Held concurrently with the USA International Ballet Competition, the Teachers’ Workshop offers dance teachers who attend the USA IBC the opportunity to study with well-known instructors.

During the 2006 USA IBC the two-week program offered courses in both ballet and jazz for the first time ever. Paticipants in the 2006 Teachers' Workshop were also able to attend Pilates classes offered by the USA IBC.

2006 USA IBC Teachers' Workshop Faculty

Finis Jhung (ballet) studied at the University of Utah under William F. Christensen. Jhung was also coached by Valentina Pereyaslavec, Vera Volkova, Stanley Williams, Erik Bruhn, Rosella Hightower and David Howard.

He danced in both the Broadway production and the film version of Flower Drum Song, also touring with the production’s national company. Early in his career, Jhung was also chosen as a member of the San Francisco Ballet Company, where he danced as a soloist. He later joined The Joffrey Ballet, touring Portugal, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, India and the U.S. In 1964, he joined The Harkness Ballet of New York, where he became a principal dancer and toured the U.S., France, Italy, Monaco, Rumania, Germany, Greece, Egypt and Tunisia.

Jhung managed his own studio until 1987, and he also served as the founder, artistic director and choreographer for Chamber Ballet USA. Currently, he teaches daily at Steps on Broadway and coaches privately in New York City, teaching dancers of The New York City Ballet, The American Ballet Theatre, and the Joffrey, Ailey, Taylor, Graham, and Cunningham companies. He has also served as a guest teacher for Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo and The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. He also teaches workshops and master classes at numerous festivals in Europe and throughout the USA.

Nan Giordano (jazz) has been artistic director of Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago since 1993. She is a member of the faculty at the Giordano Dance Center and has toured internationally as guest teacher in Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany and Mexico.

Giordano received her dance training at Giordano Dance Center and Southern Methodist University. Her concert dance experience includes Giordano Dance Theatre and Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. She has choreographed several pieces in the current GJDC repertoire, including Untitled, Chain of Rocks and Taal. She has also choreographed several television commercials and was one of the assistant choreographers for Amoco’s 100th Birthday Anniversary.

Giordano is artistic director of the Jazz Dance World Congress, an annual event, which has been held at Northwestern University ( Illinois); The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; Japan; Germany; Costa Rica; Arizona; University at Buffalo, New York; Monterrey, Mexico; and in Chicago where it is co-presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Giordano served three years on the Illinois Arts Council Dance Panel, and Howland School for the Arts awarded her the Manford Byrd Jr. Wizard of Oz Award for outstanding service.

** The USA IBC International Dance School and Teachers' Workshop is sponsored in part by The Chisholm Foundation; Dance Teacher Magazine; Merrill Lynch; LEO'S Dancewear; Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A.; Bradley Arant Rose & White, LLP; the Mississippi Agricultural Museum; and Jackson State University.