Faculty Biographies
Mari Engel
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Mari Engel received her early training at Makie Naoi Ballet School. During her Ballet studies, Mari was accepted to the prestigious Butai Geijustu Gakuen (Academy for Performing Arts) in Tokyo Japan where she studied Modern, Ballet and Jazz dance. After graduation Mari continued to study at Chacott Ballet in Japan, Ballet Pensacola & Kaleidoscope in Florida and Modern at the Wurzburg Dance Theater in Germany. She started her professional dance career with Nakura Kayoko Jazz Dance Company performing on stage and screen. She continued performing professionally with Kazco Takemoto's Dance Venus and Swerve in Pensacola Florida. She was a contract dance teacher for U.S. Navy Japan's Morale Welfare and Recreation and has choreographed and taught locally at Reflections School of Dance. |
Matthew Gregg
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Matthew Gregg is one of the most unique choreographers and teachers to work in Hip Hop. By blending his talents as an accomplished dancer, musician, artist, writer, and dj, he offers the next level in urban dance. His work has won numerous awards at both regional and national levels. |
Jovon Miller
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Jovon Miller has a BA in dance from WWU and was a recipient of the prestigious Congressional Black Caucus Spouses Heineken USA Performing Arts Scholarship Award. As a tapper, he has performed with many celebrated artists, for members of the U.S. Congress, spouses for the Congressional Black Caucus, Tyler Perry, and King 5 News, among others. |
Sarah Seder
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Sarah Seder has been dancing all her life. She has trained in modern dance, ballet, flamenco, jazz, musical theater, west and east coast swing, lindy hop, salsa, some tap, tango and West African. She is a graduate of Bard College in New York, where she majored in dance and psychology in 2007. She is a founding member of Seattle's new Sapience Dance Collective. She was also founding member of Barrio Flamenco, a flamenco dance collective, in 2007-2008. She has danced with local choreographers Kristina Dillard, Danny Herter, and Dayna Hanson. Other choreographers include Peter Pucci, Aileen Passloff, Maria Simpson, Jean Churchill, Leslie Boyce. She has choreographed dances for high school musical theater productions and has been teaching dance all over the greater Seattle area since 2007. Sarah also works at Seattle Children's Home as a residential counselor for teenagers living in the treatment facility. |
Emily Smith
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Emily Smith trained in tap, jazz, modern, hip hop and ballet. She also studied and performed with WWU’s Dance Department while earning a B.A. in English Literature. Emily has been teaching dance for eight years and just completed a Masters in Teaching for Secondary Education. |
Christine Weh
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Christine began her dance training with Mary Hunt, Heather Renk, and Lila Zali protege Cynthia Tosh, in Portland, Oregon, performing with the Portland Community Ballet. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance cum laude from Cornish College of the Arts in 2005, working with such choreographers as Pat Hon, Tonya Lockyer, Gary Masters from the Limon Company, and Mary Sheldon Scott. She has studied Creative Movement under Gail Heilbron and Christine Juarez, and has been teaching her love of dance in creative movement, ballet and modern techniques since the year 2000. Currently she is a member of Weaving Dance Company, performs locally in Seattle modern dance projects, and is the Administrative Assistant for Preparatory Dance at Cornish College of the Arts, where she also teaches ballet. She has worked with the Catherine Mayer Foundation in multidisciplinary arts education since 2006. |
ZJ Zhang
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Zhenjun "ZJ" Zhang danced with the Jose Limon and Martha Graham Companies, appeared in The King and I New York and London productions, and served as choreographer and dance captain in other productions. ZJ trained in ballet, Chinese classical dance, folk dance, acrobatics and choreography. In 2007 he completed his BFA at Cornish College of the Arts. |