Former Kybele Dance
Theater Performers
Anna
Lamonica,
originally
from Bellevue, Washington, graduated from Chapman
University in Orange, California with a BFA in Dance
Performance. After graduation, she briefly returned to
the Seattle area where she performed with Theatre
Puget Sound during Seattle’s annual Live Theatre
Week. She then relocated to London, England where she
spent nearly a year performing throughout the city
with both Rancidance and Cloud Dance Company. In 2010,
Anna returned to Southern California to explore the
dance scene in L.A. After working briefly with Diavolo
Dance Theater’s Education Company, she was
thrilled to continue her training with Seda in a more
technically classical dance setting. Since joining
Kybele in April 2010, she has performed with the
company in the Los Angeles area as well as San
Francisco. Anna also recently traveled home to the
Seattle area where she co-taught highly physical
contemporary modern master classes entitled
“Flying and Falling.”
Denai
Lovrien began dancing at
the age of 11 after spending years as a competitive
gymnast. In May of 2009, she received her BFA in dance from
the University of Arizona where she studied ballet, modern,
and jazz. As a student, she performed Amy Ernst's
“Raft” at the 2007 LA Dance Invitational
Concert and received a scholarship to train at the Thodos
Dance Chicago summer intensive. From the UA School of
Dance, in honor of her work, she received the Virginia
Robinson award which acknowledges interest, talent, and
creativity in a multiplicity of art forms. As a
choreographer, her work was showcased at the World Dance
Alliance General Assembly in 2009. She recently moved to
Los Angeles and also dances with Benita Bike's DanceArt and
is excited to be a part of Kybele Dance
Theater.
Rieka
Toya born in Nagano,
Japan. she started ballet when she was three years old. She
received her BA in dance performance from Southern Utah
University with Burchman Award Scholarship student. After
graduation, she had tought ballet age 3 to 60, and
professional course for two years in japan. Her specialty
is ballet, ballet teaching (royal academy method),
contemporary, jazz, tap, salsa, and bollywood. She is so
excited to start new dance career in the US and want to say
thank you to her parents and friends for all their
surport.
Robin
Conley growing up in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Robin enjoyed a variety of
things as a child. Among them were college basketball and
dancing. Her training was in all forms of dance, but she
grew to favor jazz, which she studied at such venues as
Jacob's Pillow and Jazzart Dance Festival. She went to
college at NYU, getting a BA in anthropology and dancing in
the city with Jana Hicks, Nicholas Leichter, Jennifer
Archibald, Gina Bashour, and Skip Costa, among others.
After remaining in NYC for 6 years, Robin moved to LA in
the Fall of 2004, where she is happy to wear flip flops all
year round. She is attempting a PhD in linguistic
anthropology at UCLA and is thrilled to be still able to
perform.
Tanya
Fairfoot:
Actress/Dancer/Singer/LA
Native! From Venice, California, Tanya grew up
dancing. At 5, she started with Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and
Gymnastics. Now, she is content with
Modern/Contemporary and a little booty shakin' at the
club. Theatre: NY: Men; All the Wild Horses. Los
Angeles: Fetish; Burn This; Skin of Our Teeth; Gift of
the Magi; Savage Love; Mysteries; Streetcar Named
Desire; Cuckoo's Nest; Antigone; The Crucible; The
Early Girl; Chicago; The Wizard of Oz. Film: The
Magnifi-cent Cooly-T; Miracle; Along Came Polly; Dark
is the Day; Gangstaz. Dance/Choregography: The Magic
Flute (ballet), Gift of the Magi (jazz), Savage Love
(contemporary); Mysteries (contemporary/gymnastics).
Education: American Repertory Company, BA Theatre,
Biola University. Tanya is ecstatic and honored to be
a part of Kybele Dance Theater!
Katy
Tabb graduated Magna
Cum Laude with a B.A. in Dance from Chapman University
where she was awarded an Outstanding Performance Award.
Since graduation, Katy has had the opportunity to
perform with Benita Bike's DanceArt, Vox Dance Theatre, and
Kybele Dance Theater as a company member. Katy has had the
opportunity to work with contemporary and modern dance
choreographers in the Los Angeles area including Denai
Lovrien, Alex Little, and Sean Greene as well as performed
in several regional musical theater productions. She
is a proud co-founder of the Core Collective,
a platform
for emerging dancers, choreographers, and artists to engage
new audiences in dance, which she formed with Napoleon
Gladney in the summer of 2010.
Mike
Anaya Went to
Illinois State University as an acting major and
started dancing there. Soon after studying
Martha Graham he decided to make dance his
minor. After graduating college he moved to Los
Angeles where he continued this journey called
life. Currently he is hitting up the commercial
circuit and taking dance at Katnap Dance Center in
Venice and The Edge in Hollywood. He loves
dancing with Kybele Dance Theater. He would like to
thank his friends and family for all there support
over the years especially his mother and his
teachers.
Maggie Jones was born in Chicago, then grew up in the small Northern California town of Chico. There she started studying classical ballet, hip-hop and jazz. It wasn't until she attended UCSB that she fell in love with modern and contemporary dance. Maggie graduated from UCSB with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in dance and a minor in exercise and health sciences. Maggie had the opportunity to work with many amazing teachers and choreographers at UCSB including Nancy Colahan, Christopher Pilafian, Val Huston, Jerry Pearson, Mira Kingsley, and Delila Mosley. Maggie and her senior class, the UCSB Dance Company was lucky enough to have Lar Lubovitch's Marimba set on them, and perform around California. She has also spent time touring parts of China as part of the company. She is thrilled to be working with Seda and the beautiful dancers of KDT
Danielle Doucet grew up in Aiken, South Carolina, where she began her ballet training under Carl Crosby and the Aiken Civic Ballet Company. She graduated cum laude from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, with a BA in Dance Performance and a minor in technical theater. After graduation, she founded Open Air, a dance company committed to creating Dance for Camera works. A newcomer to Los Angeles, Danielle volunteers at Career Transition for Dancers and is delighted to dance with the Kybele Dance Theater.
Dominique Lyons was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. She recently received her B.A. in Philosophy and Women’s Studies from the University of Louisville. It was here, the University of Louisville Dance Academy, that she received her training under Charles Bronson, Cynthia Bronner and Teresa Bautista. Dominique is very excited to be performing with the Kybele Dance Theater.
Stephanie McMahon was born in Athens, Greece and grew up in Orlando, FL training under Deborah Barnes and Kelli Dorrough. She went on to earn her B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University while continuing her dance training with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Point Park University, and several local Pittsburgh companies including Dance Alloy and The Pillow Project under the direction of Pearlann Porter. Although new to LA, she is currently a member of Brockus Project Dance Company and is thrilled to be performing with Kybele Dance Theater.
Suna Lavinia Findikoglu grew up in Arlington, Virginia. As a young dancer she studied predominantly at the Arlington Center for Dance and the Washington School of Ballet. She than attended the Boston Conservatory, earning a BA in ballet and modern dance. After graduating in 2006, Suna moved to Los Angeles, where she has danced locally with Avant Media, Between Lines, and Collage Dance Theater. She currently lives in Venice and she is a certified Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis instructor.
Clare Bayens native of Houston, Texas, began dancing at the age of 4 and was trained in ballet, tap, jazz, and modern. Under the direction of Loretta Livingston, Donald McKayle, Bob Boross, and Diane Diefenderfer, she graduated in 2006 with a BFA in performance from the University of California, Irvine. Throughout the summers she continued studying at University of the Arts Summer Intensive, Goucher College Summer Arts Institute, Alvin Ailey's Summer Intensive Program, and the Bates Dance Festival.
Colette Angela Smith a native Californian, has been dancing on and off since she was a child. She has a great passion for dance and enjoys expressing herself through dance and the theatre. As a teenager she won a dance scholarship for a program at USC, performed in a music video that aired on MTV-EUROPE, has been accepted into 2 local dance companies, and performed at local showcases within the Los Angeles area. Currently she is working for an architectural firm and feels very blessed to have the opportunity to perform with KDT, their dancers and Seda Aybay.
Emily Smyth Vartanian is thrilled to once again be working with Kybele Dance Theatre. She is a member of the Metronome Tap Company here in New York, and has just returned from the national tour of "Forever Swing!". She is a native of Oakland, California and first worked with Ms. Aybay when they were just a couple of troublemakers back at UCLA. She thanks Seda for being the only one who has let her play "the bad lady" (twice), and is grateful for the chance to work with her on yet another wonderful challenge in this piece. www.emilythedancer.com
Tara Crites was born and raised in the culture of Los Angeles and originates from an artistic family. Most of her life she has been dreaming and dancing. Her talent in dance studies and performance awarded her full scholarships to California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) where she attended in 1999. Tara was also a student of California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts) dance program. She has taught many styles of dance to children at San Fernando Valley recreation centers. In addition to her dance experience she has exceptional knowledge in classic Pilates technique which she applies to the dance community. She has completed two comprehensive Pilates courses and now works as a recognized instructor at a renowned day spa.
Norman Follosco started dancing in his senior year with the Pioneer High School Co-ed dance team and upon graduating enrolled in his first dance class at Cerritos College. Since attending Cerritos, Norman have had the opportunity to train with instructors such as Erin Landry (Afro-Modern), Christine Chrest (Limon), Robert Salas (Lyrical Modern), and Joel Smith (Release Technique) amongst others. In the last 3 years, Norman have been chosen to represent Cerritos College at the American College Dance Festival (ACDF) Southwest Region (Scottsdale, AZ 2004), (Long Beach, CA 2005) and the New England Region (Boston, MA 2006). Norman feel honored and excited to be part of KDT and look forward to many wonderful performances.
Areal Bell was born in Athens, Greece and raised various places around the world as a military brat; but has always had a passion for dance. She started pursing dance at Moorpark College where she had the opportunity of studying with Dennon and Sayhber Rawles in their classic jazz technique and attributes her deeper appreciation and dedication to dancing from them. Areal has received numerous awards in dance including ballet. She is truly excited to perform for the first time with Kybele Dance Theater.
Rachel Bowman was born in Australia and trained at "Laine Theatre Arts" London. Rachel performed with the "Australian Ballet" (corps de ballet) and the "Opera Australia Ballet Company." While dancing professionally, Rachel worked with aerialists at the National Institute of Circus in the art of Aerial Dance. In 2004, Rachel developed her own solo act on fabric and was offered a contract to perform as an aerialist at Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. In 2006, Rachel relocated to Los Angeles where she performs frequently with the LA based Aerial/Dance Company "Myo Dance" and is a guest performances with "Aspen/Santa Fe" Ballet Company and "The Cabiri Physical Theatre Company." Rachel also works as a freelance dancer, performing regularly with contemporary choreographers Megan and Jeffrey Hornaday and Erin Holt, as well as appearing in music videos and commercials. Rachel is excited to be working with Seda and the dancers of Kybele Dance Theater.
Sean Parnell was introduced to dance at the late age of 18. Originating his skills in cheerleading he pursued dance at the University of Utah with Ballet and Jazz. While in the mist of his dance training he and some friends formed a local jazz group performing at different events and venues in the Salt Lake area. New to Los Angeles he has been continuing his ballet training at Dance Arts Academy under Cynthia Molnar and Reid Olsen as well as Edge Performing Arts Center. Currently he has begun training and traveling with Diavolo’s modern company and working in their education company. Not only is he thrilled to be working with Kybele Dance Theater but also wants to thank Seda for all of her guidance.
Andrea Joy Berman was born in upstate New York and raised outside of Philadelphia. She began dancing at the age of three. Her early dance training was in Tap and Ballet, but in her teen years she moved on to Jazz and Modern. She had extensive training at French Woods dance summer programs and later taught there. She received her BFA at the University of Massachusetts. Andrea was a teacher at the California Conservatory of the Arts for five years and has been performing for the Brockus Project Dance Company for the last seven and a half years. She is excited to be performing with Kybele Dance Theater.
Kathleen King is from Sonoma County, California where she started dancing at the age of eight. She received her early dance training from Redwood Empire Ballet, and has since had the opportunity to study with such teachers as Maria Vegh, Steffon Long, Summer Rhatigan and abroad at the Conservatoire Nationale de Danse de La Roche Sur Yon. She has performed works by Steffon Long, Alonso King, and Amy Seiwart as well as many experimental approaches to dancing various excerpts from many classical ballets. She is happy to be joining KDT for this 2007-'08 season.