From artists to craftsmen, painters to sculptors, potters to dancers…. From Texas to Pennsylvania, from NYC to NH…. Meet the artists, instructors, performers and creative souls participating in the Third Annual Cultivate Dance Festival…
Angie Muzzy
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Jessica Howard
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Ashley Hensel-Browning
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Bethany Neslon
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Cori Olinghouse
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Ellie Goudie-Averill
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Kai Kleinbard
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Sarah Gamblin
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Meredith Lyons
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Angie Muzzy (Troy, NH) is an MFA candidate at The College at Brockport concentrating on choreography and performance. She began her dance training in the hills of Western Massachusetts and continued her studies at Keene State College where she received a degree in Theater and Dance (2008). She has worked with choreographers: Robert Battle, Beppie Blankert, Lorraine Chapman, Bill Evans, Stephan Koplowitz, Marcia Murdock, Candice Salyers, among others. She has been a guest teacher at Keene State College, Williston-Northampton School, Northfield Mount Hermon School, and Hillsboro-Deering Middle School. She has presented work around New England and currently divides her time between Southern New Hampshire and Western New York.
Jessica Howard (Fall River, MA) Jessica Howard graduated from Keene State College in 2009 with her B.A. in Theatre and Dance. As a theatre and dance undergraduate she was privileged to study under Marcia Murdock, Cathy Nicoli, Candice Salyers, and William Seigh and was selected to work with guest artists such as Paul Besaw, Mark Dendy, Pilobolus, and Sara Sweetly Rabidoux. Since graduation she became Founder and Artistic Director of The Heron Studio, where she offers classes and workshops in the healing and performing arts (yoga & dance) located in Fall River MA. She is also a free-lance performance artist & dance educator. Currently she is performing with Lorraine Chapman, the Company, and teaching for ACT at Saint Andrew’s School.
Ashley Hensel-Browning (Chester, VT) founder and artistic director of Rural Dance Revolution, works as an educator, community artist, and choreographer throughout New England. Her work has been presented in venues such as the International Festival of Art and Ideas, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, MA, and MassMOCA. She choreographs and directs for the Opera Theatre of Weston in Weston, VT, most recently including The Magic Flute (2011), The Little Prince (2010), and Hansel and Gretel (Jan 2009). A Juried Teaching Artist on the Vermont Arts Council Teaching Roster, she has received multiple grants for work in public schools and community sites. Recent projects include a teacher training in incorporating math in movement in the Berkshires, choreography residencies through Vermont, and guest teaching with Boston Ballet’s CityDance. Ashley received her Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her BA from Hampshire College where she designed her own concentration in Dance Education and Community Development through the Arts.
Bethany Nelson (Jackson, MS) is a choreographer, educator, collaborator, and ardent improviser. Bethany is interested in connecting disparate dance communities within the greater Jackson area by creating communication networks, collaborative environments, educational opportunities, and dance works that are accessible and inclusive of all audiences. She is currently teaching for Ballet Mississippi, organizing the Mississippi Improv Alliance, performing with Front Porch Dance Collective and Duncan Dance, and learning how to break dance. Bethany holds an M.F.A in Dance from Texas Woman’s University and a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Cori Olinghouse (New York, NY) is a New York-based dancer, teacher, and choreographer whose work explores the plasticity and shapeshifting capacities of the body in relationship to creativity, health, and culture. Her work has been presented by Danspace Project, The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn Museum of Art and Movement Research, among others. Cori performed with the Trisha Brown Dance Company from 2002-06. In 2005, Cori began a dancing dialogue Bill Irwin and has since been researching a variety of movement forms that explore physical transformation. She’s been studying corporeal mime with Colin Gee and continuing her study of voguing with Archie Burnett and Benny Ninja. Cori was a 2009 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence. Cori is currently collaborating with filmmaker Shona Masarin to create a 16 mm b&w film, Ghost line. She is influenced by her creative practice research, Body Literate Initiative with partner, Kai Kleinbard.
Ellie Goudie-Averill (Philadelphia, PA) a 2007 MFA Dance Performance graduate of the University of Iowa, Ellie currently co-directs the Stone Depot Dance Lab and dances for MacArthur Dance Project and Group Motion Dance Company in Philadelphia. Her choreography has been shown NYC, Philly and throughout the Midwest, and she was recently a selected artist for Dance New Amsterdam’s RAW Material. Ellie teaches Modern technique and repertory at Temple University and has served as Visiting Assistant Professor of dance at Bucknell University and Artistic Director of the University of Iowa Youth Ballet. In the past, Ellie performed with Daara Dance, Kayle+Co, Cohan/Suzeau, Prairie Wind Dancers, and was a founding member of the Bowery Dancers. She began her training at Ballet Midwest in Topeka, Kansas and holds a BFA in dance from the University of Kansas. Along with performing, choreographing, and improvising she loves teaching dance to people of all ages and jumping for joy!
Kai Kleinbard (New York, NY) was born and raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. His approach to movement is influenced by his study of waving with Future Ninja, voguing with Archie Burnett and Benny Ninja, and Aikido. Kai has worked with artists Kota Yamazaki, Mina Nishimura, Gerald Casel, Jimena Paz, and Cori Olinghouse. He tutors privately (grades K-12) and specializes in developing and organizing his students’ work and learning habits. Kai is an AMSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher and is currently engaged in a creative practice research, Body Literate Initiative with partner, Cori Olinghouse.
Sarah Gamblin (Denton, TX) is interested in the intersections of improvisation, choreography and performance and seeks out collaborative relationships across performance contexts. Recent collaborators include Amii LeGendre, KT Niehoff, Ray Schwartz, and Jordan Fuchs and with Texas musical entities Hentai Improvising Orchestra, Shiny Around the Edges and Impulse. She has been produced in Texas and beyond including Houston Fringe Festival, Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, the Fusebox Festival, the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation, The Northwest New Works Festival at On the Boards and Bates Dance Festival. Gamblin is an Associate Professor at Texas Woman’s University.
Meredith Lyons received her BA from Mercyhurst College with a focus in Teaching & Choreography and her MFA in Choreography at Smith College. As a dancer, she has performed with the Albany Berkshire Ballet, Ballet Concerto, Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company, Elm City Dance Collective and appeared in both ballet and modern masters’ works: Balanchine, Tudor, Mark Morris, Trisha Brown, Bebe Miller, David Dorfman, Danny Buraczeski, and Wally Cardona. She is a current company member of PDM: Peter DiMuro – Public Displays of Motion (former Artistic Director of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange), Kayle + Company and Tori Lawrence + Co. She has served as Dance Director of the Taft School/Connecticut, leading the dance ensemble in tours throughout Europe. Additionally, Meredith has been on faculty at Ursinus College, Connecticut College, Providence College, Springfield College, and the Five College Dance Department at Smith College.
