Fall Dance Concert Festical 2020 Q&A Host & Choreographer Biographies
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Fall Dance Concert Festival 2020 Q&A Host & Choreographers Biographies Moderator for Both Q&A Sessions: Kaelie Osorio Kaelie Osorio has been dancing since she was three years old training in ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, and acrobatics with In Motion Dance Project in FL and Murrieta Dance Project in CA. She is currently a BFA Candidate in dance at California State University Long Beach with a Department of Dance Scholarship the past three years, and plans on graduating spring of 2021. Kaelie has been a United Spirit Association dance instructor for four years and has choreographed for multiple dance teams. She has choreographed and performed for American College Dance Association, trained with Peter Chu at the exclusive Chuthis summer intensive and has worked with well known choreographers such as Kevin Williamson and Rebecca Lemme. Kaelie aspires to earn her yoga certification and combine contemporary dance with yoga practices. She also aspires to perform in both commercial and concert professional work with a goal to travel while doing so. Show 1 Choreographers [Panelists] Derrick Paris Derrick Paris (he/they) is a queer black & latinx artist based in the greater Los Angeles area. As a current BFA candidate in the Department of Dance at CSULB, Derrick will be the first in his family to graduate with a College degree. While he started dancing at the age of 7, he started choreographing at the age of 13 leading to holding choreographer and coaching positions throughout the Los Angeles area. Recently, he has started to assist in choreography and music editing for dance teams in both the Collegiate and Pro Team worlds. His competitive, stage & screen work has earned local & national titles and has premiered across his home state of California, including The Broad Stage in Santa Monica. In 2015, Derrick had the honor of assisting in choreography for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of The Special Olympics alongside Debbie Allen, which led him to working with Karen McDonald in the coming years. His current focus is rooted in the research of discovering the intersectionality of his upbringing alongside his unearthing as an adult. He plans to continue producing work through this new virtual lens, while generating platforms for himself and dancers alike to be visible. Dani Burd Dani Burd is a choreographer from Los Angeles, CA with a background in modern, contemporary, and improvisational movement. Her choreography has been featured in dance films, live music productions and dance/theatre performances. Burd often works in collaboration with musicians, visual artists and live performance venues. She has presented for Glendale College, EDC Las Vegas artists, Avalon Hollywood as well as her own independent work. With her most recent works being in dance film, she is currently exploring different ways of using virtual mediums in collaboration to create pieces that are as impactful as those in person. She strives to interrupt the expectations of traditional dance and the viewer by challenging different points of view, musicality, and location. Burd is currently a BFA candidate in Dance at Cal State University Long Beach graduating in the Spring of 2021. Following graduation she hopes to train and perform internationally with a dance company. In the future she intends to create her own dance company as well as obtain her MFA in Dance. Elizabeth Smith Elizabeth Smith grew up in Thousand Oaks, California. She started dancing at the age of five, and training at California Dance Theatre in ballet, contemporary, and jazz until graduating high school in 2017. Elizabeth has performed and competed with Pacific Festival Ballet in Youth America Grand Prix and danced for the Young! Tanzsommer festival’s European tour. She is currently in her final year as a BFA Candidate in Dance at California State University, Long Beach, where she is also earning a minor in psychology. Last spring, she had the opportunity to co- choreograph and perform in a piece for the CSULB Contemporary Dance Concert, which was selected to be shown at the 2019 American College Dance Association informal concert. Elizabeth recently attended intensives with BODYTRAFFIC, Entity Contemporary Dance Company, and Ballet Austin, Acts of Matter, LA Contemporary Dance Company, and TL Collective. After graduation, she hopes to dance in a Southern California-based contemporary company as well as continue to strengthen her abilities in commercial dance. Elizabeth would like to thank all of her teachers for creating her passion for dance, her family, and her fellow artists for making these visions possible. Vanessa Cruz Vanessa Cruz is an emerging disabled dancer and choreographer. Her roots come from Mexican descent. She is currently living in Los Angeles, California. She received her Associates Degree in Dance from Santa Monica College in 2018. She successfully transferred in the Fall 2018 to an audition based dance program at California State University Long Beach. She is the first physically disabled dancer to join the dance program. Vanessa recently showcased two new pieces; a solo “Fumes in the City of Glitches” and a group piece “Fingerprints of Humanity” for Ballet Beyond Borders held in Los Angeles. Her dances received the award for Cultural Diplomacy for Innovation in Choreography. In 2018, She won first place in the Global Citizenship Research Symposium: Dance & Disability in Santa Monica College. She presented her first dance film “Grey City” and presented her experience as a disabled dancer/choreographer. Her lifetime project is to continue to develop dance films for her own work. This idea stemmed from the lack of platforms to showcase work and the barriers between mainstream dance and disability dance. As she continues to find ways to merge the communities together as one, she will continue to perform and create dances that will challenge the norm. Bethany Wolfman Bethany Wolfman is a 20-year-old dancer from Las Vegas, now based in Los Angeles. She trained at Bunker Dance Center until graduating in 2017. Bethany is currently attending CSULB as a candidate for a B.F.A. in Dance and B.A. in Dance Science, expected graduation Spring 2021. While training, she has performed in the works of Travis Wall, Micaela Taylor, Peter Chu, Andrew Vaca, Colleen Dunagan, Aaron Turner, Ben Green, and Haley Heckethorn. She has attended intensives with BODYTRAFFIC and chuthis., where she got to train under company members. She has trained in a variety of styles with focus on ballet, contemporary and jazz. Bethany’s hard work was recognized by the University, allowing her to receive scholarships every year she has been in the program. Bethany is BASI Pilates certified with a Dance Specialization, and currently teaches to help continue developing her dance science research. While studying at CSULB, she has also held leadership roles working as Treasurer for the student-run organization for dance majors, Dance Collaborative. She also has also been Technical Coordinator for a student-run dance festival in Fall 2020 for her Senior Seminar project. Mary Leopo Mary Leopo is a 23 year old artist born and raised in Santa Ana, CA. Her dance training began at The Wooden Floor where she studied modern and ballet. Upon graduation from The Wooden Floor, she continued to refine her artistry at Santa Ana College. There she jumped at every dance opportunity given. During her 4 years at Santa Ana College, she performed and volunteered for each dance production and choreographed two works. Mary expanded her performance experience at intensives with Backhausdance, Limón Company, Bill Evans, and Jacob Jonas The Company. She also has had the honor to perform and attend American College Dance Association for 4 consecutive years. Currently, Mary is a junior at CSULB and obtaining a BA degree in Dance. Already in her second semester, she has become involved with the dance community by volunteering her time for events held by the Dance Department. Her community involvement continues as she joins CSULB Affinity Aide as a Secretarial Assistant. Mary hopes to continue expanding her horizons at CSULB by collaborating with students and faculty. After graduation, Mary hopes to join a dance company within the Orange County/ Los Angeles area. Along with that, Mary wants to continue her education with a focus on Costume Design and Lighting Design to create her own future dance productions. Gaby Sanchez Gabriela (Gaby) Sanchez is a Mexican American dancer based in Los Angeles, CA. She grew up dancing in competition dance studios, ran her high school dance team, and continued her dance journey in college. She has trained in ballet, modern, jazz, contemporary, and hip- hop. She earned her Associate Degree in Dance from Mt. San Antonio College where she trained before transferring. Gaby is currently a BFA candidate in Dance at California State University of Long Beach. She has worked with Rebecca Lemme, guest artist, Shyamala Moorty, MFA Candidate, Tashara Gavin-Moorhead, and student choreographers, Raphael (Ace) Austria and Alyssa Urrutia. Gaby has choreographed pieces for special occasions, such as Quinceaneras. She plans on presenting more of her personal commercial and concert work to the public and filming more to make it more accessible. Her most recent concert work, “Beyond the Horizon,” was presented at Mt. San Antonio College in Spring 2019. Gaby will be presenting her new dance film, “MUTUAL,” in the upcoming CSULB Department of Dance’s “Fall Dance Festival,” streaming on November 13 and 20. Kevin Holland Kevin Holland is a dancer and choreographer born and raised in Ventura, CA. Kevin’s passion for movement as an aerialist in 2012, learning how to move on various apparatus. He’s been choreographing and teaching aerial ever since. After being forced to take some contemporary dance classes, he began to incorporate dance and aerial into his training. He has experience in modern and jazz while dancing with Moorpark College and Megill & Co.