Saki

After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Art in Modern Dance from the University of Utah, Saki ran away and joined a circus, swam with dolphins, hung and sung from a 30' rope, played with fire, levitated and has taught and performed in over 50 Bay Area, Monterey and Santa Cruz schools.  Saki has worked as a dancer, acrobat and teaching artist for The New Pickle Circus, Tandy Beal & Co.'s "Listening to the Earth", "Dance Around the World", "Mixed Nutz", "JOY!", "Wild Life", "HereAfterHer", "Imagine If" and "Step Right Up!"shows.  As a performer and dance educator in mathdance with the Dr. Shaffer & Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble (member of the Kennedy Center for the Arts Partners in Education) teaching MathDance based curriculum to children grades K-12, teachers and administrators alike with performances including "The Daughters of Hypatia: A Mathematical Herstory", "Secret Life of Squares" and "The Day the Numbers Disappeared".  With directors Karl Shaffer and Erik Stern Saki has toured various countries such as Korea and Hungary and many states from Maine to Hawaii.  She has also taught dance and choreography for Mount Madonna School since 2007.  

 

Currently she is Tandy Beal & Co.’s Art Smart Director and a long time member of the Santa Cruz Art Council’s Artist/Teacher Partnership program and SPECTRA teaching artist in the schools.  Saki teaches a range of styles including Creative Movement, Choreography and Improvisation, World Dance, Circus Arts and Skills, Modern Dance, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Acrobatics and Performance Skills.  She is a veteran of national cooperate events for companies such as E-Bay, Charles Schwab, Oracle and Pac Bell.  As an aerialist and fire dancer she has performed for audiences of over 5,000 nightly at Sea World of San Diego and with world renowned illusionist Patrick Magic Martin.

 

The creative movement and dance class will focus on fun ways to increase strength, flexibility, coordination, concentration, body awareness, self-control, imagination, compassion and community!  We will move in structured improvisations to explore, discover and create.