She holds dual degrees in Early Childhood Education and Social Work from State University of New York, is a graduate of the Harkness Dance Education Laboratory and has recently held the position of Movement/Creative Expression Specialist for the UNITED NATIONS asp.

Rosie's style of teaching children comes directly from her love of life and artistic expression. She has a pure, honest and uninhibited creative energy which  cannot help but be passed on to her students.

 Through the use of  stories, drumming, poetry (listening to and writing), and introduction to EVERY style of music, Rosie is able to find exactly what it is that makes each young child feel comfortable enough to do their thing! As every person processes and understands differently, it takes a trained professional to be sensitive to individual learning styles and to make sure each child is developing and enjoying themselves. 

Rosie encourages her students to be independent thinkers and to make confident choices. While the children are the "creators", she is able to guide them, encourage them, and gently work in the technical dance/anatomical knowledge --  tools for every child to safely express their visions and emotions.
 
Young dancers learn a love of movement, freedom, music - while testing the boundaries of just what their bodies are able to do. They also experience what it is like to be part of a group - to share, to take turns, and most importantly to respect their class-mates and their teacher.

As children progress, more and more technical dance training is incorporated. Students will eventually co-create and perform pieces of choreography with the teacher.

"I truly believe that everyone can dance...", says Rosie ,"...and if more people did, we would live in a much more peaceful state."

FACULTY

Emily Pope-Blackman (Creative Dance, Modern, Tap, Hip-hop, Jazz) is a performing artist, dancer, teacher and choreographer. She is an alumni of the North Carolina School of the Arts. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from The Ohio State University and a MFA in Dance/Choreography from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She has performed worldwide with The Charleston Ballet Theatre, Ballet Met Ohio, Total Theatre Inc., Chimaera Physical Theatre, Bridget Moore Dance Company, White Wave Young Soon Kim Dance Company, and Hilary Easton + Company.

Gardiner Comfort (Acting/Play Making, Tumbling) is a professional actor who was born and raised amidst New York City’s downtown Dance and Theater scenes.  He holds an MFA from the American Repertory Theater Acting Institute at Harvard University.  Gardiner has extensive experience on the New York stage at such theaters as PS 122, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Public Theater.  He has taught in multiple schools throughout the city with the Department of Education, and is a working teaching artist.  Gardiner loves working with children and can’t wait to get started with the imaginative young minds at Sweet Soul!
 
Ivan De Leon (Hip-Hop) has been dancing since 1997.  He has trained in the dance forms of Hip Hop, Street Jazz, and Breaking at the EDGE PAC, Broadway Dance Center and Alvin Ailey. He has been featured in several music videos, tv shows and films. Ivan feels fortunate to be teaching at SSM.   His love for music and dance have allowed him to pursue his dream around the world, surrounding him with inspiring people, and teaching beautiful children the art of movement. He believes in sharing with children his love of music and to ultimately "see with their ears and hear with their eyes, think with their body's and dance with their minds."
 
Alissa Horowitz (Indian Dance, Ballet) graduated from Bates College cum laude with a BA in Politics and the Arts, and Dance.  She has been teaching ballet, modern, tap and Classical Indian (Bharata Natyam) for the past five years at Westchester Ballet Center in Yorktown Heights, NY.  After having studied Bharata Natyam in the states, Alissa learned intensively in the pandanallur style from guru Harsha Vardhini in Madurai, India, where she lived with a host family for four months, as well as researched the religious and sociopolitical influences on the dance form.  In Madurai, a still traditional temple city in an ever-evolving nation, Alissa was the "talk of the town," becoming the first foreigner to perform in a local Hindu temple.  Alissa has performed professionally in Maine with Sonar Dance, and her own company, Jump Cannon Collaborative, and in New York with Dance Theatre in Westchester, Heather McArdle, as well as solo performances of Bharata Natyam.

Samuel Humphreys (Ballet, Modern, Teaching Assistant) has appeared in the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation’s performance at the Judson Church in 2009. He premiered “Disguise” (2007) at the Joyce Soho and appeared in “Steps of Silence” (2008) at the Merce Cunningham Studio with the Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble. A company member of Anabella Lenzu/Dance Drama, he has performed at the Far Space and other venues throughout New York. He has appeared in over thirty other Modern performances. In addition to his experience in Modern dance, Sam is an avid Ballet dancer and choreographer. In Ballet, Sam has studied with Brynar Mehl, Larry Ensign, Anabella Lenzu, and Dr. Raoul Gelabert as well as Lori Belilove, Jim May, Mary Anthony, and Betty Jones in Modern dance. In addition to dance, Sam is active in dramatic theater, where he has directed plays by Shakespeare and Sophocles. Sam’s other interests include Classical Piano (he has been known to accompany classes!), education, and working with special needs children.

Erin Hunter Jennings (Creative Dance, Ballet) has danced in television, commercial, film and stage productions, performing all styles of dance from modern and ballet to bollywood, tap, and ballroom.  She has performed in about 20 musicals, dancing on tour and on stages such as Weil/Carnegie Hall and Teatro ala Scala.  Favorite roles played include Kristine in the nat’l tour of A Chorus Line, Graziella in West Side Story and Louise in Carousel.  Erin has recently danced with contemporary companies Pilobolus, Yepdance and NatTrifan.  She holds degrees from Bucknell (BA. Psychology) and New York Universities (M.A. Dance/Education) and teaches yoga and dance in NYC.  Her choreography has been presented at DTW, the World Financial Center, and various university and studio productions.
 
Faith Hunter Kimberling (Duncan-Based Modern, Creative Dance, Ballet) has a BA in English from Bucknell University, graduate credits in Dance Education from SUNY and a DEL teaching certificate from the 92nd Street Y. She has extensive experience performing in regional and off-Broadway theater in addition to concert dance. Faith currently dances with Lori Belilove's Isadora Duncan Dance Company, C. Eule Dance, and White Wave: Young Soon Kim, with whom she had the opportunity to dance in China. Professionally she has also performed choreography by Anna Sokolow, Molissa Fenley, Edisa Weeks, Michael Bennett, and others. She has performed in NYC on stages from the Lincoln Center Rose Theater, Carnegie Hall’s Weil Rectial Hall, the Brooklyn Arts Museum, and the Hammerstein Ballroom to small loft studios and off broadway venues such as La Mama and the Gene Frankel Theater.  In her studies she has had the opportunity to learn and perform choreography by Lyn Simonsen, Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Doris Humphrey, Mark Morris, Nacho Duato, Colin Conor, and Doug Varone.  Faith teaches Duncan technique, creative movement, and ballet to all ages.  She has taught master classes on tour, in private studios, preschools, and in public schools as a guest artist in residence and after-school teacher.
 
Aubrey A. Strickland (Modern, Ballet, Creative Dance, Dance Making) is Co-Founder of Amalgamate Dance Company (ADC). As a performer, she made her Off-Broadway debut in For Christ's Sake, The Musical, danced Alwin Nikolais' Tensile Involvement, and has worked with Cynthia St. Clair, Peter Kalivas and Jessica Schietler. Aubrey trained at The Ailey School, Joffrey Ballet School, Marymount Manhattan College, and Pinellas County Center for the Arts. Her choreography has been presented at Baruch College, Abrons Art Center, Movement Research OP at DTW Studios, Uptown Performance Series, Times Square Arts Center, The POINT, and Project Dance Atlanta and Sydney. She was the dance director for Eyes to See at the Times Center. As a teacher, Aubrey uses her gift of dance to empower, she believes dance has the ability to ignite and revitalize students of all ages. Aubrey specializes in the Lester Horton technique, and has enjoyed teaching workshops and master classes across the country with her company. Aubrey is a teaching artist at The POINT CDC, Columbia Secondary School, and also teaches Senior Adults through out NYC. Aubrey holds a BA in Communications from Marymount, has worked with director Michel Gondry and on several celebrated PBS productions. She is so blessed to be joining the team and working with the amazing young artists at Sweet Soul!

Libby Conkle (Acting/Musical Theatre) is an actress and director in and around New York City.  She is originally from a small town in Northern Michigan. She moved to New York to earn her BFA at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts within the Playwrights Horizon's Theater School.  Following graduation she has performed and directed many different kinds of theater throughout the United States.  As an actress she has performed on tour in a production called, "Halfway There" a play educating young people about substance abuse, and has most recently performed in an original musical, "Dizzy" with the Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at NYU.  For the past five years Libby has also worked as a director at Stage Right Productions where every semester she directs over 100 kids ages 6-14 in full length Broadway Musicals.  She has also served as the Head of the Drama Department at Camp Walden in Maine where she directed with every camper in a full length musical.  She has a great belief in what theater can do for young people as she experienced it first hand herself and through teaching would like to help other kids find a lifetime of joy from theater.

Renuka Hines (Jazz, Tap) is a professional dancer and dance teacher here in NYC. Renuka enrolled in her first dance class at the age of 3 when her preschool teacher diagnosed her with a chronic problem of “ants in her pants,” and she has not stopped dancing since. She graduated from Columbia University with both a BA in Dance and a New York State teaching certificate in elementary education.  In 2008 Renuka received the Louis Sudler Prize for the Arts and was also nominated for the ACDFA/Dance Magazine award for Best Student Performer. Currently, Renuka is a performer with David Dorfman Dance, a nationally and internationally touring company, as well as other NYC companies. On tour and in New York she teaches dance classes to students of all ages. Renuka is passionate about both working with children and the art of dance and is happy to be joining the Sweet Soul Movement Family.

Kambi Gatheshi (Hip Hop) is a New York-based dancer, actor and teacher.  Originally from Nairobi, Kenya, he grew up between his native country and Saudi Arabia before attending the Julliard School.  While there, he immersed himself in the New York 'street style' dance scene, absorbing the culture from House to Hip-Hop and Popping.  Having discovered deep passions for both teaching and scholarship, Kambi is a student at Columbia University completing dual degrees in History and African Studies, while working tirelessly to pass on knowledge to future generations of students.  He has performed all over the world and New York City, including with Merce Cunningham, Naganuma Contemporary Dance Theater and Hydroflo among others, and at Lincoln Center.

ALL CLASSES TAUGHT AT

440 Studios
440 Lafayette St. between Astor Place and East 4th St.
directly across from The Public Theater 
Take Elevator to 4th Floor

By Subway:
Take the N/R/W to 8th Street. Go east on 8th Street one block, take a right on to Lafayette St., go south 1 1/2 blocks on Lafayette St. to 440, on the right.

Take the 6 to Astor Place. Go south on Lafayette St. 1/2 block to 440, on the right