Faculty

The Dance Faculty consists of Master teachers with international reputations and specialized expertise in areas of study covering the various aspects of the dance disciplines.

DEPARTMENT CHAIR

Victor Robles

(Jazz, Modern, Dance History, Yoga, and Physical Reintegration) - is an alumnus of the Glendale College Dance Department. He received his BFA in Dance at CSULB and his MA from the Florida State University. He was a member of the Gloria Newman Dance Company and has worked with Bella Lewitzki, Long Beach Ballet, and the Francisco Martinez Dance Theater.

Contact information
Email vrobles@glendale.edu
GCC Ext. 5494

EMERITUS PROFESSOR

Lynn McMurrey

(Dance Production, Dance History) has an MA in Dance Education from CSULB and has has performed and choreographed for American and European television and film. He was also choreographer for the Marseille Opera for two years. Lynn has choreographed and danced on many of the renowned stages of Europe and the United 5tates. He was given the "Distinguished Faculty Award", in 1990, by the Academic Senate, Associated Student Body, the City of Los Angeles, and the Glendale Chamber of Commerce. Lynn is Past President of the CFT Guild, and of the GCC Academic Senate and served as Dance Department chairperson from 1994-2008.
(To Visit Mr. McMurrey's Home Page Click Here)

Contact information
Email mcmurrey@glendale.edu
GCC Ext.5556

ADJUNCT

Chelsea

Chelsea Asman

(Jazz) earned her BFA in dance performance from Chapman University and is a graduate of the MFA in dance program at University of California, Irvine. As a graduate student, Chelsea had the privilege of working as the teaching assistant for Donald McKayle’s Etude Ensemble as well as teaching courses in jazz, modern and social dance. She currently teaches Yoga at California State University Dominquez Hills and is a teaching artist for The Gabriella Foundation. Chelsea has also taught at Loyola Marymount University and Fullerton College. Her performance credits include Los Angeles based dance companies such as: Diavolo Dance Theatre’s education company, Invertigo Dance Theatre, Multiplex Dance, Kairos Dance Company, Jess Harper and Dancers and Jay Bartley. Chelsea also enjoys choreographing dances of her own and has shown work throughout Los Angeles including L.A. and MixMatch dance festivals. In 2013 Chelsea co-founded the Contemporary Modern Dance Collective (CMDC) and was the committee chair until 2016. In addition to her dance training, Chelsea is a certified personal trainer, which inspired her thesis research exploring how to incorporate muscular strengthening and cardiorespiratory conditioning into a collegiate level modern dance technique class.

Contact information
GCC Ext.5742

Ernest Felton Baker

(Hip-Hop) is a dancer, choreographer and educator with a passion to make dance accessible through cinematic storytelling. Baker’s professional and pedagogical practice is rooted primarily in African American vernacular techniques such as hip hop, house, as well as contemporary and postmodern influences. He was recently commissioned as the choreographer for the Netflix Original series, Explained, “Dance Crazes'' episode, the Off-Broadway play, One Nation, One Mission, One Promise, and the multi award-winning short film JONAH, which was also featured in the Alicia Keys’ campaign for Criminal Justice Reform. After he was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts in Hip Hop dance by the White House, he was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center, Art Basel, and on HBO’s A Young Arts Master Class with Bill T. Jones. Baker has taught Hip Hop/Street Dance at Wesleyan University, The Ailey School and is currently on faculty teaching at CalArts based in Los Angeles.

Contact information
GCC Ext.5742

Ani Hovannisyan

Ani Hovhannisyan

(Salsa) has a Master’s Degree (MS) in Kinesiology from CSUN and a B. A in Theatre Arts & Dance from CSULA. Ani has been trained in different styles of dances in school and outside of school (Salsa, Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Latin Dances). She has been in a few Dance Companies, where she has worked and trained with some of the best and professional Directors who have given her various opportunities to travel to Europe and Asia to perform for their International Dance Festivals. Ani has been in various Salsa Companies where she has gotten the opportunity to go to San Francisco Salsa Congress to Salsa Extravaganza multiple times to perform for their events. She also had the opportunity to compete in Granada and won 1st place in 2010. Ani has also been training ballet with Pacific Ballet Dance Theatre and in a Modern Dance Company Directed by Hae Kyung Lee where she has participated in various concerts/shows throughout Los Angeles and various Theaters: Alex Theater, the world-famous Kodak Theater-changed its name to the Dolby Theatre in 2012, Ford Amphitheater, Scottish Theater, Saban, Gipson, Star, Greek Theater, Colony Theater, and El Portal Theatre. Ani was the Assistant Director for the show, LA’s Best Dancers, which took place at Alex Theatre in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Ani was filmed in a movie, Chef, in one of the scenes, which was released in May 2014. As a Dance Teacher, Choreographer, Performing artist and dancing in Professional Dance Companies, Ani still manages to take part in various shows/events that come along her way.

Contact information
Email ahovhannisyan@glendale.edu
GCC Ext. 5742

Lisa Jay

(Pilates) has worked in theater, television, and the world of live entertainment. She has choreographed and performed in industrials for Ford Motors, Compaq Computers (Sting’s World Tour Kick-off), Shell Oil, Dr. Pepper, Chevis Regal (with the late Emmy, Grammy, Oscar & Tony award-wining Marvin Hamlisch), AT&T, Mobil Oil, IBM, Oldsmobile, American Express, etc. Television credits: ABC’s Lost, MTV’s DanceLife, NBC’s Jake and the Fatman, ABC’s Life Goes On, and NBC’s The Little People. TV commercial credits: Walgreens, RC Cola, Gloria Vanderbilt Shoes, Macy’s, 7-11 Stores, and an online Ad for Disney Travel. Theatrical choreography credits: A Chorus Line, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Aladdin, The Only Dance There Is, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Grease. Lisa has danced with New York Motion and the Ken Molina Dance Company. An accomplished Hawaiian dancer, she was a featured soloist in Al Harrington’s Polynesian Revue, has danced with famed Hawaiian musical duo The Brothers Cazimero, and even taught Hula to the late Tony award-wining choreographer, Thommie Walsh. Lisa Jay holds a Master’s Degree in Dance and has teacher certifications in Pilates Mat, Yoga, Zumba, and is signed with MTA Agency.

Contact information
Email ljay@glendale.edu
GCC Ext. 5742

Richard Kuller

(Tap) has a passion for the integration of music, storytelling and movement. He won an NEA Producer’s Grant for his musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. He was co-librettist of an opera adaptation of O. Henry's Gift of the Magi, which aired on NBC, and stage director for the musical political satire group, The Foremen, and has written and directed three short films. His fictional dance film, Time Step, played seven film festivals in 2000-01, winning two awards. His mini-documentary on the life of film choreographer Alex Romero, narrated by Janet Leigh, was the centerpiece of Jazz Dance LA 2001, and his motivational short, Catch the Wave, was featured at the Young Presidents Organization’s 2002 Global Leadership Conference. Richard is presently on the Dance faculty of Glendale and Citrus Colleges.

Contact information
Email rkuller@glendale.edu
GCC Ext. 1248

Elena Rezai

(Modern Dance)

Elena is a Dance-Maker, Educator, Artistic Director, Dance/Movement Therapist, Mother, and all-around creative currently residing in Altadena, CA. She holds her MFA from St. Mary's College of California, her MA in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling from Columbia College Chicago, and her BA in Dance with a minor in Psychology and Social Behavior from UC Irvine. Elena is the founder and Artistic Director of (Kin)esphere Dance Project, a modern and contemporary dance company founded in 2022 with its home base in Fresno, CA, that focuses on themes of connection, community, healing, and how we communicate with ourselves and others. Elena's choreography and movement repertoire uses intuition to guide the creative process, and recognizes that the body itself is a generator of knowledge. Her movement is at times gentle and soft and at times powerful and sharp, highlighting the continuums and complexities that we all hold within us.

Elena is passionate about using dance as a powerful connecting force that unites us in community, and enjoys working with upcoming generations of dancers to help them find meaningful ways to weave dance throughout the entirety of their lives. She believes that movement helps us understand one another, that dance is a universal and healing experience, and that every living human is, in their inmost essence, a dancer.

Contact information
Email erezai@glendale.edu
GCC Ext. 5742

Tamra Henna Swan

Tamra-henna Swan

(Middle Eastern Dance Technique and The History of Middle Eastern Dance) earned a MFA in Dance Choreography at UCLA and in 2005 performed internationally as a featured soloist with the “Bellydance Superstars” who currently promote her workshops worldwide. During her extensive seven year sojourn to the Arab world, Tamra-henna performed as a soloist in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, and Cyprus. She is currently working towards certification in Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies.

Contact information
Email tswan@glendale.edu
GCC Ext. 1414

Roberta Wolin-Tupas

(Movement Development: Birth Through Twelve Years)
originally from Washington D.C., has a BA in Literature from Reed College and MA in Choreography and Performance from UCLA. She was Producer of Marion Scott's Spirit Dances series, and was nominated for two Lester Horton Awards for Outstanding Production of the series. Wolin-Tupas is Co-Artistic of R Dance Company, and has created a large body of original modern dance works. Her choreography has been presented at the Broad Stage, Highways, Miles Playhouse, Wilshire Ebell, California Choreographers Festival, Brand Library Modern Dance Series. Wolin-Tupas served as Co-Artistic Director of Santa Monica College's Synapse Dance Theater. Her choreography was performed at ADCFA in 2012 and 2014. She has taught at CSULA, and continues to teach at SMC and Glendale College.

Contact information
Email rwolinma@glendale.edu
GCC Ext. 5742

Accompanists

Gayane Simonyan began playing the piano at the age of four. She earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from Tchaikovsky Specialized Music School and Master’s and Doctorate degrees with Honors in Piano Performance and Keyboard Collaborative Arts from the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan, Armenia where she later became a faculty member. Gayane Simonyan has been featured as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist throughout the United States, Latvia, Russia and Armenia. Currently Ms. Simonyan maintains a private piano Studio; she is on the faculty at Glendale Community College and organist at the Our Lady of Grace Church in Encino.