LOUIS KAVOURAS, CHAIR.

MFA in Dance, BA in Theater and Dance, Case Western Reserve University.

Louis Kavouras joined the UNLV Dance Faculty in 1992. In 1994 he was elected chair of the department. Kavouras has been a principal dancer of the Erick Hawkins Dance Company and faculty member of the Erick Hawkins School of Dance since 1996. The Erick Hawkins Dance Company is a professional, New York based, modern dance company founded by modern dance pioneer, Erick Hawkins. Kavouras has studied with modern dancers Kathryn Karipides, Kelly Holt, Erick Hawkins, Betty Jones, Lucas Hoving, Donald McKayle, Peter Pucci, Gus Solomons, Jr., Rudy Perez, Claire Porter, and Clay Taliaferro. Kavouras is accomplished as a choreographer, designer, visual and graphic artist. His dances have been showcased in Nevada, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Australia, Scotland, England, China, Korea, Japan, Denmark, Russia, Nova Scotia, and Jamaica. Kavouras believes in creating dances which are uniquely his own, and range from "hilarious" to "poignant." He comes from a total theater tradition and explores all interdisciplinary avenues between the arts.

For more information on the Louis Kavouras and his creative work, visit the website of his dance company:

MARGOT MINK COLBERT, ASSISTANT CHAIR

Choreographer, teacher, dancer, Margot Mink Colbert is Assistant Chairperson, Assistant Professor, and Director of Ballet in the Dance Department. Her artistic career spans the professional, independent and academic milieus. She has choreographed over seventy original ballets in styles ranging from classical to post modern, including theatrical, site specific, and video-dance works. The founder and director of Ballet Mink Colbert, inc. her choreography encompasses works drawn from literature (Alice In Wonderland, Golem, Little Prince). original scenarios (Rice In My Socks, L'Hotel du Chevre, Domestic Flight), abstract works (Today…, Colour of Eyes, Cityscape, Catch As Catch Can),, site specific works (Arrival, Dance Performance in the Capitol Rotunda, ) and collaborations with theatre, opera, and music ensembles.

Ms. Mink Colbert, a native New Yorker, trained in Russian ballet as a child, attended New York's High School of Performing Arts, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Ballet and Modern Dance Performance from the Juilliard School of Music. Her ballet training includes extensive work with Antony Tudor, Alfredo Corvino, in Cecchetti with Margaret Craske, and in the Bournonville technique as studied in Copenhagen. Her modern dance training is primarily with Martha Graham, Jose Limon and in composition she studied under Louis Horst, Merce Cunningham and Lucia D'Lugocezski. Mink Colbert is a certified instructor of Labanotation.

Mink Colbert was the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts/Nevada Arts Council Artists Fellowship Grant in recognition of outstanding choreographic work in 2005. She has made several video works including a documentary on movement arts in Russia for which she won a URGF award. Her choreographic work is regularly performed in the US and Europe by Ballet Mink Colbert.

CATHY ALLEN

M.A., Brigham Young University. Allen has trained with Alwin Nikolais, Rudy Perez, Betty Jones, Isa Bergen, Doug Nielson, Vicki Uris, Bella Lewitzsky, Bill Evans, Maria Cheng, Joann Woodbury, Shirley Ririe, and Ellen Bromberg. As an independent artist, Allen has performed works by Doug Nielson, Gregg Bielimeier, Loretta Livingston, Martina Young, Malashock Dance and Company, Rudy Perez, and Anna Nassif, as well as her own choreography. Allen teaches modern dance and is the Graduate Coordinator and Senior Advisor in the Department of Dance.

VIKKI BALTIMORE-DALE

M.ED., University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Vikki Baltimore-Dale's professional credits include concert performances with the D.C. Black Repertory Dance Company(directors, Mike Malone and Louis Johnson) and the George Faison Universal Dance Experience (New York City). She performed the role of “Sophisticated Lady” in the Broadway musical “Bubbling Brown Sugar”. Her movie credits include “The Green Lady” in the “Wiz”, “The Blues Brothers”, Francis Ford Coppola's “One From The Heart” and “Baron Wolfgang Von Tripps.” Ms Dale was first to teach master jazz dance classes both at Yunan Art Institute in Kunming, China and the University of Novosibirsk, Russia. In 2005, Ms.Dale was an invited master teacher at Cleo Parker Robinson's 11th Annual International Summer Dance Institute. Vikki has choreographed professionally for the Cleo Parker-Robinson Dance Ensemble (Denver), Windows International Dance Company (Hong Kong), Kaleidoscope(New York), Opus and Vibe companies (Las Vegas). Her work has been presented at the Germany International Dance Arts Festival (Kiel, Germany) and Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Invited by Gus Giordano, Vikki has been an adjudicator for the Jazz Dance World Congress' Leo Choreography Competition in Nagoya, Japan, Washington D.C., Phoenix, Arizona and Chicago, Illinois. Vikki Baltimore-Dale is, presently, an Associate Professor of dance at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

RICHARD HAVEY

Richard comes to UNLV having been the Artistic Director of the Zurich Tanz Theater School in Switzerland. He began his dance training with Ballet in Northern California. He then went to the Gus Giordano Dance Center in Chicago on a full scholarship , studying all forms of dance. He later became a soloist for the Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, and was trained as a teacher in Jazz techniques. He has taught throughout America and performed with many contemporary companies around the world: Le Ballet “Why Not in Paris, Danny Burczeski Dance in New York, Dance Kaleidoscope Indianapolis and First City Dance Theater in Florida just to name a few. Richard also taught an educational Program on dance around America with Sam Watson called Jazz Tour. This program went to Performing Arts Schools as well as private schools with master classes, a lecture demonstration on choreography and dance in the world today. Later this was funded to enter into University programs. Later he went on to perform for the Watson Dance Company. Richard also studied the art of Chinese Medicine in the form of body therapy, and now incorporates this in his teaching techniques. He is a certified Zen Shiatsu Therapist. To add to his credits in bodywork he studied a form of three-dimensional movements called Spiral Dynamiks, which he studied and practiced in Zurich Switzerland. Richard continues to teach Master Classes and Choreograph around the world and is a guest teacher as well as performer at the University of Arizona in Tucson for the National Jazz Showcase. He is furthering his studies in body therapy with voice and movement as well as TCM.

PETER JAKUBOWSKI

MFA in Design, Temple State University. Assistant Professor Production/Design specialist for the Department of Dance. Peter holds a BA in theatre from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an MFA in design from Temple University with an additional concentration in design for dance. He is both a union lighting and scenic designer IATSE USA 829. His work has been awarded the ARTIE award for best lighting design, and he has been nominated five times for the F. Otto Haas award as well as recognized by both the City Paper and the Philadelphia Inquire for excellence in design. His designs have been seen in over 30 states as well as a broad. He was honored to be the lighting designer in the Camden Cultural Heritage Museum display of theatre design as art. Some theatres he has designed for include North Shore Music Theatre (Ma), The Prince Music Theatre (Pa), The Walnut Street Theatre (Pa), The Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center (Nj) Maine State Music Theatre (Me). He serves as Resident designer and production manager for The Koresh Dance Company, Jeanne Ruddy Dance, and The Snowy Range Dance Festival. He has work in the repertoire of Peter Pucci Plus Dancers, Alban Elved Dance Company, Colorado Ballet to name a few.

BETH MEHOCIC

Ph.D., Michigan State University. Composer, poet, visual artist, filmmaker and author received her M.M. and Ph.D. in music composition from Michigan State University, East Lansing and is currently the Music Director/Composer-in-Residence and full professor for the Department of Dance at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. Mehocic has written over one hundred works for orchestra, concert band, chamber music, dance ensembles, theatre and film and her works have been performed throughout the United States, Japan, China and Europe. She has produced works in several Las Vegas Hotels including The Mirage, Caesar's Palace and the Las Vegas Hilton. Recently, her dance poem, Shadows and her video dance poem, Hands with original music were presented at the 2005 International Taishan Congress of Cultures and the 19th World Congress of Poets in Tai'an City, Shandong Province, China for which she was awarded a “Gold Medal in Innovation” for digital poetry, dance and music by the Peoples Republic of China. Hands was presented at the Twelveth Annual Dancing Poetry Festival and in 2004, Shadows was presented at the Eleventh Annual Dancing Poetry Festival in San Francisco. Her presentation on poetic dance was accepted by the 2005 Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities. Her music was used at the 2005 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland as part of a collaboration between the Liverpool Institute of the Arts and the UNLV Dance and Theater Departments.

CAROLE RAE

Ph.D., Texas Women's University. Rae was a professional dancer with the Neville Black Dance Company in Chicago, IL and appeared with the Gus Giordano Company in Evanston, IL. Her choreography has been seen throughout the United States. Her work, Requiem in a Closed Room, has been commissioned for recreation by several Universities. At UNLV, she founded, directed and choreographed for three companies: Solaris--a company of Dancers; Contemporary Dance Theatre; and Cosmic Waterfall and remained Director and later Chair of the Department of Dance Arts for fourteen years. As a prolific choreographer in Las Vegas since 1976, Rae produced works for both the Las Vegas concert and commercial venues including the Mirage and Caesar's Palace Hotels. Her dances have been presented in Scotland, Italy, Spain and China as well as throughout the United States. As a choreographer and costume designer, she continues to collaborate on many multimedia art projects at the university, and within the Las Vegas Community, as well as nationally and internationally. Rae is the Choreographer-in-Residence for the Las Vegas Music & Dance Ensemble which made its Carnegie Recital Hall Debut in 1988. In 2002, she choreographed and performed the poem Eyes, and in 2001, the jazz poem, Saints & Sinners, for the Ninth and Eighth Annual Dancing Poetry Festivals respectively in San Francisco. She also performed with Natica Angilly's Poetic Dance Theatre in Assisi, Italy in 2001. From 1997 to 2006, she has been studying and developing modern choreography based on the Argentine Tango, Flamenco and the Salsa. Her many teachers include: Maria Benitez, Martín Santangelo, Margo Torea, Jack Cole, Luigi, Bella Lewitsky, Twyla Tharp, Merce Cunningham, Jose Limon, Harriet Ann Grey, Charles Weidman, Paul Taylor, Pauline Koner, Marjorie Tallchief, and George Skibine and La Tati and Josele in Madrid, Spain. Currently, she is a regional director for the International Jazz Dance World Congress and still is active as a soloist. Rae has directed dance programs at University of Colorado, Greeley and the University of Houston. She founded the dance program at UNLV where she currently acts as historian and researcher.

Rossah Bendahman

Rossah Bendahman has studied with the world,s leading Oriental performers and instructors, in America and Morocco. She has been teaching and performing North African folkloric style and Danse Orientale for over 30 years. Zaghareet Magazine nominated her for Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. She founded the Pacific Andaluse Conservatory of North African music in 1995 at her dance studio in Santa Cruz, CA before its move to San Francisco. As a Master Teacher of many years standing, Rossah is dedicated to preserving the folkloric and village dances of Turkey, Egypt, Algeria,Tunisia and Morocco. The Middle Eastern dance classes at UNLV explores the rich history and cultural differences of bellydance globally, following its transformation from ancient times to present day.

Garold Gardner has been part-time faculty in the UNLV Dance Department since the department started...teaching ballet, musical theatre, intro to dance, dance history, dance appreciation, jazz dance and others. He worked as a performer in New York for some 15 years, in dance companies and on-Broadway(where he did 3 shows with Bob Fosse, as well as working with Hanya Holm and Agnes DeMille). He's also taught extensively at the Interlochen center for the Arts, Stephens College, Cornish School for the Arts, University of Idaho, as well as numerous summer workshops. He founded the Garold Gardner Scholarship Foundation 15 years ago, to assist young dancers from poor backgrounds achieve their goals to become professional performers...several of those students have come from UNLV.

Dolly Kelepecz

Dolly Kelepecz, has been teaching as part of UNLV's part time faculty since 1983. Her first love is teaching ballet and dance. She was a professional dancer but, she now owns pilates studios around the world. She owns pilates studios in Japan, Mexico and soon to open in Korea. She has published a pilates book in Japanese that is in it's 3rd printing and it includes a DVD. She devleoped the pilates program for the UNLV dance department and two sememsters are required to graduate with your BFA in dance. She has her own television show that airs 5 days a week in Las Vegas and has produced 5 pilates DVD's for the U.S. Market.

Alison Kravenko-Johnson

Alison Kravenko-Johnson is a native of Las Vegas. She performed as a dancer for over 20 years in productions all over the world in shows such as Jubilee, Sigfried & Roy, Lido De Paris and Le Hot Tokyo. In 1998, Alison retired from the stage and began teaching dance full-time. In 2000, with a strong teaching emphasis in ballet and the Balanchine Technique, she founded and became artistic director of the first seasonal performing youth ballet company of Las Vegas, the Kravenko Youth Ballet. In 2003, Alison was nominated five times by her peers for the Govenor's Award for Excellence in Teaching the Arts. Known for her contemporary ballet choreographic style, Alison has produced many new work pieces for her company and in the fall of 2002, created the piece
AKA Praludium; Two Movements for the UNLV Dance Department. Alison Kravenko-Johnson became a UNLV part-time staff member in the spring of 2005.

Allyson Manta

Allyson trained as a classical dancer and actress, earning honors at every level of the Royal Academy of Dancing and performed professionally from the age of twelve. She completed her teachers certificate for children's ballet and continued to explore the world of dance performing Flamenco, Salsa, and Ballroom.She has choreographed and taught dance for Montreal's "Cirque du Soleil" and was Artistic Coordinator for Cirque du Soleil's "Quidam" and "Mystere". Finally, upon discovering the Argentine Tango, she became passionately involved with performing and teaching this poetic and evocative dance. Allyson is the founder of "Le Studio Tango de Montreal", "La Tangueria", and "Le Societe Argentine, Quebec, Canada". Wouter Brave, a student of the late master Antonio Todaro, was her first teacher. She has performed, & taught for the last 13 years of dancing tango, in Canada, Mexico & now the USA. Since teaming with Gabriel Manta, they find their combined love of pedagogy and analysis of movement to be perfectly placed in teaching the marvelously complex Argentine Tango.

Happy Robey has been a Production Stage Manager for 25 years. She has worked for the Univesity of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center, The University of Florida's Theatre Department, UNLV"s Performing Arts Center and various regional and community theatres. Happy has worked for the Dance department at UNLV for the last 8 years teaching Stage Management, helping teach Production, and managing the 4-6 shows a year in the department. She has a B.A. in Theatre specializing in Management and Lighting Design from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and will complete an M.F.A. in Lighting Design and Production from UNLV in 2007.