The Pointe Intensive Ballet Workshop
June 26 & 27!

The Pointe Academy Ballet Intensive is back! Under the direction of The Pointe's Ballet Director, Stephanie Cole, and other teachers from across the nation, this is a must attend workshop!

Cost for the two-day workshop is $175/Advanced, $150/Intermediate or $75/Beginner. Members of The Pointe Academy Performing Companies costs are $150/Advanced, $125/Intermediate and $50/Beginner.

Instructors:

Shani Robison

Brigham Young University Theater Ballet Director

Teaching Pointe, Variations, and Corp De Ballet

Shani Robison, Assistant Professor of Dance at Brigham Young University, earned her B.A. in Dance in 1995 and her M.A. in Dance with a Performance/Choreography emphasis in 1999 from Brigham Young University.

In addition to teaching at BYU, Shani has been professional faculty at The Dance Club, Center Stage, and the Rocky Mountain School of Classical Ballet. She has taught workshops for Odyssey Dance Utah; The Pointe; Creative Arts Center in Helena, Montana; BYU Summer Ballet Workshops; and the College of Southern Idaho. Shani has also taught master classes at Ballet Idaho and the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

At BYU Shani teaches beginning to advanced ballet technique; pointe; variations; Dance History; and Introduction to Dance. She is the Artistic Director of BYU Theatre Ballet and sets two to three new contemporary and classical works each year. Shani recently published in the Journal of Dance Education a book review on Barbara Milberg Fisher’s book In Balanchine’s Company: A Dancer’s Memoir, and has presented her research to CORPS de Ballet, International on the merging of ballet pedagogy and transformational learning at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto.

Shani is a professional member of CORPS de Ballet, International; Society of Dance History Scholars; the Utah Dance Education Organization; and the National Dance Education Organization. She is originally from Boise, Idaho and is married to Rian Robison. Shani and Rian have twin boys.

Melissa Sundwall

Teaching Technique and Corp de Ballet

Melissa has had extensive dance training from the University of Utah, Ballet West, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and other schools. She was a recipient of the prestigious four-year “William F. Christensen Scholarship” for ballet at the University of Utah where she received a BFA in Ballet. She has performed with The Utah Ballet, Utah Contemporary Dance Theatre (Odyssey Dance Theatre), Utah Opera, Ballet West, etc. and performed several guest artist engagements with the Utah Arts Festival and other ballet schools throughout the Northwest.

Some of her ballets included “Swan Lake”, the “Nutcracker”, “The Tempest”, and other pieces set by choreographers such as Michael Smuin and William F. Christensen. She has taught ballet and choreographed for several different schools in Utah, Arizona, and West Virginia. She is excited, after being away from Utah for 12 years, to be back home amongst so many great artists and talent to work with. She loves teaching and helping students discover the hidden potential they have within themselves. Melissa is married with three boys and lives in Sandy.

Brent Keck

National Amateur Latin Champion, Director of BYU Youth Ballroom Team, Five Time National Youth Formation Team Champion Director

Teaching Latin Ballroom

Director of BYU Youth Ballroom, Choreographer Latin American and International Standard Medleys for U.S, National Championship Formation Competition, 2004-2008 1st place United States National Youth Standard and Latin Formation Champions, Professional Competitor Rising Star Professional Latin Champion Northwest Star Ball, Holiday Classic, Settle Star Ball, two times United States Amateur Latin Finalist, Four times Amateur Lation Champion (BYU)

Marylyn Keck

National Amateur Latin and Standard Champion, Director of BYU Youth Ballroom Team, Five Time National Youth Formation Team Champion Director

Teaching Standard Ballroom

Napoleon W. Gladney

Teaching Jazz

Napoleon W. Gladney of California has a BFA in dance performance from Chapman University in Southern California. He has a diverse training background in ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop, African, and musical theater. With this diverse background he has had the opportunity to perform with various companies and ensembles, currently Odyssey Dance Theatre; regional, review, and off Broadway musicals, production companies, hip hop dance teams, and at dance festivals in New York City and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. As a choreographer and teacher, Napoleon recently served as the artistic director and choreographer for his own dance company, theCompanyProject, which was the company in residence in conjunction with the Lincoln Center Institute’s Teachers Workshop in 2008. Napoleon loves to share his passion for dance with others through teaching and writing on his blog, NapoSeesDance.

Lisa Benson

Teaching Ballet

Lisa started ballet at the age of 8 at Classical Ballet Conservatory in Orem, Utah. She progressed very quickly and at the age of 11 she auditioned and was accepted into the Youth Artist program at Brigham Young University, normally reserved for Junior High and High School students. While there she trained under Connie Burton, Janalyn Memmott, Lisa Clements, Mary Anne Hatton, and Jenny Creer-King who recognized Lisa’s gifts as a technician and oversaw her development as an artist.
As she continued her classical training, Lisa began to grow interested in other types of dance. She started training at The Dance Club in Orem where she danced competitively with jazz and tap. She worked with choreographers such as Cassie Jensen, Kirra Cook, Lisa Stoddard and guest choreographers such as Michelle Asaf and Ray Leeper. During this time she attended many conventions and summer intensive programs that took her places such as Denver, Boston, Seattle, California, Wisconsin, and New York City. In 1996 she was a regional outstanding dancer for NYC Dance Alliance.

At the age of 16 she moved to San Bernardino California where she had the opportunity to dance with The Blankenship Ballet Company and trained under Cecilia Herring, Roberto Almaguer, and Berta Suarez. She came back to Utah to finish up her last year of high school and was afterwards accepted into the Ballet Program at the University of Utah where she danced with Utah Ballet for 3 years. There she trained under Conrad Ludlow, Sharee Lane, Deborah Dobson, Carol Iwasaki, Bene Arnold, Maureen Laird, and Attila Ficzere. She had many opportunities to perform solo and principal parts, some of which include: Romeo and Juliet Pas De Deux (staged by Tom Mossbrucker), variations from Raymonda, Concerto Borocco, Gift of the Magi, Mobile, and Ride by Steve Kester. She also had the chance to tour with Utah Ballet in Taiwan.

Lisa had worked with Derryl Yeager while in the Youth Artists program and he asked her to join Odyssey Dance Theater, where she knew she would get the opportunity to explore different styles of movement. In her five years with the company, she has had the chance to perform pieces such as Shed My Skin, Transitional Illuminations, both Mia Michaels works, Obsessions Possessions by Liz Imperio, Motif by Derryl Yeager, Ancient Future by Roni Koresh, All That Jazz by Eldon Johnson, and many others that challenge her artistically in jazz, modern, tap, and hip hop, as well as capitalize on her roots in ballet.

Lisa had the opportunity to tour Europe with Odyssey Dance Theatre where they performed to rave reviews in Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Austria. Seven years ago she married Tyler Benson and 2 years ago she gave birth to a baby girl, Ava. She is enjoying having a wonderful family life as well as an exciting dance career.

Sample Schedule (PDF)

Registration form (PDF)