Mojave Movement Arts Center

About Us : 

Heather Benes began her study of dance with Nancy Johnson at San Diego Ballet. Teachers who have been and continue to be important to her development as an artist and teacher are Stanley Holden, Margaret Hills, and Marguerite Phares in ballet, William Kuhlke and Irene Feigenheimer in modern and improvisation, Andrew Tsubaki in Asian theatre movement, and recently Linda Tomko in Baroque dance. Ms. Benes has performed in small ballet and contemporary companies in California and Kansas; her most recent appearance was in the opera Dido and Aeneas produced by the Stanford Music Department, with choreography by Linda Tomko.

Heather Benes earned a Master of Arts degree in Dance at CSU Sacramento and a Master of Science degree in Kinesiology at UCLA. She has held teaching appointments in dance and dance-related subjects at California State University, Sacramento, University of Kansas, Lawrence, University of California, Irvine, Scripps College, Antelope Valley College, and Cerro Coso Community College. Several of her private students have been honored with scholarships for summer and year-round study at the schools of nationally and internationally renowned dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Recently, one student won the prestigious Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Dance at UC Riverside; another student has been accepted into the classical dance division of the Orange County High School of the Arts. Yet another will graduate this year with a BFA in Dance from UC Irvine.