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riDANCE WHO'S WHO |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y
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MACTAVISH/KRISTEN Dancer,Teacher,Director,Studio Owner Ballet,Jazz,Tap (wRI) Kristen MacTavish has been dancing her entire life. She was the neighborhood choreographer at the age of 8, gathering up everyone she could find, teaching them how to dance, and then putting on a recital in the backyard. Eighteen years later she had a studio of her own - Step by Step Dance Studio. Along the way, at twelve, she became an assistant teacher and by thirteen was choreographing routines. Kristen has won many awards in regional and national competitions for her solo and group performances. " As a student I appreciate dance for its beauty and wonderment. As a teacher I appreciate it for what it can give to a person. Some of the many gifts given are self-esteem, confidence, strength, good health, perseverance, and excitement. I am continuously educating myself each and everyday so I can be the best dance teacher possible. It is my goal to instill a love of dance that will last a lifetime. "-Kristen MacTavish Kristen has traveled to many senior centers throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts leading fitness classes tailored to meet the needs of those over 60. In addition, she teaches classes for the Blackstone Valley Chapter of ARC. She continually attends masters classes to keep current with the latest dance styles, and is AFAA certified. ARCHIVE: PHONE: 401-722-9795 ADDRESS: Step by Step Dance Studio/99 South Bond St/Pawtucket RI 02860 EMAIL: WEBSITE: STEP BY STEP DANCE posted 20Feb01 MADDALENA/RICHARD 
Dancer, TeacherBallroom (wRI) A member of Dance Teachers' Club of Boston (DTCB) with over 20 (2003) years experience, Richard Maddalena has taught Ballroom dance at MJDC Center of the Arts in Providence as well as in adult ballroom night classes at Johnston and Riverside High Schools. In April 2004 he opened his own dance studio, Simply Ballroom at 680 Douglas Avenue in Providence where he now teaches private and group lessons. His outrageous sense of humor has made him a very popular MC and teacher at K&S dances. ARCHIVE: PHONE: 401-831-8353 ADDRESS: Simply Ballroom/680 Douglas Avenue/Providence RI EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 10Jan01.updated 15Dec05 MALLOZZI/MARY Dancer, Teacher Jazz Mary has been performing since the age of eleven, starting with The George J. West Modern dance troupe. She has studied ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York City, and for the past 12 years at Studio 34 (owned and operated by her sister, Debbie Brzozowy). She has performed at many local variety shows and charities, and also danced at the opening ceremony for the First Women's soccer game in Foxboro Stadium. In July 2000, Mary performed in Bristol Theatre Company's production of Evita. Mary has contributed in coordinating and producing costumes for the company, stage and set design, and also mixes all of Studio 34's recorded musical arrangements. Mary currently teaches jazz at Studio 34. ARCHIVE: PHONE: 401-253-0334 ADDRESS: EMAIL: WEBSITE: STUDIO 34 posted 26Jun01 MANECA/FERNANDO 
Dancer, Performance Artist, ComposerModern (sRI) Fernando Maneca a.k.a. Manoiseca graduated from Rhode Island College (1987) and in 1992 from The Tisch School of the Arts (New York University) in dance. His work has been presented throughout New York City where he now lives, and he has been commissioned by theatre and dance companies in New York City, Los Angeles, Rhode Island and Portugal. He composed the music for Anmando Duarte's Saudade (1992) and Aviva Geismar's It Starts With an Evil Stepmother (the latter performed originally performed at the 92nd Street Y). He has performed at Dixon Place in New York City, and directed the site specific cyberspace work Privaleged&Confidential. In 2000, he performed his own choreography at The Deli Dances in Time Square Festival. "His eclectic stage craft is a synthesis of several performance disciplines - dance, theatre, music, installation, and video - creating a visually stimulating and thought provoking sensory experience. " - here.org. ARCHIVE: Performed (along with Sarah Cline), wrote and designed Just Like a Man (A performance piece exploring what it means to be a man) previewed on 5-6 January,2002 at CultureMart 2002 the annual Festival of hybrid performance at Here Arts Center 145 6th Ave, in New York City Performed and choreographed Today I am Feeling a Bit Less Cynical (solo) with Liam Clancy and Friends April 2000 at The Carriage House. PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: WWW.HERE.ORG posted 10Jan01.updated 21Jan02 MANN/DANIEL Clown, Performance Artist, Comedian Clowning, Performance Daniel Mann, or better known as Danoe the Clown, began his career in entertainment in 1984, with Danoe's Comedy Revue. This act consisted of slapstick comedy as well as creating balloon art on the busy streets of Providence, RI and Boston, MA. A clown almost always has a teacher of sorts, and Danoe is no exception, Benjaman Elfant from the Moscow State Circus was his Mentor. Danoe met Benjamin at the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus auditions, and was trained to become a superior team juggling performer. To further his studies Daniel studied at Celebration Barn Theatre in South Paris, Maine. His education there consisted of mime story telling, physical Comedy: Vaudeville and Slapstick. Danoe's traveled to many places, even the Hawaiian Juggling Circus on the Big Island, Hawaii, where he performed for the Kennedy's and performed in their parades. Daniel is currently studying acting at Community College of Rhode Island with dreams of becoming a professional entertainer and sitcom star. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: P.O. Box 29691 Providence, RI 02909 PHONE: 401-946-2228 EMAIL: danoetheclown@aol.com WEBSITE: DANOE THE CLOWN posted 06Nov03.updated 1Nov04 MARINELLO/MARK Composer Modern (wRI) Mark Marinello is a multimedia consultant and teacher who likes to play the piano with the pedal down.He is also a member of the electronic group Sign, and curates an experimental media event at AS220 called "am *be *thang". ARCHIVE: Composed the music for New Moon choreographed by Heather Ahern and premiered in Going Solo at the Carriage House April 2000. PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 10Jan0 MARSDEN/HERCI Artistic Director,Choreographer,Teacher,Dancer(r) Ballet Born in Omis, Croatia, Herci Munitic was five when she began dancing with the Children's Theatre of Split, Croatia. She made her debut at thirteen with the National Theatre in Split. Throughout her years of training, she has had such notable teachers as Katic, Roje, Harmos, and Slavenska. In 1958, she emigrated to the United States and settled in Lincoln Rhode Island where she co-founded the Brae Crest School of Ballet with her then husband Myles Marsden. As prima ballerina, she made her American debut in 1960 with The State Ballet of Rhode Island-the repertory company she was instrumental in establishing. Best known as a dancer, the leading roles for which she is most celebrated are Giselle and Swanhilda(Coppelia). Among some of her other memorable roles are Juliet,Ivana and Snake(Stranac), Taglioni(Pas de Quatre), Baba Jaga(Pictures at an Exhibition),Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Cinderella, Ophelia(Hamlet), and the Dragon Fly(Dragon Fly/Pavlova). In 1966, Herci introduced classical ballet in the Department of Physical Education at the University of Rhode Island. URI was the first university in Rhode Island to offer ballet as a credited course.In the spring of 1990, she was commissioned to choreograph the world premier fairy tale ballet-Phantomgreen written and composed by Margaret Buechner. Ms Marsden continues as Director and classical ballet instructor at her school in Lincoln, as well as Artistic Director/Choreographer for The State Ballet of Rhode Island. She teaches Master Classes at many dance schools in the area. Ms.Marsden lives in Lincoln with her husband, John Radovnik, and her son, Dujko Radovnikovic. Her daughter Ana Marsden Fox teaches and dances at The State Ballet of Rhode Island, in addition to working as the General Manager and the Assistant to the Director. Her son Mark Marsden often performs with the state ballet. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: 401-334-2560 EMAIL: WEBSITE: STATE BALLET OF RHODE ISLAND posted 10Jan0 MARSDEN/MYLES Teacher,Choreographer,Dancer(r),Artistic Director(r) Ballet Myles Marsden has had the sort of life that should be made into a movie. Born in 1936 in Lincoln, he started dancing at ten and developed an interest in ballet at thirteen. He studied with noted Rhode Island dance teacher, Irene Owen. After graduating from St Dunstan's School in 1952, he decamped for ballet school in England on September 11 having paid for his trip with money earned as a stock boy at a Pawtucket department store. The school he attended in England, the Legat School (opened by Nicholas Legat and operated at the time by his widow Madame Nadine Nicolaeva) had trained such famous dancers as Margot Fonteyn, Moira Shearer, Tamara Toumanova, and Leonide Massine. Myles chaffed under the stiff British discipline at the school, and managed to talk his parents into letting him go to Yugoslavia (in 1953) where he trained with Ana Roje and Oscar Harmos who ran one of the six state ballet schools. In addition, Ana was the premiere dancer and Oscar was the choreographer for the Yugoslavian State Ballet. At the time Myles was there, tensions between the United States and Yugoslavia were high, and one of the requirements his parents made for his stay was a letter every week from the very busy Ana Roje which she agreed to and so in addition to her other work Ana faithfully wrote the weekly letter to Myles' mother. Myles stayed with Ana and Oscar in a castle on the Adriatic. It was in Yugoslavia where he met his wife-to-be Herci Munitic. They fell in love and were married in Yugoslavia and returned to Rhode Island in 1955 to found The State Ballet of Rhode Island and the Brae Crest School of Ballet. After they divorced in 1975, he left The State Ballet; organized a group that, among other things, performed disco dance; and founded The Myles Marsden Ballet which premiered in May of 1977 at East Providence High School. This company is no longer active. As of 2002, Myles Marsden still teaches master classes at Dance Artistry and Rhode Island Ballet Arts Academy and performs as a guest artist with Rhode Island's Ballet Theatre. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 10Jan01.updated 16Jun02 MARSDEN/RICHARD Choreographer,Dancer Ballet When your mother is Herci Marsden and your father is Myles Marsden, there's a good chance you'll get a heaping dose of dance genes, and Richard Marsden is the proof. He started learning ballet as a young boy at his parents school, the Brae Crest School of Ballet, and danced with The State Ballet of Rhode Island. He proceeded to win several scholarships to The School of American Ballet (New York City Ballet's school) - first in their summer school and later in their year long-program. He trained with them until until he won a place in the New York City Ballet where he danced for seventeen years. In 1999, he married and moved to California where he choreographs and performs. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 07Jan02 MARSIAN 
Transdisciplary ArtistPerformance Artist, Visual Artist, Puppet Mogul Artist Educator, Activist, Yoga Instructor Marsian relocated to Los Angeles for graduate school (MFA in Design (2009) California Institute for the Arts, Cotsen Center For Puppetry and the Arts) and is still in LA where he is a puppet artist, chanteuse, and high-art drag personality He began as a gay rights activist helping to pass a anti-discrimination law in Massachusetts public schools (a first of its kind). He was featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and was a guest on the Oprah Show for this work. Marsian then moved to study at the Art Institute of Chicago (B.F.A. 2001) and performed in a variety of related genres such as installation, video, ritual, movement and puppetry in the mid-90's: N.A.M.E. Gallery (1997), Date Rape: The American Classic at Poop Studios (1998) , and a number of collaborations with the Radical Faeries of Chicago at Randolph Street Gallery (including a human petting zoo) and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Later, Marsian worked with the Gold Dust Orphans Theatre in Boston and Provincetown performing in The Gulls, Showgirls, Pussy on the House and with puppets in Whos Afraid of the Virgin Mary and at the A.R.T. (2003-4). As a visual artist, Marsian has also been in a number of solo and group exhibitions: Taking Drug Users Seriously (2002 in Seattle), Finnochio at the Dirt Palace (2003), Side Effects (2003), the Woods Gerry Gallery, WhamBamTrans (2004) and Puppet Trash at AS220 (2004). Recent live puppet shows include Linda's First Trip and Jackson's Private Zoo at the Gamm Theatre of Pawtucket, The Comedy Connection in Boston and Perishable Theatre in Providence. Marsian co-curated the 2004/05 season of Blood From a Turnip, Rhode Island's only late night Puppet Salon, with Vanessa Gilbert and will be performing selections from Michael Jackson Was My Lover, a tell-all puppet show at the Performance Studies International Conference Becoming Uncomfortable this Spring in Providence. Marsian is an Artist Educator with the Rhode Island State Counsel for the Arts, has been a visiting lecturer (Bryant University in 2004) and is currently studying to become a Vinyasa Yoga Instructor (Summer 2005). He is interested in working with dancers and other artists. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: 401.640.1651 EMAIL: WEBSITE: http://www.marsiandelellis.com & http://homepage.mac.com/imarsian/Menu5.html posted 14Jan05.updated 28Jan11 MASIELLO/SHERI Studio Owner, Teacher, Choreographer Ballet,Jazz,Tap,Aerobics (wRI) Sheri Masiello started dancing at a very young age and has been teaching for over a decade. Sheri received a BA in Psychology and studied Elementary Education at Rhode Island College. Her childhood dream to own her own dance studio came true in August of 1999 when she opened Cranston's premiere dance studio - To The Pointe of Performing Arts Inc. She has competed in numerous regional and national dance competitions, where she consistently scored at the top of her field, and was a national finalist in the Model of the Year Pageant. At the Warwick Musical Theatre Sheri along with Lisa Barone performed a musical theatre number that Sheri had choreographed as the opening act for Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop. She teaches all types of dance (Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip-Hop, and Tap as well as, aerobics and step aerobics and is a member of Dance Educators of America. Sheri feels that her students come first and tries to pass on to her students the gifts that dance have given her: self-confidence, perseverance, good health, and an appreciation of the arts. ARCHIVE: PHONE: 401-942-5554/ FAX: same ADDRESS: To The Pointe of Performing Arts/999 Oaklawn Ave. Cranston R.I. 02920 EMAIL: WEBSITE: www.tothepointeofperformingarts.com posted 09Aug01.updated 24Jan05 MAYER/ELLEN Teacher Argentine Tango Ellen Mayer founded Providence Tango in the summmer of 2000. She has since been making tango fun and accessible to students and enthusiasts in the greater Providence area, and her excitement and love of dance has inspired a growing, creative tango community. Ellen's experience includes dancing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and studying and dancing around the United States has made her an elegant and imaginative tanguera. Her teaching emphasizes personal style and inventiveness, while maintaining a strong focus on form and technique. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: 401-728-9393 EMAIL: WEBSITE: PROVIDENCE TANGO posted 05Mar02.updated 16Sep07 MAYER/MARY ANN Teacher,Dancer(r) Ballet, Modern Mary Ann Mayer is a faculty member (and former dancer) with Festival Ballet Dance Center where she teaches technique,pointe and dance/theatre fundamentals. She is also a guest teacher at Fusionworks, Performing Arts School of Worchester and the Carolyn Dutra Dance Studio. In 1998, Ms. Mayer became Assistant to the Faculty Chairman at the Festival Ballet Providence Center for Dance Education. She received her early training at the State Ballet of Rhode Island and Festival Ballet, and has studied with Jurgen Schneider, David Howard, Samuel Kirkjian and at the National Ballet School of Canada. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: Fusionworks/PO Box 402/Lincoln RI 02865 PHONE: 401-353-1129 (Festival Ballet) EMAIL: WEBSITE: FESTIVAL BALLET posted 10Jan01.updated 31May01 MAYO/SALLY Psychologist,Dancer(r),Choreographer,Artistic Director,Teacher Modern Sally Mayo currently is a psychologist in Providence Rhode Island, often working with people with eating disorders She performed in Boston in the 1970's with Dance Collective (eclectic modern), New England Dinosaur (Judson Church avant-garde technique) and Mimi Kagan Dance Ensemble (Hanya Holm technique). In 1991 she formed East Bay Dance Ensemble, a modern dance company of teenagers that performed extensively for two years in a variety of local venues in Rhode Island. Sally Mayo Dance Company was formed in 1995 and several evening-length works of original choreography were presented at the Carriage House Theatre. The first piece Disport was based on research of the history and origins of movement, theatre and sport and the second, A Wild West Show, was based on research from a depth psychology perspective of the intercultural contact zone of the American West at the turn of the 20th century. She taught dance/performance movement at RISD for several years in Student Activities and the Sculpture Department. Her original costume design, Tennis Ball Cape, created with assistance from Tom Mayo, from Bless This Space in Disport, was shown at RISD Museum's annual faculty exhibition and reviewed in the Providence Journal. She has been the commissioned choreographer for Ocean State Light Opera and a guest artist at Providence College. She designs and creates original stilt dance costumes for solo persona performances. She serves periodically as panelist for RISCA choreography grants and is the past president of Dance Alliance of Rhode Island. Sally is a Ph.D. candidate (since 2000) in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in non-verbal behavior and depth psychology as she incubates a new piece based on Authentic Movement. ARCHIVE: PHONE: 401-351-2122 ADDRESS: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 26May01.updated 23Mar02 MCCORMICK/PAULA Teacher, Director ballet?, jazz?, tap? Paula McCormick is the former owner/director of SeaSide Dance and Gymnastics Centre. She is a graduate of Dean College with a degree in Dance, Music and Theater. Before opening the studio Paula performed professionally throughout the Eastern United States, including Theater By The Sea. She is a member of Dance Masters of America; National Assoc. of Dance and Affiliated Arts; U.S.A.G. and The Westerly/Pawcatuck Chamber of Commerce. She is CPR Certified and U.S.A.G. Safety Certified. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: 401-322-7565 EMAIL: WEBSITE: SEASIDE DANCE posted 23Aug02.updated 28Jan11 MCCORMICK/SARAH Teacher, Choreographer Modern Sarah McCormick's works have been produced in various West Coast venues including the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival Choreographers Showcase. Since 1988 she has presented full evening length concerts with her own company, Tyndale/Sarah Pogostin at various locales in New York City including the Cunningham Space, Dia Art Foundation, Dance Theatre Workshop, The Field, and at Dance Space/Evolving Arts Inc. Her works have been presented internationally in Barcelona and Vienna. In Rhode Island she has choreographed and taught for the Moses Brown Middle School and taught modern dance classes and choreographed for the Student Dance Company in an Artists Residency at Providence College. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 28Dec01 MCDONOUGH/MEAGHAN Dancer, Choreographer Jazz,Hip Hop,Modern Meaghan McDonough has been a member of Dance Planet since its inception in the spring of 2000. Prior to Dance Planet, she danced with the Rhode Island College Dance Company for five years as well as its treasurer/business manager for four years and co-director/president for one. Meaghan has choreographed various pieces for the RIC Dance Company, and has performed with recording artist, Rebecca Simone, during her live stage show. ARCHIVE: February 1-3, 2002 Performed in Dance Planet's first full length concert in the following numbers - In The Beginning, In My Dreams, Where U R, We Were in the Dark,Independent Women, Flashback (she also choreographed the Billie Jean portion)), Lady Marmalade, All For You, Dance With Me, Stand Up and Tonight. ADDRESS: PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 06Feb02 MCGREEVY-NICHOLS/SUSAN 
Dance Educator,Consultant,AuthorDance in Education (sRI,lRI) In 2002, Susan McGreevy-Nichols joined the Galef Institute as an Artist Educator Coach. For the previous 28 years, Susan served as founder/developer of a nationally renowned middle school arts program that had dance as its core subject. The program emphasized the learning of the creating, performing and responding processes and how they link to the other disciplines. She is the developer of a cutting edge reading comprehension strategy that uses text as inspiration for original choreography created by children. This literacy-based methodology combines the creative process with reading instruction. She was the director of the Dance Department at Roger Williams Middle School in Providence until its 2002 dismantlement in a sweeping cost cutting program instituted by former Providence school Superindendent Diana Lam. The nationally recognized department started in 1974 as an after school program that snow-balled from a one semester project with Susan and twelve passionate students to an ongoing non-credit program involving half of the school's student body. Then principal, David McCarthy took the progressive next step and made the dance program a credited school program and changed Susan from a full time Physical Education teacher to half time PE/half time dance teacher. As the program continued to expand and thanks to the on-going commitment by school administrators, Roger Williams acquired two more faculty - Marty Sprague and Linda Thornely, and Susan became a full time dance educator. In 1994 Susan McGreevy-Nichols was named Rhode Island's Dance Teacher of the Year and in 1995 she was honored as the NDA National Dance Teacher of the Year. One of the leading experts in the field, Susan is routinely asked to consult and speak all over the country on how to set up and run dance programs in public schools, teaching dance as a non-dancer, dance assessment, and writing grants for dance programs. She provides professional development opportunities that range from assisting teachers in designing and documenting student work that meets standards, to helping artists to understand educational reform efforts and how to make what they do in schools more relevant to reform issues. Susan has been selected to serve on a number of national committees and task forces such as the writing committee for the INTASC Beginning Teacher Standards in Arts. She has also worked as a consultant for the Educational Testing Service, the Educational Development Center (SPECTRE program) and for numerous state arts and education agencies, educational institutions and non-profit organizations across the US. She is the co-author of four books: Building Dances (1995), Building More Dances (2001), Dance About Anything (Human Kinetics, 2004 - in press), and Experiencing and Appreciating Dance (Human Kinetics, 2004 - in press). Since 1999, she has written a monthly column for Dance Teacher Magazine - a magazine for dance educators (see website below) on dance programs for Kindergarten through High School and has been an invited contributor to the Arts Education Policy Review. She has served as the president of the Rhode Island Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (RIAHPERD) and Vice President of Dance for the Eastern District of AAHPERD. She is a past president of the National Dance Association (NDA), and former chair of the Rhode Island Alliance for Arts in Education and treasurer of the National Dance Education Organization. A long time resident of Rhode Island, graduating from both South Kingstown High School and the University of Rhode Island, Susan moved from Coventry to California in 2003 where she now resides with her five cats. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: 401-461-9202 FAX: 401-461-6103 EMAIL: WEBSITE: BUILDING DANCES Consulting service with Helene Scheff and Marty Sprague DANCE TEACHER MAGAZINE (For on-line articles by Susan McGreevey-Nichols, click on Teaching Tools on the green bar near top of the front page, then click on the link titled Dance In K-12) THE GALEF INSTITUTE posted 06Mar01.updated 22Jun03 MCGUIRE/DONNA Dancer 
ModernDonna McGuire has danced with Fusionworks since 1995. She graduated from Rhode Island College with a Bachelor of Science in business and a double minor in graphic arts technology and dance. While at college, Donna was a member of the RIC Dance Company and served as co-director in 1994. She was also the 1994 recipient of the Yetta Rauch Melcer Dance Award. (Previous name Donna McGuire-Connell) ARCHIVE: ROLES ADDRESS: Fusionworks/PO Box 402/Lincoln RI 02865 PHONE: 401-334-3091 EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 10Jan01.update 21Mar02 MCNAMEE/HEATHER 
Teacher,Dancer,Dance School Owner
Ballet,Jazz Heather A. McNamee has been dancing for over twenty-five years and teaching dance since the age of eighteen. She is a graduate of Rhode Island College with a BA in communications and a minor in dance and is the owner/director of Dance RI of Scituate which she acquired in 1996. From 1997 thru 2000, Heather was a member of Rhode Island's Ballet Theatre with roles in Here, There, and Everywhere; Festival in Venice; 1, 2, 3, etc.; Ballerinas on Broadway Debut, and Dream Catcher. Her lead roles include the Dawn Fairy in Hansel and Gretal and Lady of the Lake in Merlin. Heather studied under the late Madeline Marshall and Heather continues to study with various teachers and choreographers throughout Rhode Island. She has taught after school programs at local schools, and volunteers to dance or model for various fundraisers. She taught ballet and modern dance at Brown University under the Physical Education Department during the Fall 2002 semester. As choreographer for the Dance RI competition team, she has received many awards for technique, costuming, choreography, and performance quality and is a member of the Professional Dance Teachers Association, Dance Educators of America, Dance Alliance of Rhode Island, and Dance Masters of America. In addition, she is certified in Pilates through Sara's City Workout (recognized by the American Council on Exercise and has been approved by AFAA). Heather also placed in the US Model Pageant and was chosen for the finals. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: 401-934-2238 EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 09Oct01.updated 23Feb04 MCNAMARA/KATIE 
Dancer,ChoreographerModern,Performance Art A Providence native, Katie McNamara started dancing at the age of seven with Dorothy and Therese Jungels in their third floor studio. Soon after that (about 15 years) she attained her BA in Dance and Anthropology from Connecticut College in 1997. She has studied East African folk dance in Tanzania and Chinese folk dance and tai chi at the Beijing Dance Academy. Along with Brenda Kunda and Rebecca Sloan, she is a founding member (1998/99) of the Bald Mermaids, a small (very) modern dance company based in Philadelphia. Juliet Fletcher of CityPaper.Net has called Katie, one of Philadelphia's "dance luminaries", and has said of the Bald Mermaids, " Strong personalities work within the Bald Mermaids like dynamos, yet they focus their energy on a joint goal: to allow dance to happen anywhere." In June 2001 with the Mermaids, Katie choreographed and performed in " Recreation Proposal, an athletic, challenging duet, and Dirty, Dirty, a provocative and thought-provoking solo about guilt" (Juliet Fletcher). They performed at Art Walk in October 2000 when Times News said of them, "Together, these three young dancers present a formidable united front of inspired motion". In Philadelphia, Katie has also done improvisation as well as structured dance with Group Motion Dance Company. With them, in June 2001, she worked with London based choreographer Carole Brown and in January 2002, Group Motion (with Katie) were featured in DanceBoom! a three-week long dance festival at the Wilma Theatre. She danced at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in 1998 as part of the Scrap Performance Group (a precursor to Bald Mermaids) as well as with the Bald Mermaids in 1999 and 2000. In July 2001, she performed her choreography at Flesh & Bones, an evening of exchange between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia choreographers. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: 215-634-7923 EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 24Apr02 MEDEIROS/BARBARA JEAN Teacher,Educator,Dancer Jazz, Theatrical ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 17Feb03 MEDEIROS/BETHANY Teacher,Educator,Director Ballet,Modern Bethany Medeiros is the director of Rosemary's School of Dance. She has been dancing at Rosemary's School of Dance since the age of two and has been teaching for the past 7 years. In the past, Bethany has been an instructor for the Studio 34 Dance Company of Providence, Renaissance Gymnastics Academy in East Providence, St. Luke's School in Barrington, St. Mary Academy Bay View in East Providence, The Bristol Community Center and a guest hip-hop instructor at Steppin' Out Dance Studio in Portsmouth. Bethany is in her 3rd year of teaching for 'Chance to Dance' and instructs classes at Hampden Meadows Elementary School in Barrington and Reynolds Arts Magnet School in Bristol. Currently, Bethany teaches dance enrichment programs at Kickemuit Middle School and Barrington Middle School. Bethany received a B.S. in Business Management from Roger Williams University where she also completed a Core concentration in Dance Performance. Bethany is a member of Dance Teacher's Club of Boston, Dance Alliance of Rhode Island (DARI), Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society for Business and Administration, National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), and was nominated as a National Collegiate Business Award Winner and was published in the USAA National Collegiate Awards Yearbook 2004. She is also a 2004 graduate of the Dance Teachers Club of Boston Dance Education Training Program. Bethany was tested in 2005 and is certified to teach by the Dance Teachers Club of Boston and the American Society. Most recently Bethany became a judge for the American Dance Invitational Dance Competition. She will be judging competitions throughout New England in Spring of 2006. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: www.rosemarysdance.com posted 15Feb06 MEDLEY/LISA Dancer, Teacher Movement, Free-Style Dance, Experiential Anatomy Lisa Medley has been moving since the day she was born. She is passionate about reminding people how to move their bodies fluidly and freely to access their inner joy, power, love, and Divine. She believes that movement and dance can guide people to make peace with their bodies and, in turn, make peace in the world. Lisa moved to RI in 2002 from the Boston area where she led numerous classes and workshops and is now offering classes, workshops, and events based on Free the Inner You (TM) - a movement-based program for physical, personal, and global transformation that she created. Weekly classes are offered at The Arts of Wellness Studio in North Kingston and Focus Studio in East Greenwich. In addition to creating Free the Inner You (TM), Lisa is also a life and wellness coach specializing in guiding people to enhance their life energy, so that they can sustain and evolve their lives with ease. She draws on her professional experience in movement and dance, therapeutic massage and bodywork, expressive therapy and counseling, and life and wellness coaching to inform her work and philosophy. ARCHIVE: PHONE: 401-826-2020 ADDRESS: EMAIL: WEBSITE: www.SoulisticArts.com posted 15Jun06 MEIERDIERCKS/DONNA Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher, Artistic Director Modern (lRI,wRI) Along with Heather Ahern and Peter Bramante, Donna Meierdiercks co-founded Groundwerx Dance Theatre and served as it's Artistic Director and Executive Director for ten years before going solo in 1998. She holds a BA in Fine Arts with a dance concentration from Roger Williams University. She has performed the works of Sean Curran, Heidi Henderson, Paula Hunter, Gary Shore and Kelli Wicke Davis , and has danced with the companies of Shoda Moving Company, the New York-based Invisible Theatre and with The Looking Glass Theatre in a tour with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. Donna has been a guest instructor at Brown University, The Rhode Island School of Design, and St. George's School. She has taught at the Groundwerx Movement Center and coordinated the Fellowship Program at the Rhode Island State Council of the Arts. In January 2001, she relocated to London, England where as od 2002, she finds herself a manager of artists. ARCHIVE: PERFORMANCE AND CHOREOGRAPHY PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: ON YOUR FEET posted 10Jan01.updated 28Jan11 MELCER/FANNIE HELEN 
Teacher, Faculty, Dancer, Artistic DirectorDance, Modern (lRI, wRI) (b. 1916- d. 28 March 2000) Professor Emerita Fannie H. Melcer's name was virtually synonymous with that of the Rhode Island College Dance Company. Fannie followed Billie Ann Burrill as artistic director of the dance company. At that time, she also was appointed director of health, physical education, recreation, and athletics which made her the first female director of a co-educational program in the state and only the second such appointee in the country. She was later to serve as chair of the health and physical education department. For the next 18 years she put her own stamp on the growing dance company, introducing innovations that have become part of the operating philosophy today. Fannie began the very important practice of bringing in professional choreographers to design dances for the company, and instituted the touring dance groups whereby the RIC dancers would visit public schools to instruct the students on dance. She also held mini-concerts at the college where 2,500 children were brought in to see the concerts annually. Through her own teaching and the use of guest lecturers, Fannie Melcer soon brought an awareness of modern dance to RIC and to some degree at least the rest of Rhode Island.
She received the Meritorious Teacher Award from the State Association of Heath/Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; the Faculty Award from the RIC Alumni Association, and a Recognition Award from the Dance Alliance, Inc. On Dec 9 2000, Rhode Island College honored her with a dance concert featuring choreography by one of her closest friends, Clay Taliaferro, and dedicated the Fannie Helen Mercer Dance Studio at the John Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts. (From RIC Commemoration Brochure Dec 9, 2000) ARCHIVE: posted 10Jan01 MERCER-BOTELHO/LINDA Teacher,Choreographer,Director,Studio Owner Musical Theatre,Theatre,Jazz,Tap Linda Mercer-Botelho is the founder and Director of On Stage Academy of Performing Arts in Fall River. She attended the Boston Conservatory of Music Teacher Training Program for dance, and studied in New York at the Broadway Dance Center with world renown Jazz teachers Charles Kelly, Frank Hatchett, Susan Samuels and Phil Black. She is also a graduate of the Robert Christopher Teacher Training Seminars. Linda recently attended the American Ballet Academy's summer dance intensive for teachers held at Vassar College in New York. Highlights from her 20 years of producing, directing, and choreographing performances for On Stage Academy, include the ballet, Coppelia in 2001 and the musical, Mary Poppins in 2002. Each year On Stage presents a Christmas Spectacular at Bristol Community College in Fall River, and in 2004 On Stage Theatrical Productions will present the Hunchback of Notre Dame as its spring performance. Linda is a former New England Patriot Cheerleader and held the title of Miss New Bedford in 1984. She has been involved in the Miss America Pageant system for the past 20 years. Both as a contestant and pageant director for the Miss Fall River Pageant (13 years). Currently Linda is the Producer, Director, Choreographer for the Miss Massachusetts Pageant and the Massachusetts Outstanding Teen Pageant. ARCHIVE: PHONE: 508-673-4880 ADDRESS: On Stage Academy of Performing Arts/104 Anawan Street/Fall River, Ma 02720 EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 07Jan04 MERWYN/JOAN 
Performer, Teacher, Choreographer, Stage DirectorPhysical Theatre,Performance Art, Mime,Improv,Circus Arts & Juggling,Creative Movement,Teacher Training Joan Merwyn is an award winning and critically acclaimed performing artist, teacher, choreographer and stage director. She has performed and taught in Europe, Canada and the U.S. with her solo performances and as a founding member of numerous experimental and physical theater companies. She has appeared from San Francisco to Montreal, from Eastern to Western Europe, from site-specific, outdoor locations, to colleges, international performance festivals and opera houses. Joan Merwyn Physical Theater reflects 30 years of experience in the field of mime and movement theater. She has been directing and teaching internationally for over 25 years. Her clients range from professional performing artists to college and grade school students, as well as challenged and disadvantaged populations. Joan specializes in creating and directing original performance material while providing comprehensive training in the art of physical theater. Based in New York City, Joan spends much time in Rhode Island and is available for concerts, workshops and classes. ARCHIVE: PHONE: 212-613-6358 ADDRESS: EMAIL: WEBSITE: http://www.joanmerwyn.com Photo by Rhoda Klitzner Bailey posted 04Aug03 MEUNIER/DEB 
Artistic Director, Choreographer, Dancer, Teacher, FacultyModern, ballet (lRI, wRI) Modern Dance Bachelor of Arts, Rhode Island College MALS, Wesleyan University Deb Meunier is the Artistic director and primary choreographer for Fusionworks. She has also choreographed works for Rhode Island College Modern Dance Company, Brown University Dance Extension, Providence College Dance Company, and Hartford-based Works Contemporary Dance. Her solo work has been presented in Rhode Island, at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, in New York City at the Gowanis Outback Series and at Princeton University. She was a founding member of the now-defunct RI Dance Consortium, which worked to bring dance education into the schools and to smaller communities. In both 1992 and 1993 Deb received the Cirino Fellowship for her work in arts education in Rhode Island. Deb received a MALS and the Rulewater Prize from Wesleyan University for her work on an interdisciplinary choreographic residency with the Rhode Island School for the Deaf. In 1996 she received a choreography fellowship from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts where she is also a member of the Artists in Residence Roster. She is also on the roster of the New England Foundation for the Arts. ARCHIVE: INTERVIEW and ROLES AND CHOREOGRAPHY ADDRESS: Fusionworks/PO Box 402/Lincoln RI 02865 PHONE: 401 334-3091 EMAIL: WEBSITE: FUSIONWORKS posted 10Jan01.updated 02Sep01 MILLS/SUSAN Teacher Susan Mills is a faculty member at Festival Ballet. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 10Jan01 MONAHAN/AUDREY 
Choreographer,TeacherJazz, Ballet With extensive training in jazz and ballet in New York, Boston and Rhode Island, Audrey Monahan has excelled in her career as a performer, choreographer and instructor. In the 1980's she danced professionally with the New York City Metropolitan Opera's touring troupe and was a principal dancer with the Jeremy Anderson Dancers. Working as an indenpendent jazz dancer, Audrey has performed in various clubs, theatre and commercial venues in new England and New York. Currently, she teaches both jazz and ballet, works as an independent choreographer and coaches dancers and recording artists in movement and performance skills. In 2003, her choreography was performed at The Best of RI party, RI Convention Center, Hasbro Children's Hospital Fund Raiser, the Miss RI Pagent. She was commissioned to create a new piece by Festival Ballet Providence for its 25th anniversary season. PHONE: ADDRESS: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 27Jun03 MONK/RUSSELL Teacher,Dancer Ballroom A New Hampshire resident, Russell Monk has been involved in Ballroom Dancing for over thirty-five years. He won the British and Scottish Closed Championships and was a finalist in the World's, European's, U.K. and International Championships. Since retiring from competition, Mr.Monk has been the Ballroom Dance Coach for UCSD, M.I.T and Harvard. He is currently the coach for the Brown Ballroom Dance Team and he carries on the Rhode Island classes of his good friend Christina Cryan. ARCHIVE: Rhode Island classes in PROVIDENCE PHONE: ADDRESS: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 03May02.updated 18Aug04 MOODY/ROBERT Scenic Painter Ballet (lRI, wRI) Robert Moody is a graduate of RISD with a degree in Illustration. He has done much mural work and scenic painting for theatre and film around the country and is currently a free-lance scenic painter in Providence. His projects include the films Outside Providence, The Sixth Sense, and Girl Interrupted. ARCHIVE: Painted the set for Pippi Longstocking with the Cadence Dance Project March 00 PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 10Jan01 MORSILLI/ANN BERETTA Dancer, Teacher Ballet One of Rhode Island's most respected ballet teachers, Ann Beretta Morsilli was appointed the Principal of the Young Children's Program at Festival Ballet Dance Center where she teaches ballet technique and pointe as well as serves as the company Wardrobe Mistress. A founding (and principal) dancer of Festival Ballet, she danced with them for twelve years beginning in 1978. In addition, Ann has taught for Dance Rhode Island, RI Ballet Arts Academy, the Carolyn Dutra Dance Studio, and currently at Rhode Island College. As a dancer, she performed such roles as Athur Mitchell's The Greatest, Grande Pas de Quatre in Paquita, and the Wicked Stepsister in Cinderella. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: Festival Ballet/5 Hennessey Avenue/North Providence 02911 PHONE: 401-353-1129 (Festival Ballet) EMAIL: WEBSITE: FESTIVAL BALLET posted 10Jan01.updated 30Dec02 MORTON/ALAN Director, Teacher, Trainer and Coach Latin Social Dance, Salsa, Martial Arts, Exercise and Conditioning Alan Morton has a background that extends over 20 years in exercise and dance culture. These include yoga, martial arts, aerobics and dance. He developed an interest in martial arts when he was a teenager. Like many younger males, he was drawn to the martial arts because of popular movies and the apparently exciting combative elements. However, during the next 25 years or so of study and training, he realized there were far more life enhancing and meaningful benefits that could be derived with the correct attitude, outlook and training. This discovery led to his desire to explore and pursue other activities that supported his growing yearning to create or do things that could improve, enhance or empower the lives of others. He studied and eventually taught yoga, kardio kickboxing, rape and abduction defense for women and meditation (Alan has since created unique training and conditioning programs that improve health, safety and wellness of others). Dancing appears to run in Alan 's family, his Grand Parents where avid ballroom dancers in England, as was his Mother, who sent him to Ballroom classes along with his Sister when he was just a child. Although he enjoyed the classes, he always preferred dance that involved naturally expressive and spontaneous movement combined with uplifting and vibrant music and in 1996 stumbled upon a Hispanic club that provided just that, authentic social style Latin dance, he was hooked. Alan continued to frequent and dance at many Latin clubs, took lessons and traveled extensively to learn more, train and eventually gain qualifications. He was surprised one day while teaching when it occurred to him, ten years after his first exposure to this form of dance, that he was now teaching in the very same club where it all started for him, the La Cabana nightclub in Providence - historically regarded as an institution among the city's Hispanic community. Alan continues to teach authentic Latin social style dance, particularly the salsa. In addition, he is the director of Arts To Wellness, a company providing health and wellness activities, training and coaching. ADDRESS: Arts To Wellness,7537 Post Road, North Kingstown RI 02852 PHONE: 401-294-1464 EMAIL: WEBSITE: ArtsToWellness.com posted 23Aug02.updated 28Jan11 MOSSA-SIMONE/CHAMONI Teacher, Choreographer Ballet, Modern Chamoni began dancing at the age of 5 and continured her studies in dance at Worcester county studios. She was a member of the Worcester Youth Ballet, studing with Kevin Milam. She spent a summer in Bermuda and performed in the corps de ballet of the Bermuda Civic Ballet. After this achievement, Chamoni attended Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts and The University of Hartford in West Hartford, Conecticut where she obrtained a BFA in Dance Performance. During college she studied with Jill Silverman, Alla Osipienko, Maria Youskevich, Wang Sho Pen, Penny Lyman, Raymond Luken, Franco DeVita and many others. Chamoni continues her education by working toward a teacher certification in the Cecchetti Method of ballet. Chamoni has completed the Grades 1 thru 4 teachers certifications and is currently working toward her Elementary Certification. In order to achieve these certifications she studies with a coach on a regular basis. Chamoni is a member of the Cecchetti Council of America and has attended the Cecchetti Council of America Summer School in Holland, Michigan. Chamoni has been teaching for 10 years at studios in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Her students have received overall high score awards as well as technical excellence and choreography awards. She has travelled to Riesa, Germany to compete in the IDO's World Competition. Her choreography received the distinct honor of seventh place while she was there. She is returning this year again with 2 new exciting numbers. Her students have also performed at Disney's Magic Music Days and some have also moved on to college, achieving parts with companies in Boston, Philadelphia Chicago and New York. ARCHIVE: ADDRESS: PHONE: 401-323-8375 EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 16Sep07 MOYNIHAN/CATHERINE (KAY) Accompanist, Pianist, Musician 
Ballet (lRI, wRI)b. January 27, 1909-d. March 24, 2001 Born in Taunton Massachusetts in 1909 to a musical family, Catherine was interested in music and dance from an early age. For her seventh birthday, her father surprised her with a piano, and she started music lessons shortly thereafter. When Catherine was eleven, she was asked to play for a friend's dance class. The owner of the studio hired her on the spot. It was at this time that she manifested the ability to improvise and easily play any tempo requested without the aid of a metronome. When Kay married in 1930, she moved to New London, Connecticut giving up her music career and dance studies. Blessed with a happy temperment, she raised a son and took care of her family still playing the piano at occasional family or social events. In 1940, the family moved to Rhode Island where, with prodding from a sister-in-law, she returned to accompanist work first at the Mary Wheeler School in Providence and a dance school in the Biltmore Hotel. In 1950, a friend requested that she play for her daughter's recital at The Temple of Music at the Roger Williams Park where she met and was immediately hired by Lidia Pettine. They worked together until Lidia's retirement. She also worked for Lydia's student Christine Hennessey, who had returned to Rhode Island to found Festival Ballet after a very successful international career as a ballerina. In addition Catherine played the piano for many, many other ballet classes and recitals. She died of kidney failure on the 24th of March 2001, and is buried at Pawtucket Memorial Park in Warwick. ARCHIVE: INTERVIEW PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 10Jan01.updated 09Apr01 MROZOWSKI/CHERYL Director,faculty,teacher,dancer(r) Ballet,Modern,Theatre Cheryl Mrozowski has been the director of the Wheaton Dance Company for seventeen years and an Assistant Professor of Theatre since 2001. In addition to her work with the dance company, Professor Mrozowski teaches ballet and modern jazz for academic credit and team-teaches Movement and Dance for the Theatre. Professor Mrozowski received her early training as a member of the State Ballet of Rhode Island and launched her performing career with the Dayton Ballet and the Cambridge Opera Ballet in England. She continued her performing career in the U.S. with the Peninsula Ballet Theater and the Esperance Dance Theater. After earning a BA in history from Salve Regina University, Professor Mrozowski earned a master's in dance from American University where she served on the faculty for four years. She has also been a faculty member at Auburn University's master of fine arts program in professional actor training. She has taught at the Southwestern Regional Ballet Festival in Dallas, at Goucher College and has conducted master classes in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Actively involved with the training and education of young dancers, Professor Mrozowski is on the summer faculty of the Acton School of Ballet in Acton, Massachusetts, is the president of the Board of Directors of the Jeannette Neill Scholarship Program in Boston, and serves as scholarship chair for the Miss Rhode Island Scholarship Program. She and her family live in Newport, Rhode Island. ARCHIVE: PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: ARTICLE posted 02Mar04 MUNSLOW/KEITH Composer,Musician Keith Munslow is a keyboardist, songwriter, and storyteller. He writes and performs regularly with the band Smoking Jackets, and the Neo 90's Dance Band. He has appeared in Harley's Lunchroom Tales at Trinity Rep and performed internationally with the Big Nazo puppets and the British/Canadian comedy troupe Sensible Footwear. A veteran performer with more than fifteen years experience, Keith Munslow has entertained thousands of children at shows and festivals throughout New England - and beyond. As part of Rhode Island's summer reading program for four seasons, he has captivated audiences at nearly every library in the state with a dynamic program featuring original songs, stories, and on-the-spot cartoon drawings. His successful 'Build-A-Book' story writing residency programs have been presented at numerous schools. He can sometimes be seen in a hilarious duo show with storyteller Bill Harley, and on occasion with Bill's band, The Troublemakers.For ten years, Keith was a full time member and musical director of Big Nazo, the famed mask and puppet touring company. He also served as pianist and musical director with Marc Levitt's New England Chowda Hour radio cabaret, and with performance art troupe Meatballs Fluxus. As the in-house composer and musical director for Perishable Theatre's award winning Shows for Young Audiences, Keith created the music for The Potion, The Peaceable Kid, Invasion of the Homogenoids, Eco Spy and The Door Inside the Book. While serving on the board of directors of AS220 Arts Center, he has helped to develop the Youth Arts Conference, a program which conducts workshops in artists studios for urban school children. Keith is an avid collaborator in pretty much all art forms. He composed the music for Girlchild choreographed by Heather Ahern (part of Going Solo at the Carriage House April 2000) and in 2003, composed music for a dance by Heidi Henderson. ARCHIVE PHONE: For Bookings: Kerrilyn Dailey 401-823-9777 EMAIL: WEBSITE: KEITH MUNSLOW WEBSITE posted 10Jan01.updated 28Jan11 MURPHY/MARY BETH 
Dancer,TeacherBallet,Pilates Mary Beth Murphy danced with the Island Moving Company from 1982 till 2003 and will perform there as a Guest Artist in the 2004 season. Her versatility as a dancer allowed her to perform such classic story ballet roles as the Paper Ballerina in The Steadfast Tin Soldier and Gretel in Hansel & Gretel, as well as originating roles in contemporary works commissioned for the company by choreographers Miki Ohlsen, Michael Bolger, Eva Marie Pacheco, Daniel McCusker, Colin Connor, Carol Somers, Scott Putman and Ryan Kelly. Mary Beth has performed with IMC on tour in Boston, New York, Washington , Los Angeles and Memphis. She is the former Director of the South County School of Ballet and has been on the faculty of Newport Academy of Ballet, Providence Ballet, and at Overbrook Academy, where she taught Biology and Ballet. Most recently, Mary Beth was an Adjunct Faculty member at Rhode Island College. Presently, she teaches Pilates privately, and through a Dance & Pilates program she created for Jamestown's Recreation Department. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Biology and Education from the University of Rhode Island and received her Pilates certification through the Physicalmind Institute. ADDRESS: PO Box 294, Jamestown, RI 02835 PHONE: 401-829-8186 EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 30Apr01.updated 10Jun04 MURRAY/BILLY W Costume Designer Ballet ARCHIVE: Designed the costumes for Walkin' with The Island Moving Company May 00. PHONE: EMAIL: WEBSITE: posted 10Jan01 |