Susan Anderson, Professor
Director of Dance USC
Artistic Director USC Dance Company

Susan Anderson began her career in Monterey, California and credits her teacher Madame Olga Ziceva from Russia’s Kirov Ballet with her ballet training. She continued her dance studies at the San Francisco Ballet as a scholarship student.

She received her MFA from the University of California at Irvine under the legendary choreographer Eugene Loring. Her professional dance career was with Ballet Celeste of San Francisco, Los Angeles Dance Theatre, and Moving South.

Professor Anderson is the founding director of the USC Dance Company, USC Dance Conservatory, South Carolina Summer Dance Conservatory which hosts international students and world renowned faculty and choreographers. Under her directorship the dance program recently implemented the BA major in Dance which is currently 40 majors strong. The BA degree track in Performance /Choreography which began in 2004, has concentrations in Ballet or Contemporary Dance. Also, in Fall 2006 the dance program began the BA degree in Dance Education, a K-12 Teacher Certification program in partnership with the College of Education. The dance program now has more than 60 course offerings and approximately 3,000 students enrolled each year taking dance courses.

Some of Susan Anderson’s professional artistic works includes the creation of 105 ballets such as Scheherazade, Ondine, Taming of the Shrew, Planet Dance with artist Blue Sky, The Firebird, Phantom of the Night, Crown Jewels, Sylvia, Carnival of the Animals, Pleasures of Paris, Don Quixote, and The Young Man and Death. She has choreographed and taught master classes for Gus Giordano Dance Company in Chicago, the University of California, University of Buffalo, University of Georgia , Several Dancers Core in Atlanta, Murray State, Knoxville Dance Theatre, Loyola University, Inco Ballet in Colombia , South America. and Stadtische Opera in Gera, Germany.

As a teacher she has had the privilege of coaching and teaching Jessica Teague, Soloist with the National Ballet of Sweden, Jillian Murphy, Principal Ballerina with American Ballet Theatre, Karen Gibbons Brown Artistic Director of the Fort Wayne Ballet and most recently Chrissy Whitehead who has been recently seen on Broadway in the musical of A Chorus Line.

Her significant administrative and academic achievements also include the awarding of 30 financial grants for the USC dance Company, an invitation to the 16th Annual Fiesta Espana with the USC Dance Company in Costa Del Sol, Spain, Teacher Certification in Russian Ballet Pedagogy from the Tbilisi Choreographic Institute, and being named USC Advisor of the Year by USC Student Affairs. Her research on “Somatics and Demographic Variables of Elite Female Dancers” has been presented at the National Convention of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, as well as having been published in several international journals. She will continue her work in the reconstruction of the Feuillet-Beauchamps notation of baroque dance, opera, and ballet on her sabbatical this spring.

Miriam Barbosa

Dance. Assistant Professor. MFA, University of Fine Arts of SP/Brazil.

Miriam Barbosa-Hardwicke is the Associate Artistic Director for USC Dance Company, Assistant professor with USC Dance Program and former member of the Martha Graham Dance Company. Ms Barbosa is also a Master Teacher in Gyrokinesis and the Gyrotonic Expansion System of Movement. From 1992 to 2002 she has collaborated as artistic director and performed for Dzul Dance Company based at the NY Conservatory of Dance. Since 1993, Miriam has performed with the American Dance Theater and choreographed for The Mexican Cultural Festival (Fashion Institute of Technology/NY), Museo del Bario (NYCity), the American Indians Community House/NY, Merce Cunningham’s Choreographers Project, Women Dance Makers Project (NY), as well as internationally for the Mexican Festival of Contemporary Dance, The Institute of Theatre of Barcelona/Spain, and the Cultural Center of SP/Brazil. She has been a faculty member at Fashion Institute of Technology, SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, Paul Taylor at the School of Performing Arts in NY City, Giselle School of Ballet/Portugal, Village Gyrotonic/NY, Nevada Festival Ballet, Martha Graham School’s Teen Program, and the Institute of Theater of Barcelona/Spain. She was awarded a scholarship in 1992 as a technique demonstrator at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. Ms. Barbosa has trained Russian Classical Ballet with Mr. and Ms. Dokoudovsky in NY, and Ballet Ana Pavlova in Brazil. She has taken USC Dance Company to perform for the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, Sumter Opera House, South Carolina Dance Festival, Spanish Heritage Celebration and the American College Dance Festival in Mississippi. Ms. Barbosa has choreographed several major works, including “7 Deadly Sins” with live orchestra to music by Kurt Weill and set designed by Nic Ularu and “Catharsis”-an artistic collaboration with Argentinean Visual Artist Marcelo Novo to music by Astor Piazzola, which has been awarded a grant from the Sumter County Cultural Commission to be premiered at the Patriot Hall Performing Arts Center. She has choreographed for the “Brimming Tides” exhibition, inspired by Brian Rutenberg, at the State Museum. She has performed her duet from “Pandora’s Box” at the Piccolo Spoleto and she has been invited to perform in Rome, Italy in 2006. Recently, she has taught as guest artist in Europe for the Lisbon Dance Co., the Conservatory of Dance in Lisbon and the Ballet School Ginasiano in Porto/Portugal. She has also received permission from the President Juliu Horvath of Gyrotonic Headquarters to develop a choreographic work on gyrotonic system of movement in collaboration with NY choreographer Adriana Thompson to be presented at the Olympic Auditorium of Rome/Italy in May 2008. Miriam has choreographed for the Lisbon Dance Company in Europe and she has been part of the professional dancer’s workshop with the Martha Graham Co. in NY during the summer 07. Ms. Barbosa has been awarded grants from USCeRA, USC College of Arts and Sciences, SC Arts Commission, Arts Institute, Knight Foundation and Time Warner to collaborate artistically with the Martha Graham Center, ETV, and USC Dance Co. for an educational documentary on the development of the masterpiece “Sketches from Chronicle” choreographed by Martha Graham in 1936. Most recently Miriam Barbosa has founded the SC Contemporary Dance Co. to guest as a performer with the Martha Graham solo from Chronicle at the Charlotte Dance Festival 07/NC. She is grateful for collaborating in her next choreographic work for the USC Dance Co. Season “The Divine Comedy” with guest choreographer Brenda Nieto and Scenic Designer/ USC Theatre Professor Nic Ularu.

Stacey Calvert

Instructor of Ballet. Soloist, NYC Ballet.

Stacey Calvert was born and raised in Columbia,South Carolina and began her ballet training at the Calvert-Brodie School of dance, studying with her Mother and Godmother. In 1980, Ms. Calvert entered the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet—and remained there for three years. She joined New York City Ballet’s corp de ballet in 1983. In 1992, Ms. Calvert joined William Forsythe’s Frankfurt Ballet. She returned to New York City Ballet in the winter of 1993. Ms. Calvert was promoted to the rank of Soloist in 1994.

Since joining the Company, she has danced numerous featured roles including George Balanchine’s Apollo, Ballo della Regina, The Four Temperaments,The Nutcracker (Hot Chocolate), Stars and Stripes, Symphony in C, Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Western Symphony, and Who Cares? as well as Jerome Robbins’ The Four Seasons (Winter) and Interplay. In addition, she has been featured in Peter Martins’ Ash and Barber Violin Concerto as well as William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman. During the inaugural season of NYCB’s Diamond Project in 1992, Ms. Calvert originated a principal role in John Alleyne’s Bet Ann’s Dance. During the Company’s 1994 Diamond Project, she originated principal roles in Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Chiaroscuro, John Alleyne’s The New Blondes, Trey McIntyre’s Steel and Rain, and Kevin O’Day’s Viola Alone...(with One Exception). For The Diamond Project in 1997, Ms. Calvert originated principal roles in O’Day’s Open Strings and Angelin Preljocaj’s La Stravaganza. In addition, she originated principal roles in Mr. O’Day’s Huoah, Dvorak Bagatelles and Badchonim. Ms. Calvert has danced in Europe with a touring group, and has travelled extensively in the United States and abroad with the New York City Ballet.

In the spring of 2006, she presented for USC Ballet Stars of New York, with principal dancers form the NYC Ballet Company including Wendy Whelan, Nilas Martins, Tom Gold, Nikolaj Hubbe, and Yvonne Borree and the USC Dance Companyu. This star-studded evening included Apollo, Agon, and Tarantella, all works by the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. This gala evening has become an annual event for the USC Board of Dance.

Kyra Strasberg

Instructor of Ballet/Artist in Residence. Principal, Boston Ballet.

Kyra Strasberg began her training with Anne Brodie in Columbia. After high school she attended Boston Ballet’s summer Dance Program and was asked to stay. In 1985 she joined Boston Ballet and rose up through the ranks to become a Principal Ballerina. She has danced such classic roles as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Medora in La Bayadere, and The Lilac fairy in Sleeping Beauty. She also danced the Principal role in Balanchine’s, Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds, Symphony in C, Serenade, and Mozartiana. She has worked with contemporary choreographers Twyla Tharp, Mark Morris, and Bebe Miller. She retired from the stage in the title role of Ben Stevenson’s Cleopatra.

Brenda Pugh McCutcheon

Dance. Adjunct Professor - Dance Education. MFA, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Brenda Pugh McCutchen is dance education specialist and national curriculum consultant (Dance Curriculum Designs). She specializes in developing and implementing dance curriculum for all ages from kindergarten through university level. Ms. McCutchen is the author of Teaching Dance As Art in Education (Human Kinetics, 2006), a comprehensive foundation text for dance education majors and dance specialists that enables them to understand and incorporate the art of educational dance in grades K-12. This teacher preparation text for helps pre-service dance specialists grasp the scope of their chosen profession and be able to implement a substantive, sequential educational dance program from kindergarten through high school. McCutchen’s Tools for Viewing Dance— Tool Kit One will be available in 2007.

Ms. McCutchen is a recognized voice for comprehensive dance education rooted in the arts. She recently served on the National Dance Education Organization’s Board of Directors (2003-2006). She helped draft the national initial teacher licensure standards in the arts, known as INTASC Arts Standards, which many states use to measure teacher quality for first-year teachers of the arts. She helped write national Professional Teaching Standards in Dance (PTS) to identify "highly qualified" teachers in dance, modeled on the NBPTS. She serves the SC Arts Assessment Project dance committee which is developing written and performance-based assessments in dance. She serves on an SC ETV team that is producing a documentary about Martha Graham and South Carolina.

Prior to teaching at USC, Ms. McCutchen was associate professor of dance at Columbia College of SC (1994-2000) where she designed and directed the state's first teacher certification program in dance. From 1989-1994 she worked for the SC Arts Commission as the Arts Education Program Director. There she administered the Artist-in-Education program and worked to establish the Arts in Basic Curriculum project in SC. She co-authored the state-adopted SC Framework for Dance Education K-12 (1990).

Ms. McCutchen led the dance education portion of the Institute for Educational Inquiry’s Arts in Teaching and Teacher Education Project in Seattle (1999-2001). She directed the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts’ Southeastern Institute for Education in Dance in Chattanooga (2001) and other of their teacher renewal institutes. She received several NEA grants to collaborate with other state-level arts education administrators and later served on the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grants Panel. She was co-founder of South Carolina's Contemporary Dance Collection (1975) where she performed, choreographed, and toured in South Carolina. She was artistic director of the Furman Dance Theatre (Greenville) and artist in residence at many schools in SC in the l980's. She has previously led study tours to Bali, Indonesia.

McCutchen studied with a number of dance/movement professionals to whom she gives much credit including Alwin Nikolais, Murray Louis, Phyllis Lamhut, Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen, Lynda Davis, David Beadle, Ray Schwartz, Virginia Moomaw, Gusti Raka (Bali), Jan Woodward, and Anuradha Murali.

Cindy Flach

Adjunct Dance Faculty - Jazz, Musical Theatre, West African, Tap. BA, Webster University.

Cynthia Flach, is a nationally known choreographer of stage musicals. She is a graduate of Webster University and has worked extensively in the South and Mid-West. With over 125 stage musicals to her choreographic credit, she has worked with summer stock, universities and community theatres. She has been on the dance faculty at USC since 1988. Ms. Flach has staged Pop Concerts and full stage productions for the South Carolina Philharmonic. Cindy specializes in Jazz, Musical Theatre, West African and Tap instruction.

Marissa Freeman

Adjunct Dance Faculty, Program Coordinator -SC Dance Conservatory, SC Summer Dance Conservatory. BA, Butler University.

Marissa was born and raised in Manhasset, NY. She studied in NY with Irina Lebedeva, Kaleria Fedicheva, Svetlana Caton-Noble and Ali Pourfarrokh. She graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Dance from Butler University. Ms Freeman danced many principal and soloist roles with the Butler Ballet. Upon graduation, she toured to St. Petersburg, Russia, where she studied and performed with the Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory, under the directorship of Nikita Delgushin. She has danced professionally for the Eglevsky Ballet of NY and Columbia City Ballet. She is currently a ballet instructor and Program Coordinator for the USC Dance Conservatory and South Carolina Summer Dance Conservatory.

Anna Dragoni-Logan

Adjunct Dance Faculty - Dance Appreciation, Ballet.

Born in Italy, Anna Dragoni-Logan brings 20 years of professional experience in dance and theatre on stage, screen and television.
An active member of Corps de Ballet International, certified as a Ballet Teacher at the Royal Academy of Dance of London (Elementary to professional levels), Ms Dragoni has studied, also, with master teachers such as, Ivêtte Chauviré (Paris, France – Classical Repertoire), Ricardo Nuñez (Argentina – Classical Repertoire), Gianine Loringett (France – Jazz), Celia Southern (Great Britain – Jazz), Chuck Wilder (USA – Tap), Connie Spadanuta (USA – Tap), Irina Ghrighebina (Russia – Character dance), Marise Flasche (Teatro Piccolo di Milano – Mime), Clyde Barrett (USA – Afro, Jazz), Arthur Turnball (Australia – Merce Cunningham & Limon Method), Dan Wagoner (USA-Contemporary). She also has received her BFA in performance and choreography from Columbia College, Columbia, SC. As a professional performer on the European stage she has participated in the musicals Barnum and A Chorus Line (Sheila) and in the plays: Miles Gloriosus, The Birds, The Player, The Straw Hat, Deus Ex Machina, Some Like it Hot, to name a few. She participated in various tour productions in Europe and Australia. Her first visit to the United States was as the Assistant Director and choreographer of the American Tour Company production of A Chorus Line. She has worked in film and television alongside of Oscar winner Murray Abrams, Vittorio Gassman, Alberto Sordi, and Gigi Proietti. Ms Dragoni is also a member of the South Carolina Shakespeare Company; she has appeared in the productions: Julius Caesar (Soothsayer), Macbeth (Witch), and The Man of La Mancha (The Housekeeper). She is the Italian instructor and official translator at Language Espresso. Anna

Dale Lam

Adjunct Dance Faculty - Jazz.

Dale is the founder, artistic director and choreographer of Columbia City Jazz Dance School and Company, named "One of the Top 50 Dance Companies in the US" by Dance Spirit magazine. She has a BA in Theatre and Speech from the University of South Carolina and received additional theatrical training from Jim Baffico of Carnegie-Melon and is now in her second year on staff at the
University of South Carolina Dance Department. She received extensive dance training with Frank Hatchett at the Broadway Dance Center in New York and continues to work with top instructors from New York and California. Dale has taught master classes at the Kiradjiev Cultural Center in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the American School in Singapore, and for the Singapore Dance
Association at Lasalle College of the Arts. She is in great demand as a choreographer and travels extensively each year, setting a diverse body of original work throughout the country. In addition, she
teaches master classes at studios and dance conventions across the United States, has judged many dance competitions including Star Systems Nationals in Las Vegas, and had conducted several successful after-school programs in South Carolina. Dale performed for the King of Norway during an overseas tour of “Godspell”
and was a principal dancer during a European USO tour to Turkey, Greece, Spain and Italy. She was dance captain for the Southeastern Theatre Conference Summer Repertory in Fairfield, Tenn. and a principal dancer in " Hooray for Hollywood" at Carowinds. Dale was the head of the jazz faculty for the Myrtle Beach Dance Experience for two seasons and has been featured in “Dance Spirit” and “Dance Teacher” magazines for her inspirational lyrical jazz choreography.

Brenda Nieto

Adjunct Dance Faculty - Contemporary Dance.

Brenda Nieto-Kirschbaum is an adjunct member of the USC Dance Program faculty, and former member of both the Martha Graham Dance Company and the National Ballet of Mexico. Born in Guanajuato Mexico, she began her dance education at the University of Guanajuato, studying Cuban Ballet Technique with Tulio de la Rosa and Graham Technique with Guadalupe Trejo, while performing with Foro Libre of Contemporary Dance. Brenda continued her dance studies at the School of National Ballet of Mexico under the direction of Guillermina Bravo. She was awarded a Coca-Cola scholarship to study at the Martha Graham School in New York City, where she completed the Professional Trainee Program. In NY she also was a member of Dzul Dance Company and Nina Buisson Contemporary Move, among others. As a former member of the Martha Graham Dance Co., she performed such Graham masterpieces as Primitive Mysteries, Sketches from Chronicle Maple Leaf Rag, The Owl and the Pussy Cat, Diversion of Angels, Appalachian Spring and Acts of Light. She has been invited as a guest artist of Casa de la Cultura Guanajuato State in Mexico and San Luisito Cultural Center in Mexico. Nieto’s choreography has been performed internationally and in the US since 1997. The Divine Comedy was her first collaboration (with Miriam Barbosa) as choreographer for the USC Dance Company. Brenda is also a certified instructor of the Gyrotonic® Expansion System of movement.

Eric Morris

Instructor/Production Manager, MFA Western Illinois University

In his twenty-five years of professional theatre Eric has taught, painted, assisted, designed and implemented production management for trade shows, ballet, opera, regional theatre, Off-Broadway, Broadway, universities and professional training programs. He is a former recipient of the TCG/National Endowment for the Arts Design Fellowship. His articles and stories have appeared in Painter’s Journal, Business Lexington, Sandhills Magazine, and others. In his spare time he writes novels and makes music with his band The No Nos.

Dr. Michael James

Accompanist

A former Piano Student of Ruth Slenczynska, Michael James has been a professional musician for over forty years. He has a D.M.A in Piano Pedagogy and has co-presented at the 1998 and 1999 World Piano Pedagogy Conventions. In 2005 Michael performed the Gottschalk Grand Tarantella with the USC Orchestra, dancers Tom Gold (NYC Ballet soloist) and Sarah Coates. He thoroughly enjoys his current position as Dance Musician at USC, where he plays for classes, performs with dancers and teaches Music for Dancers. Michael also plays for the Carolina Ballet of Columbia, SC and, in the past, has played for the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, Dance Department of Columbia College (SC), the SERBA Festival (Greenville, SC 1998) and the Corps de Ballet National Meeting (Columbia College 2003). His well crafted compositions and improvisations have inspired dancers throughout South Carolina. In 2005 he produced a recording, “Music for Ballet Class” with Professor Patty Graham (Columbia College). This year he composed and directed a production of music for a book/CD presentation for interdisciplinary arts education produced by his wife, Nancy.

Rona Avery

Administrative Specialist

Raised in an art and music family, Ms. Avery has an extended history of administrative supports within the Arts. In her earlier years she worked in the music industry and during this time Rona studied Photography, Advertising Design and Broadcasting at various Universities. She was the Assistant in the Department of Continuing Education at Rhode Island School of Design for 10 years. Rona then accepted a position to the Department of Architecture for another four years as the Assistant to the Department Head. From there she worked for the award winning architect, Friedrich St.Florian, Professor, RISD, Architecture and winner of the World War II Memorial Design Competition. She managed Friedrich St.Florian’s private practice as well as marketing and assisting the architect with all administrative support for the WWII Memorial project. Once the WWII Memorial project was under construction she went to work for Brown University in the John Nicholas Brown Center, an historic Brown family home left to the University. Rona was the assistant to the Director, Assistant Director and the Historic Site Manager. JNBC is partially a touring museum which also holds events, lectures and exhibits. It is also used for Graduate students studying “Public Humanities.” In the Fall of 2006 she moved to Columbia, SC where she is currently Administrative Specialist for the Dance program, she assists with the daily operations of the Dance program, under the Department of Theatre and Dance.