Suzanne Wingate began her
training in the physical arts with ballet at the age of five.
She studied ballet intensively through adolescence, college,
and beyond. After receiving her dance degree from Butler
University, she danced with the Kalamazoo Ballet Company and attended
graduate school. After moving to Lansing in 1976, she taught
at Lansing Community College and Michigan State, as well as
her private studio for seven years.
In the 1970’s, Suzanne
began self-educating in yoga philosophy and hatha yoga. For the last twenty-five
years, she has studied with master teachers of yoga philosophy, hatha, and
ashtanga. Her mentors include Aadil Palkhivala, Richard
Freeman,T.K.V. Desikachar, Beryl Bender-Birch, Don Stapleton, Paul
Grilley,
Amrit Desai, Hari Zandler, Tim Miller, Manouso Manos, Rama
Jyoti Vernon, Roger Eischens, Kausthub Desikachar, Ken Scott, Sushil
Muni, Swami Kripalu, and the swamis of the Ramakrishna Order.
Suzanne has taught hatha yoga
since 1980. Her initial teacher certification training was
received in 1981 from the Kripalu Yoga Retreat in
Pennsylvania. She also taught hatha yoga, ballet, and modern dance
for Olivet College in the later 1990’s.
For the last twenty
years, Suzanne has focused her teaching mainly in the
East Lansing area.
BALLET
Suzanne Wingate began
her training in ballet at the age of five. Her most constant teacher
during childhood and adolescence was Virgiline Simmons, under whose
guidance she completed several graded levels of the Cecchetti Method.
Each summer Suzanne trained with the national Cecchetti Ballet
Conference. She also danced with the Lansing Festival Ballet Company.
Upon high school
graduation, Suzanne entered the legendary dance program at Butler
University. She danced with the Butler Ballet, choreographed the
dedication piece for the original LOVE sculpture, and graduated with
her B.A. in Dance in 1973.
Moving to Kalamazoo in
1973, Suzanne joined the Kalamazoo Ballet Company, performing as a
soloist in the Mid-States Regional Ballet Festival. In the
mid-70’s, she attended graduate school and trained in ballet
with Rocky Spoelstra of Ballet West.
Moving to the Lansing
area in 1976, Suzanne opened a private ballet studio, which she ran
for seven years. She also taught ballet and modern dance for Lansing
Community College, Modern Dance Workshop, and ballet for Michigan
State University. Serving as a dance consultant for Eaton ISD,
she offered in-service training for classroom teachers, co-authored a
resource manual for integrating arts into school curriculum, and
taught dance in five school districts.
Throughout the
1970’s, Suzanne took part in many professional conferences and
dance residencies around Michigan. She also traveled to further
her training in professional studios in New York and Chicago. From
1979 onward, Suzanne began dividing her time between her usual dance
activities and the pursuit of serious yoga training. This dual
commitment to ballet and yoga has continued to the present day.
After a six-year
leave from teaching to raise her son, Suzanne returned gradually to
the momentum of her previous teaching life. Most
of
her classes for the next
twelve years were
sponsored by the ELRA program in East Lansing. In the later
1990’s, Suzanne taught ballet, modern dance, and hatha yoga for
Olivet College. Currently, all of her ballet classes are held at
Kick It Out!
Dance Studio, 1760 East Grand River, East Lansing and Elite Dance
Company, 4750 S. Hagadorn, East Lansing.
Any questions or
concerns, please call
Suzanne at 517-980-1686 or
e-mail
at suzanne@yogaandballetalternatives.com
