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 Nolan Dennett
BA Brigham Young University
MA Western Washington University
Artistic Director
Modern Technique, Introduction to Dance, Choreography,
Musical Resources, History, Dance Arts in Education,
Repertory
Nolan Dennett has been teaching at Western since 1989,
first as a movement specialist in the Theater Department
and then as Director of the Dance Program from its inception
in 1998. During this time he has directed and collaborated
on a number of theatrical works as well as choreographing
over 25 major ballets. In addition to being an award
winning choreographer in the academic setting, Mr. Dennett
has created new works for the National Ballet of Peru,
Ririe/Woodbury Dance Company, and the Idaho Theater
for Youth-all of which tour internationally. Mr. Dennett
has been a Fulbright Scholar and has appeared as a dancer,
in the works of Louis Falco, Lucas Hoving, Bill Evans,
Della Davidson, and Anna Sokolow. He is also the author
of the critically acclaimed novel, "Place of Shelter." Most
recently he has been elected for a three-year term
to serve on the National Board of Directors of
the American
College Dance Festival Association.
 Cher Carnell
Assistant Director
Dance Program Advisor to Students
Cher Carnell danced professionally for eleven years with numerous ballet companies both in the United States and Europe, including Milwaukee Ballet, San Diego Ballet, Ballet Metropolitan, Theater an der Wien and Sottish-American Ballet. She was featured in principal roles, such as Odette in Swan Lake, Giselle in full-length Giselle, Titania in Midsummer's Night Dream, and Sugar Plum Fairy in Nutcracker. Ms. Carnell has an extensive teaching background as a master teacher in pre-professional schools, Universities, as well as professional ballet and modern companies. She chaired the University of Louisville Dance Department and served as the Artistic Director of the University of Louisville Ballet Civic Company from 1982-1991. She has taught ballet at Western Washington University since 1997, specializing in the intermediate and advanced levels of ballet..
Penny Hutchinson
BA Vermont College
MFA Mills College
Penny Hutchinson, a native of Seattle, attended the Juilliard School. She was a founding member of the Mark Morris Dance Group, 1980-1992 and was in Brussels from 1988-1991, when MMDG was in residence at Theatre de la Monnaie. In 1990 she received a New York Dance and Performance Award, BESSIE. In addition to teaching at the University of Washington, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and other MMDG workshops, Hutchinson has taught at Ulm Theatre Ballet (Joachim Schlomer-dir.), NYU Tisch School of the Arts, South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore), University of Montana, Academy of Modern Dance (Chennai, India),and Sports Hojskole, (Denmark). She was assistant director for Peter Sellars’ The Rake’s Progress at the Chatelet Theater, Paris. She assisted director Stephen Wadsworth for the opera Ashoka’s Dream at the Santa Fe Opera. After receiving a BA through Vermont College, in 2001 she choreographed and made her acting debut in The Oresteia, three Greek tragedies, for the opening of the Berkeley Repertory’s Roda Theater with directors Stephen Wadsworth and Tony Taccone. While attending Mills College, Penny staged Marble Halls by Mark Morris for the Mills Repertory Dance Company. She graduated with an MFA in Dance from Mills. She has had two successful collaborations with composer Fei Wu of Beijing, China, also a Mills alumna, the second being under a “Meet the Composer” grant for University of Wyoming dance students and the Chandra Wyoga Gamelan. (Photo: Chris Coffin)
Rick Merrill
 Rick Merrill began dancing at Dartmouth College and
studied at Naropa Institute with Barbara Dilley, Steve
Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith and with senior students of
Tai Chi Chuan master Cheng Man `ching. In New York
City he studied with Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor,
Alfredo Corvino, Marjorie Mussman, Trisha Brown, and
members of the Jose Limon Dance Company. He has
collaborated and performed with Martha Clarke and
Pilobolus Dance Theater among many others. In NYC, Rick
began choreographing and performing his own work. Now
based in Barcelona, Spain, he continues to
choreograph, perform and teach throughout Europe and
North America. In his personal work Rick aspires to
create a theater of the senses in which movement,
text, sound and image emerge and mingle in open space,
where we can be touched directly and genuinely before
concepts and opinions intervene.
Susan Haines
BA Radford University
MFA University of North Carolina Greensboro
Susan has performed with ballet and modern companies in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Colorado and London. Her most recent performance work includes independent choreographers BJ Sullivan, Gerri Houlihan, and collaborative works with Bradley Parquette. Susan's approach to teaching dance technique and conditioning focuses on anatomy, kinesiology and somatic practices such as the Bartenieff Fundamentals, Alexander Technique, Pilates and Gyrokinesis. Her teaching experience includes the dance programs of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Elon University. Her choreography has been presented by The Power Company in residence at Columbia College, as guest artist with Mereminne Dancers and the Swarthmore Project, and the North Carolina Dance Project. Susan's research and professional interests are in collaborative dance making, choreographic pedagogy, and dance and technology
 Pam Kuntz
BFA University of Montana
MFA Boston Conservatory
Before moving to Bellingham in 1999 to teach at Western, Pam danced with the Montana Transport Company, Sean Murphy’s Moving Theatre Images, Tanya Atba and Dancers, and Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project. She has performed in works by Douglas Dunn, Stephen Koester, Jose Limon, Anna Sokolow, and others. Most recently Pam had the opportunity to dance with Andy Noble and Dancers at On The Boards in Seattle. Some of her most rewarding performance experiences however, have happened right here in Bellingham, dancing in the works of her colleagues and students. As a teacher Pam strives to guide her students to explore their own creative voice, discover habits, and make choices. Pam’s teaching is most strongly informed by her training in the Alexander technique as well as her studies with Irene Dowd. Pam is also dedicated to arts education for children and worked closely with OSPI by helping the state create the dance arts assessments for both children and educators. Along with performing and teaching, Pam is finding her way as a choreographer. Her work “Takes Two” was recognized at the Northwest Region American College Dance Festival and her community based collaborative works “The Mom Project” and "That One Curve" enjoyed sold out houses here in Bellingham. Pam has also choreographed for the Theatre, Music, and Art departments here at Western.
 Kraig Patterson
Kraig Patterson|bopi was inspired to pursue a career in dance while performing in high school musicals in Trenton, New Jersey. He continued his formal dance training via scholarships from The Princeton Ballet Society, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, The Martha Graham School, and the Merce Cunningham School. He received his B.F.A. from The Juilliard School for the Performing Arts in 1986, joined the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1987, and danced with the company until 1999. Kraig has also performed with Danny Lewis, Glenn/Lund/ Dance, Hikari Baba, Kazuko Hirabayashi, Mark Haim, Neta Pulvermacher, Ohad Naharin, and Nicholas Rodriguez. He performed with the White Oak Dance Project under the direction of Mark Morris and Mikhail Baryshnikov and was later commissioned by Mr. Baryshnikov to choreograph a solo and three additional dances for him and his troupe. Kraig can be seen in several dance films including Juilliard at 80, Morris' Falling Down Stairs in collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma, L'llegro Il Penseroso e Il Moderato, Dido and Aneas, and The Hard Nut performing the character of the now infamous Maid. Mr. Patterson served on faculty at Barnard/Columbia Colleges, Cornish College of the Arts, North Carolina School of the Arts, Princeton University, and Sarah Lawrence College. He has also served as guest artist for American Dance Festival, Bates Summer Dance Festival, The White Mountain Summer Dance Workshop, The Olm School for dance in Sweden, and The International Summer School for dance In Japan. He started his own dance company: bopi's black sheep / dances by kraig patterson in 1996. The company has been in residence at several dance institutions and has a vast and ever growing repertory. Kraig was invited to set Mark Morris' New Love Song Waltzes at Western in the fall of 2006. He joined the dance faculty in fall of 2007.
 Mike Bajuk
B.M. in Music Composition Western Washington University
Michael Bajuk has accompanied dance for ACDFs, ADF, AXIS Dance, Bill Evans Dance Intensives, the National Ballet of Zimbabwe, and Western’s dance faculty. Composition projects have included music for dance, film, and concert pieces. Mike has served as an audio engineer at Binary Recording Studios and Media For Development Trust (MFDI) Studios in Harare, Zimbabwe. He has performed aboard Majestic American and Carnival cruise lines, and with jazz and rock groups throughout the Northwest. Mentors include composer Roger Briggs, jazz artist Chuck Israels, and percussionist Patrick Roulet. Mike is active in K-12 music education and has composed for Western’s Dance Makers program for the past seven years. He is currently pursuing a M.S. in Music Technology from IUPUI.
Kathy Pottratz
BFA Western Washington University
Kathy is pleased to be teaching Open Modern and serving as artistic director of Dance Makers, Western’s interactive dance troupe. In her contemporary studies Kathy has ventured into creative movement, performance and choreography. She has created eight original works and co-choreographed four major musicals. She was invited to the American College Dance Festival, where she performed a duet that she co-created with her partner. As a guest artist in Western’s jazz music department, she choreographed and danced in an evening length work: Ray Charles Tribute. She performed as a guest artist with Ririe-Woodbury for Alwin Nikolais’ Tensile Involvement. The Whatcom Symphony Orchestra hired her to co-create and dance Christmas Concerto for their winter series. In Seattle, she danced and acted in Ballet Bellevue’s Venus in Furs, directed by Ron Tice. In Montreal, she-co choreographed and performed the experimental work: Barbara Streisand is my President. At Seeing Jazz, a national touring art exhibit, she demonstrated and lectured on improvisation through the visual and kinesthetic arts. Performing as a back-up dancer for Weird Al Yankovic was one of her most outrageous dance experiences!
2008 WWU Summer Faculty:
Alan Good
 Alan Good grew up in Ann Arbor and Munich, Germany. He studied pre-med at the University of Michigan, then graduated from Purchase College in dance. He worked with Martha Graham, Mel Wong, Pauline Koner, and Kenneth King, and in 1978 joined Merce
Cunningham. He left in 1994 to create his own work and to dance in the companies of artists such as Tere O’Connor, Wally Cardona, Vicky Shick, and Sasha Waltz. He has presented his dances in Europe and Australia; in the US he’s shown at DTW, Danspace, WAX, DanceNow, Chashama, Barnard College, Boys and Girls Harbor, and Temple University. He has directed two dance film shorts. He formed alangooddance in 2000, disbanded in 2002, and reformed in 2006. His sidebar “The Emotions of Injury” appeared in the January 2005 Dance Magazine. He has taught ballet companies in Beijing, Paris, Novi Sad, Sofia, and Munich. In 2007 together with local jazz composer Jan Gunnar Hoff, Alan presented “7 Seasons”, an hour long work for piano and solo dancer at Festival of Northern Norway in Harstad. He took part in The Field’s Artward Bound residency at the White Oak plantation. In September he premiered “The Right Show,” an evening length work in a styrofoam set designed and built by architect J. Christopher Forman. In February 2008 the company in collaboration with classical musician group International Street Cannibals, performed in the boxing ring where Muhammad Ali trained.
Luis Gabriel Zaragozala
BFA National School of Dance of Mexico
MFA in Dance Education
 Luis Gabriel Zaragoza was born in Mexico City, Mexico and graduated Cum Laude from NSDM. Along with his education in dance, he also holds a BFA in Philosophy and has specialized in Dance Philosophy. Some of his dance teachers include Anna Sokolow, Jeff Duncan, Tim Wengerd, Jim May and Betty Jones among others. He attended the Merce Cunningham Studio as a scholarship student and has received his certificate of completion. He danced with several companies in France and Mexico. Gabriel was also a much respected teacher at the NSDM for eight years. In 1990 he received the award of Best Dancer of the Year and in 1999 he received the award of Best Choreographed Solo for Nijinsky, El Ojo de Dios from Asociación Danza Mexicana. In 1991 La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico granted him the Artistic Creative Award. As a choreo-grapher he has created over 64 works which have been performed in Canada, France, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, El Salvador, Peru, Costa Rica and the United States. He was a member of the Martha Graham Ensemble (2000-2003) and currently dances with the Sokolow Theater Dance Ensemble, Dankmayer Dance Company, Hunter dance Theater, Nilas Martin Dance and Alan Good Dance.
 
Kathy Casey
Artistic Director, Montréal Danse
Sylvain
Lafortune
Doctoral Candidate, University of Quebec at Montreal
2007 Summer Faculty
Modern Technique, Partnering, Ballet, Performance Techniques,
Repertory
Kathy Casey and Sylvain Lafortune have danced and choreographed
together for the past fourteen years. Their careers
have lead them to dance in works from some ofthe most
fascinating choreographers of our times: Lar Lubovitch
(US), Susan Marshall (US), Martha Clarke (US), James
Kudelka (Canada), Aniele Desnoyers (Canada), Jyri Kilian
(Holland), Jose Besprosvany (Belgium), and Nacho Duato
(Spain). In addition to performing, they have taught
master classes and repertory orkshops around the world.
Ms. Casey is now directing the vibrant dance company
Montreal Danse, which tours throughout Canada, USA, South
America, and Europe.
Recent Guest Artists
Cheronne Wong
Cyrus Khambatta
Kraig Patterson (Mark Morris)
Deborah Hay Dance Company
Kristi Egtvedt-Somers (Paul Taylor)
Montreal Danse
Zvi Gotheiner (Zvi Dance)
Catherine Cabeen (Bill T. Jones)
Penny Hutchinson (Mark Morris)
Larry Lavender
Leda Meredith
Tina Masaka
Lynne Wimmer
Susan Marshall
David Parsons
Joan Woodbury
Andy Noble
Brent Schneider
Douglas Dunn
Jeff Curtis |
