Sandra Hunnicutt Griffin – Tap, Jazz, Ballet, CardioTAPdance®

Sandra Hunnicutt became certified to teach through Dance Masters of America and Dance Educators of America in 1978, the year after she was crowned Miss Hendersonville.  In 1979, as a member of the Carolina Dance Masters was the Miss Dance of the Carolinas pageant coordinator and choreographer.  Sandra moved to Las Vegas,NV in 1982 to pursue a career in professional dance.  Sandra is the owner and director of Dance Ventures. She is married and lives in Greenville, SC.

While in Las Vegas, Sandra learned to figure skate and her first show – an ice and tap dance production show - was City Lights at the Flamingo Hilton.  During her first 5 years at the Flamingo Hilton Sandra put her teaching skills to work and was named to middle management as Dancer’s Line Captain.  From there she did backstage tours at the Flamingo Hilton for USA Tours of Las Vegas; a lounge show, C’est Magnifique, at the Dunes Hotel; modeled for Marshall Rousso, was a ring girl for light, welter and heavyweight fights at the Alladin Hotel & Ceasars Palace, a backup tap dancer for Suzanne Somers at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel, taught master tap classes at Backstage Studio – including a warm up session  for Gregory Hines class – when he was in town and then she entered into another 2 year production show contract with the Hacienda Hotel,  Minsky’s, A Salute To Burlesque.  After that contract, she returned as middle management to the City Lights show at the Flamingo Hilton as both the Showgirls and Boys Line Captain. She attended UNLV, earned a retail management certification and retired from the stage in 1994.

While still in Las Vegas, Sandra was the Assistant Manager for Sun Shade Boutique  at the Fashion Show Mall and then for Sun Gear sunglass boutique.  She moved back to Hendersonville, NC in 1995 and worked in sales for WHKP, where she also did a weekly Sunday afternoon radio show, House Detective.  Sandra taught Adult Tap and was the Office Manager at Pat’s School of Dance from 1998 until 2008.

She and Randy Griffin were married in 2004 and moved to Greenville, SC.  The Dance Ventures studio is the first to offer cardioTAPdance®, Sandra’s signature tap class for adults.

 

Johanna Borovicka – Belly Dance

Johanna started Middle Eastern dance lessons in 1977 as a way to get back in shape after the birth of her first baby.  Falling in love with the dance she began a long term study of Middle Eastern music, stories, instruments, choreography and costuming.  Jo has taught Middle Eastern dance in a variety of settings including Horry County School’s Adult Education Program (1980-92), Coastal Carolina University’s Adult Education Department (1988-95), and the Conway School of Dance (1990-92).  As the Owner/Artistic Director of the Dance of Life Middle Eastern Dance Troupe she brought perfromances to various arts festivals and cultural events in the Grand Strand at Myrtle Beach, SC from 1985-2000.  Her interest of the dance expanded into the study of Hawaiin and Tahitian dance. In 1990 she produced the “Hawaiian Holiday Revue” floor show that performed for convention entertainment.

Jo’s creative combination of dance, music and storytelling earned her a place on the Approved Artist Roster of the South Carolina Arts Comission in 1988: As a South Carolina Artist in Residence she continues to perform in schools, libraries, festivals, and churches throughout the Southeast as a storyteller specializing in ancient fable and folktales of the Middle East.  https://www.culturegrants-sc.org/artistdirectory/roster contact.php?id=595 (JohannaStories.com)

Jo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Visual Arts Education from Miami University (Oxford, OH) and a Masters degree in Community and Occupational Programs in Education from the University of South Carolina.

She and husband Mike moved to Greenville, SC after their three children were grown.  In addition to starting a Middle Eastern Dance Class at Dance Ventures, Jo teaches English as a second language and serves as a tutor for the SC Baha’i Regional Training Institute.

We are thrilled to add her dance expertise to our schedule at Dance Ventures!

 

Mary Ann Borgersen – Guest Instructor

Mary Ann will be teaching classes on select days throughout the year when Sandra must be out of town.

Her background includes talent coaching for pageants.  Her student Dolly Brooke Hix was the 1998 Sr. Miss America Clogger and the 2000 Miss Hendersonville, NC.

A competition teacher and judge for Clogging and Tap Dance she last worked for the 2009 Dance Troupe Inc. Regional competition and workshop in Greensboro, NC.  Making Hendersonville, NC her home-base she has traveled with professional clogging troupes including The Great Smokey Mountain Cloggers, Blue Ridge Cloggers and the late James Kesterson’s troupe.  She has performed both in Freestyle and Precision.  As an adult she has continued dance study in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, and Irish Step Dancing.  She is certified to teach CardioTAPdance® Levels 1 and 2.

Mary Ann currently performs with the Western North Carolina dance group, Mountain Legacy.

Dance Ventures is happy to have  her teaching as a guest teacher for all classes.