Gwen Bowen School of Dance Arts . Denver, CO Instructors Gwen Bowen Pat Sarmir Ricki Harara Maria Vazquez Chris Harris

Gwen Bowen:
Artistic Director and Instructor Member of Dance Master of America (Life Member), Midwest Dance Association*, Dance Educators of America (Regional Director), American Society of Teachers of Dancing*, National Association of Dance and Affiliated Artists, Denver Civic Ballet (Founding Member). Ms. Bowen received a B.A. from Denver University and was a teacher in Denver Public Schools and Metropolitan State College for many years. She is a life member of Dance Educators of America and is listed in "Who's Who in Dance".

Miss B. was honored recently as a recipient of the prestigious Dance Teacher Award for 2004 (in the "private studio" category), at ceremonies held during the annual Dance Theater Summer Conference in New York City. Read more about it here.

*Appeared as Faculty

Find out what Miss B. had to say about her instructors!

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Pat Sarmir:
College education: Ohio State University, B.S. in Art Education; Miami University, graduate studies in Education; Wright State University, Retraining Certification in Elementary Education. Ms. Sarmir trained at the Rita Hoefler School of Dance in 1976-81, Kathleen Hill Dance Academy 1982, Gwen Bowen School of Dance Arts 1983-present. She also attended the Colorado Dance Festival Jazz Tap Workshops, Dance Conventions, Master Classes and Workshops in tap, ballet and jazz. Certifications include Ohio Art Education K-12, Ohio Elementary Education 1-8, Ohio Non-Public Schools K-12 and Dance Educators of America-Performing Arts. Her work experience is Dayton City Schools 1963-66, Holy Angels School 1971-75, Rita Hoefler School of Dance 1976-81, One Step Ahead Dance 1982-85, Foothills Recreation Center Summer 1983, Englewood Recreation Center 1983-88, Montessori at Denver Place 1988-2000, Malley Center 2003-present, Gwen Bowen School of Dance Arts 1985-present.

Ricki Harada:
Born in Southern Japan, Ricki Harada began his dance career in 1986 as a funky jazz dancer in a professional troupe. He toured Japan extensively while studying ballet, mime and traditional Japanese dance, all of which he incorporates in his unique style. Ricki trained at Kumamoto Ballet in Japan from 1986-88, did summer intensive mime training at the Greg Goldstein Mime School in Columbus, Ohio 1989-90, and received a scholarship from Colorado Ballet in 1989. From 1994-present Ricki has appeared in many local dance festivals and has been choreographer of Jafrika in Denver, Colorado. He has also been a dancer on MTV. Ricki now teaches a Hip-hop dance class at the Gwen Bowen School of Dance Arts. More on his dance career can be seen at www.interpacificnet.com/art/usa/jafrika.htm.

*More on Ricki Harada (Broadband connection strongly suggested): Reason to Dance

Chris Harris:
was born in Denver and try as she might she just can't leave the mountains. She has a BFA in Dance from the University of Colorado and a second Bachelor's in Architecture. She has also choreographed for Magic Moments and local Disney shows, acted with Littleton Town Hall, been a guest lecturer at The Arts Institute of Colorado, and is an artist in residence or faculty member at many of the most well recognized studios and arts organizations in the Denver Metro area. Her current obsession is creating a system to record choreography using digital media and animation.

Maria Vazquez:
From Sevilla Spain, Maria Vazquez has been dancing Flamenco her whole life. She studied at the Conservatory of Sevilla and completed her formal training in the school of Carmen Montiel. At the sametime she studied with other professional dancers like Manolo Marin, Javier Latorre, Aida Gomez. She danced with the company "Cuidad de Sevilla" for two years and tourned France and Portugal with them. She continued performing with other independent Flamenco groups in Sevilla until 2002, when she moved to Denver. She now teaches Flamenco at the Gwen Bowen School of Dance Arts.