>general info
For an archive of recent faculty bios, click here>
Jen Abrams integrates Contact Improvisation and Body Mind Centering® principles to find ease and strength, release and power in the body’s anatomical systems. She has studied, taught and performed Contact Improvisation since 1990. Her choreographic
and improvisation work has been seen at Judson Church, La Mama, Dixon Place, HERE, PS 122, and BAX. She performs regularly at WOW Café Theater, where she has been a member since 2000.
Michelle Boulé has danced with Miguel Gutierrez, Deborah Hay, John Jasperse, Donna Uchizono, Judith Sanchez-Ruiz, and Beth Gill, among others. Besides MR, she has taught at DNA, the Trisha Brown Studio, the ADF NY Intensive, George Washington University, the Hong Kong Performing Arts Academy, and the University of Illinois. In 2002, she was a DanceWEB scholarship recipient in Vienna. In NY, she has shown work at Danpsace Project’s Food for Thought and P.S. 122’s Hothouse.
Sigal Bergman is an Alexander Technique™ teacher and a dancer. She has lived in NY since 1995, performing her own work and in others including Alejandra Martorell, Osmani Tellez, Sally Silvers, Linda Austin and Athena Malloy. She was a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence in 1999-2000 and a recipient of a space grant from BAX in 2004. In 2002 she graduated from ACAT, and in 2006 completed an AT postgraduate course in “the Art of Breathing.”
She was assistant AT teacher at Juilliard’s drama department in
the spring of 2008.
Barbara Dilley inhabited NYC from 1960-75, dancing with the Merce Cunningham Company, Judson Dance Theater, the Grand Union, and Natural History of the American Dancer. She has developed these contemplative arts disciplines over the past 34 years at Naropa University, where she teaches in the MFA program for Contemporary Performance.
Irene Dowd is currently on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School and Canada’s National Ballet School, as well as the Hollins University/ADF MFA program in dance. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has been teaching dance and kinesthetic anatomy for 40 years. Irene has choreographed for Peggy Baker, Margie Gillis and other solo dancers. Her work has been taught in schools and dance companies across the US and Canada.
Katie Duck, dancer, choreographer and teacher, left the U.S. in 1976 to live in Amsterdam, Holland and toured throughout Europe as a performer in solo productions, in duet with Carlos Traffic, and in improvisations with local music artists. In 1979, she moved to Italy where she formed the company GROUPO, which toured throughout Europe. In 1991 she accepted a position at the AHK dance department in Amsterdam where she teaches movement research, improvisation (presence), workshops and technique. Her current initiatives include a monthly improvisation series at the Fijnhout Theater, the Muiderpoort Theater (1994-99), The Melkweg Theater (2000-01), OT301 Cultural center (2002-present), a yearly Improvisation festival at the Frascati Theater (1994-99), Magpie (from 1995-present). She tours to Asia, U.S., England, Scandinavia and Europe with her solo work, professional workshops, with Magpie, is a teacher for both the SNDO and MTD at the AHK Hooge School voor de kunsten and continues to collaborate with both music and dance artists all over the world.
Levi Gonzalez is a performer and choreographer living in Brooklyn. His own work and his collaborations with Luciana Achugar have been presented by Movement Research at Judson Church, DTW, The Kitchen, Danspace Project, P.S. 122, and P.S. 1, among others. He has performed with Donna Uchizono, John Jasperse, Chamecki Lerner, Jeremy Nelson, Dennis O’Connor and Michael Laub’s Remote Control Productions in Europe. Levi has taught technique and composition at Movement Research and with Dean Moss at The Kitchen. He was a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence from 2003-04, and was a 2006 NYFA Fellow in Choreography.
Ziji Beth Goren has devoted the past 33 years to applying voice-movement practices to the Body-Mind Centering® foundation. Certified as teacher-practitioner of BMC® since 1982, a founding member of Movement Research, she’s an eager solvent for world rhythms, language-sounds, and tribal ways. Beth is author of Rapids and co-producer of Tribes CD. Fellowships, grants, and spirit runways support performance, research, written works, and workshops within the U.S., Canada, Europe, and South Pacific Rim.
Miguel Gutierrez is a dance and music artist based in Brooklyn. He has created several evenings of work, both solo and with his group, the Powerful People. The work has been presented in venues and festivals across the country and internationally. He is a New York Foundation for the Arts 2008 Fellow in choreography. He teaches workshops in technique, composition, and creative process around the world. www.miguelgutierrez.org
K.J. Holmes is an independent dance artist exploring improvisation as process and performance since 1981. Her influences include Contact Improvisation, BMC®, Yoga, Authentic Movement, Release techniques, Martial Dance, world vocal studies, and contemporary dance and theater. She is currently a student of the Sanford Meisner technique at the William Esper Studio. She teaches and performs throughout the world and has collaborated with Simone Forti, Image Lab and Steve Paxton, among many others. K.J. is a 1999 graduate of the School for Body-Mind Centering® and has a private practice in Dynamic Alignment and Re-integration in Brooklyn, N.Y. where she lives. She is adjunct faculty at NYU/Experimental Theater Wing, as well as continuing to teach through Movement Research.
Iréne Hultman is currently rehearsal director for the Trisha Brown Dance Company. She was also a member of TBDC from 1983-88. She is a native of Sweden and a NY-based choreographer. Her work spans over fifteen years of which several premiered at The Joyce Theater and Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church. She has also choreographed seven Opera Productions as well as musicals and cabarets including South Pacific and A Touch of Kurt Weil. She is the co-Founder of Järna-Brooklyn, a Swedish-American cultural entity that encourages artistic experimentation and exchange.
Nicholas Leichter received a BA in dance from Connecticut College. He was a member of Ralph Lemon Company from 1993-95. He has taught throughout the US, Europe, Asia, and Canada, and has been on faculty at Tisch School of the Arts and the American Dance Festival. Leichter has received support from TIAA-CREF, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, NYFA, Jerome Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation, Pentacle’s HelpDesk, Dance/USA and the NEA as part of the National College Choreographic Initiative, The 92nd Street Y New Works in Dance Fund, The Joyce Theater Foundation, NYC, with major support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, NYSCA, and the NEA. Leichter received the 2006 Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award from Wesleyan University and a 2008 Choreography Fellowship from NYFA. Leichter has been artist-in-residence/guest artist at many institutions including Sarah Lawrence College and George Washington University. He is on the board of Dance Theater Workshop.
Barbara Mahler has been involved in the movement arts for 30 plus years. A choreographer, teacher, and performer (still), certified in Klein Technique, she brings to her classes the experience and depth of knowledge that accompanies the re-training and re-education of her own body. She has been a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence twice, has an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is a movement consultant at Hunter College, and is on the artists advisory board of the Brooklyn Arts Exchange. She maintains a private practice in Zero Balancing and other hands on healing modalities. www.barbaramahler.com
Luis Lara Malcavias is a Venezuelan multidisciplinary artist. He has danced in works by Jeremy Nelson, John Jasperse, David Zambrano and Mark Tompkins, among others. Since 1994 he has presented his work in New York in several venues including Danspace Project, The Kitchen, DTW and P.S. 122, and in many countries in Europe, South America, North America and Asia. He was a 1998-99 and 2002-03 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence and received a 2006 NYFA Fellowship in Choreography. He has taught classes/workshops in several countries and venues including SEAD, Christian Blaise Company and the Sasha Waltz Company among others.
Juliette Mapp is a dancer, teacher and choreographer based in NYC. Juliette has worked with many choreographers including John Jasperse (with whom she received a New York Dance and Performance Award “Bessie” for outstanding performance), Vicky Shick, Deborah Hay, Jennifer Monson, Iréne Hultman, Neil Greenberg and Stephanie Skura. Juliette has taught and performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, South America and the United States. She has been on the faculty of The George Washington University, Hunter College and Fordham University. Juliette was a 2004-05 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence. Juliette has been making her own dances for the past eight years. Her last dance, Anna, Ikea, and I was presented at Danspace Project in winter 2008.
Alejandra Martorell is a movement-based artist and a certified Alexander Technique™ teacher as of June 2008. She is co-editor of Movement Research's Critical Correspondence and holds a Master’s degree on Interdisciplinary Arts Education. She has made dances that were seen in New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, Perú and Puerto Rico, and has worked with Sally Silvers & Dancers, Jennifer Monson, Karen Sherman, Sigal Bergman, DD Dorvillier, Daria Faïn and TRYST, among others.
Jennifer Monson is the artistic director of iLAND – interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art Nature and Dance. Her projects iMAP/Ridgewood Reservoir and BIRD BRAIN are based in the investigation of the relationship between environment and embodied practice. She is currently teaching at the Dance Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as part of an initiative to bring environmental issues to the forefront of the university and the community at large.
Charles Mosey has been investigating and teaching Contact Improvisation in New York City for over 15 years. Highlights of this inquiry include acting as teaching assistant for Daniel Lepkoff at the American Dance Festival, and for Nancy Stark Smith at the Bates Dance Festival. Most recently he helped curate CI36, a global gathering celebrating the form.
Jennifer Nugent is a performer, teacher, and choreographer. She was a member of David Dorfman Dance from 1999-2007, receiving a BESSIE in 2006 for her performing work with the company. In N.Y. Jennifer has danced with Daniel Lepkoff, Nina Winthrop, Lisa Race, Yin Mei, Doug Elkins, Bill Young, and Colleen Thomas. She continuously collaborates with Paul Matteson and is currently working with Martha Clarke. Jennifer has taught and performed at festivals and universities throughout the United States, Korea, Russia, and Vietnam.
Margaret Paek is a Lower Left artist living in New York (www.lowerleft.org). She is committed to the process of collaboration, inspired by improvisation, and has had the pleasure of working with Nina Martin, Mary Overlie, Shelley Senter, and Lionel Popkin, among others. Currently, Margaret dances with projectLIMB, Team Djordjevich, and a new collective including Charlie Mosey and Melissa Guerrero. For over ten years, Margaret has practiced and taught Contact Improvisation, Ensemble Thinking, and other movement techniques.
Jimena Paz is an Artist-in-Residence at Movement Research and at DTW’s Outer/Space creative residency. She has shown work at Jacob’s Pillow, Joe’s Pub, BAX, Judson Church, 92nd Street Y, John Jay Theater, SUNY Purchase, Stadkino (Austria), and Centro Cultural Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires). She has danced with the Stephen Petronio Company (1999-2006), Martha Clarke, Constanza Macras (Berlin), and Iris Scaccheri (Buenos Aires).Teaching activities include: Trisha Brown Studio, Movement Research, DNA, the New School, Tisch NYU, University of California Irvine and the American Dance Festival. She’s a Guild Certified Feldenkrais® Practitioner.
Molly Rabinowitz has been dancing, choreographing, and studying the Alexander Technique™ in New York for twenty years. She has taught the Alexander Technique™ for over thirteen years. She has been an artist-in-residence at Movement Research and a guest teacher at Wesleyan University, NYU, The Holborn Center and the Greenwich Dance Agency in London, and the State School for Contemporary Dance in Copenhagen, among other schools. She also assists Ann Rodiger in the Balance Arts Alexander Teacher Training Course. She recently received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Vicky Shick, an independent dancer and choreographer, has been involved in the NYC dance community since the late ‘70s. A member of the Trisha Brown Company for 6 years, she has also worked with many other NY-based choreographers. She received a “Bessie” Award for performance (1985) and choreography (2003), has shown her own work since the mid-‘80s and teaches regularly in the US and Europe.
Shakti Andrea Smith is a dancer, Massage Therapist/Bodyworker, and Teacher. Shakti teaches Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, and Dance Meditations in Brooklyn and Manhattan. She also teaches at Earthdance, Dance New England, and in the Boston area. Shakti’s teaching and performances are influenced by Nature studies, Action Theatre, and other pathways to being alive and present in this moment. She has a degree in Transpersonal Psychology and a passion for site-specific performance work. www.dancingwithshakti.com.
RoseAnne Spradlin’s choreographic work probes the body, seeking insight and liberation for both performers and audiences in the theatrical experience. Spradlin received a Bessie Award in 2003, and recently received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Choreography, an Artist Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and a three-year Lambent Fellowship in Choreography. She has also received two NYFA Fellowships in Choreography, and numerous grants in support of her work. Spradlin’s company performed at the ImPulsTanz Festival in Vienna in 2007; also in 2007 Spradlin taught courses in Body-Mind Centering® and aspects of composition and performance in Vienna, Brussels, Paris and London.
Gwen Welliver performed with Doug Varone and Dancers (1990-2000) and received a “Bessie” Award for Sustained Achievement (2000). She then joined the Trisha Brown Dance Company as Rehearsal Director (2000-07). Gwen has taught in numerous settings including the ADF (North Carolina, Chile), International Summer School of Dance (Japan), Kalamata International Dance Festival (Greece), Moscow Contemporary Dance Summer School “TSEH”, and was on the faculty of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Dance Department (1995-2000). Gwen is currently developing her work at Bennington College (Teaching Fellow/MFA).
Yasuko Yokoshi’s works, which combine different disciplines and mediums, have been presented at Danspace Project, the Guggenheim Museum, The Kitchen, MASS MoCA, P.S. 122, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. Yokoshi received “Bessie” Awards in 2003 and 2006. She is the recipient of a 2007 BAXTen Award and a 2008 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award. She serves as a curatorial adviser at The Kitchen as well as on the board of directors at Movement Research.