Dancers

Carol Abohatab
Artistic Director

Carol received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and her Master of Fine Arts degree from Mills College in Oakland, CA, both in Dance Performance and Choreography. Having trained extensively in New York City with Murray Louis and the late Alwin Nikolais, she has danced in their repertory as well as in works by Joe Goode and Janice Garrett here in the bay area. Her work has been performed in many states, as well as many venues in the North and South Bay of California. To make ends meet, Carol has taught dance at UW-Madison, Madison Area Technical College, San Jose City College, in New York City at the Educational Alliance, and has taught and choreographed for hundreds of youths in the Color Guard and Drum & Bugle Corps activity nationwide. Some of these groups include State Street Review, Spirit of Atlanta, the Glassmen, Emerald Marquis Colorguard, Walton HS from Atlanta, Miamisburg HS, Mission Viejo HS, and, of course, the Santa Clara Vanguard. She choreographed for the Santa Clara Vanguard from 1996-1999, and currently works on special projects for them, one of which involves teaching creative dance to children. In February 1998, Carol created the Vanguard Dance Company, hoping to meld dancers and drum corps aficionados into an appreciative audience and member of both genres.

Dancers

Zann Aeck (former member) graduated from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas as a dance major. She continued training at Southern Methodist University where she received her BA with a minor in Dance Performance in 1996. After taking a brief hiatus, she moved to San Jose and has danced for Jeannine Vogt and Carol Abohatab.

Jeanette Carol (original member) is a West Valley College Olympiad of the Arts winner in dance choreography and performance. In 1995 she graduated with a B.A. in Dance from San Francisco State University. She taught dance at West Valley College while continuing to dance for many bay area choreographers. Currently, she has moved to the LA area.

Suzanne Cicala received her B.A. in Dance at UCLA and has studied technique and choreography with various artists, including Pat Catterson, Kei Takei, and Bill T. Jones. She has performed in various showcases with Los Angeles Modern Dance & Ballet Company, Leo Tee, Kathryn Posin, VogtArt Dance Company, and UCLA Dance Company. She has danced with Vanguard Dance Company since its inception.

Melissa Gambino began dancing in Denver with Albert Brooks and Maxine Munt. She subsequently performed with Rori Bielak and Melange Dance Ensemble where she was Assistant Director. She went on to receive her B.A. in Dance Therapy from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1980 and has continued to perform, teach, and choreograph.

Gail Imamura started dancing at a young age, but her interest was rekindled while she earned a B.A. in Social Sciences from UC Irvine. Since then she has studied with Sean Michael Greene, Veronica Combs, Kathryn Waggoner, and Carol Abohatab. Gail has been a member of the Vanguard Dance Company since started performing in February of 1998.

Joan Seybold (original member) has been dancing all her life. She studied ballet at Oakland Ballet and Western Ballet. Teachers such as Rita Rivera, Lisa Burnett, Mark Foehringer, Kathryn Waggoner, and Carol Abohatab have nurtured her passion for Modern Dance. She is proud to have been a member of VDC since its inception.

John Aguiar (original member) began dancing at the age of 14 in his high school marching band, the Little Big Band. He has been performing with the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum & Bugle Corps since 1997, as well as the San Jose Raiders, and has performed with the Vanguard Dance Company since 1998.

Julie Simmons (former member) started acting and dancing at the age of 8, with the Milpitas Rainbow Theater. In 1995, when she was 14, she gave up acting to march colorguard with Milpitas High School’s Little Big Band, until she would graduate in 1998. Also in the 1995 and 96 seasons, Julie performed with the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets, and would later go on to perform with the Santa Clara Vanguard in 1998.

Hollimarie O'Carroll's (original member) background is primarily in gymnastics and athletics. She has been dancing and training technically for 4 years, during which time she has studied with David Lober, Jeannine Vogt and Katja Irvin. She was a member of VogtArt Dance company for 2.5 years, and this is her second season with Vanguard Dance Company. Hollimarie has a B.S. in Graphic Design and Composition from San Jose State University, and enjoys ballet, modern, and contact improvisation.

Shawna Davis (original member) has been with the Vanguard organization for many years, with the A-Corps since 1996, and was Color Guard captain in 1998. Shawna has studied dance with Carol Abohatab and has taken dance classes in college. She danced with VDC since its inception.

Robin Hewett began performing in the colorguard activity in 1990 with Oak Grove HS. Along with five years there, she has marched four years with San Jose Raiders organization, six years with San Jose State University and seven with the Santa Clara Vanguard.

Katja Irvin (former member) is a compulsive mover who has thus been compelled and propelled to spend most of her free time in dance studios for the past 10 years. She loves modern dance and capoeira, and has more recently become an improvisation-aholic, exploring forms such as contact improvisation, authentic movement and action theatre. Katja is a founding member of Smith Grade Construction Dance Theater and was previously a member o VogtArt. She teaches contact improvisation in the South Bay Area.

Megan Lowery has been a part of the Santa Clara Vanguard since 1996. She marched one year in the Cadet Corps and in 1997 joined the A-corps, where she is now a seasoned veteran. She has also marched for six years with the San Jose Raiders Winter Guard. Megan was invited to join the Vanguard Dance Company this winter.

Emily Mavroudis is a nine-year veteran to Colorguard, starting with the San Jose Raiders, where she began in 1992 and continued for many of the years up to 1999. She was Rookie of the Year in their World Guard in 1998. In 1995, she was a member of the Spirit of Sunnyvale Marching Youth Band, then went on to join the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets in 1996. Emily was invited to join the A-Corps in 1997, where she is still marching today. Besides colorguard, Emily’s childhood included many years of dance, musical instruments, and acting. This is her first year in the Vanguard Dance Company.