2011 Choreographers
areaDANCE is a co-operated dance company in the process of expanding their artistic scope through collaboration, and an eager openness. Drawn to vulnerability and risk, their work allows each performance to exist as a fleeting moment. We view new inspirations as opportunities to explore boundaries and see potential in space, time and intention. Movement shares many commonalities, but the breadth of the work is within the through-line that allows movement to become a meaning, to become a statement. areaDANCE is currently creating new work and performing in festivals and venues such as Waxworks, Check Us Out Festival, DUMBO Dance Festival, Fertile Ground, The Mishmash, and the Norristown DanceFest, as well as teaching in a week long dance residency at the Neighborhood Academy of Pittsburgh, which will include a full length areaDANCE performance, Form Blurred by Gravity.
Carinne Rae Bach began her dance training in New York at the age of five. After completing a BA in Psychology/Dance from the State University of New York, Fredonia, she moved to Jamaica where she studied and performed at the Edna Manley School of Visual and Performing Arts. Ms. Bach’s enthusiasm for dance and travel, brought her to Ireland were she continued choreographing, performing and teaching. There she held the position of Artistic Director of the dance department for eight years with Backstage Academy of the Performing Arts. Carinne completed her MFA in Dance from University of California, Irvine in 2007, and is a BASI certified Pilates instructor with a dance specialization. Ms. Bach held a faculty position for three years at California State University at Channel Islands and was Artistic Director of the CSUCI Dance Ensemble. Currently, Carinne teaches Pilates and dance in New York.
Lisa Botalico toured throughout the USA as Artistic Director and Principal dancer of La Compania Folklorica Latina under the auspices of the National Theatre of the Performing Arts; performing in: Town Hall (NYC), Constitution Hall (DC), Society of the Four Arts (Palm Beach), Chicago Theatre, and the Masonic Temple (L.A.). She has shared the stage with many flamenco greats including Maria Alba, Jose Molina, Manolo Rivera, Orlando Romero, Victorio and Carmen Salao. Lisa studied with José Molina, Luis Montero, Manolo Rivera, Maria Alba, Victorio and in Spain with La Tati, Ciro, Carmela Greco, Paco Romero, Maria Magdalena and La Cintia. She performed at Symphony Space in A Tribute to the Great Antonio and with the Theatre Opera Music Institute at Cami Hall. She was principal dancer with Sol Y Sombra Spanish Dance Company, the Andrea del Conte Company and Ballet de Puerto Rico. Lisa performed at Gracie Mansion, at the Lincoln Center Craft Show, was guest artist with the Nassau Symphony in Long Island and in tablaos in NYC.
Lisa founded the Children’s Flamenco Dance program at the Arts Council of Princeton in 1999. Her teaching credits for adult classes include: Princeton Dance and Theatre Studio, the Arts Council of Princeton, Alexia’s Belly Dance and Beyond, The Dance Corner and for the recreation departments at Princeton and Rutgers Universities. Lisa has presented workshops and residencies throughout New Jersey, including: Princeton Day School, Stuart Country Day School, Princeton Regional Schools and CityArts of Trenton. With Alborada, Lisa performs for Young Audiences of New Jersey. http://www.lisabflamenco.com
Bala Devi Chandrashekar has trained under the eminent Guru, the noted Bharata Nrityam exponent, Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam. Bala works on developing and perfecting the style that would be seamless and fluid while yet retaining the precision, power and purity of line which typical of classical Indian dance. Bala had the unique opportunity to learn the core components of the 108 Karanas (temple sculptures), which are governed by artistic laws of permanent value from the Natya Sastra. Bala teaches this revived dance technique, translating theoretical concepts into practice based on her Guru’s research and teaching. For her dedicated services in promoting art and culture, Bala was conferred with the title Bharata Nritya Seva Mani by her Guru.
Bala has been a consistent performer for audiences across the US, making a significant and discernible impact on the concert platform. She is a panel artist with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and an active participant in some of the prestigious dance seminars and workshops. She is currently involved in developing “Performing Studies” in collaboration with Theater and Dance, History, Philosophy, Linguistic Anthropology and Music departments of various Universities in the United States. In addition to being a dancer and choreographer, Bala teaches, conducts workshops and master classes, and develops outreach performances and programs for schools and universities. Her work in the subject area of performing arts is recognized by some of the prestigious Ivy League colleges.
Recognition of Bala's work includes Grant Awards from the New Jersey State Art’s Council, Texas Commission on the Arts, Ohio Arts Council Apprenticeship Grant, and numerous other state and college awards. She was recently recognized by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts for coaching students in exceptional artistic achievements. Bala is recognized as a visionary and evangelist in the arts community for her passion to promote art and her willingness to take on complex and creative artistic challenges. In addition to her artistic endeavors, Bala is a management consultant. Her Dance Academy, Shree Padma Nritynam, is currently involved in productions which reflect a wide range of artistic expressions—ranging from traditional, modern to inter-cultural collaborations with artists of diverse cultures and countries—and strives to build a bridge between diverse cultures and traditions. http://shreepadmanrityam.org
Colleen Hooper is a dancer and choreographer who was born and raised in Delaware. Her choreography has been presented since 2002 and New York venues include Dance Theater Workshop's Fresh Tracks series, Danspace Project, Dance New Amsterdam, DanceNow/NYC Festival, BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and The New Dance Alliance Performance Mix Festival at the Joyce SoHo. In Philadelphia, she has presented her work in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival at CHI Movement Arts Center and the Choreography Research Center showcase at Mt. Vernon Dance Space. Hooper received a 2010 TOPAZ ARTS Dance Residency, made possible by New York State Dance Force with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts. Hooper has danced for Red Dive, a Bessie Award-Winning site-specific creator of multi-sensory tours and events and she has recently performed for Beau Hancock and Merían Soto. She is also a Body Precision certified Pilates Mat instructor. She graduated from The George Washington University with a B.A. in Dance and English and she received her Dance M.F.A. from Temple University with a Certificate in Community Arts. She is currently a Temple University Dance PhD candidate. http://www.colleenhooper.org/
Kalamandir Dance Company (501c3) is a contemporary dance ensemble that uses the vocabulary of classical Indian dance to explore new spaces of artistic expression. Instead of diminishing the foundation of our classical styles, we look to investigate their communicative potential when merged with Western dance traditions. Using Odissi, Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Capoeira, Flamenco, Modern and Ballet training, our dancers converse with movement and create dialogue with expression. We are driven by creativity, human emotions, and a desire to be released from the four walls of our daily existence. Our movement vocabulary aims to create a reachable area for all people to participate and communicate. http://www.kalamandirdanceco.com/
Kathie Kececi received her Master’s Degree in Dance and Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the founder and director of Summerdance, an integrated art program for children, as well as In Motion Dance Company, comprised of high school dancers. She was a teaching artist for New York City Ballet and has taught master classes at high schools and universities in NJ, NY and PA. She performs and choreographs throughout the tri-state area including Dance New Amsterdam, NY; Merce Cunningham Studios, NYC; Joyce Soho, NYC; The Rebound Festival, CT; Grounds for Sculpture for The Outlet Dance Project; Princeton YWCA; Morristown Community Theatre; Moravian College, PA and The Bickford Theatre, NJ. She also teaches Modern Dance and Zumba at Dorothy Del Guercio School of Dance. She loves to spend her time with her husband Erol and two boys Sam and Peter. She thanks Jamuna for this wonderful opportunity to perform at Grounds for Sculpture. http://www.inmotiondancecompany.com
Trish King received her B.A. in Dance and Biology from Skidmore College. She has performed with numerous companies, including In Motion, Beyondance, Inc., Isadora's Dance Legacy, Venus Productions, Empire State Balllet and Connecticut Ballet. Her choreography has been presented at many venues, including Monroe Street Movement Space, Manhattan School of Music, Bickford Theater, Barnevelder Theater and Zilka Hall at the Hobby Center. She currently resides in Texas with her husband and two children. Trish teaches at Lonestar College, Rowland-Ballard School of Ballet, QLS fitness Center and Ekam Yoga Center, where she is currently developing a free-flowing dance class called Joy Motion. http://gardenstatedanceproject.com
Stéphanie Landouer, Artistic Director of A Corps Perdu Dance Company, is a member of Isabel Gotzkowsky and Friends since 2008. Since in NY, she has performed works by Sasha Spielvogel (Labyrinth Dance Theater), Sunhwa Chung (Ko-Ryo Dance Theater), Jana Hicks and Marijke Eliasberg (The Next Stage Project), Diane McCarthy, Oliver Steele, etc. She has also had the privilege to work with the British-German artist Tino Sehgal, performing for him at the New Museum, in “Instead of allowing some things to rise up to your face, dancing bruce and dan and other things,” a unique experience. Stéphanie’s choreography has been presented in France and in New York. She co- choreographed for Jazz company LAinsidanse in France. In August 2010, she founded A Corps Perdu Dance Company. The young company is having promising debuts, performing in many different venues such as SHARE: Chapter 2 and SHARE: Chapter 3 (City Center), Fertile Ground and the 5th Annual Green Space Blooms Festival (Green Space), The Lab Performance (Steps on Broadway), the 2011 :pushing progress Showcase Series (MMAC). A Corps Perdu Dance Company has also had the pleasure to be invited to join the Performance Project Showcase at Dance New Amsterdam, and will be part of the 2011 Dumbo Dance Festival (John Ryan Theater). In 2011, Stephanie’s choreography was commissioned by Dance New Amsterdam International Student Visa Program. Stéphanie has also served as a substitute teacher at Peridance Center (NYC) and Ballet Arts (NYC). http://acorpsperdu.webs.com/
Arielle Petruzzella is a third year BFA dance major at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She received her early choreographic training as a member of the Washington Rock Youth Modern Company. Previous choreography credits include “Idiosyncratic” (2008), and “Tout Ce Que Nous” (2009), both performed at The Rock Theater in Dunellen, NJ. Her works “Stained” (2010) and “we sink (we float)” (2010) were performed at the Loree Dance Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. “we sink (we float)” was also performed at the Symphony Space Theater in New York, NY in June 2011 as part of the Young Choreographers Festival as well as at the Ailey Citigroup Theater in August 2011, as part of the Performing in NY Showcase Presented By Kat Wildish.
Joya T. Powell – Founded in 2005 by Joya T. Powell, Movement of the People Dance Company (formerly The Ayoj Llewop Body Politic) is dedicated to unearthing historic and present sociopolitical issues and addressing them through the healing elements of dance. The company is comprised of dancers from diverse multicultural backgrounds and international experiences. In the past five years MOPDC has performed in various celebrated dance festivals and venues including: Amnesty International's Human Rights Art Festival (Maryland), City Parks Dance, Huntington Arts Festival (Long Island), DNA, The TANK, Evoke’s Celebrate Dance Festival (San Diego), Riverside Theatre, COOL NY Dance Festival, WAXworks, and BAAD! http://www.movementofthepeopledance.com/