Stephanie Saland

Stephanie Saland was born in Brooklyn, and entered The School of American Ballet just before her 15th birthday. Three years later she was invited by George Balanchine to join the New York City Ballet for the remarkable Stravinsky Festival. In a 21 year career with City Ballet, Ms. Saland was showcased in leading roles under Balanchine’s direction, as well as principal roles and working closely with Jerome Robbins’ repertoire for the Company. Guest performances included Nureyev and Friends, Giselle with Alexander Gudonov and numerous Live From Lincoln Center and Dance in America films. Before moving to Seattle in the fall of 1993, she taught movement for student actors at Playwrights’ Horizons and helped develop a body-awareness class for actors with theater teacher Caymichael Patten. 

Since finishing her performance career, Ms. Saland has been an instructor, as well as a mentor and coach for dancers and students in a wide range of choreography and repertoire. Currently Ms. Saland is faculty at The International Ballet Academy in Kirkland WA. In her freelance work she has been invited to participate, create and conduct workshops and intensives. In the US the venues have included NY, San Francisco, Los Angeles, North Carolina, Atlanta, Kansas City, San Diego, Salt Lake City, and Dallas as well as international venues in Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Madrid, Mallorca, Mexico, Canada and Holland. In 2005 she was invited to join the internationally esteemed Youth America Grand Prix in both the regional and final Competitions, and has been with the organization ever since. The burgeoning worldwide web of scholarship and professional associations with and for YAGP has generated a broad base of contacts.

Some of her strongest influences were from teachers such as Stanley Williams, Maggie Black and Tina Bernal. She was equally inspired and informed through other non-ballet sources including Gyrotonics, Pilates, Zeena Romett floor barre and years of a variety of modalities including cranial-sacral, physical therapy, network chiropractic, soma and Aston Patterning. Ms.Saland offers a class that is synthesis of information from these systems. The goal is first to center dancers to place the body in space in a way that is aligned, and then to sequence exercises in a progression that will assist in forging and distilling ways to enrich movement and body awareness. The class clearly embraces the musicality and specificity that is the hallmark of the work of Balanchine and Stanley Williams.

“...As a dancer, Stephanie Saland inhabited each role bringing to it a glowing life with every step, every gesture. To watch her was to understand what artistry is. As a teacher she is as unparalleled as she was in her dancing. Dance becomes understandable when touched by Stephanie. It also becomes magic.  

 

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Sadie Weinberg

As a second generation dancer and dancemaker in San Diego, Sadie spent a lot of time in studios watching her mom teach, choreograph and dance. After watching a rehearsal as a teenager at California Ballet, she knew what the rest of her life would be about. She dove in completely, training primarily in ballet and because of her mothers' insistence, in modern. She completed her BFA at the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College in 1999 where she was influenced by Neil Greenberg, Doug Varone and Kevin Wynn among others. Since moving back to San Diego in 2002, Sadie has produced and presented an evening of work every year. She has also presented work in Germany, Canada, Russia, Mexico, New York, Chicago and throughout California. Sadie worked briefly with Gina Gibney while in New York, and has performed locally in San Diego as a company member with Malashock Dance, McCaleb Dance, Jean Isaac's San Diego Dance Theater, Yolande Snaith's ImagoMoves, and other independent dancemakers. Since completing her MFA at UC Irvine in 2005, she has invested most of her creative time in teaching in universities, colleges, high schools and studios throughout San Diego including, UC San Diego, San Diego State University, Cal State San Marcos, MiraCosta College, Palomar College and Coronado School of the Arts. Sadie has also performed works by Shawn Greene of the Lewitsky Company, William Forsythe, Keith Johnson, Doug Varone and Kevin Wynn. She continues to explore and practice somatic modalities as well as contemporary approaches to modern dance. With LITVAKdance Sadie has built a platform for herself, other choreographers and an ensemble of strong, driven, and talented dancers to perform and educate in North County.

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Beverley Bagg

As one of our reoccurring guest teachers, you can find Ms. Beverley's biography under our Teacher tab.