Life as a Modern Dancer

Category: Choreographers

  • Artist Profile #118: Kathleen Wessel (Atlanta, GA)

    Hometown: Orlando, FL Current city: Atlanta, GA Age: 35 College and degree: I have a BA in Psychology from Emory University; I minored in Dance and Sociology. Emory didn’t offer a major in Dance until my junior year when I had already completed quite a few Psychology credits. But even if a Dance major were…

  • Artist Profile #117: Tiffany Mills (Brooklyn, NY)

    Photo: Julie Lemberger 2015, at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Hometown: Eugene, OR Current city: Brooklyn, NY Age: 40s College and degree: BA in Dance, University of Oregon Honors College. Graduate school and degree: MFA in Choreography, Ohio State University. (I earned my graduate degree in my 20s.) Website: www.tiffanymillscompany.org How you pay the bills:…

  • Artist Profile #116: Jodi Melnick (New York, NY)

    Hometown: Brooklyn, NY Current city: NYC, NY Age: 52  Attended an arts high school? No, but my senior year was in a dance program, off site, offered by the public school district. College and degree: BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase Website: JodiMelnickDance.org How you pay the bills: Teaching, performing, grants, fellowships, awards… All of the dance…

  • Artist Profile #115: Susan Marshall (New York, NY)

    ©Peter Serling Hometown: Gainesville, Florida and Hershey, Pennsylvania Current city: New York, New York Age: 57 Attended an arts high school? No. I studied with Marcia Dale Weary of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in the afternoons after high school – an hour away. I knew I was interested in modern dance, but, to my knowledge, this…

  • Artist Profile #114: Rashaun Mitchell (Brooklyn, NY)

    Hometown: Stamford, CT Current city: Brooklyn, NY Age: 37 College and degree: Sarah Lawrence College, BA (concentration in dance) Website: rashaunsilasdance.com How you pay the bills: I am in my 3rd year as a full-time assistant arts professor at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. All of the dance hats you wear: I choreograph and design…

  • Artist Profile #113: Joan Woodbury (Salt Lake City, UT)

      I was born in Cedar City, Utah into a home in which there was always music. My mother was a pianist of concert quality, who chose to marry and raise her children in a small town in southern Utah rather than going on the performing circuit. From dawn to dusk there was music in…

  • Artist Profile #111: Gwen Welliver (New York, NY and Tallahassee, FL)

    Hometown: State College, Pennsylvania Current city: New York City and Tallahassee, FL College and degree: BA Psychology, Pennsylvania State University Graduate school and degree: MFA Choreography, Bennington College (mid-career student) How you pay the bills: Teaching All of the hats you wear: Parent, dancer, choreographer, teacher, mentor, researcher, director, grant writer, rehearsal coordinator, fundraiser, payroll administrator, archivist.  Non-dance work you have…

  • Artist Profile #110: Jesse Zaritt (Brooklyn, NY)

    Hometown: Worcester, MA Current city: Brooklyn, NY Age: 37 Attended an arts high school? I went to Walnut Hill in Natick, MA, which is an arts high school. I was a visual art major and only started dancing in college (with the exception of some PE ballet classes my senior year…) College and degree: Pomona…

  • My Dance Week: Kristin Damrow

    Kristin Damrow is a San Francisco based choreographer. She began her professional career in Chicago while earning a B.A. in Dance from Columbia College. Since 2010, Kristin Damrow & Company has been presenting new, daring, and original work to the San Francisco Bay Area. They’ve presented at Constants and Variables, Resident Artist Workshop (R.A.W.), D.I.R.T.…

  • Artist Profile #109: Abby Zbikowski (Champaign, Illinois)

    Hometown: Cherry Hill, NJ Current city: Champaign, Illinois Age: 31 College and degree: Temple University, BFA in dance Graduate school and degree: The Ohio State University, MFA in dance; I started grad school at 25 Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AbbyZbikowskitheNewUtility?ref=bookmarks How you pay the bills: I’m an Assistant Professor in the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Department of Dance…