Judith B. Alter - Dance Education
Judith B. Alter has her Ed.D. (1980) and an MA in Teaching (1961) from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and an MA in Dance (1970) from Mills College. She is Associate Professor in Dance in the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures. She teaches graduate education, research and bibliography, theory and philosophy, dance history, and injury prevention to graduates and undergraduates. Previously she taught dance at Tufts University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and part-time at UC Riverside, and Scripps College. She also currently guest teaches undergraduate dance pedagogy at Loyola Marymount University. Dr. Alter studied dance with company members of Humphrey-Weidman, Graham, Wigman, and Horton and choreographed solos and group works for twenty-two years. Her thirty-year dance teacher-training experience ranges from pre-school children to senior citizens. She is author of articles on dance philosophy (two are translated into Chinese), education, history, the creative potential of performing arts students, and has published four books: Surviving Exercise, 1983 (1990), translated into Dutch and German, Stretch and Strengthen, 1986 (1990), translated into Dutch and German, Dance-Based Dance Theory, 1991, translated into Korean, and Dancing and Mixed Media (1994). Dr. Alter has taught workshops on injury prevention in dance technique in more than fifteen states in the U.S. and overseas. She has taught in Portugal on a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship and has guest-taught in Nice, France; Jyvalsyla, Finland; Kiel, Germany; and at the Beijing Dance Academy in China. Dr. Alter has served as outside expert on two Ph.D. defense committees in Finland and Portugal and on an MA defense in Portugal as well. She is currently Chair of Assessment for the California Dance Educators Association and lectures widely on how to implement "authentic assessment" in the arts and physical education. Dr. Alter has also been on the teams to rewrite the dance sections in California Visual and Performing Arts Framework and the CA Standards in the Arts.

Meri Bender  - Choreography
Meri Benderhas been teaching, dancing and performing in the Los Angles area for over 30 years.  She received her early training at the American School of Dance, studying ballet with Eugene Loring and modern dance with Gloria Newman.  Ms. Bender went on to dance professionally with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, Los Angeles Junior Programs and Gloria Newman Dance Theatre.  She received her BA (with honors) and MA in Dance from UCLA and was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.  Ms. Bender was active with Concert Dance Workshop at Loyola Marymount and with Choreographer’s Theatre Ensemble.  She has been on the faculty of Loyola Marymount University, UCLA and Santa Monica College and was chosen to teach a special class for gifted high school students for UCLA extension.  She was part of the “Artists in the Schools Program” funded by the California Arts Council.  She has been teaching dance and directing the choreography program at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts for the last 15 years.  She has also been on the faculty of Santa Monica College for the last 25 years and is currently teaching beginning and intermediate modern dance at the College.  She has received seven grants from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and from private organizations.  Ms. Bender’s dances have appeared on Dance Kaleidoscope at Cal State and at other dance festivals.  Videotapes of her dance/dramas have been used to stimulate discussions in ESL classrooms around the country.  Her work, “Sequela,” was recently performed at the Fountain Theater and will be performed at the Miles Playhouse in Santa Monica.

Susan Cambigue-Tracey - Dance Education
Susan Cambigue-Tracey has amassed an impressive list of credits over the past 42 years as a dancer, arts education consultant and administrator, writer, and nationally recognized dance educator. She began her career as a high school dance teacher, and then became the Associate Director of the Jeri Salkin Dance Studio and Center for Child Study where she taught dance to all ages, including emotionally disturbed, and directed the all-arts pre-school there.

She was the dance consultant and artist for the national Arts IMPACT project for the Glendale Unified School District in California and traveled across the country doing two to six week residencies as a dance movement specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts for 12 years, as well as being one of their national consultants. During this time, she also founded and directed the Free Flight Improvisational Dance Company, presenting school performances and community performances called "Viewing Art from a Dancer's Eye" – on-site dance projects that related to art exhibits.

She is also a Past-President of the California Dance Educators Association and has been honored with their prestigious "Dance Educator of the Year" award. As a dance consultant and arts education administrator, she worked for Performing Tree, the Galef Institute, and has been a member of the dance team for The California Arts Project (TCAP) at CSU Northridge, as well as instructing dance at the TCAP Leadership Academy. Currently, she is Director of Curriculum and Teaching Artist Training for The Music Center of Los Angeles County, Education Division, and is on the Dance Faculty at Loyola Marymount University. Recently, she ended a 12-year artist-in-residency at Echo Horizon Elementary School, and is past Chair and long-time board member for the California Alliance for Arts Education.

June Duarte - Dance Education
June Duarte has been active in the field of elementary physical education since obtaining her teaching credential and taught elementary students for eight years.  June's philosophy is based on making activities fun as well as educational.  This will help keep children interested in movement as they grow, which is one of the keys to helping them lead healthy and productive lives.  She has trained student teachers as well as schoool districts in the latest requirements according to the California State framework.  She conducts workshops and in-services for schools interested in implementing the health-related program she specializes in.  June also teaches at California State University - Long Beach, and has taught courses at California State University - Fullerton.  

Monti Louis Ellison - Music & Drumming for Dance
Mr. Ellison is a distinguished artists with many talents. Teaching Music for Dance and playing music for many of LMU’s dance classes, he has been a welcome addition to the program. With background in Film, Television, and Theatre, Mr. Ellison has appeared in The Blade, One Foot in the Grave, Guys and Dolls, Buddy—The Buddy Holly Story, and many more. As a singer/musician, he has performed with Harry Belafonte, the Frank Valdor Orchestra, Stephanie Mills, and Lonnie Liston-Smith to name a few. He is a trained actor, dancer, and musician, and continues to use his multifaceted knowledge to open up new experiences for his students.

Jill Nunes Jensen - Dance History
Jill Nunes Jensen holds a Masters of Arts in Dance from the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as Bachelors of Arts degrees in both Dance and Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.  At UCI, Nunes Jensen was a member of Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society, as well as The Golden Key and Pi Sigma Alpha honoraries.  Pursuing her Masters allowed the opportunity to serve on the steering committee for the first annual Dance Under Construction Graduate Dance Theory Conference (for which she was the chairperson in 2001).  Currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Dance History and Theory at the University of California, Riverside, Nunes Jensen has enjoyed teaching dance history at LMU as well as for the California State Summer School of the Arts Dance program held this past summer at CalArts.

With a background in ballet, Nunes Jensen has performed regionally with the Fresno Ballet and the Central California Ballet, however, Nunes Jensen’s academic work seeks to re-view the female ballet dancing body for a contemporary audience.