Norine Brown, ARAD, AISTD, LCUSA, Examiner

Norine Brown received her early dance training in Vancouver, Canada, and furthered her education at the Hammond School of Dancing in Chester England where she attained diplomas in Modern, National, RAD Ballet, Imperial Ballet, Anatomy, and Ballroom.

She then joined a French touring company and traveled extensively, performing throughout Europe. Following her professional career as a dancer, she re-settled in Vancouver and began a career teaching ballet.

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In 1986 along with husband Jeff, Ms. Brown moved to Sacramento, California. Since that time, she has undergone continual training and upgrading in the Cecchetti method, training with Shiela Darby, FISTD. Norine travels to workshops and summer courses throughout the USA and Canada where she teaches students and participates in teacher’s classes.

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Ms. Brown has been an active Board Member of SADA (Sacramento Area Dance Alliance) for the past 20 years working in many capacities and is currently acting as Corresponding Secretary. SADA is a non-profit company that produces workshops and offers scholarships to local dance students.

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Many of Norine’s former students have advanced their careers to become professional dancers with major Canadian and American Ballet companies. Norine enjoys teaching dance to all age groups whether they desire a professional career or are attending classes for pure enjoyment.

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Norine has served on the West Coast Committee and the Board of Directors of CUSA. She was appointed a National Examiner in 2017.

Dominique Atwood, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Dance Connect Worldwide

Dominique Atwood began her dance journey at Jeraldyne's School of Dance in Dayton, OH. She attended Stivers School for the Performing Arts under the direction of DeShonna Pepper Robertson. Following high school, she was accepted into Howard University's Dance Major Program. While at Howard, she co-founded I.Am.We, the first contemporary dance company on campus. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A in Political Science/Pre-law.

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Since then, she's been privileged to perform and work with a with a number of companies and artists including Under Armour, MTV, Dissonance Dance Theater, Maverick Lemons Dance Project, The Princess Mhoon Dance Project, Mary Mary, J.Cole, Wale, Raheem Devaughn, Natalie Cole, Shirley Ceasar, Dionne Warwick, Dolores Kendrick and Terrence Lee Jones. She's had roles in short films, commercials and music videos; most recently had the honor of opening up for the Steve Harvey Show. She's been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Splash Magazines, See Chicago Dance, Windy City Times, Broadway World and graced the cover of the Ngoma Reader. 

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Ms. Atwood has choreographed for the Miss Intercontinental pageant, Universoul Circus, The Youth American Grand Prix and Outcry The Play. In 2016 she was invited to participate as one of the region's leading dance leaders by former First Lady Michelle Obama during her Celebration of Black Women in Dance. In 2017 she was commissioned by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to curate an evening length show for the DanceAcositia! Festival. In 2018 she was nominated for the Princess Grace Award. 

 

The majority of her performance career was spent as a principal dancer with the world renowned Deeply Rooted Dance Theater.  Currently, she is the Founder and CEO of Dance Connect Worldwide, a resource hub and professional network for dancers. Dominique gives God all the praise for allowing her to share her gifts and talents through dance. Her greatest motivation are her 3 little sisters- Sydney Atwood, Dejene Wortham and Sannaa Atwood.