Jon Johnston –Composer/Musician for Kakudo
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 ´J-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.
Courtney Mulcahy (CD/FW company member) – choreographer for Kakudo
Courtney Mulcahy is from San Antonio, Texas. Courtney was the founder and director of the Laredo Dance Initiative, the first modern dance company in Laredo, TX, and was commissioned by the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra to choreograph the Rite of Spring. She has also performed with such companies as The Dance Theatre of Harlem, Spectrum Dance Company, The San Antonio Dance Company, The San Antonio Metropolitan Dance Company, and Candela Latin Dance Company. Courtney has received several honors and awards for her unique and thought-provoking choreography. In 2006, her work "Hush" was selected to represent Sam Houston State at the ACDFA festival in Laramie, Wyoming. She has attended such prestigious workshops as the Dance Camera West workshop in Los Angeles, CA, the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC and the Bill Evans Dance Teacher Intensive in Seattle, WA. Courtney has taught ballet, modern, jazz, choreography, improvisation, dance history, music for dance, dance conditioning, and Latin ballroom at a variety of institutions including Ballet Arts, Texas State University, The American College Dance Festival, Texas A&M International University, and currently at Tarrant County College-Northwest and Collin Country Community College. She holds a BSHE in Fashion Merchandising from Texas State University and a MFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University. This is her second season with CD/FW as a company member and a faculty member, both for the CD/FW School and for "Dance Delivered" educational outreach programs.
Tina Mullone (Fort Worth/Louisiana) – Performer-Choreographer
Tina began her dance training in ballet under Fernando Schaffenburg. She continued to study dance under Darryl Sneed while attending the University of Oklahoma. After graduation Tina performed and taught for JAADE Dance Theater, Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth and Beckles Dancing Company. She also taught for many area schools and for students of all ages from elementary through college. Her own training includes work at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Philadanco Dance School, and Urban Bush Women. She holds a MFA in Modern Dance from Texas Christian University. Tina strives to keep the arts alive through performing, choreographing and teaching. Tina currently teaches full-time at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Periodically commuting back and forth from Louisiana, Tina is an Associate Artist with Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth and also maintains her ties with the Beckles Dancing Company.
Claudia Pacheco Orcasitas (CD/FW company member) – Performer-Choreographer
Claudia is a Peruvian modern dancer from San Marcos Ballet of Peru directed by Vera Stastny of England. Claudia has performed professionally for more than 20 years, working with different choreographers such as Royston Maldoom (England), Rogelio Lopez (Costa Rica), Patricia Awapara (Peru), Tamara McLong (England), Dana Tai Soon Burgess (USA) and Maureen Llewellyn Jones (Peru). She graduated from Peru's San Marcos University in 2001 where she studied Psychology, and in 2004 she returned to complete a degree in Education in two years. In March 2007, Claudia came to the U.S. to strengthen her foreign language teaching skills. She currently teaches Spanish for the Fort Worth ISD at Southwest High School, where she is also the director of the drill team, and modern dance classes at Wise Dance Center. This is her third season performing with CD/FW.
Jessica Thomas – Choreographer/Performer for “U.Universe”
A graduate of the University of North Texas with a B.F.A in Ballet and Modern Performance, Jessica Thomas was privileged to receive the Lucille Murchison Dance Scholarship while at UNT, as well as to perform faculty choreography in New York City.
She was also honored to rehearse/perform the reconstruction of José Limón's, "Psalm," for former Company member, Brenna-Monroe Cook. This experience then led her to travel between California and New York studying with various José Limón Company members through their Intensives. The humble, transcendent beauty of this technique combined with its organic, technical rigor continues to significantly shape her own movement aesthetic...drawing her deeper to her own sense of being. Jessica is currently performing with Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth and Satellite-Dance.
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