Felicia was born into the world of dance as her parents were dancing professionally with
the Netherlands Dance Theater at the time of her birth in 1960. She made her first stage
appearance at the age of 5 in Anna Sokolow’s “Dreams.” She received her formal
training at the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts, majoring in ballet during
junior high and high school. She then went to Holland where she spent two years at the
Rotterdam Dance Academy (now Codarts) studying various forms of dance including
modern, jazz and flamenco. From 19801995 she danced professionally in Switzerland
and Holland, performing classical, neoclassical and modern works. She worked with a
wide variety of cuttingedge choreographers including Stephen Petronio, Yoshika Chuma,
Randy Warshaw, Kathy Gottschalk, Amanda Miller, Job Sanders, Dieter Amman, Ton
Simons and Shusaku Takeuchi.
Since moving to Eugene in 1995, she’s performed with Robin Bryant and Dancers, Dance
Theatre of Oregon, LCC Dance Department, Bonnie Simoa, Donna Briggs and Company,
and more. She’s choreographed for Dance For A Reason, Swine Dive, Oregon Dance
Project, Collaborations, Springfield High School and Dance Umbrella of the South Coast
of Oregon. She was the lead dancer in LCC’s “West Side Story” in 2002. She’s taught
ballet at the Eugene Ballet Academy and LCC Dance Department. Ms. Sanders has
taught creative movement for the Young Writer’s Association and 14 years for Imagine
That Summer Adventures. She became certified to teach Pilates in 2004 and has taught
at In Shape and Body Now. She currently teaches dance at South Lane Ballet Academy
and regularly teaches for the Eugene and Springfield Public Libraries. She is the Director
of the Lower Division at the Oregon Ballet Academy, where she’s been working since
2003. There she teaches ballet, pointe, modern, Pilates, and improvisation and
composition. Felicia and Cara Hakaanson started the 40+DANCE class for people with
dance experience who want to continue experiencing the joy of dance while paying
special attention to the specific needs of older dancers.