AFTA Artists

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Mike Baytop
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Mike is a blues musician and President and Founder of the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation. In his programs, Mike accompanies his soulful voice with a guitar, harmonica, or the bones, historically made from beef short ribs and played for percussion (two in a hand, much like castanets). He peppers his music with stories of old passed down from fellow bluesmen who still gather together Saturday mornings at Archie Edwards' barbershop on Bunker Hill Road in Northeast D.C. 

Julia Burger
Julia has a B.A. in Performance Art, and received certification and an M.A. in Expressive Arts Therapy.   Along with her private practice, she designs and presents expressive arts programs for populations ranging across the life span, from age seven to ninety-seven.   Julia is experienced in the performing arts and is also a visual artist.   Articles about her programs have appeared in newspapers and international arts magazines.   With a twenty year background in Eastern healing modalities, including meditation, Julia also brings a special sensitivity and richness to her programs and private sessions. In her AFTA workshops she leads poetry, expressive arts and intergenerational programs.

Peter Burroughs
B.M. in Music from Ithaca College; M.M. in Opera Performance from the University of Maryland, College Park.  A versatile singing actor, Peter's repertoire encompasses opera, oratorio, musical theatre, Shakespeare, traditional art song recital, zarzuela and the dance music of Latin America. He debuted in 1999 with The Washington Opera and has since performed with the company extensively. In addition to his work with AFTA, Burroughs is an Artist Mentor for the Washington Opera, helping grade school students write and produce original operas. He also develops outreach programs with the Spanish Dance Society of Washington, D.C

Marla Bush
Marla has a B.A. and M.A., American University and an M.S.W., University of California, Berkeley.  She has over 20 years experience performing Flamenco and other Spanish dances with the Spanish Dance Society and the Raquel Pena dance troupe. Dance venues have included everything from nursing homes to the Kennedy Center. She has done school outreach programs and taught Spanish dance in Washington, DC and in Florida. In her "day job" at the Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, she has developed projects with art therapy associations that use the arts with healthy and frail elderly. For AFTA, she leads La Movida, an interactive Spanish dance program, with fellow instructor Peter Burroughs.

Annetta Dexter-Sawyer
BA English, minor Communications, Rutgers University; New Jersey State Teacher’s Certification; MA Performing Arts-Dance, American University.  In addition to serving the participants of AFTA, Annetta teaches Dance at Trinity University where she is the founder and Artistic Director of the Trinity University Dancers. Over the last twenty years Annetta has taught and choreographed for all ages and special populations. Her program structure utilizes movement, exercises, and dance to accent strength and balance. Annetta would like for “those taking the class to feel better about themselves and walk away rejuvenated and refreshed!”

Joan Hampton Fraser
Joan has been a Creative Arts Consultant for 25 years. She has worked with many populations of people and has specialized working with people in the "Third Age" of their lives. She received her B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology from Ithaca College, M.A. in Education and Human Development with a Specialization in Dance, from George Washington University and a Psychodrama Certification from the DC Commission on Mental Health Services. She has utilized her extensive background in psychotherapy, family therapy, dance therapy and systems theory to complement her artistic work. Joan studied with Liz Lerman for several years at the Dance Exchange, having started her work with seniors and dance at that time. Joan utilizes dance/movement for artistic expression and to help build a sense of community and belonging. In her AFTA workshops she leads the Marvelous Musicals and Creative Movement programs.

Steven Gellman
Singer/songwriter Steven Gellman performs his soulful folk rock at popular acoustic music venues such as The Birchmere in Alexandria, and throughout the United States and Canada.  His original songs have been described as "Kodak moments" from his life, and he actively shares these moments with the senior community.  Steve's work with AFTA is complemented by former professional experience at a metropolitan-area senior day care center. He currently runs the Washington Folk Music Association's Elderfolk Program at Woodbine Rehabilitation Center in Alexandria. Steve's music website is www.hiddenpoet.com.

Maria Gonzalez
National University and Prodeo School of Art, Columbia; Art Student's League, NY; Corcoran School of Art; Washington Studio School. Born in Bogota, Columbia, Maria has widely exhibited her paintings both at home and in the United States. Maria teaches drawing and painting for AFTA.

Nancy Havlik
B.S. and M.A. in Speech, Northwestern University. Founding Director and choreographer of the Dance Performance Group, Nancy is a local choreographer and dancer in the Washington D.C. area with over ten years experience teaching movement to adults and seniors. Nancy formed AFTA's senior creative dance troupe, Quicksilver, which regularly meets and performs at senior centers in AFTA's program. Nancy also provides workshops in creative improvisation for intergenerational participants.

Laura Huff
B.A. in Art, University of Delaware; M.F.A. in Graphics, George Washington University, minor in Painting under James Twitty, Corcoran School of Art.  Work held in collection by fine print of the Library of Congress, the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the Corcoran Gallery of Art.  She has taught extensively at local art schools and studios. In her AFTA workshops she teaches drawing, painting and art history.

Anthony Hyatt
is a violinist and multimedia performance artist whose interest is in the role and use of improvisation techniques in the creative process.  He has been presenting workshops for AFTA since 1997 both as a violinist with a B.A. in music from Grinnell College and as co-director with Nancy Havlik of AFTA's Quicksilver senior citizen improv dance company.  In his music programs he draws upon a diverse repertoire ranging from works of the classical composers to fiddle tunes, ethnic music and jazz standards.  His stage credits also include multiple appearances as a member of the butoh based Naoko Maeshiba Performance Collective.  Anthony is a sought after leader at international conferences on creativity including those of the USA based Creative Education Foundation and of CREA - the Creativity European Association.  He does additional creativity consulting and facilitation work through his own organization which is called Moving Beauty.

Donna McKee
B.A., Art History, American University; M.A. Ed. Art Education, University of Hartford; M.A. Art History, American University. Formerly the Director of Education at the Philips Collection and currently adjunct faculty at the Corcoran School of Art, has brought both art history and visual art workshops to AFTA seniors. She has given talks on Georgia O'Keefe and Alfred Stieglitz, Honore Daumier, Romare Bearden, and her penchant for collage work guides seniors in mixed-media approaches that explore rhythm, visual movement, color and texture.

 Jesse Palidofsky
Over the years AFTA instructor and Azalea City Recordings artist Jesse Palidofsky has shared his original music at the National Theatre; on the Hudson River sloop Clearwater with Pete Seeger; at festivals like Common Ground on the Hill's American Roots Festival and the Washington Folk Festival.  He has also played blues piano at the Kennedy Center Open House and the Smithsonian National Folklife Festival with the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation. Jesse has sung one-on-one with hundreds of terminally ill patients in hospices and hospitals, and has also led singing for groups of a thousand people or more, performed for conferences of clinical psychologists, as well as for inmates at the Detroit House of Correction and at the maximum security prison in Salem, Oregon.  More information on Jesse's music, including his CD Food For The Long Haul, is available from www.jessepal.com

Sandra Roachford
M.A. The American University; B.F.A. in dance, The Boston Conservatory of Music. Sandy has 16 years of experience teaching dance, drama, movement and performance technique at Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts/Imagination Stage. She has performed dance and theater work with Nancy Havlik's Dance Performance Group and recently performed in Washington, D.C.’s first Fringe Festival. Sandy has choreographed numerous works both locally and in New York.  A typical workshop from Sandy includes stretching and warming up, one-on-one interaction to create and share movement born from imagery, rhythm and sound, and often in closing, a group dance fostering interaction and a sense of community.

John Sausser 
Studied percussion under John Kissica, with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Kenwood Denard of Manhattan Transfer, Kim Painfield of the Pointer Sisters and Robbie Gonzales. Studied piano and music theory at the Levine School of Music.  Jon has studied classical Indian Tabla with local and national performers.  Recorded the award winning international selling cd Y2K Klesmer.   He is skilled in jazz, rock, Latin, reggae, funk and fusion techniques and is proficient on drum set, conga, timbale, and beginning mallets for marimba. He performs regularly at formal functions, restaurants and jazz clubs in the DC area. John has been teaching and performing for seniors in residential settings for over ten years.

Carol Siegel  
Received her M.A. in Expressive Therapies from Lesley College in Cambridge, MA, and her B.A. in Art History and Psychology from American University. She trained through the D.C. Humanities program in Poetry Therapy and interned at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.  She also facilitated groups in poetry and expressive arts at The Art and Drama Institute in D.C. as well as local hospitals. She has presented ideas on her groups with seniors at several national conferences. She is a former professional photographer and has exhibited in many galleries including The Corcoran Gallery of art. She taught photography on many levels and has worked in some art form all her life. Currently Carol is exploring narrative painting and collage and incorporates poetry, story and art in her AFTA groups. 

Candace Wolf
Candace Wolf is a Storyteller-in-Residence with the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. She has lived and worked among migrant Gypsies in Europe, Mayan Indians in the rain forest of Central America, itinerant circus performers in Mexico, goat herders in Italy, fishermen on the Canary Islands, rice farmers in Indonesia, artisans in the Middle East, and coal miners in Appalachia. As a performing artist and educator, Candace is dedicated to preserving our rich heritage of oral literature and providing a valuable service to the elderly members of our community.