President: Leslie Zehr (Cairo, Egypt). Leslie Zehr is a sacred arts teacher, workshop leader, mentor, author, and Sacred Dance Guild-approved facilitator who, for over 30 years, has supported women in reconnecting with the Divine Feminine through the mysteries of ancient Egypt. A trained hypnotherapist, Reiki master, astrologer, aromatherapist, and homeopath, Leslie is the author of two books –”The Alchemy of Dance: Sacred Dance as a Path to the Universal Dancer”, which has been translated into Spanish, and “The Al-chemia Remedies: Vibrational Essences from Egyptian Flowers and Sacred Sites”.
Born in Lima, Perú, and educated in the United States, Leslie grew up in the theater and was exposed to performance arts from early childhood. Leslie also studied many forms of dance and has an extensive background in the theater arts; her first stage performance was at the age of six. In her youth, she was also drawn to alternative therapies and the occult sciences, such as tarot and astrology. She followed a calling to “return” to Egypt in 1986 to learn about and experience the ancient mysteries. In Cairo, Leslie founded and ran The Centre for Health and Well-being, which later became The Centre for Sacred Arts (1995-2015), a modern-day temple for learning and creativity honoring the Goddess Hat-Hor.
In 2002, after an initiation experience at Dendera Temple in Luxor, she received and developed the Universal Dancer, a simple but profound method of Sacred Dance that works with sacred geometry, primordial energies, waves, and the chakras to unlock intuition, vitality, and creativity. Through dance, Leslie retells archetypal stories that take women back through time to the essence of their being, unlocking the esoteric wisdom buried deep within their psyche.
Leslie’s lectures, workshops, and retreats in Sacred Dance and the Al-chemia Remedies have been attended by thousands of women of different nationalities and have taken her from Cairo, ancient Egyptian temples, and archaeological sites along the Nile River, to studios and centers in New York, Maine, Maryland, Arizona, Washington, and Puerto Rico. Currently, Leslie offers courses through her online school, Universal Dancer Temple of the Sacred Arts, and she is the Host and Producer of The Universal Dancer Podcast.
Leslie holds a B.S. in psychology from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, where she also majored in biochemistry. She also has international diplomas in homeopathy and hypnotherapy. Leslie is currently working on a third book about dance as a spiritual practice. She continues to live in Cairo with her children and grandchildren.
Co-Vice President: Marylee Hardenbergh (Minnesota, USA) is a site-specific choreographer, a director of Movement Choirs, a board-certified Dance/Movement Therapist, and a Certified Laban Movement Analyst having studied with Irmgard Bartenieff for several years. She is honored to be the CoVice President ofSDG, and an SDG Approved Facilitator. She directs Global Site Performance, and was the original Artistic Director of Global Water Dances where she now serves on its international Steering Committee. She has created site-specific dances over the last 40 years for such places as a sewage treatment plant, on skyscrapers, on the bombed-out Parliament Building in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on a clock tower on the Volga in Russia, on a Mediterranean beach in Israel. With the SDG community she directed performances at the Ottawa Locks in Canada, at the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne Australia, in Bali and in Peru’s Sacred Valley. She has received numerous fellowships and grants for her choreography.
Co-Vice President: Jessica Abejar (Long Island, New York, USA) is dancer, choreographer, and movement instructor, ranging from sacred dance to kpop dance, yoga to POP Pilates. She is the Founder and CEO of JGA Production LLC, which produces her two movement-based programs, The Moving Prayer, which offers presentations, performances, workshops, and resources in sacred dance; and Dance Festa, which offers dance, yoga, and fitness classes inspired by the music of BTS, a Korean musical group.
She has previously shared sacred dance all over the world including World Youth Day Brazil, World Youth Day Poland, and the Sto. Niño Youth Day in the Philippines, and nationally with the National Catholic Youth Conference, the National Conference for Catholic Youth Ministry, New York Catholic Youth Day, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Sacred Dance Guild Festival, and more.
Jessica has collaborated, partnered, and danced with several organizations, in creating choreography, staging pieces, leading workshops, and performing, including the Sacred Dance Guild, World Youth Dance Crew, Trinity Movement Choir, Omega Liturgical Dance Company, Youth Animators for the National Catholic Youth Conference, the Archdiocesan Dance Troupe for the Archdiocese of New York, and Dominican Youth Movement USA.
Jessica is an alumna of Dance/USA’s Institute for Leadership Training, mentoring with sacred and liturgical dance pioneer and honorary SDG member Carla DeSola. She is also a former member of Dance/NYC’s Junior Committee and participated in Gibney Dance Center’s Institute of Community Action Training.
Jessica has been a member of the Sacred Dance Guild for many years and has been seen as a presenter at Festival but has recently played a major role on the Technical Team for the online Festivals, Quarterly Conversation Series, and Sacred Sundays. She was Administrative Coordinator for the Winter 2021 Mini Festival and Coordinator for the SDG’s 65 Second Video Project in celebration of the Sacred Dance Guild’s 65th Anniversary in 2023-2024! Jessica is excited to be continuing on the SDG, moving from PR Co-Director to Co-Vice President.
Secretary-Treasurer: Barbara Fahringer continues to remain active on the Board as Secretary/Treasurer and working on the On-Line Journal project. Barbara has a BA from Penn State University in Journalism and an MA in Dance Education from New York University. She is also a licensed massage therapist and has completed studies in many healing modalities including Polarity Therapy and Huna bodywork. Barbara also has years of bookkeeping experience in the business world.
Programs Director: Debra (Debbie) Donaldson (Gananoque, Ontario, Canada)– To Dance is Debbie’s passios and that leads her to her 3rd year as Programs Co-Director. Debbie has danced since the age of 3 years old and her Dream was to be a Dance teacher. Debbie took a turn after high school and became a Registered Nurse though her heart was always with dance. She did follow her Dream when her 3 daughters wanted to start taking dance lessons and she started her dance school Debbie’s Dance Academy. She has never looked back, she has taught all forms of dance at her school which grew into a Performing Arts School “Dreams In Motion Performing and Fine Arts School”. Debbie has taught school curriculums, senior centre programs, summer camps and workshops both in Canada and the U.S. She studied Cecchetti Ballet with Jean Spear and became an examined member of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association. Debbie has directed plays and choreographed for several musicals. Debbie started taking lessons in the Duncan style of Dance with Jeanne Brescianni in NY city . From this style of dance she grew with dance as she felt the spiritual pull to dance Liturgically. She has choreographed and been a Liturgical dancer for Churches in the U.S. and Canada. One of Debbie’s passions through dance is to be able to portray and make come alive issues that many do not want to talk about such as depression, suicide, mental illness, and to this end she produced and directed a show called “Shaping Words” which dealt with many of these issues in dance, music, visual art, poetry and drama. Recently with a select group of dancers they participated in the Global Water Dances and the main issue for the St. Lawrence being Climate change and how it affects all living things. In Gananoque where she lives, they did a Dance Challenge with the Song and Dance Jerusalema. Debbie was the Dance Coordinator and with 12 groups agreeing to do this around the town a video was made to share joy, laughter and smiles after the pandemic had slowed down. Throughout the pandemic Debbie has been able to share dance Liturgically with several Churches with the ability to record and Zoom. She has also taught Line Dance Classes for free just to make sure people kept smiling. Debbie is thrilled to continue on the Board for the Sacred Dance Guild.
Public Relations Co-Director: Pat Hreljanovic (Callicoon, New York) Pat has been involved in dance for at least 30 years, not as a dancer, but as an enabler. Pat is an architect and has recently retired (mostly) from work as a construction consultant. She has daughters who dance, one of whom is now a professor of dance at Western Washington University. Pat has worked behind the scenes on bulletins, costumes, props, and stage sets, and is a huge admirer of those who perform. Her own movement modalities over the years have included walking, yoga, and tai chi. Pat is also a Reiki master, oil painter, and book binder. She discovered Trinity Church NYC’s Movement Choir at the beginning of the pandemic and it has been central to her well-being ever since. Movement Choir led her to the Sacred Dance Guild and its marvelous work throughout the world. Pat is excited to be part of this great organization.
Public Relations Co-Director: John West (California, USA) as a child studied dance at the Lester Horton School of Dance, and as a teen studied tap under Willie Covan. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in dance and theatre from Macalester College, he returned to Los Angeles and began a career of teaching and administrating at his alma mater, Mount Carmel High School. Continuing his professional education, Mr. West earned a M.Ed. from Loyola-Marymount University and a M.A. degree in Folklore and Mythology from UCLA with an emphasis in biblical literature and dance. Later, he began a long and varied career in the independent schools of Los Angeles, starting at Harvard/Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City. Throughout his teaching career he has taught not only in academic areas but also directed plays, taught dance and choreographed musicals. He has been a dancer and choreographer in the field of sacred and liturgical dance since 1967, when he assisted in the creation of an experimental liturgy in a parish church in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the administrative level Mr. West has served as Asst. Head of Harvard-Westlake’s Upper School, Headmaster of Mirman School for the Gifted, and President of Nardin Academy in Buffalo, NY. At the state level he served as the Vice President and Chair of the Elementary Board of Standards on the Board of Directors for the California Association of Independent Schools. Nationally, he was a member of the NAIS Call To Action for the National Association of Independent Schools V. P. of Equity and Justice Initiatives from 2000-2015. His work as Artistic Director of the Valyermo Dancers continues to be complemented by his roles as Sacred & Liturgical Dance Workshop Leader and Clinician and as Independent Educational Consultant on Equity and Social Justice. In 2013 he received the honor of “Man of Valor” from the NAACP. He lends his expertise to schools and organizational boards in Southern California. John says” “So much of what we practitioners of sacred dance face nests in the misperception that what we do has no roots in one country or tradition or the other; that the sacred/divine have no comity or intersection with one another. The Guild controverts that; it provides ongoing proof that “We are!” It provides our art a level sustainability for all those who have come before and for all who will follow. I am proud to contribute to that end.” John has been a long serving Co-Director of Public Relations. He is also an SDG Approved Facilitator.
Resources Director: Marilyn Green (New York City USA) is Director of the Trinity Movement Choir, as well as a choreographer and interdisciplinary artist. This is Marilyn’s 9th year as Co-Director of Resources. Her work in dance, music, and visual arts/film animation have earned her extensive recognition, from a Millay Colony Award to a Ford Foundation Fellowship and grants in the arts and humanities for projects in several disciplines. In 2010 she co-founded the Trinity Movement Choir; which has appeared at events including The Parliament of the World’s Religions, Performing the World, the Sheen Center in Manhattan, the Chautauqua Institution and colleges and universities, as well as conferences of the international Sacred Dance Guild. The virtual performance of “Creation III: The Animals” was chosen for screening at the 59th Venice Biennale of Art, and the dance “Humankind” was presented several times with members of the Sacred Dance Guild, as was “Reconciliation,” which appeared at UNESCO’s 60th World Congress of Dance Research in Athens. Her technical work in dance centers on Rudolf Laban, both in terms of movement analysis and his philosophy of creating set choreography with room for personal expression, and on Butoh’s focus on the transformation of the dancer and audience in performance. Her content draws on Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and her own spiritual experience.