OMDC Update

Want to know more about the artists participating in 45°  Celsius? Here’s some info they supplied:

Lauren Kotulak Bartels is the Associate Director of UNO’s The Moving Company, Artist in the Schools for Nebraska Arts Council, and a lifelong supporter of the Omaha Modern Dance Collective.

5 x 9 x Many
Staged by Lauren Kotulak Bartels with the intent to fill 45 seconds with at least 45 dancers repeating five movements nine times. The audience is encouraged to join in.

Lori Boyle trained with Mary Waugh Taylor in ballet, jazz and modern for more than 15 years, first at the Dance Center, then at Ballet Omaha, and finally at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. She has been part of several OMDC shows in the past. Currently she is a co-director of the Cherrie Anderson Dance Studio and a choreographer for their competition team, CA Dance Company. She has won several regional and national choreography awards at competitions.

Bamboo Banga is an upbeat and high-energy piece. Like the road runner in the beginning of the song, the dancers are moving quickly through the music.

Missed Me is a quirky and fun piece. The dancers are portraying the character of a flirty girl who is taunting the boys.

Welton Cooks Jr. was born and raised in Omaha. He is a crew member of The O.NE Breakers. Welton has competed in several funk style battles in Omaha and Kansas City. This fall, He will be teaching hip-hop at Center Stage Danz and a funk styles class at UNO. Welton has studied ballet and jazz at the Jewish Community Center. He has enjoyed his opportunites to explore modern and contemporary dance through UNO’s Moving Company.

Broken
Choreography: Welton Cooks Jr.
Music: Sara Bareilles, In Your Eyes

This is a lonely heart crying out. She threw me away like I was trash.

David Corbin is an emeritus health education professor at UNO. He has performed live music at many dance performances over the past three decades. He also has performed as a dancer, mostly in minor roles, until recently when he began posting dances related to the environment on YouTube and TeacherTube. His most popular dance is Bagdaddy on YouTube.

That’s Not My Name: This dance is performed to the music of The Ting Tings. It invites the question: “How do others see me?”

Stephanie Huettner has been dancing and performing for 30 years, through several media. She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, and musical theater. Most recently she has been performing with UNO’s The Moving Company.

Round & Round
Music: Flint March, by Brian Eno
Performers: Stephanie Huettner, Kara Gillmore, Esther Katz, and many hula hoop artists.

This piece explores circles and round shapes moving through a space.

Essence
Music: Infra 2 and Infra 4, by Max Richter
Performers: Stephanie Huettner, Kara Gillmore, and Esther Katz

This piece originally was choreographed as a memorial to Mary Waugh Taylor’s movement styles and techniques.

Liz Ivkovich and Jessica Reed met in 2009 through UNO’s The Moving Company and OMDC; where they both continue to train, perform and choreograph. Jessica received her early dance training in the Seattle area and continued to train with Ballet Omaha, JCC, and the Omaha Theater Ballet School of Dance.  She is a recent graduate of St. Olaf College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance. Liz studied ballet and modern dance in Michigan at the Academy of Ballet in Jackson, the Greater Lansing Ballet Company, and the University of Michigan.

Before & After; a two part duet
Music: Dr. Pill by Clint Mansell and After by Aaron Strumpel

This is a collaborative experiment in the difference between the energies of ‘before’ and ‘after.’

JCC Dance Training Company

The JCC Dance Training Company is an experience in which dancers ages 12-18 can refine their technique, work with choreographers from all over, and perform around the city. Its director is Esther Katz, Cultural Arts Director of the Jewish Community Center. Originally from Philadelphia, Esther danced professionally until moving to Omaha in 2003. Since then she has performed with OMDC and the Omaha Dance Project. She has directed the JCC’s dance program since 2006.

Against the Grain
Music: Tantra Lounge, Karminsky Experience Inc.

This piece originally was choreographed by the late Mary Waugh Taylor. It was set on the JCC Dance Training Company in the spring of 2011 by Kara Gillmore, Stephanie Huettner, and Stephanie Kelley. It was later restaged by Esther Katz for this performance.

Josie Metal-Corbin is the Margaret Killian Professor of Education at UNO teaching in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and the National Dance Association’s 2012 Scholar/Artist. She is also director of UNO’s modern dance company, The Moving Company. Since 1983, she has been an Artist in the Schools/Community for the Nebraska Arts Council. She has taught and performed throughout the USA, in Great Britain, Jamaica, Portugal, France and Italy.

The Perils of Pollen
Choreography: Josie Metal-Corbin with Kyan Doubet
Dancer: Kyan Doubet
Singer: Jessi Johnson
Man with Bouquet: Ben Doubet

This dance is in recognition of all the allergy sufferers out there on the grass!

Laura Sedivy graduated from UNL with a BA in dance in 2008. She is currently a member of The Moving Company and is studying to be a physical therapist assistant at Nebraska Methodist College. Laura also teaches for Arts for All, which makes the arts available and affordable to all.

Catch and Release
Dancers: Chelsie Hartness, Sarah Hanify, Angela Infantino, Jessica Johnson, Emily Jordan, Ren Navartil, Jenna Pearson, Ellie Perkins.
Music: La Derniere Minute By Carla Bruni

With only a minute left in life, what are we able to cling on to and what are we able to let go? Are we able to escape the things that hold us back or do we continually fall back into an old pattern? Catch and Release explores the possible answers to these questions and the questions themselves.

Charted
Dancers: Jessica Johnson, Laura Sedivy.
Music: Kaleidoscope Heart by Sarah Bareilles

Charted is the linear path we take either progressing forwards or backwards until we collide with someone on their own path. We all have a path unique to ourselves as long as we take a moment to look inside and know where we’ve been in order to know where we are going.

Paddy Tarlton and Keefer Peterson

Keefer Peterson has been teaching yoga for eleven years and teaches ballroom dance for the Dancing Classrooms branch of The ARTery. He has played the piano for dance classes at the Omaha Academy of Ballet, Creighton University, the Omaha Modern Dance Collective, and the JCC. He has a master’s degree in music and a bustling studio of private voice and piano students.

Paddy Tarlton has a BFA in modern dance performance from the University of Oklahoma and is a certified E-RYT (experienced registered yoga teacher) at the 200 hour level. She teaches at One Tree Yoga in Omaha.

Simplify to Amplify

This one-minute piece explores madness, aggression, submission, fear and love. The piece is about the mental struggle: the pushing & pulling of the psyche as one contemplates his or her own craziness.

Maya Taylor, featured guest artist, received her BFA from the Alvin Ailey/Fordham University dance program. While at The Ailey School, she performed the works of Robert Battle, Pascal Rioult, Lar Lubovitch, Jacqulyn Buglisi, and Alvin Ailey among many others. She is a 2003 alumna of the Contemporary Program at Jacob’s Pillow, where she was introduced to works by Maguy Marin, Pina Bausch, and Angelin Preljocaj. Maya joined Elisa Monte Dance in 2006, performing Monte’s works throughout Europe and the United States until 2009. She was the 2010-2011 guest artist of UNO’s The Moving Company, and most recently performed Brice Mousset’s Red for the Pushing Progress 2011 Showcase Series at Manhattan Movement Arts Center.

Hand Covers Bruise
Music: Hand Covers Bruise (Reprise) from The Social Network (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Dancers: Micah Ellis, Stephanie Huettner, Laura Jaros, Danielle Laurion, Laura Sedivy, Jessica Reed

Untitled
Music: Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 3 (Redemption) by Muse
Dancer: Maya Taylor
“There is no way back for me now. I am going to take you on journeys you’ve never dreamed were possible.” — Alexander McQueen

Jessica Turner studied dance at the University of Kansas, where she was a member of the University Dance Company, the Bowery Dancers, and the Cohen/Suzeau Dance Company and worked with several renowned guest artists. She recently received her doctorate of physical therapy and is practicing in Omaha.

Omentum is a contemporary modern solo performed by Jessica that is the embodiment of her nature. This personal anthem marks her return to the art after a hiatus. The movement style is dynamic, smooth, and strong.

Cortney Wiresinger, by day, is a deputy county attorney in the Douglas County Attorney’s office and has been with the offices for two years. She began her formal dance training while at Creighton University and has been in love with dance ever since. At Creighton she trained in ballet, jazz, tap and modern, and performed with the Creighton Dance Company. She now dances with the UNO Moving Company, of which she has been a member for the past three years.

Better Run…
Music: Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People
Dancer: Kyan Doubet

Much of the movement for this piece was inspired by the light and happy, but fast-paced, rhythm of the music. The dance is purposely set to be slightly off center for its entirety, to match the off-kilter, menacing message of the seemingly happy summer tune.

Kathryn Zukaitis grew up dancing at the Omaha Academy of Ballet and has since performed with student dance companies at Creighton, UNO, Haverford/Bryn Mawr, and Yale. She just completed a Master’s in Religion at Yale Divinity School, and will be moving to Austria in the fall to teach high school English.

Jumelle
Music: La Monture, by Julie Zenatti
Performers: Kathryn Zukaitis and Julie Rose Zukaitis

This duet explores the relationship between sisters who are simultaneously friends and rivals.

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