DEBORAH BIRRANE – (Seattle solo artist and guest performer in the regional premieres of "Samskara" and "By The River, Under The Moon" ) — Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Deborah Birrane began her dance career "late" at the age of 20 in a PE class at Penn State University.  Graduating with a BA in Social Work and a minor in Interdisciplinary Dance (1989), she ultimately chose the road to dance. Her early dance experiences led her to travel to Israel with the Penn State Dance Collective; to perform in the touring series of Bill T. Jones "Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin"; as well as a performing with Anne-Marie Mulgrew & Dancers in her home town of Philly and, self-producing her own works. She later received her MFA in Dance from the University of Arizona (1995), danced with Tenth Street Danceworks and eventually made her way back to Philly dancing with Mulgrew & Dancers, David Appel and presenting her own work at through the Philadelphia Dance Alliance. In 1998, she made the move to Seattle, Washington, which is now home -- by day Deborah works as a transcriptionist; by any other hour of the day she is dancer, choreographer, and teacher. As an artist-in-residence she merges cultural studies with creative movement and folk dance to children (K through 2nd grade). She also enjoys bringing yoga and dance to all people, especially engaging first-timers to both movement arts.  Currently, Deborah is working to put herself back out in the community, forging ahead on a second career (so-to-speak), with a focus of bringing movement to people as a nurturing, healing, or personal investigatory way to living.  On a personal level, Deborah took a three-year break from performing, and has returned to it with new vigor and awareness. She comments on her current investigations as an artist:

What a "come back" journey this year has been! At times I have felt like someone experiencing dance for the first time, yet, with a built-in maturity that has been at times confounding.  A little shake up was needed to break old patterns, so I have taken to the outdoors "rehearsing" on the piers - smelling the air, feeling the wood shift underneath… the crash of the waves, the clouds, the rain and the sun...it’s alive! Back in the studio, or anywhere, the question then becomes "How does one move with a continued sense of surround-awareness, bursting through the mental and physical boundaries and moving more deeply from within with a sense of freedom, trust and owning completely each dance?" There is an exquisite vulnerability, humbleness and, also, a sense of eloquence in opening up to the unfamiliar and to something that can only enrich the totality of the dance. These solo dances have not only been gifted to me, they have been a true gift to me. And, I gift them to you. Please visit me at: www.deborahbirranedance.org and/or drop me a line at debbirrane@gmail.com.

Joanna Cashman (Guest Choreographer of "Samskara") — received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Arizona State University. She is a certified teacher of the Evans Method: A Laban-Bartenieff Based Method of Teaching Dance Technique and the founder of the Radiant Health Yoga® teacher training. A former member of the Barbara Mettler Dance Company, she has performed and taught internationally and is the recipient of numerous grants and awards for her creative work. In 1988 she co-directed an Arts for Peace Tour which produced an American-Soviet Concert of Contemporary Dance while in residency at Shevchenko University in Kiev, Ukraine and in 1994 she was awarded the Mayors Art Award in Bellingham, Washington. She served as an adjunct faculty member at The Evergreen State College and Lesley University where she taught MindBody Medicine and dance. Since 1976 she has shared her investigation of dance/movement as a holistic practice that illuminates universal truths about the human experience offering a rich vehicle for creative expression and personal growth. Currently she lives in Portland, Oregon where she is a licensed massage therapist and hospice nurse. For more information visit www.JoannaCashman.com.

Dr. Debra Knapp (Guest Choreographer of "By The River, Under The Moon") is a Professor and the Director of Dance at New Mexico State University. She has also been on the dance faculties of Butler University, Indiana University, University of New Mexico, and the Palucca School Academy of Performing Arts in Dresden Germany. She has danced professionally with the Bill Evans Dance Company, the Dresden Germany Semperoper Ballet Company, the Nora Reynolds Dance Company, the Danzantes Dance Company, InMotion Dance Company, and the Windfall Dancers. She has received national choreographic recognition from the American College Dance Festival Association and the National Dance Association. Debra has choreographed over 50 dances and produced 40 dance concerts as director of the NMSU dance program. She has hosted the American College Dance Festival in 2011, the National Dance Association Pedagogy Conference in 2010, and the National Association of Ballet Folklorico Conference in 2007. Debra has also been a keynote speaker at conferences and festivals in the USA, China, and Mexico. Debra received the 2013 NDA Scholar/Artist award and the 2012 NDA University Dance Educator award. She has received the Donald C. Roush award for teaching excellence and the Research Council's award for creative scholarly activity both from NMSU. She is also a New Mexico Kennedy Center artist. Debra continues to freelance as a choreographer, performer, and dance instructor.

Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company (Austin, TX) makes original contemporary dance works, presents other modern dance companies, and directs New Art Kinnections, an outreach program for foster youth in residence at The Settlement Home. With work described as "strikingly athletic and wonderfully expressive," "ingenious," and "masterful," the company has accumulated numerous awards and recognitions as well as invitations to perform and teach at dance festivals, conferences and residencies. In addition to dancing for Austin audiences, Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company has toured extensively and received critical acclaim from the Dallas Morning News, the Toronto Globe and Mail, and the New York Times among others.

Websites: www.kdhdance.com, facebook.com/KathyDunnHamrickDanceCo

Tim Wilkendorf (St. Paul/Minneapolis) has been a photographer and printer most of his life except for brief stints in bronze casting, gunfight shows, and hotel work, where he has been working the last six years; presently for Marriott Courtyard in Minneapolis, MN. He has worked as a printer for curatorial research at Amon Carter Museum in years past. He attended college at Baylor University and studied Fine Arts at Texas Christian University. He has a collection of his photography available on the web at www.redbubble.com/people/toadtree13. He has also been working recently on video supplements for the performances of a musician friend in Minneapolis. That friend is not, nor has ever been, formerly known as Prince. Tim is pleased to be a part of this amazing project.

Currently based in Fort Worth, Tammy Gomez is a literary artist/producer and playwright/director. She curated the Texas Book Festival Poetry Tent readings at the State Capitol for six consecutive years, and performed with the Red Salmon Poets, Dharma Broads, and WOW (Women of Words). As an award-winning poet (Best Poet of Austin - Reader's Choice Poll, Austin Chronicle, 1997), she has performed throughout the U.S., and in Mexico and Nepal. Her poems and essays have been anthologized widely, including in the Brooklyn Review, Conjunctions, the Yellow Medicine Review, Hecho en Tejas (University of New Mexico Press, 2006), and Bicycle Love (Breakaway Books, 2004). In 2007, the world premiere of her first play, "She: Bike/Spoke/Love," drew a standing-room only audience and received critical acclaim from Star-Telegram critic Mark Lowry, among others. This work was re-staged in Austin in 2012 on Bike to Work Day. For more info: bikespokelove.com. Tammy is also an inaugural artist on the United States Artists' USA Projects website, launched in December 2010. Her profile can be found at: www.unitedstatesartists.org/user/tammygomez. According to FW WEEKLY arts editor Anthony Mariani, Tammy is the local Spoken-Word Poet Laureate."

Sound Culture, founded by Tammy Gomez and based in north Texas, is an intermedia production lab that emphasizes the spirit of community and collaboration among artists of various disciplines to enhance individual creative expression and social justice literacy through stage performance, spoken word, print publications, event production, and educational programming.

9 Beet Stretch project features original prose/poetry by: Julie Riggs, Horacio Elizondo, Rose Ann Meredith, Gloria Bermejo, Crystal Dozier, Fatima Hirsi, Shara Hammitt, Gabrielle Randle, Mary Margaret Boswell, Brian Patrick McCarthy, Katrina Perez-Titze, Carolina G. Martinez, Terry Horn, Angelica Hernandez, Glenda Dianne Walker, Andrea Gonzales, Ofelia Faz-Garza, Devin Wright, Melissa Freeman, James Jem Rodriguez, Ramsey Sprague, Melanie Rose, Layne Calabro, Tammy Gomez

Jessica Fuentes is a Fort Worth based photographer, artist and art educator. Since graduating from UT Dallas in 2004 with a BA in Art and Performance, she has been active in the local art and independent film scenes. She recently received her MA in Art Education from UNT with a concentration in museum studies. Visit www.jessicafuentes.com to view her art and access her art education blog.

Guest performer/choreographer of Radiant and founder/artistic director of GORDONDANCE (TX/Japan) is an internationally-acclaimed American Kabuki Master.  Gordon's choreography is influenced by his intensive study at the Umewaka Noh Theatre and Grand Kabuki Theatre in Japan. It is grounded in the aesthetics, styles, and texts of the Umewaka Noh and is a culmination of his Japan Foundation and three Fulbright fellowships for research and study.  For more than 45 years, Lonny Joseph Gordon has garnered world praise for his unique artistic vision, technical virtuosity, and a rare combination of strength and delicacy in performance. He has served as artist in residence at more than 150 cultural institutions throughout the world and has received 80 commissions for original works of art in choreography, painting/drawing, and theatrical design. He retired from academia in 2012, and he continues his world creative projects from his Texas ancestral home base of GORDON RANCH, founded in 1902.

Choreographer of Pinwheels and Roses, Christine S. Bergeron currently serves as the Director of Dance Programs and Initiatives at Texas A&M University. Christine received a B.A. in Dance Education from the University of Akron and a M.F.A in Choreography and Performance from Florida State University. Chris is certified in Pilates Mat through the advanced level and is an Associate Instructor for the Pilates Equipment work from the Physical Mind Institute. She has danced with companies such as the Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company, Women's Dance Project, Dance Repertory Theatre and K403. She has had the honor of performing works by Martha Graham (Acts of Light staged by Myra Woodruff), Peter DiMuro (Preludes to a Song), Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (Shelter) and Beverly Brown (Life at 12). She has presented choreography in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, New York, California, Illinois, Texas and Mexico at various performances and festivals.

Carisa Armstrong is the acting PEAP Coordinator for the Dance Program at Texas A&M University. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Dance, with concentration in pedagogy, performance, and choreography, from Case Western Reserve University. Her undergraduate degree is a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science with Teacher Certification in Dance from Southwest Texas State University. While at SWTSU, Carisa received the Connie Webb-Brown Scholarship in Choreography/Performance. Since then, she has had the honor of performing works by Erick Hawkins, Diane Gray, Peter DiMuro, Kathy Dunn Hamrick, Louis Kavouras, Richard Dickenson, and Karen Potter. During her graduate years, Carisa taught several technique classes at Case, which lead to her receiving the Graduate Dean's Instructional Excellence Award. She also traveled to Milan, Italy where she was an assistant demonstrator at the NonSolo Danza Studio. After graduate school, she moved to NYC where she studied with numerous dancers in all genres of dance. Currently she is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Dance Program at Texas A&M University. She teaches a variety of technique courses, choreographs on students, performs her own works and those of guest artists, works with the Theater Program on special projects, and serves as the Costumer for the Dance Program.

Kathleen Byrne received a Master of Fine Arts in Dance Choreography and Performance from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She began her dance training with Martha Mahr in Coral Gables, FL and attended New World School of the Arts in Miami. While at FSU, Ms. Byrne performed in works by Martha Graham, Dan Wagoner and Gerri Houlihan as well as choreographed and taught various levels of technique classes. Ms. Byrne was a member of the New York Theatre Ballet for five years performing in New York as well as throughout the United States and Europe. During her tenure there, she danced principle roles in works by Antony Tudor, Frederick Ashton, Sallie Wilson, Keith Michael, Agnes de Mille, José Limón and Donald Mahler. Ms. Byrne was honored to be the recipient of the Suzanne Farrell Fellowship at Florida State University and was asked by Ms. Farrell to dance with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center for their 2007 season. Ms. Byrne has also performed with Dance Repertory Theatre, Miami Ballet, and The Isadora Duncan Dance Ensemble. Currently, Ms. Byrne is an Instructional Assistant Professor in the Dance Program at Texas A&M University where she teaches Ballet technique, Pilates, Dance History, Dance Composition, and Ballroom Dance.

Ronald Watson retired from TCU in May of 2012. He was a Professor of Art and Director of TCU's School of Art 2009-2011 and served as the Director of the Art Galleries at TCU. He was the Chair of the Department of Art & Art History from 1982-1989 and 1994-2009. A native of Nebraska, Professor Watson received his BFA and MFA from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and has been teaching in higher education since 1967. He is an active artist who has been awarded an Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (1975) and two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (1977 and 1991). He has been a guest artist at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, the Ohio State University, and Lehman College in New York. His work has been presented in solo exhibitions in Michigan, Texas, Illinois and Florida and is in more than a dozen public and corporate collections including the Veterans Administration Hospital, Wood (Milwaukee), Wisconsin; Standard Oil, Inc., Chicago and the National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington, D.C. Watson has published one book and four exhibition catalogues. He has administered two college level art programs since 1971. He also was the founder and Director of the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 1977 to 1982. Watson was a consultant to the Art in Public Places program of the National Endowment for the Arts from 1975 to 1979. His teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels was in a variety of studio disciplines including drawing, painting, design and color. He also offered seminars in art criticism and in professional practice for artists. Watson teaches in the TCU in Budapest program and has offered instruction in art criticism at universities in Peru and Mexico. Contact via e-mail: R.Watson@tcu.edu.

Performing throughout Texas since 2008, ChinaCat Dance, under the artistic direction of Maggie Lasher, is a fun, fresh company with a unique approach to contemporary dance. ChinaCat presents simple themes that speak to the imagination and the heart, and are also known for creative and memorable costuming and design elements. ChinaCat Dance also presents fully produced fire dance shows incorporating poi, staff, fans, fingers, and torches with contemporary choreography. Performance highlights include a concert at the historic Arneson theater on the San Antonio Riverwalk, Luminaria- Arts Night in San Antonio, DiverseWorks 12 Minutes Max, Big Range Austin, the Houston Fringe Festival, Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival, Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival, and they were featured as the 2012 FrenetiCore Artist-in-Residence which culminated with an evening length production. At the core, ChinaCat Dance creates enlightening, audience friendly dance works that are accessible to diverse communities and age groups and they always strive to share joy and love through dance.

Website: chinacatdance.com, FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ChinaCat-Dance/283679604984104?ref=tn_tnmn

Jenefer Davies received an MFA in Dance from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a MALS and BA in Dance/Performance from Hollins University. She has had works commissioned by West Virginia Wesleyan and Lycoming Colleges, George Washington and Hollins Universities, Fort Worth Contemporary Dance, Roanoke Symphony, Opera Roanoke, and Mill Mountain Theatre, among others. Her choreography and performance work has toured to Spain, Greece, Scotland and throughout the U.S. Her piece Veil of Ignorance was recognized as an "Outstanding Creative Work" by the American College Dance Festival and was included in a 2007 ACDFA gala performance. Davies has been published in the International Planetarian Magazine, the World Congress on Dance, the Nu Delta Alpha Journal and the Athens (Greece) Institute for Research in the Arts Consortium. She is currently writing a paper on experiential learning in aerial dance. Davies is an Examiner in dance for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and serves on the advisory board of Nu Delta Alpha, the national honor society in dance. Her innovative full-length works have received international press from media outlets including National Public Radio and Sports Illustrated Magazine. In 2004, one of her compositions was referenced on NPR’s "Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me" and on TV’s "Jeopardy". Davies is the Assistant Professor of Dance at Washington and Lee University and Artistic Director of the W&L Repertory Dance Company.

Jenefer Davies was a past participant of the Modern Dance Festival at The Modern, appearing in the 2005 CD/FW Dance Exchange: A Choreographers Showcase during the 2nd annual Modern Dance Festival at The Modern. CD/FW is happy to have her work represented in a special long-distance contribution for the 10th anniversary of the festival.

Preston Contemporary Dance Theatre (PCDT) is committed to using dance as a means of cultural awareness to enhance the cultural atmosphere of the Treasure Coast and the Palm Beaches. Comprised of Dance Educators and professionals under the artistic direction of Anna Preston, PCDT creates dance pieces, full length dance concerts, and artistic events. Approximately seventy percent of the PCDT mission is dedicated to community outreach, working closely with other national and community groups to produce dance programing that has fought hunger, created awareness about human trafficking, encouraged at-risk teens to overcome obstacles, and championed the rights of the disabled for access to the arts. The focus of PCDT is always on quality art, striving to connect their passion to purpose. www.pcdancetheatre.org

Nathan Scott – artistic director for Dance Unending – is a senior at The University of North Texas pursuing a BFA in dance. He is the new artistic director for Dance Unending after dancing for the company for 3 years. He also is a resident company member for The Frisco Ballet and Collin County Ballet Theatre. He has been performing on stage for nearly 20 years and also does stunt work for films.

Anastasia Waters received her BFA in Modern Dance at Texas Christian University. At TCU, she performed in works choreographed by Susan Douglas Roberts, Elizabeth Gillaspy, Suki John and guest artists Robert Battle, Loretta Livingston, and Alexandera Beller. In her final year at TCU she was awarded the "Emerging Choreographers Award" for her creation of modern pieces, Bedtime Story and Omnipotence. Bedtime Story was chosen be performed and adjudicated at the 2010 American College Dance Festival. In the summer of 2009, she attended the American Dance Festival in North Carolina, where she studied modern dance technique and choreography with Mark Heim. In the summer of 2010, she attended Bates Dance Festival in Maine, where she performed in an original work choreographed by renowned dance artist, Doug Varone. She also studied modern dance technique with Natalie Desch, of Doug Varone and Dancers, and Omar Carrum of Delfos Danza Contemporanea.

Anastasia has been teaching dance to young children, and young adults for 7 years. She has taught ballet, modern, jazz, and tap in many studios around the DFW metroplex.? 2010-2012 she had the opportunity to dance with Muscle Memory Dance Theatre, performing in works choreographed by Meghan Cardwell-Wilson, and Amy Sleigh. After her lovely years with M2DT, she decided to begin a company of her own, and started imPULSE dance project. Her work with IDP, True Colors, was selected to participate in the 2013 Barefoot Brigade, the 2013 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, as well as the 2013 Denton Dance Festival.

Rachel Cummings received her B.F.A in Modern Dance from Texas Christian University. At TCU, she had the pleasure of performing in works by Susan Douglas - Roberts, Elizabeth Gillaspy, Robert Battle and Christian Von Howard as well as performing student works at the American College Dance Festival. While attending Bates Summer Dance Festival in 2009, Rachel had the pleasure of performing an original work by Robert Battle while also taking class from Nancy Starks-Smith and Michael Foley. Rachel's professional experience includes dancing with Muscle Memory Dance Theater and Ewert and Company as well as being the Assistant Artistic Director of Denton City Contemporary Ballet. She currently is the Co-Director of the Arlington Heights High School Dance Department and a Company Member of Impulse Dance Project.

Colleen Pagnotta (Crystal Lake, IL) graduated Magna Cum Laude May 2012 from Texas Christian University with a double BFA in Ballet and Modern Dance and Departmental Honors in Dance. She received her early training at the Summers Academy of Dance performing classical roles in the Berkshire Ballet Theater under the direction of Jennifer Echols. Colleen received further training at summer programs with Milwaukee Ballet and touring cities in Europe with the Blue Lake Ballet Ensemble. Colleen continued her training at TCU, studying under their inspirational artists and recently attended the Complexions Contemporary Ballet Intensives in NYC and Dallas. Colleen has performed in many works during her time at TCU, a range of classical ballet such as Swan Lake and Don Quixote, restaging of Balanchine in Elegie, Serenade, and Episodes, to more contemporary works by John McFall, Jessica Lang, Elizabeth Gillaspy, and Kanji Segawa.

Recently Colleen performed the character Desidaria in Atony Tudor's Fandango. In 2010, Colleen performed Jessica Lang's Confessions at American Collage Dance Festival Nationals held at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Colleen was very proud to have her choreography, entwine selected to represent TCU at the2012 American College Dance Festival South Central Region. This April, Colleen's honors thesis, "Individual Movement through Dance and Choreography" was selected as a finalist for the prestigious Boller Award in the John V. Roach Honors College at TCU. Most recently, Colleen performed with Ballet Concerto in the 29th annual Summer Dance Concert performing works by Luis Montero and Fernando Bujones. Colleen looks forward to continue dancing and teaching in the DFW area and sharing her passion for dance with the community.

Mika Vera received her early training from Ballet Conservatory in Lewisville, TX. There she studied modern, ballet, pointe, hip hop, jazz, and character under the instruction of Kelly Lannin, Allan Kinzie, Shawn Stevens and Shannon Tate. She was also a part of the pre-professional student company Lake Cities Ballet Theatre (LBT). With LBT, she performed advanced and lead roles in many classical ballets, such as Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Peter and the Wolf and Dracula. She was honored to perform in two George Balanchine pieces staged by Shawn Stevens, Serenade and Concerto Barrocco. To further her training, Mika attended the Alonzo King LINES Ballet summer program, two summers in a row, as well as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago summer intensive. She has also had the honor of competing in the New York Finals of Youth American Grand Prix (YAGP) in ensemble pieces such as Paperback Writer and had been in finals qualifying ensembles like Precious Stones from Sleeping Beauty. In May 2013, Mika was offered a scholarship to dance and assist alongside Bill Hotaling, founder of Manhattan Dance Project in Fuiggi, Italy this summer. She is excited for what the future holds and is honored to be a part of Impulse Dance Project.

Artistic Director of Beckles Dancing Company and Executive Director of ARGA NOVA DANCE, Loris holds a BA in Dance from Adelphi University. He has also studied dance at New York School of Ballet and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. He has danced with the ALVIN AILEY REPERTORY ENSEMBLE, ELEO POMARE DANCE COMPANY, CAPITOL BALLET and the SYRACUSE BALLET THEATRE, among others, in NEW YORK and on tour in the U.S. and the CARIBBEAN. He has taught in NEW YORK CITY, cities across the U.S., in EUROPE and the CARIBBEAN. He has choreographed for several companies, including the ALVIN AILEY REPERTORY ENSEMBLE (now Ailey II), and was artistic director of the BLUE MERCURY DANCING COMPANY in New York for over ten years. Mr. Beckles has served as Facility Manager for Deep Ellum Opera Theatre (DEOT and coordinated their New Dance Meets New Music and A Month of Dance festivals. In the summers of 1997 and 1998 Mr. Beckles spent several weeks teaching "at risk" students at AileyCamp in Kansas City, MO. He has taught Ballet and Modern Dance at Park Cities Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Modern/Jazz to youngsters at South Dallas Cultural Center, and Jazz Dance at Dream Catcher and Infinite Bounds in Plano. He is the founder of the André R. George Association (ARGA), dedicated to Dance and Related Arts and Issues. He is also the founder and coordinator of the South Dallas Dance Festival, which has had increasing success in its short history. A 1997 Dallas Morning News review of one of his works referred to it as "... daring" and "gorgeous". And he won a 1997 Leon Rabin Award for Outstanding Choreography for "HAIR" at the Deep Ellum Opera Theatre (DEOT). His Beckles Dancing Company serves as a vehicle for his choreography. In addition, in the summer of 2005, he restaged Suite Beauty, Part II, and did a new work, SR70II, in Trinidad, W. I. In the spring of 2006 he choreographed Dive Slow Resurface on the Momentum Dance Company (MDC) in Irving TX, and in 2008 MDC premiered his Spring (Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons). Beckles Dancing Company (Dallas), is a founding member of the Barefoot Brigade and gives regular performances in Dallas and other parts. It is a part of the City of Dallas Neighborhood Touring Program, and was a part of the Houston Black Dance Festival in 2006 and 2008.

Beckles Dancing Company celebrates the primacy of Dance! We exult by dancing. We develop on, and refine human movement. We speak without words, using the body as instrument of communication, and we reflect the natural beauty we see. We combine various forms to reach you through an exhilarating mix. In works than span the gamut from light to dark, reverential to irreverent, we touch the spirit and renew the soul …

Amy Myers is an Austin-based choreographer and dancer. She holds a BFA from TCU in Ballet and Modern Dance, and has had the pleasure of working with many companies over the years, including Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth, Woven Feet, Spank Dance, Dance Club, and Ariel Dance Theatre.

Amy is a former CD/FW company member who has contributed as a choreographer and performer to multiple previous festivals at The Modern. The CD/FW organization is excited and honored to have her participating in the 10th anniversary edition of the festival.

Chris Archer is an Austin-based photographer and film maker. He received his BFA in Photography from St. Edwards University. He has done portraiture and album covers for several musicians, including The Salesmen, Trent Gentry, and Sorne. You can see samples of his work at www.Archershot.com.

Founded in 2012, Collective Force Dance Company seeks to promote collaboration among artists; to create an environment that fosters individual growth and creative expression; and to provide dance for our community through performances, master classes, workshops, and outreach.

History: In March 2012, former Phase 2 Dance Ensemble members Alisha Armstrong, Holly Arnold, and Lauren Butschek-Neisler, determined to continue their professional careers, formed Collective Force Dance Company (CFDC). The company was built on the notion that together we are stronger, collectively we have greater strength and endless possibilities. CFDC is working toward non-profit status, and their continued dancing is made possible through individual donations and discounted/donated rehearsal space at local studios. CFDC is a member of the Barefoot Brigade coalition for modern dance, contemporary dance, and performance art, thus serving as a co-producer for the Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival.

Milton Adams is a Retired Photo Editor/Photographer at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and has been a photojournalist for over 35 years. Milton has worked on staff at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Dallas Times Herald, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Over the years he has been published in most all of the world's major news and sports magazines and newspapers.

A New Orleans native, Johnston was fortunate to be surrounded by good music from an early age and began playing the piano at age 4. By age 8, he was winning awards for his original compositions. His love of music was further nurtured at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Dallas, where he was recognized nationally as one of the top performing jazz pianists in the country. Johnston continued his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied with legendary artists such as jazz pianist Ray Santisi. It was at Berklee that Johnson had his first encounter with the shakuhachi flute, which touched off a love affair with the instrument and Japanese music which has continued to this day. He has studied with shakuhachi masters Stan Richardson and Yodo Kurahashi II, and holds his Shihan (master's teaching license) and the shakuhachi name of ´Jo-on dó (pure sound) from Stan 'Kakudo' Richardson sensei. In addition to teaching, Jon has performed shakuhachi at a variety of local venues such as the Crowe Collection of Asian Art, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Dallas Arboretum, the Japanese Gardens of Houston, and the Fort Worth Japanese Gardens. This is his first artistic collaboration with choreographer Courtney Mulcahy. You can hear samples of his work at his website at www.jondavidjohnston.com.

Claudia is a Peruvian modern dancer who comes to us from San Marcos Ballet of Peru, directed by England's Vera Stasny. She brings almost 22 years’ experience in dance to CD/FW. Claudia studied Psychology and Education at San Marcos University. In 2007, she came to the U.S. to improve her teaching skills in foreign languages and bilingual education. She is currently working in Fort Worth ISD where she teaches Science, Math and Spanish. She has been a member of Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth since 2008. As a contributor to CD/FW, she has created several new works for the company and has also restaged new versions of old works originally created in Peru. Claudia has also been a guest instructor and choreographer for Wise Dance Center.

Project IN Motion was founded in 1998 and incorporated in 1999.  PIM develops collaborative audio/video, theatrical, terrestrial and aerial dance productions and perform on traditional aerial apparatuses, as well as custom-built devices and set pieces of our own design. In the past thirteen years Project IN Motion has performed in historic homes, along the banks of the Rio Grande, and in New York lofts, in addition to many other locations. Utilizing projected color, poetry, prose, musical collaboration, as well as custom designed, and traditional aerial apparatuses, Project In Motion uses movement and dance to redefine story and elaborate on the way we experience live performance.

North Texas audiences may remember PIM's 2011 appearance at the 8th annual Modern Dance Festival at The Modern when the company performed The Palace at Night on the Reflecting Pond Lawn. Inspired by the work of Alberto Giacometti, The Palace at Night is a series of aerial and terrestrial dance pieces performed on, in, and around a custom built sculpture. This production continued to tour in 2013 and through 2014.

Hilary McDaniel-Douglas has always been interested in artistic communication of all sorts. Attending Interlochen Arts Academy and Camps on full scholarships for Dance and Writing, she went on to Sarah Lawrence College and Indiana University in diverse fields such as Music, Oil Painting, African Studies, Audio Technology and Contemporary Dance, finally graduating in History and continuing in Contemporary Dance in Graduate studies under Mr. Bill (William) Evans. She is Certified in Evans Technique, but has turned her focus to the space above the stage and aerial arts continuing a passion for trapeze that was born in the 1980's. She feels Aerial Arts meld the physical human with the animal human taking us back to our tree climbing roots and are second nature to us. She is the artistic director of Project In Motion Aerial Dance Company and has just completed a tour with the company of The Palace at Night, Inspired by the Work of Alberto Giacometti which was performed at The Modern in 2011. Especially intrigued with the vertical, she embraced the chance to climb next to Richard Serra's incredible "Vortex".

Danielle Georgiou is a dancer, choreographer, and video artist based in Dallas, TX. Her stage and video work deals with puzzles found in femininity—vulnerability, deformity, and beauty.

She is the Visiting Scholar in Dance at Eastfield College and the Director of the UT Arlington Dance Ensemble. Danielle is pursuing her Ph.D. in Humanities at the University of Texas at Dallas and is a current Artist-in-Residency at CentralTrak—the UT Dallas Artist Residency program.

In 2011, she founded DGDG (the Danielle Georgiou Dance Group), a performance art dance group that works within ideas of German expressionism and tanztheater. The productions work toward creating compelling images of a "new female." Whether collaborating or defining her own work, Danielle wants dancers that constantly strive to transform themselves, either in image or skill. Technique is your foundation – not your identity.

The Danielle Georgiou Dance Group was founded by Danielle Georgiou in 2011. DGDG is a performance art dance group that works within ideas of German expressionism and dans theatre. The productions work toward creating compelling images of a "new female." Whether collaborating or defining her own work, Danielle wants dancers that constantly strive to transform themselves, either in image or skill. Technique is your foundation—not your identity.

Dennis Beck is a professional T'ai Chi instructor who has studied the Chinese art of stress reduction and exercise for the last 20 plus years. He has taught extensively in Fort Worth, including classes at TCU (for many years in the Japanese Garden), at Lockheed Martin, Trinity Terrace, Town Village Ridgmar, for the City of Fort Worth at R.D. Evans Recreation Center on the West Side, at JPS, and in several area churches such as University Christian Church, First Presbyterian, Saint Stephens Presbyterian, First Congregationalist, and others. He also worked with pain patients at High Point Rehabilitation in Arlington and Fort Worth's Center for Rehabilitative Medicine for many years.

Dennis is also a Navy veteran, a graduate of Texas Tech University with a degree in history, adjunct faculty at TCU for many years teaching classes in creative writing and smoking cessation, and a freelance journalist who for years wrote book reviews and profiles for the Star-Telegram, Dallas Morning News, and other newspapers around the country. His latest book Quit Smoking the T'ai Chi Way: Help Yourself or Someone You Love and his novel Feather Duster, a World War II mystery, are available at amazon.com and other major outlets.

He has official permission to teach Yang Style T'ai Chi from his teacher, Master Ho Chin-Han. Dennis also studied extensively with Master Justin Harris who taught him Sun style T'ai Chi, Hsing-I, and related arts. Emphasis in all the classes he teaches is on stress reduction and general health benefits.

Sarah Newton (Dallas) holds a Master's of Fine Arts degree from Texas Woman's University and is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Sam Houston State University, where she holds a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Dance. Sarah is a member of Contemporary Dance / Fort Worth and Out On a Limb Dance Company, and has also performed professionally with the Kista Tucker Dance Company, Satellite-Dance, and MAMandSCHLECTE Dance, including appearances on the Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival and The NOTcracker. She is a well-seasoned performer with credits including a solo choreographed by Dr. Linda Caldwell that was performed at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She toured New Zealand with the Pickwick Players (a youth theatre troupe offered by audition only) in the lead role of The Hundred Dresses. Sarah is certified to teach mat and equipment Pilates through Balanced Body University, and her dance training includes study at the American Dance Festival. She has taught modern dance, hip-hop, creative movement, ballet, jazz, tap, body conditioning, and dance fitness (salsacise, dancercise) to students of all ages. She is currently on faculty for TCU's School for Classical & Contemporary Dance and is an in-house "mechanic" for The Body Garage (Pilates studio) in Fort Worth. She has served as adjunct faculty for Tarrant County College's Northwest Campus (2008-2010) and has taught for the CD/FW School since 2008.

Marianne Shih holds a degree in Public Affairs and Dance from the University of Texas at Dallas. An alumnae of American Dance Festival, Marianne has had the opportunity to study with the likes of Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Bill Evans, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and more. She was fortunate enough to discover the world of aerial and circus arts at Vertical Fitness Dallas and continues to find ways to blend her love of art, expression, and physicality through creating choreography on and off the ground. Marianne is currently in the process of completing her Pilates instructor certification through Power Pilates.

Melissa Eidson currently resides in San Miguel de Allende, Guanuato, Mexico where she is making independent films. Her latest short film is currently in production, with a working title Give and Take. It will be shown at The Modern in Fort Worth, Texas July 27th at 1:30pm.

Melissa started making independent films after working with Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas and IMCINE in Mexico City. She has produced and directed two of her own documentaries: El Barrio, (trailer) covering the neighborhood of Tepito in Mexico City, which was screened at various film festivals including the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival in a group of other films from Latin America organized by Pablo Udenio of Haciendo Cine in Argentina. El Barrio won Best International Documentary Award in October of 2006 at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF) in Los Angeles and the Founders Choice Award for Best Feature Documentary at NYIIFVF in New York City in November, 2006.

Her last documentary No Son Invisibles: Maya Women and Microfinance, (trailer) featuring Muhammad Yunus, was originally screened at Cannes film festival in France and the Buñuel Festival in Calanda, Spain. It was also translated into Arabic for the Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran, Iran. It went on to the Torino and Roma Film Festivals in Italy and The Seattle Film Festival as well as the Del Ray Beach Film Festival. It was also screened at The University of Washington and University of Texas. It has been acquired by Harvard, Stanford, UT, TCU, Baylor, University of Washington, Vanderbilt, USC, and SMU libraries.

Jessica Thomas is a graduate from the University of North Texas with a BFA in Dance Performance. While attending UNT, she was privileged to receive the Lucille Murchison Dance Scholarship, as well as perform faculty choreography in New York City. She also had the beautiful opportunity to perform the reconstruction of José Limón’s “Psalm,” for former company member, Brenna-Monroe Cook. This experience led her to travel between California and New York, immersing... delving deeper into the Limon technique, as well as other realms of movement. The humble, transcendent beauty of this technique combined with its organic, technical rigor continues to significantly shape her own movement aesthetic... drawing her deeper into her own sense of being. Jessica is currently dancing with Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth and Satellite-Dance, as well as teaching for The Colony Dance Studio. Her choreography has been presented by the Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival as well as CD/FW, and has been praised by local audiences.