Home > Classes > Teachers

Teachers

Carrie Goodnight

Carrie Goodnight grew up in the Seattle-Tacoma area, studying classical ballet, modern, tap, and jazz dance. In high school, she danced with the Tacoma Performing Dance Company.

At Carleton College, Carrie specialized in modern dance with the Semaphore Repertory Dance Company. She also co-directed and choreographed for the amateur student dance ensemble Ebony II.

After graduating with a degree in English, she spent time in New York City dancing with Sapphire Moon Dance Company, forming a small artist collaborative called Spoon and Fork, and getting her Pilates Certification at the Kane School for Core Integration.

Recently, Carrie received her MFA in Dance from the University of Oregon, where she studied the intersection of dance kinesiology and somatic practices. In her creative work, Carrie has collaborated with composers, choreographers, and both visual and digital artists.

Amanda Herman

Amanda C. Herman is a Puget Sound native though she’s spent eight years performing, choreographing, teaching, and continuing her own dance training in other corners of the globe. She has performed in a variety of venues in AZ, CA, CT, NY, OR, WA, WY, Italy and Austria with choreographers such as Guggenheim Fellow & Fulbright Scholar Alito Alessi, Tim Cowart, Walter Kennedy, Ellie Klopp, Gabriel Masson, Tiffany Mills, Kim Neal Nofsinger, and Frances Smith Cohen among others. She is a former member of Center Dance Ensemble (soloist), Co-Art Dance, University of Oregon Repertory Dance Company, Joint Forces Dance Company, and currently performs with Walrus Performance Productions in Seattle. Her choreography has been presented at several regional American College Dance Festivals, and was selected for the 2006 Gala Performance of the NW region.

While pursuing her M.F.A. in Dance at the University of Oregon, Amanda was a Graduate Teaching Fellow instructing students in modern, ballet, jazz, and tap dance. Her B.A. is from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in NY where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with a double major in Dance and Movement Science and a minor in Science and Society. Amanda is a certified DanceAbility (dance for people both with and without disabilities) teacher, and was recently awarded a scholarship to attend AXIS Dance Company’s summer intensive. She has presented research at annual Int’l Assoc. of Dance Medicine and Science conferences, and is published in the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science.

Michael Hoover

Michael Hoover has 30 years dancing experience. He grew up in a town that allowed for many experiences in leadership and creative development. Michael has had the opportunity to receive his Eagle Scout award, work at Scout camp, be a grocery Manger, and show his leadership skills in many church endeavors. At UVSC he was treasurer, vice president, Choreographer and performer, for Synergy Dance Company. At BYU he was Assistant to the Dancensemble professor as well as involved in marketing and a choreographer, performer. While at BYU he was also with The Dancers’ Company where he had the opportunity to perform and teach all over the united States and India. Michael Grew up choreographing and performing with Children's Creative Dance for 15 years and then became a Teacher where he continued to perform, teach and choreograph another 10 years until 2003. in 2002 Michael created the E=mcc (Experimental Modern Creative Company) and performed and Choreographed with Them. From 2001-2003 he was a Movement Specialist in the Utah Public school system. Since 2006 Michael has worked with WALRUS Performance Productions in Seattle. First as a resident performer/Choreographer and then continuing on the Board of Directors and as Senior Resident Choreographer. Michael also has worked with BareFoot Studios in Tacoma as a performer and Choreographer.

Stephanie Kriege Pederson

Stephanie Kriege Pederson is a choreographer, dancer and teacher. She is a member of BQ Danza, a founding member of Callous Physical Theatre, and a teaching artist at the Broadway Center Conservatory. Stephanie has produced work at the BareFoot Collective, the University of Puget Sound, Lakewood Playhouse, the Museum of Glass, Tacoma Actor.s Guild, Glass Roots Festival 08, Gig Harbor High School, and Curtis High School. Originally from Arizona, Stephanie obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Puget Sound where she was actively involved in dance and choreography.

Stephanie has been guest artist /teacher at the Pentastic Jazz Festival and has enjoyed dancing in the Pacific NorthWest Lindy Hop Championships. She has trained with Paul Zmolek, Joséphine A Garibaldi, Jason Olberg, Dr. Nancy Kadel, Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Steve Conrad, Chris Chapman, and Maren Perry.

Katharine M. Stricker

Katharine "Katie" Stricker is a multidisciplinary dance artist, founding member of Callous Physical Theatre and an instructor at Barefoot Studios, Broadway Center Conservatory and Ft. Lewis SKIES Unlimited. Her choreography has shown at Barefoot Studios, Lakewood Playhouse, Tacoma Little Theatre, Broadway Center Conservatory, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Museum of Glass, Glass Roots Festival 08 and The University of Puget Sound. Katharine hails from Illinois and holds a Summa Cum Laude BFA in Performing Arts from Southeast Missouri State University.

She was the recipient of an American Dance Festival Young Artist’s Tuition Scholarship in 2004 and a Conduit (Portland, OR) work-study in 2005. In 2006, Katharine received funding for her work in SiteWorks at Tacoma’s Museum of Glass, and in 2008, she was awarded at Tacoma Artist’s Initiative Project grant. Katharine has danced with BQ Danza, MG &MH Arts and Callous Physical Theatre as well as producing her own work and performance in Illinois, Missouri and Washington.

Rosa Vissers

Rosa Vissers (MFA University of Utah, BFA ArtEZ School of Dance) is a teacher, dancer, writer and choreographer from the Netherlands. A recent Seattle transplant, Rosa currently performs with Walrus Performing Arts, joins the Barefoot Collective as a managing member and teacher, and also teaches at other studios in the larger Seattle area.

For the 2007/2008 academic year Rosa worked as a guest artist/visiting professor at Idaho State University’s dance. Her choreography for I-Move, ISU’s modern dance company, was selected to represent the Northwest region at the National ACDFA conference in New York City. Before moving to the United States, Rosa completed her conservatory dance training in contemporary dance, ballet, jazz and improvisation at the ArtEZ Dansacademie in the Netherlands, studied at the Budapest Tanciskola in Hungary, and performed with dance companies De Meekers and Canvas Performing Art. While pursuing her MFA at the University of Utah, Rosa was a member of Performing Dance Company and performed at festivals in New York City, ACDFA in Laramie and Missoula, and in France.

Rosa received a prestigious Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds scholarship for the fifty most promising young artists and scientists in the Netherlands in 2004, and the Hey-Konijnfonds scholarship in 2004 and 2005 from the city of Arnhem. She was a recipient of a Graduate Assistantship throughout her studies and a nominated recipient of the University of Utah Teaching Assistant scholarship during the 2005-2006 academic year. Rosa has presented her research at the 2006 CORD conference at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ and has performed in the Netherlands, Hungary, France, Germany and the United States in the works of Istvan Juhos, Roberto Galvan, Olga Pona, Satu Hummasti, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Kelly Sullivan and many others. Her work has been performed in the Netherlands, Hungary, New York City, Utah, Idaho and Washington.

For more information please check: http://www.rosavissers.com

Carol McPherson

Carol McPherson grew up in Seattle, studying ballet and Highland dance from age 5. She competed regularly at Highland dancing events throughout the Western US and Canada for more than 20 years, reaching the Professional level - which is the highest level of competition. (Now called Premier).
In 1997 she received her teaching certification from the Scottish Dance Teachers Alliance (SDTA), in Glasgow, Scotland. Carol is also a member of the Federation of US Teachers and Adjudicators of Highland Dance (FUSTA), Seattle Highland Dancing Association (SHDA), Portland Highland Dancing Association (PHDA), and a board member of the Celtic Spirit Association of Olympia.
In addition to teaching traditional Highland and National dances, Carol choreographs dances for competition and performance. Her dancers performed as guest artists with the Masterworks Choral Ensemble, & Ethnic Celebration at the Washington Center for Performing Arts in Olympia, and with the Olympia Highlanders Pipe Band. The Celtic Spirit Recital gives her dancers an opportunity to showcase their individual talents. Her dancers successfully compete and perform regularly throughout the Western US and Canada. In addition to teaching at Barefoot Studios, Carol also teaches in Olympia. www.mcphersondance.com

Marla Simms

Marla Simms received a BFA in dance at the University of Arizona in 1984. Previous to this time she was a competitive gymnast and gymnastics coach. While in Arizona, Marla worked with Territory Dance Theatre and Orts Theatre of Dance. Simms migrated to the northwest in 1986 to work with Pat Graney and Company and Marsha Threlkeld and Dancers. She has performed in numerous Allegro! Dance Seasons as well as Performa 87, The Very Serious Fun Festival at Lincoln Center and the Sister City Exchange in Kobe, Japan. She also danced with independent artists Staci Bronson, Grace Fryberger, Annie Mercer and Karn Junkinsmith. Marla was also a member of Thread Dance, an organized association between herself and dance familiars, Marsha Threlkeld, Lori Mitchell and Lara McIntosh. The group's approach to choreography and production was one of collective generation. Thread Dance created site specific works for a variety of traditional and unusual venues. As well as continually exploring the movement of the human body as a venue for artistic expression, Simms is a massage practitioner and bodywork educator.

[top]