Diana Crum is a choreographer, dancer, teacher and administrator based in Brooklyn. As a Teaching Artist in New York, she has worked with New York City Center, LEAP, Urban Assembly School for Law and Criminal Justice, International Center for Tolerance Education, and Irondale Ensemble Project’s Big Box. She has also been Adjunct Faculty at Hollins University (Roanoke, VA) and University of the Arts (Philadelphia, PA). She teaches as a modern guest artist at DNA (Dance New Amsterdam) and CLASSCLASSCLASS, both in New York. Her teacher training includes the completion of the Foundations of Dance Education course in the 92nd St Y’s DEL program (2007-2008), the Mark DeGarmo & Dancers and Irondale Ensemble Project’s Teaching Artist Training Institute (2010), and on-the-job training as Education Associate at New York City Center (2005-2006). As Development Associate at Movement Research, she currently administers the Dance Makers in the Schools program.
Mariangela Lopez, native of Caracas, Venezuela, has been teaching movement and dance since 1999. After graduating from the Boston Conservatory (BFA in Dance), she moved to NYC in 1999 to continue her career as a dancer, choreographer and dance educator.
Since then Mariangela began her extensive experience teaching movement to the community, from public schools such as Washington Irving and Harvey Milk School (Hetrick Martin Institute), domestic violence organizations such as Sanctuary for Families, Safe Horizon and Volunteers of America, youth at risk organizations such as Harlem United and Save Space, to HIV and AIDS organizations such as Aid for AIDS, Latino Commission on AIDS, and Exponents, among many others.
From 2006 to 2009, after being involved with the community program of Gina Gibney Dance for over four years, Mariangela became the Associate Director of the Community Programs of the company. Here she developed a curriculum specially design to teach movement to children living in domestic violence shelters. During that time, she was also a teaching artist at the Tisch School of the Arts, NYU Undergraduate and Graduate Summer School (2005-2008). Mariangela is a Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies (2001), a Certified Yoga Teacher from Yoga Union, NYC and holds a Certification in Foundations of Dance Education from Dance Education Laboratory (DEL), NYC. Currently Mariangela is on the teaching faculty at the Harkness Dance Center at 92 Street Y, Ballet Hispanico and the Laban Institute of Movement Studies, NYC. She also has a private practice in bodywork based on Yoga and Bartenieff Fundamentals.
Beside teaching and performing for numerous artists nationally and internationally, Mariangela has been presenting her work as a choreographer in different venues around NYC, Europe and Latin America. She continues creating work under her company name, Accidental Movement. She is a 2009 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence. In her teaching Mariangela applies her knowledge in Modern Dance, Composition, Improvisation, Yoga, Creative Movement, Ballet, Laban Movement Analysis and Baternieff Fundamentals. Her most important goal as a teacher is to provide an experience in class where each participant can feel validated as a unique individual with the ability to make choices and celebrate the joy and empowerment of movement.
Yvonne Meier, originally from Zurich, Switzerland has lived and worked out of NYC since 1979. Besides creating large scale" spectacle" she stays committed to the art of improvisation. In " scores she has developed her own improvisation technique. Her pieces are mostly shown at downtown venues as PS122, Danspace Project, The Kitchen, etc. She has toured all over the Us and Europe. She has received funding from the NEA, NYFA, NYSCA, Pro Helvetia, etc. For her piece "The Shining" she has received a “Bessie Award" in 1995. Besides teaching Releasing Technique and Authentic Movement since 1980 she has become interested in teaching children and she has taught creative dance for children since 2000.
Zach Morris is a choreographer, director, and visual artist who works in a variety of media including contemporary dance, site-specific performance, film, visual art, and large-scale installations. His work has been seen internationally, at several theaters around the US and at numerous venues in New York City.
Zach’s teaching philosophy is centered on giving students practical tools and methods to generate, shape, and structure movement and visual material for various contexts including traditional theatrical spaces, site-specific/public art spaces, and dance film. He brings with him the experience of working on numerous youth theater and dance projects throughout New York and around the US including: The Pittsburgh Public Theater, Ramapo Country Day Theater, Denver's Shwayder Theater, as well as working with Carnegie Mellon University's pre-college program. He has taught choreography workshops and masterclasses for college students and professionals at Florida State University (2009), Swarthmore College (2005), and for the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (2007 & 2009), among others. He currently coordinates and runs the dance program at LEVELS, an award-winning cultural center for teens (2005-2009).
Zach is the recipient of a New York Dance and Performance (BESSIE) Award for Creation/Choreography, the Henry Boettcher Award for Excellence in Directing, the NYC Fringe Fest Award for Excellence in Choreography, and has been granted residencies or commissions from Arts>WFC, Danspace Project, The Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation, Dance Theater Workshop, Topaz Arts, La Mama, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Swarthmore Project, Epiphany Theatre Company, and others. He is Co-Director of Third Rail Projects and organizer and moderator of the NYC Dance Film Lab. Zach holds a BFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University.
