Kathryn Sullivan

Dance Training: Teacher, dance educator/writer and, choreographer, Kathryn trained on scholarship at the Robert Joffrey School, and Harkness Dance Center, and also with teachers that have been influential in her teaching- David Howard, Maggie Black, Finis Jhung and Robert Blankshine. After a performing career, she returned to NYC to earn a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration from Pratt Art Institute. Performance/Company Affiliations: She danced with the Boston Ballet, Les Grand Ballet Canadiens, and as a soloist with Les Ballet de Nancy (France) and the Connecticut Ballet under the direction of Robert Vickrey. She has been a rehearsal mistress for the lecture- demo program at SAB and also a company class teacher for Ballet Hispanico. For seven years, Kathryn worked as a teaching artist for the New York City Ballet Educational Dept, designing and presenting workshops in NYC schools. Choreographic Experience: For seven seasons, Kathryn co directed InnerLandscapes, a dance theater collective, creating multi-media dance theater pieces, which were presented at the Joyce SoHo and at the Merce Cunningham Studio. Kathryn has done numerous STEPS Beyond showcases, creating new works for her students. She received commissions to create new works for Ballet Hispanico (Building Ballet Rep -NYSCA grant), and for Barnard College Dance Department. Teaching Experience: Kathryn has taught ballet and pointe at STEPS for over 15 years, and is also currently on faculty at the Barnard/Columbia Dance Department, and at Collaborative Arts Project (the musical theater program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts) Previous teaching includes New Jersey Ballet, La Guardia High School of Performing Arts, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center, and Ballet Arts. She has done master classes and judging at Dance Masters of America, Professional Dance Teacher Association and NADAA dance organizations. Other Relevant Experience: Collaborating with her STEPS pianists, Kathryn has supervised and directed six "Music for Ballet Class" Cd's, produced by ROPER Records. She was featured in a Ballet III technique DVD, by Mary Lynn Kunkel, in a special section on how to work with different leg shapes. Bob Rizzo produced her "Ballet with Style" video/DVD, a model for making ballet choreography for students. As a dance writer, she has articles in Dance Teacher, DANCER, Pointe, and Dance Spirit magazines on pointe work, choreography, and ballet technique. She recently directed and edited "Downtown Dance /NYC 2007", produced by Insight Media, Ballet Class Description: The class atmosphere is encouraging, noncompetitive, and physically challenging! There is very clear explanation and demonstration of each step and combination. "She really teaches!" While demanding very precise execution, she encourages expression in movement, stylistic interpretations, and an occasional combination that includes improvisation. Since ballet is the foundation for all dance forms, she makes her class accessible to musical theater, jazz, hip-hop, and modern dancers as well as aspiring ballet dancers and adult devotees. The pointe classes are comprised of fundamental barre exercises of stretching and strengthening, with a focus on forming or supplementing a solid pointe technique.