Hannah Pasquinzo - Owner/Director/Instructor of Jazz, Lyrical, Pre-Ballet, Pilates         

Hannah Pasquinzo, a Rogers, Arkansas native, has been dancing and performing in the Northwest Arkansas area for eighteen years.  Hannah has also studied in New York City, where she worked with Michelle Assaf, Sheila Barker, Michelle Barber, and Alex Hasbany.  On both the regional and national competition circuit, her jazz and lyrical choreography have earned first, second, and third place awards at Dance America, LA Danceforce, Starlight, Starstruck and Talent on Parade.  As a board member of the local, non-profit organization, Ozark Dance Theater, Mrs. Pasquinzo is allowed the opportunity to team up with others in the local dance community to promote and celebrate dance performance, education and diversity in Northwest Arkansas.

Hannah has also completed her Stott Pilates training.  She believes very strongly in cross training, and sees Pilates as a great way to keep a strong, healthy body.  Click here for information on what services she will be offering at The Art of Motion.  Click here to find out more about private instruction with Hannah through Studio Pilates.   

Hannah still can’t believe that the dream of owning her own dance studio has come true, and she knows that with the help of her amazing staff, The Art of Motion has what it takes to offer the best dance education available in Northwest Arkansas!

Amy Kessler - Instructor of Ballet

Amy Kessler has been a dancer and choreographer for Dance Coalition for 8 years.  She is the founder and Director of Ozark Dance Theater and dance at The New School.  Mrs. Kessler has received her training at Kansas City Ballet, Missouri State Ballet, Tulsa Ballet and Miami Contemporary Dance Company.  For the past two years, she has been living in Shreveport, Louisianna working as a dancer, teacher and choreographer for Inter City Row Modern Dance Company, Louisiana Dance Theatre and Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet.  Mrs. Kessler has a great love for her home in the Ozarks, dance, and working with children and seeks to unite these interests through her work.

Ashley Oeffinger - Instructor of Jazz and Lyrical

 Ashley's passion for dance started at the age of three in her home state of Texas.  Her training includes ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, and musical theatre.  She has also been on a competition company since the age of eight, including the award-winning c ompany of Dallas Powerhouse of Dance in Dallas, Texas.  Ashley has won numerous awards in both team dances and solos, including first place overall soloist at Crowd Pleasers, MA Dance, Dance Showcase, and Champion Dance national finals in Orlando, Florida.  She was also the captain of her high school drill team, the Coppell Lariettes.  After graduating high school, Ashley moved to New York City for two years where she studied at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway under the direction of acclaimed instructors such as Jason Parsons, Doug Caldwell, Dee Caspary, Michelle Assaf, and Jeff Amsden.  In the past year, Ashley has had the opportunity to choreograph award-winning solos and officer dances for the Coppell Lariettes.  Ashley is currently pursuing a psychology degree at the U of A.  She is excited to become a member of the team at The Art of Motion and hopes to instill her love and passion for dance in her students.

Alicia Hagood - Instructor of Ballet

Alicia Hagood is a senior at the University of Arkansas majoring in Accounting with a minor in Finance and Math and will be graduating in May 2009.  Alicia is originally from Tulsa, OK where she attained most of her dance training.  She trained at Oklahoma Perfoming Arts for 12 years before moving to the Tulsa Center for Dance Education where she completed her studies.  She has been trained in Pointe, Ballet, Jazz, Acrobatics, and Tap.  During her summers she studied at the Kirov Academy in Washington D.C., Boston Ballet, Long Beach Ballet Arts Center, and Tulsa Ballet.  At age 14 Alicia was invited by Marcello Angelini, Tulsa Ballet Artistic Director, to take Tulsa Ballet company class and understudy corps de ballet roles.  While at Tulsa Ballet she performed corps de ballet roles in The Nutcracker, The Three Musketeers, and Giselle.  The past several years Alicia has taught the children the “Mice” part for Tulsa Ballet’s “The Nutcracker”.  Along with her training, Alicia has also performed and competed in many dance competitions.  Alicia has competed locally, regionally and nationally for Dance Masters of America, Dance Educators of America, Dance America/Olympus, Talent on Parade, L.A. Dance Force, Dupree, I Love Dance, and many others.  Some of her most exciting awards were being crowned Junior Miss Dance of Oklahoma 2000, placing in the top 10 at the Junior Miss Dance of America 2000 national competition for Dance Masters of America, Petite Miss Dance of Oklahoma 1999, Dance Educators of America’s Las Vegas National 2001 Pre Teen Miss Dance Runner-Up, and Overall Dancer of the Year for Dance America/Olympus at the Tulsa Regional in 2002.  Alicia is thrilled to be teaching what she has always held so dear to her heart, the love of dance, here at The Art of Motion.

 

Kendy Bowman - Instructor of Modern and Hip Hop

Kendy Bowman is originally from Wichita , KS and has spent most of her life dancing.  She took her first class at the age of 5 and fell in love.  Throughout high school, she trained in modern, ballet, tap, jazz, music theatre, lyrical, and served as captain on her high school dance team.  She then went on to earn a Bachelors Degree in Modern Dance from Wichita State University, where her choreography was nominated for performance in The American College Dance Festival.  She has performed with Mid-America Dance Theatre (KS), Wichita Contemporary Dance Theatre (KS), Wichita State University (KS), WSU Dance Team (KS), Crown Uptown Dinner Theatre (KS), Legends in Concert (SC), Circle of Praise (AR), and performed choreography of Alithea Mime Theatre (OH).   She was also a cheerleader for The Wichita Warlords (semi-pro football) and the Wichita Wings (semi-pro soccer).  Currently, she leads the Children’s Praise Ministry at First Baptist Church in Springdale, helps with choreography for local elementary students, and sells real estate for Keller Williams Realty.  Kendy has a great passion for dance and is excited to be teaching at The Art of Motion.

 

Megan J. Kutmas, from Joplin, Missouri has studied dance extensively throughout the United States and has received numerous overall honors and dance scholarships at many regional and national dance competitions. She has been dancing for the past 16 years and received her first overall award at a national competition in Orlando, Florida at the age of 8. Since then, Megan has attended Dance Masters of Oklahoma and achieved recognition as Petite Miss Dance of Oklahoma, Junior Miss Dance of Oklahoma and Teen Miss Dance of Oklahoma. At Dance Masters of America Nationals, Megan achieved top ten as Petite Miss Dance, received the tap audition award and placed 4th runner-up as Junior Miss Dance, and received the interview award as well as 4th runner-up as Teen Miss Dance.  Megan also achieved national ranking at American Dance Awards, Starpower, Dance Olympus, LADF, Company Dance, and various others.

Megan had the opportunity to train with different professional dance artists and choreographers throughout the United States. Her dance was enhanced by attending numerous dance conventions where she received dance instruction from some of the world's leading dance professionals including Henry LeTang, Diane "Lady Di" Walker, Savion Glover, Brenda Buffalino, plus many more. Megan had the privilege of traveling to New York at the age of 12 after being observed at a Tap Festival in Minneapolis, MN by Brenda Buffalino. Buffalino, a well renowned tap artist offered Megan a 10 day one-on-one tap mentorship.

With all of Megan's vast dance studies, she looks forward to joining The Art of Motion and is eager to share her love for dance with others. Megan is currently a junior at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

Kasey Chastain is originally from Mena, Arkansas which is where she fell in love with dancing.  She was introduced to dancing when she made the freshman cheerleading squad, and when Kasey realized that dancing was her favorite part, she decided to enroll in her hometown dance studio.  While there, she trained in jazz and hip hop, and a little ballet.  Kasey continued cheering all throughout high school.  Her squad earned numerous awards, and even placed at the state competition 3 years in a row.  They also won many dance awards at camps and competitions across the state.  Kasey is now a junior at the University of Arkansas majoring in Communication Disorders (Speech-Language Pathology) and minoring in Childhood Development.  She has since taken a break from dancing and is solely concentrating on her degrees.  However, Kasey is very happy to be working so close to something that is very dear to her heart.  She has worked at The Art of Motion for over a year now, and loves every second of it! 

The Art of Motion is currently in its 6th season!  It started out as a vision--a vision that combined two of Hannah's biggest passions: dance and children.  That vision became a reality in August of 2003.  After 5 years of teaching Northwest Arkansas' youth, Hannah and her staff couldn't be more excited about the talent they have to work with!

Come check out what The Art of Motion has to offer.  Become a member of the family!