Classical Ballet Class and Enhancement Class Faculty
JULIE TOBIASON, T.U.P.A.C. Ballet Director, Ballet Instructor
Julie Tobiason is from Lyndhurst, New Jersey. She studied ballet at the Studio Workshop and on scholarship at The School of American Ballet. Ms. Tobiason joined Chicago City Ballet in 1983 and danced under the direction of Maria Tallchief and Paul Mejia. She joined Pacific Northwest Ballet in 1986 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1992, under the direction of Francia Russell and Kent Stowell. Ms. Tobiason has danced many varied roles, which include Juliet, Swanhilda, Cinderella, Hermia, Agon and Jardi Tancat.
Ms. Tobiason has performed pieces by Fredrick Ashton, George Balanchine, Kent Stowell, Nacho Duato, Val Caniparoli, Mark Dendy, Donald Byrd, William Forsythe, Maureen Whiting, Paul Taylor and Lynne Taylor-Corbet. Ms. Tobiason has been a guest teacher, dancer and choreographer at various ballet schools and companies throughout the U.S. In addition, she has taught as master teacher for the Regional Dance America Festival, has worked as ballet master for PNB and in the PNB School Outreach program. She has taught as guest teacher at PNBS since 1996 and joined the faculty in 2002 teaching ages 7-adult and company classes. Her film work includes “Nutcracker the Movie”, the role of Hermia in the BBC production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, featured artist in the KCTS production of “Inside Pacific Northwest Ballet”.
Ms. Tobiason has also choreographed for Arc Dance productions, Evergreen City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Seattle International Dance Festival, and the independent films, “The Dark Horse” and “Expiration Date” which had its theatrical release in 2006. She is formerly co-founder and co-artistic director of Seattle Dance Project, a modern and contemporary dance company, which premiered in January 2008.
While directing Seattle Dance Project Ms. Tobiason has planned and implemented successful public speaking and fundraising events, managed major donors (over $10,000) and sponsors, managed dancers and choreographers, managed grants, negotiated artistic fees, built annual budgets and cash flow budgets, assisted with marketing, public relation and social media campaigns, rehearsal direct and assist, created master class workshops, worked with artistic collaborators for new work productions, produced six repertory programs with 15 world premieres, 5 local premieres and an evening length modern dance production based on the Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice. Ms. Tobiason is currently teaching and in June 2018 received her undergraduate degree in business management at University of Washington, Foster School of Business. Ms. Tobiason lives in Seattle Washington with her husband and three children.
Lynne Short T.U.P.A.C. School Principal & Master Ballet Instructor
Lynne Short T.U.P.A.C. School Principal & Master Ballet Instructor has recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest after spending 17 years in Texas. From 2013-2017 she was a faculty member and rehearsal mistress at Chamberlain School of Ballet in Plano, Texas. Prior to that Ms. Short was the Principal of Ballet Austin Academy, in Austin, Texas, from 2001-2013. There she developed and honed a syllabus that has produced students and dancers who learn to realize the joy of working in a deep, thorough, meticulous way.
From 1984-2000 Ms. Short was a faculty member at Pacific Northwest Ballet School. During this time, and under the guidance of Francia Russell, Director of PNBS, the ideas of dedicated colleagues with various backgrounds were formed into a unified, cohesive curriculum.
Ms. Short danced professionally with the Memphis Ballet, Hartford Ballet, First Chamber Dance Company and Pacific Northwest Ballet..
Faculty
Kara O'Toole
KARA O'TOOLE, T.U.P.A.C. Contemporary, Ballet Instructor
Kara O'Toole has always been involved in the world of dance, as a student, performer, faculty member and arts administrator. After graduating from Mount Holyoke College, she leapt in to a professional dance career in Seattle with the Pat Graney Company, the d9 Dance Collective, and the Chamber Dance Company of the University of Washington where she taught and earned an MFA in Dance. An ever-versatile performer, she danced in the work of many notable choreographers including Jose Limon, Bebe Miller, Mark Morris, Vaslav Nijinsky, Paul Taylor and Llory Wilson. Kara was on faculty in the Dance Departments of the University of Memphis, George Mason University, and Cornish College of the Arts. As Executive /Artistic Director of Velocity Dance Center for 5 years, she led the capital campaign to establish the Seattle dance institution in its current 12th Avenue home. Next Kara moved to quiet Orcas Island to raise her family and serve as the Executive/Artistic Director of Orcas Center, the island's community arts venue. Now Kara and her family have moved to Tacoma and she is thrilled to advocate for T.U.P.A.C. and the vision of Kabby and Klair to provide world class dance opportunities to Tacoma's diverse you
Erricka Turner
ERRICKA TURNER, T.U.P.A.C. Ballet, Horton, Tap Instructor
Erricka Turner has performed with Poetry+Motion, 5th Avenue Theatre (Hello Dolly), Village Theatre (Showboat), Chamber Dance Company, Intiman Theatre (Black Nativity, Mary, Angel), Seattle Opera (Un Ballo En Maschera, Rigoletto, and Florencia of the Amazons), Sankofa Theatre (Maafa Suite), Oakland Ballet, and Spectrum Dance Theater. She is Miss October in Project Ensemble’s 2000 Black Ballerinas of the 20th Century Calendar. She received her BFA in Ballet Education with honors from The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, and her MFA in Dance from The University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
Erricka is a ballet, jazz, and creative movement instructor at SOAR Academy, Tacoma, WA. She has choreographed, taught, and lectured at 2016 Jack and Jill of America Honoree Ball, Seattle Chapter, Broadway Performing Arts Center (11 Days of MLK, Jr.), Harlequin Theatre (Soul on Fire, Let the Good Times Roll), Spectrum Dance Theater, Northwest Tap Connection, ARC Dance Productions/ARC School of Ballet, Tacoma School for the Performing Arts (SOTA), Allegro Performing Arts Academy, Ensemble Ballet Theatre, Evergreen City Ballet, Rainier Dance Center, Northwest Dance Intensive, Irene’s School of Dance, Evergreen State College, University of Washington, and other venues throughout the Northwest.
Heather Arneson
HEATHER ARNESON, Ballet Fusion. Heather Arneson is a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and actress, working mainly in the South Sound. Ms. Arneson has been teaching dance for several years and has extensive training in ballet, contemporary, jazz, modern, and tap. Ms. Arneson is currently rehearsing for The Nutcracker with Ballet Northwest. Other dance credits include Handel's Messiah and The Nutcracker with Ballet Bellevue, as well as performances with Katy Hagelin Dance Project and Relay Dance Collective. Her most recent stage credits include Footloose and The Little Mermaid at Tacoma Musical Playhouse. Ms. Arneson holds a Masters in Education and loves sharing her passion for the performing arts with the community.
Jade Solomon Curtis
JADE SOLOMON CURTIS, T.U.P.A.C. Master Teacher
Jade Solomon Curtis, born in Texas, is a choreographer, dance artist and founder of Solo Magic, a non-profit arts initiative collaborating with innovative artists to create socially relevant multi-disciplined performances highlighting dance; “Activism is the Muse". A celebrated soloist of Donald Byrd’s Spectrum Dance Theater for four seasons, Curtis is also the subject of an Emmy Award winning short film, Jade Solomon Curtis directed by, Ralph Bevins.
Curtis received her BFA in Dance Performance from Southern Methodist University and is the recipient of fellowships and grants from the University of South Carolina, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Artist Trust and 4Culture. Curtis is currently the Director of the Arts Program for the Pan African Center for Empowerment (PACE).
Curtis has also performed as a member of Alison Chase Performance, Opus Dance Theater, Wideman/Davis Dance and for Seattle’s highly respected 5th Avenue Theater’s productions of Oklahoma!, Carousel and Man of La Mancha. A sought after teacher internationally, she teaches children through adult professionals in contemporary dance, ballet and creative dance processes; and was the Program Director of the Professional Division of the School at Spectrum Dance Theater.
She is honored to be contributing to the foundation on which Kabby's Legacy with stand.
Marisela Fleites
Marisela Fleites, is a Cuban born dancer of Spanish descent, Marisela Fleites started dancing flamenco and Spanish dances at the age of 5, and has studied in Cuba, Spain, Mexico and the USA with masters like Olga Bustamante, Orlando Vargas, Stella Arauzo, Mari Carmen Guerrero, Oscar Nieto, Timo Lozano, Teo Morca, Citli Ocampo, Patricia Linares, Adriana Maresma, María Chacha Bermúdez, Belén Maya, and many others. Ms. Fleites directs the performing group Sabor Flamenco. She holds a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literature and teaches Spanish and Latin American Studies at Green River College. Ms. Fleites has been teaching flamenco at several studios in the Northwest like Washington Contemporary Ballet, Puget Sound Dance Academy, Metropolitan Ballet of Tacoma, Harbor Dance, and TUPAC since 2001. She also taught for the Tacoma Metro Parks Recreational and Educational programs from 2003-2007. Ms. Fleites is the choreographer and director of Sabor Flamenco and has produced many shows including shows at Tacoma Little Theater, the Tacoma School of the Arts and Alma Mater theater, among others. She has done volunteer work with Public Schools, Guadalupe House and other non-profit institutions, teaching and performing Flamenco for educational and fundraising purposes. Fleites-Lear is also the chair and founder of the Tacoma-Cienfuegos Sister City Committee. Customers have questions, you have answers. Display the most frequently asked questions, so everybody benefits.
Faculty
Elizabeth Jacobson
Bio to come
Renee Williams
Bio to come.
Theresa Guerrero
Bio to come
Kabby Mitchell III
Always our inspiration
Kabby Mitchell III
Kabby lives on through T.U.P.A.C.
Kabby Mitchell III
Kabby's high expectations of his students ballet technique lives on at T.U.P.A.C.
Elizabeth Jacobson, Adult Ballet
T.U.P.A.C. Guest Artists
Amanda Morgan
Amanda Morgan is from Tacoma, Washington. She studied at Dance Theatre
Northwest and Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and she attended summer courses at Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Boston Ballet School, and the School of American Ballet. She participated in PNB School’s exchange with the Palucca University of Dance in Dresden, where she also performed with Dresden Semperoper Ballett. Ms. Morgan joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprenticein 2016 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2017.
Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd, a TONY nominated (The Color Purple) and Bessie Award winning (The Minstrel Show) choreographer, became Artistic Director of Spectrum Dance Theater in December 2002. From 1978 – 2002, he was Artistic Director of Donald Byrd/The Group, a critically acclaimed contemporary dance company, founded in Los Angeles and later based in New York, that toured extensively, both nationally and internationally. He has created over 100 modern and contemporary dance works for his own groups as well as for the Alvin
Ailey American Dance Theater, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco), among others; has choreographed for classical companies, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem, Aterballetto, MaggioDanza diFirenze, and Oregon Ballet Theater
Introduction to Acting
LAUREN DuPREE, Actor, Singer and Dancer
Originally from Seattle, Lauren has been involved in the arts since childhood. Her senior year of high school she had the privilege of joining the cast of the PBS nationally syndicated show Biz Kid$. After graduating high school Lauren moved to Washington, D.C. to study theatre at Howard University. Upon graduating, Lauren began her professional career in Washington, D.C. with the musical revue Ain't Misbehavin'. Since then she has been blessed to work consistently in the DC, Maryland and Virginia area at theaters such as Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, Ford's Theatre and the Kennedy Center. One of her most memorable roles was Orphie in Orphie and the Book of Heroes at The Kennedy Center. Since moving back to Seattle Lauren has been seen as Deena Jones in Dreamgirls and Kanika in My Heart Is The Drum at Village Theatre and Antonia in Man of La Mancha at 5th Avenue Theatre. You can catch her next in Ragtime at 5th Avenue Theatre.