2026 Day of Development
Sustaining the Legacies
Meet Your Instructors
Download the DOD 2026 Class Schedule and Instructor Biographies with Class Descriptions
Dr. Suzanne Salapa - Graham Technique
Dr. Suzanne Salapa began her training in Virginia with the Annandale Dance Theater and continued with the Washington Ballet, Maryland Youth Ballet and Columbia City Ballet. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Dance from the Conservatory at the Shenandoah University, completed her Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Florida State University and received her doctorate degree in higher education from the University of Central Florida. She has studied and/or performed choreography with Arnold Sphor of the Royal Winnepeg Ballet; Raisa Stepanovna Struchkova of the Bolshoi Ballet, Allegra Kent of New York City Ballet, Sheila Humphries, Royal Ballet, Gennadi and Susan Vostrikon of the Pittsburgh Ballet; Michael Peters, choreographer of Dream Girls, Michael Jackson's, Thriller and Beat It; Martha Graham Company dancers Lyndon Branagh, Dr. Nancy Smith-Fichter, Anthony Morgan, Judith Garay; Alwin Nikolais of Nikolais/Lewis Dance to name a few. While attending Florida State, she was awarded the Florida State Friends of Dance Scholarship and a teaching assistantship. In addition, she has served on the faculty of George Mason University and Shenandoah University. Currently, Dr. Salapa attends Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education’s Higher Education Management Development Program. She is a member of the faculty and Chair of the Departments of Theatre, Musical Theatre and Dance at Valencia College. Dr. Salapa has been an adjudicator for the Florida Dance Performance Assessment Organization and participated in the State of Florida Department of Education K-12 Dance Curriculum Committee for middle and high school dance curriculum course descriptions, standards and benchmarks. In 2006, she received the Dance Teacher Magazine Higher Education Teacher of the Year. In the summer of 2014, Dr. Salapa participated in the national/internationally renowned program Dance for Parkinson’s Disease®. In collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group, this dance teacher training model is specifically designed to encourage creativity and movement exploration for those with Parkinson’s disease. She teaches the bi-monthly Movement as Medicine dance class for Neuroscience Institute, Parkinson’s Outreach Center at Advent Health, Orlando.
Dr. Daniel Lewis - Limón Technique
Dr. Daniel Lewis Hon DFA, internationally recognized dancer, teacher, choreographer and author, joined New World School of the Arts in 1987, as Founding Dean of Dance. He danced with the José Limón Dance Company from 1962-1974. He staged the works of Limón and Doris Humphrey for the Royal Swedish Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, The Juilliard School, and the José Limón Company, among others. In 1972, following Limón’s death, Dr. Lewis served as the Limón Company’s Acting Artistic Director and in 1984 became Founding Director of the Limón Institute. In 1984, he wrote The Illustrated Dance Technique of José Limón and his biography, Daniel Lewis A Life in Choreography and the Art of Dance, was published in 2020. Dr. Lewis’ work has been commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, American Opera Center at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, and many others. The Daniel Lewis Dance Repertory Company performed and taught globally for 17 years. Dr. Lewis taught at The Juilliard School, New York University and Amherst College. A former President of the National Association of School of Dance, he served on the Fulbright Screening Committee and as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts; Canada Council for the Arts; Florida Division of Arts and Culture, and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. He formed Miami Dance Futures in 1988 producing festivals and local dance companies. Dr. Lewis graduated from New York’s High School of Performing Arts in 1962 and The Juilliard School in 1967. Among his many accolades, he has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Florida Dance Festival, National Dance Educators Organization and the International Ballet Festival of Miami. In 2012, Dr. Lewis received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Florida. He currently serves on the boards of the Florida Dance Educators Organization, Community Arts Program, Miami Dance Futures, and the Coral Gables Congregational Church and teaches, choreographs, and stages his and Limón’s works around the world.
Francie Huber - Taylor Style
Francie Huber is from Kansas City, Missouri, and earned her B.F.A. from The Juilliard School in New York City. A principal dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, she created numerous roles, including the solo in Cascade, “the polka” in Company B, and the lead in the internationally acclaimed Piazzolla Caldera. Her work was featured in the 1999 Academy Award–nominated documentary Dancemaker. Ms. Huber appeared in several major television productions, including the Dance in America Emmy Award–winning Speaking in Tongues, the Emmy nominated The Wrecker’s Ball, the Danmarks Radio production of Spindrift and Syzygy, the 1992 Kennedy Center Honors, and the documentary Callings by John Altman. She received a Bessie (New York Dance and Performance Award) for sustained achievement in dancing for her work with Mr. Taylor. She also performed with Twyla Tharp Dance and presented her own solo works. In addition to her performing career, Ms. Huber served as director of Taylor 2, the second company of Paul Taylor, and continues to stage Mr. Taylor’s works for professional companies and universities internationally. A Fulbright Scholar, she received a postdoctoral lecture and research grant that brought her to Amman, Jordan, where she served as Guest Artist at the Queen Noor Al Hussein Performing Arts Center. She was also Dance Artist in Residence at the Carlsen Center in Kansas City, contributing to the advancement of state and national standards in dance education and teacher training.
Ms. Huber continues to teach master classes and workshops at universities, professional companies, and private studios worldwide. Her choreography is performed by regional companies and schools across the country. She has served on faculty at The Taylor School and New World School of the Arts and currently resides in Southwest Florida, where she teaches at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Ellie Potts Barrett - Cunningham Technique
Ellie Potts Barrett (Boston Conservatory/USF) prefers being on the production side of the stage after being on it. Professional dance - Mary Anthony (NYC); Boston Dance Company; Ina Hahn Modern Dance Company (Boston), national tours and theatrical productions. Ellie is an internationally recognized choreographer/dance educator whose work spans Broadway-style musicals, international theme park productions, concert dance, and industrial entertainment. With a career defined by artistic excellence and global reach, she has choreographed over 250 musicals and has earned widespread acclaim for her dynamic storytelling, musicality, and command of stagecraft. Ellie’s choreographic voice has been shaped by extraordinary mentors and modern dance pioneers. She studied under Ina Hahn, performing Doris Humphrey repertoire through Hahn’s direction, and trained with legendary figures including Ronnie DeMarco, Lar Lubovitch, Mary Anthony, Merce Cunningham, Chase Robinson and Sandra Neels from the Merce Cunningham Company and Tim Wengerd and Armgard von Bardeleben at the Martha Graham School. The deep artistry from these inspired masters continues to resonate in her work. Internationally, Ellie has brought her choreographic vision to major theme parks in South Korea, including Lotte World in Seoul and Everland in Gyeonggi-do, Korea, While traveling to South Korea, she choreographed many musicals for the Seensee Musical Theater company in Seoul. In addition to her theatrical work, Ellie has choreographed parades and industrial productions for Disney World and Sea World, bringing precision, spectacle, and creative vision to corporate entertainment experiences. Her excellence in choreography has been recognized with four Outstanding Choreographer Awards from the Applause Awards at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, honoring her sustained impact and artistic leadership in musical theatre. Whether staging intimate character-driven moments, large ensemble production numbers or modern dance concert works, Ellie’s work reflects a rare combination of technical mastery, historical depth, and theatrical imagination. Her career continues to bridge classical modern dance lineage with contemporary musical theatre, influencing performers and audiences. She currently teaches Modern Dance, Musical Theatre Dance, Composition, and Dance Aesthetics at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida. She is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association and the Stage Director’s and Choreographer’s Society. She sits on the Executive Board of the Florida Dance Education Organization as President.
John Parks - Dunham Technique
John Parks, a native of New York City, began his dance studies at age five. His formal dance studies were at the Mary Bruce Dance School, Syvilla Fort Dance Studio, High School of Performing Arts, Juilliard School of Music, Jacob’s Pillow Teachers Workshop, New Dance Group, Clark Center, Martha Graham School and others. He trained and performed in the companies of Alvin Ailey, Talley Beatty, David Wood, Norman Walker, Joan Peters, Jose Limon, Donald McKayle, Anna Sokolow, Pearl Primus, Percival Borde, Mary Anthony, Eleo Pomare, Ruth Currier, Rod Rodgers, Sun Ock Lee, Louis Johnson, Martha Clarke, Baralunda Olatunji, Nina Popova, Joan Miller, June Dunbar, Chuck Davis, Lucas Hoving, Alfredo Corvino, Billie Kirpitch, Norman Walker and others. He has also performed, directed, choreographed, taught or produced in the following places: the opening of the Kennedy Center with Leonard Bernstein’s ”Mass;” The American Dance Festival; Florida Dance Festive; Lincoln Center; Harvard Summer Dance; and Spoleto Piccolo Festival, City Center. His film/television and Broadway credits include (film), Rage in Harlem, Rosewood, Malcolm X and the The Wiz. On Broadway, he also served as assistant to the choreographer, dance captain for the seven Tony Awards-winning play, The Wiz, for five years. Television credits include: “Bill Cosby Christmas Special” featuring members and former members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and & “The Strolling” with Langston Hughes, Sidney Portier, Harry Belafonte, and Duke Ellington. Before joining the Ailey Co., John Parks formed his own company, Movements Black Dance Repertory Theatre, whose works focused mainly on the systemic and endemic racism of Black people that was and is so prevalent throughout the world. Mr. Parks has performed, taught and lectured throughout these United States as well as Europe, Africa and China.
Before relocating to Tampa, Florida to take a teaching position at the University of South Florida, John’s endeavors led him to directing, choreographing and producing works for the theater and community organizations. Through the Affiliate-Artists Program, John designed his own one-man show that toured the United States and Africa. He has been teaching at the University South Florida for the past 36 years. In addition, he has worked with several community arts organizations, such as University Community Center, Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, Taproot Community Cultural Center, Ink Well Center, and the Arts Legacy program at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, just to name a few.
Recently, he has established The Parks Institute dedicated to promoting dance as a healing modality. The Institute has worked with Valencia College, The Arts Legacy, The Veterans Civilian Arts Ensemble, Vet Chat at the Straz Performing Arts Center, Taproot Cultural Center and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, International Arts + Mind Lab of the Brain Science Institute. Tampa Heights junior Civic Association, and Florida blue Health insurance company.
Jermaine Thornton - Panel Discussion
JERMAINE THORNTON is a seasoned dance artist, educator, and nonprofit professional with nearly 20 years of experience in performance, arts education, and leadership. Trained at Indian River Community College and the University of South Florida, he has performed in musicals, operas, and works by renowned choreographers such as Bill T. Jones, Doug Varone, and Jennifer Archibald. As former Executive Director of Florida Dance Theatre, Jermaine deepened his expertise in nonprofit management. He continues to contribute to Florida’s arts landscape through guest teaching, choreography, and community leadership in arts education and philanthropic initiatives across the state.