TEACHERS  
RYAN HEFFINGTON - SWEATY SUNDAYS, WET WEDNESDAYS,                                                   CONTEMPORARY JAZZ
Ryan Heffington shares the titles of Choreographer, Instructor and Performer. High and low art enthusiasts alike have experienced his electrifying work in places as disparate as the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the L.A.County Museum of Art, the Hammer Museum, various New York runways and the grittiest of underground clubs nation wide.

His rock’n roll appeal as choreographer has landed him work with Shiny Toy Guns, Jack Penate, Ellie Goulding, Ke$ha, The Gossip, and Fischerspooner as well as the “The L Word”, NIKE and a 3 month run with Margaret Cho in her Off-Broadway show “The Sensuous Woman”. You may have seen his cameo in the hit TV show “Rupaul’s Drag Race” in the first 2 seasons.

He has traveled across the U.S. as well as to Nicaragua, Tokyo, Germany and Canada teaching master classes in dance. He has been described as “a blend of Merce Cunningham and Mark Morris with a splash of Freddie Mercury and Peaches”. Ryan’s class will infuse you with excitement and leave you knowing the power of dance. His newest endeavor/phenomenon is his dance space “The Sweat Spot” which is the home of his dance class for everyone – SWEATY SUNDAYS located in the heart of Silverlake, CA.

Mr. Heffington is Co-Artistic Director of the L.A. based, critically acclaimed Hysterica Dance Company which in 2008 celebrated 10 years of raw, rapturous dance in Los Angeles.  Part punk, part high-fashion, with technique to die for - Hysterica remains on the cutting edge of dance today. He has been nominated for Best Male Performer, Best Small Group Ensemble and Costume Design by the Horton Awards for his work with Hysterica. Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, Marshall Dance Company and Collage Dance Theater also enlisted Ryan for his choreographic vision.

His design alias, Sir Heffington, has clothed not only dance companies nation wide, but celebrities Britney Spears, J-Lo, Beck, Mick Jagger, and Gwen Stefani to name just a few. His one-of-a-kind creations have been displayed on network television, world tours, as well as in industrials, fashion magazines and the movie “Fame”.

Keeping the balance between the commercial and underground is essential to Heffington as an artist. His sold-out monthly dance parties Sock-it, Fingered and Full Frontal Disco have made dance more accessible by taking the art form out of its usual environment. His parties have included dance classes, performances and off-the-hook-sweat-fest-dance floor foolery.

Ryan is one fourth of the performance/music project WE ARE THE WORLD, rumored to be Lady Gaga’s favorite band! On stage the masked foursome jump between instruments, vocals and choreography. Their full length album “Clay Stones” is available on iTunes.

WWW.SIRHEFFINGTON.COM
 WWW.TheSweatSpotLA.com

 


 JUSTINE CLARK - OPEN BARRE BALLET
Justine is a dancer and teacher of ballet and contemporary / modern jazz. Before moving to Los Angeles for scholarship at The Edge, Justine was living in Seattle and teaching at schools around the northwest including Westlake Dance Center, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and Summer Dance Lab at Whitman College. Justine currently dances with Hysterica Dance Company directed by Kitty McNamee and has performed the works of Ryan Heffington, Nina McNeely, Mecca Vazie Andrews and Bubba Carr at MOCA, LACMA, Openfist, Ford Amphitheatre, RedCat, Disney Concert Hall, LA Opera, the LA Philharmonic and more.
She loves teaching her ballet classes at both The Sweat Spot and Heartbeat House and finds it is a gift to explore and share the experience of dance with others!
 



 Jasmine Albuquerque - JAZZ FUSION
Jasmine Albuquerque is a choreographer, dancer and teacher.  Her work thrives on abstraction and poetic form while incorporating elements of humor, history and magical surrealism.  Her classes are a quirky combination of technique, musicality, placement, balance, playing with gravity, and creating images through motion. She has been teaching dance since 2005 at several studios in LA and has danced with such companies as Hysterica, Blue13 Bollywood, Collage Dance Theater and Ryan Heffington's psycho-dance performance Fingered. Other live performances include We Are the World, Hazm, and Hecuba in various venues around LA such as the Hammer Museum, the Ford Amphitheater, the Orpheum Theater, the Joshua Tree Music Festival and even a laundromat on Sunset and Vine. She has choreographed music videos for Bob Wayne (directed by Jennifer Tzar) and danced in videos for Beck, You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead, and Todd Edwards. She studied contemporary movement in Budapest, Hungary and at The Edge in Hollywood after years of classical ballet and jazz training. While majoring in History, she danced for the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA and later taught movement workshops in Chiapas, Mexico where she turned vatos into ballerinas.
 


 Benjamin Allen - GROOV3
Benjamin Allen has been dancing professionally for over 10 years.  With experience in film, television and live stage shows, he found his passion was in teaching. Whether teaching locally or globally, being able to inspire people through the gift of dance has been a dream come true. Benjamin has a vibrant personality and fresh originality that will keep you coming back for more.
 
 

 LOU BECKER - MAT PILATES
Lou Becker has been an established teacher in the Pilates world for over 7 years and trains some of Hollywood’s most elite.  He has taught in LA’s finest establishments, including Winsor Pilates, Equinox Health and Fitness, and Elevation Fitness.  Certified in the classic east-coast method, he now fuses that with traditional conditioning training, promising a full body workout from head to toe. With a background in dance and gymnastics, he is a stickler for form and precision.  Work smarter, not harder.  Just ask any of his past or present A-List clients including Jodie Foster, Colin Farrell, Sutton Foster, EG Daily, Amanda Peet, Sarah Paulson...
 




 LIZ VACCO - PETITE FEET, KREATIVE KIDS
After graduating from Yale with a B.A. in Theatre Studies, Liz moved to New York where she was active in the downtown theater and dance communities, working with Les Freres Corbusier, The Collapsable Giraffe, Sidra Bell Dance NY and at Lincoln Center's Clark Studio Theater, St. Ann's Warehouse, PS 122 and the  Hangar Theater. She has also toured regionally and internationally, nmost recently to Shanghai, China. She is a founding member of the performance ensemble Immediate Medium and has collaborated on all IM pieces since 2002, contributing to their original and genre-defying works as a creator, performer, and choreographer. 
Additionally, while living in NYC, she taught dance, choreography, theater and yoga to children through the New York City Ballet's Education Department, at discovery Programs and Karma Kids Yoga in Manhattan and through City Kids Dance in Brooklyn, to name just a few. She also recently created and released an original dance video for kids ages 2-5 entitled Petite Feet. 
IN her classes, Liz draws from her training as both an actor and a dancer, and she  introduces technique and artistic concepts to her students in the most playful and creative ways she can. She incorporates a lot of story telling and imaginative games into her kids classes to keep the atmosphere active, fun and friendly and the emphasis on self expression and confidence building.
www.lizvacco.com
www.petitefeetdance.com
www.immediatemedium.org 
 
Kristen Leahy - TAP DANCE
Kristen Leahy recently rediscovered her love for tap, which she studied since the age of 4 (though she deserted it in her 20s), and she decided she wanted to spread this love by making noise and jamming with anyone who was willing to join her. This spawned Tap Dat Azz last year, a class for tapping beginners and fellow re-visitors. She is excited to bring her class to its new home, The Sweat Spot. Kristen received her Masters in Dance/Movement Therapy from Pratt Institute in 2009. By day, she practices DMT at a psychiatric hospital for adults, and by night, she may be seen performing in various galleries, clubs, and secret spots as one of Sir Heffington's Fingered Dancers or as the new bass player for the group Sister Mantos.
 

 Joe Schenck - BEG/INT JAZZ
Joe Schenck's first dance routine was to "Electric Youth" by Debbie Gibson at age 8.  Since then he has acted, danced, choreographed, directed and taught in Chicago and Los Angeles.  Local credits include: Diavolo Dance Theatre, Collage Dance Theatre, Invertigo Dance Theatre, LA Opera, Pasadena Playhouse, Odyssey Theatre, Open Gate Theatre.  Joe also teaches for everybody dance! and at the LA County High School for the Arts, where he recently choreographed CATS.  Joe loves avocados, ginger ale, and thunderstorms.
 


 Maurice harris - GOTTA BODY
I was born in our beautiful state capital Sacramento, however I spent most of my adolescence in Stockton, California where I was able to take advantage of all of the wonderful things that a suburb has to offer like marching band, karate, and gospel choir. I have always loved dance and movement, however I did not really explore my love of dance until about two years ago when I discovered Sweaty Sundays! I was very scared at first because I was intimidated to be taking a dance class as a novice adult but Ryan Heffington waved his magic wand and gave me a place to leave all my insecurities at the door! I love to dance so much now and feel so free when doing so! Through my classes I work to create a free and exciting environment that includes a great level of cardio, fun and maybe a few moves you can use in the club! Letting go is the true key to happiness and it is my goal to create that experience for everyone that walks through the door! 
 

NINA MCNEELY - INTRO TO CONTEMPORARY
Nina McNeely began her training in Denver, Colorado. She has been dancing, teaching and choreographing in Los Angeles for the past nine years. Her commercial work consists of working for such artists as the B-52s, Beck, Shiny Toy Guns, Britney Spears, Fergie, Kinky and The Bird and The Bee. She is a member of Hysterica Dance Company directed by Kitty McNamee and Ryan Heffington. She choreographs and performs at many club venues in Los Angeles and enjoys teaching a physically and creatively challenging, contemporary class at The Sweat Spot.
 
CINDERA CHE - CHE DANCE KIDS
Cindera began her career at the age of 12 as a featured dancer on TV variety shows in her native country Taipei, Taiwan. Since moving to the United States in 1977, she has been working as a professional dancer, choreographer, and performance coach with notable talents such as choreographer Michael Peters, Vincent Paterson, Billy Goodson, director Francis Ford Coppola, Dancing With the Stars champion Kristi Yamaguchi and pop icon Michael Jackson. Sought out for her intuitive approach and attention to detail, she has taught master classes and workshops in Canada, Germany, France, England and throughout the United States. One of Cindera’s greatest strengths as a teacher is her use of imagery and metaphor to bring the best performance out of her students. For more info, please visit: www.chedance.com
 
Katie Malia - BALLET 101, INT. BALLET

Katie Malia is an Angeleno native. After studying under the direction of Romanian Ballet's Stela Viorica, Aspen Ballet, and The Boston Ballet, she was accepted to the Big Apple's Julliard School but ultimately decided to double major in Dance and English Literature from Colombia University with a Shakespeare study at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London instead. 


Kate believes in core, creative, artistic expression stemming from the cerebral, and loves clean, classic technique combined with expansive, free movement. Though she's had her slice of celluloid success - acclaimed choreographers Fatima Robinson, Michael Rooney, Jeri Slaughter, Marty Kudelka, Ryan Heffington, Rich & Tone Talauega, Laurie Ann Gibson, Mecca Vazie, Kristen Denehy, Tracy Phillips, Dave Scott, Shotyme, Catti Jean, and Jermaine Browne have hired her. Appearing in over fifty national commercials, films, and worldwide campaigns for Gap, Apple, Adidas, Yahoo!, Target, iPod, Nike, Microsoft, and more. Katie has performed with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Basement Jaxx, Ke$ha, Usher, Prince, Mary J Blige, Justin Timberlake, and Spank Rock, and performed on SNL, Dancing With The Stars, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Mad TV, and The MTV VMAs. Recently, she choreographed campaigns for Nike, Toyota, Puma and Target as well as music videos for Joe Jonas, Sarah Mclachlan and Grace Potter. Her ballet class focuses on the basic fundamentals of technique set to contemporary music. 

 

 

 CHristoph moser - KIDS FUNK FUSION, ADULT STREET FUNK

Christoph Moser was born and raised in Austria. He fell in love with dance at the early age of 8. Since then his heart belonged to the art of dance and performing.

What was first a hobby grew into the vision and quest for artistic expression through various styles of movement! At 15, he had the opportunity to start working as a back-up dancer on an European wide base and his tracks where set on pursuing the carrier of a professional dancer.

From September 2005 to 2007 he studied dance at the Broadway-Connection in Vienna. He had daily training in Ballet, Modern and Jazz in addition Tap, Acting, Singing, Musical History, Ballet Education and Anatomy.

After several visits to the United States from Oct. 2006 to Oct. 2008 he got his Working Visa in May 2009. This working permit has been the propelling spring in furthering his global career.

He has 14 years of training first in Jazz and Hip Hop, and 12 years of training/exposure to various Ballet, Contemporary and Tap techniques.

He has been exposed to various mentors throughout London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Vienna, New York and Los Angeles. So he is very confident in the different layers in his dance foundation that make him a diverse choreographer and instructor.

Over the years he has instructed young and old, from beginners, through the wide scale, up to professionals. He loves to share his experience, knowledge and choreography with anyone with a desire to learn.

 
NATHAN KIM - NIGHT MOVES 
 Originally from the island of Maui, Nathan has made a home for himself in Los Angeles as a creative artist and performer. Some of his credits include projects for Target, Old Navy, Volvo, Google, Nike, Adidas, Mac Cosmetics, Marc Jacobs, McDonalds, Sarah McLachlan, Rihanna, Ke$ha, Finger Eleven and The Muppets. 

Nathan has a love for the full range of physical expression having trained in jazz, contemporary, ballet, modern, hip-hop, yoga, afro-brazilian, swing and capoeira. He also pulls from his athletic background as a runner and swimmer to create a class that is physically invigorating, strengthening and creatively free and fun. 
 

 tanita  fadyeyola - afro funk fusion
 Tanita Fadyeyola (faa-jay-ol-a) has been teaching dance to adults and youth since 1990. She has trained in Jazz, Modern, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop and Theater, but has extensive studies, training and passion for African, Afro-Carribbean & Afro-Brazilian dance and folklore. She has taught, performed, and choreographed throughout the United States, Mexico and internationally in England, Scotland, South Africa and Hong Kong. She currently dances with Niancho Eniyaley, a West African dance company and is an assistant choreographer to Darcel Wynne (Solid Gold) in Los Angeles, CA.