FACULTY BIOS
ALICIA ARCIERI started to pursue her interest in dance at age 14 and was considered, by many, to have gotten a "late start." However, Alicia never let this stop her! Alicia started out as a social swing dancer and a competitive Irish dancer. Over time, she dabbled in many other styles of dance such as ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical and modern. Ceili dancing, contra dancing and salsa were a few others that she came to learn and enjoy. The journey through all of these styles of dance eventually led her to discover her love for learning, teaching and competing in ballroom dancing. Alicia enjoys teaching children, teens and adults. Alicia strives to challenge her students to achieve their potential while using her teaching style of patience, kindness and enthusiasm. Currently, Alicia is actively training and competing in ballroom dancing (in the international standard division.) With her dance partner, Alicia has placed as a finalist, at the open level, in many competitions in the Mid-Atlantic and North Eastern regions.
LINDSAY BASS has taught at BlackRock since 2005. She has studied piano and composition with Anthony Stark and Janet Peachey, and performed locally with the Catholic University Jazz Band and the CUA Contemporary Music ensemble, where she was a featured marimba soloist in 2000 and 2003. Her compositions have been performed locally, and also in New York and San Francisco by members of the progressive jazz band Curio. In addition to her students at BlackRock, Lindsay teaches at the JCC of Greater Washington, and coaches ensembles at the Mitchellville Community School of the Arts, where she works as a grant writer and administrator. She has over five years of experience teaching piano and music theory.
NANCY BROWNSTEIN studied classical piano from age 5 through age 21, first at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and later at the University of Maryland, College Park campus. She received a B.S. in music education from College Park with a piano major and voice minor. Nancy discovered her love for musical theater early on, and after college taught private piano and voice, in addition to working as musical director for numerous plays, including West Side Story, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Pippin. She’s the proud mom of a 21-year old son and an 18-year old daughter. Nancy currently teaches music for Montgomery County Public Schools at McNair Elementary in Germantown, in addition to preparing students for vocal auditions. She’s glad to be returning to BlackRock to teach the musical theater program she began here in July 2007, and hopes to see some returning faces (and voices!) from the summer.
DR. WILLIAM W. CHANG received a D.M.A. degree for piano performance from the University of Maryland, College Park. Also, he received his M.M. degree in piano from the Peabody Conservatory of Music for and a B.M. degree in piano from the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, Japan. He has performed in Japan, Korea and the U.S., including Carnegie Hall in New York City. He currently teaches at Montgomery College.
JOAN CLOWES has taught art to preschoolers at Black Rock since 2003 and through the Montgomery Country Department of Recreation since 1996. These youngest of artists explore various child-friendly art media with children's books as inspiration for self-expression. Attention to socialization, simple composition, and the joy of creation are the focus of each 45-minute class. In addition, she has taught the Metropolitan Opera’s Creating Original Opera program to fifth graders, and the Hands-on-Science program to K–5 students. In her spare time, she shuttles her two teenagers to musical theater auditions and rehearsals.
KAREN CONNER took her first dance class at the age of six. Having fallen in love with dance immediately, she has been dancing ever since. She started attending conventions and workshops as a teenager and was a member of the Montgomery College Dance Company. Karen has trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and pre-school children’s work. She has been teaching ages three to adults in the area for fourteen years. Having passed national examinations in ballet, tap, and jazz, Karen is an active member of Dance Masters of America. Keeping on top of her own education of dance and teaching, she continues to go to various workshops, conventions and Dance Masters Teachers Training School. Karen has a passion for everything dance and loves to share this enthusiasm with all of her classes.
RACHEL ELAZAR started studying jazz and ballet at age 16 at the New York Academy of Ballet and Dance Arts, The Broadway Dance Center, and Steps Studio in New York City. Rachel studied modern dance at Queens College/City University of New York and became involved in the dance department’s Theatre Dance Workshop. In 1991 she received a B.A. in Dance from the University of Maryland in College Park and performed in University of Maryland Department of Dance modern dance concerts. Rachel has been a member of the Kinor Israeli Folk Dance Company of the JCC of Greater Washington for 9 years. She has taught jazz, modern dance, ballet and creative movement in private studios in both Maryland and Northern Virginia, and taught jazz at BlackRock Center for the Arts in 2004. Rachel am very excited to return to teaching jazz dance at BlackRock.
JAVIER GODINEZ was born in Guatemala and moved to the US in 1990. Growing up Montgomery Count, he played in the school orchestras as well as extracurricular ones such as the Honors Montgomery County Orchestras, the NIH Community Orchestra, and the Montgomery County Youth Orchestra( MCYO). Javier also began to branch out in other genres of music at the age of 16 performing with a local talent, The Lloyd Dobler Effect. While touring mostly the east coast he acquired skills in contemporary genres of rock, funk, hip-hop, etc. He co-founded a latin-rock band, Stone Gato, and later stopped touring in order to pursue studies in Montgomery College. Having so doing, he's had the opportunity to perform Afro-Peruvian music at performances in certain embassies as well as enlarging his musical knowledge in world music.
MARIA GUERRERO is a ballet instructor and has studied in Virginia, Washington D.C. and Venezuela. She has performed with Nina Novak’s Ballet Company, Twinbrook Ballet and Metropolitan Ballet Theatre. She has taught for Metropolitan Ballet Theatre, Montgomery College Day Care Centers and D’Elia Ballet.
ALAN HART is pleased to return to BlackRock Center for the Arts, where he has been music director for the center's summer musical theater program for three years. Prior to coming to BlackRock, Al was music director for Round House Theatre's education program for several years. He has over 30 years of experience as a musician, music educator, composer and music director, working for schools and arts organizations in Boston, Chicago and here in Maryland. He is a teacher in the Montgomery County Public Schools, where he has taught choral and general music for more than 15 years. Al holds a B.A. in music from Tufts University and a master’s degree in music from Boston Conservatory.
MARTA LAUTZ is a creative artist and watercolorist. She obtained a bachelor’s degree as a graphic designer in Bogota, Columbia then moved to the United States. In Maryland, she continued her studies at Montgomery College in both watercolor and design. Currently, Marta also teaches art-related classes at Montgomery College. Her studies at MC allow for the exploration of combining traditional media with modern tools such as the computer. She enjoys teaching both media and also learning new avenues of expression. Marta is currently teaching drawing at BlackRock.
BECCI KIMM was trained as a child in tap, jazz, character and ballet. She attended international summer intensive programs in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, given by the Royal Academy of Dance. At age 16, she was accepted to the Royal Ballet School, London, England where she studied with world renowned teachers. During her stay at the Royal Ballet School she observed rehearsals of all the upcoming ballets and performances which included performances by Rudolph Nureyev, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell. She met and danced for Dame Ninette de Valois, founder of the Royal Ballet Company. Upon returning to the United States, she trained with American Ballet Theater, Joffrey and Harkness House in New York City. She performed with the Garden State Ballet in Newark, New Jersey and the resident ballet company at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. Becci has over 30 years of teaching experience both in the United States and Europe. She was the director of her own school for 15 years. Several of her former students have become professional dancers with American Ballet Theater and Washington Ballet. Many of her students have performed in the Kennedy Center Opera House with New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, London Festival Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet. They have also been accepted to many summer intensive study programs, often on scholarship. Becci is the chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Royal Academy of Dance Organization. She continues her studies and is a fully certified, registered teacher with the Academy. Students may enter for examinations under her tutelage.
MIKE KLIGERMAN has a B.A. in fine arts and music from Goddard College, Instituto de Bellas Artes Mexico D.F. (1974).He has taught guitar for over 40 years and plays in many styles and settings, both professionally and just for fun. He plays violin, viola, string bass, recorders, and most recently button accordion as well as guitar, and has taught at BRCA since fall 2006.He is currently a member of Trinity Chamber Orchestra, Montgomery Philharmonic, Potomac Crossing Consort, Town and Country String Quartet, Pleasant Ridge Gospel Quartet and Mike, and the Council, a rock/pop/folk quartet. His paintings and sculpture are exhibited internationally.
RACHEL KNUDSON is a teacher of creative movement, modern dance and ballet. She holds a master’s degree in dance education from the George Washington University and has taught and performed in the Washington, D.C. area for over 20 years. She is a master teaching artist for Wolf Trap’s Early Learning through the Arts program, and also teaches dance at the Jewish Community Center. Through the Wolf Trap program, Ms. Knudson teaches creative movement in the Early Childhood Classroom and leads teacher workshops on strategies for incorporating dance in the classroom. Rachel danced professionally with Pacific Northwest Ballet and studied modern dance at Jacob’s Pillow and the American Dance Festival. She also recently attended the Teacher’s Institute at the Creative Dance Center in Seattle, Washington. This institute explores a multi-sensory approach to the teaching of creative dance. Rachel is a member of the National Dance Education Association.
BARBARA KOBER, concert artist, accompanist, teacher, writer and critic, teaches private piano students in her studio in Chevy Chase. She has performed in the Washington area and elsewhere as soloist and accompanist and has published articles in several newspapers and in leading magazines. Before becoming a full-time music teacher, she spent more than 25 years in the newspaper business—14 with The Washington Star—as a reporter, writer, editor and critic. She holds a master of arts degree in music from the American University, a master of arts in journalism from the Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor of arts in English literature from Grove City College. Her piano teachers have been Charles Crowder, Tamara Dmitrieff and Victoria Modarelli. She is a nationally certified teacher of music in piano accredited by the Music Teachers National Association. Her hope for her students at BlackRock is that they will have fun learning to play the piano and find a love for music that will last their whole lives.
VERONIKA FARKAS is currently the director of the dance department at Imagination Stage where she also runs her pre-professional dance conservatory program and dance ensemble. She hails from Hungary where she started her dance training and continued her studies in a dance conservatory program in Germany. As a teen, she has trained and performed with multiple European companies around the world, in such locales as Japan, France and Italy. In the United States, she continued her classical training and is still an active member of the Maryland Youth Ballet. She received a B.A. in choreography/education from the University of Maryland’s dance department.
ALLYSON GER: “As an expressive artist (painter, drummer, dancer, singer and performer), what is most exciting for me is the process of creating and collaborating with others. I am a teacher and facilitator who works with individuals and groups of all ages and backgrounds, which includes special needs and Alzheimer¹s patients. I believe that we all are creative and are all kinds of learners, and through a mixture of the arts, we can each connect to our creative spirit. Through my teaching, I create an open environment for expression through a mixture of the arts. I set the stage for being in the moment and creating from that place—thereby inviting playfulness, self-discovery, collaboration and fun. In my own artwork, I use a mixture of media from painting to collage to sculpture, depending on what best expresses my ideas. My art has earned local and international recognition through the International Art Award Contest, the Kennedy Center, the Shakespeare Theatre, as well as the city of Silver Spring, Maryland. My paintings have been exhibited in New York City, the Franz Bader Gallery in Washington, D.C., as well as the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
STEPHANIE PHELAN OFFUTT has been teaching acting and drama since she first created a drama club in her high school many years ago. She went on to earn her BFA in playwriting at the Catholic University of America, her MFA in acting and directing at the University of North Carolina – Greensboro, and an acting apprenticeship at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky. Since then, she’s done a variety of onstage, backstage, and in film. She also has directed many plays and musicals, and has taught drama, acting, and public speaking to children and adults at arts institutions, businesses, and schools. Along with directing and teaching, she continues to perform locally in plays and musicals. Stephanie lives in the area with her husband and their two very creative children.
KIMBERLY ONLEY has been performing in musical theater most of her life. She started out as singer and developed skills in acting and dancing along the way. Kimberly was the choreographer for Seneca Valley Theater for five years. Not only did she choreograph but led acting warmups and assisted directed. She has worked with toddler through adult during her work in the fine arts. In addition, she has performed in many plays and participates in community theater in her free time. Also Kimberly has a well rounded background not only in theater but the visual arts as well. She has studied art history, interior design, painting and a lot more from Marymount University. Kimberly loves the arts and loves to incorporate everything she has experienced when she is working with kids, teens and even her adults.
CHRISTINA ADDABBO PRETE has been on faculty at BRCA since its opening in 2002, where she specializes in ballet classes for young children. Christina trained locally in ballet, jazz and tap and has been teaching these forms of dance to children and teenagers since 1990. As a professional advanced certified fellow of the Cecchetti Council of America, Christina’s teachings focus on the Cecchetti Method of ballet, both as a teacher and as the executive director of the Corinne Phelps Robertson School of Dance in Bethesda. Christina is also a principal dancer with Metropolitan Ballet Theatre in Rockville, having performed such roles as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in the Nutcracker Suite. Christina earned a degree in finance from the University of Maryland at College Park where she graduated magna cum laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. While in school, Christina participated with the university’s original competitive ballroom dance team and directed the Ballroom Formation Dance Team.
TAEKO ROTHSTEIN graduated from Tokiwagi Music Girls High School, majoring in classical piano and received a B.A. from Senzoku Gakuen Daigaku Music Academy in Japan with a major in voice and a minor in classical piano. She has taught at the Yahama Music School in Iwate, Japan and performed as a vocalist, both solo and chorus, in various venues, including the Kennedy Center. Since 1985, she has taught piano to individual students, managed a successful investment news information business and assisted in organizing international conferences. She has taken courses in music teaching methods at Teacher College in New York City, and is a certified Music Mind Games instructor. She is a member of several professional music teachers associations, including MCMTA, MSMTA and MTNA.
MARCI SHEGOGUE has taught Merry Melodies at BRCA for six years. She holds a B.A. in communications from University of Maryland, College Park, and has been trained through Gymboree and Kindermusik. She has been a music teacher at Seneca Academy and Sandy Spring Friends School and currently teaches at McLean School of Maryland. In her spare time, she serves as music director for the Interfaith Families Project in Takoma Park, teaches piano and freelances as a graphic designer. Marci has also been involved in the local musical theater community for over 27 years as a music director and accompanist for community, professional and high school/college theatrical productions. She lives in Germantown with her husband, Rich, and their two daughters, Camryn and Jamison.
FRANKIE TACKER received a BA/BS in Theatre Arts and Speech Audiology/ Pathology from Emerson College, an MFA in Shakespeare from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and an honorary MFA in Acting and Directing from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. An Equity, SAG, and AFTRA actor, Francine has performed in over a hundred plays and seven television shows including The Paper Chase, Good Time Girls, and Dallas. She currently directs plays, teaches acting courses, coaches for admission to outstanding acting programs around the world, and offers private tutoring sessions for students throughout the Metropolitan area.
WALKIRIA TORREALBA
DANIEL VILLAR is an accomplished singer, pianist, songwriter and music teacher. He has been teaching private voice and piano lessons to children, teenagers, and adults since 1999. He holds a bachelor of music in vocal performance from the University of Maryland. Daniel also enjoys working as a musical director and composer for theater companies including ArtStream, Imagination Stage and Musical Theater Center.
ARNETIA WALKER was 16 and attending New York’s prestigious High School of the Performing Arts when she was cast in her Broadway debut, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window by Lorraine Hansberry. She went on to standby for Stephanie Mills as Dorothy in the original Broadway run of The Wiz. She spent five years as a “Dreamgirl” in the role of Lorrell Robinson, and eventually achieved the distinction of being the only woman to have played all three of the show’s principal characters. Her films include For Love of the Game, Scenes From the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and College Road Trip. She also appeared in the HBO movie Cast a Deadly Spell. She has worked extensively in television, including as a series regular in The Big House, Camp P, and Nurses, and as a guest star in Everybody Loves Raymond, City of Angels, Touched by an Angel, The Steve Harvey Show, Just Shoot Me, and NYPD Blue.
What People are Saying
Quotes from parents and students of classes and camps:
"Hats off! This camp is the best managed camp...I feel very comfortable and safe in sending my kid to this camp and BRCA in general."
"Have really enjoyed the class and felt I have improved/learned a lot."
"The teacher has been a great first instructor for my kids."