Carrie Goodnight, Seattle-based choreographer, teacher and performer, earned her MFA in dance at the University of Oregon. She holds a bachelors degree from Carleton College, where she danced with Minneapolis choreographers as part of Semaphore Repertory Company. Carrie has also danced professionally in New York, Oregon and Washington and was a founding member of the BareFoot Collective. Her resume includes extensive work in theatrical lighting and musical composition, and she is currently on faculty at Spectrum Dance Theater. Her latest productions have been a couple of amazing boys, who inspire and challenge their Mama to use humor and life lessons in her choreography as a member of TRANSForm dance collective.
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| Photo: Sally Ifill |
Valerie Ifill is an artist, educator and researcher of dance based out of Philadelphia, PA. With interdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement at the heart of her work, Valerie has been involved in multiple educational and creative projects including the development of a dance program at the urban extension center, The Dornsife Center for Community Partnerships, in West Philadelphia. Valerie’s current research is centered on understanding and addressing power dynamics and creating reciprocal learning spaces where university students and community members can develop a deeper understanding of a diverse range of perspectives through movement, dialogue and shared experiences. Her past research as been presented at the National Dance Educators Organization conferences, Blumenthal Center for the Performing Arts Lunch and Learn series, and in the Journal of Dance Education. Valerie’s dance studies include undergraduate work at Kent State University, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Independent Studies Program, and graduate work at the University of Oregon. Valerie is an Assistant Teaching Professor and Dance Program Director at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
valifilldance.com.
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| Photo: Alex Roob |
Marcie Mamura is an artist, educator, and collaborator based in Philadelphia. She earned a BA in Theatre/Dance from Kansas State University and an MFA in Dance from the University of Oregon. Marcie’s work as a teaching artist in Philadelphia communities includes Girard College‐Dream Camp, Asian Arts Initiative, CHI Movement Arts Center, Camp Sojourner Girls’ Leadership Camp, and Art Sanctuary/Opera Philadelphia. She is currently Adjunct Faculty in Dance at Montgomery County Community College and Drexel University where she also contributes as Assistant Director for the FreshDance Drexel Dance Ensemble. As a freelance artist, she’s performed works by artists Mina Estrada, Gabrielle Revlock, & Nicole Bindler. Her choreographic work has been presented in North Carolina, Minnesota, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Marcie is wildly curious about community practices, creative language intersections, and artful exchange.
A.T. Moffett A.T. Moffett is an artist, educator and researcher based in Wilmington, DE. As of late, she has focused much creative energy on raising twin babies, as well as writing and serving as a reviewer for the Journal of Dance Education. Her research centers on creativity and critical thinking in dance education. Her choreography has been seen in PA, NJ, CA, OR, and MN. As a performer, A.T. danced in NYC and Philadelphia working with choreographers Myra Bazell, Tania Isaac, Stephan Koplowitz, Donald McKayle, Mary Anthony and the Sokolow Dance Foundation. She holds an MFA from the University of Oregon and a BA from Radford University. She teaches at the University of Delaware.
www.atmoffettdance.com
Amanda Herman Records is a dancer, choreographer and educator based in the greater Seattle area. Upon completing her B.A. from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in NY where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with a double major in Dance and Movement Science and a minor in Science and Society, Amanda embarked on a professional career as a dancer, performing in a variety of venues in AZ, CT, NC, NY, OR, WA, WY, Italy and Austria. She has danced with such companies as Center Dance Ensemble (soloist) in Arizona, Co-Art Dance, University of Oregon Repertory Dance Company, and Joint Forces Dance Company (Oregon), as well as Walrus Dance Company, BQ Danza, and the Barefoot Collective in Seattle. Amanda holds an M.F.A from the University of Oregon where she was a Graduate Teaching Fellow instructing students in modern, ballet, jazz, and tap dance. Amanda is also a certified DanceAbiltiy (dance for people both with and without disabilities) teacher, has presented research at annual Int’l Assoc. of Dance Medicine and Science conferences, and is published in the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science as well as the Journal of Dance Education. Though she spends the majority of her time these days serving as Owner at Spotlight Dance & Performing Arts Center and Artistic Director SDPAC’s 3 youth companies, she remains active in her home dance community performing with the Stone Dance Collective, and is thrilled to be welcoming her first child June 2013!
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| Photo: David Oleary |
Gina Bolles Sorensen is an artist and educator who delights in the body’s potential for movement, the mind’s capacity for imagination, and the possibilities that transpire at the intersection of the two. As the Co-Artistic Director of somebodies dance theater (
www.somebodiesdancetheater.com), her choreography has been produced in festivals and concert programs throughout the United States and abroad in Mexico, Israel, and Canada. She has danced for companies and choreographers in New York, San Francisco, Oregon, and San Diego, including Yolande Snaith, Elfi Schaefer-Schafroth, Stephan Koplowitz, Jean Isaacs, Elizabeth Swallow, Wallpaper Performance Company, Rita Honka Dance, Strong Current Dance Company, High Release Dance, and many more independent choreographers. She has taught dance, composition, dance history, and world dance forms at festivals and institutions including the University of California San Diego (La Jolla, CA), San Diego State University (San Diego, CA), the University of Oregon (Eugene, OR), Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, TX), Winthrop University (Rock Hill, SC), Johnson C. Smith University (Charlotte, NC), the American College Dance Festival (Missoula, MT), and the Interlochen Arts Camp (Interlochen, MI) to name a few. An excerpt of her thesis entitled “Imagery Ability, Imagery Use, and Learning Style: An Exploratory Study” was published by the Journal of Dance Education in Spring 2009. Recent awards include the San Diego Young Choreographers Prize (with her partner, Kyle Sorensen), a National Artist Teacher Fellowship from the Center for Arts in Education at Boston Arts Academy, and the Gary E. Smith Summer Research Grant and a Center for Study of Women in Society Research Grant to study the classical Indian dance Bharatanatyam in Bangalore, India. Gina has an MFA in Dance from the University of Oregon and a BA in Mass Media Communication Studies and Political Science from UCLA. She currently teaches dance at San Diego State University, San Diego City College, and the Coronado School of the Arts. As a Registered Yoga Teacher, she teaches yoga through her online website
www.YogaNatyamOnline.com.
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| Photo: David Oleary |
Kyle Sorensen has been making dances for over 12 years. He is the Co-Artistic Director of the San Diego-based dance company, somebodies dance theater (
www.somebodiesdancetheater.com). Known for creating work that emphasizes collaborative processes, dynamic physicality, and embodied presence, his choreography has been exhibited and awarded special honors in both national and international venues, including the Tanzsommer Festival in Austria. Most recently, Kyle was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study contemporary dance and choreographic processes in Israel for 2013-14. In the Fall of 2013, he was commissioned to choreograph a piece for the 15th annual Trolley Dances produced by San Diego Dance Theater. Kyle has danced professionally in Los Angeles, Oregon, Washington, and San Diego for choreographers including Yolande Snaith, Joe Alter, Jean Isaacs, Elfi Schaefer-Schafroth, and Alicia Peterson Baskel, as well as performed in works by Tere O’Connor, Susan Marshall, and Gabe Masson. Kyle has studied the Gaga technique developed by Ohad Naharin of the Batsheva Dance Company, as well as choreographic practices with Bebe Miller, K.J. Holmes, and Nina Martin, and dance-for-the-camera with Ellen Bromberg. Kyle has taught full courses in Contemporary Dance and Hip Hop Dance at the University of California San Diego and San Diego City College, as well as master classes at Winthrop University (Rock Hill, SC), Johnson C. Smith University (Charlotte, NC), and Southwestern College (Chula Vista, CA). He served as the Assistant Choreographer to Yolande Snaith for the University of California San Diego’s devised theater work, “Sexual Selection: Darwin and Shakespeare Ponder Love.” Kyle has a MFA in Dance Theatre from the University of California San Diego, where he was awarded the Achievement Award in Teaching, and a BA in Dance at the University of Oregon, where he was recognized with the Dance Achievement Award in Recognition of Undergraduate Excellence as a Developing Artist. Kyle is currently on faculty at San Diego State University and San Diego City College.
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| Photo: Ari Denison |
Alexandra Taylor currently resides in New York City working as a dancer and choreographer for (Alex)andra Taylor Dance, while freelancing with other dance artists. Alex has performed in works by Alexandra Beller, Martha Graham, George Faison, Dianne McIntyre, Carolyn Pavlik, Esther m Palmer, SINedoche Dance Company, Valerie Ifill, Ann Thomas Moffett and Erin Cairns Cella. Currently a member of the Queens Council on the Arts, Alex was also a participant in the 2013 Peer Leadership Circle for Performing Artists. After receiving her BFA in Dance at Western Michigan University in 2007, she moved onto complete her MFA in Dance at the University of Oregon in 2010 where she held a teaching fellowship teaching modern, jazz, ballet, tap, improvisation and hip hop. During her tenure at Oregon, Alexandra’s research focuses included open collaboration methods in composition and the prevention and recovery of dancer injuries in the hip and low back. Among her vast network of art makers, Alex also works very closely with her close friend, Ari Denison, on various photo-based projects both in and out of the traditional studio setting. (See their work and more at
www.aridenison.com.)
Alexandra’s choreographic work has been seen in multiple venues in New York, Oregon, Michigan, California, North Carolina and Minnesota. She has also taught in various locations around the U.S. including New York, San Diego, North Carolina, and Michigan.
www.alexandrataylordance.blogspot.com
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