Joanna Meinl

P.O. Box 4287 · Santa Rosa, CA 95402 · Tel: (510) 684-2442 · joanna_didi@yahoo.com

Professional Experience

Chitresh Das Dance Company/Chhandam School of Kathak Dance, San Francisco, CA

Performer / Teacher, 1999-Present

• Dance company member for performances both nationally and internationally.
• Kathak dance teacher for beginning and intermediate children, teen and adult classes. Head of the Union City branch location of the school. Responsibilities include managing teachers and assistants, organizing meetings, creating and distributing school information, creation of lesson plans on semester basis, implementing school-wide curriculum and choreographing/rehearsing students for performances.

Administrative Manager, February 2002-May 2004

• Office Manager with multiple areas of focus which included: creating office infrastructure, general organizational support, database maintenance, project specific scheduling, calendaring, public relations, logistics management, archiving, article layouts, publicity packet compellation, newsletter and article composition, filing and file system creation, artist visa applications and transportation organization.

Dance Arts Studios, San Rafael, CA

Instructor / Administrator / Performer, September 2001-June 2006

• Instructor of social Ballroom, Latin, and Swing dance classes at all levels and all ages.
• Administrator responsible for student registration, tuition, class list organization, database maintenance, distributing studio information and public relations.
• Performer active in Showcase and Special Event presentations.

Cache Creek Dancers, Vallejo, CA

Performer, November 2004-December 2007

• Performer of Hip Hop dance both improvised and choreographed as part of live musical events.

Stars Ballroom, Novato, CA

Instructor, June 2006 – December 2007

· Group and Private Dance Instructor for social Ballroom, Latin, Swing and Hip-Hop dance classes

Vima Dance Studio, San Francisco, CA

Instructor & Performer, June 2006 – June 2007

· Group and Private Dance Instructor for social Ballroom, Latin, and Swing dance classes

· Performer in Showcase, Special Event productions & Vima Burlesque!

JAS Dance Productions, Santa Rosa, CA

Co-Director/ Instructor / Performer, July 2007 – Present

· Group and Private Dance Instructor for Latin Dance classes including: Salsa, Mambo, Rumba, Cha-cha-cha, Merengue, Bachata as well as SalsAerobics and Hip-Hop

· Performer for Special Events and Competitions

Arts Education Experience

Young Audiences of the Bay Area (YABA), San Francisco, CA

Performer / Teacher, August 2000 - Present

Arts education workshops, assemblies and residency programs, for elementary, middle and high schools, both public and private, throughout the Bay Area. These arts education programs are designed to expose youth to culturally significant art /dance. Kathak is taught in a multi-dimensional format by demonstrating through choreographed pieces, lecture demonstration, improvisation and audience participation.

Marin Dance Theater, San Rafael, CA

Kathak Dance Teacher / Performer, September 2004 - Present

Community Outreach Program, grades K-6

Marsh Youth Theater, San Francisco, CA

Kathak Dance Teacher / Choreographer, February – December 2007

Youth Theater Arts Performance Group

GlenView Elementary, Oakland, CA

Kathak Dance Teacher , September - December 2005

GlenView Cultural Arts for Visually Impaired Students

Barron Park Elementary, Palo Alto, CA

Kathak Dance Teacher, April - June 2005

School House Dance, Cupertino, CA

Creative Movement, Ballet & Tap Teacher, June - August 2004

Summer Gate 2004, San Francisco, CA

World Dance Class Teacher, June 2004

Dance Training

Kathak: Pandit Chitresh Das / Chhandam School / San Francisco, CA / 1995 - Present

Ballroom & Latin Dance: Allen Parrish / Dance Arts Studios / San Rafael, CA / 2001 - 2005

Modern Dance: Susie Whipp / SFSU / San Francisco, CA / 1995 - 98

Ballet: Arturo Fernandez / San Francisco Dance Center / San Francisco, CA / 1995 - 97

Modern, Ballet & Jazz: Embaje Dance Company / San Francisco, CA / 1994 - 96

Ballet and Jazz: Elizabeth Acuna / Ballet Etudes of South Florida / Miami, FL / 1990 - 94

Additional Dance Training:

NYU: Korean Dance: Salpuri, Middle Eastern Belly Dance

NYC: Afro-Brazilian Dance, Afro-Cuban Dance

SFSU: African Haitian Dance: Dr. Albirda Rose, Capoeira: Weldenkolk Olivera, Flamenco: Rosa Montoya,

Congolese: Malonga Casquelord

Music Training:

Classical Western Flute / Florida / 1988 – 94

North Indian Classical

Vocal & Harmonium: Debashis Sarkar / San Francisco, CA / 2003

George Ruckert / San Francisco, CA / 2005

Music Theory & Tabla / Kousic Sen / San Francisco, CA / Seasonally 2003 - 2005

Tabla / Jim Santi Owen / Oakland, CA / 2005 - 06

Additional Performance Training:

Mask work, Puppetry, Improvisation with Maria Lexa / Sun & Moon Ensemble / San Francisco, CA / 2000 - 01

Performance Experience

Chitresh Das Dance Company (CDDC) – Selected Performance / Touring

CDDC India Tour / New Delhi & Mumbai, India / December 2006 – January 2007

Kathak at the Crossroads: International Festival & Symposium / San Francisco, CA / September 2006 Traditional Kathak Solo / San Rafael, CA / July 2005

Thaat, solo: Dance in the Key of Life, MUCID / Walnut Creek, CA / May 2005

Oakland Asian Cultural Center / Oakland, CA / May 2005

Sampurnam, World Premiere / San Francisco & San Jose, CA / November 2004

International Kathak Festival / University of Chicago / Chicago, IL / October 2004

CDDC Tour: East As Center / CT, Washington D.C., MD / September - October 2004

San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Malkauns Tarana / San Francisco, CA / June 2004

CDDC Tour / Salt Lake City, UT / May 2004

CDDC India Tour / Kolkata & New Delhi, India / December 2003 - January 2004

Tarang, World Premiere / San Francisco, CA / September 2003

I /we /US, with Tabla Rasa / San Francisco, CA / June 2003

Mateel Community, Nautchwali &, Tarana / Redway, CA / November 2002

Pancha Jati, World Premiere / San Francisco, CA / October 2002

Mercy Hurst College, Moghul Court & Tarana / Erie, PA / September 2002

Himalayan Festival, Thaat / Berkeley, CA / May 2002

Ali Akbar Khan’s Gala Celebration, Tarana / San Rafael, CA / April 2002

San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Moghul Court / San Francisco, CA / June 2001

Darbar, Nautchwali / San Francisco, CA / October 1998

Other Selected Performances

Sun & Moon Ensemble, Yerba Buena Gardens / San Francisco, CA / June - August 2000 & 2001

Ethnic Dance Festival, Rangmang / San Francisco, CA / June 1999

New Moves: Choreographer and Performer / San Francisco, CA / May 1998

Dancers Group, Collaborative Performances / San Francisco, CA / September 1997 /April 1998

Choreographers Showcase, Dance Mission / San Francisco, CA / April 1996

New York University Dance Team / New York, NY / August 1994 - June 1995

All That Jazz, Ballet Etudes / Miami, FL / June 1994

Nutcracker, Ballet Etudes / Miami, FL / December 1993 / 94

Selected Awards

West Coast Swing - Competition Awards (National Events)

Currently Competing Nationally at the All-Star Level of WCS

1^st Place

Mountain Magic Swing Dance, Lake Tahoe, NV 2007 – Advanced J/J & Cabaret

BridgeTown Swing, Portland, OR 2007 – Advanced J/J

Frezno Dance Classic, Fresno, CA 2007 – Advanced J/J

LAPD. Los Angeles, CA 2007 – Advanced J/J

Seattle Easter Swing, Seattle, WA 2007 – Intermediate J/J & Open Strictly Swing

South Bay Dance Festival, San Jose, CA 2006 – Intermediate J/J

Greater Phoenix Swing Dance, Phoenix, AZ 2006 – Novice J/J

2^nd Place

New Years Dance Camp, Palm Springs, CA 2007 – Advanced J/J

Summer Dance Camp, Palm Springs 2006 – Intermediate J/J

3^rd Place

Reno Dance Sensation, Reno, CA 2008 – Advanced J/J

The Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA 2006 – Intermediate J/J

Positions Held

The Next Generation Swing Dance Club: Board Member 2008-09

Education

University of California, Berkeley: 2002-2003

South Asian Studies, concurrent enrollment

San Francisco State University: 1995-1999

B.A. Dance Ethnology, Cum Laude

School of Creative Arts

New York University: 1994-1995 (transferred)

Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Dance & Anthropology

References

Celine Schein Das: Executive Director, Chhandam Chitresh Das Dance Co. 415 333-9000

Jose A. Santamaria: Founder & Director, JAS Dance Productions 707-293-4292

Farhana Huq: Founder / CEO, CEO Women 510 409-9385