Jamuna
Dasi is a performer,
choreographer, and teacher from Berkeley, California. She began her
dance training at East Bay Dance Center, Oakland Ballet, and Berkeley
High School in Berkeley, CA. She has received a Certificate in
Performance from The School of The Hartford Ballet and a BFA in Dance
from Florida State University. Jamuna has performed with Pennsylvania
Dance Theatre, Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Theatre, Acrodance
Theatre, Opera Festival of New Jersey, New Jersey Opera Theatre, The
Opera Company of Philadelphia, was a founding member and
co-choreographer of Kalamandir Dance Company. Additionally she has
performed professionally in works by Robert Boross, Ze’Eva Cohen,
Jose Limon, Joanna Mendleshaw, Claire Porter, Ronn Pratt, Martial
Romain, Mathew Neenan and Kathy Young. Her choreography credits
include ballets for Don
Giovanni, L’enfant
et les Sortileges, The
Marriage of Figaro, Cheruban
with NJ Opera Theatre and Kalamandir Dance Company. She has performed
in CATS
and Man of La Mancha
in local New Jersey Community Theater. She has also taught in public
schools and private dance studios as well as fitness studios in
California, Florida, Central Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.
She has
trained with Bala Devi Chandrashekar in Bharata Nrityam and with
Subashini Ganeshan and Sivigami Vanka in Bharanatyam. Since moving to
Portland Oregon she has performed with the Natya Leela Dance Troupe
in “Devoted" and with Paufve dance in "So I Married
Abraham Lincoln." Jamuna
is the creator and director of The Outlet Dance Project that provides
performance opportunities for emerging women choreographers from New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Ann
Robideaux is a choreographer,
dance presenter and educator. She has shown her work in venues
throughout the US including the Judson Church, the Merce Cunningham
Theater, the American Dance Festival, and the Moscow Contemporary
Dance Festival. As a co-artistic director of Ann And Alexx Make
Dances, she has presented site-specific work at the Frying Pan and
Lilac Steamships on the Hudson River, the theater seats of Dance New
Amsterdam, and the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue. As a dance
artist-in-residence at Princeton Day School, she is currently working
on dance films for NYC’s public parks and is excited to be working
with The Outlet Dance Project's festival at The Grounds for
Sculpture.
Donia
Salem was first drawn to the
classical Indian dance form of Odissi because of its deep sacred
roots, timelessness, and grace. She is a student of Guru Sri Durga
Charan Ranbir—torch-bearer of the Guru Deva Prasad lineage. Donia
has studied with him both in the United States and at his dance
institute, Nrutyayan, India. Annually, she works extensively and
tours with the virtuosic Odissi dancer, Rahul Acharya. Recent
performances include Princeton University, Bard College, Kansas
University, The FlynnSpace (Burlington, Vermont), The Outlet Dance
Project, and the Trenton Area Festival of Electronica Arts. In 2009,
she became one of the founding members of Kalamandir Dance Company
which performs frequently throughout the year. She is on the board of
Sakshi Productions—a neoclassical Odissi dance company—and
performs with them regularly as well. She is honored to be one of the
co-directors of The Outlet Dance Project. Donia is working towards
her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College. She is
completely thrilled to be collaborating on this piece with her
brother, Amir.
Choreographers
inside and out
Molly
Galbraith graduated with a
BFA in Dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts from Rutgers
University with a Dance Works Scholarship. She toured with the Radio
City Christmas Spectacular show in Phoenix, Arizona, and Branson,
Missouri. She then went on to attend the Academy for Visual and
Performing Arts where she studied dance, theater arts, and multi
media. She interned with Randy James and has worked with
choreographers such as Christian von Howard, Raegan Wood, Danielle
Agami from Batsheva, Banu Ogan from Merce Cunningham, and Benoit-Swan
Pouffer from Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. She also has performed
repertory from Mark Morris Dance Group. Molly has been choreographing
since the age of 14 and her work has been chosen for several awards.
In 2007, her solo Walk the
Line was given the Performing
Arts Award from the County College of Morris. In 2011, her senior
work Robutts
was rewarded the Dance Express Award from Mason Gross School of the
Arts and was chosen to perform at Dance Theater Workshop. In the
future, she hopes to perform with as many choreographers as she can
and eventually start her own dance company.
Loren
Groenendaal is the founder,
artistic director, and choreographer for Vervet Dance, a
Philadelphia-based contemporary dance company. Vervet strikes a
unique balance between classic forms, new ideas, and ancient purposes
for dance. Although subject matter varies, what is characteristic of
the company is an ongoing intellectual diligence meeting a curious
playfulness, and an exploration of the visual and visceral components
of dance. Loren earned an MFA in Choreography at the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro and holds a BA in Dance and Visual Arts
from Oberlin College. She is fascinated and delighted by nature,
color, movement, and the power that dance has to create change in the
mover or an audience. Her choreographic work has been seen along the
east coast from Massachusetts to North Carolina and in between,
supported by various venues, residencies, and festivals including the
Philly and Greensboro Fringe Festivals, the North Carolina Dance
Alliance Annual Event, Abington Art Center, CEC’s New Edge Mix and
ETC Series, Green Space Blooms, and Chi Mac’s Inhale. Loren
currently dances with The Naked Stark, Mereminne Dancers,
Swarthmore’s Balinese Gamelan Semara Santi, and the Indonesian
Cultural Club of Delaware/Philadelphia area. She co-facilitates a
weekly contact improv jam on Thursdays in Philadelphia.
Alaine
Handa is attracted to work
that engages audiences from a sociological context. Her work has been
described as “quirky, honest, athletic, and lyrical.” Alaine
received her BA from UCLA’s department of World Arts & Cultures
in Dance Studies in 2005. Since relocating to NYC in 2005, she has
performed with Keigwin + Company, Sasha Soreff Dance Theater, Open
Floor Dance, The Movement Collective, High Frequency Wavelengths,
Gabrielle Lansner & Company, Scott Lyons & Company, Stephanie
Liapis and more. Her own work has been presented at Cool NY Festival,
Toronto Fringe Festival, University Settlement, Capital Fringe
Festival, WAX Works festival, Abrons Arts Center, Dance Forum, Dance
New Amsterdam, Movement Research, Merce Cunningham Studio Theater,
etc. While at UCLA, she performed at an art gallery with an
installation of the Zen Garden at the Fowler Museum, a site-specific
dance piece at the Murphy D. Sculptural Garden, and sought out a
local theater in the greater Los Angeles area to rent out for her
senior project. Alaine also delved into video production and
choreography classes that involve performing and creating work in
public places. In Los Angeles, she has worked with Yvonne Rainer,
Simone Forti, Mandala Danceworks, Space + Movement Exchange, Victoria
Marks, among others. She has lived in Indonesia, Singapore, Los
Angeles, and New York. www.alainehanda.com
Kalamandir
Dance Company, Artistic Director Malabika Guha
grew up in Kolkata and Shantiniketan, India, where her training of
more than two decades in Kathak and creative dance began. She is a
disciple of Guru Bela Arnob and was a student under Amala Shankar at
Uday Shankar India Cultural Center, where she was also in the
advanced tour troupe. In 1969, Malabika graduated from Patha Bhavan
School in Shantiniketan with Honors in Bengali and went on to earn a
BA in Bengali with a main elective in dance from Rabindra Bharathi
University in Kolkata in 1973. She completed her masters in Bengali
at Calcutta University in 1977. In 1986, she followed her dream and
established Kalamandir of New Jersey, a dance school based on Kathak
and creative dance. After 20 years of dance training and 25 years of
directing dance in the tri-state area, Malabika decided to take on a
new endeavor: Kalamandir Dance Company. Her idea was to create a
collaborative establishment where, after many years of classical
training, fusion with contemporary elements could open a new world of
possibilities.
Dana
Lawton is the
Artistic Director of Dana
Lawton Dances—a modern dance company in the San Francisco Bay Area,
a tenured faculty member at Saint Mary's College in the Performing
Arts Department, a faculty member at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, and
a certified yoga instructor. A founding member of SF Bay Area's
acclaimed dance company, Janice Garrett & Dancers, Dana has had
the honor of performing works by Joe Goode, Randee Paufve, Nina Haft,
Rebecca Salzer, and Cathy Davalos, among others. Lawton was awarded
Outstanding Performer in the 2000 Vision Series for her own solo
choreographic performance and nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award
(Izzy) for her performance in Garrett’s
Wayfarers in 2002. Awarded
Artist-in-Residence at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center 2006, Lawton
created an evening-length concert titled Dana
Lawton Dances as a
culmination of her year-long choreographic exploration. Recently Dana
has been focusing her choreographic energy toward collaboration with
innovative musical composers. Working with Los Angeles-based composer
David Karagianis, her solo Coasting premiered in September 2008 at
Works in the Works in Berkeley. She was invited to perform at the
Isadora Duncan Awards Ceremony in San Francisco, the Work Gallery in
Brooklyn, and the Dallas Hub Theater in Texas. “It is a very
rewarding piece to see. Ms. Lawton's skill and concentration are
remarkable.”—Joanna Harris, Culture
Vulture, 2009
Megan
Minturn, HYI, RYT, loves
sharing her passion for movement with students of all ages. Megan
began studying ballet at the age of three and participated in Perry
Mansfield's Performing Arts School in Steamboat Springs, CO, and
Omaha Theatre Company's Pre-Professional Program until leaving for
college in New York. At Fordham University, Megan majored in
Philosophy and minored in African and French Major Studies. While at
Fordham, Megan studied abroad in Senegal, West Africa, with the
non-profit Fonkoze in Haiti, and most recently in Havana, Cuba. She
received her 200-hour Yoga Alliance Certification at Sonic Yoga in
New York City. She currently teaches at the Little Red Schoolhouse
Summer Program and The School at Peridance, and as a Teaching Artist
with Notes in Motion and Dance Theatre of Harlem. She dances with
Movement of the People and Sacred Space Dance. She performed the
works of Mabingo Alfdaniels, Frederick Curry, Carolyn Webb, Dianne
Duggan, Deborah Damast, Rainy Demerson, Saya Hardako, Jacques Heim,
Jenny Brown, Joya Powell, and Charles Ahovissi. Her choreography has
been shown at New York's Dance New Amsterdam, Amalgamate Artist
Series, Dixon Place, NYU's Frederick Loewe Theatre, the Bronx Academy
of Arts and Dance, and the American College Dance Festival. She holds
an MA in Dance Education from New York University.
Joya
Powell is a native New
Yorker, and received her MA in Dance Education from NYU, and her BA
in Latin American Studies and Creative Writing from Columbia
University. Throughout her career she has danced with choreographers
such as Katiti King, Neta Pulvermacher, Donlin Foreman, Marcea
Daiter, Marsha Parrilla, Mario Pereira and Paco Gomes. She is
proficient in Afro-Brazilian Dance, Simonson Jazz, West African
dances, and Contemporary Dance techniques. Her choreography has been
performed on stages such as City Parks Dance, Amnesty International's
Human Rights Art Festival in Maryland, Heckscher Park Stage in Long
Island, The Riverside Theatre, The FLEA Theater, Dance New Amsterdam,
The Casa del Prado Theatre in San Diego, WAXworks/Triskelion Arts
Theater, The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance/BAAD!, White Wave’s
John Ryan Theater, and Suffolk Community College in Long Island.
Site-specific performances have included The Outlet Dance Project at
the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, White Wave's DUMBO Dance
Festival at the Brooklyn Pier 1, and FIGMENT Arts Festival. Her
latest choreographic endeavor, Personal Private Apartheid, was
included in this year's Dance Conversations at The FLEA performance
and discussion interaction. As the Artistic Director/Choreographer of
Movement of the People Dance Company she is dedicated to connecting
cultures through dance, composing socially conscious choreography,
exploring the connections and nuances of dances throughout the
African Diaspora, and finding ways to empower underprivileged
communities through dance.
Katie
Rose McLaughlin is a hybrid
performer and creator. Her range of past experiences includes
starring in Redmoon's HUNCHBACK off-Broadway, going to clown school
in Switzerland, and making post-modern movement pieces with the
ambition of elevating performances through the collaborative process
of building a gestural body-based system of communication that
supports and enlightens. From 2006-2009, she presented choreography,
Remember When?,
in the 9x22 DanceLab Choreography Series in MN and co-choreographed
the rock-opera Idigaraua.
Her work was presented at CATCH 30 in Brooklyn and she received a
works-in-progress grant from Red Eye Theater to develop kite&mountain
in collaboration with playwright Dan O’Neil. 2009-2011 brought her
to Pittsburgh where she worked with directors Paul Zaloom, Where
Is My Brain?; Katherine
Brook, Bellhammer;
Joshua William Gelb, Lulu, and
Wholly Mammoth Play; Jessie
Mills, Wind Farmer;
Marya Spring Cordes, Beneath;
choreographed at the McKeesport Little Theater, HONK!;
and presented portions of Be
Right Back at the Kelly
Strayhorn Theater as part of newMoves Choreography Festival. Since
moving to New York in the Fall of 2011 all her work has been
presented at Dixon Place, Montana,
The Brink, Or Merrily We Teeter Along;
Movement Research at Judson Church, Be
Right Back, Aunts;
and Little Theater, Dance
Workshop.
Syren
Modern Dance, Artistic Director Kate St. Amand
is a native of Connecticut and received her BFA from SUNY Purchase.
Kate trained at the Nutmeg Ballet, and explored modern technique with
Brian Simerson who introduced her to the Hawkins technique. Kate has
trained at The Erick Hawkins School, The Limon School, The Kirov
Academy, and Hartford Ballet. She received composition training from
Tarin Chaplin and Neil Greenberg, studying the simple, however
complex idea, to “make it more of what it is.” Co-founding SYREN
Modern Dance in 2003 has allowed Ms. St. Amand to create an
ever-expanding body of work in New York City. Her work has been
presented at Symphony Space, Jacob’s Pillow, Purchase College, New
Haven Ballet, White Plains Performing Arts Center, and Riverside
Church, among others. She contributes to The Winger, a website where
professionals, students, and pioneers in the dance world share their
experiences and insights. SYREN repertoire includes over ten works
including the full evening length Abravanel,
inspired by the journey of the Sephardic Jewish people, Dolce
which explores the relationships of women from friendship to passion,
and Toward Home
for which an original score was composed by Damon Ferrante. Ms. St.
Amand is driven to explore movement and music in ways that deeply
connect the two, as they have always been.