Masterclasses

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

• Spring 2020 Masterclass Guest Artists

  Tara Lee, Contemporary Ballet
  Toni Jenkins, Classical Ballet
  Xay Zoleil, Hip Hop
  Caroline Clark, Butoh
  Ana Llorente, Latin
  Alexandre Barros, Classical Ballet

• Fall 2019 Masterclass Guest Artists

  Alexandra Barros
  Christian Clark
  Heath Gill
  Sarah Hillmer
  Carson Hobbs
  Dre Lakin
  Tara Lee
  Ana Llorente
  A.J. Paug
  Stacy Slichter
  Rachel Van Buskirk
  John Welker

• Spring 2019 Masterclass Guest Artists

  Christine Welker, Classical Ballet 
  Jon Carr, Contemporary
  Jan Wikstrom, Voice
  Carson Hobbs, Musical Theater 
  Sarah Hillmer, Contemporary Ballet
  Dre Lakin, Jazz
  Nicole Johnson, Contemporary Ballet

• Fall 2018 Masterclass Guest Artists
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    Nicole Johnson

    Nicole Johnson, Atlanta native and a founding artist of Fly on a Wall, is thrilled to find herself a part of an organism grown from the fertile and creative grounds of the vibrant city of Atlanta. As a young artist, she trained at The Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance Education, and joined the Atlanta Ballet in 2006. She has performed works by numerous choreographers, including George Balanchine, Diane Coburn Bruning, Alan Hineline, Stephen Mills, Micheal Pink, Stanton Welch, Lila York, John McFall and Lauri Stallings. In 2009 she began to explore more contemporary work with dance maker Lauri Stallings, leading to the formation of gloATL, a platform for contemporary movement language and physical gesture. While with glo, she was a part of numerous experiences created for Atlanta and beyond, from Rapt in 2009 to The Social Animal in 2013. Nicole has worked intimately with a number of artists in varied media and this has given her the understanding that all work is truly collaborative at heart. This belief led to the creation of Fly on a Wall.

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    Martha Goodman

    Martha Goodman's experience includes touring with dance companies internationally, teaching and coaching all levels of dancers, as well as staging and performing in ballet classics and performing in films, television, and on and off Broadway. She studied in New York with Igor Schwetzov, David Howard, Genia Melikova, Maggie Black and in Paris with Gilbert Meyer formerly of Paris Opera Ballet.

    Martha has coached students to the final rounds of the International Ballet Competition and Youth America Grand Prix.  As a Southeastern Regional Ballet Association (SERBA) Award Winner, her original choreographed works Offenbach Suite and Peasant Pas de Sept were selected to represent the Southeast Region at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS.

    Martha has taught with Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance Education from June 1996-2017 and continues to teach master classes and summer programs as well as choreograph for companies throughout the U.S.
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    Harrison Long

    Harrison Long has over twenty-five years of experience as a director, actor, writer, administrator, and teacher. His professional acting career began in 1986 and includes material ranging from contemporary drama to musical comedy to Shakespeare. New York acting credits include the title role in Henry V (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), Athol Fugard’s A Lesson From Aloes (78th Street Theatre Lab) and Bloomsday On Broadway (Symphony Space). Long’s directing credits include the first site-specific production of Lee Blessing’s cold war drama, A Walk in the Woods at Serenbe Playhouse, and the NEA-sponsored Splittin’ the Raft, which toured seven Georgia communities ranging from inner-city schools to rural mountain towns. In 2015, his production of Parade commemorated the centennial of Leo Frank’s tragic death in Marietta, Georgia, the town where it occurred. Publications include The Journal of Global Initiatives, The International Journal of Arts Education and The Journal of Higher Education Outreach & Engagement. Long is the 2013 recipient of the Kennesaw State University, Foundation Prize for Publication and the 2014 winner of KSU’s Distinguished Professor Award.
    
    He received a B.F.A. from Florida State University and an M.F.A. from Southern Methodist University. Long is a proud member of The Actor’s Equity Association.
    Teaching credits include: Marymount Manhattan College; 
    University of Tennessee; 
    St. John’s University; 
    Southern Methodist University; 
    Georgia State University; 
    Clayton College and State University; 
    Virginia Governor’s School of the Arts; and 
    Summer Theatre Institute at Columbia University. 

    In addition, Professor Long was Dialogue Coach for the CBS series, Dangerous Curves. Harrison is a proud member of The Actor's Equity Association.    
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    Julie Galle Baggenstoss

    Julie Galle Baggenstoss has performed Flamenco dance across the nation, and locally for clients including the Atlanta Opera, Georgia State University’s School of Music, and The Latin American Association. She is part of the dance faculty of Emory University, where she teaches Flamenco improvisation, choreography, and technique, as she learned from her teachers in Seville, Spain, including Angelita Vargas, Juan Paredes, Pilar Ortega, Juan del Gastor, and Ángel Atienza. She has an M.A. in Spanish and is recognized as a Flamenco scholar, contributing to the exhibition “100 Years of Flamenco in New York”, as well as the forthcoming anthology, Spaniards, Natives, Africans, and Roma: Transatlantic Malagueñas and Zapateados in Music, Song, and Dance, and lecturing on African, Latin American, and Gypsy influences in Flamenco. Julie is the only Flamenco artist in Georgia vetted by the Georgia Council for the Arts, the Fulton County Teaching Museum, and Young Audiences Woodruff Arts Center. Julie produces Flamenco performances and educational seminars nationwide, involving Spanish Flamenco artists in residence in the United States of America via her company Berdolé, as well as the non-profit A Través, which focuses on projects that connect Spanish artists and students of Georgia schools.
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    Sarah Hillmer

    An Atlanta native, Sarah Hillmer began her professional career with Atlanta Ballet dancing principal roles in the classics and originating roles in a variety of contemporary works. In her time as a performing artist, Sarah was also a founding member of glo, and she performed with Staibdance. Sarah is currently a Ballet Mistress at Atlanta Ballet where she has had the privilege of collaborating with choreographers at every level of the creation process: assisting in the building of full-length ballets by Twyla Tharp and Helen Pickett; re-staging repertory works by Ohad Naharin and John McFall; and assisting in the staging of works by Jiří Kylián, Wayne McGregor and Gustavo Ramírez Sansano. Sarah has restaged choreographers’ works at Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Smuin Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet, and UNCSA, and has assisted Helen Pickett on recent creations for Pennsylvania Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Sarah has been commissioned to create her own works for Wabi Sabi, Backside of the Tent Productions and Emory Dance Company. Sarah recently formed ImmerseATL, a contemporary dance training environment in Atlanta, who’s aim is to cultivate creators and shape leaders.