American College Dance Association

Lorin Hansen is a passionate instructor, performer, and lifelong student of Samba and Afro-Brazilian dance. Lorin has taught and performed for hundreds of schools, events, and venues in the Western United States as well as Canada, and she holds the 2018 “Female Malandro Champion” title, which she won at the 2018 International Samba Congress in Los Angeles. Lorin is the Artistic Director and founder of Samba Fogo, a band and dance company that is featured regularly at large-scale events and festivals, and reaches over 12,000 students annually with their arts outreach programming. Join Lorin and her drummers to experience a high energy Afro-Brazilian Samba class.

On the Advisory Board for the American Dance Festival, she has been on the faculty of the ADF from 1981-1983, and from 1987 to the present.  She was Co-Dean and then Dean of the ADF School from 2010-2015. 

Mestre Jamaika (Mauro Romualdo) is an internationally recognized practitioner of the vibrant Afro-Brazilian art form of capoeira, a three-time Brazilian Capoeira Confederation champion, and the leader of Volta Miúda Salt Lake Capoeira since 2005. Bringing his expertise from Northeastern Brazil where capoeira originated, his exceptional knowledge and skills have placed him among the most sought-after instructors within the capoeira and dance community, teaching and performing at workshops and events throughout the world for the past 25 years. With Mestre Jamaika's leadership, Salt Lake Capoeira shares the art form of capoeira through regular classes for kids and adults, community outreach, and performances. Learn more about his work at saltlakecapoeira.com or on Instagram @saltlakecapoeira.

Brenda Butcher received a BFA in Modern Dance and an MFA in Ballet from The University of Utah. She values the pursuit of education and spent over a decade teaching in higher education as an adjunct faculty member at Salt Lake Community College and as an Assistant Professor at The University of Utah in the School of Dance. Brenda earned her comprehensive Pilates Certification in 2011. She enjoys watching her clients progress as she assists them in developing greater body awareness, increased strength and fitness, and moving more efficiently. Brenda is an RYT 200 yoga teacher and is certified in the GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® methods. She is passionate about anatomy and kinesiology and has taught both courses in various educational settings. This knowledge is used in all of Brenda's teaching to educate and inspire her students. She recently developed rehabilitative curriculum for Intermountain Health and has presented research at IADMS.

Solange Gomes was born in Sao Paulo (Brazil) where she received her fine arts training to become a dancer, musician and instructor. She attended the Royal Ballet Academy as a child and then went on to study several other dance techniques such as modern, contemporary, ballroom, and dances from the Brazilian folklore but starting in 1990 Solange has worked exclusively with Flamenco. Since moved to Utah, she has been teaching and/or choreographing for many institutions such as Ballet West Academy, University of Utah, SLCC, RDT, WEU, just to name some.

For the theatre, choreographed ‘Bodas de Sangre’ (2008), ‘Zorro’ (2011), ‘Oedipus the king’ (2013), and ‘Strictly Ballroom’ (2020). For the cinema, choreographed and performed in a documentary called ‘Dancing Joy’ (by Kate Tsubata) released in 2019. In 2001 she founded the Tablado Dance Company, a 501(c) 3 organization dedicated to sharing the dance, music and culture of Spain and is known for maintaining the ethnic richness of Flamenco.

John Major is an alumnus of guitar master classes of Julian Bream, Abel Carlevaro, Michael Lorimer, Oscar Ghiglia, and Humberto Sales and has taught at California State University (Sacramento, CA) and Phillips Academy (Andover, MA). He graduated Magna cum Laude in Music from Harvard University and has composed music performed in theaters and on concert stages of both coasts of North America. His solo composition, "Sea Changes", is published by Mel Bay in Michael Lorimer's "Composer Series". John always had a love for flamenco and after forty years with the classic guitar, in 2007 he gets associated with Tablado Dance Company and is since then he has been dedicating to ‘el arte de la guitarra flamenca’.

Krystle Osby is originally from San Diego, CA, and moved to SLC, UT for graduate school. She began training in heels in February 2020 at Millennium Dance Complex and Heel in a Heel. She specializes in styles incorporating fluid movement, floor-work, burlesque, twerk, and most importantly having fun! Her favorite part about heels dance is that it is a sensual style that allows the intersection of many backgrounds of other dance styles to shine and highlight technique. She currently teaches weekly classes for Heal in a Heel and is a local burlesque performer.

Chacho has been Dancing since Aug 2000. He has been training in the styles of B-Boying, HipHop and House Dance. Being a shy introvert, Chacho found this form of expression as an outlet and way to say how he felt without even using his words. Since 2020 Chacho has made dance and teaching dance his full time profession, and continues to share the knowledge and movement of the Hip Hop Culture and its Dances.

Acknowledgments

2022 Fall Semester at University of Utah , School of Dance History and Movement

2022 Fall semester at BYU teaching house dance foundations

2019 Utah’s Most Influential Dancer voted by Utah’s Dance Community

Current Breaking and House Dance Director/Choreographer for Junction Dance Co.

Current Choreographer for They Reminisce

2002 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremonies with Earth, Wind and Fire