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MELT summer 2006 faculty bios

Arthur Aviles is a gay New York-Rican currently living in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx. He is the Artistic Director of Typical Theatre and the Bronx Academy of Arts and dance home base. He graduated from BARD College in '87 under Judson Church Pioneer Aileen Passloff. He was a member of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane dance company ('87-95) and received a “Bessie” Award in '88. He has conducted workshops in the company technique SWIFT/FLOW through out the US and abroad.

Irene Dowd is on the faculty of the Juilliard School and Canada’s National Ballet School. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained her own studio and private practice for over 30 years in NYC. Irene choreographs for Peggy Baker, Margie Gillis and other solo dancers. Her work has been taught in schools and dance companies across the US and Canada.

Neil Greenberg has been making dances since ‘79, receiving fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, NEA, NYFA and the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, and awards from the National Dance Project, the Rockefeller Multi-Arts Production Fund and NYSCA. He has created 2 commissions for Mikhael Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project. A former dancer with the Merce Cunnignham Dance Company (‘79-86), he has been on the dance faculty of Purchase College since ’87, and served as dance curator at The Kitchen (‘95-99). A revival of his “Bessie” Award winning Not-About-AIDS-Dance will be presented at DTW in June ‘06.

Darrell Jones has performed in the US and abroad with a variety of choreographers and companies such as Bebe Miller, Urban Bush Women, Ronald K. Brown, Min Tanaka, Ralph Lemon and KOKUMA Dance Theater. In addition to performing, Darrell continues to choreograph and teach. His classes are informed by his training and studies in a variety of dance techniques, improvisation, Butoh and traditional dance forms.

Ishmael Houston-Jones' improvised dance and language work has been performed in NYC, across the US, in Europe, Australia and Latin America. He has taught many movement and improvisation and writing workshops, notably at the EDDC (The Netherlands), American Dance Festival, Seattle Festival of Alternative Dance and Improvisation (SFADI) and at the San Francisco Festival of Improvisation. More info at http://ishmaelhj.com

Barbara Mahler has been teaching daily classes for 25 years. She was on the faculty of the Susan Klein School of Dance, and currently teaches at Hunter College and other studios in NYC. Mahler keeps in mind the power of movement, space and gravity as abstract formal elements of choreography. Her approach is rigorously contemporary. She has worked with many noted choreographers, but primarily pursues her own choreographic vision. A teacher and performer of international reputation, her work has been seen worldwide. She was guest artist at The Yard, adjudicated by Patricia Nanon, a recipient of a Sage Cowls Land Grant at the University of Minnesota and a ’01-’02 Movement Research A.I.R.

Juliette Mapp is a dancer, teacher and choreographer based in NYC. She has danced for many choreographers including John Jasperse (for which she recieved a “Bessie” in ‘02), Vicky Shick, Stephanie Skura and Deborah Hay. Juliette teaches throughout NYC and guest teaches abroad. Her teaching is influenced by her study of The Alexander Technique™, Skinner Releasing and Kinetic Awareness. Juliette makes dances that have been presented around NYC, most recently focusing on work that is anti-war. She was a ‘04-’05 Movement Research A.I.R.

Yvonne Meier was born in Zurich, Switzerland. Since arriving in NYC in ’79, she has shown her work at The Kitchen, Danspace Project, PS 122, PS 1 and Etc. among others. She has received funding from the NEA, NYFA, Franklin Furnace, Etc. She won a “Bessie” Award for her piece The Shining. Yvonne Meier also teaches Authentic Movement and scores.

Jennifer Monson is an improvisational practitioner and choreographer. She has created a wide body of work that incorporates well-developed collaborative relationships with many artists including Zeena Parkins, Yvonne Meier, David Zambrano and DD Dorvillier. Recently she has used the concept of navigation as a way of informing her work and in the past 4 years has completed 3 migratory dance tours that followed the journeys of Gray Whales, Ospreys and Ducks and Geese. Dancing outside has deeply affected her practice. She teaches to a wide range of communities both globally and locally. She is currently artistic director of iLAND – Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art, Nature and Dance.

Tere O'Connor has been making dances since '82, creating over 30 works for his company, and numerous commissioned works for dance companies around the world. He has received a fellowship from The Guggenheim Foundation ('93), three "Bessie" Awards ('88, '99, '05) and grants from the NEA, NYSCA, NYFA, Jerome Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Harkness Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Arts International, Philip Morris, Inc. and Altria Group, Inc. He recently completed a new solo, Indoor Man, for Mikhail Baryshnikov. The company’s newest full-length work, BABY, premiered at DTW in March ’06.

Susan Rethorst has created dances in NYC since ‘75, recently becoming more involved in lecturing and writing about dance. Since ‘95, she has divided her time between NY and Amsterdam, teaching and making work throughout Europe and the US. She has received numerous commissions from the Jerome Foundation, awards from the NEA, NYSCA, Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, NYFA, Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation, and a “Bessie” Award in ’85.

Shelley Senter has been involved with experimental and post-modern dance for more than 20 years, touring worldwide as a performer, choreographer, director and teacher. She has worked with many amazing artists in the NYC, West Coast and International dance communities, and has been involved with Movement Research since the mid-‘80s. Recent activities include the preservation and transmission of seminal works such as Yvonne Rainer’s Trio A, and the “re-setting” or re-choreographing of Trisha Brown’s masterpiece, Set and Reset. Senter has been critically recognized for her distinct approach to movement and is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique™, which she teaches around the globe. She is the recipient of a San Francisco Bay Area Isadora Duncan (“Izzy”) Award.

Scott Smith teaches, makes dance and music, performs, works in mixed ability groups and collaborates. He worked in NYC with dance companies, and eventually moved to an island near Seattle to work as a landscaper, to research movement and to practice music. He now lives near London where he teaches movement, as well as making performance and providing music for performance and video.

Gwen Welliver performed with Doug Varone and Dancers from ‘91-00, and in ‘00 joined the Trisha Brown Dance Company as Rehearsal Director. Gwen is a winner of a “Bessie” Award for Sustained Achievement in dancing. She has taught at numerous studios, festivals and universities in the US and abroad including the ADF in North Carolina and Chile, Bates Dance Festival, International Summer School of Dance (Japan), Kalamata International Dance Festival (Greece) and the Moscow Contemporary Dance Summer School 'TSEH'. Gwen was on faculty at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts from ‘95-‘00.