Menu
The NC Dance Festival is partnering with Durham photographer Zoe Litaker on a series of portraits of 30 of the many dancers and choreographers who have been instrumental in establishing, defining, and evolving the Festival over the years. These photos capture a moment in time in 2020-2021, but also present a retrospective of the incredible artists who have been and continue to be active in the NC dance community.
Vanessa Owen and Gavin Stewart, co-founders of Stewart/Owen Dance, work to build a sustainable community for professional dance artists to set roots in Western North Carolina. They were first presented by NCDF in 2018, and are thrilled to be returning for the 30th anniversary season.Their careers took them across the globe on fifteen U.S. State Department tours to teach, perform and choreograph with Washington DC-based Company E. They have choreographed music videos, and have staged original work for several dance companies. Their collaborations were selected for various dance conferences and festivals. They have won five awards, grants, and commissions since 2018. Since the pandemic, Vanessa and Gavin have focused on producing COVID-conscious dance experiences for live audiences, presented at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts.
Founded in May 2001 by Nancy Podrasky Carson, Anne Firmender, Erika Meyerson, Suzanne Palmer, Harper Piver and Leslie Riley Searcy, the Dance Cooperative is celebrating its 20th year of providing quality dance education and performance opportunities for those under-served artistically, culturally, and economically in the greater Wilmington area. The Dance Cooperative has had the privilege of hosting the Wilmington NCDF for many years. Other performance opportunities they have produced include Dancealorus, co-produced with Cucalorus Festival and Wilmington Dance Festival co-produced with UNCWPresents. Dorothy Nesbitt Community Dance Day gives our youth program and other local dance groups the opportunity to perform at the end of our Spring semester. In the spring of 2019, the Dance Cooperative established a partnership with the Nir Family YMCA where we are able to share dance classes with a larger population. Current Dance Cooperative leaders include Nancy Podrasky Carson, Sue Meier, Kate Muhlstein, and Linda Ann Webb.
E.E. Balcos is an Associate Professor of Dance at UNC Charlotte. In 1982, he began training with modern dance pioneer Hanya Holm while also engaging in contact improvisation. A successful performer and choreographer for 35 years, he danced with several reputable companies and choreographers including Shapiro & Smith Dance, the Demetrius Klein Dance Company, Chris Aiken, Danny Buraczeski, Sam Costa, Ping Chong, Sean Curran, David Dorfman, Joe Goode, Dwight Rhoden, David Rousseve, Stephanie Skura, Jan Van Dyke, and Bill Young. E.E. was the Artistic Director and choreographer for his own company E.E.MOTION DANCE from 2007-2013 and was featured in the North Carolina Dance Festival numerous times. His present work focuses on somatic practices as applied to creative process, performance, contact improvisation, interdisciplinary collaborations and teaching. Recently, he has presented and performed at numerous dance and somatic venues. E.E. is also a founding member of the dance company, Movement Migration with performances abroad.
Martha Connerton has been a leading member of the North Carolina dance community since relocating to Charlotte from New York in 1996, following a performing and choreographic career in ballet and modern dance. As Founding Director of Kinetic Works Dance in 2000, Martha has created over 30 original choreographic works, received two fellowships, and provided hundreds of schools with arts education programs. Martha Connerton/Kinetic Works produced the NC Dance Festival in Charlotte from 2004-2009, and toured with the festival numerous times. Kinetic Works mission is to foster awareness and appreciation of the art form of dance. The many facets of Kinetic Works include concert productions, education programs and community partnerships that bring dance to a broad demographic. Current projects include virtual performances and residencies and a partnership with Charlotte Art League to shine light on issues of racial and economic justice through art.
ShaLeigh Dance Works is a dance-theatre company dedicated to creating work that centers social justice and engagement programs that create a positive impact on the lives of others. Each year, SDW creates programming at the intersection of art, culture, and social change. Founder/Artistic Director ShaLeigh Comerford and the company believe in an approach to art that democratizes process and performance through autonomy and agency. SDW’s partners with The Reality Center and Arts Access to provide advocacy, opportunities, and access to the arts for people of all abilities. SDW is based in Durham, NC and has been invited to create and perform throughout NC, VA, and NYC in various venues and events, including multiple tours with NCDF. They have also presented work with American Dance Festival, Durham Independent Dance Artists, the North Carolina Presenters Consortium, and Booking Dance Festival at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
I retired from UNC-Asheville in 2015 after 30 years nurturing the UNCA Dance Program into being. During my early years with the University, I was a member of Wall Street Danceworks and Silent Partners Movement Theatre Company, performing with both companies in several NCDF shows. It was an honor to have been able to be part of the NCDF on so many occasions and a joy to continue to attend performances over the course of the festival’s thirty years! For the past five years, I have taught a weekly Dance for Parkinson’s class and continue to offer the class on Zoom. I have a small bio- and Neurofeedback practice and offer psychophysiological coaching in my home office. In 2019 I realized a long-held ambition to earn a Ph.D. in Expressive Arts and use movement-based inquiry in Expressive Arts and coaching practices.
Kristin Clotfelter co-directs Studio C Projects, a collaborative investigating live intersections of movement, design and performance, is Associate Artistic Director of Barriskill Dance Theatre School, and teaches dance at Duke University. Kristin has cultivated her choreographic practices through relationships with many NC dance groups and festivals, and has taught master classes at several universities around the country. Kristin has been a member of Susan Marshall & Company since 2011, and a member of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre since 2005. She danced in various productions with The Metropolitan Opera for 9 seasons. In NYC, she performed as Lady MacDuff in Punchdrunk’s off-Broadway show, Sleep No More. She spent two summers performing at The Santa Fe Opera, and a season dancing with the State Theater of Kassel in Germany. She holds a BFA with honors in dance and a minor in Visual Arts from the Alvin Ailey/Fordham University program and an MFA in dance from the University of the Arts.
Rick McCullough (MFA) danced in the Netherlands Dance Theater from 1975 until 1984, and the Harkness Ballet of New York, touring the U.S, Europe, and the Middle East from 1970-75. He was Ballet Master with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and the artistic director of dance for the North Carolina School of the Arts Summer Performance Festival. Rick has guest taught at several universities across the nation. He was assistant professor at University of North Carolina at Greensboro before joining the faculty at Florida State University where he retired as Professor Emeritus. Rick earned an associate arts degree in Photographic Technology at Randolph Community College in Asheboro, NC. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Utah School of Dance since 2018. Rick has received many choreographic fellowships from arts councils, dance companies, and schools around the country. Rick won a gold medal for his choreography in the Boston Ballet International Choreography Competition in 1991.
Alexandra Joye Warren is the Founding Artistic Director of JOYEMOVEMENT, a contemporary dance company which has toured nationally. Alexandra presented her work with NCDF in 2016 and 2017. She also performed with Amy Love Beasley on the NCDF tour in 2015. Alexandra received her BA from Spelman College and MFA from UNC Greensboro. She performed, choreographed and taught in New York, with several companies and groups. Her latest project is in collaboration with the Greensboro Downtown Parks, as their inaugural Artist-In-Residence. The Downtown Parks will also present her site-specific choreoplay entitled A Wicked Silence. This original production will explore the consequences of the North Carolina Eugenics Program. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Performing Arts at Elon University.
Ramya S. Kapadia is a Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, instructor and a Carnatic vocalist. She tours all over the U.S & abroad to present solo & group works. She also provides vocal accompaniment to dancers around the world and composes music for their productions. Ramya believes that art can and should tell stories that move audiences to becoming better and more compassionate human beings. To this end, she connects with musicians, dancers, artists, scientists and historians all over the world to push the boundaries of creative collaboration. Several arts organizations have supported her vision and work, and she is incredibly grateful. Ramya received artist, choreography, and artist support awards in 2010, 2016, and 2020 respectfully. Ramya has Master’s degrees in Medical Physics and Neuroscience and pursues the arts full time now. She runs the Natyarpana School of Dance & Music in Durham, NC, and is the Associate Director of Maryland-based Prakriti Dance.
Anna is a choreographer and performer based in Durham, NC. She attended Durham School of the Arts high school and spent many summers at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the American Dance Festival. After 10 years of dancing in Philadelphia and NYC, Anna relocated back to her hometown and founded her dance theater company, real.live.people, with collaborator Leah Wilks. The company premiered their debut, “it’s not me it’s you” in 2014 in Durham. After touring this work in the Northeast and with NCDF, Anna premiered “Feature Presentation” at the Living Arts Collective in 2016. In 2018, Anna presented her larger group work “Again, but this time with feeling.” Anna has been producing her upcoming film, “Level Up”, which will premiere in 2021. She was awarded the NC Arts Council Artist Fellowship for 2018-2019, and a grant from the Durham Arts Council in 2019. Anna teaches Pilates locally at Bull City Pilates and Massage and at Ninth Street Dance.
The Van Dyke Dance Group performs and manages the repertory of Jan Van Dyke (1941-2015), as a supporting arm of the Dance Project. It was formerly a part of the Gamble/Van Dyke Dance Company which began in North Carolina as a collaboration between Jan Van Dyke and John Gamble in 1989. Throughout the years, the Van Dyke Dance Group toured statewide, to major cities along the east coast, and internationally. For many years, the company produced annual concerts at UNC-Greensboro, where Van Dyke taught dance, and in the GreenHill Gallery in the Greensboro Cultural Center. The company also performed frequently for NCDF, founded by Van Dyke in 1991. The Van Dyke Dance Group is no longer an active performance company; instead it operates as a trust. The Trustees set Van Dyke’s work, when appropriate; curate works for select performances; teach master classes based on Van Dyke’s technique; and approve/oversee the setting and performance of Van Dyke’s work.
Theatre of Movement is a performing and visual art collective that creates original, provocative, and meaningful artworks informed by research into Black American and Caribbean history and culture. We are a multidisciplinary art organization that specializes in live performance, visual art, photography, and videography. We generate value for the communities we serve by being a cultural, educational, and socially responsible organization. We are committed to the development and support of informed, empowered, and capable artists. All artists involved in Theatre of Movement practice professional development, and entrepreneurship skills-building in addition to in-depth study and delivery of their chosen art form. Theatre of Movement sustains its impact by training mentors and teachers to pass the legacy of American culture on to the next generation.
Originally from Durham, NC, Heidi Echols received her early dance training with Nina Wheeler. Heidi received her Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her connections with the late Jan Van Dyke and the UNCG faculty led her to perform in the NC Dance Festival and to continue her involvement as a professional choreographer and performer. Heidi treasures the impact that NCDF had on her life and the continued impact NCDF has on this state. Heidi has presented her choreography nationally and has presented her teaching pedagogy and research interests at multiple national and international dance conferences. Heidi spent 20 years chairing the Dance Department at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC. She resides in Greensboro, NC with her husband and four children and has begun a new chapter as an Instructional Designer with NC State University.
Gaspard Louis is the Artistic Director of Gaspard&Dancers (G&D), a Durham-based contemporary dance company he founded in 2009. He received a BFA from Montclair State University and continued his dance studies on scholarship at Gus Giordano’s in Chicago and Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab in New York. Following his studies, he joined the New York-based company called AllNations, where he performed traditional dances from many parts of the world for US troupes across the globe. Subsequently, he joined the world-renowned Pilobolus Dance Theater and collaborated on the choreography of nine major dance works with the company. In 2012, he received an MFA in Dance from the Hollins University/American Dance Festival Program and became the Director of ADF’s year-round creative movement outreach program. His passion for dance has continued to lead him to guest teach at several universities across NC. Gaspard’s latest project is working with his dancers to create a new dance film.
Taryn Griggs and Chris Yon create original dance works that are deadpan slapstick, understated melodrama, autobiographical science fiction, cubist vaudeville, asymmetrically consonant explorations of magic and virtuosity in everyday movement. They met at the Bessie Schönberg Artist Residency at The Yard in 2002 and have been working together ever since. Their choreographies have been presented across the US and around the world. In New York, they appeared together in the work of David Neumann, Yoshiko Chuma, Karinne Keithley Syers, and Sara Rudner. During their years in the Twin Cities, they were both McKnight Fellows, co-curators, and their work was presented in several events. Since moving to Winston-Salem, their work has been commissioned by the NCDF, American Dance Festival, and finds residency/workshop support through their ongoing project, Interstitial: A site specific dance during the changeovers between art exhibits at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. Griggs teaches at UNCSA, Yon at Appalachian State University.
Killian Manning has been making performance work for over 30 years. A curious and acquisitive soul, she has a BA in German, an MTS in Theology, a PhD in Performance Studies, and pointe shoes from Freed’s. She began her dancing/dance-making career in Boston, studying with Mark Morris and Lucinda Childs. After serving on the faculties of Radcliffe and the Boston Conservatory and founding her company, No Forwarding Address she relocated to North Carolina via the American Dance Festival. She and her company participated in the NCDF in 1992 and 1994. She taught at UNC-Chapel Hill and The Ballet School of Chapel Hill until heading west for her Ph.D. Since 2004, she has created over 20 dance theater, site-specific, and video works. Her primary focus remains intertextual performance, with a special interest in the distinct vocabulary created by the interaction between text and movement. Her latest project can be found at negativemirror.com.
Gerri Houlihan studied at the Juilliard School with Antony Tudor and members of the Martha Graham and Jose Limon dance companies. She performed with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company, the Paul Sanasardo Dance Company and the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. From 1991-99 she directed her own company, Houlihan and Dancers, based in Miami, Florida. During that time, she was on the faculty of the New World School of the Arts. Since 1981, Ms. Houlihan has served on the Advisory Board for the American Dance Festival. As an international representative for ADF, she has participated in 17 international linkage programs. She was Co-Dean and then Dean of the ADF School from 2010-2015 and received her MFA from the Hollins/ADF MFA program. She recently retired from Florida State University, where she was the Pearl S. Tyner Distinguished Professor in Teaching and is now Professor Emerita. Currently, she teaches at the ADF studios in Durham and is the Artistic Director of the Big Red Dance Project- a group of dancers age 35-78.
Susan Collard has been dancing most of her life, in the U.S and internationally. Her home base is Asheville NC, where she currently teaches and directs Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre. She has choreographed for film, theatre and dance companies locally and abroad, but her most recent work has been for ACDT. Her involvement with the N.C. Dance Festival started as a performer and choreographer and later as a producer and currently as a host for the festival in ACDT`s black box theatre: the BeBe. Susan`s love for cultural diversity and artistic exchanges is prevalent in her most recent works. She is currently working with independent dance artists in Merida, Mexico in a collaboration relating to domestic violence which will be premiered in 2022. Susan has received many commissions and awards over her 50 years of dance and theatre, her most cherished being the Outstanding Artist invitational from the Festival International: Oc’Ohtic the state of the Yucatan, Mexico.
Joan Nicholas-Walker has consistently worked as a performer, choreographer, dance educator and arts administrator for over 20 years. She earned her BFA in Dance from George Mason University and a MFA degree in Dance from The Ohio State University. Her choreographic work has been commissioned by high school and college dance programs, performed by professional dance companies and selected for dance festivals abroad and around the United States. Her company, NickWalk Dance Project, participated in the 2004-2005 NC Dance Festival Tour. She has taught in college dance programs in VA, CA, NC and MD. After serving as the Dance Program Coordinator and Associate Dance Professor at Howard Community College from 2013-2018, Nicholas-Walker relocated back to North Carolina to teach in the Health and Exercise Studies Department at N.C. State University.
Alyson Colwell-Waber has been a strong presence in the North Carolina dance community since joining the faculty of Meredith College in 1984. There she founded Meredith Dance Theatre performing ensemble and led the development of the major in Dance. Alyson is a passionate teacher of mind-body integration, yoga and mindfulness. In her many years at Meredith College she’s had the pleasure of touching the lives of, and being touched by, more than 1,500 students. Alyson earned her Master of Fine Arts in dance at Arizona State University and her undergraduate degree at the Pennsylvania State University. A passionate performer, she produced solo concerts in 1988 and 1995 and has been the recipient of two Dance Artist Project Grants and several awards. In 2012 the North Carolina Dance Alliance presented Alyson with its Annual Award for lifetime contribution to dance in our state.
Helen Simoneau, originally from Rimouski, Québec, is the artistic director and choreographer of Helen Simoneau Danse. Described as “a Choreographer-on-the-rise” by Dance Magazine, she was recently awarded a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship. She has several commissions with dance schools and annual festivals. Simoneau was a resident artist at several dance centers and universities and has received four fellowships. Her work has been presented and awarded nationally and internationally. She was recently a Fellow at Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab and is the current Choreography Fellow at New York City Center. She currently serves on the Board of Visitors at the UNC School of the Arts. In 2016/17, Helen Simoneau Danse launched a downtown dance festival in Winston-Salem supporting the work of local, regional, and national artists, emphasizing the necessity for exchange between artists from different areas. Simoneau is a graduate of the UNC School of the Arts and returns frequently as a guest artist.
L.D. Burris and Keval Kaur Khalsa created their duet dance company 2 Near The Edge in 1992 as a vehicle for artistic collaboration. More than the sum of its parts, effective collaboration has a synergistic effect, sparking new ways of moving/thinking/imagining in a dynamic interplay among participants. For L.D. and Keval, collaborating helped them to move beyond their own perceived “edges,” to communicate ideas and desires clearly, and to listen deeply to each other as well as other artistic partners and audiences. For eighteen years, 2 Near The Edge performed in home season and touring shows in around the U.S. 2 Near The Edge premiered and toured 14 original works that spoke to the complexity of the human condition, and the company was selected to be part of NCDF Festival performances in Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro and Asheville.
Cara Hagan is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice is informed by movement, words, digital space, contemplative practice, and community. Ms. Hagan has the pleasure of sharing her artistic pursuits across the United States and abroad. Most recently, Cara has set choreographic works on students at the UNC School of the Arts, and many other universities/festivals. Further, Cara has made recent performance appearances at several domestic and international dance festivals. A recipient of several grants and awards, Cara received the “Best Southern States Documentary” award for her short film, Sound and Sole from the Southern States Indie Fan Film Fest in Biloxi, MS in January 2019. She was awarded two artist residencies in 2018 and 2020. She has been funded by arts councils, festivals, universities, and other organizations. Ms. Hagan has served on the dance studies faculty at Appalachian State University, as well as serving as director and curator for ADF’s Movies By Movers, an annual, international dance film festival.
John Gamble was born in Albany, New York in 1943. He attended Cornell University and Union College. In 1963/64, John met Jan Van Dyke who introduced him to Modern Dance. In 1964 he moved to Washington, DC with Jan, attended American University, and began studying dance and theater design. In 1967, John and Jan co-founded the Georgetown Workshop, a series of concerts by local choreographers in the nation’s capital. John designed and built the Georgetown Workshop and the Church Street Theater, to serve as homes for the series. Throughout the 1970’s, he was Admin Director and teacher for Anna Halprin’s Dancers’ workshop, and then Dance Department Head at Temple University. In 1985, John was head of the Dance Department at the University of North Carolina Greensboro where he designed their dance theater, significantly increased dance performances on campus and in the community and developed their BFA and MFA degree programs. He is currently Professor Emeritus at UNCG. In 1991, Jan Van Dyke and John co-founded the North Carolina Dance Festival. John also co-founded the Greensboro Fringe Festival.
Gary Taylor is recognized throughout the southeast for his mastery of innovative choreography, partnering, instruction, adjudicator, artistic direction and photography. Taylor is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts. He was a professional dancer working throughout the Southeast for 16yrs before retiring from performance in 2007. He is an award-winning choreographer and teacher. Gary has choreographed original works for numerous ballet companies across the south, as well as for dance/theater organizations, festivals and universities. Gary has served on faculty for the many dance groups, and departments and has conducted Master Classes for Cirque du Soleil’s world renowned cast and is featured in the film “Dancing in Angel Shadows.” His first new feature dance film “Through the Wire” was self created, filmed and edited. He is presently the Artistic Director and Resident choreographer for the High Point Ballet, Gary Taylor Dance, and focuses on his work with his professional company, Winston Salem Festival Ballet and the upcoming Gary Taylor Project.
Wesley L. Williams Jr. is a native of Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Williams is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher of West African Music & Dance and African contemporary dance styles. Wesley has performed with Van Dyke Dance Group, Ballethnic Dance Company of Atlanta, G.A., and North Carolina Black Repertory Company. Wesley Williams was also a member of the Chuck Davis African American Dance Ensemble. He is the founder and Artistic Director of SUAH African Dance Theatre based in Greensboro, NC, offering African (and contemporary African) music, dance, song, classes, performances, and culture. Mr. Williams attended North Carolina Central University where he studied Psychology and received a full four year scholarship in football and track & field. Mr. Williams travels the country sharing his gift to create dance works with all arts lovers. He has been invited to choreograph new works on several universities across the East coast.
Sherone Price is an Associate Professor of Dance Studies in Appalachian State’s Department of Theatre and Dance, where he also serves as Dance Director of the Diyé African Dance and Drum Ensemble. He received his dance training at North Carolina Central University, Duke University, and the American Dance Festival. He earned his BFA from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and his MFA from Hollins University/ADF. He has been on the ADF faculty since 1995. Sherone has taught at UNCG and was a visiting artist at FIU in Miami. In 1979, he worked and performed with the Arthur Hall African American Dance Ensemble. He performed as a principal dancer with the Chuck Davis African American Dance Ensemble and worked with several other renowned choreographers and ensembles. Sherone was selected to perform his classic Mourner’s Bench at the 1993 Scripps/ADF Award Ceremony. Sherone is a past recipient of a Regional Artist Grant to study West African Dance and Drumming in Guinea, West Africa. He also appears in the PBS film, “Chuck Davis Through West Africa.”
Robin served as Director of the NC State Dance Program and Director of the NCSU Dance Company from 1986-2016. A choreographer of over thirty major works, she is a recipient of two Fellowships and several dance awards. Her work has been recognized by the American Dance Festival and has been presented multiple times in Regional and National Galas of the American College Dance Association. Full evenings of Robin’s work have been presented by NC State LIVE and the Southeast Women’s Studies Conference. Her work toured four seasons with the NCDF. Robin has served as a guest artist at several universities around the country. Robin has also worked extensively with many theater productions. Robin holds a B.A. in French and an M.A. in dance from The Ohio State University, and has received certification from the Dance Notation Bureau as a Labanotation teacher.
Black Box Dance Theatre is a non-for-profit Raleigh based company with expertise in making dance relevant, inspirational, and natural for all bodies and persons. Formed in 2013 with legacy from Even Exchange Dance Theatre, BBDT acts as a catalyst for meaningful human interactions, powerful storytelling, and transformative art making. Artistic Director Michelle Pearson is a master facilitator. Her 25+ years of experience make her a true ambassador of creativity. She is joined by an extremely talented cohort of artists in bringing excellent movement programs into the real world. Clients include the US Department of State, Arts NC, NCSU, the American Dance Festival, the NC Museum of Art, the NC Arts Council, and numerous other Arts Organizations and School Districts throughout NC. BBDT believes the best way to understand something differently/deeper/authentically is to embody it and then make it move!
Zoe Litaker is a dance, portrait, landscape and editorial photographer based in Durham, NC. A photographer since the age of 13, Zoe has a BFA in Photography from UNC-Chapel Hill and has worked and studied at the International Center of Photography in NYC. Her work has been published in Scalawag Magazine, Passport Magazine, ESPN-W, and Fast Company. Prior to this 30 Portraits project, her latest passion project was Durham Dances – a photography book about the incredible dancers of the Durham community, published in October of 2019 and featured in the Indy Week: Zoe Litaker’s Photobook “Durham Dances” Captures the Vitality of the Bull City’s Dance Scene. For more information about Zoe and her work, please visit her website: zoelitakerphtography.com
Dance Project is a non-profit resident organization of the Greensboro Cultural Center, made possible by a significant in-kind contribution from Creative Greensboro, the City of Greensboro’s office for arts & culture.
Dance Project is a non-profit resident organization of the Greensboro Cultural Center, made possible by a significant in-kind contribution from Creative Greensboro, the City of Greensboro’s office for arts & culture.