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Cynthia D. King, Programs Director of Idea Factory, Inc. relocated to the Asheville area twenty years
ago with her husband, Kevin, from the metropolitan New York/New Jersey Area. Being born into the cultural center of metro
NY/NJ, she quickly learned to enjoy all aspects of the fine arts. She loved dance as a child and pursued this love throughout
her adult years. Ms. King attended William Paterson College in New Jersey in the pursuit of a Theater degree; then transferred
to Jersey City State College where she switched her focal point to Music with a specialization in Direction and Choreography
of Musical Theater.
During this time, she had the wonderful opportunity to have as her advisor, Nicholas Cerrato,
Broadway percussionist and Leonard Bernstein’s assistant conductor. His advice led to her pursuit of dance in NYC, where
she studied with the Joffrey Ballet, the Alvin Ailey Dance Co., Luigi, Frank Hatchett, Judy Ann Bassing and Henry LeTang,
among others.
Cynthia was a featured performer with the American Modern Dance Theater, based in the 14th Street
Theater in NYC. She also was a member of the Kennedy Dancers, a touring dance company based in NJ. Ms. King traveled extensively
throughout the Eastern United States as an actress, dancer and choreographer prior to her settling in Asheville.
In the Asheville area, “Miss Cynthia” has offered dance programs since February 1993, sharing her love of dance
with more children every year. She has also worked as a performer with add dance, a modern dance company. She was also seen
stretching her performance wings as Desdemona in Montford Park Players' production of Shakespeare’s “Othello”.
As a choreographer at Asheville High School, she had the opportunity of working with the students on “Guys & Dolls”,
“Big River” and “Brigadoon”. Cynthia also worked with both children and adults as choreographer for
“Alice In Wonderland” at Asheville Community Theater. For Jericho Productions, Ms. King served as the choreographer
for their highly acclaimed production of “Godspell”. The pilot for “The Ed-U-Ventures of Wendy Wonder”,
produced by Ashlyn Multi-Media Inc. for PBS Television was also choreographed by Ms. King.
In her spare time, Ms.
Cynthia and her husband raise Bichon Frises (a small white curly lap dog). She lives with her fuzzy family in South Asheville.
| Ms. Cynthia relaxes |
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| with Talley |
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| Jenni with the Nao Dance Collective in Orlando |
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Jennifer Holste recently relocated to
the WNC area from Savannah, GA where she served as the Assistant Artistic Director at Coastal Performing Arts Academy.
Her love of dance began at age 3 when she started classes in her home town of Orange Park, FL. During high school
she started playing volleyball. This led her to become an All American athlete while playing for Florida
Southern College where she majored in Sociology and minored in Criminology. Her competitive spirit was reserved not
only for the volleyball court. As a competitive dancer Jenni had the privilege of taking dance classes in New York City.
These classes have included studying with teachers such as Frank Hatchett, Desmond Richardson and Debra Zall. These
instructional jaunts to the Big Apple also allowed Jenni to study with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet
Theater, Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance among others. Ms. Holste went on to receive her Master's degree in Criminal Justice at Armstrong Atlantic
State University in Savannah, GA.. While there she served as the Volleyball Graduate Assistant. After completing
her degree, she became a dance instructor in AASU's Health and Physical Education Department. In this
capacity she instructed students in modern, ballet, jazz, yoga, and folk, social and contemporary dance. Her love of
volleyball was still being fulfilled as she held the postion of Assistant Volleyball Coach as well. Currently, Jenni lives
in Hendersonville with her dog, Lucy. Staying very active, together they are enjoying all of the great outdoor activities
available in WNC.
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| Enjoying her new mountain home with BFF, Lucy |
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introducing Ms. Sydnee...complete
bio and picture coming soon... Sydnee Yates, a native of Durham,
NC, is a second year student a UNC-A.....
Kevin R. King, Secretary-Treasurer of Idea Factory, Inc. is most
often seen at performance time. He is our technical director extraordinaire. His BA in theatre from Catawba College brought
him to the NY/NJ area after touring the USA and Canada with childrens theater productions.
In the NYC theatre world,
he worked in all aspects of technical theatre. During one of these gigs, there was a dancer named Cynthia. So...
Now his primary duties with Idea Factory, Inc. involve keeping Ms. Cynthia grounded and well nourished. As a performer,
you have and can see him at the Biltmore Estate as one of the jesters during the old Michelmas festival, as the Mad Hatter
during their annual Easter Egg Hunt, as a newsboy during the "roaring 20's", and assorted other characters that
have him juggling for and clowning with guests.
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We
hope you have enjoyed learning more about the Idea Factory family of instructors. Since 1993, there we have employed
many talented instructors. Their lives have taken them in many varied directions. Saying "GoodBye"
to our Staff is always hard BUT our lives must follow their dreams...Here a Preschool Dancer hugs Ms. Cat "goodbye"after
Recital 2008.
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idea factory inc dance studio po
box 15416 asheville nc 28803 828-277-4010
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