Faculty

	Born in Toronto, Canada, Richard Hirschl studied with Mme. Tamara Elganova of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Stanley Holden (Royal Ballet, Sadler Wells Ballet), and Yuri & Erglis Smaltzoff (Father & son, danced with George Balanchine as a member of the Bolshoi Ballet). He also studied for a year with David Lichine in 1971-72 (Just before Mr. Lichine passed in June 1972) Richard toured with the Ballet Folklorico of Mexico, Stuttgart Ballet, Orange County Ballet Company and a short production of Romeo & Juliet with the American Ballet Theater. He began to teach and choreograph full-time in 1972, and has taught, choreographed and lectured local colleges and universities and has been a guest teacher at several Southern California dance studios.			Laurie Hirschl has choreographed, danced and taught with various schools in Southern California, and with the University of California at San Diego. She hold a California Multiple Subject Teaching credential from the University of California, Irvine, and a Masters of Science Degree in Education, Curriculum and Research from California State University, Fullerton. Laurie teaches at the Hirschl School and is also a full-time curriculum coach (TOSA) for the Anaheim City School District. She is currently the artistic director of the Sunrise Ballet.
	Candice Shirk began her studies in Riverside before moving to Orange County and Dancing with the West Coast Conservatory of Ballet. For Jazz, Modern/Contemporary and Lyrical, she participated nationally with a local competition team. As the years passed, she began an intensive study of ballroom and social dance arts. Her training also includes, Fullerton College, the Jimmie DeFore studios, and Orange County Ballroom training programs. Candice is currently happily married and living in the city of Orange, and is devoted to continuous growth as a teacher, choreographer and mentor.			Debra Kaye owned and taught at her own studio in Riverside for 30 years (1968 to 1998). Her training includes Paul DeRolf, The Edge in Los Angeles, Gus Giordano, Michael Rooney and Bob Fosse. Debra has been a teacher at Riverside College and University of California at Irvine. In addition to teaching at the HSDA, she is a certifed Pilates teacher, and also teaches at the prestigious Freddy Finn studio in Riverside. She started her PILATES training & certification in 1998 with Karen Klipinger, with emphasis on training methodology for dancers. She attended the Long Beach Body Balance Core Intelligence and Mat programs & Seminars. She is also working with Karen Scarano at the Plexis Pilates studios in Riverside.

The art of teaching is far more than simply demonstrating dance steps- a certain mentorship must be attained. Each student should be seen, not as they are now, but as they could be- at their fullest possible potential. Every student should be guided to help them develop & define their own unique individual goals, then the extra time should be set aside to help them with a realistic plan to achieve that goal.
Great teachers of the future require two things: An insatiable inner drive & enthusiasm to teach, and great mentorship. There is a large gap between a good dance arts educator and a “glorified demonstrator”. HSDA teachers also include professional direction, mentorship, practical education, and philosophy of the art. We think of dance arts education as an investment to the arts in our community.