YOUTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE 2011 – 2012
Marisa f. Ballaro graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Brockport and serves on the Alumni Board of Directors. In 2008 she was an Access Dance/USA scholarship recipient while attending NPAC in Denver. She has presented work across NY, CT, RI, and on Delaware’s Nova Dance Company. Marisa is Communications Director for the American Dance Legacy Institute (ADLI). She is also a member of ADLI’s performing and teaching ensemble, Dancing Legacy, while traveling across NY, MA, TX, LA, FL, RI, and NJ to teach, document, and design curriculum for repertory works of the masters. She is on faculty for the NYSSSA School of Dance as well as a NYC teaching artist with LeAp, CMP, and BallaroDance.
Hollis Bartlett was born in Barrington, IL and began dancing at a young age. His love of performing stuck with him as his family moved to Cape Cod, MA before he began high school. In May 2010 Hollis graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance. Since graduation he has had the pleasure of working with Doug Varone and Dancers, Brian Brooks Moving Company, Adam Barruch, and the Metropolitan Opera. In addition to performing, he writes for several dance blogs, including ‘The State of Dance in the Union(http://danceintheunion.wordpress.com/) and danceINTUIT
(http://danceintuit.wordpress.com/).
Lori Byargeon holds an MFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she performed pieces by Deborah Jowit, Camille A. Brown, and Kay Cummings as well as choreographed her own work. Byargeon, a natve of Louisiana, graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.A. in French and a minor in dance. After working as company manager for David Dorfman Dance, she now serves as office manager for Design Brooklyn. Lori dances with colectivodoszeta / carlos a. cruz velázquez, and Three Track Mind.
Eveline Chang is the Program and Marketing Manager at the Center for Architecture Foundation. Formerly, she served as Special Projects Manager at Joffrey Ballet School and the Director of Educational Programming at Pentacle. Previous to moving to NYC, she was the Graduate Advisor for UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures and held positions at Harvard University, The Kennedy Center, and the British Council. She has also taught in public schools for ArtsBridge America and worked with arts festivals in California, Massachusetts, and the United Kingdom. A graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, Eveline went on to receive degrees in Dance Performance and Art History from the University of California, Irvine and a Masters in Cultural and Creative Industries from King’s College London. Eveline is a 2010 Access Dance/USA Scholar and currently serves on the Emergency Fund for Student Dancers Advisory Board.
Erica Frankel is a New York City-based Dancer. She received her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2008, where she had the opportunity to perform in work by her peers, as well as by Cherylyn Lavagnino, Gus Solomons Jr., Jessica Lang, and Trisha Brown. While in school, Erica also spent a summer abroad studying contemporary dance and improvisation at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD) in Austria. Since graduating, Erica has performed with Meredith Monk, Ilana Webber Dance, SINecdoche Dance, MELD/Danceworks, Vabang! Dance Company, Layard Thompson, Dance Theatre Etc., P.M. Dance Co., and more. In addition to serving on Dance/NYC’s Junior Committee, Erica also volunteers with the NYU Tisch Dance Alumni Association. She also works as the Senior Associate for Arts and Culture at the NYU Bronfman Center, where she provides funding and mentorship to student artists by facilitating the Emerging Jewish Artist Fellowship. More at www.ericafrankel.com. Send tweets to @ericafrankel.
Justina Gaddy is a Brooklyn-based dancer, choreographer and administrator from Los Angeles, California. She holds a BFA from New York University with a double major in dance and journalism.As a choreographer, her work has appeared at a variety of New York venues and festivals. As an administrator, she works for Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation as the Administrator of the Ailey/Fordham Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. She was a recipient the Dance/USA Access Dance Scholarship and served on Dance/USA Emerging Leaders Taskforce. As a member of the Dance/NYC Junior Committee, Justina works diligently to develop programming that addresses the needs of young professionals in the dance field.
Brighid Greene is a dance artist performing and working as an arts administrator in the New York City. A native of the golden state, Brighid ventured east to attend New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she graduated on the Dean’s List and as a recipient of the J.S. Seidman Award with a BFA in Dance and a double major in Religious Studies. She performed in original works by Patricia Hoffbauer and Lucinda Childs at Tisch and is a dancer for the bi-coastal company The Anata Project. In New York, she has performed at venues including the Skirball Center, the 92nd Street Y, and the Ellen Stewart Theater and in a site-specific piece by Diego Gil in Salzbug, Austria for Szene Salzburg. Brighid has had the opportunity to present work at Tisch Dance, DanceNOW[NYC] RAW Festival, and the La Mama Moves! Dance Festival and continues to create for the Red Currant Collective, of which she is a founding member. Pursuing the collaboration between film and dance, Brighid is an intern at TenduTV and the Social Media Coordinator for Dance Films Association.
Maria F. Hanley holds a Master’s degree in dance education (2007) from New York University and a Bachelor’s degree in dance performance from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania (2005). A huge advocate for early childhood dance education, Maria teaches 18 months-9 year olds, 6 days a week. Maria currently designs and teaches ballet and movement programs for the young families and after school division at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. She teaches early childhood creative movement and ballet classes at Dancewave Center and is also on faculty at Mark Morris Dance Group where she teaches creative dance and parent/toddler classes. Previously, Maria has been a teaching artist for New York City Ballet and has been a movement specialist at York Avenue Preschool. Maria is the creator of Maria’s Movers, a program that offers dance, movement and yoga classes to boys and girls in the early years. She authors the blog Move. Create. Educate where she shares her creative ideas about teaching young dancers. In addition to serving on the Dance/NYC’s Junior Committee and she is also a member of theNational Dance Education Organization.
Sydnie L. Mosley is a New York City-based dancer and choreographer. She earned her MFA in Dance with an emphasis on Choreography from the University of Iowa (2009). She is also an alumna of Barnard College at Columbia University (2007), where she earned her BA in Dance and Africana Studies. She is currently an Alumnae Fellow with the Barnard Center for Research on Women, a position that allows her to deepen her artistic work with the resources of the academy. She presents her choreography with her Harlem-based company Sydnie L. Mosley Dances with works that seek to actively engage the audience’s physical and emotional senses with dance performance in addition to involving audiences in the artistic process. Her work has notably been presented in the Chen Dance Center newsteps program for emerging artists; the FIGMENT Festival on Governor’s Island; ChoreOBJECTography in Bushwick, Brooklyn; as a part of the New York Foundation for the Arts Boot Camp Arts Festival at Surreal Estate; and at The Schermerhorn Theater. Sydnie currently performs with INSPIRIT, an all female collaborative dance company; and works as a teaching artist for the Grosvenor House YMCA and various NYC schools. Sydnie is also a free-lance writer and blogger. Her most recent feature was an interview in the June 2011 issue of Dance Magazine, “Teacher’s Wisdom: Djoniba Mouflet.”
Jessica Nowaski is the New York & International Advertising Sales Manager at DanceMedia, LLC (Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit, Pointe, Dance Teacher, Dance Retailer News, and www.dancemedia.com). Prior to joining DanceMedia, Jessica worked in Development and Special Events for American Ballet Theatre and The Paul Taylor Dance Company. Jessica holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Adelphi University (Cum Laude Honors, National Honors Society of Business) and was a member of the University Dance Team. After graduating Jessica was hired to serve as Head Coach of the Dance Team and did so from 2003-2006. In addition to being involved with the Dance/NYC Junior Committee, she has also served on the Keigwin + Company Junior Opening Night Committee and has supported the Paul Taylor Young Patrons Program. This is Jessica’s first year on the Junior Committee and she is excited to get involved and help strengthen the NY dance community.
Kaley Pruitt is a choreographer, modern dancer, and arts administrator. She holds her BFA in Dance from Florida State University. Originally from Ketchum, Idaho, she is a recent and excited import to New York City. Her choreographic work investigates the human experience with sensitivity and explores the kinetic architecture and intrinsic communication between bodies in space. Her pieces have been presented at The Boston Conservatory, Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre at Florida State University, Niagara Bar in the Lower East Side, at Movement Research’s Open Showings, and most recently at Dixon Place in the Under Exposed Series. As a performer, she currently works for Angelo Dance Project and Natalia Duong. She has also worked with Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre, CheckIt Dance, Shelley Bourgeois, and Jackie O’Toole while in New York. She currently holds the position of Administrative Assistant at Elisa Monte Dance and works part time at Baryshnikov Arts Center. She enjoys immersing herself in the dance community in all aspects of her work. Kaley views art as a constant, vibrant dialogue. She uses dance, choreography, and film as means of expressing her ideas as well as presenting an environment for other people’s ideas to join, converse, and influence each other. She is ecstatic about being a member of DanceNYC’s Junior Committee this year and wants you to join in on the dialogue!
Benn Rasmussen makes his home in a unique artist loft in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY. Born in Green Bay, WI and having received a BFA in dance from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, he works as a personal assistant and archivist for Meredith Monk, house manager at Danspace Project and studio manager at Kula Yoga Project in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. During Fall 2010 Benn will be participating in The Adventure, a choreographic laboratory with Trajal Harrell and 14 other dance artists. With an interest in interdisciplinary work focused on building an enriched humanity in his performers, Benn is an advocate for progressive conversations within and around the dance community and he seeks to integrate the arts into a broader culture through his combined efforts in performance, scholarship, research, creative projects and teaching. His work has been performed during the Arts in Bushwick Events: SITE Festival 2009 and Bushwick Open Studios 2010. As well as at Dixon Place: Under Exposed, Black Box Teatro in Marbella, Spain and in Weston, WI at the Everest Academy for the Performing Arts, whom he has an ongoing relationship with to develop summer arts programs and residencies in the coming years. In 2008 he organically gathered a group of dancers under the company name, Ephemerui, that create and perform in works crafted through rigorous explorations, observations and conversations. www.ephemerui.com
Kaylen Ratto has worked for Career Transition For Dancers since 2007 and has been the Gala Coordinator/Client Outreach since 2008. Career Transition For Dancers is the only arts service organization in the United States dedicated to the second career aspirations of dancers. Kaylen works closely with the organization’s career counselors to coordinate Local and National Outreach Projects that bring services to dance communities nationwide. She also coordinates the organization’s annual gala that fundraises over $1million. Kaylen is also developing a line of dancewear for full-figured women with ABT soloist, Misty Copeland. Kaylen was previously a Teaching Artist and an Operations Associate in Washington, DC with Joy of Motion Dance Center, Dance Institute of Washington and Cultural Development Corporation. As a teaching artist in public schools and private dance studios, Kaylen taught over 500 students (children and adults) in all levels of ballet, creative movement, modern and tap techniques. Kaylen is originally from Southern California and received a BA in Dance, minor in Education from the University of California, Irvine.
Gary Schaufeld is a native New Yorker. He holds a BFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Upon his graduation, Gary apprenticed with Gibney Dance and ZviDance. Since then, he has performed with James Martin Music/Dance, Patricia Noworol Dance, skybetter and associates, Sean Curran Company, and Johannes Wieland. He has spent the last two years performing and creating as a company member of Keigwin + Company (@KeigwinandCo) with Larry Keigwin (@Larry_Keigwin). Through his time with Keigwin + Company, Gary has had the opportunity to perform, teach master classes, choreograph, and set work at some of the nations most prestigious theaters, college/university dance programs, and performing arts high schools. Gary has been recognized as one of the 2011 Young Choreographers of the Year by YCF. His choreography has been presented at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, NYU’s Skirball Center, Symphony Space, and the streets of Manhattan in a flashmob through a collaboration between the New Museum, the Festival of Ideas for the New City, and Gary’s own ‘Pop Modern Dance’ (@PopModernDance).
Caroline Walthall is a senior at Barnard College of Columbia University, double majoring in American Studies and Dance. At Barnard, she has had the opportunity to perform the work of Camille A. Brown, Nicholas Leichter, Nora Chipaumire, and Kota Yamazaki. She has been actively involved in student-run dance, serving on e-boards, dancing and choreographing for Orchesis and the performing arts group CoLab. She will be producing, directing, and choreographing an evening of dance for the MaMa Project in March of 2011, and is currently writing a thesis on the intersections of American historical consciousness and site-specific dance at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. She is now the Archives Intern at Dance Theater Workshop. After a very rewarding semester abroad in Dublin, Ireland, she is very excited to be a part of the Junior Committee of Dance/NYC.
Kate Wilfert is a member of the Philanthropy Centre at J.P. Morgan. The Philanthropy Centre provides innovative advice, thought leadership forums and collaborative opportunities for high net worth philanthropists and their families. Before working in philanthropy, Kate was an analyst in the Private Bank at J.P. Morgan and graduated cum laude from Amherst College with a B.A. in English. While in college, Kate was the president of Amherst Dance, a student-run organization with bi-annual performances. Kate previously served on the board of Tiffany Mills Company and is excited to be a new member of the Dance/NYC Junior Committee.
Michele Wilson grew up dancing in Elmira, NY. After earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from the State University of New York, College at Brockport in 2007, she headed to New York City where she currently works and plays as an arts administrator and dancer. Michele began working at Gibney Dance in November 2008 and currently holds the position of Operations Manager where she oversees the newly expanded Gibney Dance Center. She has previously held positions at Gallim Dance, the American Dance Festival and Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People.
Caitlin Yuhas is a dancer, educator and writer from Springfield, Illinois. In 2009, she graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in Dance and Movement Studies and Highest Honors in Dance Performance, with an added concentration in Journalism. In her undergraduate years, she was fortunate to take on the works of Jose Limón, David Dorfman, Ursula Payne and Elizabeth Streb. She was also awarded the 2009 Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts. Her teaching credits include three years as a Head Instructor for Universal Dance Association, and an additional year on the faculty of Ruth Mitchell Dance Theater in Atlanta. Since moving to New York in March 2010, Caitlin has had the pleasure of working with choreographers Brittany Antle, Cat Cogliandro, Cassandra Starr, and Lucy Stack, and is an ongoing member of KOREresponse: choreography by Rachel Korenstein. Apart from the Junior Committee, Caitlin is an administrative intern for CLASSCLASSCLASS and an educator at lululemon athletica in Soho.
