Heidi Hilton, Director, Manhattan Studio, Pride Dancers
Heidi Hilton is the director of the Bates Dance Studios (Manhattan studio) and the co-founder of the Bates Pride Dancers. Heidi has taken dance lessons for twenty-six years in many areas including ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, musical theatre, and baton. The studios where Heidi has studied dance include the Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, The Edge Performing Arts Center in L.A., Lou Conte Dance Studio in Chicago, and Broadway Theatre Project in Tampa.
For the last thirteen years, Heidi has been an instructor in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, musical theatre, and baton.
Heidi currently teaches at Bates Dance Studios, and has also taught at three studios in Virginia including Ann Catherine-Cross School of Dance. Heidi was also an advanced tap and jazz instructor at Kansas State University and taught at Bethany College in Kansas.
Heidi has performed professionally for Busch Gardens Williamsburg (April 1999 to Oct. 2000), Holland America Cruiselines (April 2001 to July 2001), and the National Tour of "The Music Man" (Aug. 2002 to Jan. 2003). She has also substitute taught for Dance Olympus and was also a VIP and Art Stone Girl.
Mindy Dryden, Instructor/Choreographer, Pride Dancers
Mindy Dryden has been taking ballet, lyrical, pointe, jazz, and tap for the last twenty-two years. She has taken from Bates Dance Studio, Kansas State University, Broadway Dance Center,Lou Conte Dance Studio of Chicago, Millennium Dance Complex and The Edge Performing Arts Center both in L.A. She has been teaching tap, jazz, tumbling, and ballet for the last six years at Bates Dance Studios and for one summer in Riley, Kansas.
Mindy has toured for Dance Olympus as a VIP dancer and worked for Dance Olympus as an Art Stone Girl.
Mindy danced professionally at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay from August 2005 to January 2006. She was featured in "American Beat", "Christmas Celebration", and a Special Performance for the Boys & Girls Club.
Mindy is a 2005 graduate of Kansas State University with a B.A. in Management and a minor in Spanish.
Sladana Hudson, Instructor/Choreographer
Sladana has been dancing for over twenty years. She was trained in Vaganova ballet technique at Sarajevo's School of Performing Arts in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Sladana also took ballet at Kansas State University and performed in K-State's Winter and Spring Dances. She has also performed at Sarajevo's National Theater, Wichita State University, The Folly Theater in Kansas City, and the Columbian Theater in Wamego.
Sladana has been teaching at Bates Dance Studios for over 10 years in ballet, pointe, and lyrical. She also teaches the ballet technique class for the Bates Pride Dancers.
Sladana received a B.S. in Business Administration/Marketing & Management from KSU in December of 2000 and an M.S. in Apparel and Textiles Marketing from KSU in May of 2003.
Emily Mayfield, Instructor/Substitute Instructor
Emily began dancing in 1989 at Kathy Nallia's School of Dance in Shawnee, Kansas, where she took ballet and tap lessons. From 1991-2004, Emily studied jazz, ballet, tap, acrobatics, hip-hop, pointe, and pilates at Hilltop Dance Center. Emily has taken the college jazz class at our Manhattan studio since 2004.
Her teaching experience began at Hill Top Dance Center, where she was an assistant ballet teacher for one year. She then moved on to teach jazz, tap, acrobatics, and ballet to both elementary and advanced students. Emily has also been a substitute teacher and choreographer in Council Grove for ballet, jazz, and tap.
Emily started at Bates Dance Studios as a substitute teacher in Abilene and Manhattan. In 2005, she began teaching pre-dance, tumbling, and dance line.
Emily has danced professionally in the Kansas City Symphony's Magic of Christmas Show in Kansas City, MO (2002, 2004, and 2005) and in Funny Girl at the New Theatre Restaurant (www.newtheatre.com/home.html) in Overland Park, KS (summer 2005).
Some of Emily's honors include receiving scholarships from: the Manhattan Dance Project in 2000, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Congress in 2002, and Broadway Dance Center in 2003 and 2004. Emily is currently studying Elementary Education at K-State and plans to graduate in 2008.
Alisa Doan, Instuctor/Choreographer
Alisa Doan has training from numerous places including:
-Rhythm tap from Keane on Dance in Minneapolis, MN,
-Jazz from Zenon Dance Company and School Minneapolis, MN,
-Jazz, lyrical, ballet, Pointe, tap, hip-hop at The Dance Center Knoxville, TN,
-Jazz, lyrical, modern, tap, ballet, hip-hop at the University of Tennessee-Dance Company Knoxville, TN
-Ballet, Pointe at the Highland Center for Ballet Abington, VA,
-Jazz, lyrical, ballet, tap, acrobatics, hip-hop, Pointe at The Dance Company/Ann Hodge Dance Studio Johnson City, TN.
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
The Pulse Broadway Dance Center Tour (Teacher classes), American College Dance Festival, Broadway Dance Center Summer Classes, Rockettes Summer Dance Intensive, Atlanta Ballet Summer Intensive.
Katie Spear,
Info coming soon.
Hans Kristian Tessman, Instructor/Choreographer
Hans has been dancing for over 22 years. He began dancing at the age of 19 and was dancing professionally within five months. Hans has studied ballet and jazz at Dupree Dance Academy, Steps Dance Studio in New York City, and Stage Seven in San Diego.
Hans taught jazz and turning classes for three years at various studios including Dupree Dance Academy, Steps Dance Studio, and Broadway Dance Center. He currently teaches jazz here at Bates.
Hans' professional experience includes MTV videos, film, television, and stage appearances from 1986-1995. He has appeared in a Def Leppard video, 70 Club MTV episodes, and has danced in Los Angeles, New York, Italy, Greece, Jordan, and Cyprus. Hans has received drama awards for his choreography for three high school productions at his alma mater in San Diego.
