West Hawaii Dance is pleased to welcome Guest Artists Brett Bauer, Raissa Chazova-Bauer and Miho Tsutsumi to our studio. They will be instructing students in Ballet Technique, Pointe and Variations on select days this August. See the class list below.
BRETT BAUER
Brett Bauer is an individual dedicated to bringing his enthusiasm and love to instruction and education in all forms. He is committed to aiding people so they may live by their highest values and achieve their greatest goals.
After receiving training at the National Ballet School(Canada), The Kirov Academy (Washington D.C.) and San Francisco Ballet School, Mr. Bauer enjoyed a more than 15 year dancing career, beginning with Suzanne Farrell’s touring company in 2001, then joining the San Francisco Ballet as a corps member from 2002 until 2010. During his time with SFB, he performed a variety of Soloist and Principal roles in works by Helgi Tomosson, Lew Christensen, George Balanchine, Christopher Wheeldon, Yuri Possokhov, Stanton Welch, Paul Taylor, Sir Frederick Ashton and Mikhail Fokine to name a few. In addition, he appeared in the PBS filming of The Nutcracker performing in the Arabian trio, and participated in company tours to Greece, France, London, China and throughout the United States.
In 2010, he took his talents to Portland Oregon joining Oregon Ballet Theater under the direction of Christopher Stowell, joining as a Soloist, then being promoted to Principal dancer the following season. Brett had the privilege of performing classical leading male roles in Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake(C. Stowell). He also performed Principal roles in Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Square Dance(Balanchine), Rassemblement, Por Vos Muero(Duato), Almost Motzart(Kudelka), as well as notable character roles in Cinderella(Stevenson), Prodigal Son, Nutcracker(Balanchine), and Gisselle(DeAvila). Brett’s time here also included two tours to South Korea, performing The Nutcracker in summertime and multiple US tours including representing OBT in Ballet Across America at the Kennedy Center in 2013.
In 2015 Brett moved to San Jose as a Principal dancer for Silicon Valley Ballet(formerly Ballet San Jose) under the direction of Jose Manuel Carreno. There he enjoyed a productive, though brief season, due to a company collapse only months after joining. He was fortunate enough to preform Albrecht in the American premier of Alicia Alonso’s Giselle before the company’s disbandment and is forever grateful for that honor and opportunity.
Brett has been instructing for summer courses and leading master classes for over 5 years now, finding time to hone this aspect of his knowledge while completing his dancing career. Only recently has Brett become a full time teacher, as since his retirement from dancing in 2016 he has dedicated his time to learning and helping people maintain or restore their health and wellbeing, while seeking his own. He has worked as an Aide at Active Care Physical Therapy in San Francisco while pursuing his training to teach the GYROTONIC® & GYROKINESIS® systems, as well as becoming an ABT® Certified teacher for Pre-Primary through level 3 and recently achieved ABT® Affiliate Teacher status. He continues to teach private and group Ballet classes throughout the Bay Area, and the United States, to share his journey of finding the best methods for maintaining one’s body strength, flexibility and control, both on stage and in the studio.
In conjunction with his physical focus, Brett has also realized that the body, mind, spirit connection is an integral part of living for everyone. To this end, he has become a Trained DeMartini® Method Facilitator, a modality for anyone desiring to free themselves from limiting beliefs and wanting to live a more balanced existence. Above all else he enjoys helping others to find the power within themselves so that they may live a healthier and expanded life in all ways.
RAISA CHAZOVA-BAUER
Raissa Chazova-Bauer is dedicated to bringing the most efficient, safe and effective aspects of training to all of her students. She is consistently looking for new and varied approaches to building bodies that are less susceptible to injury, having experienced many of them herself during her training years.
Mrs. Chazova-Bauer received her ballet training from the Professional Ballet school in Kazakhstan instructing in the Vaganova Curriculum, one of the few remaining schools from the former Soviet Union. She graduated from the 8 year program having thoroughly studied classical ballet, character and contemporary dance, and also spent a full year at the Novosibirsk Ballet School in Russia, accruing over 7,000 hours of classical training in total. In 2006 Raissa was hired as an apprentice and performed with The National Ballet Theater of Kazakhstan for 2 years sharing her talents in classical ballets such as, Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, as well as Legend of Love. In 2007 Mrs. Chazova-Bauer participated in The First Korean International Ballet Competition.
In 2008 Raissa joined the School of Oregon Ballet Theater where she broadened her neoclassical ballet horizons, learning the Balanchine style and performing in OBT’s productions of Swan Lake(Christopher Stowell) and The Nutcracker(George Balanchine). The following year Raissa returned to Kazakhstan where she began her teaching career and was quickly named, the Artistic Director of “The Dance Academy”. She simultaneously took on the role of Ballet Coach for a rhythmic gymnastics team that would go on to win multiple, and consecutive, gold medals in international competition under her tutelage. Raissa returned permanently to the United States to live in Portland, OR in 2012 teaching at the Sultanov Russian Ballet Academy. She also acted as lead coach, then later Program Director, for Rose City Rhythmic Performing Arts and Collaborative during her time there.
In September 2015 she brought her talents to San Jose, California where she immediately joined the faculty of Los Gatos Ballet and Contra Costa Ballet Center, and in 2016 Raissa accepted the position of Program Director for Los Gatos Ballet. She has spent much of her creative and technical energies in this position building a working Syllabus for the schools ballet curriculum, while also teaching, coaching and dabbling in choreography.
Raissa continues her education in the world of classical ballet and in 2016 became an ABT® Certified Teacher, after successfully completing the ABT® Teacher`s Training for Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Raissa also discovered the GYROTONIC® system a number of years ago and realizing the benefits for herself and her students, decided to become a certified GYROTONIC® instructor. She seeks a deeper knowledge of the system from the greats in the field and is anxious to
further incorporate the work into her training. During her years of training and teaching it also became apparent that incorporating personal development into her class strategies was a must. To this end Raissa incorporates techniques into her programs that allow students to find their true mission and fulfillment in life whether they plan to dance professionally or not. Achieving a balanced mind and body is a critical step towards growth in all arenas of life, but especially when dealing with the stresses and demands of a professional ballet career.
Raissa is excited to share her unique classical background and individual knowledge to help her students achieve the highest level of excellence and achievement. She looks forward to collaborating with schools, both nationally and worldwide, to aid and facilitate in the development of young, engaged individuals.
MIHO TSUTSUMI
Recently performing as a Guest Artist in our 2016 rendition of The Nutcracker Ballet as Frau Stahbaum and the Sugarplum Fairy, Tsutsumi has internationally toured with Matusuyama Ballet Company to Washington D.C., New York City, China and Japan. Major ballet works are Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, Cinderella, Theme and Variation, and Imperial Ballet. She received Saitama Prefecture Society Award in 1986 and Japan Ballet Association Award in1987 at Saitama National Dance Competition. She is a director of her Epaule culture school and performs as a guest artist in Tokyo.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Monday, August 7
4:30 – 5:30pm
Ballet Technique (Bauer) Ages 10+
5:30 – 6:15pm
Pointe (Chazova-Bauer)
6:15 – 7:15pm
Variations (Chazova-Bauer)
Saturday, August 12
10:30 – 11:45am
Ballet Technique (Tsutsumi) Ages 10+
11:45am – 1:00pm
Intermediate/Advanced Ballet Technique (Bauer/Chazova-Bauer)
1:00 – 2:00pm
Performance Group Nutcracker Choreography (Tsutsumi)
Monday, August 14
4:30 – 5:30pm
Ballet Technique (Tsutsumi) Ages 10+
5:30 – 6:15pm
Pointe (Tsutsumi)
6:15 – 7:15pm
Jr. Performance group Nutcracker Choreography (Tsutsumi)
Saturday, August 19
11:45 – 1:00pm
Intermediate/Advanced Ballet Technique (Bauer)
1:00 – 2:00pm
Performance Group Pointe/Variations (Chazova-Bauer)
Jamy Woodbury received his formal training with Denver-based Cleo Parker Robinson dance ensemble, where he trained extensively in such forms as Graham Norton and Dunham intermixed with a rigorous schedule of ballet. Seeking to broaden his classical understanding, Jamy did a year stint with the Boston Ballet.
Miho Morinoue is an acclaimed dancer and a visual artist. As a member of the Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company she performed extensively in the United States and Europe. As a visual artist, she collaborated on numerous projects, designing costumes and setting ballets for Complexions, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Oakland Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet and many others. She has shown her paintings in Hawaii, New York and Seattle.
A Mauka Lani Graduate, Marina began training with WHDT when she was 5. Ms. Terwilliger went on to become Miss Kona Coffee 2002, attended UH Manoa as a Dance Major for 2 years, and returns to the Big Island of Hawaii after pursuing a commercial print modeling career in New York City.
Fredrick Davis studied at the prestigious Joffrey Ballet School. He attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and North Carolina Dance Theatre. He danced with the Roxey Ballet Company in New Jersey and eventually Dance Theatre of Harlem. While at Dance Theatre of Harlem, Davis danced in many roles including the male lead in New Bach, the Pas de Deux from Act III of Swan Lake, in Robert Garland’s Return, in George Balanchine’s Agon and Alvin Ailey’s The Lark Ascending. He performed Agon and The Lark Ascending with Dance Theatre of Harlem at Jacob’s Pillow Dance. After leaving Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2015, Davis participated in a Dance for America tour, was a featured artist with Dallas Black Dance Theatre, danced at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., danced in the Donald McKayle Tribute in Irvine, California, and danced for the Indiana Ballet Theatre. As a freelance artist, he has also performed with various ballet companies including Roanoke Ballet Theatre, Greensboro Ballet, San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet, and Dissonance Dance Theater. He is a principal guest artist at Ballet Tennessee and at Ballet Tucson. Davis returns to Chattanooga every summer as a guest artist in the Dance Alive program that first inspired his love of dance. He is featured in the film, From the Streets to the Stage: The Journey of Fredrick Davis. The documentary was created by Ann Cater of PBS and was filmed by the Emmy Award-winning crew from WTCI.
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.
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.
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. 
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.