Western Michigan University
Department of Dance

Alumni News Fall 2003

Alumni News Fall 2003 Dear WMU Dance Alumni and Friends,

Welcome to our first electronic newsletter! In order to conserve resources, we will now be doing all of our newsletters on-line. Prior issues will be posted on the alumni page of the Department of Dance website. Please feel free to share this with any dance alums and friends who may not be on our email list.

It was so great to see the more than 80 dance alums who returned to celebrate Wendy Cornish the first week-end of October. If you have not checked out the Department of Dance website recently, look for the photos from the activities: www.wmich.edu/dance. A grand time was had by all!

Please be sure to send us your news to share, and we will hope to send out our second edition in the Spring. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at a dance event in the near future!

Warm regards,
Jane Baas
Interim Chair

Liz Caldwell
Editor and Graduate Assistant

Upcoming Events!

Claire Porter Performance: "Namely, Muscles"
October 5-6, 2004, 8:15 p.m., Dalton Center Recital Hall.
Tickets: $5.00 students and seniors; $10.00 adults. Tickets may be purchased from Miller Auditorium, 269-387-2300.

Orchesis Concert:
November 4-6, 2004, Thu-Fri 8:00pm, Sat 2:00 and 8:00pm., Dalton Center Studio B. Ticket prices TBA

Student Honors concert-Christina Maley
November 18-21, 2004, Thu-Fri 8:00pm, Sat 2:00 and 8:00pm, Dalton Center MMR.

Winter Concert of Dance
February 10-12, 2005, Shaw Theatre

Lisa (Atkinson) DeMar is currently teaching 2 different dance programs in the school systems in Kalamazoo (Creative Movement & Aesthetic Education from the Lincoln Center Institute) She just recently started her own business "Jitterbugs" Creative Movement for Children, where she teaches creative movement to local area preschool children. (cldemar@charter.net)

Anne Bak Marine and her husband, Chris, are expecting a baby girl on New Year's Day! Anne continues to serve as the Director of Operations for the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, dance coach at the Detroit Skating Club, and part-time faculty at Oakland University. She performs as guest artist with the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble and Patterson Rhythm Pace. (ederoch@juno.com)

Channon (Bessant) Washington is currently in France and will be there until May 2004. Her husband, Saddi, is playing basketball there. He has been playing in Europe for the last three years, and now Channon is moving there as well with daughter Sidney. She is on childcare leave from her teaching position in Romulus. She has found a place to take classes (which she hasn't been able to do since having her daughter) and she also found a theater that hosts many regional dance companies from France and neighboring countries. Before she left for France she worked as the co-choreographer for Harvest Fest 2003, a musical, at her church. She says, "My main job now is Mommy...can't beat it. I plan on teaching summer school this summer and who knows what next year brings..." (channonnichole@excite.com)

Tonda Bian lives in Florida after having lived in both Carolinas in the 80's and moving back to Kalamazoo for 10 years from 1989-99. While here she helped her husband in his chiropractic practice, worked for the CEO Council in marketing Kalamazoo, and wrote for the Gazette as an arts reviewer and feature writer. She published a book in 1997, The Drug Lords...America's Pharmaceutical Cartel. She has lived in Florida since late 1999 and is a health writer and journalist. She also served as the Executive Director for the Flagler County Council for the Arts for two years, but gave that up to finish a law degree, which will be completed within the next year. She says, "I have to tell you my years in dance at WMU...in U Dancers and in Tour Company are fondly remembered." (lm49008@aol.com)

Alaina Bomke is the Director of Ballet d'Enfant in Chicago, a children's creative movement and ballet program. She also teaches dance and fitness at several health clubs in the city. She takes class as much as she can, but never as much as she would like! (dancinqueen_ab@hotmail.com)

John Bradley is working in NYC as the director of the early music ensemble, Polyhymnia, which has been named ensemble in residence at the Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch. John says, "This is a wonderful and unique opportunity to be granted the privilege of performing in this architecturally and acoustically beautiful space. We are looking to a long and happy relationship with the church, its clergy, and its parish." The ensemble will kick off its tenth season in December. (jw@hotmail.com)

Lisa Bredahl is in her 12th year as director of La Pique Dance Studio LLC in Kalamazoo. She teaches creative movement and ballet to students 18 months to adult. She employs 15 instructors to teach part-time throughout the year. In 1999 she started the Kalamazoo Junior Dance Company for students ages 8-17 to help educate elementary students. The company performed at 14 area elementary schools last year. Along with the KJDC, Lisa has a newly formed company for children ages 5-7 entitled the KJDC II. This dance company will perform their 1/2-hour presentation of "The Ten Little Ladybugs" to area nursing homes and at an annual community performance. "It is quite rewarding working with children of all ages, especially the company members, as they are so willing to learn and help educate others in the art of dance." (lbredahl@voyager.net)

Stephen Brotebeck is finishing his last three months with Crystal Cruises as a singer/dancer and is also directing and choreographing the Christmas show on board the Crystal Symphony this year. His contract finishes January 28th and then he will return to the Derby Dinner Playhouse to choreograph the musical "HONK!" before moving back to NYC in mid-February. "I am so ready to stay on LAND for a long period of time!" (stephenmb00@aol.com)

Kim (Charron) Pinkston has a brand new baby boy! Donald Eugene Pinkston III was born on Friday, October 3, 2003 at 4:13pm. He weighed in 6 lbs, 9 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. Kim and baby are doing fine. (kpinkston@cornellcompanies.com)

Katina (Childs) Muller choreographed for the Paramount Television Show "Angel" last December and January. The episode was written around the Ballet "Giselle." After starting a state champion Dance Department at Taft High School's Academy of Creative Expression, and spending three years there, she passed it on to a new director and left to have a baby, Chloe Rose Muller, who was born on March 31, 2003. (ottokat@netzero.net)

Cathie Dehart is currently living in the Sacramento, California area, after living in Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. She has been married for 27 years "to a wonderful man who puts up with my antics," and has 2 children: Emily, age 24 and Eric, age 21. She has taught several grade levels in elementary school, has settled in "uninhibited" Kindergarten, and has served as the unofficial choreographer of many school plays, choir concerts, and rock-and-roll shows. "The only dancing I do now (to my dismay) is in my classroom and at my weekly "old lady" tap dance class, which kicks my @#%$, and is a BLAST!" (cdehart1@comcast.net)

Kara Facknitz: "Kara is the luckiest gal in Atlanta, because she just nabbed a teaching job at a fantastic dance studio! Not only an established studio, but one that wants me to work about 10-12 hours a week and pay me about $30 an hour!! Great right? Yes, I'm no longer unemployed and drinking lots of coffee........now I'm doing something I love and drinking lots of coffee!…I'm getting very comfortable with my new surroundings though, and am trying to find good places to take classes." (This was so "Kara" that we could not bring ourselves to paraphrase it!) (kfacknitz@yahoo.com)

Melanie George earned an MA in Dance from American University in 2003. She is currently completing a Secondary Teaching Certification, which she will finish in December. She presented her own concert, Arial Cadences, in April 2003 in Washington, DC, to sold-out audiences. She performed for the Kennedy Center Honors in 2002, and has worked as adjunct faculty at American University since 2002. She is in the midst of a national job search, and is performing with Boris Willis Moves in Washington DC. Melanie is "still single and loving it!" (melgeo@earthlink.net)

Kathy Gibson spent a year teaching Modern, Ballet, Jazz and Tap at a local studio after performing with various modern and dance/theatre companies in NYC from 1999-2002. Not ready to stop performing yet, she is getting back into the swing of things with classes at Broadway Dance Center, DanceSpace and the Limon studio. (kathy.gibson@lm.mmc.com)

Meredith (Hall-Barlow) Nelson is at home "gestating" while 6 months pregnant with her second child, due on the fifth of February. She has been out of the dance scene for almost two years now, but still gets calls for occasional private lessons or choreographic consults. Her first-born is 21 months and is "showing signs of wonderful Hawkins technique." Her current pregnancy has been challenging and unpredictable but both Meredith and baby are now healthy. (markmer@earthlink.net)

Maureen M. Knapp lives and works in NYC (since 1982) and presently works as Director of Asset Management a not-for-profit in NYC. Since WMU graduation she has taken class at Joffrey Ballet, Neubert Ballet Institute and Steps. She continues to dance recreationally. She now has two young daughters "who've been bitten by the Ballet Bug" and who are dancing at Ballet Academy East under the direction of Darla Hoover. Maureen received an MBA in Finance from UHBS-Paris, France in1989. She had a career as a VP in wholesale commercial banking and was a consultant on Wall Street before moving to the non-profit sector 8 years ago. She is a devoted NYCB attendee and supporter." (mknapp@wsfssh.org)

Connie (Landis) Donovan is currently an administrator at Clinton County Regional Educational Service Agency in St. Johns Michigan. She is married and has two children, both in college. She taught dance at Wauwatosa West High School in Wisconsin for six years after graduation but changed to education administration shortly after moving to California in 1978. She is looking forward to "keeping in touch with 'mature' alums." (connie.donovan@att.net)

Kristen Legg is dancing with Wellspring this year after spending the previous year in NYC. She is also choreographing the University Theatre production of "Godspell" this fall and serving as the rehearsal director for Morella Petrozzi's new dance which will be premiered on the Winter Concert. (krislegg@aol.com)

Linda (Lilly) Kranz is working at New Gate Montessori School with ages three to six. Last year she finished her Montessori certification for that age group. Her daughters Trinity and Ellie both attend her school. Her oldest daughter is living in Manitou Springs, CO attending massage therapy school. (linkranz@yahoo.com)

Jason Lott is taking a new job. He will be the new Direct Marketing Coordinator for the Human Rights Campaign. "It's a great opportunity that came up, even though I wasn't job searching." He will be starting the new job on October 27th. If you're unfamiliar with HRC, you can read more about it on the website: http://www.hrc.org/. HRC is the largest GLBT lobbying organization in the country. Jason has been a member (on-and-off) for a long time, and is excited to be working for them full-time. (jason.lott@hrc.org)

Erin Malley danced in France at the Montpellier Centre Choregraphique National from 2001-2002. Since then, she's been back in Kalamazoo, teaching as Artist-in-Residence with Education for the Arts, and on the side, at Wellspring. This summer, she received an Irving S. Gilmore Emerging Artist Grant to produce a full-length music and dance work with La Catrina String Quartet in March 2004 in Kalamazoo. (merinrachel@yahoo.com)

Cat Manturuk is in Los Angeles where she is working with the Los Angeles Modern and Ballet Company and Blue13 Dance Company. Prior to this, she was dancing with Regina Klenjosky Dance Company. She is teaching dance throughout Los Angeles area, working as a Health/Fitness specialist at the Beach Cities Health District, and has developed a pick up company, Underdog Dance Project with Heather Vaughan. In her spare time, she dabbles in hip-hop and jazz venues and has choreographed and performed for Won G's Music Video. (kitmanturuk@yahoo.com)

Jessica Graves has been living in Los Angeles for a little over a year now. In that time she has become a member of the Screen Actors Guild, danced in Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Glad" video, and worked on "Family Affair" as a stand-in/photo double for 'Sissy'. She has recently started studying acting seriously and hopes to expand to that as well as dance. (jessicamarie1@hotmail.com)

Renee (Kachudas) Cardani is the Studio Coordinator at the Barrington Dance Academy where she also teaches ballet and modern. She is a Rehearsal Mistress and "Stage Left" for the Barrington Youth Dance Ensemble. Her recent "thrills on the job" include having BYDE dancers perform for Gerald Arpino; teaching a warm-up class for Gus Giordano company members; and working with Chicago-land professional guest artists and technicians weekly. Renee is going to the Royal Academy of Dance in London during October 2003 for distance learning in dance education, a two-year program. (rcardani@buena.com)

Kelli (Kimball) Thomas is directing a dance program, Dancer's Alley at ANA Sports, where she also teaches dance to the U.S. Airborne gymnasts. She is substitute teaching while looking for an elementary teaching position. (ktgirlandjbrad@aol.com)

Shannon (Lewis) Fauble lives in Aurora, IL. She retired from massage therapy when she had son Brendan 3 years ago. Her family has been keeping her busy, although she still dances here and there. She is anxiously awaiting her second child, a daughter, due in February. (shanimark@aol.com)

Mark Matthews was performing with Siegfried and Roy in Las Vegas until the recent tragedy. He has this to report: "…Roy Horn was carried off stage by a tiger, ending Siegfried & Roy. The day after that, the production company that hires for S&R fired us with only a week and a half of pay, and made us clean out our dressing room. Being out of a job is bad enough, but getting kicked to the curb by one of the biggest shows in Las Vegas history is too much. I've been (just like most of the cast) in a state of shock. And with no help from the company, people are losing houses, and not able to feed their children!!! If anyone has the option to work for Feld Ent., please feel free to tell them they do not take care of their own, and to look for something better." (marklas1@hotmail.com)

Annette McDonagh lives in Tallahassee, Florida. She and her husband moved there in February when he was offered a new job. She and a friend have started a business called A. J. Juniors (A= Annette and J= Jane). They travel to preschools, daycares, and after-school programs, teaching dance and gymnastics to three, four, and five year olds. Annette does the marketing and hiring of teachers. "We are a great team and we have been up and running for a couple of months now. We have two excellent instructors working for us and it is all very exciting." (annettemcdonagh@aol.com)

Anastasia McGlothlin is a founding co-director, choreographer, and teacher at the Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company in Louisville, KY. Since earning her MFA from Smith College she has studied with Eric Hawkins in New York, taught dance at Amherst College, and worked as principal dancer with Detriot Dance Collective. She is a 1999 recipient of the Al Smith Fellowship in Choreography from the Kentucky Arts Council, and she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from WMU in 2002. In 2003 she was a guest artist at Berea College. She currently teaches classes at Indiana University Southeast and Eastern Kentucky University. (anastasiamc@usa.com)

Tracy Monaco is working in NYC, and has recently booked a TV pilot for a new show called 'Get Your Groove On,' a Star Search/Fame/Dance Fever type show. The pilot films at the end of September and hopefully will get picked up by a network. The audition involved140 people, and 2 men and 2 women were chosen. "They wanted technical jazz dancers who could hip-hop. Guess I just had the right amount of each!" Tracy has also been keeping busy working at the office and doing an Off-Broadway show at night. (tracymonaco@hotmail.com)

Cindi (Murray) Bosma holds an A.S. in dental hygiene from KVCC. She currently works as a dental hygienist at Rosewood Dental and as an instructor of advanced ballet/pointe at Dance City. A small ballet company in Coldwater, MI hires her to dance several times a year, which she enjoys. She was married this year in August and is expecting her first child in May 2004. (acbosma@sbcglobal.net)

Chris Nielsen moved back to Michigan to save money and prepare for law school after dancing with Joel Hall Dancers in Chicago. She started at University of Michigan Law School in fall of 2002 and will graduate in May 2005. She hasn't decided specifically what kind of law to practice, but is hoping to somehow incorporate dance into her future career. (rednielsen@yahoo.com)

Amy (Olds) Avery is owner and Artistic Director of Dance Dimensions in Grand Rapids. With 600 students taking over 1100 classes per week, Amy is involved with the management of the business and with choreographing for her Competition Students. She is married to Patrick (almost 9 years) and has one son, Aspen who is now 7 years old. (dancemdiminc@aol.com)

Erica Quensen graduated from Columbia University in Jan. 2003 with an M.A. in dance/movement therapy. She is currently working full time between 2 mental health facilities: Methodist Hospital of Chicago and Heartland Health Outreach's International Family, Adult and Child Enhancement Services (International FACES) program. She has also been busy presenting on her work using dance/movement therapy with refugee children and torture survivors at various international conferences throughout this past year. "Throughout it all, my husband Carlos has been by my side and supporting me as only a best friend can." (erica.quensen@juno.com)

Cathy Smith is dancing professionally with the Superstars Live dancers, most recently at Hollywood Casino. She is based in New York City. (no email available) Deb (Stacik) Knuth is currently residing in St. Joseph MI. She is married with 4 children ages 11-19. She is Owner/Director of the Sawyer Dance Academy and the Sawyer Dance Troupe in Sawyer MI for the past 15 years. (dpknuth@prodigy.net)

Leonard Sullivan opened in the Broadway tour of "Hairspray" in Baltimore with great success. He then traveled with the show to Hartford, CT for two weeks going to Boston. "I'm doing well enjoying myself a great deal." (blackswan47@yahoo.com)

Lisa Svitkovich Masi is working on her Physical Education degree at Wayne State, planning to begin teaching dance at her old high school by 2006. She and her husband have a 2-year old daughter and are expecting a "beautiful bouncing baby" in March. (aq3764@yahoo.com)

Lutin Tanner is working as Production Coordinator of Dance Space Centers. She is now in the processes of designing a theatre for a new space to which Dance Space Centers is moving. "I'm like a kid in a technical candy store. Reading up on all the new lighting equipment (Par Nel color scrollers and etc dimmer doublers are amazing things)." (liife@msn.com)

Kristine (Tarkanyi) Nelson received a Masters in Business Administration in Finance in 1993. She is now married to Wendy's nephew, and has two sons, ages 6 and 3. She works full time as a financial analyst for a community hospital in northern Oakland County in Michigan. (dnelson221711@comcast.net)

Shelika (Thomas) Tate has been married for four years and has two children Saudia, 3 years, and PJ, one. She is an Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay cosmetics and is "getting ready to win my first of many FREE cars!" She and another alum are considering opening their own school, so look out for that in the future! (sktate1908@yahoo.com)

Gloria Toti-Koski works full time at Borgess Hospital. She is mom to Jay Ryan, 6 years old. She recently choreographed a senior solo for a recital in Marquette. She is an active member of the Borgess Health & Fitness Center where she exercises and works out. (glotk@chartermi.net)

Heather Vaughan is a first year grad student at University of Michigan. She married author Scott D. Southard in December of 2002. She developed a pick up dance company, "Underdog Dance Project," with Cat Manturuk and continues to collaborate on new works. (vaughansouthard@aol.com)

Jill Weiss is doing wonderfully in LA. She lived in New York for 6 years working for the President and CEO of a Fortune 500. She continued to study dance around the city, and briefly was a Teacher's Assistant at Steps on Broadway. While she enjoyed New York, she found that she missed being immersed in an environment or arts and culture, so she moved to LA, "the city full of Entertainment and highly creative jobs," and has found "an amazing position working for one of the industry's most respected individuals." She says, "I am so proud of my path and my time at Western, which to this day remains one of the best times in my life." (jilly117ca@hotmail.com)

Tom Welsh is in his 12th year on the Dance faculty at Florida State University in Tallahassee where he teaches Dance Kinesiology, Conditioning, Teaching Methods, and Introduction to Dance and the Creative Process. Dr. Welsh also chairs the Research Committee for the International Association of Dance Medicine & Science and serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Dance Medicine & Science. The highlight of Tom's year was coming home to Western for Wendy's retirement celebration -- "It was a joy to dance with the dancers who were my role models when I began dancing and to dance for the teachers who gave me my first, life-changing experiences in dance." (twelsh@dance.fsu.edu)

Angie (Wieland) Yetzke lives with her husband and 2-year-old son, Jake, in Grand Rapids where she co-directs, dances and choreographs for the modern-based Dance Collaborative. Angie's most recent claim-to-fame is receiving the 2002 "Maggie Allesee New Choreography Award" through the Michigan Dance Council. (CYetzke@aol.com)