CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CHOREOGRAPHERS’ BIOS
Breanna Daniels holds a BA in Dance from Brigham Young University (BYU), where she performed with the International Folk Dance Ensemble. Here she taught workshops around the United States and on tour to Southeast Asia. Breanna is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Cultural Dance area at BYU, as well as a founding director of World Dance Company LLC, where she is artistic director, choreographer, and rehearsal specialist. She is also Ballet Artistic Director for a dance studio in Springville, while also fulfilling invitations to teach, choreograph, and provide masterclasses at many studios throughout Utah. ———————————— Cristian Florescu was born in Bucharest, Romania. He started dancing in 1982 with different Romanian folk ensembles and studied with various specialists, including Theodor Vasilescu. Cristian was principal dancer with the National Ensemble Cununa Carpatilor. In 1990-91, he received his certificate as a recognized solo dancer and choreographer in the field of folklore from the Romanian Ministry of Culture and the ACAFR. In 1993, he joined Les Sortilèges, a professional folk dance company based in Montreal Canada, where he has danced, taught and choreographed. Sonia Dion was born in Quebec and has been a professional dancer for over 20 years. She was lead dancer, choreographer and artistic director, among other roles for Les Sortileges dance company; Canada’s oldest professional folk dance ensemble, with whom she developed several new productions. Sonia has toured worldwide and has been exposed to a wide range of dance techniques, including Romanian folk dance, Scottish Highland dancing, French-Canadian step dance and ballroom dance. It was at Les Sortilèges that the two met and formed a professional and personal partnership. They have taught at l’École Supérieure de Danse du Québec, and have been part of the Artists in the Schools program sponsored by the Quebec Ministry of Education. In recent years, Cristian and Sonia have developed a specific interest in working with recreational folk dance groups. They’ve been teaching in Brazil, Canada and the United States, Europe (Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands), Asia (Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan) to share their love of Romanian folk traditions. They have taught workshops in Canada and the United States and choreographed Romanian suites for performing groups, including the world-renowned BYU Folk Dance Ensemble in Utah.