Meet the Faculty
GINA PATTERSON (Guest Artist, Ballet & Creative Process) has been hailed as a choreographer of “startling originality” by Backstage Magazine and Dance Magazine said of her work “Patterson has a voice, that ever-elusive thing, and whatever the future of ballet may be, choreographers like her will always have a place in it.” Ms. Patterson has created over 100 original works, including 13 full-evening productions, winning international acclaim and such honors as the Choo San Goh Award, a nomination for an Isadora Duncan Award, the Hubbard Street 2 National Choreographic Competition, New Choreographers on Pointe, and the National Choreographic Initiative. Her work encompasses concept and direction, collaborating across disciplines with lighting, set, projection, and costume designers; as well as musicians, composers, actors, and visual artists. Her works appear in the repertoire of more than 20 companies including VOICE, Nashville Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, Richmond Ballet, Dayton Ballet, BalletMet, and DanceWorks Chicago and have been presented internationally in Italy, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Spain. Read more...
ERIC MIDGLEY (Guest Artist, Ballet and Character) is the Ballet Master and School Director at Dancers' Workshop. Mr. Midgley began his dance career in 1979, performing throughout western Canada and the Pacific Northwest with the Veselka Ukrainian Folk Ensemble. In 1989, Eric graduated from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division before joining Ballet Florida in West Palm Beach. In 2001, he joined Ballet Austin and remained there until 2008. Performing an extremely wide repertoire, he has danced principal roles in classical and contemporary repertoire in Canada, the US, France, Scotland, Slovenia and Italy. Eric brings a widely varied background in design, music, and dance to the studio and the stage. He has choreographed over twenty original works for a wide range of companies from ballet, to folk and modern dance. He has created score edits, original compositions, sound, lighting, and projection designs and served as production manager and stage manager for dance performances for over 20 years. With 30 years experience as a teacher, he brings his diversity to bear in the studio. He teaches ballet, pointe, character, mens class, variations, repertoire, and partnering. His accessible and functional approach to movement is at the root of his teaching style.
JASMINE DOMINIQUE (Afro-Brazilian) After graduating from Nashville School for the Arts, a passion to connect with others led Jasmine to pursue her education in the field of Psychology. In 2007 she graduated with a Bachelor of Psychology from Tennessee State University and in 2009 she graduated with a Master of Counseling Psychology from the Adler School of Professional Psychology. Though education has allotted her with the opportunity to reach diverse groups with diverse needs, Jasmine sought to incorporate more artistic principles into her professional practice. In 2012, Jasmine traveled abroad to live in Salvador Bahia, Brazil. For two years she immersed herself in the country's rich and indigenous history. Jasmine trained and studied various forms of Brazilian dance including orixa dance, samba dance and modern/contemporary dance. In 2015, she returned to her hometown Nashville, TN where she teaches and utilizes Afro-Brazilian dance as a tool to foster holistic health. Jasmine's class is an experience that is designed to be fun, but to also share the power of traditional rhythms and movement!
KARI GREGG (Progressing Ballet Technique) has studied dance her entire life and the art of moving is something she constantly craves. She began her passion of dance at the age of 4 at a studio in central Indiana. Soon, she was accepted at an early age into Butler University’s early admittance program in Indianapolis to focus more on her classical ballet training. Kari continued with Butler University and received her Bachelor of Science in dance and arts administration. She also spent a summer studying with four distinguished teachers at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. Kari launched her professional dance career both domestically and abroad. For the past 15 years, she has performed in cities all across the United States including 10 years with the Radio City Rockettes. Kari recognized early on the benefits of practicing Pilates as a way of cross training for her professional dance career and took it with her throughout her travels. She was immediately drawn to the disciplined traditional method of Pilates, and thus became certified by the New York Pilates Studio® Teacher Certification Program. Her continuing education includes but is not limited to an additional certificate through the Pilates Youth Organization, ABT National Training Curriculum Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 3 and Functional Anatomy & Kinesiology for Dance Education through Harkness Center for Dance Injuries in New York City.
KEENAN HARTMAN (Yoga) is a former professional dancer with the Nashville Ballet, a Certified Baptiste Yoga Instructor, and a Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach. She currently works as the Development Coordinator for Small World Yoga, a Nashville nonprofit increasing access to yoga for underserved populations in Middle Tennessee. Keenan is passionate about holistic health and loves to help others connect to their bodies and minds and discover what their most vibrant life looks and feels like.
PHYLICIA ROYBAL (Gyrotonic/Gyrokinesis) a native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, began her passion for movement at age 10. She went on to receive a Bachelor degree in Fine Arts at the University of Arizona in 2011. Upon graduating, Phylicia also received the Gurtrude Shurr Memorial Award in Modern dance. In her professional career she has had the privilege of working with, New Dialect Dance company (Nashville), under the direction of Banning Bouldin, Ronn Stewart and Cocodāco Dance Project (Chicago), Kibbutz contemporary dance company (Israel), Catherine Cabeen - Hyphen (Seattle) and Moving People Dance (Santa Fe). Throughout her dance career she has had the opportunity to also work with artists such as Roy Assaf, Rami Be’er, Donald Mckayle, Robert Moses, Gail Gilbert, Kevin Iega Jeff, and Bobby Mc Ferrin. Phylicia has taught at renowned programs such as The Nashville Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet Academy Chicago, The Youth American Grand Prix, Northwestern University, The Hispanic Family Foundation Baila program, Foster Dance Studios, Ensworth High School, Stage Right Performing arts, American Academy of Dance and Metro Parks Dance Division. While residing in Nashville, she performed a solo work at the Animata Arts Festival in 2019 and more recently her second solo work as part of Pollen’s artist platform in 2020. She currently teaches Gyrokinesis®️ in the Nashville area and enjoys connecting to people through movement. She continues to find inspiration through experimental and somatic based movement and improvisation.
JOI WARE (Contemporary) is a native of Dallas, TX where she began her dance training. She studied at Dance Industry Performing Arts Center under the direction of Christy Ryzman, where she got to work with notable choreographers such as Benoit Swan-Pouffer, Jessica Hendricks, and Jon Bond. In high school, she attended the prestigious Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts where she performed works by Robert Battle, Lar Lubovitch, Sidra Bell, and many more. Joi is a graduate of Point Park University where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Science in Sports, Arts, and Entertainment Management. At Point Park, she had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Garfield Lemonius, Joshua L. Peugh, Christopher Huggins, and others. Joi has attended summer dance intensives with San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Kyle Abraham’s A.I.M, and Springboard Danse Montreal. In 2019, Joi moved to Nashville to join New Dialect. She has enjoyed being part of Nashville's tight knit yet growing dance scene.
TANTSOVA GRUPA (Folk Dance) (Bulgarian for "dance group") is a Nashville-based musical ensemble created in 2009 to accompany the Nashville International Folk Dancers. The band's repertoire includes village dances from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Armenia, Russia, Hungary, France and Israel. Current musicians are Mary Lou Durham, Tim Murphy and Amberly Rosen, fiddles and dance teaching; Janet Epstein, recorders and dance teaching; Sam Frazee and Greg Jones, guitars; Michael Lewandowski, mandolin; Laura Bouffard, clarinet; Holly Tashian, upright bass; and Billy Wiggins, percussion. Other members of Tantsova Grupa have included Noa Ben-Amotz, Nermin Begovic, Bart Elliott, Billy Ramirez, and Carole VanderWal.