Since 1980, Seva has had an extensive teaching career which has paralleled her performance experiences throughout her twenty-five year involvement in the arts.
She graduated with a BA degree in ballet education from Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Virginia. Additional study prior to graduation, were summer sessions at Skidmore College and Jacob’s Pillow. Seva’s first experience in teaching ballet began at BALLARD MILL THEATRE in Malone, NY. Upon relocating to the New York City area, Seva taught extension classes for children ages 5 – 15 at BROOKLYN COLLEGE and NEWARK SCHOOL OF THE ARTS. In New York, she had the opportunity to study with teachers trained in the Bournonville, Cecchetti and Vagonova techniques. Some of those teachers included Richard Thomas, Vladimir Davidoff, Kyra Kunikova, Paul Sutherland and Kirstin Larsen.
From 1984 to 1988, Seva taught dance to teens of all nationalities at the LEYSIN AMERICAN SCHOOL in Leysin, Switzerland. She also taught at the PETER SKLAR PERFORMING ARTS CAMP, a professional children’s theatre camp, in the Catskills. Seva’s involvement with the performance world of theatre enabled her to impart not just dance from a technical standpoint, but also from an artistic one. Several of Seva’s students have gone on to perform in professional dance companies and touring companies.
While Seva was on tour, she took a hiatus from teaching dance to study drama with Michael Howard in New York and with the British Academy of Dramatic Art in Oxford. Seva taught several theatre Elderhostels for the OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL in Ashland, Oregon. In 2000 she relocated back to her hometown in upstate New York to attend to family responsibilities. During that time, Seva began teaching Acting I at NORTH COUNTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE and was asked by the college to teach Drama Literature, Origins of Theatre and Acting II the following year. As an adjunct professor, Seva also continued to teach dance at STATE UNIVERSITY AT POTSDAM and in her own studio until her relocation to Sarasota, Florida in 2004.
In Florida, Seva has joined the Asolo Theatre Institute education department and has assisted in instructing Shakespeare in school. In conjunction with the Asolo Theatre Institute and Children’s Haven, Seva has served as director of dance for KALEIDOSCOPE, a musical theatre summer program for teens and adults with developmental disabilities.
It has been said that Seva’s success in teaching is ignited by her passion for the art form. Having begun her exploration of the arts at a comparatively late age, she is sensitive to those who seek to study past their formative childhood years. Student evaluations have stated that Seva tries to find ways to reach each student from an individual perspective. She encourages students to challenge their shortcomings and try to overcome them. Seva’s success in teaching dance to children stem from patience and the understanding that they must learn technique and discipline through the joy of movement. She believes that austere discipline at an early age rob children of creativity and freedom of expression. She often encourages her students to improvise and choreograph when staging a ballet. “It keeps them focused and makes them feel like an integral part of the production.“
Letters of Recommendation/Evaluations and resume are available upon request.