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Wilor has a long career as a dancer, working her way up through the ranks from Corps de Ballet to soloist, to principal dancer with the Andahazy Ballet, the Savino Ballet, and the Branitski Ballet. In addition, she performed with Myron Johnson adn Goel Weirs at the Children's Theater. In addition to her primary training with Lorant and Anna Andahazy and Lirena Branitski, eight years of participation in the intensive winter and summer sessions with notable ballerinas from the Kirov Ballet (including Gabriela Komleva, Marina Stavitskaya, Luba Gulyarava and Kaleria Fedecheva) gave Wilor invaluable training as a dancer and as a teacher. As a teacher, Wilor combines technical expertise with artistry, using a method of systematic training based on the Russian method, but adapted to the American educational and cultural situation. She is one of a handful of teachers today teaching character dance - both classical and the peasant forms - and has extensive experience choreographing in the genre, with its diverse ethnic and cultural roots.
In 1997, Wilor created the full-length 1 1/2 hour ballet based on her original book, "The Golden Bough, A Fairytale Ballet for Children" (pub. 996), designing and constructing sets, props, costumes, and choreography for over 90 dancers. Here's an interesting note for "Spotlight" dancers: In 2002, Laura Daugherty danced the lead role of the Golden Bird in "The Golden Bough." With over 30 original works to her credit, Wilor continues to create new choreography and stage a variety of material fromt he historical ballet repertoire. She lives with her husband in St. Paul, where, from time to time, she writes nonsense songs, poems and stories for children, including, "There's a Rabbit on the Roof!" (2007) and the soon-to-be published, "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Wickitty-Whacky Wonkie Wobbles: A Guide for Young Dancers and Their Parents". (For more information, go to www.wilorbluege.com)
Laura began her training at Dancers’ Workshop in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, followed by training at the St. Croix Academy for the Arts and the former Andahazy School of Classical Ballet in Minnesota. The subsequent six years were spent at North Carolina School of the Arts on scholarship, Classical Ballet Ensemble with Carol Roderick, University of Utah and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. She attended the Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C., Harid Conservatory and Andahazy summer programs for additional training.
Her teachers at the previous schools were Marius Andahazy, Wilor Bluege, Gina Vidal, Fanchon Cordell, Gyula Pandi Melissa Hayden, Sharee Lane, Attila Ficzere, Galina Yordanova, Petru Macra, Jordan Morris, Ludmila Morkovina, Yelena Vinogradova, Olivier Pardina, Michelle Lucci, Ted Kivitt, Alla Sizova, Lise Houlton and Maria Stavitskaya. Laura’s professional experience has been with the Colorado Ballet in Balanchine’s Western Sympony, Dance Theatre of Wilmington’s Nutcracker, Manitoba Opera’s Aida, Josee Garant’s Cupid and Psyche, and Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. She toured with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet to China, Philippines, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. In addition, she performed the lead in Wilor Bluege’s full-length ballet, The Golden Bough, and danced in the premiere of Primal Songs by Bonnie Mathis. Laura has completed two Classical Ballet Teachers’ Courses with Carol Roderick, and taken basic anatomy at the University of Utah. She has taught at many schools in the Twin Cities including Minnesota Dance Theatre, Ballet Arts and St. Paul City Ballet. This is her sixth year at Spotlight Productions Dance Studio.
Lisa has been teaching dance for over 13 years. Her teaching background began at the Virginia Luoma School of Dance, which followed by teaching at Ecole' De Dance in Minnetonka for 7 years. She was a member of her high school danceline in Mound-Westonka and continued on to becoming a member of the University of Minnesota danceline. While attending the University, she took classes that included jazz, modern, and ballet. Lisa has been teaching at Spotlight for the past 4 years. Her specialties are working with our preschoolers thru 9 year olds. Her gentle and loving nature make her a favorite among her students.
Brittany Heisch graduated from North St. Paul High School in2008. She started her dance career at the age of three at Spotlight ProductionsDance Studio. From then on she realized that dance was her passion. She begancompetitively dancing at the age of 7 and choreographing and teaching at theage of 16. She participated in many competitions and conventions including;Tremaine, West Coast, Jump, and The Pulse. Throughout her 16 years atSpotlight, Brittany has received many 1st place and top scores forher performances and choreography. She was also a member of the North St. Paul dance team forfour years where she was captain and also a part of the choreography team. Brittanywas also a member of Twin Cities Dance Collaborative, a local dance company. Shereally enjoys teaching and loves being a part of the Spotlight family!
Jackie grew up in the Twin Cities area and has studied all genres of dance in Minnesota and across the country for the past 25 years. She was a compeition dancer at Spotlight Productions Dance Studio, and she began her teaching career here nearly 13 years ago. Jackie has performed in productions locally including, "Superstars in Concert", "Aveda National Congress" and DIFFA. International credits include "Intercoiffure Nationale" in Paris, France. Her Choreography has earned numerous awards at the regional and national levels.
Jackie excels in the classroom, making sure her students learn not only how to dance, but how to become strong, responsible individuals outside the dance studio as well. Jackie is proud to be a member of the Spotlight family.
Tera Nelson
Tera Nelson graduated from Farmington High School in 2008 and is now currently a freshman at Concordia University - St. Paul, where she plays an important on their performance team. Tera has been dancing for 15 years as a competition dancer at various studios around the Twin Cities area. She has been trained in: Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Modern and Musical Theater.
Though she doesn't have a favorite style, Tera has won many Regional and National awards for competitions as a soloist and as a group dancer. She began assistant teaching at the age of 12 and has loved working with kids ever since. Now that she is teaching her own classes, she is excited to pass on her passion and love for dance to the young, aspiring dancers of Spotlight Productions.
Geena Richard
Bio coming soon
Jennifer has been dancing for 26 years and has been teaching for 18 years!! While teaching at local studios in the area, she traveled to California to continue her dance training with LA Danceforce, The Edge Performing Arts, and Tremaine Dance Conventions. She has been with Spotlight for the past four years, mainly working with our youngest dancers, nurturing and inspiring them to be the best they can be!
Amy has been dancing for over 16 years and teaching dance for over 7 years. She danced competitively at Spotlight Productions Dance Studio from 1995-2000. After graduating from Eastview High School in 2000, Amy taught dance at Spotlight for 3 years and also trained at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, studying modern, jazz, tap, and ballet. Amy then moved to Duluth, MN to obtain a degree in Elementary Education from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. While in school, Amy choreographed and instructed competitive dance for 3 years at Dance Escape Dance Studio. In that time, Amy helped the studio win "Studio of the Year" from Starlight Dance Competition in 2006, and also took students to New York to perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2004. She has worked with the American National Ballet and choreographed and performed a tap piece for Juliana Bertelsen's "Over The Top" in 2005. Amy is very happy to be back at Spotlight Productions Dance Studio and is looking forward to a wonderful year!
Bio coming soon
Stacy Warnke trained at the prestigious Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Professional Division, where she received a Professional Ballet Certificate of Completion for Levels 1-7 in Ballet, Pointe, Pas de Deux, Modern, Character, and Repertoire. Stacy has also attended Atlanta Ballet, Austin Ballet and Colorado Ballet summer intensives. Stacy later toured and performed both soloist and corps de ballet roles with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in such works as Anna Karenina, Carmina Burana, Giselle, Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. During her professional career, Stacy was also fortunate enough to work with such renowned stars and Fernando Bujones, David Howard, Gelsey Kirkland, Nina Papina, Mauricio Wainrot and Galina Yordanova.
Since leaving her professional career, Stacy has taught all levels of ballet, with pointe technique, repertoire, and choreographed and conducted rehearsals for performances, while completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Megan started dancing at age 3, while in pre-school. For as long as she can remember, she has always had a passion for dance. She would teach herself the choreography from music videos by Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson, or any other dance video that caught her attention. Megan started dancing at Spotlight Productions in 1992, and she was introduced to the Tremaine Dance Conventions. It was at the first dance convention and hip hop class she took by Dan Karaty and Chris Moss, where at the end of the class they asked some students to come up on the stage to perform the routine they had just been taught. Megan says, “Dan pointed at me, and he said ‘C’mon, get up here!’ . . . and from there, I was hooked!” Megan has traveled to Los Angeles, Florida and Las Vegas to attend classes from some of the best known choreographers; including Wade Robson, Doug Caldwell, Jayson Wright, Eddie Garcia, Desiree Robins, Dante and Laurie Johnson.
These experiences have not only been valuable life lessons, but they have helped strengthen Megan’s teaching abilities. Since 2001, Megan has been teaching all ages how to shuffle, leap, pop and lock. She started a competition Hip Hop program in 2002, and she has produced award-winning routines. Some of those routines have also won her “Choreographer of the Year” awards and top place Nationals awards.
Keri is a native of Los Angeles whose extensive dance training covers many areas of the art. She has been working in the business since the age of 18, and has been featured on many projects including The American Music Awards in 1998 with Toni Braxton, and again in 1999 with Cher. Most recently she performed with J-Lo on the MTV Awards and also in her recently televised concert on NBC. Her credits also extend from Courtney Love’s “Celebrity Skin” video, to commercials for Sony, 7-up, and the MGM Grand Hotel. In 1996, Keri was the assistant choreographer for Gloria Estefan’s “Evolution” world tour, and most recently assisted Liz Imperio on the Disney movie “Gotta Kick It Up”, and J-Lo’s NBC special. She’s also choreographed for the Laker Girls, SKIP Entertainment Company in Guam, and she currently travels across the country as a choreographer and master teacher.
Nick Bowman
Nick Bowman is one the dance industry's finest tap technicians and one o the most sought-after tap choreographers in the U.S. Nick teaches for West Coast Dance Explosion and is constantly out on the road teaching for many dance organizations and workshops worldwide. His work is featured in nationally distributed educational videos and he recently developed and produced his one of his own - entitled Cheers! Nick's credits as a performer are far too long to list but he includes Caution Men at Work: TAP, Legends of Tap, Steppitapahtuma, Feet Don't Fail Me Now, and Buckets and Tap Shoes as a few of his favorites. He has appeared on many TV shows such as the Rosie O'Donnell Show, the Ellen Degeneres Show, and Dr. Phil. Nick currently resides in Minneapolis, where he choreographs and performs with the newly established professional tap company Rhythmic Circus. He also directs the Sole City Youth Tap Ensemble, which he founded in 2005.
Eddie Strachan
Eddie is one of the most energetic personalities to hit the circuit in years. Originally from Huntington Beach, California (where he received his training) he currently teaches dance in the area. He has established a name for himself as a highly skilled teacher and choreographer. Musical theatre, jazz, lyrical, and even tap. He does it all! He has worked with artists such as Britney Spears and Madonna. Eddie has performed all over the country with many productions including Ten Foot Five, in Minneapolis, Carnival Cruise Lines, and Key Club in Hollywood. He has also performed on The Ellen Degeneres Show, Dr. Phil, Good Day L.A., and ESPN. He brings an athletic flair to his choreography with a passion and energy that is contagious.
Desire Robbins
Desiree is originally from Costa Mesa, California, in the "O.C." and began dancing at age four. Her mother originally put her in dance because their neighbor had a dance studio and would take Desiree with her to work. After that, she never wanted to stop. She had found her passion. The studio she grew up in was very small, only one room, and therefore they did not usually compete. The first time Desiree saw a competition was at Tremaine, where they competed once with a swing number. Again, she was hooked. By age 12 she had become a tour assistant for the Tremaine faculty and began teaching her own convention classes by age 18. She has since completed many tours with Tremaine while pursuing a professional dance career performing in many commercials and TV shows including Eerie Tales, Disney's Videopolis, 24/7 and Breakthrough. She was also a Star Search winner. Desiree has become a much sought after choreographer and dance coach, including a ten-year working relationship with the NFL Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, as well as work with the NBA Kings Royal court Dancers, the University of Illinois, University of Alabama, University of Wisconsin and many other private competitive teams. She has been on the faculty of the University of California, Irvine, for more than four years and is a guest master teacher for the University of Arizona and California State University, Fullerton. Her choreography talent also extends into the musical theater world with the Hollywood musical "24 hours" which was nominated for an Ovation Award by the Los Angeles Stage Alliance, as well as an NAACP Award. In addition, she develops new recording artists including Casablanca Records recording artist, Brie Larson. In 2004, Desiree worked alongside Joe Tremaine in developing Tremaine National Teen Performance Company and is the current Artistic Director and Administrator for the company. She is a multi-talented and multi-faceted teacher and devotes much of her time training the dancers that you see in front of the camera. Her real expertise is taking dancers and fine-tuning their technique, style and movement to create a more refined, professional product. Desiree is recognized in the field for being able to achieve these things by analyzing form and operative skills, producing an efficiency in movement for each dancer. She speaks in age appropriate terminology to all her students, which in turn creates a strong bond between teacher/coach and student.