Isabel Croxatto was born in Santiago, Chile, and has directed her own company since 1993. In 2000, she founded Grupo ABUNDANZA, which is based in Santiago. Croxatto is on the faculty of the Finis Terrae University. She began her dance studies in Chile in 1983 and continued them in Argentina were she studied with Susana Tambutti, Margarita Bali, and Ana Itelman, and in the United States at the Graham School and Colorado Dance Festival. In France she studied at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Nantes and danced with Claude Brumachon and Benjamin Lamarche. Her work has been seen and her company has performed in Brazil, Finland, Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Portugal, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, and the United States. In 2007, she was invited by Florida State University and the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography to participate in the residency Free to Rep with Axis Dance Company. This year she is working with her company on Pactos, a work in progress about child abuse, performed for the first time in Germany in 2006. Pactos will tour in Mexico as a part of the X International Dance Festival of Oaxaca and will be presented in the MOV 6 International Dance Festival in Santiago. Croxatto won the Chilean National Foundation for the Arts in 1996, 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2004. (top)

Jane Dudley (1912–2001) was born in New York and was educated at the Walden School and University of North Carolina. She joined the New Dance Group in 1934, with an aim to make dance accessible to a non-dance audience and to offer material having a political orientation. She soon became president of the group, a position she held until 1966. She performed with the Dudley-Bales-Maslow Trio, was a member of the Martha Graham Company from 1937-1944, and assisted Martha Graham at the Neighbourhood Playhouse School from 1938-1958. In the 1960s, she taught at Bennington College in Vermont and was the Artistic Director of Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company. After 1970, Dudley moved to London and was one of the Co-Founders and Director of the London Contemporary Dance School, becoming a major contributor to British contemporary dance. (top)

Paul Gordon Emerson (Artistic Director) moved to Washington for what was supposed to be a brief stopover while waiting for his first posting in the U.S. Foreign Service. He ended up serving as Legislative Director to the late Thomas M. Foglietta (D-PA) for seven years and liaison to the House Armed Services Committee. Mr. Emerson has worked on more than 20 federal campaigns, including races for the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives. He is a published author on defense and foreign policy, and is a former radio broadcaster, having served as a news director, disk jockey, and sports announcer for several radio stations in Ohio. Mr. Emerson has traveled nationally as a professional photographer, specializing in industrial photography. He has worked as a journeyman in construction and design and dabbles in bronze as a sculptor. He served as Executive Director for CityDance Ensemble from 1996-2004 and has been Artistic Director since 2000. During his tenure with CityDance Ensemble, the company has been named a “Top 25 To Watch” worldwide by Dance Magazine, won the 2003 DC Mayors Arts Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist and the 2005 DC Mayor’s Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts, created one of the largest and most successful education outreach programs in the region, launched CityDance FilmWORKS, and opened the CityDance Centers at Strathmore and Mt. Vernon Square. In 2006, Mr. Emerson received the Pola Nirenska Award for Artistic Excellence in Dance. He is the co-host of the Award Winning "Performance Moves" television news magazine, which airs on Montgomery County Cable in Maryland. His God children Aidan and Nathan are his real pride and joy. (top)

Kyra Jean Green was born in France and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida. She trained through middle and high school at Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Southern Dance Theater, and Magda Aunon’s School of Classical Ballet. She received her B.F.A. in dance from Juilliard in May 2006. Kyra was one of three winners selected from a pool of 114 applicants to participate in a one-week residency to create an original work for Hubbard Street II. The new work was premiered during Hubbard Street II’s 2006-07 season. (top)

Eric Hampton (1946–2001) trained at the lnterlochen Arts Academy and the Juilliard School. He danced with Netherlands Dance Theater, Scapino Ballet and Washington Ballet. In 1981, he joined the Maryland Youth Ballet as faculty and resident choreographer for the professionally focused children’s program. In 1991, he founded Eric Hampton Dance to bring his blend of classically- inspired contemporary movement to the widest possible audience. In 1997, Hampton won the DC Mayor’s Arts Award for Excellence in an Artistic Discipline and the Pola Nirenska Award. Hampton suffered from Lou Gehrig’s Disease and passed away in 2001. (top)

Roger C. Jeffrey was born in New York City where he began his training at Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center. A graduate of Performing Arts High School, he received his B.F.A. from The Juilliard School under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy. Jeffrey has performed in the companies of Bernice Johnson, Twyla Tharp, Zvi Gotheiner, Martial Roumain, and with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project. Inspired by his mentor Kevin Iega Jeff, he began to explore his full artistic potential as both an instructor and choreographer at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, Edge School of the Arts, Devore Dance Center, Onyx Dance Company, Elisa King and Dancers, Ulster Ballet Company, Philadanco! and CityDance Ensemble among others. (top)

Ludovic Jolivet, originally from Paris, was first trained in physical theatre. He has performed in and directed theatre performances in Europe and America. Jolivet received his BFA in dance from Wright State University and his MFA in choreography from the University of Maryland. He also studied Argentine Tango and performed with Tiempo de Tango. Jolivet has created and directed dances for film that have been presented at venues and dance festivals worldwide. Awards for his works include the 2004 Maryland State Arts Council’s Individual Artist Award in Film and the 2003 Metro DC Dance Award for Emerging Choreographer. He has worked with CityDance Ensemble as a choreographer, filmmaker, and senior manager of FilmWorks. Mr. Jolivet has taught dance and theatre courses at University of Maryland and St. Mary’s College. (top)

Sophie Maslow (1911-2006) began her dance career studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Blanche Talmund, Louis Horst, and Martha Graham with whose company she danced as a soloist for twelve years. While a member of the Graham company, she began choreographing dances that were inspired by the social and political climate of the Great Depression, the rise of labor unions, and the working class. She was a founding members of the Dudly-Maslow-Bales trio, which focused on those same ideals and worked under the auspices of the New Dance Group. Ms. Maslow later formed her own company and continued to create works inspired by socially conscious themes. Ms. Maslow also choreographed for the New York City Opera, the yearly Chanukah Festivals at Madison Square Garden, and several off-Broadway musicals. (top)

Christopher K. Morgan (Rehearsal Director), who is said to possess "originality and a gift" by The San Diego Union Tribune, has had choreography commissioned/presented in Germany, Lithuania, Ireland, Poland, Hong Kong, and throughout the U.S.  The artistic director of New York pick-up company Muse, he has garnered support from the Jerome Foundation, Dance Ireland, Asian American Dance Performances, Dance Theater Workshop and the Brooklyn Arts Exchange. A respected teacher, credits include the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Shawbrook (Ireland), Iwanson Schule (Munich), Stephens College & Western Kentucky University. He has lectured and spoken on panels for the Alliance of Artist Communities, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, New York City Ballet’s Education Department, and Dance Theater Workshop (New York). A veteran performer, Christopher's credits include David Gordon, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Fabulous Beast Dance Theater (UK), Malashock Dance & Company, Verb Ballets, Selfish Shellfish (Germany), Pilobolus Creative Services and as a soloist with the Washington National, Houston Grand, and New York City Operas. A skilled facilitator committed to artist development, Christopher also directs the Omi International Dance Collective, an annual 3-week residency for professional international dancer/choreographers that takes place in upstate New York. (top)

Idan Sharabi was born in Israel where he studied at the Thelma Yellin School and performed and choreographed at The Suzan Dellal Arts Center and The Givatayim Theater. While attending the Juilliard School, he created works that were presented at The Peter Jay Sharp Theater and Alice Tully Hall. Upon graduation, Sharabi was awarded the Hector Zaraspe Prize for Outstanding Choreography in recognition of the breadth and quality of his work. Subsequent awards have facilitated the performance of his choreography for Tangente (Canada) and The Nagoya City Meitoh Cultural Theater (Japan). He has been sponsored by the AICF and a contributing friend of the Dance Library of Israel. Sharabi is currently a member of The Netherlands Dance Theater II. (top)

Susan Shields has performed internationally with the White Oak Dance Project, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, Laura Dean Dancers & Musicians, among others and has taught at NYU, Barnard University, BYU, and several studios in New York. Her choreography has been commissioned by Harvard University and The Pittsburgh Ballet. She has a degree in Philosophy from SUNY Empire State and an M.F.A. in Dance from George Mason University. She is currently on the dance faculty at George Mason University.(top)

Harumi Terayama was born in Osaka, Japan where she received formal training from Yasuko Noma, Yoko Tsukamoto, and Tazuru Ichiyanagi. She graduated from the Walnut Hill School in Massachusetts, and received a B.F.A from Juilliard in 2006 where she performed works by William Forsythe, Paul Taylor, Ron K. Brown, and Jessica Lang. She worked with Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Pier Group, Nilas Martins Dance Company, and Sidra Bell Dance NYC before she joined Lar Lubovitch Dance Company for its 39th anniversary season. (top)

Doug Varone is a choreographer of contemporary dance for the concert stage, as well as opera, Broadway, regional theater, film, and television. He is the Artistic Director of Doug Varone and Dancers, which he established in 1986 as an opportunity to explore and process his particular choreographic vision. Varone is the recipient of numerous honors including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) for Sustained Achievement in Choreography and, most recently, a 2006 OBIE Award for his production of Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice at Lincoln Center. His work has been supported annually by the NEA since 1988. Born in Syosset, New York, he received his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from Purchase College. (top)

Brenda Way has choreographed more than 75 pieces throughout her 35+ year career and has received numerous awards including the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000. Way holds a Ph.D. in Aesthetics and is the Founder and Artistic Director of ODC/Dance whose two facilities in San Francisco now constitute the West Coast's most active center for dance. (top)

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Fri June 13, 2008

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