Noe Valley Dance Space

Ms. Laura Padierne began her dance career in Miami, Florida. In 2001, she graduated from the University of Florida with honors, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in business. In addition, she received her certification in Dance Healing from Shands Hospital where she worked as an artist in residence. While attending UF, Ms. Padierne had the opportunity to study, and perform, with ODC/San Francisco, Les Ballet Africains, Dance Brazil, Dance Alive!, and Garth Fagan Dance. To complement her University studies, Ms. Padierne has been awarded several scholarships, which have allowed her to further her dance education at prestigious programs and schools throughout the United States. These include: American Dance Festival, the American College Dance Festival, the Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, ODC/San Francisco (UF), and New World School of the Arts.

Since relocating to San Francisco, she has performed across the U.S with touring company Dance Thru Time, and at the ODC, Cowell and Marin theaters with several bay area choreographers. Currently, she is a company member of Carmen Carnes Dance Ensemble and a guest artist/choreographer with Vispo Dance. Recently, she was chosen by director Christopher Columbus as a dancer in the movie, “Rent” (based on the Broadway show). Ms. Padierne is also a nationally recognized choreographer. In 2000, her piece “Something for Everybody” was chosen to be performed at the Gala of the American Dance Festival held in Georgia, and honored again with its presentation at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Her other works, which fuse Afro-Cuban rhythms and traditional modern dance, have been presented throughout theaters in Florida and Bay Area.

Ms. Padierne has been teaching ballet, jazz and modern for ten years, to both children and adults. In the fall of 2006, she founded Noe Valley Dance Space, which dedicates itself to building the young dancer's relationship with dance in a nurturing and encouraging environment. At NVDS, students learn classical technique and vocabulary while tapping into their imaginations and focusing on healthy body aligment. In 2007, the NVDS program expanded to bay area schools St. Philip Elementary and Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory High School where Ms. Padierne heads their afterschool dance programs and directs the SHCP Dance Company.

Laura Padierne

Hailing from Johannesburg, South Africa, Nicole Bridgens began her dance training with Jazz and Tap, before training in the Royal Academy of Dance’s Ballet curriculum. She relocated to San Jose, CA with her family and continued studying Ballet with San Jose Dance Theater and Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley School. Ms. Nicole received her B.A. from the California State University, Long Beach. While there, her choreography was chosen to represent CSULB at the American College Dance Festival, and later commissioned to be re-staged for Utah Valley University.

Ms. Nicole has been teaching, performing and creating new works throughout California and South Africa. She has danced at the Disneyland Resort in parades and television specials. Recently, she returned from Tel Aviv, Israel where she studied with Batsheva Dance Company during their summer intensive program.

Nicole joined NVDS in 2009.

Born and raised in Ohio, Abbie Ackerman was born dancing. She grew up studying tap and jazz and developed a passion for modern dance and choreography while studying for her BFA at Ohio University. While attending OU she had the opportunity to study under Sean Curran, Earl Moseley, Claire Porter, and Terri O'Conner. Abbie continued teaching dance after earning her BFA in Dance and attended the American Dance Festival at Duke University on full scholarship.

She enjoyed taking classes from world renowned choreographers such as Bill T Jones, David Dorfman, among others. The past two years Abbie was an active member in the Mills College Repertory Dance Company where she recently graduated with her MFA. In the dance studio she strives to make the learning environment positive, safe, creative, and fun while still being organized, and accomplishing goals. Her belief is that, at all ages and abilities, students should be offered a somatic, kinesthetic, and anatomically correct dance class. She is extremely excited about teaching for Noe Valley Dance Space and cannot wait to start her second season with her students.

Abbie Joined NVDS in 2010.