Leslie Craig-Foxworth, Artistic Director
Leslie trained at the Staatsoper in Bremen and Hamburg, Germany, and the Institut fuer Buehnentanz in Cologne, Germany, in classical ballet, pointe, partnering, modern dance (with emphasis on Graham and Limon) and ethnic dance including czardas, mazurka, tarantella, flamenco and castanets. She danced with the Hartford Ballet on full scholarship as an apprentice and then went on to dance for several years (soloist) under the direction of Michael Uthoff and Lisa Bradley (former principal dancers of the Joffrey Ballet) and toured throughout the U.S. She has also performed with the Connecticut Ballet (soloist), Connecticut Dance Theatre (principal dancer/modern dance), and the Niederdeutsches Theater in Germany. She has participated in lecture demonstrations throughout the Connecticut school system, helping to motivate and inspire children of all ages in dance appreciation and participation. She was also involved in special projects with the Hartford Symphony and Hartt College (University of Hartford).
Leslie trained at the Staatsoper in Bremen and Hamburg, Germany, and the Institut fuer Buehnentanz in Cologne, Germany, in classical ballet, pointe, partnering, modern dance (with emphasis on Graham and Limon) and ethnic dance including czardas, mazurka, tarantella, flamenco and castanets. She danced with the Hartford Ballet on full scholarship as an apprentice and then went on to dance for several years (soloist) under the direction of Michael Uthoff and Lisa Bradley (former principal dancers of the Joffrey Ballet) and toured throughout the U.S. She has also performed with the Connecticut Ballet (soloist), Connecticut Dance Theatre (principal dancer/modern dance), and the Niederdeutsches Theater in Germany. She has participated in lecture demonstrations throughout the Connecticut school system, helping to motivate and inspire children of all ages in dance appreciation and participation. She was also involved in special projects with the Hartford Symphony and Hartt College (University of Hartford).
Tara Formanek began her classical training at Ballet Arizona under Kee-Juan Han, Nadia Zubkov and Sibylle Acatos-Dady for six years before becoming a trainee at Ballet Austin. She augmented her training with summer programs at Boston Ballet, The Rock School and Ballet Austin. After one year with Ballet Austin, Tara joined City Ballet of San Diego where she has performed for the past 6 years. She has performed soloist roles in many classical ballets as well as in Elizabeth Wistrich’s Carmina Burana and the Nutcracker and George Balanchine’s “The Four Temperaments” and “Serenade”. Tara has been teaching and choreographing at the Performing Arts Workshop for the past four years and has immensly enjoyed watching the students grow both as dancers and as people.
Goli Aalam, Teacher Beginning her formal dance trainning in Salt Lake City, Utah with the Folk Dancers of America, Goli later moved to California and continued her training and performing with La Jolla Festival Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, The Joffrey School and Company, and Ballet Pacifica; and, in the interim, Goli earned a bachelors degree in Criminology from the University of California, Irvine. As a new PAW teacher, Goli aims to provide an opportunity for her students to excel in both dance and life, brings a respectful sense of humor to her classes and fosters self-confidence and poise in her students.
Alyson M. Klier While attending college and performing in such musicals as Funny Girl, West Side Story, Grease, and Chicago, Alyson also became a company member of SpectorDance (contemporary) in Monterey, CA and Light Body Dance (modern) in Santa Cruz, CA. While earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance (summa cum laude) at UC San Diego, Alyson continued her extensive dance training with Thor Sutowski/Dame Sonya Arova – San Diego Ballet, Alonzo King – LINES Contemporary Ballet, Jean Issacs – San Diego Dance Theater, and Patricia Rincon – Patricia Rincon Dance Collective. During this time, she also received thorough instruction in dance pedagogy, human anatomy, kinesiology, and nutrition and participated in the UC Artsbridge program for 2 years – teaching and advocating dance to 1st & 2nd graders throughout San Diego County. Alyson has been teaching ballet, tap, jazz, and creative movement to children and adults at PAW since 2001. In 2008, she became the Studio Manager at PAW.
Zuri Goldman, Teacher - began his dance training at North Carolina School of the Arts where he studied with Duncan Nobel, Melissa Hayden, Gyula Pandi, and Richard Kuch among others. He also trained at the Hungarian National Ballet School and the Academy of Ballet with Richard Gibson. Zuri began performing with North Carolina Dance under Sal Aiello. From there he worked with Indianapolis Ballet, Ballet Met, Ohio Ballet, and Ballet San Jose. Zuri has also been a guest artist with Ballet Arizona and The Move. Throughout his career, Zuri danced a variety of ballets. Alonzo King created two pieces on Zuri, one of which was the pas de deux “Heaven and Earth”. A highlight of his dance career was dancing the roles of Prince and Maria (Clara) in the Nutcracker with his wife at Ballet Jan Jose. Since retiring in 2006, Zuri has taught at Pasadena Dance Theater and Cal Arts. He recently relocated to Encinitas and is enjoying working with the students at PAW.
Jerry Foxworth, Teacher – After taking acting classes in college many years ago, Jerry was intrigued enough to take up acting as an avocation and over the past 40 years has performed a variety of rolls in numerous plays, such as “Robin Hood”, “The Devil’s Advocate”, “The Male Animal”, and Ferenc Molnar’s “Liliom”. Other principle rolls include Wild Bill Hickok in “Indians”, Peppercorn in “Voices Under the Wind” and Noah in the musical “110 in the Shade”. He has also appeared in a segment of the original “Star Trek” series and several independent films.