Guest Artists are an essential aspect of dance education at West Hawaii Dance Theatre.
Students are exposed to new aspects of dance, receive an opportunity to expand their repetoire, all while learning from – and adapting to – a variety of teaching styles.
Additionally, we encourage community dancers to join us!
Dancing Transitions &
Translations Choreography
Workshop
Saturday, May 6, 2023
2:30 – 4 pm
Cost: $30
Current WHDT students receive
$5 off with discount code
Recommended for ages 11+
SATURDAY, MAY 6
Blythe Stephens
Living in intercultural and international locations such as Hawai’i and Germany, we encounter a rich variety of languages and perspectives. Linguistic translation, both in verbal communication and the vocabulary of dance movement, provides an exciting challenge in which we can discover our voice and encounter ourselves anew, articulating ideas in innovative ways. Such adaptations can also provide greater accessibility for ourselves in different times of life, for our dancers and collaborators, and for audiences.
In this workshop, we will devise a collaborative choreography using our existing ballet and dance vocabulary, universal Elements of Dance, and a supportive structure that can be applied to future dancemaking. We will begin with a simple dance phrase, developing varied interpretations, integrating our individual viewpoints, and emerging with a new work-in-progress. The process will generate more nuanced transitions and fuller expression in technique and performance practice, choreographic exploration, and bridging dance tradition and contemporary issues.
ABOUT BLYTHE:
Blythe C. Stephens is an MFA in Dance using they/she pronouns, a Bliss Catalyst & Creator of A Blythe Coach through which they help multi passionate creatives dance through their difficulties & take leaps of faith through dance & yoga education & coaching.
Hawai’i-raised and Cologne, Germany-based, Blythe gained ballet chops at WHDT and North Carolina School of the Arts, philosophical grounding at Whitman College, and expanded choreographic, performance, and collaborative expression at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Blythe has danced across stages in the Pacific, US West and East coasts, and Europe performing in the styles of ballet, modern dance, opera character dance, musical theatre, jazz, world techniques such as Okinawan dance, Taiko, contemporary and vintage styles.
Blythe has taught dance at all educational levels, including at the UH Manoa, Windward Community College, Hawai’i Tokai International College, public and private K-12 schools, nonprofit and private studios. Students include ballet and modern dance majors, non-majors in other academic fields, athletes, actors, and creatives of all kinds. Clients include artistic people seeking to navigate career and life transitions with grace.
Blythe’s education never ends, including a secondary teaching credential and yoga teacher training post-MFA, language learning, ongoing choreographic and pedagogical research. Their work emphasizes universal elements of dance, critical thinking and inquiry, creative and reflective practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ontological coaching, which investigates the state of being. Currently collaborating with students and clients in-studio and online, Blythe would love to connect through their email newsletter at ablythecoach.com, or on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. @ablythecoach
PAST GUEST INSTRUCTORS
WHDTA has a long history of having Guest Instructors and Guest Dancer Residencies. This is a great opportunity to further our students’ exposure to the world of dance as well as expanding their dance education.
Some of our Guest Instructors have included…
SHAINA
LEIBSON
Miho
Morinoue
Fredrick
Davis
Leo
Ahonen
Soili
Arvola
Marina
Terwilliger
Timour
Bourtasenkov
Henry
Berg
Alaine
Haubert
Called “one of San Francisco’s leading dance teachers”, Henry Berg has, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, “carved a strong artistic niche as a teacher”. With a career that spans over three decades in dance, film, television, theatre, and academia, Mr. Berg has established himself as one of the foremost dance teachers in the country. His guest teaching engagements now include annual seminars for the Boston Ballet, the Academia Anna Pavlova in Bogata, Columbia, Joffrey Ballet, Dance Educators of America, Oregon Dance Academy, and the Village Dance Arts in Los Angeles. Mr. Berg traveled to Japan where he taught seminars in Tokyo and Nagoya, staging “American Ballet Selections” in 1994 for several companies there. Mr. Berg began his dance career in Hollywood, California, appearing in such films as “State Fair”, “How The West Was Won”, and “Babes In Toyland”. In 1962, he joined the San Francisco Ballet. Subsequently, he danced for over seven years with the Joffrey Ballet and assisted choreographer Twyla Tharp in New York City. In 1975, Mr. Berg created the Pacific Ballet Company with co-founders John Pasqualetti and Sue Loyd. He also joined the faculty of the San Francisco Ballet. The list of directors, dancers, and choreographers Mr. Berg has worked with include: George Balanchine, Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, Lew Christensen, Ann Sokolov, Kurt Joos, Jon Hart, and Margaret Jenkins. Additionally, he has worked with skaters John Curry and Peggy Fleming, cartoonist Charles Schultz, and has appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Leo Ahonen was accepted to the Ballet Academy of the National Opera House in Helsinki Finland at the age of six. He joined the National Ballet of Finland at the age of 14, and at age 17 guest performed with the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad and the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. At the famed Vaganova Choreographic Institute in Leningrad, Mr. Ahonen became a private student of Mr. Konstantin Shatilov and received the “Kirov Trained” Certificate at graduation. Mr. Ahonen won a Bronze Medal in the Men’s Senior category at the Second International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. He was a principal dancer and company teacher for the National Ballet of Holland, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and the National Ballet of Finland. With his wife Soili Arvola, he danced as a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and was hailed by critics as The Flying Finn, West Coast Nureyev, and the Fantastic Finn.
Soili Arvola was accepted to the Ballet Academy of the National Opera House in Helsinki Finland at the age of eight. After graduating from the Academy at age 17, she was invited to join the National Ballet of Finland, touring with the company around the world. Among her numerous honors, Ms. Arvola won a Bronze Medal and Diploma for High Artistic Achievement in Women’s Senior (Professional) Category at the prestigious International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. She has appeared as a guest ballerina with the Finnish National Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Chicago Ballet, Houston Ballet, London’s Royal Ballet Choreographic Group, Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, Ballet international de Ochi of Japan, and with many symphony orchestras, opera companies, and civic ballet companies throughout the U.S. and abroad. Ms. Arvola has performed as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, the title roles in Giselle and Cinderella, Swanhilda in Coppelia Kitri in Don Quixote and many others.
Alaine Haubert, a fourth generation Californian, has the unique distinction of having been associated with America’s three major companies. She received her training from age fifteen at the School of American Ballet in New York City where she studied with George Balanchine and his illustrious post-Diaghilev faculty. After graduation from high school, she performed with San Francisco’s Pacific Ballet and then joined the national touring company of Camelot. In 1965, after a year on the road with Camelot, Alaine joined American Ballet Theatre, where she performed corps de ballet, soloist and principal roles. She was coached, during this period by such diverse and exciting choreographers as Tudor, DeMille, Robbins, Feld, Culberg, Lander, and Tetley, and also danced the classics. 
Shaina Leibson has had an over fifteen-year career as a professional ballet dancer. She has been a dancer with several companies including Alberta Ballet, Ballet Austin, and Ballet San Jose where she performed for eight years. Shaina was a soloist dancer with Ballett im Revier in Germany and spent five seasons as a Principal Dancer with Bay Pointe Ballet which was based in the San Francisco area. Shaina received her ballet training from the renowned San Francisco Ballet School.
Timour began his professional education with the Moldavian Opera House and the Bolshoi Ballet. Upon coming to America he danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, and the New York-based Daring Project. In 1998, Mr. Bourtasenkov joined Carolina Ballet as a Principal dancer and founding member of the company. Mr. Bourtasenkov has choreographed works for Carolina Ballet, Infinity Ballet, New Jersey Ballet and most recently, the New York Choreographic Institute, using New York City Ballet members. His ballets include Light and Dark, sections of Messiah, Rag House, Elements, Memories, Visions, Intrigue, Dance of the Spirits, Fallen Dreams and Tango! Tango! Tango! Mr. Bourtasenkov won the Bronze Medal in the VII Massako Ohyo World Ballet Competition of Osaka, Japan and the V International Competition of Paris, France. He was awarded a jury prize at the 2nd Luxembourg International Ballet Competition. Mr. Bourtasenkov has appeared in two USSR movies: The Long Way and The Magic Star. In 1996, he filmed Little Red Ridinghood, directed by Davis Koplan and choreographed by Elena Tchernichova. In 1996, Mr. Bourtasenkov became the Artistic Advisor of Infinity Ballet and in 2005 he was named the Artistic Director of Carolina Performing Arts Center in Pinehurst, North Carolina.