|
|
|
|
Lisa jumping for joy, sharing with her dancers.
|
|
Mission
Everyone should personally experience the arts. Dance develops balance, control, posture, focus and fine-tunes listening skills. Because dance inherently involves problem solving, patterns and sequencing, it enhances higher thinking abilities. Quality training in dance and acrobatic technique promotes self confidence, creativity and a sense of exuberance in accomplishment.
The Dance Factory and its instructors are committed to developing all of these attributes in a nurturing environment.
About the director...
Dancer and teacher, Lisa Gilliam, grew up locally in Eugene. Lisa offers over 10 years of teaching experience at various studios and schools in the Eugene area. Lisa is proud to be the owner and director of The Dance Factory since 2006. Lisa worked with previous owner, Karl Mundt, for 3 years until he moved away. A member of ZAPP from 1991-99, her training lies in jazz & hip hop. After leaving the company, she took a wide array of dance classes at the University of Oregon, expanding her expertise to modern, ballet, African and Middle Eastern dance.
Lisa graduated from the University of Oregon with degrees in Anthropology and Spanish with a minor in Dance. She earned her Masters of Secondary Education also at the U of O with an endorsement to teach Spanish and ELL. Her passion for instruction has landed her as a full time Spanish teacher at a local Eugene high school and as their dance team coach. Her love for dance still drives her to do more.
As head teacher at The Dance Factory, Lisa finds joy in watching her students dance to their full potential and watching them fall in love with the dynamic art form of dance and movement expression. She loves to choreograph and express various moods of emotion and styles of dance. Her belief that dance is alive and forever evolving often lends her to choreograph with a fusion of styles and influences.
Lisa's greatest inspirations are drawn from many locals dancers in the area. As a veteran ZAPP dancer from 1990-1999, she greatly admires Cindy Zreliak, director and owner of ZAP Productions. For the past two years she's had the privledge of being a guest artist at ZAPP shows as well as hosting ZAPP at Dance Factory shows. At the University of Oregon she was introduced to modern dance and was inspired by guest teacher Pamela Geber, whose grace and kindness allowed her to be a more versatile dancer. Pamela currently teaches in Utah. In her free time, Lisa takes class from Anita Sanford. Anita teaches jazz and hip hop at LCC and locally. Anita's own company, Dance Northwest, has been featured at Dance Factory shows and a reciprocal invitation has been arranged at a few of her shows too. Lastly, an important figure shaping Lisa's decision to pursue her dream of directing a studio dance program was Karl Mundt. Karl Mundt is nationally known for his amazing award winning choreography that can be seen on ESPN and throughout the college competition circuit. He also is a free-lance writer for Dance Spirit magazine. Previous owner of the Dance Factory, Karl also coached the U of O Dance Team here in Eugene. Learning more about jazz technique, skills and tricks, Lisa was able to grow and learn from her mentor before he passed along the studio to her. Eugene is lucky to have such a family of dancers and dance companies to share the wealth of dance talent that we have!
Currently Lisa teaches the advanced hip-hop fusion company, Urban Vibe, and the accelerated advanced collegiate level company, Urban Pulse. UP is known for their elaborate variety of styles through hip-hop, jazz, and contemporary dance. This is Lisa's 6th year teaching with The Dance Factory and her 3rd year as owner and director.
Lisa married her long time sweetheart, Mike Bova, in July of 2008! Her family still lives in Eugene and both her family and her husband offer her support and guidance and can be seen at all Dance Factory events.
A few personal professional highlights:
* Touring with ZAPP throughout Oregon, California, Washington, Hawaii, New York, Florida And Tennessee.
* Choreographing for "The Spring Loft", U of O, 2002-03
* Dance coach for North Eugene High School.
* Director and founder of the elite collegiate performance company URBAN PULSE.
* Director of The Dance Factory Fall/Winter Hult Center Soreng shows. (Our third annual show was January 31st, 2009.)
A few professional highlights for The Dance Factory:
* Participation and awards for the regional American Dance Awards, spring 2006 to the present.
* Performances for the U of O B-ball halftimes at Mac Court and football halftimes at the Moshofsky Center, Fall 2006 to the present.
* Performances for Eugene, Oregon Track and Field Olympic Trials, summer 2008.
* Performances for Art and the Vineyard, summer 2008 and 2009, and Maude Kerns Mayor's Teen Art Show, fall 2008.
* Performances for the Lane County Fair, summer of 2007 and 2009
* Performances for Las Fiestas Patrias hosted by radio station La X, Fall of 2007 and 2008.
* Performance for the Springfield Island Park Celebration July 25, 2009
Who are our teachers?
|
|
|
Lisa and Roshny enjoying the American Dance Awards event in Portland Oregon (March 2010).
|
|
|
Roshny Bhakta
Roshny Bhakta began her training at the age of six in Panama city, Panama where she was born. Upon moving to the United States she continued to train in ballet until she began high school. She joined The South Eugene Velocity and was on the team for 4 years, captain for 2 years and received her Varsity Letters in 2003. After graduating, she continued to help her dance team as their assistant coach. In 2006 she continued the dance team tradition as the assistant coach for the Marist High School Passion Dance team. In 2008 she became the volunteer assistant coach for the North Eugene Dance Team.
She became a part of the Dance Factory family in 2003 where she danced under the direction of Karl Mundt and Lisa Gilliam in both jazz and hip- hop. Today, Roshny is still connected to the Dance Factory. She teaches and choreographs for the jazz company The Prestige and the hip hop/jazz company Urban Beat. She assists director/owner Lisa Gilliam in Urban Vibe, as well as dancing in the collegiate company Urban Pulse.
|
Megan McGregor
Megan grew up dancing in all styles, but tap and jazz have always been her favorites. She came to Eugene to go to the University of Oregon, where she received her B.S. in Exercise and Movement Science with a minor in dance. Currently a full-time Pilates instructor, Megan loves to work with our youngest students, building the foundation for them to then move on to the more advanced classes at The Dance Factory.
|
Nikki Letherer
Nikki Letherer started dancing at the age of 4, and has never stopped! She is trained in classical ballet, funk, jazz, hip hop, Hawaiian, and Tahitian dancing. She has been a member of various companies throughout Oregon, including "The Oregon Coast Ballet Company," "Hip Hop Has Heart," "Breakdown," the "University of Oregon's Hawaii Club Halau," and "Urban Pulse." In her spare time, Nikki enjoys traveling, hiking, reading, gardening, and biking. Nikki hopes that through her dance classes, she not only inspires creativity and dedication in her students, but also helps them move past obstacles to realize their goals, making them stronger, and more motivated individuals.
|
Chris Gorney
Teacher Chris Gorney is new to the Dance Factory this year but not new to dance. He received his Masters Degree in Dance from the U of O in Spring of 2009. His Monday class from 5-6pm lends itself to Chris's personality and passion for dance. His class is called Old School Hip hop - Street styles, where he breaks down the secrets to pop'n'lock, and breakdancing.
|
Elizabeth Clark is newest to The Dance Factory family debuting her class during the summer of 2010. Training with Chris Gorney and performing with his crew, Elizabeth gracefully took over his class when Chris moved to Las Vegas this summer. Her crisp, killer moves will inspire others in Old School Hip-Hop.
|
