Kai Ganado
Kai Ganado has been involved in the field of movement studies for over twenty years. His love for motion and the power of non-verbal communication has led him to perform with the Jose Limon Dance Company, to choreograph/act/sing in works with a Native American theme, and to become a practitioner of Laban Movement Analysis (LMA).
Kai has shared his LMU in courses for the UCLA Dance Department, the California Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (CAHPERD), and the UCLA World Arts and Cultures Department. In 1992-1993, the Theater/Dance Academy of Finland invited Kai to teach LMU and Dance in the Limon tradition.
Currently, Kai teaches American modern dance in the Limon tradition at Santa Monica College. His most recent adventure is doing an in-depth study of the concepts, movements, and machinery created by Joseph H. Pilates.
As his latest inspirational endeavor, Kai has created a system of mind-body movement integration called “Body Harmonics” out of a desire to synthesize his life experience in movement, dance, and therapeutic/healing modalities.
Holly Johnston
Holly Johnston is a Los Angeles based dance artist and educator. She graduated in 1996 with a BA in Dance from Loyola Marymount University, under the direction of Judy Scalin. In 1997, she was invited to become a founding member of TONGUE by Artistic Director, Stephanie Gilliland. Since then she has worked extensively with Gilliland as a principle dancer, rehearsal director, and teacher. Gilliland has been instrumental in her training and development as an artist, educator, and choreographer.
Holly brings with her a developed understanding of the movement arts and sciences, including biomechanics of contemporary and classical dance techniques. She has also created a unique system for actualizing functional physicality, injury prevention for dancers, and specialized rehabilitation techniques. She also works as a massage therapist and is deeply inspired by the transformative practice of yoga.
For many seasons, Loyola Marymount University and most recently Scottsdale Community College have commissioned choreographic work from Holly. Her work, “Door One, Left”, was selected for the Southwest Regional Gala Concert at the American College Dance Festival 2004; she was a guest artist for LMU. She has taught modern dance classes for Idyllwild Arts Academy; University of California, Santa Barbara; California State University, Fullerton; UC Irvine; Moorpark College; University of California, San Diego; and numerous TONGUE workshops and Master Classes throughout southern California. She has toured nationally and internationally with Tongue, and is currently the only collegiate access to the Gilliland technique. She is also the Director of The Ledges and Bones Dance Project, a dance laboratory for emerging artists seeking professional careers in concert dance. Holly is currently a part of the dance faculty at Loyola Marymount University and is committed to the rigor that transforms passion into art.
Sharon Kinney
Sharon Kinney has enjoyed an exciting career in dance as a choreographer, performer, teacher, and dance videographer. She is thrilled to be teaching modem technique this fall semester in the LMU Dance department. Currently a member of the Dance Faculty of California State University at Long Beach teaching Modem Technique, Composition, Graduate Choreography for the Camera, she continues to perform, choreograph and teach as a guest artist all over the world. She began her professional dance career as an original member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company and danced with the companies of Twyla Tharp, Dan Wagoner, and Yuriko among others. She has choreographed over 30 works for the stage and film. Movie credits include Leap of Faith, Popeye and /'// Do Anything. She taught at Juilliard, New York University, Ohio State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, UCLA and the prestigious American Dance Festival for 11summers. She has taught at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Tokyo ADF, the Paris Opera, and in several cities in South America. She received her MFA from UCLA in 2001, in Choreography for Dance and Video. In 1998, while at UCLA, she received a grant from NIPAD to make The Documentary From the Horses Mouth, which has been shown in film festivals all over the United States. In 2001 she performed at Town Hall in NYC in Paul Taylor's solo called EPIC in the Martha @ Town Hall production. In April 2004 she performed in Victoria Marks well-known quartet called Dancing to Music. Most recently she taught a master class at the American Dance Festival this summer in celebration of The Paul Taylor Dance Company's 50th year anniversary and taught a video workshop as well as dance master classes in Fort Worth Texas in July 2004.
Regina Klenjoski
Regina Klenjoski, born in Vienna, Austria and of Macedonian decent, earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Ohio University. Moving to Chicago after graduation, she danced with numerous companies and choreographed using a pick-up group of professional dancers. She officially founded the Regina Klenjoski Dance Company (RKDC) upon moving to Los Angeles in 1997, though her choreography has attracted attention and critical acclaim since her start in 1993. Her constant innovation and dynamic energy has captivated audiences throughout her presentations and commissions in Chicago, Southern California and, in RKDC's 1998 international debut, in Paris and Avignon, France. In Los Angeles, RKDC has been presented at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, James Armstrong Theatre, The Fountain Theatre, Grand Performances as part of Dance Kaleidoscope 2000, Highways Performance Space, Scripps College and CSU Northridge as part of Arts Open House.In 1999, Regina created an ongoing partnership with the City of Torrance, Learning Center for Arts Excellence where her company teaches and mentors over 1000 students yearly and presents their home season each spring at the James Armstrong Theatre. Her various honors include being a 2003 Public Corporation for the Arts Fellow, a four-time award recipient for achievement in choreography at the Palm Desert Choreography Competition from 1998-2001, recipient of the Torrance Cultural Arts Commission's Excellence in Arts Award for her contributions to the community in the field of dance and 11 local Lester Horton award nominations in the past three years. In November 2001, recognizing the need for more performance opportunities for local dance artists, Regina created the SOLA Contemporary Dance Festival to further dance in the Los Angeles area and directly benefit the South Bay community. Most recently, Regina partnered with Focus Fish Dance Studio in Hollywood, creating an ongoing Modern Dance Master Class Series, giving the local dance community access to LA's top modern teachers.
Kristen Smiarowski
Kristen Smiarowski – choreographer, educator, performer, and collaborator – has been creating and performing original dance works since 1996. Her theater-based and site-specific choreography have been presented in L.A. by the Skirball Cultural Center, Highways Performance Space, U.C.L.A. and the Electric Lodge; and in New York City by Dancing in the Streets, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Dixon Place, and Mulberry Street Theater. Smiarowski maintains ongoing collaborative relationships with composer Douglas C. Wadle, as well as choreographers Stephanie Nugent and Victoria Marks. She was Assistant Choreographer to Marks on her recent dance film, Touch (2003), and for the live performance of The Father/Daughter Project in Houston, TX (2001). In 2004, she re-set Marks’ seminal quartet, Dancing to Music, on two casts, including Dance Alloy in Pittsburgh. Smiarowski choreographed the feature-length musical comedy Open House (2001), and is currently working on a commission from U.C.L.A.’s Department of World Arts and Cultures to collaborate with filmmaker John Bishop on a short documentary about the U.C.L.A. dance department. Her work has been supported by the Dana Foundation, U.C. Santa Barbara, and the American Composers Forum (for her first collaboration with Wadle).
As an educator, Smiarowski has taught choreography, improvisation, and modern dance technique at U.C.L.A. and has guest-lectured at Mount St. Mary’s College and the Skirball Cultural Center. She currently teaches creative dance at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences, is a teaching artist for the Los Angeles Music Center Education Division, The HeArt Project, and the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning in the Arts, and is on faculty at the Center for Movement Education and Research. She teaches both folk dance and modern dance in Los Angeles and Orange County public schools, and is a member of AMAN Dance Educators, a collective of teachers that emerged from the AMAN International Folk Ensemble.
Smiarowski grew up in Pasadena, California and has lived and worked in Northern California, Israel, and New York City. She has performed with choreographers Carmela Hermann, Liz Lerman, Victoria Marks, and Stephanie Nugent, among others. She received an M.F.A. in Dance/Choreography from U.C.L.A. in 2002, where she was honored with numerous awards, including the Glorya Kaufman Award for Excellence in Choreography and the Alma Hawkins Choreographic Award.
