Category: Dance Instructor

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Kim Graham

Kim is a dance instructor, and owner of Evergreen Dance Academy, was born in San Francisco, CA where her ballet training started at the age of 6. During her early years of training, she performed roles with the Contra Costa Ballet and the Orinda Ballet.

After moving to the Northwest as a teen, she trained with Pacific NW Ballet School, and Dance Lab of Seattle. She attended the University of Washington, where she performed in both classical ballet roles and modern dance under the direction of Kitty Daniels, Hannah Wiley, and Mark Morris.

After completing college with a degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1988, Kim relocated to Los Angeles where she danced with The Long Beach Ballet under the direction of David Wilcox. She also danced as a soloist in Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral productions of The Glory of Christmas and The Glory of Easter, which were televised nation-wide.

After retirement in 1993, Kim started teaching ballet in Hood River OR. After moving to the Vancouver area in 1997, she taught for Columbia Dance Ensemble from 1997-2000. Kim started Evergreen Dance Academy in 2000.

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Carlyn Hudson 

Carlyn grew up in Rockland County, NY and began her dance training there at Coupe Theater Studio.  Upon graduation, Carlyn attended the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2008.  Carlyn has since worked with Connecticut Ballet and Polaris Dance Theater, and is now a cofounder, dancer, and choreographer with SubRosa Dance Collective a Portland based modern dance company.

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Russell Capps

Russell began his dance training with Eric Hyrst of London’s Royal Ballet. His early studies embraced performing with the Jefferson Dancers under the direction of Mary Foleberg, Oregon Festival Ballet, and Directors John Gardner and Michael Falotico.
Intense training developed great respect and deep discipline for the art while working with notable choreographers including Toni Pimble, Dennis Spaight, Charles Bennett, Val Caniparoli, John Clifford, James Canfield, Keith Martin, Carol Armitage, Vasili Sulich, Robert Sund, David Allen, and many others. His influential teachers include Alla Khaniashvili, Rebecca Wright, Elena Carter, Joe Wyatt, Patti Jones, George De La Pena, Sylvester Dolinar, and Meg Potter.
Russell enjoyed a dance career for more than 30 years with several notable ballet companies including Oregon Ballet Theatre, Nevada Dance Theatre, Los Angeles Classical Ballet, Ballet Oregon, Eugene Ballet, and Pacific Ballet Theatre. He performed many principal and soloist roles in the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, Cinderella, and Coppelia, to name a few.
Russell’s choreographic achievements include the Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and neo-classical and modern ballets, including Tijustme (Just In Time), Eye II Eye, One Second, Glass House, and Velveteen Rabbit. His choreographic collaborations highlighted Bravo! Vancouver “St. Paullus Oratorio” and “An American in Paris” performed to live orchestra and choir and broadcast on public television. Long Beach Ballet and Dance West of Beaverton Arts and Communication are among other collaborative efforts.

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Martin Ervin

Marty started training with Columbia Dance in 2005 and was a performing member of Columbia Dance Academy from 2006-2008. He attended Young Americans College of Performing Arts. Marty has toured with the Young Americans performing company throughout the United States and Japan.  He returned to Vancouver looking forward to sharing his knowledge and passion for dance with our community.  Marty is currently teaching at a number of studios in Vancouver and Portland and he is an assistant coach at Hockinson High School.

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Victoria Perez

Victoria Perez is a recent graduate from Pacific University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Victoria fell in love with dance at a young age after having the opportunity to work with artists such as Joe Alegadro, Ashley Lopez, Laura Rodriguez and Hannah Brightwell. While studying under the direction of Jennifer Camp at Pacific, she explored her passion for choreographing and learning the role as a Director of a dance department. Victoria has had the opportunity to present her choreographic work at Pacific University, the American College Dance Association Northwest conference, and was recently accepted into the 2019 Young Choreographers Festival in New York. Victoria also has a passion for coordinating community engagement events to educate the youth about dance in higher education. She is currently the acting Studio Intern for Studio Shaun Keylock. Victoria is a freelance artist within the Portland community and continues to share her love for dance through her students and community arts collaboration.

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Drew Yowell

Drew Yowell is a professional choreographer, dancer, and dance educator. In 2017 Drew earned his BFA in Dance Performance from East Carolina University. While still in school Drew danced as a company member for Patti Weeks’ Collectively Speaking. In addition to his college education, Drew attended the Parson’s dance and choreographic intensives, The Dance Sessions, and Northwest Dance Project’s 5 Dance Days.  After graduating, Drew attended his third season as a dancer for the Tony honor award winning production of The Lost Colony in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Before moving to the Pacific Northwest, Drew worked as a modern dance instructor for Salisbury Academy of Dance, and had a residency at Salisbury University.