FACULTY BIOS | GEORDIE WRIGHT | CARLA LUBOW | KIHA LEE | TRACY VONDERHAAR | RICK CRAWFORD | RACHEL PAUL |
GEORDIE WRIGHT, Associate Professor, is a native of California, and began her study of ballet, jazz, and tap at the age of five. Her professional da
nce experience began at the age of 8, when she was selected to perform three consecutive years with the Bolshoi and Kirov Ballet Companies, during their San Francisco engagements. Ms. Wright received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from California Institute of the Arts, studying with Bella Lewitzky, Donald McKayle, and Mia Slavenska. She did post-graduate work in Dance at U.C.L.A. and earned a Master of Arts degree in Dance at Cal State Long Beach. She continued her professional dance career while still in college, touring and performing locally and nationally with several modern, jazz, and folk ballet companies, including Gloria Newman’s modern dance company, and Burch Mann’s Americana Dance Theater. Ms. Wright has danced professionally on television, film, and Broadway, including the movie Pennies from Heaven, the Academy Awards Show, and the Broadway musical Mack and Mabel. She has worked with directors, choreographers, and stars such as Gower Champion, Robert Preston, Bernadette Peters, Ron Howard, Bob Hope, Ann Margaret, Ben Vereen, Ray Charles, Sonny and Cher, Donald McKayle, and Jaime Rogers.
As an advocate for arts in education, Ms. Wright spent two years with the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Visual and Performing Arts Program, writing and implementing curriculum for the pilot arts and literacy program, teaching dance and creative movement to elementary school children, and providing professional development training and workshops for district teachers.
Ms. Wright implemented a partnership with Valley College and Arianne MacBean’s Dance Moving Forward Festival, bringing renowned guest choreographers to work with students in the Valley College dance program. Ms. Wright has been teaching at Los Angeles Valley College for more than 18 years, offering classes in ballet, modern, jazz, choreography, dance production, and Dance and Creative Movement for Educators.
CARLA LUBOW began dancing at age seven with Eugene Loring at the American School of Dance. An LA native, she attended Hollywood High, UC Santa Cruz, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude with her BA and MA in Dance from UCLA. Lubow trained with such greats as Bella Lewitky, Murray Louis and Mia Slavenska, has performed with Donald Byrd, Dance/LA, Sesame Street Live, ‘It’s Magic’ and various commercial revues throughout Mexico, South America and Europe. She has taught at Glendale College, Orange Coast College, Cal Poly Pomona, Marlborough, Crossroads and The Oaks School. Her choreography has been featured at Theatre West, in the world of fashion, in collaboration with the Valley Symphony Orchestra, and via her own dance company, ‘Movers & Shakers’ at the LA Art Show, Dance Moving Forward Festival, Dance Spectrum, Dance Kaleidoscope, Dance at Brand, Choreographer’s Spotlight, and at Barnsdall Arts Center. Lubow choreographed the original musical, ‘WR and Daisy’, the film ‘The Good Book’, and a variety of music videos. Nominated for ‘Choreographer of the Year’ by the Beverly Hills Outlook for her choreography and performance of ‘Erector’ in Spectrum #16, Lubow’s choreography has guided productions of ‘Guys and Dolls’, ‘Grease’, and ‘A Chorus Line’ at Los Angeles Valley College, where she currently teaches Modern Dance, Jazz Dance and Choreography.
KIHA LEE, whose many achievements began with winning first place at the International Youth Dance Competition in Asia at the age of 15, is a prolific performer, choreographer and teacher. She holds an MFA in Choreography/Performance from UCLA. Ms. Lee is also a co-producer of Chopsticks & Sneakers Dance Group and is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher. Ms. Lee's choreography has been presented nationally and internationally, including collaborations with the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Festival and the International Dance Festival. Her work also has been aired on the public network channels KCET and the Classic Arts Showcase. Ms. Lee was a member of the dance faculty at UCLA, Cal State Polytechnic University, and has been invited as a guest faculty member at numerous universities and workshops such as Connecticut College, the American College Dance Festivals and the International Dance Festivals. She was nominated for the prestigious Horton Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography and Best Female Performer in 2001 and again in 2004. Currently, Ms. Lee teaches at L.A. Valley College and Cal State University, Los Angeles. The Valley College spring concert, 2007, was her 62nd presentation of new work at public venues since 1988.
TRACY VONDER HAAR, a former member of the Hubbard Street Dance Company, moved to Los Angeles from Chicago where she taught at the Lou Conte Dance Studio (home of Hubbard Street), the prestigious Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance, was dance coordinator for the musical theatre program at Columbia College, and directed Chicago Studio for Dance and Musical Theatre. Tracy has an extensive background in all aspects of the theatre from sweeping the stage to directing and producing. She has choreographed television shows and commercials, and directed and choreographed scores of musicals. She also served as artistic director for Dance and Company in Chicago and as director of the children’s choir for the Canadian national tour of “Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” with Donny Osmond. She currently teaches at Los Angeles Valley College, continues to choreograph for Yip’s Children’s Choir in Hong Kong, and just recently concluded over a decade on the staff of the Pasadena Civic Ballet in order to open Ballet Petit Performing Arts Center. The Center offers professional and pre-professional training in the performing arts to students of all ages.
Link to Tracy's dance studio website
RICK CRAWFORD received his MFA degree in Dance from UC, Irvine in 1993, where he worked closely with Donald McKayle, Bernard Johnson, and James Penrod. While at UCI he danced for the Lula Washington Dance Theatre in some of McKayle’s famous works (Games, and sections from Songs of the Disinherited, and District Storyville). He has been a professional performer, choreographer, and teacher in public and private organizations in the United States and abroad since 1984. After completing his MFA degree, he worked for Princess Cruises reconstructing shows and helping to produce new shows for the fleet. He is a tenured professor of dance at ELAC, past chair and a member of the district dance discipline committee, previously an American Council on Exercise certified group fitness instructor, and also taking a brief leave from being Co-Director of the ELAC Touring Let’s Dance Company (although he has set a piece on the Let’s Dance Company this year). Rick continues to work professionally during ELAC breaks. He performed in the Summer 2005 at Candlelight Pavilion in Claremont, CA in a production of the Broadway hit Dreamgirls, and in the Fall 2005 in a small singing/dancing show at the LA County Fair. Visit more information about Rick, his syllabus, and his classes at ELAC at www.rickcrawford.net.
RACHEL PAUL is a dance instructor and choreographer working at the high school and collegiate levels. She just finished her 6th year as coach and choreographer for the nationally ranked Dance Team at UCLA. She also teaches dance and coaches two performance teams at Notre Dame High School. Her choreography and instruction have led to many awards including two high school songleading National Championships and one collegiate dance team National Championship. A graduate of UCLA, Rachel was a member of the Dance Team for 3 years, where she was seen in commercials for ESPN and Fox Sports, on the "X Show" on FX and on the cover of the UCLA Bear Ware Catalogue. As an instructor and choreographer for the United Spirit Association, Rachel has taught workshops and choreographed for dance programs throughout the western United States. She also has an instructional dance DVD with Championship Productions and choreographed the halftime show for the 2006 NCAA Basketball National Championship Game. Rachel has a Master of Arts degree in dance from California State University, Long Beach.
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