In class evaluations, one of the strengths most often listed for the  Fort Wayne Dance Collective is its staff and faculty. It’s true — we have some of the best people you can find in Fort Wayne, and quite possibly the world.

Maggie Thorn    

— President —

Registered Nurse, Lutheran Hospital

 

Yvette Morris

— Vice President —

Math and Sciences Teacher, East Allen County Schools


Matt Hendryx

— Treasurer —

Software Programmer, Economics


Vicky Williams

— Secretary —

Special Education, Homestead H.S.

John Rogers

Attorney, Thompson Rogers


Gary Lanier

Secretary, IPFW’s School of Visual and Performing Arts


Mindy Szczepanski

Personal Relationship Banking, J.P.M. Chase Bank


Crystal Feller

CPA, Mannia-Green

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Liz is a graduate of Indiana University’s Modern Dance Department and has studied with such nationally renowned artists as Alwin Nikolais, Ruth Zaporah, Joe Goode, Remy Charlip and many more.


She was a founding member of Windfall Dancers in Bloomington in 1977 and the FWDC in 1979.


Liz received two artist fellowships from Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne and six Philo T. Farnsworth awards for video productions for public access television. She also received first place in the "Hometown Awards", a national competition for access producers, a Margaret Ann Keegan award and the Gene Wyall local access production award. In 2007, she won the John Enwright distinguished alumni award from the Indiana University school for Health, Physical Education and Recreation.


She has served as Artistic Director since 1985 and have developed a curriculum for dance education for disabled adults. Since 1993, Liz has annually created a full-length story dance with FWDC co-founder Lisa Tsetse which allows for a wide range of ages and skill levels. These productions are performed at the Arts United Center.


Liz has taught Modern Dance and related forms for 25 years and I served on the Dance Standards Committee for the Indiana Department of Education.

 

Liz Monnier

Artistic Director

A co-founder of the Three Rivers Jenbé Ensemble, Ketu has been its artistic director since its inception. He studies, teaches and plays the traditional village style Mandé drum ensemble.


A student of African Antiquities, traditional African cultures and identity development, he began drumming in 1979 with New York’s legendary Chief James Hawthorne Bey (now deceased). Since 1999 he has studied with Famoudou Konaté, Mamady Keïta, Moustapha Bangoura, the Chicago Djembe Project, Sidi Mohammed “Joh” Camara, and Lansana Kouyaté among others.


He earned a BS degree in professional theatre from Fordham University at Lincoln Center in 1978, and a MS degree in Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in 1983. He is an award-winning newspaper columnist with the Black Press, and 10-year veteran journalist. He has taught journalism at IPFW.


Since the early 1990s he has worked as an artist with children in Fort Wayne to help them uncover their latent creativity, and find peaceful, meaningful roads to self-expression.

 

Omowale-Ketu Oladuwa

Artistic Director of Three Rivers Jenbé Ensemble


Erin’s first experience with the Fort Wayne Dance Collective  as as an Iyengar yoga student in 1998. She has been coming to the collective ever since for classes, performances, and an internship. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in French and certifications in Peace and Conflicts Studies, as well as International Studies. As a college senior, Erin completed an internship with the Dance Collective’s CAP on Violence program. During such time, Erin was exposed to the power of creative movement and the positive impact of exposing youth to the arts as a means of self-expression.


As a writer and experienced facilitator, Erin has found her new position as the Outreach Director to be a perfect fit. She finds fulfillment, working with the arts, multi-cultural, and disabled communities, as well as fundraising work. As the Outreach Director, Erin’s responsibilities range from contract and grant development for the various Outreach programs to seeking out new Outreach education performance opportunities. She also assists with the development of outreach marketing activities and strategies, and is the FWDC Pilates instructor.


And she still can’t get enough yoga.

 

Erin Stewart

Outreach Director

Andy has been involved in the arts scene since grade school — mostly backstage. He staged managed for the Fort Wayne Youtheatre, crewed for the Civic Theatre, and acted a few times (not well). When Andy went to college, he took a break from theatre to pursue journalism. After graduating from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne in 2005 with a degree in English journalism, he found his roots in the arts community when he was hired at the Dance Collective.


Andy believes strong vibrant writing and bold, simple design can make a good impression in anything one does. While in college, he was the editor of the student newspaper, where I learned most of what I know now about administration and cohesive design. As a liaison between the Dance Collective and the community, he looks forward to speaking with anyone who wants to know more about this organization.

 

Andy Welfle

Managing Director

PERFORMERS

Brittney Couglin

Brittney Coughlin is a graduate of Hope College dance department and is currently a Continuing Lecturer in Dance In IPFW. She has choreographed and danced in many local productions.
 

Gloria Minnich

Instructors

Allison Ballard

In 1999 Allison Ballard attended various workshops and camps in California where she studied taiko drumming with masters from Japan and the West Coast. She has been teaching and performing taiko since that time and has facilitated the building of four taiko drums and stands with local volunteers. She has also studied creative movement, improvisation, modern dance and Authentic Movement and and has taught creative movement to all ages in various settings since 1992. She received a MA in Dance/Movement Therapy from Columbia College Chicago in 2003 and is certified as a Dance/Movement Therapist Registered through the American Dance Therapy Association. She specializes in trauma and dissociation and provides movement therapy to individual clients.
 

Jody DuBois

Jody has been facilitating individuals and groups in personal growth for over thirty years. She started doing The Nia Technique in 1985 when living in Marin County, CA just as Nia was beginning. Experiencing her inner dancer - the Body's Way - and the joy of movment kept her returning for more. She has been a certified Nia instructor since 2000. She is also a certified Yamuna Body Roling instructor- a tool that enhances all physical practices. She holds an M.A. in education and B.S. in Biology. She has worked and consulted in eduction, medicine and business. Jody is one of the original certified breathworkers (Rebirthing), researching and evolving the breathing process from its earliest years. She was the founder and director of the Seattle breathwork community, and a trainer and center manager for the LRT (Loving Relationships Training). She has training and experience in Voice Dialogue, holographic Memory Release (HMR), Reiki, Yoga, Continuum, personal presentation and other movement therapies. Since 1974 she has been counseling individuals, training practicioners, leading seminars and intensives on personal growth and relationships, with as many as 500 participants, throughout the U.S. and Canada. See seeks to inspire a new way of being and living in your body through movement.
 

Lori Keys

Lori Keys moved to Fort Wayne in January 2006 to assume the role of Aboite New Trails, Inc.’s first Executive Director. The grassroots organization is developing a 50-mile interconnected trail system throughout Southwest Allen County and its surrounding communities to improve the quality of life for area citizens and visitors.  Prior to taking on this position, Lori spent 4 years in Indianapolis working as both a project manager for the Indy Greenways system and an Arthur Murray dance instructor.  Lori wanted to train in dancing since attending IU Bloomington, where she was a 4-year cheerleader.  Since teaching at Arthur Murray studio, Lori has independently taught group dance classes, coached couples in ballroom dance, and choreographed wedding dances. Lori spends her spare time running, bicycling, and gardening at her Foster Park area home.  In addition to her love for the outdoors, Lori enjoys ballroom dancing and fixing up historic homes with her husband, Kris.
 

Taiko, Music Together®

Nia Technique, Yamuna Body Rolling

Ballroom

Mary Marino-Strong

Mary Marino-Strong, CMT, LMT, SHPA, founder of Joint Ventures in Health, is a certified practitioner and educator of Self-Healing, the innovated movement and bodywork therapy created by Meir Schneider, Ph.D., LMT. Mary is a certified movement therapist and a licensed massage therapist. She draws on her personal journey of healing immobilizing back pain through a synthesis of diverse movement and self-help forms. She incorporates elements from studies such as Feldenkrais®, Hapkido, Eurhythmy, Hakomi, and the Roy Hart Theater. May has been practicing for nearly 20 years and resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
 

Movement for Self-Healing

Danielle McGuire

Dance became an integral part of Danielle’s life when she was in high school.  She signed up for every dance class available.  Choreography and Modern Dance classes took her greatest interest, and she continued studying these forms of movement in college at IPFW and here at FWDC. She’s always felt at home at the FWDC and now it brings her joy having her daughter enrolled here as well.  She  also practiced and studied Iyegar and Hatha Yoga since 2000, which have created more awareness in her dance technique and life.
 

Creative Movement

Laura Moffat

Laura Moffat graduated with honors from Indiana University, where she earned her B.S. and M.S. Degrees.  While at the Indiana University she was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Dance Student of The Year award.  Laura has danced with Ballet Internationale, Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, the As-Is Dance Theatre, Jubilaté, Dans Ethnik, and the Moving Company.  Laura has performed in Les Sylphide, The Nutcracker, Les Patineurs, Giselle, The Firebird, Onegin, Sleeping Beauty, Dracula and Coppélia.  Ms. Moffat has taught ballet in the Indianapolis area for the past 15 years.  She has been a faculty member at Jordan College Academy of Dance at Butler University, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, the Jewish Community Center, The Clara R. Noyes Academy of Ballet Internationale, and Fort Wayne Ballet.  Laura is currently on faculty at the New American Youth Ballet.
 

Ballet, Dance Sampler

Robert Shenfeld

Robert Shenfeld began martial arts training in 1975 with Master Fred Kwok and later with Master Robert Bowles. He became interested in Tai chi chuan in 1992, first working with Grandmaster William C.C. Chens Yang style and then the 42-movement sword form under Yu Liu. Bob is also a certified Tai Chi for Arthritis instructor under Dr. Paul Lam. Robert is a founding member of the Tai chi Chuan Association of Northeast Indiana.

T’ai Chi

Barbara Ulmer

Barbara has taught Yoga for over 30 years. She updates her knowledge with frequent workshops.
 

Yoga

Rebecca Wegner

Rebecca Weger has a degree in Social Work and is currently teaching creative movement. Her expressive talent has been cultivated through the fine educational dance program of FWDC. She also works for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Fort Wayne.
 

Creative Movement, Dance Technique

Nancy Woollacott

Nancy Woollacott has been practicing Tai Chi Chuan since 1987 and teaches Grandmaster Williams C.C. Chens Yang style short form. She has studied with Grandmaster Chen, Master Laura Stone of the Netherlands, Dr. Tao Ping-siang of Taiwan, Nathan Menaged of the Chinese Martial Arts Institute in Ohio and Master John Charlton of Indianapolis. She is also certified to teach Chi-lel Qigong by Master Luke Chan of the Huaxia Zhineng Qigong Center in China.

T’ai Chi

Jordana bint Zweena

Born in Queens New York, Jordana's first love was the theater. That love eventually brought her to Las Vegas to study stagecraft at the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts. In 1994 she became enamoured with Belly Dance, when she experienced her first event with the Las Vegas chapter of the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA). Under the instruction of Zweena, Jordana was given the tools to realize her dream of being a professional belly dancer. Now she teaches belly dance and performs all over Fort Wayne with Troupe Taleeba.
 

Belly Dance

Gloria Minnich is a recent graduate from IPFW. She has a degree in General Studies with minors in Theatre and Dance. She also has an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education. She has appeared in many productions at IPFW, including The Music Man, Medea, Oklahoma!, Talking With..., Once Upon a Mattress, Moments, and Suddenly Last Summer, among others. She is an instructor for the IPFW Community Arts Academy youth drama classes and also teaches dance at the Fort Wayne Dance Collective.
 
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