Co-Director - Vivian Little
Vivian Little founded Dance Fremont! in September 1996. She was an original member and performed as a Principal of Pacific Northwest Ballet from 1974-1977. She was a soloist with San Francisco Ballet from 1977-81. After her performing career, she continued to work as a ballet mistress at El Teatro Municipal de Lima, S.A. and on the faculty of Walnut Hill Performing Art School in MA and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle. Vivian has taught as a Guest Lecturer in the University of Washington Dance Department and Cornish College of the Arts.
In addition to teaching ballet to children and adults at Dance Fremont!, she also co-directs Dance Fremont! based performing company, Fremont Danceworks!
Co-Director - Mary Reardon
Mary Reardon started teaching at Dance Fremont! in September 1996. During her professional career she danced with Cincinnati Ballet, Rhode Island Repertory, Chautauqua Opera Company and the Carl Ratcliff Dance Theater. She earned her degree from the University of Cincinnati and later operated her own school in Georgia for ten years. Mary and Vivian Little joined forces in the fall of ‘99 to co-direct Dance Fremont!. Together they have founded Fremont Danceworks, a contemporary company for students who make dance their primary focus. In addition to her teaching at Dance Fremont!, Mary has taught as a Guest Lecturer at Cornish College for the Arts and is occasionally seen as a dance specialist in our public schools.
Mary Kay Bisignano-Vadino
For the past 20 years Mary Kay has been studying, teaching, performing and choreographing dance. Mary Kay has an MA in choreography and performance from UCLA. Her work has been seen in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and locally at New City Theatre, Dance on Capitol Hill, Dance Centre Seattle, Allegro Dance Festival, On the Boards, Bumbershoot and Arts Edge. Currently Mary Kay teaches Modern Dance at Dance Fremont! and dances through life with her husband and three children.
Mary Kay Bisignano-Vadino has danced and choreographed with Next Stage Dance Theater since its formation in 1999.
Steve Casteel
Steve Casteel was born in Tacoma, WA and received his early training from Jan Column School of Classic Ballet. At age sixteen Steve joined Boston Ballet II. In 1987, Steve became a member of Houston Ballet where he was promoted to soloist and performed many of the great classical works such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Coppélia, and Cinderella. With Houston Ballet, he performed works by such renowned choreographers as Christopher Bruce, Jirí Kylián, Sir Kenneth McMillan, Ben Stevenson, and Paul Taylor. In addition, he has performed with Diablo Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Next Stage Dance Theatre, and Spectrum Dance Theatre. Locally, Steve has danced in works by Kay Englert, Dominique Gabella, Amii LeGendre, Wade Madsen, Dale Merrill, Crispen Spaeth and Deborah Wolf. From 1997 to 1999 he worked for Washington Contemporary Ballet in Tacoma as Assistant to the Director. In 2001, Steve received his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in dance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle WA. In 2004, he received his Masters of Fine Arts degree in dance from the University of Arizona in Tucson AZ. From 2004 to 2006 Steve was the Public Relations Coordinator for Next Stage Dance Theatre. Steve has taught at Bainbridge Dance Center (Bainbridge Island), Berkeley Ballet Theater (Berkeley CA), Cornish Preparatory Dance Program (Seattle), Dance Fremont (Seattle), Spectrum Dance Theater (Seattle), and The University of Washington (Seattle).
Alysa Haas
Alysa holds a B.F.A. in Modern Dance from the University of Utah. Her training in ballet, modern dance, choreography, and dance education fuels her passion and expertise as a children's dance teacher. Alysa loves teaching dance to children for many reasons, but especially because they always teach her so much. She has performed locally with Walrus Performance Productions, The Test Pilots, and Kelly Sullivan/Human Movement Projects.
Alysa is the instigator of the Tumbleweed Bandits, a local guerilla performance group.
Trinidad Martínez
Trinidad Martínez (choreographer and dancer) works as a dancer in the Pat Graney Company, and worked at the National Theater Mannheim, Theater der Stadt Hagen and Jeune Ballet International R. Hightower. She studied dance and choreography at the Centre de Danse International Rosella Hightower in Cannes, France and Escuela de Danza Internacional Carmen Roche, Madrid, Spain. Later, she studied release technique for two years with the company Labor G.rass in Hamburg. In 2007-08, she obtained a Fulbright scholarship which allowed her to travel in the USA and expand her knowledge in dance and performance.
Trinidad is cofounder of the Magpai Production Group. This company was created in Hamburg in 1998 and now resides in Seattle. Magpai Production Group has shown various productions at Kampnagel, (the main contemporary theatre in Hamburg, Germany) and produced numerous pieces for site specific and unconventional spaces, which have been shown in festivals in Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA.
Brenna Monroe Cook
Originally from Oak Park, Illinois, Brenna Monroe-Cook began her dance training at the Academy of Movement and Music under the direction of Stephanie Clemens and performed extensively with the affiliated MOMENTA Performing Arts Company. She went on to receive her BFA from The Juilliard School under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy. Professionally she has worked with Buglisi/Foreman Dance, Thang Dao Dance Company, Subtle Changes, Riedel Dance Theatre and enjoyed five years of international touring with the Limon Dance Company. Ms. Monroe-Cook continues to teach Limon technique and stage repertoire for various companies and schools nationwide as well as presenting her own choreographic work. She also received her Pilates Certification from the Kane School of Core Integration in New York City and is an active Pilates instructor.
Paula J. Peters
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Ms. Peters received her early training in ballet, modern, jazz and tap (Royal Academy of Dancing method) at British Dance Academy in Renton, WA under the direction of Sandra Baca. In October of 1991 she joined Spectrum Dance Theater (Seattle, WA) as an apprentice and immediately moved on to become a full company member. In addition to performing with Spectrum, she served as the rehearsal director from 1998 to 2005, retiring from the organization in 2005. With SDT Ms. Peters performed lead roles in works by numerous choreographers, including Ann Reinking, Margo Sappington, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Claire Bataille, Danny Buracezki, Daniel Ezralow, Trey McIntyre, Donald Byrd, Wade Madsen and Dale A. Merrill, touring throughout the US, Europe and Mexico. In addition to working with Spectrum she performed in local industrials and independent artist productions. She has taught as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Washington, the Montana Dance Arts Association, and is currently on faculty at Dance Fremont, Cornish College of the Arts and Cornish Preparatory. In addition to teaching, Ms. Peters choreographed the Junior Broadway Production of Once on This Island for Villa Academy, has created several works for Dance Fremont’s Contemporary Dance Company, Fremont DanceWorks, and served as rehearsal assistant to Wade Madsen for Cornish College’s 2008 production of The Pajama Game. Ms. Peters received a BFA in Dance through the Professional Dancers Program at Cornish College of the Arts in 2007.
Guest Faculty
Kitty Daniels
Kitty Daniels is the Chair of the Dance Department at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. She began her professional career as a ballet dancer, performing with companies in the United States and Europe. She continued her performing career in modern dance, performing with the Bill Evans Dance Company, Concert Dance Company of Boston and Beth Soll and Dancers as well as numerous Seattle independent choreographers including Pat Graney, Long Nguyen, Erin Matthiessen and Wade Madsen. Internationally-known as a teacher of ballet, modern dance and dance kinesiology, she has taught at the Bill Evans Summer Institutes of Dance, London Contemporary Dance School, California State University Summer Arts Programs, University of Washington, Boston University, Mount Holyoke College and Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts, and has been a guest company teacher to the Mark Morris Dance Group. She has worked clinically as a dance kinesiologist, assisting kinesiologist Karen Clippinger. She holds a B.A. from Goddard College and an M.A. in Dance Kinesiology from Lesley College. She specializes in the application of dance science to dance technique education.
Lauren Grant
Ms. Grant has danced with the Mark Morris Dance Group since 1996. Appearing in over 40 of Mark Morris’ works, she performs leading roles in The Hard Nut and Mozart Dances. Ms. Grant has been featured in Time Out New York, Dance Magazine, the book Meet the Dancers, and is the subject of a photograph by Annie Leibovitz. She graduated with a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Ms. Grant is on faculty at MMDG's school and also teaches internationally.
Photo: Amber Star Merkens
David Leventhal
David has danced with the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) since 1997. He performs principal roles in Morris’ The Hard Nut, L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, and Romeo and Juliet, on Motifs of Shakespeare. He has worked extensively in opera, performing in Morris' productions for the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, English National Opera, New York City Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. He is on the faculty of the Mark Morris Dance Center, and teaches technique and repertory classes for students of all ages at schools and universities in the U.S. and abroad, including UCLA, University of Michigan, Harvard University, University of Washington, American Dance Festival and the Governor's School for the Arts (Virginia) among others. He has conducted educational outreach projects for the New York City Board of Education, the Virginia International Arts Festival, English National Opera, Wolftrap Foundation, and Dance Umbrella (UK). David is the program manager and one of the founding teachers of the MMDG/Brooklyn Parkinson Group's Dance for PD program, which offers dance classes for people with Parkinson's disease in Brooklyn, and in more than 20 cities in the US and abroad. Raised in Newton, Mass., he attended Brown University where he received a B.A. with honors in English Literature. He received his early dance training at Boston Ballet School.
Photo: Amber Star Merkens
Lodi McClellan
Lodi McClellan began her ballet training as a child with Loyce Holton at the Minnesota Dance Theatre and continued with Sydelle Gomberg, Samuel Kurkjian, Hannah Wiley, Marjorie Mussman, Jocelyn Lorenz, Flemming Halby, Kitty Daniels, and Yasuko and Emi Tokunaga. For seventeen years she performed professionally with Beth Soll and Company, the University of Washington′s Chamber Dance Company (performing solo roles in works by José Limón, Doris Humphrey, Isadora Duncan, and Ruth St. Denis) on a U.S. tour with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and as a guest performer with freelance choreographers Wade Madsen, Jeff Bickford, Lee Anne Hartley, Louise Durkee, Llory Wilson, and Nina Weiner. She has been teaching dance technique for twenty-nine years. Her ballet classes emphasize technical specificity, musical sensitivity, and individual expression. Lodi has been teaching ballet and other courses in the Dance and Humanities & Sciences Departments at Cornish College of the Arts for the past thirteen years. Her additional teaching credentials include the University of Washington, American Dance Institute, Strictly Seattle, Dance Fremont, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Boston University, the Boston Conservatory, Emerson College, and many private studios on both coasts. Over one hundred of her dance reviews and articles have been published by the Seattle Weekly, Eastside Week, Dance International, The International Dictionary of Modern Dance, Curve, and DanceNet, for which she also served as Co-Editor. She has presented pre-performance lectures for the Chamber Dance Company, Seattle Theater Group, The Orcas Center and Cornish College of the Arts. Lodi graduated with honors from Walnut Hill School of Performing Arts and received her BA in Dance, cum laude, from Mount Holyoke College. She earned an MFA in Dance, specializing in dance criticism, from the University of Washington.
Kathleen Mills
Kathleen Mills earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Arranging from Combs College of Music. She studied with composer Romeo Cascarino and concert pianist Susan Starr in Philadelphia, and with Broadway conductor Lehman Engel at BMI’s Musical Theater Workshop in New York City. Her performing experience includes singing and dancing in several musicals, notably 5th Avenue Theater Company′s productions of Cinderella, Jesus Christ Superstar, My Fair Lady and in the national tour of Mame starring Juliet Prowse. She has worked as a private music instructor in Seattle since 1989. She is also the composer, lyricist and librettist of The Steadfast Tin Soldier, A Story Ballet produced annually by Dance Fremont! since 1997. Her work with Dance Fremont! since that time has also included writing and directing the Musical Theater/Costume Design and Production Camp show each summer. Kathleen is passionate about helping students identify and use their talents in pursuit of excellence in mind, body, and spirit.
Jason Ohlberg
Jason is originally from Fresno, CA. He received his formal dance training at the State University of New York at Purchase. Professionally, Jason has danced with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Dance Kaleidoscope, Jan Erkert and dancers, and Wade Madsen and Dancers. In 1997, Jason founded Same Planet Different World Dance Theater in Chicago where he acted as artistic director and head choreographer for four years. Jason’s choreography has been seen throughout the country and locally on the apprentice company of Spectrum Dance Theater, Men in Dance, Lehua Dance Theater, Cornish Dance Theater, Fremont Danceworks, The Seattle Children’s theater and Arc Dance Productions. Jason has been on faculty at Barat College, Jordan Academy, the school of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the University of Washington, Spectrum Dance Theater, Arc Dance Productions, Dance Fremont and the Y.A.I. program of the Seattle Children’s Theater. Jason is a certified authentic Pilates instructor with Metropolitan Pilates in Seattle.
Keith Sabado
Keith was born in Seattle and moved to New York City in 1978. From 1980-1984 he performed with several New York modern dance companies, among them the companies of Pearl Lang, Pauline Koner, Hannah Kahn, Jim Self and Rosalind Newman. From 1984 to 1994 he was a member of the Mark Morris Dance Group, and in 1988 he received a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) for his work with that group. From 1994 to 1997 and again in 2001 he was a member of Mikhail Baryshnikov s White Oak Dance Project. In 2000 he danced with the Lucinda Childs Dance Company during its 25th anniversary year. Most recently he has performed with Richard Daniels, Johannes Wieland and with Paradigm. He has also danced leading roles in opera productions directed by Peter Sellars and Martha Clarke. Keith teaches ballet, modern dance and Pilates and is currently on the faculty at Sarah Lawrence College.
Lynn Wyckoff
Lynn is a performer and costume designer with Seattle Early Dance, and has appeared in concert with Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Early Music Guild operas Venus and Adonis, and Il Ballo della Ingrate, and The Seattle Academy of Baroque Opera. She has studied baroque dance since 1998 with Anna Mansbridge and Catherine Turocy, and appeared in the New York Baroque Dance Company's production, With Sword Drawn, He Dances. As a teacher of ballet, jazz, and character, she has served on the faculties of Pacific Northwest Ballet, Olympic College, Western Washington University, and Everett Community College, where she was also choreographer for the annual musicals. She directed her own school and company, North Seattle Ballet, for eleven years, producing the full-length ballets Coppelia and The Nutcracker. Ms. Wyckoff holds a BFA in Ballet from the University of Utah, and an MA in Dance Theatre from San Francisco State University.