Masterclasses

Fall 2021 Guest Artists

Annalee Traylor and Omar Román De Jesús  join us this June, choreographing on KSU Dance majors and alumni for opening season concert, Double Exposure, made possible by the Eleo Pomare–Glenn Connor Choreographic Residency. 

Omar Omar Román De Jesús (he/him), originally from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, is a recipient of the 2020 Jacob's Pillow Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship. He has been commissioned twice by Instituto de Cultura de Puerto Rico to create work for the International Dance Festival of Puerto Rico, where he was awarded the Ambassador of Dance medal. Omar has won choreographic competitions including the Joffrey Academy of Dance's Winning Works Choreographic Competition and Whim W’Him’s Choreographic Shindig, and received awards including the Audience Award at The Dance Gallery Festival, 1st place prize at the Reverb Dance Festival, and the Parsons Dance GenerationNOW Commission for their 2017 Joyce Season. He has also created work for Jacob Jonas The Company and educational institutions such as The Ailey School, James Madison University, and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. His work was presented at the 2020 CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work Contemporary Dance Festival and will be presented, online and live, at the upcoming PRISMA International Dance Festival in Panama, the Jerusalem International Choreographic Competition, and the Palm Desert Choreography Festival. Omar will be creating a new work on Bruce Wood Dance this upcoming March. 

Annalee Annalee Traylor is a NYC based freelance creator/choreographer and educator. She is a high school graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and received her BFA with honors from Point Park University. Her live work has been presented at numerous venues in cities nationally and abroad including Los Angeles, NYC, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Huntsville, Texas, and Rotterdam, Netherlands, and her films have been shown in Seattle, Temecula, Brooklyn, Rome, Minnesota, and at the American Dance Festival in North Carolina. She has been commissioned by Periapsis Music and Dance, Texture Contemporary Ballet, REED Dance, Infra Dance Company of Carnegie Mellon, Point Park University's International Summer Dance, Dance Canvas, and Voices Carry Inc., and she has been awarded residencies through Terra Nova, Periapsis Music and Dance, Highways Performance Space, and the Dance Gallery Festival. Most recently, she was named Outstanding Choreographer at the 2020 Youth America Grand Prix regionals. Annalee feels a personal responsibility and finds joy in sharing her passion and knowledge with younger generations. She has taught master classes throughout the United States and been on faculty at schools on the east and west coasts. Guest teaching credits include: Carnegie Mellon University, Sam Houston State University, Point Park University, Slippery Rock University, Dekalb School of the Arts, and The Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh among others. 

Ido Ido Gidron is a performance artist, dancer, and choreographer based in Tel Aviv, Israel. He participated in the summer course of The Juilliard School in New York and the Batsheva Excellence Program in 2011-2013. Mr. Gidron has worked with several acclaimed choreographers and companies, including the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company II (2013-2014) and the Batsheva Ensemble (2014 - 2017). He is a certified Gaga teacher, the movement language developed by Ohad Naharin, Artistic Director of the Batsheva Dance Company. Currently, Mr. Gidron is staging his own work, together with the Gaga language as a base for creation. He works with the independent choreographer Idan Sharabi and stages Ohad Naharin’s repertoire on many groups of dancers around the world.

While at KSU, Mr. Gidron will choreograph an original work for the KSU Dance Company, teach DANC 3330 (Modern Dance IV), present guest lectures/masterclasses for multiple dance courses, and offer public lectures/masterclasses. 

Heath Heath Gill began training and performing and the young age of four. While his primary focus through most of his arts career has been in many styles of dance, his performance experience also includes trumpet, piano, musical theater, and film. Straight out of high school, Heath began a distinguished career with Atlanta Ballet performing their varied classical ballet and contemporary repertoire. Over his 10 years there, he performed in works by renowned choreographers such as Christopher Wheeldon, James Kudelka, Twyla Tharp, David Bintley, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Jorma Elo, Helen Pickett, Liam Scarlett, Jiri Kylian, Alex Eckman, and Ohad Naharin. A few of his critically acclaimed roles include: Mercutio in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette, 1st Seminarian in David Bintley’s Carmina Burana, Kilroy in Helen Pickett’s Camino Real, and the Improv Soloist in Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16. Heath has been recognized for his dancing as one of ArtsATL’s “30 under 30” and Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch”. Through his many created works for Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre and Atlanta Ballet’s Wabi Sabi, he has also become a prominent choreographer in Atlanta. Daily, Heath continues cultivating his athleticism, artistry, and choreographic voice.

Mr. Gill joins KSU Dance as a guest choreographer, choreographing a ballet work for the KSU Dance Company fall concert, Forces of Grace.

Masterclasses

guest artists

The Department of Dance offers masterclasses each semester for our students to learn firsthand from experts in the field. 

  • Rachel Van Buskirk, Classical Ballet
    Laura Morton, Improvisation
    Christian Clark, Contemporary Ballet
    Xavier Lewis, Hip Hop
    Shaden Dance Company
    John Welker, Classical Ballet
    Thang Dao, Modern
    Heath Gill, Improvisation
    John Welker, Mental Readiness
    McCree O'Kelley, Ballet
    Lisa K. Lock, Modern

  • Marsha Barsky, Gyrokinesis
    John Welker, Modern
    Caroline Clark, Butoh
    Tara Lee, Contemporary Ballet
    Rachel Van Buskirk, Classical Ballet
    Heath Gill, Improvisation
    Jon Carr, Contemporary
    John Welker- Mental Readiness
    Christian Clark, Classical Ballet
    Laura Morton, Improvisation
    Alex Gonzaga, Contemporary Ballet
    Xavier Lewis, Hip Hop

  • Tara Lee, Contemporary Ballet
    Toni Jenkins, Classical Ballet
    Xavier Lewis, Hip Hop
    Caroline Clark, Butoh
    Ana Llorente, Latin
    McCree O’Kelley, Virtual Ballet

  • Stacey Slichter, Classical Ballet
    Dre Lakin, Injury Prevention
    Carson Hobbs, Musical Theatre
    Dr. Ivan Pulinkala, Modern
    Ana Llorente, Latin
    Sarah Hillmer, Contemporary Ballet
    AJ Paug, Hip Hop
    John Welker, Contemporary Ballet and Dance Performance and Mental Readiness (Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre)
    Tara Lee, Classical Ballet (Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre)

  • Christine Welker, Classical Ballet 
    Jon Carr, Contemporary
    Jan Wikstrom, Voice
    Carson Hobbs, Musical Theater 
    Sarah Hillmer, Contemporary Ballet
    Dre Lakin, Jazz
    Sean Nguyen-Hilton, Modern
    Nicole Johnson, Contemporary Ballet

  • Nicole Johnson, Contemporary Ballet
    Martha Goodman, Classical Ballet
    Harrison Long, Acting for Dancers
    Julie Galle Baggenstoss, Flamenco
    Sarah Hillmer, Contemporary Ballet

     


 

 

 

 

 

©