Degree from the Moscow University of Theater Arts (GITIS), with a specialization in pedagogy, choreography and stage production. Kharatian was named Artist Emeritus in 1974 and is the recipient of numerous medals and awards as dancer, choreographer and teacher including consecutive Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards for Choreography (1997, 1999, 2001). A frequent guest teacher and coach, Kharatian has taught for the American Ballet Theatre, Kirov-Maryinsky Ballet, Boston Ballet, The Washington Ballet, the North Carolina School of the Arts, Tulsa Ballet, the Debra Colker Dance Company, the Youth Ballet of Brazil, Les Ballets Classiques de Montreal, and Ballet Divertimento Montreal, among others, and served as guest faculty at Johns Hopkins University's Peabody Preparatory and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He served on the faculty of Washington’s Kirov Academy for three years before being invited by Mary Day to join the Washington School of Ballet faculty in 1994 where he is currently senior principal teacher. Kharatian is a specialist of advanced classical technique, particularly of men’s technique, partnering and classical repertoire. His students have gone on to successful careers with major companies including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Washington Ballet, the Dutch National Ballet, the English National Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and the Kirov-Maryinsky Ballet. He has trained and coached many award-winning competitors, principal dancers and soloists including Rasta Thomas, Michele Wiles, Adrienne Canterna, Daniela Severian, Shingo Yoshimoto, Bhat Udval, Michele Jimenez, Jonathan Jordan, Nelly Beliakaite, John Gardner, Sascha Radetsky, Zack Hench, Oscar Hawkins, Sona Kharatian, Hagop Kharatian, Anton Pankevich, and Philip Deal. An award-winning choreographer, Kharatian is the creator of over 100 original works ranging from avant-garde/experimental to classical. His ballets have been performed on many stages worldwide including the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Lincoln Center in New York, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, and the Place des Arts in Montreal. His choreographic credits include full-length story ballets and countless one-act ballets and concert pieces. Kharatian is also the Artistic Director of ARKA Ballet (www.arkaballet.org) in Washington, D.C. In addition to his work in ballet, Roudolf Kharatian is also a successful visual artist (www.roudolfkharatian.com). His works are in private collections in the United States, Canada, France, Great Britain, South Africa and Armenia.
Brittany Kneussl - Pre-Ballet Brittany Kneussl grew up in Kingsville, Md. Ms. Kneussl’s love for dance began at the age of two at a local studio and was constant through high school. Ms. Kneussl continued her dance education at George Mason University where she received her B.F.A. in Dance and was awarded the honor of Overall Outstanding Achievement in the major. Ms. Kneussl’s summers were spent in New York City studying on scholarship at Tisch School of the Arts Summer Dance Program and The Paul Taylor Intensive. Ms. Kneussl has worked with choreographers such as Lar Lubovitch, Doug Varone, David Parsons, Danny Bureaczski, Kate Skarpetowska, as well as local choreographers Susan Shields and Dan Joyce. After studying dance in New York City, Ms. Kneussl came back to the D.C. area to pursue her dream of teaching dance in an outreach environment. Ms. Kneussl is currently teaching for the CityDance Early Arts D.R.E.A.M program and creative movement and pre- ballet at CityDance Center at Strathmore. Ms. Kneussl also teaches at the Dawn Crafton Dance Center.
Nancy Newell - Tap
Nancy Newell has been teaching dance for more than 40 years and has a background in theater from Northwestern University. She has taught internationally as well as throughout the United States. During her career, she has choreographed more than 30 musicals. In 1998 Ms. Newell was curator of the Smithsonian series, The Women of Tap with special guest Ann Miller. In 1999 she coordinated the Smithsonian series, The Legends of Tap with Rusty Frank, Fred Kelly, and special guest Baakari Wilder. She co-sponsored the 1999 DC MetroTap Festival and has sponsored the Washington, D.C. area TAP FEST program for the past nine years. In 2002 Ms. Newell performed and taught master classes in the Czech Republic where she represented DC in the The Prague, DC, Philadelphia Tap Festival. In 2003 she returned to Prague to help celebrate National Tap Dance Day with tap dancers from around the world. In 2004 Ms. Newell traveled to Bergerac, France to teach workshops at Ecole de Danse Desha/Simone Moulin and then to Kyiv, Ukraine to teach master classes at Volodomyr Shpudeiko's Jazz Tap Dance Studio. Ms. Newell is a driving force in the D.C. metropolitan dance community. She recently spearheaded the Metro-DC Tribute to Gregory Hines. In June of 1999, she opened DC Dance Collective as a center for creativity and collaboration.
Joseph Nontanovan- Hip Hop
Born and raised in the DC metro area, Joseph Nontanovan is currently the artistic
director of Culture Shock, D.C. dance troupe; a non-profit youth outreach organization and professional dance company. Under Mr. Nontanovan’s direction, Culture Shock won the 2006 DC Metro Dance Award for Best Emerging Performer or Group. Together they have organized the biggest hip-hop community event in the nation’s capital, the “East Coast Dance Competition”, having now completed its fourth year of production. Mr. Nontanovan has performed all over the United States and overseas, opened for Omarion and Marques Houston, and was a featured dancer in the Touchstone Pictures film, "Step Up". Mr. Nontanovan has presented work at the historic Lincoln Theater as well as at the Kennedy Center, taught workshops in Switzerland and Croatia, and has had the pleasure of working with such choreographers as Paul Emerson, Kelly Mayfield, Aysha Upchurch, Toni Czar, Luam, and Meisha Bosma. Last winter Mr. Nontanovan ran the 2006 Honolulu Marathon, through which he proudly raised funds towards the local Whitman-Walker AIDS Clinic. Mr. Nontanovan current choreographic projects include CityDance’s “Jungle Books” and a new work for the 3rd Annual Capitol Movement Project.
Alexandre Paraskevas - Yoga
Alexandre Paraskevas received his teaching credentials while studying Kundalini Yoga under the late Yogi Bhajan in New Mexico. Mr. Paraskevas worked with many teachers including Dahrma Mittra and John Schumacher and recently dedicated himself to teaching yoga as a full time occupation. He teaches hatha (sun and moon) yoga - balancing mind, body and spirit. His motivation comes from helping individuals overcome limitations and connect to nature. He has a Bachelor's of Arts in Political Science, Economics and Environmental Studies from McGill University in Montreal. Having taught at various studios in Northern California and the DC area (Balance Studio, Four Seasons Hotel), Mr. Paraskevas is currently teaching at the French Embassy and Northwest Sport and Health Club where he offers classes in Basic Yoga, developing self awareness in the Iyengar tradition, and more advanced flow yoga, deeply influenced by Ashtanga Yoga. He also teaches the Women's Lacrosse Varsity Team at the University of Maryland a more restorative yoga where some time is spent in meditation.
Helen Rea - Modern
Helen Rea was first influenced by her mother, who performed with Hanya Holm and Martha Graham. Ms. Rea performed for 8 years with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and co-directed Duets, etc., a modern dance repertory company that performed a diverse body of work including dances by local choreographers Liz Lerman, Sally Nash, and Cathy Paine, as well as non-local dancers Marta Renzi, Hannah Kahn, Victoria Marks, and Kei Takei. Duets, etc. performed extensively in junior and senior high schools under the auspices of Young Audiences of Washington, D.C. In her 25 years as a dance educator, Ms. Rea has developed her own unique style of teaching that incorporates her interest in body therapies and movement education as well as her broad background in modern dance. She was greatly influenced by the Bartenieff Fundamentals and her training as a certified teacher of The Alexander Technique. These gave her new insight into what is really important about teaching students to dance with less strain and greater fluidity. She began studying Craniosacral Therapy in the early 1980s and discovered more ways of gaining greater ease and comfort. In 2001, Ms. Rea completed an additional two-year program and is currently an RCST, Registered Craniosacral Therapist. She maintains a private practice in Silver Spring, Maryland and at The Center for Natural Cures in Bethesda, Maryland.
Chitra Subramanian - Hip Hop
Chitra Subramanian grew up in Pittsburgh and has been teaching hip-hop dance classes for over 5 years. She was formally trained in Bharathanatyam, a South Indian dance style, for over 10 years. Ms. Subramanian recently completed her Masters of Arts in Arts Management at American University and is currently working at a nonprofit youth organization in Columbia Heights in the District. She has taught classes at DC Dance Collective, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, Facilitating Leadership in Youth, and the Patricia M. Sitar Center for the Arts. She has also choreographed for community-based theater performances and has conducted hip-hop dance workshops at various schools and youth organizations.
Diana Tokaji - Yoga
Diana Tokaji received her first teaching certification in 1984 from the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco under Swami Nischalananda. She continued her studies at the Iyengar Institute with masters Judith Lasater, Arthur Kilmurray, and Donna Farhi, and later in the Anusara tradition with John Friend. In 1996, Ms. Tokaji completed certification as a Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy practitioner and in 1998 received her Pilates Mat certification. She began the yoga programs at Joy of Motion and Gallaudet University and established the Pilates program with Roberta Stiehm at Willow Street Yoga Center where she taught yoga fulltime for five years. She taught seniors for Montgomery County Department of Recreation and currently specializes in one-on-one sessions for individuals with a range of special needs. A dancer and published writer, Ms. Tokaji is the mother of two boys and a lifetime student of Gurumayi Chidvilasananda.
Marylove Ward - Creative Movement, Early Childhood Dance Marylove Ward graduated from Winthrop University, SC in 2004 with a BS in Biology and minors in Dance and Social Science. Presently she is a dancer with Dance Antonini in DC and performs in other independent projects in the area. She has had dance training in a number of styles and has studied under professionals from the Kirov ballet, Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham dance company, NYC ballet, Jack Clark, Amy Marshall Dance Company, and others. Her primary dance education, at Stetson University Academy of the Arts, FL, allowed her to perform with an outreach ballet company where she held several lead roles and solos. Ms. Ward continued to pursue dance in college and performed in a variety of auditioned works from local and guest artists, as well as showcase her own choreography. After relocating to DC, she continued her commitment to dance outreach through her work as a dance educator and dance administrator in the D.A.R.E., D.R.E.A.M., and residency programs of CityDance and Dance Place. Ms. Ward teaches pre-jazz at the CityDance Center at Strathmore and continues to work in various dance outreach programs in the DC community.
Michael Ward - Tai Chi
Michael Ward has been studying and practicing Tai Chi for more than twenty-five years. He is a senior student of Robert Smith, the first Western student of Professor Cheng Man-ch ing, a renowned master of Tai Chi. Professor Cheng was not only a master of Tai Chi Chuan, but was regarded as a Master of the Five Excellences: medicine, painting, poetry, calligraphy and Tai Chi. Mr. Smith and Professor Cheng co-authored one of the first English language texts on Tai Chi. Mr. Ward has also studied the sword form of Tai Chi for sixteen years with Maggie Newman, another of Professor Cheng's senior students in New York City. In addition to his background in Tai Chi, Mr. Ward is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland. He has worked with children and families for more than twenty years in delinquency prevention and early intervention. He has used therapeutic adventure (rock-climbing, caving, high ropes, and white-water boating) and movement extensively in his work. He teaches Tai Chi primarily as a health exercise with the focus on relaxation and ease in the movements. Michael approaches Tai Chi as a mind-body exercise in which learning the movements is just the beginning. By quieting the mind, students develop a deeper awareness of how and where they hold tension. As students progress, Tai Chi concepts like Balance and Centering are directed as much to the mind as to the physical body. Mr. Ward s experience, background and training have given him a unique perspective on the value and benefits of Tai Chi in today's stressful environments.
Vikki Weinberger - Jazz
Vikki Weinberger has adored dancing since the age of two, began teaching dance at age thirteen, and now teaches by focusing on tap, jazz, music theater dance, ballet, and hip hop with a strong emphasis on rhythm tap. Originally from New Jersey, she received a scholarship in 1999 to Broadway Dance Center in New York City and has studied with Mike Minery, Jason Samuels, and Savion Glover. Now in DC, Vikki has performed, choreographed, and taught for a variety of venues. Since 2000, she has been tapping with Heidi Shultz's company "Tappening," has taught and performed hip hop with "Jam Crew's" outreach program, and has choreographed many works for American University's "AU In Motion." Vikki loves being a teacher and finds joy inspiring others to also be passionate about dance.
Helanius Wilkins - Professional Modern (Guest Teacher)
Helanius J. Wilkins, a native of Lafayette LA, is an award winning choreographer, performance artist, and instructor based in Washington, DC. Mr. Wilkins is the Founder and Artistic Director of EDGEWORKS Dance Theater (EDT), DC's first ever all-male contemporary dance ensemble of predominately African-American men. Mr. Wilkins is the first two-time recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Local Dance Commissioning Project, an award he received in 2006 and 2002; and the 2001 Metro DC Dance Emerging Choreographer award. In addition to performing the works of several choreographers including Robert Moses, Kevin Wynn, Troy Powell, Earl Mosley, Joy Kellman, and Gesel Mason, Mr. Wilkins has enjoyed creating, presenting, and receiving commissions for choreography throughout the United States. Mr. Wilkins' choreography has been commissioned and included in the repertories of the Instruments of Movement (Chicago), Slippery Rock University (Pennsylvania), Dance Institute of Washington (District of Columbia), Oakland Dance Theatre Repertory Company (Michigan), and Stephens College (Missouri), where he was selected as the Emerging Choreographer for Summer Festival 2001. Bates Dance Festival, a premier US dance festival, named him the 2002 Emerging Choreographer. Wilkins made his international debut as a choreographer and performer in December 2000 at the Monaco Danses Dances Forum in Monaco. Foundations and organizations including The Meredith Foundation, Regional Arts Commission, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts have supported Wilkins' work. Mr. Wilkins is a much sought-after instructor who teaches professional and pre-professional dancers, as well as students of various ages and levels of skill. He has served as an adjudicator and master teacher at American College Dance Festivals in 2004 and 2005. Mr. Wilkins is a former Associate Artistic Director of the Dance Institute of Washington. Mr. Wilkins is currently on faculty at Joy of Motion Dance Center. Most recently he has held Guest Artist positions American University and the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Alice Wylie - Pre-ballet
Alice Wylie, originally from Maryland, began her ballet training there while spending summers at Washington Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet. Ms. Wylie has trained extensively under Dawei Zhang, Suzanne Farrell, Violette Verdy and Truman Finney. Ms. Wylie graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor's of Science in Ballet and French from Indiana University. Ms. Wylie has danced with Ballet Austin, Kim Robards Dance, DanceSmith, and is in her fourth season with CityDance Ensemble with whom she has performed internationally. Alice is a certified Vinyasa yoga instructor and also teaches ballet throughout the DC area.
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