WIDT Performances & Events

The Nutcracker
Friday, December 5th
Saturday, December 6th
Sunday, December 7th
Friday, December 12th
Saturday, December 13th
Sunday, December 14th

 

Box Office (360) 341-2221
Ken's Korner Mall

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Member of Regional Dance America/Pacific

 

About the Artistic Directors

Charlene Brown, founder and Co-Artistic Director of Whidbey Dance Theatre as well as co-owner of Island Dance, brings nearly 40 years of dance experience to her studios. Charlene studied with Ray Bussey and other nationally known teachers, and was a member of the Tacoma Performing Dance Company under the direction of Jo Emery. Her choreography has been seen in numerous Seattle area musical and dance productions. Charlene Brown began her dance studios, Island Dance, on Whidbey Island in 1987.  She is committed to offering the highest possible level of dance education and professional instructors to her students. Through many years of perseverance, Charlene has provided the opportunity for thousands of dancers to further their education.  Many of her students have gone on to college and received degrees in dance, while many more of her students have won individual titles and honors in dance.  Charlene has also worked extensively in musical productions and in directing them with children.  She is an artistic advisor to Whidbey Children’s Theatre.  In 1993, extending her commitment to the art of choreography, Charlene's dream of a pre-professional dance company became a reality in Whidbey Dance Theatre. As co-artistic director and production manager, she has overseen 12 productions of The Nutcracker, 2 of The Snow Queen and annual WDT spring concerts. Charlene also performs character roles and choreographs for The Nutcracker and is advisor to the WDT Board of Directors. In 2001, Whidbey Dance Theatre became a member of RDA.
Susan Campbell Sandri has danced and choreographed for ballet, modern, jazz, ballroom, tap and musical theatre companies, and for stage, television, video and film. Trained in California, her most influential teachers were Bella Lewitzky (Horton), Tim Wengard (Graham), Jeanne Isaacs (Nikolai), Mangrove (contact improve), Sally Streets (Balanchine), Margaret Hills (Cecchetti), Jeanne Flood (Loring), and Ron & Carol Montez (ballroom and latin). She holds a PhD in Dance Sciences and Administration of Higher Education, a Masters degree in Dance Education and Kinesiology, and a BA in Physical Education with a Dance specialization. She is also certified in Pilates dance conditioning and rehabilitation by the Center for Sports Medicine at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco.
Dr. Sandri moved to Whidbey Island in 1999 having retired early from the tenured faculty of the College of the Arts at San Francisco State University. She has also taught for multiple dance companies and schools, and for 7 other universities and colleges including UC San Diego, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Northern Virginia at Annandale, and the University of Southern California where she was Director of Dance Education. She has published and presented many papers in dance medicine and education at the international and national levels, specializing in the proper biomechanics of dance technique, the etiology of dance injuries, and the rehabilitation of muscular imbalances in dancers.
Dr. Sandri has directed several college and professional dance companies, including her own San Francisco area pick-up company for 10 years. She began working with Whidbey Island Dance Theatre during Nutcracker in 2000.  Sandri' s choreography has been selected for performance at the RDA Festivals in Salt Lake City in 2001, the 2002 Festival in Torrance, CA., the 2003 Festival in Everett, the 2004 Festival in Tuscon, AZ, and the 2007 National Festival in Pittsburgh, PA.  Sandri’s choreography has also been seen in multiple venues in and around San Francisco, Oakland/Berkeley, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and the Puget Sound.  WIDT invited Susan to become co-Artistic Director in March 2002.

Choreographer Biographies

Laurentia Barbu  By the age of 9, Laurentia was practicing and studying dance theory 30 hours per week. She completed her training by graduating from the National School of Choreography and from the National University of Drama and Cinematographic Arts (Bucharest, Romania) where she also worked as assistant professor of dance composition in the undergraduate department. As a dancer, Laurentia performed with both classical and modern dance ensembles including Bucharest National Opera (Bucharest, Romania), Ajkun Ballet Theatre (Mantova, Italy) and the Moving Academy for Performing Arts (Amsterdam, The Netherlands).  Her works as choreographer or dancer received recognition in major dance and theater festivals in Romania, Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and the Netherlands. In Romania, Laurentia also created choreographies for film and television, worked as music videos producer and hosted a television show focused on performing arts. Her work has been qualified by the media as unique, innovative and daring. Laurentia recently immigrated to the United Sates. She continues to follow her dreams as dancer, choreographer, and dance teacher in the great Pacific Northwest area.
Andrea Binder’s love of dance began at age five when she put on a tutu and refused to take it off! Ever since then her life has been filled with dancing. After many workshops at the University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with Bill T. Jones, David Parsons, and Alvin Ailey, she moved on to Chicago where she trained on scholarships with Joseph Holmes and Hubbard St. before going on to perform with Touch Ensemble Dance Company.   In Portland, Oregon, she taught jazz, modern, hip hop and funk at many studios. Her next passion became combining all these styles of dance into one and forming a dance company called Dance Groove.  Now, a new Seattle resident, she is excited to teach at Whidbey’s Island Dance Studio. Her classes this fall will be a fusion of jazz, hip hop, modern and funk with unique, athletic choreography to all sorts of music.
Jennifer Bondelid began her dance career studying ballet with Alexandra Zacharias at the Alexandria School of Ballet in St. Louis.  She continued with ballet as well as tap, jazz, lyrical, and character at the Krupinski Academy of Dance.  She studied flamenco dance in Spain, and was awarded a full merit scholarship to the St. Louis Cultural Flamenco Society, where she became a company member, performing there for two years.  At Principia College, Jennifer was a student teacher under Joy Baker of the St. Louis Ballet, and she studied dance history and teaching methodology.  After graduating, she taught at the St. Louis Ballet’s company school under Gen Hiroshi and Antoni Zalewski.
Leigh-Ann Cohen-Hafford received her early training in Johannesburg, South Africa from where, at age 14, she debuted her dance career with a tour to Europe and the Middle East. She earned her Advanced Diploma in Spanish dance from the South African Spanish Dance Society. She later received a diploma in Dance Training from George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. Cohen was Artistic Director of Conservatory Ballet of Washington and Director of the Ballet Department at Washington Academy of Performing Arts for several years as well as a ballet and Spanish dance instructor. Prior to this role, she served as a dance faculty member at Oakland University, Michigan. Ms Cohen's teaching experience was enhanced by her role as assistant coach with Ballet British Columbia where she danced for many years. She has had the privilege of teaching student and professional dancers in Canada and the United States. She has a Diploma in Dance Training and an Advanced Diploma in Spanish dance. Cohen has performedand  toured internationally  with a number of companies in North America including Ballet British Columbia, Ballet Jurgen, Metropolitan Ballet Theater, and Pennsylvania Ballet.  Her performing career included principal roles in several Balanchine ballets, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, a Midsummer's Night Dream and works by some of the most eminent contemporary choreographers such as Ashton, Butler, Cranko, Tetley, and Forsythe.  In 1989 she was honored to be chosen for the lead role in the Canadian premiere of William Forsythe's "In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated."   Ms. Cohen has choreographed numerous pieces including works for Ballet British Columbia's Choreographic Workshop and for Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet's Choreoplan. Her works have been performed at RDA festivals including Gala Night performances in 1994 and 1999.
Leslie Larch began dancing at age 8. Her training and career is diverse, from studying with San Francisco Ballet to working with the Moulin Rouge in Paris, to opening for Ben Vereen and Joel Gray in Monte Carlo.  She earned a BFA in dance from Cornish College of the Arts, and an elementary teaching certificate from Western Washington University. She worked in the Vancouver School District as a Creative Dance Specialist until an injury prompted study in kinesthetic education. Along with instructing at Island Dance, she is currently teaching and training in Stott Pilates at Island Pilates Center located on south Whidbey Island.
Jamee Pitts was a student of Island Dance since she was three. Now 23, Jamee is teaching her own very popular Lyrical classes. Jamee has performed in many WIDT Spring Concerts, Nutcracker productions, as well as The Snow Queen. She performed in several group and solo jazz competitions, winning high silvers. In 2003, Jamee's piece was chosen to perform at Regional Dance American/Pacific in the emerging choreographer category. Jamee enjoys teaching Lyrical/Hip Hop at Island Dance and being a Mom, and has choreographed for WIDT for the past several years.
Susan Vanderwood has studied and performed in Boston, New York, Dallas, Lake Tahoe, L.A., and Eugene.  She studied jazz with Phil Black, Chuck Kelly, Luigi and JoJo Smith. She has studied ballet with Finis Jhung, Nadine Ravine of American Ballet Theatre, and Stefan Wenta of the Royal Danish Ballet. She performed in the 2nd and 3rd Annual disco awards shows, the Riverside Dance Festival, Oregon Dance Theatre, and a nightclub tour.  She has spent the last ten years raising seven children on Whidbey Island, teaching dance, and choreographing for Whidbey Dance Theatre, musicals, and jazz dance competition teams.
Danielle Wilkins is from Kentucky where she trained for ten years at the Louisville Ballet. She received her BFA degree in Dance Pedagogy from the University of Hartford. During her study Danielle performed at the Kennedy Center as a soloist in Jean Grand Maitre's Uroborus. She has worked professionally with Rebecca Kelly Ballet, Mary Seidman and Dancers, Mimi Garrard Dance Company, Steven Koplowitz, Marco Carrabba, Thought Forms Dance Company, and DASSdance. Danielle has just completed her second season with Spectrum Dance Theater under the direction of Donald Byrd, and is leaving to dance more fully with DASSdance which is directed by her husband, Daniel.  Danielle was an emerging choreographer in 2007.
Daniel Wilkins began training at Olympic Ballet in Seattle, going on to attend the School of American Ballet where he danced principal roles in works by Balanchine at Lincoln Center in the graduating Workshop. For 2 years he danced under the direction of Patricia Wilde at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Returning to NYC, Wilkins joined Donald Byrd/The Group, performing featured roles in Life Situations, the Harlem Nutcracker, and Carmina Burana. Daniel danced principal roles with Complexions during its first international tour to Brazil. For 4 years he has worked with the Outlaws under the direction of NYCB’s Melinda Roy. In 2000, Daniel was chosen to join Suzanne Farrell Stages Masters of the Twentieth Century Ballet, which performed at the Kennedy Center, the New Victory Theater NYC, and other locations. Mr. Wilkins currently performs as a guest artist with Spectrum Dance Theater directed by Donald Byrd, and with Olympic Ballet where he is currently Associate Artistic Director. Daniel is in his 4th season as Artistic Director of a NYC contemporary dance company, danielandsomesuperfriends Inc. To find out more about this company visit www.dassdance.org

Recent Guest and Emerging Choreographers

Vera Altunina is a renowned choreographer and ballet master from St. Petersburg, Russia.  She graduated from the Vaganova School in 1981. She went on to the Leningrad College of Cultural Education earning degrees Performing Arts Direction and Pedagogy.  While dancing professionally, she continued graduate studies at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory earning an MA in Choreography and Ballet Direction.  Her extensive performing credentials include both classical and character dance, choreography, and new stagings of Giselle, Paquita, The Nutcracker and Raymonda both in Russia and the United States.  Coming to the US in 1993, she became lead choreographer and ballet mistress for the Washington Academy of Performing Arts, and has been a guest teacher for Cornish College of the Arts, Ewajo Dance Workshop, and the Olympic Ballet School. She currently teaches at the International School of Ballet in Kirkland, WA.
  Erica Badgeley , emerging choreographer, is a junior at Lakeside School in Seattle.  She currently trains at the Preparatory Dance Program of the Cornish College of the Arts, and was formerly a student at Pacific Northwest Ballet.  Dance performance credits include the role of Clara in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Nutcracker, a bug in PNB’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed in both Seattle and London, and a fairy in Sleeping Beauty at Burklyn Ballet Theatre in Vermont.  Erica began choreographing liturgical dance at church, and received her first choreography training from Bruce Wells at PNB.  Last summer she attended the Regional Dance America Craft of Choreography Conference and trained under Katherine Posin.  She is the 2005 recipient of the RDA Choreography Connection Award.  For Erica, movement is inspired by everything in life: nature, music, and mistakes in dance class.  She uses ballet as a base in her pieces and adds her own movements or new twists to traditional movements.  She really appreciates the opportunity to work with Whidbey Island Dance Theatre.
Amy Berto is a native Whidbey Islander and has been dancing since the age of three. She received her early training from Island Dance and was a member of Whidbey (Island) Dance Theatre since its starting year, where she performed pieces by choreographers such as Asharaine Machala and Susan Campbell Sandri, and also performed leading roles in the Nutcracker. Amy graduated magna cum laude with a BFA in Modern Dance from Texas Christian University, where she had the opportunity to study and perform works by artists from all over the globe. Dancing highlights for Amy include performing as a guest with Peninsula Dance Theatre (Bremerton, WA) during a dance tour of France, and performing with other selected dancers from the Regional Dance of America/Pacific Region at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS. She most recently performed as a dancer & magician’s assistant in Baltimore, MD, and is now a company member of Redd Legg Dance in Seattle, WA. Amy hopes to someday retire to a life of cows and Dodge Ram trucks.
Andrea Burr graduated from South Whidbey High School in 2004.  She has been dancing since the age of seven and enjoys a variety of styles such as ballet, modern, jazz, hip hop, pointe, and break dancing.  Andréa’s first piece, Birds of Paradise for Whidbey Dance Theatre, was one of only 9 works selected for the Emerging Choreographers Concert within the 2004 RDA/P Festival in Tucson.  Andrea is currently teaching jazz and lyrical dance at Island Dance, and working to earn tuition.  In the fall, Andrea plans to attend Cornish College of the Arts where she will study and pursue a career in dance.
  Ayesha Fuentes is one of the original members of Whidbey Dance Theatre, dancing with the group 8 years - from before WIDT’s incorporation in 1993 until 1999 when she graduated from SWHS.  She graduated from Williams College in 2003 with a degree in fine art and philosophy.  She has lived, worked, and performed as a visual artist, curator, and dancer/choreographer in Scotland, France, China, New York, and has recently returned to Seattle to do the same.
Martha Graham (1894 - 1991), an American dancer and choreographer, is recognized as one of the foremost innovators in modern dance.  She was born in  Pennyslvania and moved to California as a child. After seeing Ruth St. Denis perform in the 1910s, she took an interest in dance. Not until age 22 (1916) did she pursue her interest professionally by enrolling in the Denishawn School, going on to dance professionally with Denishawn. In 1925, Graham became a dance instructor at the Eastman School of Music and Theater in Rochester, New York. In 1926 she founded her own company, the Martha Graham Dance company. The Martha Graham style is  recognised world-wide for its trademarks contraction and release, controlled falls, stag leaps and developed imagery that goes with her technique.  Her unique style of dance reflected the modern art of her time and the company’s world tours and performances made Graham famous as an innovator in modern dance. In 1948, the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance was established. Her final dance performances came in the late 1960s and from then on she focused on choreography.  Widely recognized and awarded within dance and American arts during her lifetime, TIME magazine listed her as the "Dancer of the Century" in 1998 and as one of the most important people of the 20th century.  An excerpt from Graham’s Appalachian Spring was set on WDT by Sharon Tyres (see bio below).
Scott Heinzerling, formerly a dancer with Dennis Wayne’s DANCERS in New York and with the Ohio Ballet, is currently a professor of Dance at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.  As a professional dancer he performed classical ballet and modern dance repertoire by George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Pilobolus, Anna Sokolow, Laura Dean, Heinz Poll, Ruthanna Boris, and John Taras.  His choreography has been performed throughout southern California, and in  France: in Paris, at the Festival of Theatre and Dance in Avignon, and at the Montpellier Festival of Dance in Montpellier, France. 
  Wendy Johnson-Casper has been involved with dance for 25 years.  She was an original member of Olympic Ballet Theatre in Edmonds, Washington.  She trained with John & Helen Wilkins, Dorothy Fisher, Nelle Fisher, Flemming Halby and Libby Nye. Three of her works, including Hoe Down, were presented in the Emerging Choreographers Division at the Pacific Regional Ballet Festival for three consecutive years. She won the Monticello Scholarship for Choreography at the PRB Festival in 1984 and attended the annual Craft of Choreography Conference in Geneva, New York.  Ms. Johnson-Casper attended Scripps College in Claremont, California and twice was the recipient of the Lucile Morrison Dance Award.  She graduated with a BA in Dance Choreography & Performance.  She has worked in the administration of Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle for the past nine years.   Ms. Johnson-Casper was first introduced to Whidbey Dance Theatre in spring of 2002, assisting Philip Laue with the staging of Nelle Fisher’s Songs Along the River.
Philip Laue is from Edmonds, Washington. He began his ballet training at Olympic Ballet Theatre and from there was awarded a scholarship to San Francisco Ballet School. He started his professional career as an apprentice with Oakland Ballet in 1985. From there he became a company member with Ballet Michigan and Ballet Idaho, performing a variety of classical and modern ballet repertoires for several years. He has also been a guest artist with Seattle Opera, Dance Detroit, Oregon State Ballet and the Rougue Music Theater and others.
Philip created several original modern ballets for OBT for their choreographer's showcase. He also became a founding member of Ballet Bellevue in 1995 as a dancer and choreographer, performing numerous full-length classical ballets, as well as original productions. Philip currently teaches ballet and pas de deux at Island Dance, Whidbey Island, Washington and International School of Classical Ballet, Kirkland, Washington.
  Asharaine Machala danced professionally with the Minnesota Dance Theatre for 8 years, performing classics of both the ballet and modem repertoires. Touring included two seasons at Jacobs Pillow Festival, Spoleto, Italy, and most of the Midwest. She has been guest Teacher/choreographer at the University of Minnesota, Interlochen Arts Academy, Marin Civic Ballet, and Seattle University after being on the faculty at the Minnesota Dance Theatre's School for 7 years. Her modem classes are a unique synthesis of Graham, Cunningham, Limon and Humphrey/Weidman techniques. Ballet influences come from study with teachers from London's Royal Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. She has worked with alignment and placement with Maggie Black and Zena Rommett in New York and with students of Raoul Gelabert among others.  Asharaine's ballets have represented Olympic Ballet Theatre at the RDA/Pacific festivals from 1995-1998.  She co-directed WDT in its early years and continued to work with WDT through 2003.
Carl Massey began studying tap, jazz and ballroom dancing when he was seven years old.  His most influencial teacher was Cindy Brenn. He has also taken master classes from Dianne Walker, Sam Weber, Robert Reed, Fayard Nicholas, Vann Porter, Steve Zee, the late Buster Brown, Skip Cunningham, Ted Levy, Joe Webb, Leonard Reed, Brenda Buffalino, and more. Carl performed with the Jefferson Dancers in Portland for 2 years. He currently leads the Portland-based Hot Shot Tap Dancers.  The Hot Shots tour all over the United States during summers.  Recently graduated with a degree in dance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Carl is now also performing with DASS Dance in Seattle and NYC.
Dean Speer, a ballet major and graduate of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle from which he holds a B.F.A. degree, has pursued training in Cannes, Paris, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and Canada in addition to studying in the Seattle area and at the Martha Graham School for Contemporary Dance in NYC. He has performed with Repertory Dancers Northwest, A.T.M.A. Dance Company, and the Seattle Ballet Ensemble of which he was a founding member, plus numerous guest appearances.  Mr. Speer originated, directed, and produced the dance series SPOTLIGHT: Seattle Dance! for three seasons, and coordinated all nine of Chehalis Ballet Center's annual regional workshops for dance teachers. Mr. Speer was a pre-registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dancing in London, England, qualifying him to teach the Pre-Primary through Grade VII Children's Syllabus.  He has taught extensively for both children and adults and has created and written his own graded syllabus of classical ballet study and teaching guide, Notebook II Dance Teachers. He has been a guest master teacher throughout the NW including Dance Masters of America, Cranbrook & Victoria (British Columbia), Chehalis Ballet Center (of which he is the Founding Director), and was Artistic Director of Chattanooga (TN) Ballet.
  Sharon Tyers, performing artist and teacher for over twenty years, numerous credits including opera, musical theatre, television and concert dance in companies including the Seattle Opera Ballet, the Los Angeles City Ballet, and the Martha Graham Dance Company.  Sharon appeared in national broadcasts of "Dance in America" and "In Performance at Wolftrap" for PBS, in addition to regular concert seasons on Broadway and at the Metropolitan Opera House.  She has worked with such artists as Liza Minnelli, Rudolf Nureyev, and Agnes de Mille, who selected Sharon to perform de Mille's solo dances from Brigadoon at the American Dance Festival.  Guest teaching credits include the Julliard School, UCLA, Arizona State, and Universities of Texas and Florida.  Dance faculty positions include Sarah Lawrence College, and the Martha Graham Center.  She frequently serves as guest teacher at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.