Utah Dance Education Organization | UDEO

Celebrating the rich diversity of dance in Utah

FALL CONFERENCE PRESENTERS

Providing professional experiences, empathic perspectives, and new knowledge

Sondra FraleighSondra Fraleigh

Eastwest Director, Professor of Dance Emeritus, Fulbright Scholar & RSMT

Keynote Address: "Geographies of Us and Place Dances"

Sondra Fraleigh is an international leader in dance, yoga, and healing arts. She Is a Registered Feldenkrais® teacher, and certifies Registered Somatic Movement Educators and Therapists through ISMETA, International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association. She has been a professor of dance and somatics for over forty years in the Department of Dance at the State University of New York at Brockport and is a valued mentor to dancers and somatic practitioners in the USA, Europe, Japan, Mexico and India.

For more than 40 years, Professor Sondra Fraleigh has been a leader in the study of movement and dance. She is a Fulbright Scholar and professor emeritus of the State University of New York, College at Brockport, where she chaired the Department of Dance. Her innovative choreography based in somatics and inspired by butoh has been seen on tour in America, Germany, the UK, India and Japan. She served as president of the Congress on Research in Dance (renamed, Dance Studies Association) and as a Faculty Exchange Scholar for the State University of New York. Her articles have been published in texts on dance and movement, philosophy, somatics, and cognitive psychology. Some of her articles are available for download below.

Eastwest Institute features Shin Somatics® - an approach to healing and personal transformation developed by Sondra Fraleigh through her teaching of dance and movement, integrative bodywork, philosophy, and meditation. Her work is informed by her certification in the Feldenkrais® Method and CranioSacral Therapy - as also her study of Myofascial Release, Effective Communication, Japanese Butoh, Yoga, and Zen meditation.

Breakout Sessions

Ashley Boyack Portrait

Still I Rise

Ashley Boyack

In this presentation, we will explore the work of Maya Angelou to help us make sense of hard things. In her poem, Still I Rise, we will examine how to fall and recover, and find peace within our own story. We will work on how people around the world have fought injustice and how we can translate that into movement language.

Target Audience: This session and lesson are geared towards 3-6th grade

Bio
Ashley Boyack received her BFA from the University of Utah and MAT from the University of Northern Colorado. She joined the Lawrence Arts Center in 2010, where she was Artistic Director of the Youth Dance Theater. While at LAC she created the modern dance curriculum and served as the LAC Dance Education Specialist. In 2015 she received the Sorenson Legacy Award for Excellence in Elementary Dance Instruction. In 2017 Ashley returned to the University of Utah Tanner Dance program to teach and become the Director of Professional Development.
Natosha Washington
Bio
Natosha Washington is a professional choreographer, director and avid educator who is passionate about all-inclusive learning. Washington received the 2015 Sorenson Legacy Award for Best Secondary Dance Educator in Utah, and most recently nominated for Salt Lake City School District’s 2020 Teacher of the Year Top Four. Washington received her BFA from the University of Utah in Modern Dance (2004) and Associate Degree of Fine Arts from Ricks College (1999). During her time at the U, Washington’s work received the Best Performance award at the 2004 American College Dance Association’s National Festival at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., and was featured in Dance Magazine (2004). Washington co-directed the Utah-based company, RawMoves, that received a 2005 Slammy Award for Best New Dance Company. Washington, a full-time dance teacher at Judge Memorial Catholic High School (2005-2012), created a program for young men to dance, starting with 18 it developed to 44 young men. Washington also taught at Northwest Middle School (2012-2018) creating the school’s “Celebration of Dance.” The program consisted of 400+ students celebrating school pride and diverse cultures through dance. In 2018, Washington expanded the West High Dance program two class sizes, adding 60+ students. Also, she is developing a new educational program in collaboration with Weber State Professor jo Blake geared towards first-generation students to receive a degree of higher education. As a choreographer, Washington’s work has been seen internationally (China, Russia, New Zealand, Fiji, Brazil), locally (Repertory Dance Theatre), collegiate (University of Alabama, Utah Valley University) and secondary school companies, including her own, The Penguin Lady Dance Collective. Natosha Washington is a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah who is currently the Performing Arts Department Chair and Dance Company Director at West High School.
Lehua Brown
Bio
Lehua (Lay-hoo-ah) Estrada, originally from Kaua’i, is a Filipina-American dance artist, educator, and performer that believes in fracturing perfectionist attitudes in dance as well as celebrating and cultivating the whole dancer. Lehua loves being a compassionate educator and academic counselor valuing curiosity, vulnerability, joyous creativity, and sensitivity without sacrificing virtuosity, challenge, and progression. These same sensibilities apply to her performance, and she has been noted for her, “…special grace, ease of movement, and talent for communicating complex emotions.” For two decades Lehua has balanced motherhood and a professional performance and choreographic career. During that time she toured throughout the US, France, Italy, and Mexico with companies and artists such as The Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, PEARSONWIDRIG DANCETHEATRE, The Nikolais Dance Theater, and Tzveta Kassabova. As a creator, Lehua’s choreography is often anchored in empathy and connection with a shadowy, ethereal twist, but as she ages, she finds the utmost creative potential in everyday occurrences. Her recent works include the dance film and mini-documentary 14 Days based on and filmed during her 2020 pandemic quarantine, and a site-specific work titled Lady Parts, a social commentary on the phenomenon of misogyny. Beyond dance, Lehua loves the sea, hiking with her favorite person, and her four beautiful children; all of which inform her as a vulnerable and engaged artist, human, and educator.
Eileen Rojas
Bio
Eileen Rojas is a Colombian-American licensed clinical social worker and dance artist based in Salt Lake City, UT. Eileen has 15+ years of experience working with youth, adults, and families in community, clinical, and educational settings. She also continues to perform, teach, and choreograph in the Salt Lake valley. Eileen uses her understanding of somatics and movement as well as her interest in recreation, music, yoga, and art to maintain an open and inclusive multicultural practice aimed at focusing on the strengths and interests of each unique individual. She is the mother of two amazing young kids and is married to her high school sweetheart.

Embraced for Being: Examining Racism in Dance Education Through Somatic Movement and Appreciative Inquiry

Lehua Estrada, Eleine Rojas, and Natasha Washington

This session serves to provide a shared and voluntary vulnerable space for dance educators who identify as Black, Indigenous, Native Hawaiian, Latine, Asian/Asian American, Pacific Islander, mixed-race, person of color. We recognize that systemic structures in education and the dance world, administrative and professorial privilege, as well as a lack of representation in dance education lead to enduring hardships and discrimination for our multicultural professionals and students. Through movement, storytelling, somatic process, improvisation, and discussion we desire to share our experiences and positionality, coalesce our energies and envision solutions that can one day lead to equity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging for our K-12, higher ed, and professional arena dance students. We strive to celebrate our journeys, and move toward personal and communal healing and pleasure.

Target Audience: Dance educators who identify as Black, Indigenous, Native Hawaiian, Latine, Asian/Asian American, Pacific Islander, mixed-race, person of color

Rachel Marie Kimball

The Interactive Dance of K-12

Rachel Marie Kimball

K-12 students deserve to have equal, quality access to dance curriculum as with other core subjects!  Join this session to learn about ways to achieve stronger vertical alignment of dance education in your district, including advocacy strategies and how to connect elementary and secondary dance programs for greater success.

Target Audience: K-12

Bio
Rachel Marie Kimball began her work as a BTS Arts dance integration coach for the Nebo School District in 2016 after receiving her BA in Dance Education (K-12) from BYU. Along with her work as an arts integration coach, Rachel has worked closely with administrators and high school dance teachers in the district to help close the gap between elementary and high school dance by advocating for the development and expansion of dance programs in all district middle and junior high schools. Rachel currently serves as the Elementary Dance Representative for UDEO, and enjoys being a member of the BYU Arts Partnership Leadership Team and Native American Curriculum Initiative (NACI). Through NACI, she is humbled and delighted to collaborate with Native American tribal leaders of the eight sovereign nations in Utah while working to find accurate and authentic ways to use Native American arts in everyday educational practices. Rachel is a certified life coach with Promethean Spark International, which has provided her with opportunities to expand her work as a dance educator internationally, connecting her with students and educators in countries such as India, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, and Morocco. She has also enjoyed dancing in Mexico, Guatemala, Denmark, and Hungary. Through her domestic and international work, Rachel is an enthusiastic supporter of culturally sensitive and inclusive arts, presenting diversity accurately and authentically. Rachel has presented at the Utah NAME Conference (2019, 2020), the Learning Edge Conference (2019), and BYU Arts Express (2019, 2021).https://rmksite.wixsite.com/rachelmarie-dance
Ashley Mott

Let's Dance!

Ashley Mott

This session is a class for dance educators who just want to take class, who miss moving for themselves instead of teaching others, or who want some take-away ideas and combos they could use next week!  This is a straightforward modern dance technique class that you can adapt or modify to meet your own needs.

Target Audience: Participants open and willing to try things and adapt to their own level of physicality (both in terms of taking care of their bodies and/or challenging themselves as they see fit).

Bio
Ashley Mott is a teaching artist, choreographer, yoga practitioner and dance performer based in Utah. Ashley has taught many levels of modern and contemporary dance, improvisation, choreography, ballet, pointe, improvisation, jazz, somatics, yoga, and theory courses at Westminster College, Utah Valley University, Salt Lake Community College, and numerous secondary programs. She serves as director for Park City Dance Company. Ashley has significant experience as an artistic director, production manager, stage manager, designer, and administrator. She holds an MFA in Dance, Creative Process (Somatics, Phenomenological Theory, and Design emphasis) from Saint Mary's College of California, and a MEd. and a BFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah.https://rmksite.wixsite.com/rachelmarie-dance
Dmitri Peskov

Katsugen Undo

Dmitri Peskov

We lay supine on the floor. We hold on to each other’s ankles. We breathe. We switch. We sway together. The Spine. The Spinal cord. The non-analytical thinking. Letting go of our survival instincts. Tapping into what the ancients called the “original mind”. Then…we move together…without thinking…listening with empathy to each other…thus …katsugen undo…a dynamic Japanese practice intended to bring the body’s energies into a natural and healthy state of balance….( https://www.ecole-itsuo-tsuda.org/en/katsugen-undo/)

Target Audience: Anyone who is comfortable with human contact is encouraged to participate.

Bio
Dmitri Peskov is the Associate Professor of Dance and Dance Department Chair at Snow College. He holds a third degree blackbelt in kajukenbo, a first degree black belt in hapkido and a blue belt in yoseikan budo and judo. He is also a certified yoga, pilates and taichi instructor, a medical qigong therapist and a Thai yoga therapist. In the past two years Dmitri has been presenting new digital dance works for the international Our Stories Dance festival based in Spain, Germany and Israeli, for the Midwest RAD Fest (https://revuewm.com/arts/theatre/item/4956-review-rad-fest-keeps-dance-innovative) in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Dance on Screen Alabama and Only the Lonely, a commissioned program for virtual events created by loveDANCEmore in Salt Lake City ((http://lovedancemore.org/spring). His latest project is a dance film made in collaboration with the President of Korean Dance Therapy Association and independent Korean dance artist Jung Ah Yoon. It will be premiered at the international Event/Horizons 2021 event (https://www.eventhorizons2021.com/homepage) curated by Ana Sanchez-Colberg later this month. Dmitri is also a Russian writer and poet, long listed for the 2021 Voloshin Poetry Award, the 2021 Writers in Exile Award and is the current finalist for both MyPrize 2021 Poetry Award and the 2021 Annensky Award in Moscow, Russia. Dmitri is grateful to the UDEO for inviting him to teach at this conference.
Elizabeth Stich

Exertion <—> Recuperation Through Aerial Dance

Elizabeth Stich

Aerial dance utilizes suspended objects to allow the dancer to access space in a new way. In this somatic-based class, we will use the aerial fabric knot as a supportive partner to explore the theme of exertion <—> recuperation. No upper body strength required—come as you are ready to sweat, laugh, stretch, spin, go upside down, and play!

Target Audience: All Dance Educators

Bio
Elizabeth Stich is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Dixie State University where she loves to share the joy of aerial dance with students of all ages and movement backgrounds. Elizabeth holds a certification in Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis through Integrated Movement Studies, an MFA in modern dance from the University of Utah, and is a graduate of the professional training program at the New England Center for Circus Arts.
Jennifer Weber

Pivoting with a Purpose: As we approach a post-pandemic era, is our dance education as equitable, inclusive, and accessible as we’d like to believe?

Jennifer Weber

This interactive session will be a blend of discussion and activities that will allow us to work collaboratively to define inclusive dance pedagogy and brainstorm ways to put these ideas into practice. We will begin by exploring our dance identities and then work to identify areas of inclusion that may be missing in our dance pedagogy.

Target Audience: All Dance Educators

Bio
Jennifer Weber holds an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. She has a BA in Mathematics from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is currently on faculty at Dixie State University. She danced professionally with Omaha Theater Company, Ballet Quad Cities, and Ballet Nebraska. Ms. Weber’s choreographic work has been presented internationally and nationally. She has presented her scholastic work at conferences including CORPS de Ballet International, World Dance Alliance Americas, Royal Academy of Dance, and the Evans Somatic Conference. Her research engages critical approaches to existing codified dance techniques to reimagine the ways in which the various training methods, practices, and genres of dance can be in conversation. The direct areas of application she investigates are dance pedagogy, creative process, the individual artist, and anti-racist practices.

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