Mark Thrapp

Teacher/Choreographer/Ballet Coordinator

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 Mark started dancing his first step very late in life at age 22, just to give it a try.  After a couple years he got a scholarship with Ballet Arts of Spokane and started getting preprofessional gigs with Theatre Ballet of Spokane, Spokane Ballet Theatre, Uptown Opera, Conservatory Ballet Theatre, Spokane Civic Theatre, and Valley Reparatory Theatre, performing in Giselle, Midsummer’s Night Dream, Dracula, Song and Dance, Cabaret, and Stepping Out.  By 1996 Mark got his first professional contract with Norwegian Cruise Line dancing, acting and singing in Broadway Review, Las Vegas Review (Sea Legs Express), and Grease. Following NCL he danced/acted for Heritage Arts Foundation/Tuacahn in the production of UTAH!  From there he moved to NYC and danced professionally for several contemporary companies, like Steeledance, IGaF, Broadway Cares EFA/DRA, SNDG, Sanza Nemo Collective,  Ali Kenner, Sudden Enlightenment Theatre.  Due to injury, after 11 years dancing professionally, 10 years in NYC, Mark decided to retire from dance.  

During the last few years of his professional dance career, Mark got back into martial arts, studying kung fu and yoga; incorporating his dance experience into the practices.  Once retired from dance, kung fu and yoga took over his physical training.  From this combined experience, he developed a physical training method and philosophy he calls KUDAYO (KUng fu, DAnce, YOga); a fusion of all three disciplines into a single seamless training system, and taught mainly the modified yoga in NYC for several years.  By the time 2015 came around NYC got on his nerves so much so that he picked up and moved to Portland, OR. 

During his one year tenure in Portland, he taught ballet, jazz, and contemporary dance at the Aspire Project Dance Studio, and KUDAYO yoga at Shani Om Yoga Studio, till an opportunity brought him to Whidbey Island.  Char opened her studio open to Mark to teach in the 2016 Summer Intensive, and from then on, Mark has been teaching at Island Dance and until just recently, was on the board of directors for WIDT doing their graphic design and some video post production.

Mark is very glad to have found Island Dance and thankful to Char for welcoming him to teach and connecting him to the dance community on the island.