The emphasis of the workshops would be to expose dance and drama students to styles and techniques of great choreographers and directors. The dance and drama workshops will emphasize the development of individual skills and styles. The students will be nurtured and stimulated in their quest for artistic achievement and technical mastery. The goal would be that the students understand that dance/drama education is an integral part of human history and they will gain broad historical and cultural perspective by participating in the workshops. The workshops will involve abstract images, therefore allowing the dancers/actors to develop higher order thinking skills through perceiving, analyzing, and making discriminating judgments about dance/theatre. The dancers/actors will also be able to develop their ability to communicate in a way different than the written or spoken word. Completed 60.65 hours of professional development for teachers from the Arkansas Department of Education June 2013- September 2013. Completed 66.45 hours of professional development for teachers from the Arkansas Department of Education June 2014 - May 2015.

Christen teaches Theatre Dance I-IV at North Little Rock High School and is the founder/director of the NLRHS Dance Program/ Dance Troupe where she has taught since 1996. She received the 2012 Governor’s Arts in Education Award from the Arkansas Arts Council and was also named the 2012 Arkansas Communication and Theatre Arts Association Teacher of the Year. Christen has been a Teaching Artist on the Arts in Education Roster with the Arkansas Arts Council for the past four years. Christen holds her MEd from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a BA in Drama/minor in Dance Performance from the University of Arkansas. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, modern, pointe, and musical theatre with various instructors across the country including Sally Riggs Insalaco, Debbie Rawn, Dr. Terry Brusstar, Moira Logan, Lorraine Cranford, Dot Callanen, Jana Beard, Cuitlahuac Suarez, and trained at workshops/intensives with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, MOMIX, Pilobolus, Luigi, Frank Hatchett, Finis Jhung, Bill Hastings, and many others. Christen worked as a professional dancer, actor, and choreographer in over fifty shows including Damn Yankees at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, the Shoji Tabuchi Show, The Crystal Gayle Show, numerous commercials, films, and industrial shows, and has been seen on The Disney Channel and The Family Channel. She was a company member of the Memphis Dance Ensemble and the University of Arkansas Dance Company. Christen has choreographed over sixty musicals for North Little Rock High School, the University of Arkansas, the University of Central Arkansas, the touring company of ARTS LIVE, and the Argenta Community Theater including Sweet Charity, Hairspray, La Cage Aux Folles, In the Heights, Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek the Musical, Cabaret, 42nd Street, Jesus Christ Superstar, Crazy for You, Peter Pan, Grease, and many others. She has taught dance workshops for the ARC National Performing Arts Camp, the Arkansas Repertory Theatre (Summer Theater Intensive-Camp Rep), Arkansas Communication and Theatre Arts Association, Arkansas Dance Network, and the North Little Rock Boys and Girls Club. Christen has taught dance, acting, and musical theatre classes for the North Little Rock School District Summer Quest program, the ACTing Up Summer Performing Arts Program at the Argenta Community Theater, and at Studio One for the Performing Arts and DanceWorks Dance Studio. She is a Board member of the Argenta Community Theater, Untapped (Professional Tap Company), the ACANSA Arts Festival Advisory Board, TeeBoDans (Professional Modern Dance Company), and is a co-founder/board member of the Arkansas Dance Network. She is married to Kyle Pitts and they have two children, Grace and Corbin.