Robin Garbose (Artistic Director, Director, Acting Teacher) began her directing career in the theater. In New York, Robin directed some 35 plays at theaters including the Ensemble Studio Theater, Jewish Repertory Theater, Manhattan Punch Line, Juilliard Theater Center and the Irish Arts Center. She has directed such noted actors as Laura Linney, Jon Tenney, Peter Riegert, Phoebe Cates, Helen Slater, Ricki Lake, Jason Alexander, Judd Nelson and Bruno Kirby.  In Los Angeles, Robin directed It’s a Girl! at the Odyssey Theater — [...]

Levi Yitzhaq Garbose (Lyricist, Composer, Producer) is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and attended Hadar HaTorah Rabbinical Seminary in Brooklyn, NY. He has studied banjo at the Faunt School of Creative Music since 1998.

Judy Winegard (Voice and Dialect Coach, Acting Teacher) was classically trained in the performing arts at Ithaca College having been awarded her BFA in Drama. She has performed in musical theater for over 25 years having performed in such productions asJekyll and Hyde, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, and many others. Since becoming observant 15 years ago, Judy has performed exclusively for female audiences. In addition to her acting career, her primary talents are singing and comedy. She has performed [...]

Rena Konar (Improvisation Teacher) has taught improvisational acting techniques at Kol Neshama since its inception. A graduate in theater from the University of Delaware, Rena honed her comedy and acting chops working in comedy clubs and theaters in Philadelphia and the tristate area. Upon moving to Los Angeles, Rena was a student of The Groundlings, a member of the Acme Comedy Theater and a veteran of assorted plays, industrials, and other tortures specific to actors. She has [...]

Kim Blank is a professional choreographer, recently Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Choreography in the HBO telefilm, Dorothy Dandridge, starring Halle Berry. She has choreographed dance sequences for Keri Russell, Madonna and Rupert Everett, Walter Mathhau and Jack Lemmon, in the films Mad About Mambo, The Next Best Thing and Out to Sea, respectively. Kim staged the ballroom sequences in the film Mambo Kings working alongside Michael Peters as associate choreographer. Her love of Latin music and dancing was broadened and deepened [...]

Shaindel Antelis has been singing ever since she learnt how to talk, and started writing her own songs at ten years old. Shaindel recorded a five song demo when she was seventeen years old, but she was still developing her own style and sound. Soon after, Shaindel went to Israel for the year not knowing what the future held. Her life took a turn for the better and she was inspired by the amazing classes and incredible experiences she had. [...]

Sara Tanz grew up in New York City and has been dancing for as long as she can remember. She has performed at Town Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall. Her formal training in jazz, tap, ballet and gymnastics created an everlasting love of movement and the desire to have it always in the forefront of her life.

After high school, Sara continued to study ballet at the University of Rochester while receiving a B.A. in English Literature and Theater [...]

Shaina Rivkah Kamman (singer/songwriter) studied the Speech Level Singing technique, developed by Seth Riggs for ten years, both in New York and California. She attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where she first came in contact with Chabad, and became involved with Judaism.
She has been teaching Speech Level Singing for six years and is currently studying Holistic Nutrition at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

Batsheva Frankel (Acting Teacher) worked in the film industry for over 8 years and was the Artistic Director of the Third Rail Theatre Company. She then began a career in Jewish Education, teaching in Jewish day schools throughout Los Angeles, New York and New Jersey. In addition to teaching Tanach, Jewish history, English and creative writing, Batsheva was the drama director at Valley Torah High School where she directed “The Wizard of Oz” and “A Little Princess”. This is her [...]

Hadas (Gross) Forgy was “bitten by the bug” when she saw (and memorized!) her first Broadway musical at age 3, and has never looked back. Hadas attended Kol Neshama from their very first year in 2000, continuing every summer as a camper, then eventually a madricha and production assistant, until she married and moved the the East Coast in 2008. Since then, Hadas has used her training in and love for dance, theater and film to choreograph, write and direct productions [...]

Rachelle (Merlis) Freedman received her B.A. in theatre from Georgia State University and has taught acting workshops and directed plays for children, teens, and adults across the country. She was a founding writer/director of The Miracle Project, a theatre program for children with special needs, which was featured in the award-winning documentary Autism: The Musical. She was also an instructor at Kol Neshama, an LA-based acting conservatory for girls, and has directed for the Jewish Women’s Repertory Company of Los [...]

Rachel Lopez (Dance Teacher, Choreographer) graduated with a B.A. in psychology from UC Santa Cruz, and an A.A. in dance from Santa Monica College. Trained in modern, ballet and yoga, Rachel has been performing in the LA area with Loretta Livingston and Dancers since 2002. Rachel loves teaching modern dance and yoga to children, and is grateful for this opportunity to work with Kol Neshama.