Summer MELT 2007 faculty bios
DD Dorvillier is an active force in the experimental dance and performance scene in NYC, as a creator, performer and teacher. She has been teaching Skinner Releasing Technique™ (SRT) since ‘95, and has taught SRT, improvisation and composition worldwide. Since arriving to NYC in ‘89, she has been affiliated with Movement Research, as an Artist-in-Residence, a co-editor of its Performance Journal, and co-curator of the Movement Research Festival ‘04 and ‘05. She is a NYFA Choreography Fellowship recipient, and a “Bessie” Award winner (Dressed for Floating, ‘02). She is a ‘07 recipient of a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Fellowship.
Irene Dowd is on the faculty of the Juilliard School and Canada’s National Ballet School. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained her own studio and private practice for over 30 years in NYC. Irene choreographs for Peggy Baker, Margie Gillis and other solo dancers. Her work has been taught in schools and dance companies across the US and Canada.
Neil Greenberg: Merce Cunningham Dance Company ‘79-86; Dance By Neil Greenberg ‘86 - present; Dance faculty, Purchase College and Sarah Lawrence College; Dance Curator, The Kitchen ‘95-99; Fellowships from Guggenheim Foundation, NEA, NYFA, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, among other awards; “Bessie” Award for Not-About-AIDS-Dance (‘94), which employs his signature use of projected words as an alternative text to the onstage dance action, and a door into the “meanings” of viewing dance; currently working on Queer Quartets, for DTW in ‘08, which continues his investigation into the nature of meaning-making. For more information: www.neilgreenberg.org.
K.J. Holmes is an independent dancer, singer, poet and body-worker who travels worldwide exploring improvisation as process and performance. Adjunct faculty at NYU/ETW, her influences include Contact Improvisation, BMC®, Yoga, Authentic Movement, Release techniques, Martial Dance, world vocal studies and contemporary dance and theater.
Darrell Jones has performed in the US and abroad with a variety of choreographers and companies such as Bebe Miller, Urban Bush Women, Ronald K. Brown, Min Tanaka, Ralph Lemon and KOKUMA Dance Theater. Along with performing, Darrell continues to teach technique and improvisational workshops throughout the US and abroad. Darrell is presently a full-time faculty member at The Dance Center of Columbia College in Chicago.
Daniel Lepkoff played a central role in the development of Release Technique with Mary Fulkerson and Contact Improvisation with Steve Paxton since the early 70’s. Through the 70’s and 80’s he traveled extensively – actively teaching, performing and exposing this new work and new ideas to audiences worldwide. He is known for his depth and commitment to improvisation as a way of composing dance works, a performance practice and a deep body of research and knowledge about how to move and live in the world. He is one of the founders of Movement Research in NYC.
Barbara Mahler, formerly of the Klein/Mahler School of Dance and Movement Studies, taught daily classes for 20 years plus, educating and teaching (inspired by Susan Klein) a generation of dancers. She’s a widely respected dance innovator and choreographer, very active in the development of post modern dance technique. Essentially self-taught, she brings to her classes the perspective, understanding and experience of working on her own movement re-education. She is also a certified Zero Balancing teacher and practitioner, and maintains a private practice. Barbara is a ’06-’07 Movement Research A.I.R.
Juliette Mapp is a dancer, choreographer and teacher based in Brooklyn, NY. Over the years Juliette has danced for many choreographers including John Jasperse, Deborah Hay, Vicky Shick and Stephanie Skura. She received a “Bessie” Award in ‘02. Juliette has choreographed solo and group pieces that have been presented throughout NYC. Juliette was a MR Artist-in-Residence (‘04-’05). She has taught throughout the world and frequently teaches at Movement Research. Juliette's teaching is informed by her studies of The Alexander Technique™, Kinetic Awareness™, Body-Mind Centering® and Skinner Releasing™.
Yvonne Meier was born in Zurich, Switzerland. Since arriving in NYC in ‘79, she has shown her work at The Kitchen, Danspace Project, PS 122, PS 1 and Etc., among others. She has received funding from the NEA, NYFA, Franklin Furnace and Etc. She won a “Bessie” Award for her piece The Shining. Yvonne also teaches Authentic Movement and Scores.
Jennifer Monson is artistic director of iLAND, Inc. – interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art, Nature and Dance, a not for profit organization that supports collaborative process between movement-based artists and environmental practitioners that engage the public in a kinetic experience of the urban environment. Monson has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, The Foundation for ContemporaryArts, NEA, NYFA, Creative Capital and the Jerome Foundation. She was awarded a New York Dance and Performance Award (“BESSIE”) for BIRD BRAIN (‘06) and for Sender (‘97) as well as for sustained achievement in the dance field.
Jeremy Nelson performed with the Stephen Petronio Dance Company (‘84-92), in the work of David Zambrano, Susan Rethorst, Luis Lara Malvacías and in his own work, and has worked with improviser Kirstie Simson. He received a ’91 “Bessie” Award and a ‘04 Guggenheim Fellowship for choreography. For the past twenty years, he has taught classes/workshops in over 30 countries at venues including ADF, ImPulsTanz (Vienna), P.A.R.T.S. School (Brussels) and Sasha Waltz Company (Berlin), among others. He currently teaches at MR and is a guest artist at Connecticut College. His choreography has been presented internationally and in NYC at Danspace Project, DTW and PS 122.
Tere O’Connor has been making dances since ‘82 and has created over 30 works for his company. The company has performed throughout the US and in Europe, South America and Canada. O’Connor has created numerous commissioned works for dance companies such as Lyon Opera Ballet, White Oak Dance Project and a solo for Mikhail Baryshnikov. He is a ‘93 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow and a recent recipient of a Foundation for Contemporary Performance Art Award among numerous others. He has received three “Bessie” Awards - most recently for his work FROZEN MOMMY ‘05. O’Connor was recently appointed full professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. He will split his time between New York and Champaign.
Ann Rodiger has been teaching the Alexander Technique™ in NYC for over 25 years. She is the founder and director of Balance Arts and the Balance Arts Alexander Technique™ Teacher Training Program in NYC. She has also taught dance at universities including U. of Illinois, U. of Hawaii, and U. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She choreographed and performed her own work in the late 80's in NYC. She makes regular trips to Europe to teach the Alexander Technique™. Her private practice includes dancers, actors, singers, painters, and students from all walks of life.
Vicky Shick, an independent dancer and choreographer, has been involved in the NYC dance community since the late ‘70s. She was a member of the Trisha Brown Company for 6 years, and has also worked with many other NY-based choreographers. She received a “Bessie” Award for performance (’85) and choreography (’03), has shown her own work since the mid-‘80s and teaches regularly in the US and Europe.
“Bessie” Award winning, Donna Uchizono is hailed by Ms. Magazine as “a choreographer making great leaps forward into the 21st century”. A Guggenheim Fellow, Uchizono has received many grants for her work. A popular teacher, Uchizono has taught workshops and toured her company extensively throughout the U.S., Europe and South America.
Gwen Welliver performed with Doug Varone and Dancers (’90-’00), served on the faculty of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (’95-’00), then joined the Trisha Brown Dance Company as Rehearsal Director (‘00-’06). She has taught at numerous studios, festivals and universities in the U.S. and abroad, including ADF in North Carolina and in Chile, International Summer School of Dance (Japan), Kalamata International Dance Festival (Greece) and, with support from the Suitcase Fund, at the Moscow Contemporary Dance Summer School “TSEH.” Gwen was awarded a “Bessie” Award for Sustained Achievement while dancing with Doug Varone and Dancers. |