Summer Intensive 2025
Time and location:
- Sun 06/15/2025 8:30 a.m. - Fri 06/20/2025 4:30 p.m.
-
West University Dance Center
4007 Bellaire Blvd
Suite D
Houston, TX 77025
Faculty:
Carol Smitherman Anglin
Teaching Artist, Choreographer, Adjudicator, Artistic Director, Producer, and Consultant
Carol Smitherman Anglin was founding Artistic Director of the Louisiana Dance Foundation and resident dance company, Louisiana Dance Theatre, an Honor Company and 25-year member of Regional Dance America/SW, which performed throughout America, in Russia, Europe, and Canada. Carol directed and produced more than 600 master classes, dance festivals, and performances in Shreveport from 1982-2016 including residencies with Judith Jamison, Robert Battle, Dianne Maroney-Grigsby, Sylvia Waters, Milton Myers, Ana Marie Forsythe, Christopher Huggins, Ceyhun Ozsoy, Gennadi Vostrikov, Soili Arvola, Michael Vernon, John Magnus, Nikoloz Makhateli, Tatiana Tchernova, Joe Tremaine, Gus Giordano, Chet Walker, Jon Lehrer, Charles McGowan, Billy Siegenfeld, and many others. Companies presented under her artistic direction included multiple residencies and performances of Ailey II, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Feld Ballets, Ballet Eddy Toussaint de Montreal, Korea’s Universal Ballet, LehrerDance, Jump Rhythm Jazz, plus guest artists from San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet, ABT, NYCB, Paris Opera Ballet, and more.
As a Ballet and Modern teaching artist, Carol has taught globally in Russia, Europe, and Canada. She was the first American to teach Modern Dance at the School of Marina Semyonova in Moscow (1990) followed by a yearlong exchange of seventy Soviet/ American dancers between Moscow and Shreveport.
As founding director and instructor of Carol Anglin Dancenter, Inc. (1982-2016), her studio became an incubator for the development of dancers, teachers, choreographers, composers, costumers; company repertoire; audience development; collaborations and partnerships; community outreach; and more.
For 34 years, Carol taught 40+ classes per week to students from all socio-economic backgrounds in studios, public schools, colleges, and universities. Many of Carol’s students have pursued professional dance careers including Ashley Murphy (Principal dancer of Dance Theatre of Harlem & The Washington Ballet, current position) and Brandi Coleman (Assistant Professor of Jazz at SMU; Associate Artistic Director and principal dancer of Chicago’s Jump Rhythm Jazz Project).
Carol continues her position as guest artist at Grambling State University (1982-2021) where she and GSU Artistic Director and former Alvin Ailey soloist, Dianne Maroney-Grigsby, partnered for 34 years – combining artists, audiences, and resources in Shreveport, Grambling, Ruston, Nachitoches, and throughout the state of Louisiana. The two artists continue to work together as teachers & choreographers.
A SRAC Artist Fellow, Carol’s choreography has been selected for Regional Dance America Gala Performances, Tanzsommer Innsbruck Galas in Austria, performances in Russia, and several Jazz Dance World Congresses in Chicago and Washington, D.C. where she received choreography awards at Northwestern University, DePaul University, The Harris Theatre; and in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center.
For 34 years, Carol choreographed for Shreveport’s Symphony, Opera, and Community Theatres. Oscar and Emmy Award recipient, William Joyce, selected Carol to choreograph the World Premiere of the Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. With a passion for community outreach and partnerships, Carol partnered with more than fifty north Louisiana organizations and educational institutions annually reaching averages of 30,000 people from underserved populations.
Carol received the 2004 Stream Award for outstanding artistic direction; artistic growth and excellence; and commitment to the Regional Dance America movement. In 2006, Carol was Adjudicator and instructor for Western Canada’s largest dance festival. Caddo Parish School Board hired Carol from 2009-11 to develop a dance program on Martin Luther King Drive at Green Oaks Performing Arts Magnet, one of Louisiana’s academically unacceptable high schools. Several of the Green Oaks students went on to graduate in Theatre and Dance at Grambling State University and are now dancing professionally. She also was the interim dance director and instructor at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts (LSMSA) in Natchitoches, LA from 2011-13—one of Louisiana’s two state supported arts magnet high schools with whom the Louisiana Dance Foundation partnered from 2000-2013.
A Graduate Teaching Foundation Fellow (2016-2019), Carol recently graduated from the University of Oklahoma with her Master’s in Fine Arts (MFA). During her three years at OU, Carol taught Modern, Ballet, and Understanding Dance courses. In addition to setting her personal choreography on OU’s Dance Majors, she assisted Ballet and Modern Dance faculty and an international roster of OU’s guest artists Trey McIntyre, Jean Guilliaume Weiss, and Modern Director Austin Hartel in their choreography for OU season performances. For her thesis, Carol designed a higher education course, “The Dancer as Entrepreneur: Guiding Young Dancers in Developing Community Dance Programs.” (200+ pages)
As America’s only National Association of Ballet and Modern Dance Companies, Regional Dance America’s Board of Directors named Carol Anglin a National Adjudicator in 2018. She served as RDA/SE’s 2020 Adjudicator evaluating 15 companies in ten states. Interrupted by the COVID 19 Pandemic, Carol returned as RDA/SE’s 2021 National Adjudicator selecting three evenings of choreography for a culminating ‘virtual festival’ April 23-25, 2021. She has served as faculty member for Regional Dance America Workshops and Festivals in Atlanta, GA; Houston and Dallas, TX; Baton Rouge and Monroe, LA; and Ft. Smith, AR. Hosted by Grambling State University, Carol also taught ballet for three Black College Dance Exchanges at Louisiana’s Historically Black University attended by other HBU’s.
A fourth-generation artist and educator, Carol continues to pursue international training as a teacher and choreographer. She was one of 18 international teachers accepted to New York University to train with Mme. Claude Bessy and Serge Golovine, Directors of the Paris Opera Ballet School, where she also studied choreography by Serge Lifar and other legendary artists. Carol attended the 2006 & 2010 USA IBC Teachers Courses in Classical Ballet in Jackson, MS. She completed the Intermediate and Advanced Horton Pedagogy Courses at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York (2011, 2017, 2020) and attended the National Dance Educator Organization’s Annual Conferences (NDEO) in Miami (2019) and virtually (2020, 2021).
With a lifelong goal of decentralizing dance in America, Carol recently taught Dance Majors in Michigan for Interlochen Center for the Arts’ 2019 Summer Intensive, for the University of Oklahoma’s three-week Summer Intensives, Hathaway Academy of Ballet in Dallas, Texarkana Civic Ballet’s Nutcracker Auditions casting 250 dancers, Lake Charles Civic Ballet, Saint Louis Catholic High School’s newly formed Dance Department, Feijoo Ballet in Houston, DeCruz Ballet of San Antonio, Regional Dance America/SE Fall Workshop in Atlanta, GA, Houston’s Dance Du Couer, University of Houston Dance Majors, Juxtapose Dance/JetPac, Hunter Dance Center; Collective Dance Artistry of San Antonio, and for Grambling State University’s Orchesis Dance Company’s Fall Ballet Intensives.
In March 2022, Carol taught and judged audition classes for Regional Dance America/SW Festival at the Eisemann Center in Dallas, TX. In April, she served as guest artist for University of Houston Dance Majors teaching Ballet and Modern classes. Carol currently teaches Ballet II-V & Pre-Professional Ballet and Pointe to students at Dance Du Coeur, Houston Ballet Academy Level 7 Ballet/Pointe, Hunter Dance Center (Oct/Nov 2022), Bayou City Youth Ballet (Oct/Nov 2022), Ballet and Modern Company Classes for Houston’s Ad Deum Dance Company (Sept/Oct).
Throughout the pandemic, Carol has continued to mentor and guide dancers, choreographers, directors, and non-profit organizations in their missions of pursuing dance in these unprecedented times.
Diane Mahoney-Grisby
Guest Instructor
Dianne Maroney-Grigsby, LADA Choreographer, Artisti-in-Residence. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Dianne left for New York in 1973. After joining the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, she toured extensively with that company. Dianne also performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
In 1983, Dianne left her positions with Ailey as soloist, assistant artistic director of the Ailey Repertory Ensemble, and full-time faculty member at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center to become artistic director of Orchesis Dance Company at Grambling State University (GSU). Since moving to Louisiana, Dianne received her BA degree from GSU and her MA degree in theatre from Louisiana Tech University (LTU). She is currently on faculty as dance instructor for both GSU and LTU’S School of Performing Arts.
Dianne taught at Louisiana Dance Foundation’s Summer Dance Festivals from 1983-2007 and has set numerous award winning ballets on LDF’S resident dance company, Louisiana Dance Theatre (LDT) including I Won’t Let Go of My Faith, World Hunger, Red, Red II, Obsessions, Lacrimosus, Immortalis, Apotheosis, Many Different Roads, Long As I Got King Jesus, and I Believe I Can Fly.
LDT has performed Dianne’s choreography in Russia, Austria, and throughout the U.S. in Chicago, IL; Washington, D.C.; Orlando, FL; throughout Louisiana; and throughout Texas in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Galveston, Amarillo, and Abilene. LDT performed Dianne’s choreography at the Jazz Dance World Congress at the Kennedy Center in 1996 and in Chicago in 1994 earning the Silver LEO Award ($1,000) for her choreography, Red. LDT was also selected to perform Dianne’s choreography, Apotheosis, on the Gala performance of Regional Dance America’s first-ever National Festival at Jones Hall in Houston. LDT recently received Gala status at the 2006 RDA/SW Festival for their performance of Lacrimosis at the Dorothy Chandler Woodland’s Pavilion in Houston.
LDT and Grambling’s Orchesis Dance Company have collaborated in more than 25 workshops and performances since 1983. The 1995 Living Legend recipient and director of Orchesis has taken the 58 year-old company to a new level. As an ambassador for Louisiana, Orchesis has performed in Japan and throughout America from New York to California. Orchesis has been featured in Proctor and Gamble national TV commercials, live appearances with recording artist Vicky Wynans, and with the GSU Tiger Marching band in the hit movie, Drumline. Dianne recently choreographed and appeared in Denzel Washington’s new movie, “The Great Debator.”
Laura Morton
Professor of Dance at Belhaven University
Laura Morton’s background includes extensive training in classical ballet, jazz, and modern from prestigious dance educators such as Anne and Nicholas Polajenko, ABT’s Alexander Minz, and at Ballet West with director Bruce Marks and Toni Lander. Her professional credits include Milwaukee Ballet, Delia Stewart Dance Company, Houston Metropolitan Dance Company and Ad Deum Dance Company. She has also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Houston.
Morton has taught nationally and internationally. Her teaching credentials include serving on the faculties of Summer Arts Session (Ravensburg, Germany), Pacific Northwest School of Ballet (Seattle, WA), Evergreen City Ballet (Auburn, WA), Houston Metropolitan Dance Center, (Houston, TX), Houston Ballet Ben Stevenson Academy (Houston, TX), and Ad Deum Dance Company (Houston, TX). Morton presently serves as an Associate Professor of Dance at Belhaven University in Jackson, MS. While holding these various positions, her responsibilities included instructing, rehearsing, restaging classical ballets, choreographing, as well as lighting designer and stage manager. All of these responsibilities enabled her to share the invaluable information passed on to her by the many remarkable teachers that have mentored her as well as her own years of teaching experience. Morton is presently pursuing a Master of Science in Applied Exercise Physiology.
Pattie Obey
Guest Instructor
I am a committed professional bringing over 40 years of experience, creativity, passion, and humor to the teaching profession.
A Chicago native and the daughter of a dancer, my professional career began at 16 years of age touring internationally with Gus Giordano’s Jazz Dance Chicago. Performance credits both in the USA and abroad includes Broadway musicals, films and television. My personal style is greatly influenced by my mentor Gus Giordano, former Hubbard Street artistic director Lou Conte, jazz master Matt Mattox and my own elegant and powerful femininity. I credit my extensive classical background to the fabulous training I received with ex-Royal ballet soloists Richard Ellis and Christine DuBoulay.
I have had the pleasure to be on guest faculty at The Harid Conservatory, Houston Ballet Academy, Ad Deum Dance Company and Boca Ballet. I have also mentored for “1st Step” an outreach program serving the Boca Raton, Florida community.
I love coaching young talented dancers to ensure their success for middle school, high school, university fine arts programs and professional ballet competitions.
I have shared my expertise as a lecturer at Chapman University, Orange, California and the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa.
If you're wanting to hear more about me and if you've read this far and are even more curious…. keep reading : )
I have always loved to travel and have had the opportunity to teach at numerous dance festivals in Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Mexico. I am a master teacher for Dance Educators of America’s Teacher Training Program, Dance Masters of America and Regional Dance America. I have been an Artist in Residence at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah and the University of Performing Arts in Tilburg, The Netherlands where I resided for 28 years.
I have taught master classes for countless, universities, colleges, dance companies and eminent dance studios in 37 states and 16 countries.
My choreography has been set on LaJazDanz Company, Ormao Dance Company, Spectrum Dance Theatre, Houston Met Dance, Jazz Dance Theatre, Boca Ballet Theatre, Illusionists’ Ted and Marion Outerbridge, The Playhouse Dance Company at Point Park University and Pori Dance Company in Pori, Finland to name a few.
Dance Magazine proclaims me as being “Dance Teacher Extraordinaire”. And Dance Studio Life Magazine as “The Leading Lady in Jazz”.
In 1992, I was the first woman to teach at the Jazz Dance World Congress and have been on the roster of master teachers ever since.
I am honored to be the recipient of the “2000 Jazz Dance World Congress Award”, in recognition of my considerable contribution to the world of jazz dance.
Priscilla Murphy
Ad Deum Guest Artist
Originally from Singapore, Priscilla Nathan-Murphy received her classical ballet training in the Royal Academy of Dancing Syllabi and has also been trained in oriental dance mudras, modern dance and jazz. Ms. Nathan-Murphy has a certification from the British Royal Academy of Dance in teaching and has acquired a Teaching License Diploma from the British Association of Teachers of Dance. She has also recently completed a teachers seminar and course in the Cechetti method in London. Some of the teachers and masters of dance that she has worked with include Rose Eberwein, Eve Pettinger, Kitty Daniels, James Clouser, David Horchoy, Bill Evans, Doug Varone.Ms. Nathan-Murphy has taught creative movement, ballet and modern dance in the pre-professional and professional division of Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy since 1985. She has also been a teaching artist with the Texas Institute for Arts in Education for several years and has held the position of adjunct faculty at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts for 19 years. Ms. Nathan-Murphy has also conducted numerous master classes and workshops within the United States since 1980. Recently, Ms. Nathan-Murray completed the STOTT Pilates Mat Course.As a dancer, she has performed in Singapore and the United States with several companies. She has also choreographed extensively in the United States. A recipient of numerous scholarships and awards, she received a creative artist award from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County for her choreographic work in 1992 and a Fellowship Choreographers Award in 1998. Ms. Nathan-Murphy is also a recipient of the American National Choreographers Competition Award held in Chicago and several teacher recognition awards given by the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts. Locally she has choreographed for Houston Ballet II, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Metropolitan Dance Company and numerous other companies.
While on staff with the Houston Ballet Academy, Ms. Nathan-Murphy further developed and delineated the syllabi for the Creative Dance Program, as well as introduced the Pre-Ballet Syllabus. She was also instrumental in introducing Improvisational Composition, Cultural Dance and Musical Theater into the curriculum of Houston Ballet’s Summer Intensive Program.
Bria Greenwood
Company Collective Artist
Bria Greenwood is from Madison, MS. She received all of her dance training from the world’s first professional Christian ballet company, Ballet Magnificat, in Jackson, MS. She was in their School of the Arts, and then their professional Trainee Program. She was a part of the Events Company that traveled to dance and teach in Honduras, Guam, South Korea and China. Bria moved to Houston in the fall of 2017 to join Ad Deum II, and then was promoted to the main company in the Spring of 2019. She is a dance teacher for different studios in Houston.
Cynthia Newland
Director of Dance at Belhaven University
Cynthia Newland, MFA in Dance and MS in Counseling Psychology, is a licensed minister, certified health coach, and collegiate professor, specializing in dance. As the founder of Alible3 and Dancer Wellness Care, she seamlessly integrates dance, counseling, and holistic health to inspire and empower individuals to thrive. Through her career, Cynthia’s work has led her to serve on six continents and have served at various Project Dance locations nationally and globally. A devoted wife of over 30 years, she is also the proud mother of three adult married children, and a loving grandmother to eight.
Shizu Yasuda
Former Principal Dancer with Ad Deum Dance Company
SHIZU YASUDA started her dance training at Sakiko Ichinomiya Ballet School in Japan. After she moved to New York, she performed with several choreographers and dance companies such as Slam and Sensedance Company. She joined Ad Deum Dance Company in 2004. She danced as a principal dancer with the company and performed at numerous dance events nationally and internationally. She got awarded as one of stunning performers by Dance Houston – City Wide Dance Festival 2008. In 2013, she was invited to Minsk in Belarus as a guest dancer and judge by Chelz Extreme Games. As a dance teacher, she has been teaching Modern and Ballet classes in the Houston dance community at such places as Ad Deum Dance Company, Houston Ballet Academy summer intensive (Modern only), Mitsi Dancing School, Payne Academy of Ballet, Studio of Dance, West University Dance Center and Houston Academy of Dance. Her choreographic works have been presented at “East Meets West” at Miller Outdoor Theater since 2008. In 2014, she became an artistic director of Ad Deum II.
Payment info:
Press arrow and change to the appropriate option. You will be taken to a registration form when the payment is complete.