Faculty Members
Pamela Trokanski received her BA in Dance from SUNY Empire State college. In addition to teaching and running the Dance Workshop since August of 1984, she has directed the Pamela Trokanski Dance Theatre (since 1985), The Third Stage (since 1994), and the PTDT Apprentice Company (since 2009).
She worked with the California Arts Project from 1993 - 2003 as a presenter in Dance across the Curriculum and holds a current California Teachers Credential and CLAD Credential, teaching dance at Davis Senior High School from January 1984 - June 2022, where she also directed the Momentum Dance Company. In 2010, she trained with David Leventhal of the Mark Morris Dance Group and now teaches Dance for people with Parkinson's Disease.
When time has allowed, she has also written as a dance critic for the Davis Enterprise.
Matsue DelBene-Kyhos aka Match truly has a love for theater, growing up with a father who worked professionally as a clown in circuses and variety shows, to acting herself in productions as early as elementary school through high school.
Match also danced through high school, as a company member of Momentum Dance, headed by Pamela Trokanski. They have experience in all aspects of theater, from design, to building sets, to running lights and sound for productions. Match’s latest theatrical endeavors have been with the Solano Community College theater program. Their experience in working with children includes multiple years in diverse roles from swim coaching, to assisting in classrooms, to teaching at PTDW camps.
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Currently, Match is a student in the STEM field, but still actively pursuing various artistic ventures.
Rebecca Hennagir has been studying various forms of dance since she was 11 years old. She has studied belly dance since 2005 and has been a belly dance instructor since 2009. Prior to 2012, Rebecca performed under the direction of the belly dance pioneer Amy Sigil throughout the U.S. and abroad with Amy's internationally renowned Tribal Fusion troupes, UNMATA and Verbatim. Since 2013, Rebecca has been a troupe member and contributing choreographer to the award-winning Fusion belly dance troupe, ShupaDa, founded by Ayre Briar. While she has studied various forms of traditional and folk Middle Eastern dance, most of Rebecca's training and experience with belly dance has been in Tribal Fusion and Improvisational Tribal Style (ITS). Rebecca holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Sacramento State University.
Taylor Herrera has studied classical ballet since 1996, with her primary training in RAD technique with Katie Heil. She also studied ballet at Applegate Dance Studio, Steps on Broadway, Sacramento Ballet, Deane Dance Center, and the Berkeley Ballet Theater.
Taylor graduated with her B.A. in Spanish and Spanish-American studies in 2012 from Mills College, where she trained with Sonya Delwaidea-Nichols, department head of dance. In addition to her training in classical ballet, Taylor has taken classes in African, Zumba, modern, hip hop, and flamenco. Her performance experience includes six consecutive years in the Sacramento Ballet's annual Nutcracker, three years as a member of the Applegate Dance Co, and one year with Momentum Dance Co of Davis High School. She also participated in the Idyllwild Arts Academy summer program for dance in 2005.
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She has been the Artistic Director of Light Ballet Company since its first season in 2018.
While she is taking off this summer, she returns in the fall.
Born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, Katelin Halstead began her dance journey at the age of three. She received her early training at Steps, where she studied ballet and tap. At six, she transitioned to The Studio School of Classical Ballet, where she continued her ballet education and expanded her repertoire to include modern and contemporary dance. LINES Ballet Summer Intensive and by participating in The Ballet Alliance, gaining broader exposure to professional-level technique and performance.
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Alongside her technical training, Katelin developed a passion for choreography. As a high school sophomore, she began teaching at the theatre nonprofit All About Theatre, where she choreographed musical numbers and staged performances. This early teaching experience deepened her love for guiding others through movement.
Katelin is currently a Biotechnology major at UC Davis, where she continues to pursue dance recreationally with the Davis Ballet Company. She remains active in teaching and is excited for what is to come!
Gayle Kyhos is dancer, physical therapist and certified Pilates matwork instructor through the Australian Physiotherapy and Pilates Institute. A Davis native, she grew up tap dancing with Julie and Jere Curry, and in high school began ballet, jazz and modern dance classes at the PTDW in its first location near downtown. At this time, she also began performing with Pamela’s company. After moving to the SF Bay Area for college, she spent a decade studying modern dance at the Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley. Her dance experience included performing with choreographers Carol Kueffer, Joan Lazarus, Cathy Davalos and Randee Paufve. Additionally, she took an “Alignment” class every Saturday from Suzanne Martin, PT and certified Pilates teacher, where she was introduced to the wonderful world of Pilates.
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In 2002, she graduated from the UCSF/SFSU Physical Therapy program, and has worked mainly as a hospital-based PT. In 2019, she became a board certified wound specialist. After practicing Pilates mainly at home for many years, she decided to become a certified instructor, mainly because she loves to learn, loves to move, and loves working with people in this realm.
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While she will be traveling this summer, she will return in the Fall.
Hilary Sanders began dancing at the age of three. She grew up dancing at Ballet Petit in Hayward, and spent her summers training at various intensives, including ABT, Boston Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet. She began a BFA in Ballet at University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and later transferred to Cornell University, dancing as a principal dancer at Ithaca Ballet while completing her undergraduate degree.
During college, Hilary developed a passion for sharing dance as a means of inclusion and empowerment. Through the organization Movement Exchange, she has taught dance to underserved kids in her own communities and at Movement Exchange’s partner schools in Panama. She has also been teaching ballet since 2011. Hilary is currently pursuing a joint J.D./M.S. in Ecology at UC Davis.
Ina Wang is a UCD undergrad who has a background in Chinese Traditional Dance, Latin (Cha Cha and Rumba), Jazz and K-pop. She has completed level 7 in Beijing Dance Academy Chinese graded exam, and scored second prizes in multiple Youth Latin regional competitions. After her Chinese Traditional Dance and Latin journey, Ina has taken Jazz class for years before she stepped into the K-pop world.
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Ina started to dance K-pop and various other choreography in high school, and has continued dancing by joining Sone1 in her first year. The team performed in SYNK in San Jose, a survival themed K-pop dance showcase hosted by SJSU.
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Aside from dancing, Ina gained her experience in teaching as a scuba diving instructor and mermaid instructor. She is also hoping to become a wildlife vet or conservationist in the future.
In addition, we are excited to be hosting classes in multiple art forms!
Find out more about classes in Zentangle.
Curious about Zentangle and like to know more?
Just click on What is Zentangle and why is it being taught at PTDW?
Analisa Bevan is a Certified Zentangle Teacher who’s been tangling for nearly ten years. She’s excited to share her passion for this mindful non- representational art form that can be done anywhere with almost any writing instrument and surface. She’s found deep joy in making Zentangle art ranging from standard 3 ½ inch square tiles to embellished shoes and
one of a kind holiday cards to the most intriguing meeting notes margins. In her other job as a regulator at the California Air Resources Board she’s found that using Zentangle doodling has helped her focus and contribute critically to her work.
In Memorium
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We are very sad to share news of the passing of Bob Stephenson,
our beloved Pilates teacher, who lost his battle with metastatic stomach cancer on
Friday, March 14.
Bob had the unique ability to perpetually look on the bright side of life.
He always said he was so lucky to have the best students!
We will miss him.