Isabel joined World Arts West in 1999. As Program Director for the arts education program, People Like Me, she is responsible for it’s annual development, from theme to script to stage. Ms. Fine also provides content and oversees development of the corresponding online curriculum guide and the supplemental activity books for each production.

After acting as co-Artistic Director for the 2004 season of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Ms. Fine is currently the sole Artistic Director for the 2005 Festival. As such, she is responsible for the vision and manifestation of a dramatic framework that both ties the diverse dance styles and traditions into three full-length performances, and connects the three distinct weekends into one cohesive and themed Festival.

Ms. Fine holds an M.A. from UCLA in Dance Ethnology, and an interdisciplinary Bachelor’s degree specializing in Theater and Mask, from Penn State University. She was awarded a Title VI language fellowship for research in language and dance in Cuba, and has presented her dance and music research at national conferences and symposiums. Since 1983 Ms. Fine has traveled abroad to study and research movement arts and theatrical movement styles with master teachers in Bali, Cuba, Italy, Switzerland, and Uruguay.

Her eclectic career includes several years a professional musician, teaching mask making to children and adults, and creating custom made instruments for percussionists throughout the country. She has studied, performed, taught, created and directed productions in diverse genres of theater and dance including masked movement, mime, Afro-Cuban folkloric dance and song, clowning, modern dance, contact improvisation, body music, and rhythm in culture. She lives in Berkeley with her husband and two children.