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Avital Asuleen is a tap, theater dance, and jazz dance instructor and a director/choreographer of musicals, plays, and devised works. Avital is the creator and director of New York Theatre Barn's Choreography Lab, which works to elevate and expand the use of dance in musical theatre.
...Read moreAvital Asuleen is a tap, theater dance, and jazz dance instructor and a director/choreographer of musicals, plays, and devised works. Avital is the creator and director of New York Theatre Barn's Choreography Lab, which works to elevate and expand the use of dance in musical theatre.
Avital recently directed & choreographed the Off-Broadway revival of the musical Skyscraper (Urban Stages). Favorite director and/or choreographer credits include Crazy For You, Fiddler on The Roof, and Guys and Dolls (Bigfork Summer Playhouse), CATS and Legally Blonde (North County Center for The Arts), Beauty and the Beast (Woodstock Playhouse), and Shrek, Tarzan, and The Music Man (Berkshire Theatre Group). NYC credits include: Steel Magnolias (Gallery Players), The Queen Bees (Queens Theatre in the Park), The Teacher From The Black Lagoon (Theatreworks USA), the immersive production Ephemera (Elektra Theatre), and the world premiere of The Floorshow (Theatre 71), a new play with music and dance, that she also co-wrote.
As a performer, Avital has had the privilege to perform the choreography of Warren Carlyle, Randy Skinner, Shea Sullivan, and Jeremy Benton, among others. Favorite roles include Ms. Shields in A Christmas Story (National Tour), and Anytime Annie in 42nd Street (Surflight Theatre). She was the associate choreographer to Lorin Latarro on Jasper in Deadland (Prospect Theatre Company), was Randy Skinner's choreography observer on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Encores!), and holds an MFA with a focus in Pedagogy and Directing from the University of Idaho.
Read lessClass Descriptions
Avital teaches a fun and upbeat tap class with an emphasis on the individual student. All classes involve technique and speed building sequences, tap turns, and longer pieces of choreography. She likes to utilize a large range of musical styles in her classes, and combinations often include elements of both theatre and rhythm tap.
Avital's theater dance classes feature combinations inspired by both classic and contemporary musical theater choreographers. The class begins with a set warm-up focusing on technique and alignment. Class always includes across the floor progressions and culminates with a combination set to an original cast recording. Avital provides both modifications and advancements throughout the class in order to accomodate dancers with varying levels of experience. Avital is also a certified Giordano Jazz instructor through the Nan Giordano Certification Program, and often incorporates elements of that technique into her classes.