MEGAN WALKER-STRAIGHT

Megan was a Principle Dancer under MASTER choreographer

MERCE CUNNINGHAM.

Megan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Film from the University of California, Berkeley. She danced in New York City for 14 years in the companies of Lucinda Childs, Douglas Dunn, Kenneth King, and for several years in the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
After an extensive performing career, Megan attended the Master of Arts programme in Dance Therapy at the University of New York and trained at the Helix Institute for Psychotherapy and Spiritual Healing before working as a dance therapist for inner city youth and their families.
Megan is currently a seasonal instructor at Simon Fraser University and is teaching contemporary classes with The Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts.

BARBARA BOURGET
GUEST TEACHER

Barbara Bourget is a dancer, choreographer and teacher based in Vancouver, BC.  She is the Artistic Director of Kokoro Dance, the post-butoh dance company that has been named as one of the ten best reasons to live in Vancouver. Kokoro Dance continues to produce mesmerizing, physically intense productions and is now in its twentieth season.

Barbara has performed ballet, modern, and butoh dance for the past thirty-five years with companies ranging from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens to experimental modern companies in Vancouver. She has choreographed over one hundred works for dance, theatre and film. In June 2002 she received her Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from Simon Fraser University where her thesis was focused on the integration of text and movement.

Barbara is a highly respected teacher who has regular classes at Harbour Dance Centre in Vancouver for levels from the non-dancer to advanced/pre-professional as well as for professional dancers.  She has also taught for Ballet British Columbia, the Main Dance Bridging Program, Kidco (Victoria), Danzmode Productions and Simon Fraser University. For the past two years she has been involved with Kitsilano Secondary School’s spring musical theatre productions, choreographing on large numbers of students with varying abilities ranging in age from 13 – 18 years. Her rapport with the students is excellent as she creates a learning environment that is geared to the various levels of skills the students possess and is also challenging and fun. Barbara also adjudicates and teaches at various dance festivals throughout British Columbia.