Ronya-Lee Anderson
Professorial Lecturer
CAS - Performing Arts
Ronya-Lee LaVaune Anderson is the daughter of Pauline and Roxroy Anderson; the granddaughter of Madge McLellan and of Mavis Lawrence, both healers and entrepreneurs. She is an Afro-Caribbean woman of …
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rlander@american.edu
Esperonto Bean
Adjunct Instructor
Esperonto is recognized as one of the pioneer House Dancers from Baltimore, and is well-versed in many dance styles, including House, Hip-Hop, Locking, and Punking/Waacking. He is the founder and dire…
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ebean@american.edu
Lisa Clarkson
Adjunct Professorial Lect
Lisa Clarkson is a dancer, movement educator, and physical therapist. She had a 10+ year career as a full-time professional ballet dancer, with Louisville Ballet, Lexington Ballet and Ballet Memphis, …
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clarkson@american.edu
Jocelyn Cox
Adjunct Professorial Lect
Jocelyn E. Cox (Maryland) is a proud member of the Actors' Equity Association, and the independent author of Jocelyn Learns to Dance, for which she received the Prince George's Arts and Humanities Cou…
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jcox@american.edu
Nkenge Cunningham
Adjunct Instructor
Nkenge Cunningham began her professional dancing career at the precious age of 5 in New York City under the auspices of Marie Basse Wiles, founder and director of Maimouna Keita School of West African…
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ncunning@american.edu
Hayley Cutler
Adjunct Professorial Lect
Hayley Cutler (she/her) is a choreographer, performer, artist organizer, and dance educator. She is the founder and Artistic Director of darlingdance, a project-based dance company in its eleventh sea…
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hcutler@american.edu
Omilade Davis-Smith
Asst Professor
CAS - Performing Arts
A multifaceted artist-scholar, Dr. Omilade Davis-Smith has worked the majority of her life as a dancer, educator and performer. Omi earned a PhD in Dance from Temple University with a specialization i…
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odavissm@american.edu
Ama Law
Professorial Lecturer
CAS - Performing Arts
Mariama "Ama" Law began dancing with Kankouran West African Dance Company as a baby, both of their parents are founding members. They graduated with a B.S. in Biology and a certificate in Women's Stud…
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mlaw@american.edu
Gabriel Mata
Adjunct Professorial Lect
Gabriel Mata (pronounced: gah-bryehl mah-tah) is a Mexican U.S. American dance choreographer, educator, dance film maker, and performer. He also navigates the world as queer, Latinx, immigrant, and as…
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gmata@american.edu
Sarah Beth Oppenheim
Adjunct Professorial Lect
Sarah Beth Oppenheim hails from the Wild, Wild West where she could never cut on the dotted black line, so she read Steinbeck and became a modern dancer instead. She earned her BFA at SUNY Purchase an…
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soppenhe@american.edu
Kristopher Pourzal
Adjunct Professorial Lect
Kristopher Pourzal teaches courses in dance and theater history and Black cultural production more broadly. He is at work on a dissertation about New York City’s Clark Center, a community-oriented dan…
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kpourzal@american.edu
Stephanie Vadala
Adjunct Instructor
Stephanie Vadala is a native of Syracuse, NY where she grew up training in many styles of dance from the age of 3. While participating in community theatre in high school and college, she received her…
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vadala@american.edu
Irina Wunder
Adjunct Instructor
Irina Wunder, an ethnic Russian, received her classical dance training in Turkmenistan, then a republic of the former Soviet Union. She performed with the Republic's State Theater of Opera and Ballet …
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wunder@american.edu
Alice Wylie-Schmemann
Adjunct Instructor
Born in Washington DC, Alice began her dance training with Jane Bittner and trained extensively with several other renowned teachers including Dawei Zhang, Suzanne Farrell, Patricia McBride, Jean-Pier…
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wylie@american.edu