Summer Dance Institute

Nutrition for Dancers

Lyndsay Barto is a Registered Dietitian and the owner of LB Wellbeing and has over twelve years of experience in the health and wellness industry helping individuals who strive to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.

Lyndsay has a Master’s degree in Health Promotion & Education from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from the University of Kentucky. She has a partnership with St. Elizabeth Sports Medicine where she has worked with individual athletes and teams to assist them in optimizing sports performance and overall health through nutrition.

Ballet and Modern Dance

Kiersten Edwards is a Louisville, Ky. native who began dancing at the age of 13. While growing up in Louisville, her main focus was ballet and modern training at the University of Louisville Dance Academy, Louisville Ballet, and the Youth Performing Arts School. Kiersten is a graduate of Northern Kentucky University with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and a minor in Dance. While at NKU, she performed in Dance Troupe, dance concerts, and at the American College Dance Association (ACDA). Kiersten has danced professionally with De La Dance Company, Tulsa Modern Movement, Big River Dance Festival, and is currently with Mutual Dance Theatre.

Pilates/Ballet

Jacqui Haas recently retired as Performing Arts Medicine program manager for Mercy Health at Cincinnati Ballet. She is a former professional ballet dancer, having danced with Cincinnati Ballet, New Orleans City Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, Southern Ballet Theatre and was an apprentice with Boston Ballet. Jacqui has a BA in Dance from the University of South Florida, her Athletic Training certificate through the University of Cincinnati and is currently working on her Masters degree here at NKU. Ms. Haas has certifications in Pilates instruction from St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco and Pilates for Rehabilitation from Polestar Education in Miami. Jacqui is proud to be the author of two editions of “Dance Anatomy”, Human Kinetics publications. She is a member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, the National Athletic Trainers Association and the National Dance Educators Organization.

Music Theatre

Jeff Kuhr is excited to be back at NKU where he started his career as a musical theater major. Having performed in regional theaters all over the country for more than decade, he specializes in musical theater, jazz, and theater tap. He transferred to Point Park University for more focused dance training and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with an emphasis in Jazz technique. He was an original cast member of the 1st National Tour of Kinky Boots and then had the honor of joining the Broadway coming making his debut as a Swing. He was also a Swing in the world premier Off-Broadway hit Clueless The Musical, starring Dove Cameron. He also has performed all over the world with Norwegian and Holland America Cruise Lines. He got his start right here in Cincinnati, Ohio performing at Kings Island during his summers off from college back in 2001-2004. He loves creating a safe supportive space where artists can thrive and create; he can’t wait to see what these incredible dancers can do!

Hip Hop

Anaya Ni’kole McNair is a born and raised Cincinnatian and a recent graduate of Northern Kentucky University School of the Arts. Also, dancing with her own dance crew (CA)^2 dance crew at Elementz. Anaya is trained in hip hop, jazz, modern, contemporary. Anaya has also competed around the country at Hip Hop International, World of dance and won first place at Monsters of Hip Hop. She also dances around the tri-state area with her dance crew. Anaya plans on influencing the next generation and creating active achievers.

African Dance Forms

A native of Cincinnati, Jeaunita Ìfẹ́wándé Château Weathersby Olówè has been a dancer and an athlete since age 5 and a professional dancer, choreographer, teaching artist and athlete for the past 30 years in African, Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Ballroom, Latin dances and Zumba®. She's performed, taught and toured throughout the US, Canada, Africa, Asia since 1994 and performed for the US/NATO military in Europe and Mediterranean. Jeaunita was one of the 7 talented artists that traveled to perform in Europe during 2003- 2005 visiting Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Belgium and England for the United States and United Nations Armed Forces military families. She is a certified Zumba® fitness instructor in B1, B2, Core, Glutes and Toning and AFAA Group Fitness instructor.

Ballet

Rebecca Rodriguez-Hodory hails from Manila, Philippines and received her training at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (under Eduardo Elejar), the Philippine High School for the Arts, and the San Francisco Ballet School. She was a member of the Goodwill tour to Morocco in 1980, and the Asian Youth Delegation to the 32^nd Eucharistic Congress in Lourdes, France, traveling throughout the US and Europe in 1981.

As a dancer she was a soloist with the Dallas Ballet, a principal dancer with both, the Cincinnati Ballet, and BalletMet Columbus, where she enjoyed essaying roles encompassing different genres of dance, and working with renowned artists and artistic directors such as Flemming Flindt, Ivan Nagy, Frederic Franklin, Nigel Burgoine, Ben Stevenson, Richard Collins, David Nixon, and Gerard Charles, amongst many others.

During her tenure as ballet mistress for BalletMet Columbus (2004-2014), she assisted, and set works for various choreographers/répétiteurs such as Amedeo Amodio, Devon Carney, Ma Cong, Randy Duncan, James Kudelka, Harrison McEldowney, Darrell Grand Moultrie, David Nixon, Jimmy Orrante, Robert Post, Dwight Rhoden, Gustavo Sansano, Stanton Welch, and Doug Varone.

In 2013, she set Darrell Grand Moultrie’s ‘Simply Sammy’, a moving celebration of Sammy Davies, jr.’s life and music, for the Milwaukee Ballet. She was guest ballet mistress for Cincinnati Ballet’s New Works Program in 2014 and 2017, working with Jennifer Archibald, Heather Britt, Victoria Morgan, Penny Saunders, Amy Seiwert, and William Whitener, and as répétiteur for Edwaard Liang. In 2016, she set the white acts of ‘Swan Lake’ for Kansas City Ballet’s artistic director, Devon Carney. Last year, she proudly brought Darrell Grand Moultrie’s ‘Boiling Point’ to the Dance Department of the University of Arizona.

Since her return to Cincinnati in 2014, besides the Cincinnati Ballet, she has also worked with various dance studios or art institutions as a guest ballet instructor and dance coach around the Greater Cincinnati Area, including the School of the Creative and Performing Arts, Northern Cincinnati Youth Ballet, and Prestige Dance Center, and has a continuing relationship with Ballet Tech of Ohio in Maineville and Dance Etc. in Milford.

Health Literacy

Katherina Terhune, Ph.D., LCSW, is an Associate Professor and the MSW Program Director in the School of Social Work at Northern Kentucky University. She has over 16 years of experience working as a mental health therapist, and her teaching, research, and clinical work all reflect a commitment to improving emotional well-being. Dr. Terhune is one of the founding members of NKU's Age-Friendly University Coalition. She is an appointed member of the Ethics Committee for the National Association of Social Workers (Kentucky Chapter), a member of the Board of Directors for the Kentucky Society for Clinical Social Work, and the President of the Board of Directors for the National Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation.

Dr. Terhune’s daughter, Clare, who is a dancer at Diana Evans School of Dance in Lexington, has had the amazing opportunity to participate in various NKU SOTA events, including this year’s Summer Dance Intensive. Dr. Terhune is happy to contribute to SDI by serving on the Health Literacy Panel.

Contemporary

Kat Wolf is an interdisciplinary artist, performer, photographer, and choreographer with a broad scope of influence including color guards, dance studios, dance companies, and photography for dance in the tri-state area. She has served as a choreographic mentor and advisor for Northern Kentucky University BFA Dance Candidates and will continue as a Mentor for 2022-2023 season.

As a professional performer, choreographer, and dance educator, Kat is proficient in all dance styles and carries strong embodiment in contemporary and modern movement with a specialized focus in gender neutral partnering. She spent 10+ years in Color Guard, including Onyx Independent World (2009-2012), touring with the Colts Drum and Bugle Corp (2009-2011) and trained under Derek Stratton (Pilobolus), Vincent Thomas (VT dance company), Mikey Perkins (Perkins School of the Arts), & Kristin Whiting (ABT). Most recently, Kat was accepted into the Creation Program (July 2022) at the Orsolina 28 and will be training under Julian Nunes, Eve-Marie Dalcourt, Alice Klock, & Florian Lochner.

As a 2016 graduate of Northern Kentucky University with emphasis in Choreography, 3D arts, & literature; she performed in various ensembles including the athletic Dance Team, the Dance Ensemble in the School of the Arts (SOTA), and for a variety of Guest Artists in faculty/guest artist dance concerts, including works by Tracey Bonner, Heather Britt, Jay Goodlett, & Renee McCafferty. As a capstone project in fall 2015, Kat conceived, developed, and implemented the Emerging Choreographers’ Showcase. ECS is a completely student directed, choreographed, and staffed production featuring SOTA undergraduate dancers and choreographers, which is still produced annually by the theatre and dance program in SOTA.

Kat’s focus on creating and channeling artists within dancers has developed a space for developing a personal artistic access for dancers, regardless of their current level of dance technique. When Kat is not teaching dance, she is busy running her shop “NKY Dancewear” (Cold Spring, KY) and taking photos with KC Wolf Photography.

Student Assistant

Caitlin Doyle is a junior Dance Major from Cincinnati, OH. Caitlin has performed in ECS 2020 and 2021, as well as Dance '21 and '22. So far through this process she has been able to grow not only as an artist, but as a leader and build strong relationships with students and staff of the dance program. Caitlin is excited to meet everyone and hopes that you enjoy this experience!

Student Assistant

Jessica Shepherd is a senior English Major on the Writing Studies track with a dance minor from Cincinnati, OH. Jess has performed alongside her peers in ECS 2020 and ECS 2021, as well as Dance '20, '21, and '22. Throughout these processes, she has had the opportunity to choreograph her own work, grow her leadership skills, and build strong relationships with faculty and staff in the program. Jess is so excited to see everyone this summer!

Student Assistant

Kasey Weinfurtner is in her first here in the NKU theatre and dance program and is excited to begin this artistic journey! She previously received a Bachelor’s degree in Neuropsychology from the University of Cincinnati, but decided to go back to school for Dance. Kasey would like to thank her parents and brother, Logan for all of their support and encouragement.