Los Angeles based choreographer, dancer and educator Mark Tomasic discovered a passion for movement while studying acting in college. The interconnectedness of movement and human potential continue to fuel his work and shape his artistic vision.
As a choreographer, Tomasic’s work has been noted to be “wry and wicked”, “visually compelling”, as well as “wistful”, “touching” and “poetic”. Tomasic has created numerous self-produced works as well as works for Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, Verb Ballets, Dancing Wheels Company & School, Laguna Dance Festival, Ashland Regional Ballet, Belhaven University, MN² Productions, University of California, Irvine, Loyola Marymount University and Santa Monica College.
As a performer, Mark has worked with a variety of renowned dance companies including Ballet Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires, Cleveland San Jose Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Tom Evert Dance Company, The Dancing Wheels Company & School, and Verb Ballets. Among others, Mark has performed principal and featured roles in the masterworks of such notable choreographers as Martha Graham, Donald McKayle, Paul Taylor, David Parsons, Sean Curran, May O’Donnell, George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Flemming Flindt, Heinz Poll, Talley Beatty, Dennis Nahat, Mauricio Wainrot, Nils Christe, and Agnes de Mille.
On national television, Mark has been seen in the principal role of Big Boss Man in Dennis Nahat’s Blue Suede Shoes (PBS), as a featured performer on Christopher Reeve: A Celebration of Hope (ABC), and as a dancer on The Drew Carey Show (ABC). Theatrical credits include the Great Lakes Theater Festival and Cleveland Opera.
Mark’s belief in the power of dance to transform lives and awaken human potential is rooted in his extensive work in the field of physically integrated dance with the Dancing Wheels Company & School, one of the premier arts and disability organizations in the United States. He currently serves as Artistic Adviser to the Company and travels nationally and internationally to teach physically integrated dance to students and professionals alike. Mark is the author of Physically Integrated Dance: The Dancing Wheels Comprehensive Guide for Teachers, Choreographers and Students of Mixed Abilities (2012), a first-of-its-kind training manual that bridges artistic and scientific disciplines in the creation of an inclusive modern dance curriculum for dancers with and without disabilities.
Mark holds an MFA in Dance from the University of California, Irvine where he served as Rehearsal Assistant to Professor Emeritus Donald McKayle and a BFA in Ballet from the University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music. He has taught at various institutions including the University of Cincinnati, Ohio Northern University, Hiram College, University of California, Irvine and Loyola Marymount University. Mark is currently a full-time faculty member at Santa Monica College.
As a choreographer, Tomasic’s work has been noted to be “wry and wicked”, “visually compelling”, as well as “wistful”, “touching” and “poetic”. Tomasic has created numerous self-produced works as well as works for Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, Verb Ballets, Dancing Wheels Company & School, Laguna Dance Festival, Ashland Regional Ballet, Belhaven University, MN² Productions, University of California, Irvine, Loyola Marymount University and Santa Monica College.
As a performer, Mark has worked with a variety of renowned dance companies including Ballet Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires, Cleveland San Jose Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Tom Evert Dance Company, The Dancing Wheels Company & School, and Verb Ballets. Among others, Mark has performed principal and featured roles in the masterworks of such notable choreographers as Martha Graham, Donald McKayle, Paul Taylor, David Parsons, Sean Curran, May O’Donnell, George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Flemming Flindt, Heinz Poll, Talley Beatty, Dennis Nahat, Mauricio Wainrot, Nils Christe, and Agnes de Mille.
On national television, Mark has been seen in the principal role of Big Boss Man in Dennis Nahat’s Blue Suede Shoes (PBS), as a featured performer on Christopher Reeve: A Celebration of Hope (ABC), and as a dancer on The Drew Carey Show (ABC). Theatrical credits include the Great Lakes Theater Festival and Cleveland Opera.
Mark’s belief in the power of dance to transform lives and awaken human potential is rooted in his extensive work in the field of physically integrated dance with the Dancing Wheels Company & School, one of the premier arts and disability organizations in the United States. He currently serves as Artistic Adviser to the Company and travels nationally and internationally to teach physically integrated dance to students and professionals alike. Mark is the author of Physically Integrated Dance: The Dancing Wheels Comprehensive Guide for Teachers, Choreographers and Students of Mixed Abilities (2012), a first-of-its-kind training manual that bridges artistic and scientific disciplines in the creation of an inclusive modern dance curriculum for dancers with and without disabilities.
Mark holds an MFA in Dance from the University of California, Irvine where he served as Rehearsal Assistant to Professor Emeritus Donald McKayle and a BFA in Ballet from the University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music. He has taught at various institutions including the University of Cincinnati, Ohio Northern University, Hiram College, University of California, Irvine and Loyola Marymount University. Mark is currently a full-time faculty member at Santa Monica College.