Danspace Faculty

Danspace Faculty

Technical training in a creative and supportive environment

About Danspace faculty

Motivated by a passion for the arts, the dance teachers & faculty at Danspace strike a beautiful balance between education and creativity. Their thoughtful approach to dance education motivates & inspires students to learn & grow.

By design, our classrooms have an atmosphere of acceptance and encouragement. Combined with the technical expertise & instruction of our teachers, students are able to build skill and gain self confidence at a pace that’s just right for them.

Dance lessons are designed so that each student is paired with a group similarly skilled individuals. This is true for our adult classes, children’s classes, and the Dance for PD® program (which is appropriate for anyone with Parkinson’s Disease, even without any prior dance experience). If you’re looking for advice or you aren’t sure where to begin, you can easily get help from our friendly faculty in person, on the phone, or by email.

Questions for our faculty? Contact Danspace

Founder Beth Hoge - Oakland dance classes at Danspace

Beth Hoge

Founder, Master Teacher

Beth Hoge (aka Beth Brunberg, Beth Jahn) founded Danspace in 1976, after a lengthy dance career in Los Angeles and New York. Her early dance experience included work with Joseph Rickard, in the Southern California Ballet, and with Alicia Alonso and Igor Youskevitch in the Greek Theatre’s summer production of “Giselle.” She then traveled to New York to attend Juilliard. There she studied with Antony Tudor, Margaret Craske, Martha Graham, and Alfredo Corvino who was to become her lifelong mentor, and teacher.While studying at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School, on scholarship, she performed in the Opera Ballet frequently, appeared with many of the companies who appeared at the Metropolitan: The Royal Ballet , the Bolshoi and the Kirov. She was invited to assist Miss Craske in the Children’s Division of the Ballet School. Other performing experiences included being a charter soloist with Manhattan Festival Ballet, off-Broadway, touring musicals such as Camelot, Oaklahoma and many summer stock venues. She appeared on the Phyllis Diller Television variety show, and in the opening ceremonies at Lincoln Center. Upon returning home to Cailfornia she began her teaching career and founded Danspace in 1976. She taught Ballet at Mills College from 1983 to 1994 where she made an invaluable connection with the Modern Dance community, and greatly enjoyed luring some “fallen away” ballet dancers back to ballet class by sharing the work of her teacher Mr. Corvino. The clean, unmannered style, and clear principles of movement based on musicality and efficiency, bridged the gap for many dancers; some continue to study and teach at Danspace today. Others return regularly for class, in support of their careers as dance professionals around the world.
KT Mower manager and teacher at Danspace

KT Mower

Program Director, Teacher

KT has been dancing since the age of four. She trained with various instructors at Contra Costa Ballet Centre in Walnut Creek, Pamela Hayes in Sacramento and Kimberly B. Valmore and Beth Hoge in Oakland. She has danced with COterie DAnce Company (CODA) since it was founded in 2002. CODA performs annually at Works in the Works in Berkeley and Spring Forward in San Francisco.
Mary's headshot. In black and white, Mary has short curly hair and smiles at the camera

Mary Armentrout

Teacher

Mary is a teacher, choreographer, dancer, and Feldenkrais Practitioner, and the director of the Mary Armentrout Dance Theater (MADT). Starting to dance at age three, she graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1985. Over the years she has taught movement and dance of many varieties to people from ages 4 to 60+. Her understanding of movement and the human body is informed by her decades of study of Contemporary Modern Dance, Ballet, Butoh, Aikido, Authentic Movement, Alexander Technique, and of course the Feldenkrais Method. Her current teaching practice spans Feldenkrais, dance technique, and creative fusions of the two. She teaches on-going classes in the Bay Area, in festivals and intensives, and recently taught master classes at universities in Louisiana, England, and China. Working across disciplines, her experimental choreographic works attempt to viscerally engage and complicate aspects of intentionality, presence, identity, and being-in-the-world for her audiences, and recently garnered an Isadora Duncan Dance Award. Her work has been presented at numerous venues all over the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as across the US and the UK, Europe, and China, recently touring to the Brighton Fringe and appearing in the San Francisco International Arts Festival. She also organizes of the Dance Discourse Project, an on-going series of artist-curated discussions of the Bay Area dance scene, and co-curates The Milk Bar Performance and Residency Space at The Bridge Art Complex in Richmond. Mary has been studying ballet with Beth Hoge since 1987 and has been teaching at Danspace since 1996. Her eclectic background combined with a profound respect for the Corvino Approach and a creative integration of Feldenkrais principles make her classes inviting and accessible to adults who have never danced, as well as those returning after a long absence, and to dancers of all backgrounds looking to clarify the role of ballet in their practice.
Ellie wears a white and pink top and smiles at the camera. Her brown wavy hair is loose. The background is blurred and Ellie is in focus.

Eleanor Kerwin

Teacher, Front Desk

Born and raised in Oakland, Eleanor (she/her) grew up dancing, playing, and creating at Danspace since she was four years old. She focused on training in Ballet with Beth Hoge and Kimberly Valmore, and discovered her passion for Modern dance with Claudine Naganuma and dNaga Dance Co. She went on to earn her BFA in Dance from the University of Oregon with a certification in Teaching Dance and that year's award for Outstanding Performer. At school, she focused on Contemporary/Modern movement, as well as training in Traditional African Dances (taught by Habib Iddrisu and Rita Honka), Ballet, Somatic practices (mainly Body-Mind Centering), Jazz, Hip Hop (including improvisation and dance battles), choreography, and stage production. Currently, Eleanor teaches creative movement and works the front desk at Danspace. She also does arts administration for dNaga and is Program Coordinator for their Dance for PD®, Oakland program. She believes that movement is an integral part of life and deeply enjoys the creativity and freedom that lives within creative movement spaces for younger children. Outside of dance and work, Eleanor likes to be outside, go on walks, craft, drink coffee, and go to the ocean.
Danspace dance classes and dance lessons in Oakland

Kitty Luce

Teacher

Bio to come
Claudine Naganuma Danspace Director

Claudine Naganuma

Guest Teacher

Claudine started off as a Danspace teacher in 2002. She became the manager in 2005 and eventually served as the director from 2015-2021. Claudine has also served as the program director of Dance for PD®, Oakland (a program of the Mark Morris Dance Group) since 2007. She became a certified Dance for PD® teacher in 2018. Her intergenerational company dNaga is in residence at Danspace. dNaga performed at the 2019 World Parkinson’s Congress in Kyoto, Japan. Her work and dNaga dancers were featured in Dave Iverson’s film Capturing Grace. Claudine is also the founder and director of GIRL Project, a dance and empowerment workshop for middle school aged girls in East Oakland. GIRL Project celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2023. Prior to coming to Danspace she was the Artistic Director of Asian American Dance Performances from 1992-2004 and was a founding board member of the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center. She is dedicated to arts education and the empowerment of children and has studied Early Childhood Education at Mills College and worked in the classroom at Aurora Elementary School. She received her MFA in Choreography and Performance from Mills College in 1992, where she became the student of Beth Hoge, the founder of Danspace. Claudine is proud to have helped transfer the dance floor from the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company into Danspace studios 2 and 3 during the pandemic. To learn more about Claudine and her dance company, visit dnaga.org.
Denice in a white outfit with a white flower in her hair is dancing against a dark backdrop, smiling and reaching forward.

Denice Simpson Braga

Teacher

Denice Simpson Braga started as an apprentice with Dimensions Dance Theater and worked her way up to being a principal dancer. She is a member of the Board of Directors for DDT, as well as the ballet teacher for the Rites of Passage Program. She has toured nationally and internationally with the company and is versed in a variety of dance styles including Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary Modern and Traditional African. She attended Laney College, transferred to and graduated from SFSU with a BA in African American Studies going on to attend UCLA for her Master's in World Arts and Cultures with an emphasis on Dance Education. After attending UCLA, she relocated to Hawaii for several years where she began her studies of Kahiko (traditional) and ‘Auana (contemporary) hula with Kumu Hula Momi Cruz Losano of Namakahonuakapiliwale Hula Halau in Wai’anae, HI. She recently achieved her 3 rd of 4 levels in hula earning the title of Ho’opa’a. She is the instructor of the hula group Hui Kulia of Concord, CA.
Headshot of Katie Taylor. Katie has brown wavy hair and wears a black shirt.

Katie Taylor

Teacher, Operations Manager

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Katie Taylor is a dancer and teacher. Dancing since 1991 and teaching since 2000, Katie has trained in ballet, jazz, modern, tap, hip hop, and contemporary dance and has taught dance at studios across Northern California. In addition, Katie is a founding member of COterie DAnce Company (CODA). Katie teaches classes at Danspace in both the Children’s and Adult Divisions and supports Danspace's business operations. Outside of her dance experience, Katie spent the majority of her career working in nonprofits, supporting artists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders to build hundreds of small businesses and organizations rooted in Bay Area neighborhoods. As part of her nonprofit economic development work, Katie has built and managed volunteer and internship programs, run marketing and impact evaluation departments, and implemented various programs attempting to bring resources to communities in an equitable and accessible way. Katie received a BA in Public Policy and Spanish Literature from William Smith College, and she lives in Oakland.
Kimberly faces away from the camera, looking to her right. She wears a black leotard and floral skirt.

Kimberly B. Valmore

Teacher

Kimberly received her MFA in Dance at Mills College in 1992. Her years of training before and after Mills included San Franscisco Dance Center, Berkekey Ballet Theatre, Brady Street and Mission Dance Theatre. Ms. Valmore was also accepted into the Alvin Ailey Dance Center summer program where she studied Ballet, Jazz, Horton Technique, Dunham and Graham Technique, as well as various Ailey Repertory. Additionally, she is a participant in the Checcetti Council of America Teachers Program and the YogaFit@ Teachers certification program. Her performance credits include Robert Henry Johnson Dance Company, Kim Epifano, Ann Bluethenthal and Dancers, Shakiri / Rootworkers, dance NAGANUMA, and Mary Corbonara / dances. Since 1992 she has been a company member of the politically feminist edged, Dance Brigade in San Francisco; performing Taiko Drumming, Wushu Marital Arts as well as modern dance. Other appearances include music videos with such artists as Bobbie McFerrin and Tandy Beal; Musical Theater and industrials / varieties with Emmy-award winner Marguerite Derricks. Her choreography has been seen throught the Bay Area in venues from musical theater to independent movies. She directs her own contemporary dance company “COterie DAnce.” She has taught ballet, modern dance and jazz throughout the Bay Area for the past 22 years. Currently she is Artist-in-Residence at College Preparatory School in Oakland, and has been a long-time core member of the Danspace teaching staff. She has been a student of Beth Hoge’s since 1985.