Teachers

Hama

Hama, a native of Japan, moved to New York in 1964, where he studied with famed jazz dance instructor, Luigi. Hama's credits include lead dancer at Radio City Music Hall, as well as various Broadway productions. In 1991, Hama opened his dance studio, and has dedicated himself to teaching. He has taught at many universities, and was nominated for the Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award at USC.

Many of Hama's students have gone on to become well known dance teachers.

Risa Tadokoro Arisue

Risa started dance Jazz and Ballet at the age of 11 in Japan. Risa came to America in 2001 and joined Ken Dance Company in 2003. She participated in the Jazz Dance LA show from 2002-2008 and performed in the Lester Horton Dance Awards Show in 2006.

In addition, Risa performed in Frankie's Gypsy Roses Show in 2006. Currently Risa works at Hama's Dance Center where she has acted as general manager since 2005.

Risa teaches Jazz class at Hama's Dance Center and is currently instructing dance classes for figure skaters at Toyota Sports Center.

Besides group classes, Risa also teaches private students. She can be contacted via email.

Kana Miyamoto

Kana began her dance training at the early age of three. She studied at the Mayumi Minokami Ballet Academy and performed in productions of Swan Lake, Coppelia, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Giselle. In addition, she worked in the movie Memoirs of a Geisha as a traditional Japanese dancer.

Kana has been described by the LA Times as "elegantly tethered to an earthbound sorrow." She also received first place dancing with Kenji at the 2006 Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival.

Denise Scheerer

Denise has performed with The Jazz Tap Ensemble at the Jazz Bakery, Ford Amphitheater and Morgan-Wixom Theater. She has studied and performed with tap legends Eddie Brown and Sam Weber. Denise also danced in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Hotel in "Hallelujah Hollywood" for for years. She founded and performed with That's Jazz, a Seattle based Jazz Dance Company. Denise choreographed for The Seattle Opera, The Empty Space Theater, The Pioneer Square Theatre and the Seattle Civic Light Opera.

Denise has taught workshops and master classes all over the Pacific Northwest and California and currently teaches in Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, The Colburn Performing Arts School, Hama's Dance Center and the Tap Academy.

Jaime Rogers

Jaime worked as a young dancer, rising to level of First Dancer with the Juilliard Dance Theater and notable Opera companies. He created a memorable performance in the movie "West Side Story."

A recipient of numerous awards and nominations, including Emmy Awards, Cleo Awards, Georgies, Tony Awards, and the Dance Alive Achievement Award. Jaime has been a force in the media of television, where he created for 40 different series, 1,500 episodes, and over 30 specials.

Julia Bourlina

At the age of 9, Julia was selected by master teachers to enter the Vaganova Academy of Classical Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. She studied under Kirov ballet master Ninella Kurgapkina. After 8 years of training, Julia graduated at the top of her class from the Vaganova Ballet Academy . She has danced throughout the world in the Kirov Ballet and Opera. From 1984 to 1996 she performed in Russia and on tour around the world. She has worked in stage productions by international directors Julie Taymor, Oleg Ignatief, David Freeman and Natalia Volkova.

In addition, Julia is fully certified as a Pilates instructor by The Pilates Studio in New York.

Michael Owens

Michael Owens has been teaching jazz dance for over 30 years. In 1982, he joined the faculty at Douglas Wassell's School of Theater Dance where he soon developed a large following among dancers from the Broadway stage. In 1985 he began 10 years teaching at the David Howard Ballet School, followed by faculty positions at the Ailey School, Broadway Dance Center, Princeton Ballet SChool and Steps.

In addition to his faculty positions, he has taught guest jazz classes at the International Summer Academy of Dance in Cologne, Broadway Dance School in Japan, NYC High School for the Performing Arts, Dance Masters of America, and returns annually to teach master classes at Steps in NYC.

Oscar Ramirez

Oscar is an internationally recognized Latin dance teacher and performer. He has performed for major Latin dance events including Latin music nights at the Hollywood Bowl and the International Salsa Congress. Oscar has taught special workshops in the U.S. and abroad and has performed and choreographed for TV and film. Some credits include choreography for feature film with Mario Lopez, private instruction for stars such as Tommy Chong and Toni Basil, and dancer in Dance With Me with Vanessa Williams.

In addition to his numerous performance experiences, he has choreographed group dances for quincineras, middle school shows, wedding dances, and performances for special events.

Nathan Prevost

Nathan began his dance career at the San Francisco Ballet, followed by a 3-year stint in a show called “Dance Between the lines” choreographed and directed by legendary choreographer Anne Marie Garvin. After winning the grand prize on the original “Star Search” Nathan was one of the most sought-after talents in the nation. He went on to become Paula Abdul’s favorite partner, accompanying her on her acclaimed “Under my spell” world tour and appearing in several of her music videos and the Emmy award winning opening number of the 1990 “American Music Awards”. He has choreographed, directed, produced or appeared in over 30 national commercials, more than 100 industrial shows, dozens of television productions, Music videos for the artists: Jason Mraz, Sugar Ray, Smashmouth, Harry Connick Jr. and many more.

Jerry Evans

Jerry Evans has worked as a Dancer, Choreographer and Director for over 28 years. Soon after beginning his career as a dancer, Jerry became a favorite with the top choreographers of the day. Working with the likes of Michael Kidd, Baryshnikov, Cher and many other Touring Artists. With a very successful professional dance career as his foundation, Jerry then launched a stunning career in choreography that has been more than two decades in the making. Having choreographed numerous consecutive world tours for the likes of Reba McIntyre, Paula Abdul, and Chayanne, Jerry has proven himself to be a favorite with producers for his ability to showcase performers, earning him industry wide respect and allowing him to elicit the highest quality performances from stars and support dancers alike. With more than 20 feature films under his belt including,: “The Scorpion King”, “Eraser”, “Naked Gun”, and “The Mask”, which won an American Choreographer Award for Best Choreography in a Feature Film to name just a few. He’s choreographed over 15 music videos including: Smashmouth ( which garnered him an American Choreographer Award Nomination ), Sugar Ray and Barbara Streisand’s “Left in the Dark” for which he was awarded a Music Video Producers Award. He’s also choreographed over 50 commercials for such high profile clients as “Ikea”, “Direct TV”, “McDonalds”, “Dr Pepper” and “GAP – Country”.

Barb Erfurt

Barb’s performance credits include The Will Rogers Follies, Brigadoon, A Chorus Line, and numerous repertory company productions. Barb has taught for the Tremaine Dance Center, Millenium, Michigan State University and several local colleges. Perhaps Barb’s greatest strength is her academic understanding of dance technique resulting from extensive formal education in dance & kinesiology. Barb’s class stands apart from others in that it teaches a systematic intellectual process by which to refine technical skills, increasing consistency of error-free movement and maximizing performance potential!

Edmundo and Elizabeth

Edmundo and Elizabeth were both born and raised in Buenos Aires. Anyone growing up in Argentina hears a lot of tango music from an early age. They have been teaching together since 2004 and currently live and work in Los Angeles. Edmundo was introduced to Tango in 1988 by Héctor Mayoral, the original star of the first "Tango Argentino" stage production. Since then he has studied under the likes of instructors such as Carlos Gavito, Raul Bravo,Carlos Borquez, Jorge Firpo, Ernesto Balmaceda, Julio Balmaceda, Gustavo Naveira, Chicho Frumboli, Omar Vega and Alejandro Suaya, among others.

Social tango dancing is supposed to be improvised and personalized. The goal is to help each tango dancer develop the understanding, patience and a solid command of the fundamentals (technique, musicality, and connection) needed to experience the joy of improvisation.