Teachers
LUCILLE DYER brings more than 25 years of teaching experience to each session: Certifications in Peak Pilates, Laban Movement Analysis, and Bartenieff Fundamentals™, B.F.A. in Dance Education, and M.F.A in Performing Arts.
Benefit from her diverse background: She has taught and choreographed for dancers of all ages and abilities, and brings her expertise and eye for excellence to every Pilates, Ballet, and Creative Movement class.
"Lucille Dyer is one of those uncommon people who combines the precision of a scientist with the creativity of a highly skilled artist while avoiding the eccentric personality characteristics which are all to common to both groups." — R. T. Magruder
EXPERIENCE AND CREDENTIALS
- Certified Movement Analyst, Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies
- Certified Bartenieff™ Instructor/ Practitioner
- Certification in Language of Dance®;: Notation and Choreography
- Peak PilateSystem® Professional Certification
- B.F.A. with High Honors in Dance Education
- M.F.A. Performing Arts Design & Technology at California Institute of the Arts
- Summer Faculty at the Flynn, teaching Space Harmony and Laban/Bartenieff
- Ballet in Chatsworth, CA with Sheila Rozann
- Apprentice teacher under the tutelage of Michele Antonioli
- Rigorous movement and choreographic intensives (weeks or months) and programs with master teachers and choreographers, including Joanne Callum Powers, Bella Lewitsky, Joe Tremaine, Tandy Beal, Donna White, Sarah Wilbourne, Regina DeCosse, Ruth Solomon, Kelly Holt, Stephen Koester, Charles Edmondson, Daren Eastwold, and, like many dancers, workshops with notable movers and creators such as Alwin Nikolais, Warren Lamb, Vera Maletic, Eiko & Koma, Joanne Woodbury, Jennifer Monson, JoAnna Mendl Shaw . . . (and many more — the longer I live, the longer this list becomes!)
Lucille L. Dyer, a Certified Movement Analyst, offers private and small group sessions for those who wish to expand their expressive range, as introductory movement for people just starting out with a fitness program, and for experienced exercisers who seek to develop and integrate bodily awareness into their daily lives.
Lucille has taught ballet, modern dance, and choreography for children and adults in studios, workshops, and schools through university level. Co-Founder of a Modern Dance company, she co-produced and choreographed for performances in Los Angeles and Kern Counties, and taught in arts centered schools, after-school programs, and teacher training seminars. She taught for several years in the Missoula Elementary school system's Flagship Dance program and Montana's Ballet Arts Academy, teaching ballet classes, choreography, and Language of Dance Notation, and choreographing numerous events for the community. She has produced, performed, and designed lighting and costume for college and professional dance concerts for over 25 years, and has toured performances in California, Montana, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Utah. Receiving national recognition for her choreography and numerous awards for excellence, she has presented at regional and national academic dance arts events such as American College Dance Festival Association, and National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR®). Her productions have included dancers of all ages and abilites, and this skill of working with the individual is evident in her classes and private instruction.
"I feel deeply that we, as artists, owe a great deal to the teachers who took us under their wings to inspire, but more, to teach, with exactitude, strong foundations for creative development. My first ballet teacher was Ellie Zimmerman, who gently prepared her young students for classes with Sheila Rozann, whose early ballet training was with Bronislava Nijinska , a well-known choreographer from the Diaghileff /Ballet Russe era, and sister of the great dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky.
"It was during the years that I studied at the Rozann-Zimmerman Ballet Center that George Balanchine, after visiting, was so impressed that he personally invited Sheila to his Ford Foundation-sponsored teaching seminars held in New York City at his School of American Ballet (SAB), the beginning of a long-standing association between Miss Rozann and SAB, and resulted in the high standards of excellence that I have come to appreciate through my experience of being a student during those years.
"Later, Sheila sent me to study with Bella Lewitsky, one of the great innovators of Modern Dance. Bella's influence as an outspoken advocate for creative liberty, human rights, and ethical groundedness is indelible. It is in the spirit of these teachers that I approach my classes and my decisions regarding the direction and growth of the studio. My early teachers were specific, clear, articulate, and remarkably creative.
"My subsequent careers as a dance lighting designer, a choreographer, and performer started with these teachers, and I am eternally grateful for their guidance, patience and vision, but more, their integrity, kindness, and encouragement.
"It is these qualities that I wish to transfer to our students at Burlington Dances. These are the quailities I look for in the teachers who join the studio staff — if even for a one-day workshop. Whether you are taking Pilates, Space Harmony, Bartenieff, or beginning Ballet barre classes with me, you are receiving the standards of excellence instilled by my early teachers, as well as what they learned from their teachers." — Lucille L. Dyer
SILA ROOD
Sila's interest in Yoga began at age thirteen, inspired by her grandmother, Penelope Holden, who was a leading force in bringing the practice of yoga to Vermont. In 2006, Sila made her voyage to India to study Ayurvedic medicine and yoga in Auroville, an eco-village and community of spiritual practice based on the philosophies of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. In 2009, Sila completed her teacher training in Santa Monica, CA through the Tree of Life yoga school, taught by Psalm Isadora. The process of this training was fueled by a very primal intention, focusing on the practice of Kundalini and tapping into the power of the core.
Through her yoga and a background as a professional belly dancer, Sila has tapped into a form of movement that brings strength, confidence, fluidity, and sensuality back into the body, and is appropriate for all sexes.
Past Teachers of Classes and Workshops
MARLY SPIESER-SCHNEIDER
Marly Spieser-Schneider graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009 with a BFA in dance. While earning her degree she performed in works by guest artists Rennie Harris, Laura Dean, and Lindsey and Jason Dietz-Merchant as well as dance department faculty including Robin Wilson, Amy Chavasse, Peter Sparling, Jessica Fogel, and Melissa Beck-Matjias in addition to performances in Colombia and Montreal.
She has co-produced several multi-media performances and spent the summer of 2009 teaching and performing throughout Michigan with Jumping Off The Bandwagon. In fall of 2009 she embarked on a cross-country road- trip for her Collabor8 project: to create eight dance works in collaboration with various artists in eight different cities including Ricki Mason in Seattle, Washington, Jennifer Harge in San Antonio, Texas, and Lara Martin in Baltimore, Maryland.
She has most recently been seen here on the Burlington stage in the Big Action Performance Ensemble's community inclusive production Everyone Can Dance, and is currently part of Hannah Dennison's coterie of performers in preparation for the upcoming production Dear Pina.
JULIE PEOPLES-CLARK
Julie's classes guide each individual in finding their movement potential, body connectivity and expressiveness. Students will gain an understanding of organic movement qualities (weight shifting, suspension, release, transitioning, etc.) as they relate to dance movement. With training in many modern dance techniques (Graham, Horton, Cunningham, Limon & Release techniques), Pilates and yoga, Julie emphasizes grounding and dynamic qualities that help dancers to accomplish a wide variety of movement expressions.
Julie has performed internationally with several major dance companies, The Washington Post wrote, "Julie Peoples moved with a pleasing quality at once weighty and fluid, like melted caramel." Her choreography has been showcased at the American Dance Festival, New York and Philadelphia Fringe Festivals, Towson University, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Columbia Center for the Arts, Dance Place DC, and Dance Space NYC. Julie has served on the dance faculty of the University of Maryland, Roland Park Country School, Pennsylvania Dance Theatre School, and The Bryn Mawr School.
She currently teaches and performs in the Burlington area. At Burlington Dances, she teaches Pilates Reformer, Ballet and Modern, and Adaptive Dance, offers specialty classes in Adaptive and Restorative Yoga, and designs personalized private sessions combining Yoga and Pilates for people with all abilities.
PILATES & YOGA TEACHING STAFF:
JULIE PEOPLES-CLARK, HERMINE SZANTO FLANIGAN,
and LUCILLE L. DYER
Julie Peoples-Clark RYT is certified in the Yoga for the Special Child™, a Registered Svadhyaya Yoga Teacher with the National Yoga Alliance, and a Certified Peak PilateSystem® teacher. She had stopped dancing when her daughter Ella was born with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy. Julie's search to help Ella led her to Sonia Sumar and the Yoga for the Special Child™ training program where she learned techniques to help Ella as well as beginning her personal practice of health and healing.
"The most profound message that I learned from my yoga practice was in order for me to care for Ella I had to care for myself. I find joy each day and I marvel at my incredible daughter and all she has overcome." — Julie
After two years of traveling the world volunteering with children with brain injuries and exploring many different healing options, Julie, her husband Dave and Ella moved to Vermont.
Julie earned her Peak PilateSystem® from Master Trainer and Education Coordinator Pamela Garcia in 2009. Along with teaching Reformer and Pilates/Yoga Fusion classes, she offers specialty classes in Adaptive and Restorative Yoga, and designs personalized private sessions combining Yoga and Pilates for people with all abilities.
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Hermine Szanto Flanigan has always been involved with exercise, whether working out at the gym, taking a yoga class, or going for family walks, fitness has always been a part of her life.
When she took her first Pilates class she was hooked! It was much more than just “exercise” — it was fun and made her feel strong!
When Hermine's second child started school she decided to enroll in Pilates teacher training with Peak Pilates' Master Trainer Clare Dunphy, and earned her certification to teach Mat and Reformer classes and private sessions in 2010.
"Pilates has truly changed my life. I have such passion for how good it makes me feel, and I love to teach others and share the fun, strength, and possibilities from daily practice of Pilates exercise." — Hermine
JILL MASON
Jill Mason is a 200-hour-certified kripalu yoga teacher. A long-time student of modern, jazz, and West African dance, she began practicing yoga in 2008, at age sixty-four, and fell in love with it. Since then she has been taking several classes a week and recently completed the intensive teacher training program at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. She has a particular interest in teaching older students.
MEGAN DAVIS
Megan is currently an undergraduate student of dance at Springfield College and is graduating next spring. In addition her training at Springfield, Davis studied with Heidi Henderson, Cynthia Oliver, and Rachel List at the Bates Dance Festival. While at Springfield College, Megan has performed works by Cynthia Nazzaro, Michelle Marroquin, Nicole Kedaore, and Wendy Holmes. She has also danced in Limon’s Etude, reconstructed by Kristin Foote, and was the soloist for Ted Shawn’s Gnoissiene. Her most recent choreographic works include Space in Airways (2011) and Asleep on the Hill (2010), which was inspired by Edgar Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology.
As a modern dancer, Davis is interested in exploring the boundaries of both movement’s content and physicality. Her dancing style encompasses an understanding of Bartenieff Fundamentals and contact improvisation. Repertory work focuses on ease and specificity within movement phrases while still challenging one’s technical strength and endurance.
As a summer intern, 2011, Megan taught all levels of Modern Dance, co-produced, choreographed and performed in two productions, and assisted the studio in operations.
NANCEY KINLIN
Nancey Kinlin is a certified Kripalu YogaDance® Instructor bringing her gifts as a healing artist through the traditions of dance, music, and creative expression.
A long time student of yoga and practitioner of energy medicine, Nancey approaches movement as a rejuvenating journey of self-discovery. She invites her participants to reclaim and honor the magnificence of their whole being by offering a unique experience that is both sacred and safe. YogaDance® is Nancey’s vehicle for bringing light and love to her students and to her life. Nancey is also a Registered Nurse, a Healing Touch provider, and a poet. Her intention is to use many modalities to connect our shared human experience to the wondrous realm of Spirit.
STEPHANIE OVERTON
Stephanie Overton holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Michigan and has been a guest instructor at the Burklyn Ballet Summer Intensive, the University of Vermont, and Northwestern Michigan College. She is now a modern dance instructor in Petoskey, Michigan.
Stephanie taught high energy Modern Dance to all levels of dancers, as well as a special Contact Improvisation workshop with co-teacher Hanna Satterlee. She was an invaluable assistant in the establishment of Burlington Dances.
ELIZABETH SANFORD
Elizabeth Sanford is a modern dancer and choreographer who began her early training in ballet with the NJ Ballet, and later became a member of Dancers Working Company in San Francisco. She has studied in New York, San Francisco, and Copenhagen and graduated from San Francisco State University with a BS in physical education and dance minor. Elizabeth received her MsEd from Bank Street College of Education in NYC. Some of her most influential teachers and inspiration for composition and technique have been Aaron Osborne, Alwin Nikolais, Margaret Jenkins, Joe Goode, Susie Whipp, Peter Martins and Mark Morris.
Elizabeth’s approach to teaching is based on integration of the mind, body, and spirit with emphasis on the center of the body to progress through routines with fall and recovery flow. She is inspired by diverse forms of music and honors individual’s unique contribution to their life’s choreography regardless of age or dancing ability.
Elizabeth has taught Modern Dance for beginning level students, bringing a wealth of creativity and (classical) Modern technique to her studio classes.
HANNA SATTERLEE
Hanna was born and raised in Vermont, and has spent the last 15 years traveling the world to study various dance and movement forms, along the East Coast (VT, ME, MA, NYC) West Coast (CA), in Ghana and in Brazil. She attended Goucher College in Maryland, and left with a double BA in Dance and Psychology with a Dance Therapy concentration. She later attended Laughing Lotus Yoga School in San Francisco, and is now a teacher of their graceful style of Vinyassa Yoga.
Hanna is currently the Director of Professional Programming, and Artistic Director of Teen Jazz, at The Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio, where she first learned how to dance. Hanna is a company member of Pauline Jennings and Sean Clute’s Double Vision and Tiffany Rhynard’s BIG APE, and also makes her own work with others.
Hanna co-taught a Contact Improvisation Workshop with Stephanie Overton, pairing body awareness and investigations for all levels of movers.
ELLEN SMITH AHERN
Ellen grew up dancing in Illinois and earned her BA in Dance at Middlebury College '05. Since then she has worked with many wonderful artists, including Amy Chavasse, El Circo Contemporaneo, Jane Comfort & Company, and Kate Elias. She has had the opportunity to teach, collaborate, and perform throughout Mexico, Qatar, Cuba, and the United States, and she is now exploring and participating in Vermont's dance community. Ellen has been both honored and challenged by her work in the past year with local artists Paul Besaw and Clare Byrne, and she is currently a member of Tiffany Rhynard's Big Action Performance Ensemble. A recent recipient of grants from the Flynn Center and the Vermont Arts Council, Ellen continues to develop and perform her own choreography, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with Lida Winfield. She also works as a Certified Massage Therapist.
As a dance artist and teacher, Ellen is inspired by the human capacity to transform, to imagine, to provoke. In her own work and in guiding students, she strives for physical honesty and authenticity, celebrating beauty and strength in what is awkward, raw, funny and vulnerable. She is happy to join the Burlington Dances community in building foundations for creative movement, and returns periodically to Vermont to perform and teach specialty series classes and workshops.
Ellen taught a morning body awareness and movement class, along with all levels of Modern Dance technique. Among many contributions to the studio, she authored the first drafts of our Aritist in Residence program, and subsequently co-produced and performed in the first A.I.R. production The Hall choreographed by Selene Colburn.