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Ariane Dolan

5/30/2019

Jazz

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.

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Ericka Goss

5/29/2019

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Ballet
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 several previous workshops for the Academy of Performing Arts.

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Nic Gareiss

5/28/2019

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Dance the Tune
Appalachian Clogging

Named by Dance Magazine as one of 2019's "25 to Watch," dancer and dance researcher Nic Gareiss has been hailed by the New York Times for his "dexterous melding of Irish and Appalachian dance" and called "the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene” by the Boston Herald. He re-imagines movement as a musical practice, recasting dance as medium that appeals to both eyes and ears. Originally from Michigan, Gareiss draws from many percussive dance traditions, weaving together a dance technique facilitating his love of improvisation, traditional dance footwork vocabulary, and musical collaboration. He has concertized in fifteen countries for over ten years with many of the luminaries of traditional music including performances at the London's Barbican Centre, the Irish National Concert Hall, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Kennedy Center. Nic holds degrees in Anthropology and Music from Central Michigan University and a MA in Ethnochoreology from the University of Limerick.

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Danielle Enblom

5/27/2019

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Sean-nos
Old Style Irish Step

Minneapolis-born dancer, musician, dance historian, and educator, Danielle Enblom is known for her work as a researcher and ethnochoreologist; her performance work that explores and integrates concepts of dance tradition and innovation; and her work in education. First and foremost an Irish step dancer and sean-nós dancer, Danielle grew up dancing competitively in Irish dance and studying ballet and modern dance. She is influenced by her studies with dancers from many practices and paradigms, most notably Peggy McTeggart in Country Cork a direct component of the nineteenth century Cork dancing masters, and sean-nós, Cormac O'Shea of Dublin and the original Riverdance cast, and Kieran Jordan of Boston, MA. Danielle holds a Diploma in Traditional Irish Music from University County Cork and a MA in Ethnochoreology from the Tralee Institute of Technology.

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Frances Bradley

5/26/2019

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Tap

Frances Bradley-Vilier is a Flint, Michigan native. She began her dance training under the guidance of her father, Bruce Bradley. At age 12, she won Amateur Night at "Showtime at the Apollo" with the female tap group The Stepettes. In 2004, she was an ensemble member in the musical "Bubbling Brown Sugar," directed and choreographed by George Faison and starring Diahann Carroll in Atlanta. In 2006 she earned a BFA in Illustration at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

In 2013 Bradley was casted in the dance musical, "Noah Racey's Pulse: The Beat of Song and Dance," which premiered at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, FL. She was a featured tap soloist for the international touring company Illstyle & Peace Productions, and has performed in notable productions/venues, such as: "Black Girls Rock! & Soul Tour", Samsung Galaxy Unpacked at Radio City Music Hall and Salute to Betty Carter at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

She has taught at world renowned schools and organizations such as: The American Tap Dance Foundation, The Brooklyn Waldorf School, Mark Morris Dance Group, Black Girls Rock!: Year Round Program, Black Girls Rock! Queen’s Camp of Leadership and Excellence; Carol Morgan School of Santo Domingo, Charlotte Brookson Academy of the Performing Arts (SXM), Art Saves Lives Foundation (SXM), Sister Magda Primary School (SXM), St. Marteen Montessori and has currently formed a tap cultural exchange program with National Institute of Arts of St. Maarten through her family’s non-for profit Tapology, Inc.

Frances is currently a Leo Lecturer in Tap Dance at the University of Michigan-Flint.

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Kristen Bennett

5/25/2019

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Modern

Kristen Bennett has been teaching dance in Michigan for over 11 years. She grew up in central Michigan and started dancing when she was in the fifth grade and hasn't stopped; her early training was in jazz and rhythm-based dance forms. Kristen continues to practice and teach many different styles of dance including jazz, tap, ballet, modern, hip-hop, musical theatre and social dance. She earned her B.A. in Dance and English from Grand Valley State University after which she spent time teaching at various dance studios in Grand Rapids, Marquette, Mt. Pleasant, and Alma. Currently entering her eighth year teaching dance at Alma College, she is also the Recruitment Coordinator for the Theatre and Dance Department. Kristen frequently collaborates with percussive dancers and live musicians, researching what happens when different styles of dance find common ground in the rhythms they create together. Most recently, she taught a master class and presented her work at the American College Dance Association Festival. She has had the opportunity to teach across the U.S and internationally and looks forward to continuing her work in mid-Michigan.

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Ariane Dolan

Ericka Goss

Nic Gareiss

Danielle Enblom

Frances Bradley

Kristen Bennett

Summer
DanceFest
2019

instructor bios

instructor bios

Ariane Dolan

Ericka Goss

Nic Gareiss

Danielle Enblom

Frances Bradley

Kristen Bennett

SummerDanceFest​2019

instructor bios

​instructor bios

Summer
DanceFest
2019

instructor bios