Instructor Bios

Sarah Furnish has been busy dancing her life away. Her recent obsession is the study of improvisational dance as a means of inclusion. She believes that as a dancer, improvisation delivers the highest opportunity for creativity. As a dance facilitator, it is a means of empowering dancers to make creative choices. 
Sarah is a Certified Rhythm Works instructor. She is also a Certified Master Teacher in DanceAbility. Her practice is closely aligned with DanceAbility. Yet, she continues her research of inclusive dance with top leaders in the field such as Momenta, Axis Dance Company, Full radius and Meet, share, Dance.
Sarah is a member of the Performance Art League of Iowa. She loves to bring dance performances to the people by planning site specific work.
Bennett Cullen began his dance training in the suburbs of Chicago, and studied ballet through Arlington Dance Academy, Ballet Chicago and attended weekly class at the Joffrey Ballet. He continued his classical training at the University of Iowa mentored by Eloy Barragan, George De La Peña and Kristin Marrs. After leaving school, Bennett has since danced as a company artist for The Big Muddy Dance Company, Visceral Dance Chicago, and Trifecta Dance Collective. Bennett is currently a company artist with Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, under the direction of Wilfredo Rivera. In his career, he has had the privilege to perform works choreographed by Ohad Naharin, Brian Enos, Shannon Alvis, Stephanie Martinez, Monique Haley, Prince Lyons, Noelle Kayser, Katlin Michael Bourgeois, Nick Pupillo, Marguerite Donlon, Ramon Flowers, Sarah Olson, Marc Macaranas, and Eloy Barragan. Bennett has choreographed for The Big Muddy Dance Company and Trifecta Dance Collective as well as many festivals and Chicago based projects. Currently, Bennett is a regional ballet instructor who teaches and coaches at a number of prestigious institutions and schools.
Ms. McArthur is owner and director of DanzArts Studio in Des Moines, Iowa. She has over 30 years of teaching with experience and versatility in teaching many forms of dance. Paula continues to perform for Fellow Travelers Performance Group FTPG with choreographer Cynthia Adams. Additional modern companies she has worked for: Pennsylvania Dance Theater, Hurley and Dancers, Sandance, Neuman Project and choreographer Shawn Womack. 
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Ms McArthur began her professional career in ballet, performing with the Des Moines Ballet. She also trained at the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in Canada . Ms McArthur earned her BFA from ISU where she turned her attention to modern dance. She was honored with both the Anna R. Toman and Charlotte Wilkason awards from ISU. She continued her study at the Bates Dance festivals, Doug  Varone intensives and summer programs at NYU. Since becoming a modern dancer she has worked, trained and/or performed for such choreographers and companies as Bill T. Jones, Bill Young, Doug Elkins, Doug Varone, David Dorfmann, Claire Porter, Claudia Lavista,Kathleen Hermsdorf, Kendra Pontier, Michael Foley, Omar Carrum, Tony Coray, Kevin Wynn, Ben Munisteri, Joanna Mendl Shaw, Ron K. Brown, Rennie Harris, Larry Keigwin, Samuel Zambrano, Jenna Riegel and jazz with Cathy Young.

Her secret to a happy marriage is to go weekly salsa dancing with her husband Ruben.
Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies at Grinnell College, Aguibou Bougobali SANOU hails from Burkina Faso, West Africa and is a dancer, choreographer, musician, storyteller and Director of the In-Out Dance Festival in Burkina Faso. He won the highly selective and prestigious US State Department Scholarship Fulbright 2018- 2019, where he taught "History and Appreciation of World Dance." He has also developed the African Traditional and Contemporary Dance curriculum at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, CT. In 2016, he was a semi-finalist of Africa's Got Talent. Sanou trained with choreographers and theater directors such as Salia Sanou, Carolyn Carlson, Thierry de Mey, Luca Fusi GM, and Régine, Chopinot Alexandre de la Caffinière.
Sanou's work is a mix of West African Mandingo traditional dances, Brazilian capoeira, and theater expressions drawn from his work with influential European stage directors. His training in sacred and profane African traditional dance in his native country combines with other forms of expression to create a unique theatrical statement. Sanou earned his MFA at The University of the Arts (UARTS) in Philadelphia. He has won several choreographic awards, including the bronze medal in the 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie in Nice, France; the 2nd prize of SNC 2012; and the Delphic Laurel Award in the 2009 Delphic Games in South Korea.
In the past ten years, Sanou has developed a dynamic performance and teaching presence, which has led him to work assignments in Mexico, Israel, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Morocco, France, France, and the United States. He has also created a dance program in Burkina Faso prison
and worked with more than 70 prisoners to help them reenter society.
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