EACH YEAR, DCF PROUDLY PRESENTS A SERIES OF MASTER CLASSES, TAUGHT BY ACCOMPLISHED LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL PRACTITIONERS IN DIVERSE FIELDS OF DANCE. MANY OF OUR CLASSES ARE LED BY THE SAME EXCEPTIONAL INSTRUCTORS, ARTISTS, AND CHOREOGRAPHERS WHO PERFORM AND PRESENT THEIR WORK THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL WEEKEND. FOR ALL DANCERS AGES 13 AND UP, OUR MASTER CLASS SERIES PROVIDES A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR DANCERS TO LEARN FROM THE BEST IN THE INDUSTRY FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE!
Read about our 2025 Master Class Instructors!
Andi Salazar
Andi is a Chilean Choreographer, Dance Educator, Performer, and Sociologist. She got her BA degree in Sociology at UC of Chile, the same place where she founded Kazé Dance, a Contemporary dance company where she was the Artistic Director and Choreographer for eight years. In 2017, Andi relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, California, and obtained her MFA in Dance and Choreography from Mills College. There, she also had the opportunity to perform for choreographers such as Joe Landini and Molissa Fenley and showed her work with her Dance Company “A Pulso Dance Project" at many festivals around the State. During her years in the Bay, Andi also worked as a faculty member at the Bay Area Ballet Conservatory, Shawl Anderson Dance Center, and as a Teaching Artist at Alonzo King Lines Ballet Dance Center. In 2023, she relocated to New York to keep her studies and joined the Master’s degree “Teaching Dance in the Profession: ABT Ballet Pedagogy” at New York University while working as a Teaching Artist for ABT and as an assistant at the ABT JKO School. During her time in NYC, she also did an internship at Peridance Contemporary Dance Company with Igal Perry as an administrative assistant and worked as a Contemporary faculty member for Maria Kowroski’s New Jersey Ballet Summer Intensive. In 2024, she moved to Michigan where she has taught at UofM Dance Department, Western Michigan University, Alma College, and Grand Rapids Ballet, as well as choreographed for Eastern Michigan University and Grand Valley State University.
Jared Baker
Jared Baker is originally from Fort Worth, TX where he began his dance training at Dance Concept, under the direction of Debbi Jo Utter and Leslie Senevey. While there, he became a member of the Tremaine Performance Company, assisting and performing across the country. He then was accepted into the School of Dance at the University of Arizona where he received his BFA in Dance and was awarded the 2013 Creative Achievement Award. Upon beginning his master’s degree at The University of Arizona in 2018, Jared was awarded the University Fellows Award, the most prestigious award in the Graduate College. In 2020, he received his MFA in Dance and was recognized as the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant for the School of Dance.
Jared is a four-time finalist for The Choreography Festival (2012, 2013, 2014, 2019) in Palm Desert, CA, was the winner of the 2012 International Choreography Competition at the Jazz Dance World Congress, and was a 2014 finalist for the prestigious Capezio A.C.E. Awards. As a performer, Jared was a founding member of Bree Hafen’s [+]Space where he performed in Dallas and NYC, and was a full-time company member of CORE Contemporary Dance, under the direction of Kelli Leighton, where he also served as the Assistant Artistic Director.
Since 2020, Jared has been the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Nova Linea Contemporary Dance, Milwaukee’s premier professional dance company. It is Jared’s mission to provide accessible and relatable stories through dance to the Wisconsin community and beyond. Nova Linea has been a three-time finalist for the Detroit Dance City Festival, and was awarded the opportunity to perform in the New Dance Festival in South Korea. In addition, Nova Linea has partnered with two local non-profits, Pathfinders MKE and NAMI Southeast Wisconsin, to help bring awareness and support for mental health. The company has reached hundreds of students through its performances, outreach, intensives, and workshops in its mission to help build the future audience of dance. In addition to Nova Linea, Jared is a faculty member for Adrenaline and Revive Dance Conventions where he shares his love for Modern dance with students across the country.
Ballet
Andi Salazar
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
9:00-10:00 AM
Detroit Opera House
Contemporary
Jared Baker
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
SUN, 10:10-11:10 AM
Detroit Opera House
Sound in Motion: Improvisation on Musical Imagery and Korean Breathing
Choi Moonea & Lee So-yeon
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
11:20-12:20 AM
Detroit Opera House
Daewon Kim
Daewon Kim is an award-winning film director, editor and animator whose projects have screened at festivals across the globe. His goals as a filmmaker are to create visual experiences that allow audiences to enjoy surreal scenes and stories that are possible in only in the cinema, while revealing a deeper truth about reality. The audience experiences extraordinary and meaningful moments -- impossible in real life -- through these visual and auditory experiences. In these moments, he believes the filmmaker or the director has a unique opportunity to deliver powerful messages using his or her capacity to manipulate images and sounds and with the power of the imagination. This is a beauty that only film and video can produce. He received a master of fine arts degree from San Francisco State University and he teaches courses as an Assistant Professor in the area of film production at Oakland University, especially focused on editing, sound design, color correction, animation and visual effects.
Dance For Camera
Daewon Kim
Saturday, September 6
12:30-2:00 PM
Lecture Hall, Detroit Institute of Arts
DANCE FOR CAMERA: FILM GRAMMAR + AI FILMS
Taught by Daewon Kim, this workshop is aimed at dancers who want to make dance films. Participants will learn film grammar, mise-en-scene, the meaning of each shot, and how to prepare before filming. It will also be a hands-on opportunity to learn how to use AI to create a video, and how to bring new imagination to the video, such as adding new spaces or costumes.
MASTER CLASS MEMORIES
DDCF 2024
Norberto Collazo (Jazz Fusion), Kelsey Paschich (Countertechnique®), Hot Crowd (Partnering), Braeden Barnes (Contemporary), Meg Paul (Contemporary Ballet), Mike Smith (JIT)
DDCF 2023
James Sofranko (Ballet), Jeremy Blair (Jazz), Steve Rooks (Modern), Gloria Ahlijah (West African), Norberto Collazo (Contemporary Fusion), Kyung Haw Hong & Kwangmin Kim (Partnering)
DDCF 2022
Brandon Koepsell (Ballet), Kelsey Paschich (Countertechnique®), Haleem Rasul (JIT), Lee Jung In (Infinity Movement with Multiple Web), Penny Godboldo (Dunham Technique), Christa Smutek (Jazz Fusion)
DDCF 2021 (virtual)
Sidra Bell (Contemporary Systems), Shannon Gillen (Vim Vigor Physical Dance), James Wilton (Contemporary Floorwork), Kelsey Paschich (Contemporary Ballet), Joanne Zheng (Chinese Classical Dance), Wanjiru Kimuyu (Contemporary), Anuradha Murali (Classical Dance Styles of India: Bharathanatyam & Kuchipudi), BMBO Creations (Screen Dance Tutorial), Allen Xing (Modern), Queen Gabby (Detroit Jit), Denise Caston Clark (Tap).
DDCF 2020 (virtual)
Lauren Anderson (Ballet), Caleb Mitchell (Ballet), Steven Rooks (Modern)
DDCF 2019
Contemporary with Alexander Dones, Improvisation with Amy Chavasse, Ballet/Laban MA with Seyong Kim, Contemporary with Carmelo Segura, Partnering with Dong-Won Lee, and Double Skin/Double Mind with Kelly Hirina.
ddcf 2018
Contemporary Jazz with Brandon Harneck, Contemporary with Biba Bell, Marcat Research/Guided Improvisation with Mario Bermdez Gil, Contemporary/Modern with Sylvia Suttle, Contemporary Improvisation with Kang Seok Lee, ModHop Jazz with Cat Manturuk, Contemporary movement & Improvisation with Alexander Dones, Breathing Attack with JaeDuck Kim Contemporary with Alexander Quetell, Contemporary with Jiyoung Hqang, and Contemporary Jazz with Tracy Halloran.
DDCF 2017
Indian Classical Dance with Anuradga Murali, Contemporary with Autumn Eckman, Zibolo with Chris Babingui, Modern with RE|dance group, Contemporary with Nick Neagle, ModHop Jazz with Cat Manturuk, Ballet with Valerie Alpert, Gaga with Amy Morrow, Contemporary with Amy Cova, Double Skin/Double Mind with Kelly Hirina, and JIT with Mikemansontht
DDCF 2016
Improvisation with Patty Solorzano, Breakdance with Keegan ‘Seoul’ Loye, African Fusion with Erika ‘Red’ Stowall, Contemporary with Alexander Dones, Contemporary with Bree McCormack, Lyrical with Jill Cassidy, Authentic Jazz with Paulette Brockington, Somatics Lab with Elizabeth Shea, Contemporary with Jessica Post, ModHop Jazz with Cat Manturuk, Musical dance with Adriel Ruben, Modern with White Wave, Contemporary with Joori Jung, Tap with Lisa Allai, Ballet with Kathy Cooke, Partnering with Darby Wilde, Contemporary with Tracy Halloran, Tap with Kelsey Rose, Ballet with Paul O. Campo, Contemporary with Kwang Min Kim, Partnering with Take Root, Physical Dance with Ferenc Feher, and Contemporary Jazz with Jodie Randolph
DDCF 2015
Social Dance with Camille A. Brown, Jazz with Michael Lemanski, Limon with Barbara Sellinger, Jazz with Jill Zmijewski, Partnering with Take Root, Modern with Teatr Tanca Zawiowania, Pro Bono with Hardcore Detroit, Contemporary Modern with Jennifer Harge, Partnering and Performance Skills with Young Soon Kim Dance Company, Ballet with Sheena Annalise, Contemporary with Stephanie Pizzo, Improvisation with Patty Solorzano Seward, African Dance with Erika ‘Red’ Wall, Contemporary with Rodney A. Brown, Ballet with Sergey Rayevskiy, Contemporary with Tracy Pearson, Improvisation with ArtLab J Dance, Contemporary Jazz with Jodie Randolph, Ballet with Issac Jones, Modern with R.se Dance, Contemporary Jazz with Teresa Muller, ModHopJazz with Cat Manturuk, and Hip Hop with Heidi Williams
DDCF2014
Adesola Akinleye, Adriel Ruben, Alicia Cutaia, Amy Chavasse, Barbara Selinger, Biba Bell, Carolyn Dorfman, Christa Smutek, Crystal Frazier, Denise Caston, Devon Campbell, Jodie Randolph, Joori Jung, Louie Marin, Marcus White, Christina Kammuller, Penny Godboldo, Rachel Ahn Harbert, Sean Hoskins, Sheena Annalise, Take Root (Ali Woerner and Thayer Jonutz), Tracy Pearson, Yessa
DDCF2013
Contemporary with Joori Jung, Ballet with Meg Paul, Modern with Sidra Bell, Contemporary Jazz with Liz Schmidt, Improvisation with Amy Chavasse, Modern Technique with Barbara Selinger, Tap with Denise Caston, Jit with Haleem, Central African (Congolese style) with Karen Prall
