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K.P.D.A. Board of
Directors 2004-2006 |
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KPDA Board Biographies
President: Linda Granacher has been involved in dance
in Lexington for the last 40 years; first as a PE student at
UK with a concentration on dance. She later returned to UK and
again danced with the UK Dance Company under the direction of
Diane Damro. Linda joined her husband in private practice as
a psychotherapist and continued to study dance. She studied
Ballet with Nels Jorgensen, founder of Lexington Ballet, and
was involved with several Modern Dance companies. She was on
the founding Board of Directors for Contemporary Dancers; worked
with Modern Dance Kentucky and acted as business manager for
Strong Wind Wild Horses. Linda is interested in helping Kentucky
Partners in Dance Alliance develop as a liaison between artists
and their communities. She feels KPDA can act as a wonderful,
neutral support for communication and collaboration between
the different dance forms in the state, and between individuals
who love dance and want to see it recognized in higher education
and on stage, as musical theatre and visual arts have successfully
done. |
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| Vice President: Rebecca
Stephenson currently teaches dance and choreographs
for the Schools for the Creative and Performing Arts and Centre
College. A native of Lexington, she earned a BFA in Dance from
The Ohio State University and a MFA at the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro. She is also a certified Movement Analyst
and certified and licensed as an Occupational Therapist in the
state of Kentucky |
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Secretary: Lara Sedlaczek has enjoyed dancing
for 23 years. She started at the age of four in Louisville,
Kentucky. She graduated in 1995 from Louisville's Youth Performing
Arts School, where she was a dance major. After high school,
she attended the University of Kentucky, where she earned Bachelors
degrees in Art History and Arts Administration. She was also
a member of the UK Dance Ensemble, and was later a member of
RADAR: Dance in Reverse, a modern dance company in Lexington.
Currently, she is completing her Masters degree in Art History
and Women's Studies while also working as the Fiscal and Education
Outreach Coordinator at the UK Singletary Center for the Arts.
In the future, she hopes to earn her Ph.D. in African Art History
and teach at the college level. |
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| Treasurer: Larry Neuzel
has been associated with the arts for over 30 years. He is currently
the photographer for Studio Players, Actors' Guild of Lexington,
The Kentucky Ballet Theatre and Ballet Under the Stars. He has
photographed Shakespeare in the Park, The Lexington Ballet,
Syncopated Inc., Children's Theatre and the actors for Chautauqua
as well as many students associated with several dance studios.
Much of Larry's photography is in black and white, but he has
recently purchased a digital camera and is learning how to work
with digital and computers. Larry is on the board of the National
Society of Arts and Letters, the Kentucky Ballet Theatre, Kentucky
Partners in Dance Alliance, and Ballet Under the Stars. He is
also a member of four camera clubs and the Central Kentucky
Computer Society. Larry owns his own photography business and
also works part-time at Murphy's Camera store in Lexington. |
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| Part President: Cynthia Matthews
has been dancing since she can remember, due to strong influence
of her mother, King M. Kouns, who brought modern dance to UK
and founded the ensemble in 1939. She came to Lexington in 1995
to work on a PhD in Communication and became involved in the
beginning of KPDA shortly thereafter. She wants to see the work
that he mother began continue. King, at 94, is still interested
in seeing dance promoted in Kentucky and gives scholarships
to dance ensemble students annually. |
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| Artistic Advisor: Dr. Rayma K. Beal
has served as the dance faculty, coordinating the Dance Minor
program at the University of Kentucky since 1986. Director of
the UK Dance Ensemble, she serves as a choreographer, dancer
and producer of the performance group. She was President of
the National Dance Association 1988-1991, President of the Kentucky
Alliance for the Arts Education 1992-1994, a member of the Dance
Committee writing group for the National Dance Standards, and
is a dance consultant in curriculum and assessment to the Kentucky
Department of Education. Dr. Beal received the National Society
of Arts and Letters Kentucky Chapter outstanding Art Education
Award in April 2000 and was a recipient of the University of
Kentucky 1999 Great Teacher Award. |
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| Legal Advisor: Mindy Barfield
is a practicing lawyer in commercial and employment litigation
as well as natural resources law. She was selected as the Outstanding
Young Lawyer by the Fayette County Bar Association in 1999 and
as Kentucky Bar Association's Outstanding Young Lawyer in 2002. |
Member at Large: Dawes Thomas, age five, in
an effort to correct flat feet, commenced her immersion in dance
locally with Barbara Ann. (Several decades later the feet are
still flat, but the avid fan remains!). After studying with
June Conn for six years, and subsequently taking charge of the
studio for two - she matriculated to U. K. where she joined
Tau Sigma, a dance fraternity, which has since evolved into
the U. K. DAnce Ensemble. Marriage included moves that until
recently occurred on an average of every three and a half years.
During that period she continued her association with dance
as either eager student or enraptured member of the audience.
Dawes believes the goals of KPDA are a catalyst that will strengthen
the presence of dance in all its forms and enlighten regarding
the need for advancement in same. |
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