Guest Artists
Clare Bayens
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
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
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
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.
Magda Lopez
Magda Lopez as a freshman in Bell Gardens High School enrolled in dance class and trained with Rebecca Heacock (Ballet & Jazz). She danced with Heacock during her 4 years of school. After a 9-year absence from dance, returning in January of 2005, she since then has trained with Christine Chrest (Limon), Janet Sanderson (Jazz), Joel Smith (Release Technique), Ronald Brown (African), Erin Broady (African), Frit and Frat Fuller (Lyrical Modern) amongst others. She has performed with Cerritos College 2005 & 2006, has participated and performed in Praxis Dance Project 2005 & 2006 and was chosen to dance at the American College Dance Festival (ACDF) Eastern Regionals in Boston representing Cerritos College in early 2006. Thru her time away from dance, a newfound appreciation was set in her heart, she is happy to be part of KDT and able to perform again.
Norman Follosco
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
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
Sean 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
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.