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His choreography was awarded the gold medal at the Hong Kong Open dance competition in 2004 (performed by Budlet Dance Company) as well as the first prize at the ethnic dance competition in Germany in 2005 (performed by Elvan Dance Company). Since arriving in North America in 1985, he has taught many workshops and camps throughout the United States as well as Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Holland, England, Switzerland, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Norway, Italy and Australia. He has set innumerable suites of dances for the stage working with dance organizations around the world. Some of the notable performing ensembles with whom he has worked include AMAN of Los Angeles, BYU dancers of Provo, BUDLET of Hong Kong, LES SORTILEGES of Montreal, and VINOK of Edmonton. In his native Turkey, he choreographed for HOYTUR, TURHOY and GEHEM of Ankara, ANADOLU UNIVERSITESI of Eskisehir, BUTFOD of Bursa and FOLKTUR of Istanbul. In 1991 Ahmet joined the Artistic Staff of AMAN as resident choreographer. Prior to his departure for the US, Ahmet also served as Director of Dances for HOY-TUR, long considered Turkey's leading dance association. Since the age of eight he has danced with numerous school ensembles and private associations, many of which won outstanding awards in city-wide and National-International competitions. Between 1973 and 2003 he participated in International dance festivals & competitions throughout Europe and North America. In edition, him and his ensembles appeared in more than 60 programs broadcast nationally in countries such as Turkey, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan and Germany.
Sherene is a member of the SF Community Arts, Education, and Cultural Equity Committee, SF Arts Providers Alliance, California Arts Advocates, and International Dance Council UNESCO. She designed and directs DANCE OUT! Presidio Performing Arts Foundation's free citywide education program offered in the public schools, funded by the California Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts, which was nominated by the Presidio Trust to receive the President's Commission for Arts & Humanities, Coming Up Taller Award. Trained in classical dance by San Francisco Ballet and Kirov Academy of Ballet, Washington, DC, Sherene performed principal youth roles with both San Francisco Ballet and Kirov Ballet (on its US national tour), and at 16, participated in the Prix de Lausanne international dance competition, one of twelve to represent the USA. Concurrently, she studied character and international folk dance in the style of Igor Moiseyev. After spending two years in Russia as the student of Kirov Ballet Mistress, Gabriella Komleva, Sherene performed as a guest artist with ballet and folk companies in Russia, France, Germany, Sweden, Brazil, and Switzerland. As a Choreographer, she has set pieces for dance companies at home and abroad, and presented for the United Nations, International Red Cross, and PBS. She annually presents Winter and Spring Seasons for Presidio Dance Theatre. 2008 live audiences exceeded 40,000 at major venues and festivals including the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, Marin Center, Palace of Fine Arts, Herbst Theater, Davies Symphony Hall, SF City Hall; Saint Petersburg's famed White Nights Festival at the Catherine Palace; and the 300th Anniversary of Tsarskoye Selo International Festival. Her work has been recognized by the press nationally in Dance Magazine, Dance Teacher, and internationally broadcast. In 2008, Sherene received a national award from Nickelodeon Television for "Best Artsy Program" in the SF Bay Area.
Ronit Ronen Tamir / Choreographer
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The Company
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 Damien Alvarez Damien began dancing Flamenco at the age of 7 inspired by Carlos Saura’s film, “Carmen”. A native San Franciscan, he began his training with La Monica at the Mission Cultural Center. Afterwards he moved on to study with San Francisco Flamenco legend Rosa Montoya. He first performed in Ms. Montoya’s annual student production in 1992 at the age of 12 and continued to perform through her final show in 2003. He also taught flamenco at San Francisco State University. Damien has lived in Spain and studied extensively at the renowned dance academy, Amor de Dios. Damian has danced with Virginia Iglesias’ flamenco dance company, “Alma Flamenca” and was part of her 2006 production “Reflejos.” In 2007, he was part of Theater Flamenco’s 40th anniversary production. Damien has performed under the artistic direction of La Tania, Melissa Cruz, and Fanny Ara and is currently part of the modern flamenco troupe Riquezas. |
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Mustafa Bakir |
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 Alexis Maharam started dancing with Collage about a year ago. She spent 4 years performing with BU on Tap, Boston University's student run tap dance ensemble, while completing a BA in economics and statistics. Since arriving in Boston, she has performed with several local Israeli dance troupes, which led her to Collage. Alexis is currently working as a product analyst for an auto insurance company downtown. She loves the new challenges Collage brings to her dancing and promises to learn more Turkish one day soon. |
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 Karen Oakley Karen started her performing arts career after retiring at the age of 15 ½ as a USGF (Class I competitive) artistic gymnast for the Fresno Gymnastic Club when she became a songleader for Clovis West High School. Her rigorous training in gymnastics included ballet twice weekly in the Russian Vaganova technique. She competed in 2 Far West International Invitational competitions and was 2nd All-around in the 1981 high school championships. Karen continued her study of dance in Horton, Dunham, and Limon techniques at Stanford University while obtaining her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Karen has been a company member of Westwind International Folk Ensemble for 15 years and has been a company member of Neva’ Russian Dance Ensemble for 16 years. Most recently she has begun learning and performing Caribbean traditional and contemporary dance with choreographers from the Jamaican National Ballet Company in Kingston, Jamaica and traditional Polish dance with Lowiczanie Polish Dance Ensemble of San Francisco, CA. Karen has performed in numerouos venues throughout the world including the Hollywood Bowl, Panama City in Florida, the Zellerbach in Berkeley, the Russian Center of SF, and several International Festivals throughout Eastern Europe. |
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Dancers Emeritus
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Auditions
Collage generally holds open auditions at the beginning of If you are interested in being notified of the date of our next audition, |
Mehmet Erman Kirtan 
Ceren Yalin 
