Renay Aumiller (2008-2009: Expansion and Dances) is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Dance at Beloit College where she teaches ballet technique. After receiving her MFA in Dance this past May from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Renay had the opportunity to travel to Taiwan, Cambodia, and Italy to teach, perform, and participate in Improvisation workshops with Kirstie Simson. She currently performs with Thread Meddle Outfits, the Dance Team and Friends, and Renée Wadleigh in Chicago, the city she now calls home. Her choreography has been shown in Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, New York and Virginia and hopes to add to that list due to her love of traveling. She also knits and enjoys a nice warm cup of coffee while listening to her iPod on the trains.
^ TOPTheresa Bautista (2006-2010: An Evening of Dance, GSA 2006, In Motion, Impressions, GSA 2007, Returns, Expansion, v6.0, Dividends, GSA 2009, and Something Old, Something New) trained in Southern Indiana and Louisville, gaining experience both in dance and musical theatre. While earning her BS in Biology from Indiana University, she continued her dance studies in a program headed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride. Theresa is a freelance dancer, choreographer and teacher in the Louisville, KY area, and has danced with the Kentucky Youth Dance Ensemble, Anna Sapozhnikov’s MOYAMO DANCE, Gordon Dance Projects, and Rachel James for Cincinnati’s Choreographers Without Companies 2007 series and jan street dance theatre. She was a company soloist for six years with Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company. Theresa presented her works, Moment Pushed, Moment Left, Tether Me Not, and Victims at the 2005, 2009 and 2010 SERBA Dance Festival and has been featured in Today’s Woman, the Louisville Eccentric Observer, and Velocity Weekly magazines. In 2006, Theresa created and continues to produce MOVING COLLECTIVE, a venue to promote the works of independent choreographers and bring greater awareness of contemporary dance to the Louisville region.
^ TOPKeesha Beckford (choreographer) began her dance studies in Queens, New York. She then went on to graduate cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in American History and a certificate in dance. Her senior project in dance was awarded the Louis Sudler prize for the Arts. She has performed with the New York based companies Steeledance and Amy Marshall Dance Company. In New York, she also performed works by distinguished choreographers such as Milton Myers and Lorn Macdougal. Keesha’s performances have been seen in Europe with the German tour of the rock musical Tabaluga and Lilli. In Dublin, Ireland she performed the choreography of Michael Foley and Cathy O’Kennedy in the production of Giselle: The Presence of the Past. After moving to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2002, Ms. Beckford performed with Martha Connerton’s Kinetic Works and Sabrina Berry’s American Dance Art. Her choreography was also featured in the repertory of both companies. While in New York City, Ms. Beckford taught jazz and modern dance at Steps on Broadway, The Spence School, Trinity School and was a guest teacher at Yale University and Ballet Academy East. In Charlotte, Keesha joined the faculty of North Carolina Dance Theater, teaching jazz, modern and ballet, and served as guest choreographer for the University of North Carolina, Charlotte's dance department. She began teaching Pilates matwork at Charlotte’s Alternative Fitness Pilates Studio in 2003, and received her Alternative Fitness reformer certification in 2004. Currently in the Chicago area, Keesha teaches at Dance Center Evanston, Columbia College, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s education program.
^ TOPTamara Begley (2006-2009: An Evening of Dance, In Motion, Impressions, GSA 2007, Returns, Expansion, v6.0, Dividends, GSA 2009 and Dances) earned a BFA in Choreography and Performance from the University of North Carolina Greensboro and is a 2001 graduate of the Youth Performing Arts School. Tamara is currently a member of Beth Rodriguez Dance Projects and co-produces MOVING COLLECTIVE, a venue to promote the works of independent choreographers and bring greater awareness of contemporary dance to the Louisville Region. She has performed with John Gamble Dance Theatre in North Carolina, Amir Kolben and Jessica Marchant in Washington, D.C., as well as with Christephor Gilbert’s jan street dance theatre and Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company in Louisville. Tamara was awarded an internship in Washington, D.C. at Dance Place, one of the nation’s most prolific presenters of dance. She also teaches modern dance at the Louisville Ballet School, Studio SILK at the Clifton Center, and Allegro Dance Theater in Radcliffe.
^ TOPdanah bella | d a n a h b e l l a DanceWorks (2008-2009: Expansion, v6.0, Dividends and Dances) received her MFA in Performance from the Ohio State University and her BA in Dance from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2004 she founded d a n a h b e l l a DanceWorks, the only professional contemporary dance company based in Southwest Virginia, with long time collaborator Salvador Barajas. Her work has been presented in festivals throughout the country, including the Cool New York Festival in New York and the United States of Asian American Festival in San Francisco, as well as in Mexico and Italy. Her teaching credits include the Bates Dance Festival, the American College Dance Festival and Pro Danza Italia/USA; she is currently on faculty at Radford University.
^ TOPJohn Cartwright (2009-2010: Dividends and Something Old, Something New) began his dance training at the Children’s Center for Dance Education in Evansville, IN. He continued his studies with the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Austin, National Taiwan University of the Arts and the Paul Taylor Dance Company. John graduated from Butler University, majoring in Dance-Arts Administration. He has been a guest artist with Ballet Arkansas and the Indianapolis Opera. John danced two seasons with the Louisville Ballet, with whom he has performed in Alun Jones’ Cinderella, Don Quixote, and The Nutcracker, Val Caniparoli’s Vivace, and The Nutcracker, along with Lila York’s Celts, and André Prokovsky’s The Great Gatsby and is currently an intern with Melissa Thodos Dance Company in Chicago.
^ TOPStephanie Clark (2009: Dances) is a native of Virginia. She graduated from Virginia Tech with a Liberal Arts degree in 1990. During her time in Blacksburg, she was a member of Virginia Tech Dance Theatre and a founding member of The Contemporary Dance Ensemble of Virginia Tech. Since moving to Berea from Davis, California in 1998, Stephanie has enjoyed performing and choreographing for the Modern Dance Troupe at Berea College.
^ TOPJoseph Nygren Cox (2010: Something Old, Something New) is originally from Austin, TX and has been based in Louisville since 2000. He is currently a principal dancer with the Louisville Ballet as well as a faculty member with the KY Governor's School for the Arts. Joseph has performed a very eclectic repertoire over the past two decades and has been featured in works by Paul Taylor, Doris Humphrey, John Butler, Twyla Tharp and many others. He has choreographed works for the Louisville Ballet Choreographers' Showcase, KY Governor's School for the Arts, Cincinnati Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Austin Contemporary Ballet, and other venues. Some of the works he has presented locally include The Funk Bomb, Smile, Three Preludes, and Pulse-Flow. Joseph is the recipient of the KY Arts Council's 2009 "Al Smith" Fellowship Grant for Choreography. He is married to fellow choreographer Kimberly Nygren Cox.
^ TOPKimberly Nygren Cox (2007-2010: Impression, Returns, Expansion, Dances and Something Old, Something New) had a professional dancing career of 14 years. She performed primarily with the Milwaukee Ballet and Louisville Ballet Company. Her repertoire included many ballet classics as well as a variety of contemporary works. Kimberly retired in 2003 from the Louisville Ballet where she was a soloist. She taught ballet regularly for the Louisville Ballet School, and Allegro Ballet Theater, and has been a guest instructor at several other schools of dance. Kimberly’s choreography has been performed at various events such as Louisville Ballet’s annual showcases, Radio Disney, a World Aids Day memorial, the Center for Women and Families’ Movement to Empower and Celebration of Service, Crossing Lines Project, and Moving Collective. Aside from choreography, Kimberly has been active in stage management and is a certified Pilates instructor. She and her husband, Joseph, are blessed with two amazing children, and two dogs complete the family portrait!
^ TOPChristine De Lazzero (2006: In Motion) received her BFA in Dance from New York University Tisch School of the Arts in 1985. After graduation, she remained in NYC, performing in small modern dance companies and collaborating in choreographic showcases until 1993. She moved to Kentuckiana in 1997. Christine began dancing and performing again in 2004-2005 with Anna Sapozhnikov, and has continued to perform in 2006-2007 with Moving Collective in works by Theresa Bautista, Tamara Begley, and Denise Gordon, as well as present her own piece of choreography, “Voice Coil”. She is delighted to be involved in this fourth concert.
^ TOPChristina DiGiovanni (2007: Impressions, GSA 2007) holds a BFA in Dance from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. While attending school, Christina danced with the second company of the Dayton Ballet. She has danced and taught for Chicago Dance Medium. Christina danced for and helped to manage Afterimages Dance Company in Louisville, Kentucky. She was Artistic Director for PNEUMA, a comprehensive after school arts program for inner city youth in Louisville. She is a founding member of Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company. Christina currently teaches for the Budig Academy of the Cincinnati Ballet and is the Chair of the dance faculty for the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts.
^ TOPSarah Remembrance Downs (2009: Dividends and Dances) began her life in dance at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts in Lexington, Kentucky. While working toward a minor in dance at Eastern Kentucky University, she performed and choreographed with the EKU Dance Theatre. In 2006, Sarah received her Master of Arts in Dance with a concentration in choreography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. From there she moved to New York where she performed with the multimedia improvisational company, the RAW, and studied various forms of modern fusion techniques in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Sarah has recently returned to Kentucky to teach modern, ballet and Pilates at her alma mater, along with various schools and studios around Lexington. Sarah would like to say thank you to the members of Moving Collective for creating a unique platform for dancing artists in Kentucky and to the friends, community, and family members who support the growth of dance and art.
^ TOPYeen Foong (2006-2007: An Evening of Dance, GSA 2006, In Motion, GSA 2007) has had the chance to experiment with different types of dance in the past including ballet, modern, tap, ballroom and some traditional Malay movements. While she was in Beloit College getting her BA in Art History, she actively performed and choreographed in Chelonia, which is the annual modern dance performance at Beloit. Since moving to Louisville, Yeen has performed with Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company and four performances with Moving Collective.
^ TOPLauren Vandivier Ford (2009: Dances) is a co-owner and full time instructor at Louisville Dance Alliance. Lauren received her BFA in Dance with Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has performed in the works of Renay Aumiler, Linda Lehovec, Philip Johnston, Rebecca Nettl-Fiol, Germaul Barnes, Erika Randall, Angela Fleddermann-Miller, Tamara Begley and Theresa Bautista. She was recipient of the “Outstanding Service Award” from the UIUC Department of Dance in May 2008. Mrs. Ford’s teaching experience includes: Teaching Assistant for University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, Sacred Heart School for the Arts (Louisville, KY), Harold Robert's School of Dance (Louisville, KY), Turning Pointe (Champaign, IL), and the Urbana Park District (Urbana, IL). She is excited to work with Moving Collective again.
^ TOPMari-Elise Gates (2008-2010: Expansion, v6.0, Dividends, Dances, and Something Old, Something New) graduated from University of Maryland in 2007 with a double degree in Dance and English and an Honors citation. While at Maryland, Mari-Elise had the opportunity to work with Brian Brooks, Alexander Gish, Sara Pearson, Patrik Widrik, Amy Marshall Dance Company and Nejla Yatkin and also performed on the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center. Mari-Elise taught tap classes and dance history courses at Maryland, and she had choreography presented in Maryland Dance Ensemble concerts and New Dances concerts. She recently graduated from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law and works as an Intellectual Property attorney at Stites & Harbison in Alexandria, Virginia.
^ TOPDiane Germaine (2008: Expansion) Choreographer/Writer, graduated New York’s Performing Arts High School and became Principal Soloist of the Paul Sanasardo Dance Company, NYC. She received critical acclaim for roles in Fatal Birds, Metallics, The Path, Shadows, and as poetess Anne Sexton in A Consort for Dancers (“a superstar modern dancer…boneless as a shadow and in control of every kinetic nuance,” New York Times). Ms. Germaine has been on faculty at NYC’s Performing Arts High School, at Modern Dance Artists the former home of the Paul Sanasardo Dance Company, and at the school of Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, NYC. She’s been a Master Instructor/Guest Choreographer at Universities all over the USA as well as for First Chamber Dance Company in Port Townsend, Seattle and Walla Walla, abroad for Bat-Dor, Batsheva, The Kibbutz Dance Company, Norsk Opera Ballet in Oslo, and London Contemporary Dance Theatre at The Place. She acknowledges the following individuals/studios contributing to her training: Contemporary: Bertram Ross/Mary Hinkson/Ethel Winter from the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, Paul Sanasardo/Donya Feuer of Modern Dance Artists, Inc., and Norman Walker; Classical: Edward Caton at Joffrey’s American Dance Centre, Maggie Black, and Robin Howard. In NYC, as Artistic Director of Diane Germaine & Dancers, NYC she choreographed 25 works receiving grants from the NEA and CAPS for (signature work) Playground (“…a violent sensual work…It hurls itself through the space rushing towards the final denouement with a disconcerting fury," Soho News), and for RadiOhio, Hotel Nicaragua, Archipel, and The Ocean Floor and Those Who Live There. In Cincinnati, commissioned works for Contemporary Dance Theater Company included Lorcantos, I've Got a Crush on You, and Controlling the Population. With the advent of Choreographers Without Companies concerts, Ms. Germaine created Such a Landscape in 2000 which was invited to Ohio Dance Festival’s Showcase where it received high praise from the Columbus Dispatch (“…compelling…(Taki Pejzaz) was the most powerful of the evening." Ms. Germaine was awarded a 2001 OAC Choreography Fellowship and a ‘02-‘03 grant from the City of Cincinnati for the full-evening spoken-word and movement play, Didi, a Life, premiered in April 2002. She received grants from the City of Cincinnati and OAC for a full-evening retrospective in December, 2003 which included the premiere of Fallout, a revision of Playground, and a revival of Such a Landscape. Recent works include: the poignant solo Rain (2002), Dust (2002) an intense and devastating work created in response to 9/11, the sensual, tuxedoed, and on its head Nighthawks (2003), Fallout (2004), the lovely, hopeful So Little Time (2004), the sexy, intriguing, haunting Fated Tango (2005), and the beautiful, cerebral and quirky Monologue and Little Deaths (2007). Ms. Germaine is planning a full-evening production in 2009 of the tango/not a tango triptych: Nighthawks, Fated Tango and the new Bailongo (working title). She is also the initiating choreographer to launch Cincinnati Choreographers Collective in April 2008 – the area’s collective of professional choreographers (and dancers). In June 2008 she will be contributing her sultry Fated Tango with a stellar cast to CDT’s 35th Anniversary Choreographer’s Festival at Jarson-Kaplan Theater. In addition to choreography Ms. Germaine is also a writer. She was on scholarship at Women Writing for (a) Change 2002-2004, has read her work on WVXU radio, at Walnut St. YWCA’s Wise Woman and Generations series, Woodstock Jewish Congregation, and the Woodstock Poetry Society’s Open Mic Monday Night series. Her poem My One Girl appeared in the October 2007 issue of Hudson Valley’s Chronogram Magazine. Ms. Germaine is currently compiling the poetry for her first chapbook and completing her play entitled Not Yet, a funny, poignant two-character work on ageing. Ms. Germaine’s biography has been in Who’s Who in Entertainment since 1982.
^ TOPChristephor Gilbert (2007-2008: Returns and v6.0) is thrilled to be working with Moving Collective once again! Christephor is the artistic director of jan street dance theatre, a contemporary dance ensemble that utilizes movement, gesture and text to convey emotional narratives in a non-linear format. Christephor was a soloist with Hawaii Ballet Theatre from 1994-1996, was company member and guest choreographer with Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company from 1997-1999, and performed as a dance theatre soloist from 1995-present. As a solo performer, Christephor’s seminal work, Silk Girl in Blue Desert (ed) has been performed in Honolulu, San Francisco, and Louisville. Most recently he served as assistant choreographer for the Broadway at Iroquois production of Cats. Christephor is a modern instructor with studio SILK and a ballet instructor with Ellen’s School of Dance and when not dancing, teaching or choreographing he serves as the Wardrobe Manager for Stage One and Broadway at Iroquois, where he is also a costume designer.
^ TOPDenise Gordon (2006-2008: An Evening of Dance, GSA 2006, In Motion, Returns, Expansion) received a B.A. in theatre arts and a minor in dance and went on to pursue a dance career with Afterimages Dance Company in Louisville, KY. She resided as a principal dancer with that company for six years, performing over 80 repertory works and teaching throughout the regional area. For the next four years, Denise partnered in the management of Afterimages, choreographing, teaching and performing. The next phase of her career led her to dance as a principal with Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company in 1995. Denise began her own company called Gordon Dance Projects in 2004, and in 2006, became a co-producer of Moving Collective with Theresa Bautista and Tamara Begley.
^ TOPEmily Gorman (2008: v6.0) a Louisville native, has just returned from five years in San Francisco where she earned her MFA in Performance and Choreography from Mills College in Oakland, CA. While at Mills she had the opportunity to perform in works by Sonya Delwaide, Molissa Fenly, Margaret Jenkins, Mary Carbonara, and Mark Morris. Following graduation, Emily danced with local dance companies Push Up Something Hidden, Double Vision, and COUNTERPOINTe. Working with both children and adults, she has taught creative movement, ballet, modern, tap and jazz for over ten years in both Kentucky and California. Emily received her training from Mills College, Murray State University, Ursuline School for the Performing Arts, The Louisville Ballet, where she was a member of the Civic Company and The Youth Peforming Arts School.
^ TOPBrian Grant (2009-2010: Dividends and Something Old, Soemthing New) received his BFA in Theatre Arts with an emphasis in dance performance from Northern Illinois University (NIU) and is currently dancing in his fourth season with the Louisville Ballet. Raised in Rockford, Illinois, he was a member of the Rockford Dance Company from 1999-2001 and also danced with Northern Dance Theater during his tenure with NIU. Brian has performed a varied repertoire, including roles in Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Le Corsaire, Paquita, Raymonda and Troy Game. Brian has also performed pieces choreographed by emerging choreographers such as Lee-Wei Chao and David Ingram.
^ TOPDavid Ingram (2007: GSA 2007) began his training in his hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee and continued his studies at Butler University in Indiana with Mark Cholewa, receiving his BFA in Dance Performance in 2004. David has also studied under Karen Gibbons Brown, Larry Attaway and Yamamoto Twunetomo. With the Louisville Ballet, David has been featured in Ben Steveson’s Four Last Songs, Adam Hougland’s Made to be Broken, and Robert North’s Troy Game. His choreography has been performed at The Yard and the Fort Wayne Ballet and most recently at 21c Museum Hotel under his own company, Empujon. David is currently dancing with North Carolina Dance Theatre in Charlotte, North Carolina.
^ TOPRachel James (2007-2009: GSA 2007, v6.0 and Dances) is a sought-after performer, choreographer, and teacher. Her work is informed by a lifelong exposure to dance: as an audience member, a studio volunteer, a student, a tech person, a performer, a teacher, and a choreographer. “Although my work is not always happy, I do like the audience to share the joy we feel when we are dancing.” Rachel’s dances have been presented in Cincinnati by CDT’s Performance and Time Arts, Fine Arts Fund Sampler, and Choreographers Without Companies Series, as well as Moving Collective and Until the Violence Stops: Kentucky. She dances for Mam-Luft & Company Dance (www.mamluftcodance.com) and has worked with many local choreographers. She is on the faculty of Contemporary Dance Theater (Modern Dance) and Cincinnati Ballet (Rhythm & Motion). Rachel has an M.A. in Interpretation and is a nationally certified sign language interpreter.
^ TOPKyli Kleven (2009: Dances) Before spending several weekends in Kentucky, Kyli was born in Nenana, Alaska, purchased approximately 66 pairs of shoes, and dug 54 clams. She is currently a 17th grader employed as a dancer/project manager by Jennifer Monson, and as a bartender by Timpone’s Restaurant in Urbana, IL. A proud member of The Embassy of …, a danceWEB group from Vienna, Austria, Ms. Kleven has read the entire Harry Potter series. Unconfirmed sources believe that Renay, her collaborator, has not yet finished it.
^ TOPAlan Lommasson (2006-2007: An Evening of Dance, GSA 2006, In Motion, Impressions, GSA 2007, Returns) has been teaching, choreographing, and performing since 1980 and was one of the founding directors of Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company. The recipient of numerous choreographic awards and commissions, including the 1997 Al Smith Fellowship in Choreography from the Kentucky Arts Council, his work has been presented in fifteen states nationwide. He holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois and an MFA from the University of Michigan, as well as certification as a movement analyst from the Laban/Bartinieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York City. He has served on the faculties of Colorado College, Wayne State University, the University of Michigan and Interlochen’s National Music Camp.
^ TOPJeanne S. Mam-Luft | MamLuft&Co. Dance (2010: Something Old, Something New) is a choreographer, designer, and photographer who dabbles in many fields and enjoys asking questions about how things work. Her vision as an interdisciplinary artist informs MamLuft&Co. Dance’s process. Her goal as an artist is to bring together various disciplines and ways-of-thinking in order to create powerful, thought-provoking, and novel work. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Texas Woman’s University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University. Mam-Luft was born while her parents were seeking refuge following the Khmer Rouge genocide; her experiences as a refugee and an immigrant have shaped her artistic expression. She and the Company are the recipients/co-recipients of grants from the Fine Arts Fund, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Merck Corporation, and Carnegie Mellon University. She is also a scholarship recipient of the American Dance Festival and the Bates Dance Festival.
^ TOPAmber Marquez (2006: An Evening of Dance) began her dance career in small independent studios at the age of seven, sparking a life-long passion. Amber completed her studies as a dance major at the Youth Performing Arts School followed by training with the University of Louisville Dance Academy and the Louisville Ballet School. After a short hiatus to begin a family and raise a new daughter, Amber is proud to return to the stage and is very excited to be a participant in the Spring 2009 Moving Collective Concert.
^ TOPAshley Suttlar Martin (2006-2007: In Motion and Impressions) has a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA in Dance from Temple University. She was a member of Paule Turner’s c o u r t from 2001 to 2003 and Charles O. Anderson’s Dance Theatre X in 2005. She has also performed with Tania Isaac Dance Projects, Darla Stanley, Melanie Stewart Dance Theatre, and Kariamu Welsh. Ashley’s choreography has been called “a force to behold” by the Philadelphia Inquirer and “provocative and fascinating” by the Cincinnati Citybeat Magazine. Her work has been presented at the 2002 – 2004 Philadelphia Fringe Festivals, Dance House 2003, 3rd annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival, 2006 Moving Collective performance, Painted Bride’s Divine Women, Divine Works Series, American College Dance Festival in 2000 and 2004, Black College Dancing Exchange, International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference, and various universities, to list a few. Currently, Ashley is Assistant Professor of Dance at Morehead State University where she is implementing a dance curriculum and is Director of the MSU Dance Ensemble. Recently, she was selected for the Kentucky Arts Council’s 2006-2007 Performing Arts Directory. She continues to work as an independent artist.
^ TOPTheresa Mudd (2008: v6.0) is an outstanding dance educator, performer and choreographer. A “hoofer and singer” since the age of three, she has never stopped dancing. A Louisville native, she was accepted into the Louisville Civic Ballet at the age of 12, performing a wide variety of classical and contemporary roles. At age 18, she won the state title and represented Kentucky in the National Society of Arts and Letters Ballet Competition in her first choreographic effort. Theresa holds a BA in Dance and Drama from Bard College and an MA in Exercise Science and Sport Science from the University of Arizona. She has trained, performed, choreographed and taught extensively for professional companies, universities and schools around the country including Arizona Dance Theatre and Louisville’s former flamenco dance company, Ballet Español. Theresa chairs the Dance Department at the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, Kentucky since 1988.
^ TOPBeth Rodriguez (2007-2008: Impressions, Returns and v6.0) began her dance training at the University of Louisville Dance Academy. She later went on to receive her bachelors in dance under scholarship from Ball State University and her masters in education from New York University. Beth worked in NYC for nearly a decade with various noted and emerging artists, including Jana Hicks, Katiti King, Sarah Skaggs, and Courtney Drasner. Her choreography has been shown in NYC at Williamsburg Arts Nexus, BRIC, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, chashama, Dixon Place, and Merce Cunningham Studio. This work has been supported in part by The Field, DanceNYC, NYU, and Dixon Place. She now continues her work in Louisville and southern Indiana, collaborating with local artists and producing work through Beth Rodriguez Dance Projects. She is an arts educator currently working with the Children’s Center for Dance Education in Evansville, IN.
^ TOPAnna Sapozhnikov (2009: Dividends and Dances) is the founder and artistic director of MOYAMO DANCE. She is currently on dance faculty within the Performing Arts Department at York High School in Elmhurst, Illinois. From 2006-2008, Anna served as adjunct dance faculty at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago as well as a Teaching Artist through Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's MAP Program. She was also on dance faculty at the Youth Performing Arts High School in Louisville, Kentucky from 2002-2005, as well as the Louisville Ballet School. Anna received her MFA in dance from the University of Illinois in Champaign, where she was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance for the 2005-2006 school year. Her choreography has been produced in various venues throughout Chicago, including Links Hall, Hamlin Park, the Athenaeum Theatre, and in Thodos Dance Chicago's “New Dances” at Ruth Page. Her work has also been produced at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Champaign, at the American College Dance Festival at the University of Michigan and University of Iowa, and various venues throughout Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Colorado. Anna is the recipient of numerous grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the Kentucky Foundation for Women and the Kentucky Arts Council, which have led to various productions with MOYAMO DANCE. Currently, Anna collaborates with dancer Erika Randall, and continues to work with Sara Hook Dances, Thread Meddle Outfit, and was a guest performer with New York City based David Parker & the Bang Group during their 2007 season.
^ TOPJessica Underwood (2006-2010: An Evening of Dance, Impressions, Returns, and Something Old, Something New) currently works as Grants Associate for The Center for Women and Families having previously completed her M.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies at The University of Louisville. She has studied ballet and modern dance with The University of Louisville Dance Theater, Mercyhurst College and the Youth Performing Arts School. Jessica has performed and choreographed for Moving Collective since 2006. Combining her passion for feminism and dance, Jessica has coordinated Movement to Empower: An evening of dance to raise awareness and end violence against women and girls in Kentucky.
^ TOPStephanie Blackmon Woodbeck | Labor Force Dances (2008-2009: Expansion, v6.0, Dividends and GSA 2009) Labor Force Dances was founded in October 2006 by Stephanie Blackmon Woodbeck and Kathleen Kelly after years of dancing and creating alongside each other. The company strives to view dance from a feministic approach at all times and to push the boundaries of physicality in all extremes. Stephanie and Kathleen both received their BFA’s in Performance and Choreography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Labor Force choreographer/performer Stephanie Blackmon Woodbeck began her dance training in Kitty Hawk, NC and graduated Magna Cum Laude from UNCG. She has had the privilege of performing for artists such as b.j. Sullivan, Alice Lee Holland, Laura Arrington, Neta Pulvermacher, and Jahna Bobolia Dancers. She was a member of the John Gamble Dance Theatre from 2001-2005. Her solo work, “Suffocation (of/by) the Last Generation” was included in North Carolina’s “Best of Dance: 2004” alongside choreographers such as Shen Wei, Johm Jasperse, and William Forsythe. The choreography of Labor Force Dances has most recently been produced in New York City as “Labor Force Dances — The Inaugural Season,” the Minnesota Dance Festival, and in the Fall 2008 season of Moving Collective in Louisville, KY. Please visit www.laborforcedances.com.
^ TOPLauren Zoeller (2009: Dances) is a graduate of the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, Kentucky, and has studied dance all her life. Her passion for the performing arts began at an early age and continues today in many other art disciplines. Lauren is currently working on her Undergraduate degree in Jazz Vocal Performance at Bellarmine University. She spent a year in the national renowned-dance program at the University of Illinois where she studied Modern, Ballet and Jazz with some of the greatest dance instructors in the industry. When Lauren is not dancing, she is busy writing and recording her solo album. Some of Lauren's recent appearances have been as a dancer in Moving Collective's v.6.0, CDL's two concerts, The Ripple Effect, and Say it Out Loud, and Jan Street's debuting concert. She has performed numerous times around the Louisville area and has also had the pleasure of dancing in Illinois, Florida, and Ohio. Lauren has taken multiple classes and workshops from Cunningham Dance Company, Urban Bush Women, Paul Taylor 2, and Bill T. Jones. Although Lauren loves all aspects of the arts, she has a special place in her heart for modern dance. She is excited to return to Moving Collective and to keep introducing Louisville to the modern dance industry.
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