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Ariane Dolan

4/22/2016

 
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Jazz
Swing
Ariane Dolan  has been on the faculty of Lou Conte Dance Studio since  1996. She is a favorite teacher of APA dancers who visit LCDS! She began  her training at the Academy of Movement & Music in Oak Park and began  classes at LCDS in 1981. In 1983 she joined Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance  Theatre, with whom she performed until 1994, afterward joining the  faculty, teaching ballet & Graham technique. Currently, she is a music  theatre performer and has appeared in several musicals throughout the  country and has worked in the Chicago area at the Mariott Lincolnshire  Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Drury Lane Evergreen Park, and the  Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. She has a BA in theatre from Roosevelt  University. Ariane has choreographed for multiple shows at Drury Lane Theatre  and  Don’t Dress for Dinner   at the Royal George Theatre. Ariane received  the Ari Zoni Award for best performance in a musical in 1997. Her film/TV  credits include 
​Save the Last Dance   (Julia Stile’s ballet double) and PBS’s  Love in Four Acts.

Richard Strimer

4/21/2016

 
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Tap
Swing
​Musical  Theatre

Richard Strimer  grew up in Trenton, Michigan and graduated high  school with a desire to pursue a career in acting. He attended  Michigan State University on an acting scholarship and graduated  four years later with a BA in Theatre with an emphasis in dance.   Following graduation, Richard moved to Chicago and began his  performing career and also began his path of teaching tap at  Columbia College. Richard has had the opportunity to work in  theaters throughout the Chicagoland area including: Candlelight  Dinner Theatre, Drury Lane Evergreen Park, Theatre at the Center,  Drury Lane Oakbrook and Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.  Regionally Richard has worked at Carousel Dinner Theatre in Ohio  and Fulton Theatre in Pennsylvania. Richard’s career has spanned  over fifty mainstage productions ranging from ensemble to  lead. Standout roles include: Bobby Child in  Crazy for You   (Joseph  Jefferson Award Nomination), Cosmo Brown in  Singin’ in the Rain  (Joseph Jefferson Award Best Supporting Actor in a Musical),  Action in  West Side Story  and Bill Calhoun in  Kiss Me Kate.

Nic Gareiss

4/20/2016

 
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Dance the Tune
Michigan-born dancer, musician, and dance researcher  Nic Gareiss  has been described by the Irish Times as “the human epitome of the unbearable lightness of being,” and “the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene” by the Boston Herald. His choreographic work re-imagines movement as a musical activity, recasting dance as medium that appeals to both eyes and ears. Gareiss draws from many percussive dance traditions to weave together a dance technique facilitating his love of improvisation, traditional footwork vocabulary, and musical collaboration. He has performed with many of the luminaries of contemporary traditional music and dance, including The Chieftains, The Gloaming, Darol Anger, Dervish, Buille, Liz Carroll, Genticorum, Bill Frisell, Step Afrika!, Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, Rhythm in Shoes, Bruce Molsky, Alasdair Fraser, and Martin Hayes.

In 2011 Gareiss was commissioned by the Cork Opera House to create and perform two new solo percussive dance pieces to celebrate the 75th birthday of composer Steve Reich. In 2013, he served as community liaison for the Wheatland Music Organization's 40th Anniversary production  Carry it on..., supervising a cast of 70 non-professional dancers from the state of Michigan. He received a Traditional Arts Commission from the Irish Arts Council to create a new duo fiddle and dance work with Caoimhín Ó Raghalliah. The resulting piece,  MICE WILL PLAY    had a sell-out run at the Project Arts Centre during the 2013 Dublin Fringe Festival.

Gareiss has concertized in Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, England, Canada, and New Zealand and continues to tour and teach internationally, working with dance communities and presenting solo percussive dance choreography.

Nic holds degrees in anthropology and music from Central Michigan University and an MA in ethnochoreology at the University of Limerick.

Scotty Leach

Scotty Leach, fiddler
Fiddler
Originally from the state of Washington, Scotty Leach has spent the last four years in West Virginia, studying old-time music with the Davis & Elkins College Appalachian Ensemble in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains.  Possessing an astonishing ability to rapidly pick up tunes and seamlessly slip into many genres of fiddle music, Scotty’s skillset has expanded through his time with the Ensemble.  “He brings a special sort of energy to every room he enters,” recalls E. Miller, director of the Appalachian Ensemble String Band.  “He really focuses and pays attention to the little details within the dance, fusing it with his music.”  Scotty recently graduated from Davis & Elkins College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy & Religion and Computer Science.

Simone Boos

4/18/2016

 
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Lyrical
​Modern

A native of Indianapolis, Simone is an alum of Alma College where she  earned her B.A. in English and Dance.  She currently dances professionally with  Surfscape Contemporary Dance Theatre  and also teaches and choreographs throughout central Florida. As a member of the Alma College Dance Company, she was  featured in such pieces as Vespri Siciliana, Waiting for the Sun, Les Sylphides, and Paquita.  Prior to  attending Alma College, Simone trained with Evansville Dance Theater, Ballet Internationale, Nutmeg Ballet,  North Carolina Dance Theatre, Virginia School of the Arts, Burklyn Ballet Theatre, Jordan College Academy  of Dance, and Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre. She was a participant in the Youth America Grand Prix  Nationals and Gala performance in 2005, and has toured nationally and internationally including to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, as part of the cultural exchange performance  Rendezvous  with Tainan University of Technology in Taiwan, and to London for performances at Sadler’s Wells with SCDT. Simone has appeared in such professional  productions as  The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Superhero, The Scarlet Letter, Romeo and Juliet  at the Disco, American Classics, A Midautumn Night’s Dream, London Calling, Decade and Another Brick in the Wall,  and has had the opportunity to work with a number of professional  companies including Ballet Internationale, Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, and Island Moving Company. In addition to teaching  dance, Simone runs an  independent portrait/wedding photography   business and is a certified Barre3 instructor.

Ericka Goss

4/18/2016

 
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Ballet
Pre-Pointe
Ericka Goss   began dancing at Bohaty’s School of Dance in Michigan and was also a member of the Children’s Ballet Theatre of Michigan. She later became a member of the senior trainee division of the Grand Rapids Ballet, the only professional ballet company in Michigan, working under Laura Schwenk-Berman and Gordon Pierce-Schmidt. Accepted into Pacific Northwest, Boston Ballet, and Joffrey Midwest summer intensives, she attended Joffrey on scholarship. After four years in Grand Rapids, Ericka was accepted into Atlanta Ballet’s Pre-Professional Division on full scholarship.  Promoted to the  company as a Fellowship dancer, she danced as a Fellowship for two  years under Sharon Story and John McFall. In the summer of 2011 she  attended the LINES Ballet Summer Intensive in San Francisco under  full scholarship.   She  is in her second season with the St. Louis Ballet and has danced soloist   roles in Gen Horiuchi’s Vivaldi Concerto   and  Cinderella. She also teaches   in the Saint Louis Ballet School.

Ericka taught for the Atlanta Ballet for 3  years, from babies to the pre-professional division and adult classes.  Prior to that, she ran her own studio for 5 years with 40 students.  She has taught in five previous workshops for the Academy of  Performing Arts.

Emily Doebler

4/17/2016

 
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Tap
Emily Doebler  is from Bellaire, MI, attending CMU. She started studying dance at Concord Academy Antrim (now North Central Academy) in Bellaire with Jeannine Sladick, and was a part of a dance ensemble called  Dance Attack!  who performed all over Northern Michigan as well as at Wheatland Festival. Emily has been mentored and taught by dancers including Nic Gareiss, Sheila Graziano, Daniel Gorno, Caleb Teicher, Joe Duffey, and many more. Most recently she was involved in the  Carry it On...  Project presented at the 40th annual Wheatland Festival. She was involved with five Sharon Leahy pieces during the summer of 2013! In addition to clogging, Emily also does other types of percussive dance including Irish Step, tap, and flatfooting. She is also very committed to acting, music, photography, and her academic education.

Kristin Batzner

4/16/2016

 
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Yoga
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Kris Batzner runs Kula Yoga Outreach in both Mount Pleasant and Alma, Michigan.  Kris began her yoga practice in 1998. She is certified  through  Yogafit  to teach general yoga as well as yoga for seniors, children, and pre/post-natal.  She started teaching yoga, pilates, and other fitness classes for adults and children while living in Orlando, Florida in 2008. After moving to central Michigan, Kris has taught in fitness center and yoga studio settings. 

Before starting down the yoga path, Kris worked as a music therapist for 10 years in a variety of settings. Kris' philosophy is simple- everybody can do yoga, regardless of shape, size, or experience. And everyone should have the chance to experience yoga in their own bodies. In her personal practice Kris likes to spend much of her time upside down. 

    Summer
    DanceFest
    2016

    instructor bios

    Ariane Dolan
    ​
    Richard Strimer
    ​
    Nic Gareiss
    Ericka Goss
    ​
    Simone Boos
    Emily Doebler
    Kristin Batzner



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