| Instructor/ Choreograhper Bios |
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Bill Young: (2003: 15th MDF) Winner of a 1997 Guggenheim Fellowship, discovered dance through contact
improvisation while studying music at Oberlin College. He showed early work in San Francisco, while dancing with
Margaret Jenkins, and later moved to New York where he danced with Douglas Dunn, Randy Warshaw, Merce
Cunningham (on video). In 1988 he established Bill Young & Dancers, which has been presented in NYC at the
Joyce Theater, The Kitchen, Danspace Project, PS 122, and DTW, as well as on repeated international tours,
including performances in Austria, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Finland, Mexico,
Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela. Combining a deep musicality and sense of structure with a wide range of movement
techniques (from Classical to Contact), Young has created over 50 works, noted for their virtuosity as well as
emotional range and power; his commissions include new works for the Estonian National Opera Ballet,
Pennsylvania Dance Theater, DanceArt Hong Kong, the Wildspace Dance Company (Milwaukee), Teoria de
Gravedad (Mexico), Bratislava Dance Theater (Slovakia), and the Madach Theater Dancers (Budapest).
improvisation while studying music at Oberlin College. He showed early work in San Francisco, while dancing with
Margaret Jenkins, and later moved to New York where he danced with Douglas Dunn, Randy Warshaw, Merce
Cunningham (on video). In 1988 he established Bill Young & Dancers, which has been presented in NYC at the
Joyce Theater, The Kitchen, Danspace Project, PS 122, and DTW, as well as on repeated international tours,
including performances in Austria, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Finland, Mexico,
Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela. Combining a deep musicality and sense of structure with a wide range of movement
techniques (from Classical to Contact), Young has created over 50 works, noted for their virtuosity as well as
emotional range and power; his commissions include new works for the Estonian National Opera Ballet,
Pennsylvania Dance Theater, DanceArt Hong Kong, the Wildspace Dance Company (Milwaukee), Teoria de
Gravedad (Mexico), Bratislava Dance Theater (Slovakia), and the Madach Theater Dancers (Budapest).
Peter Carpenter is an independent choreographer whose work has intersected with political activism and
critical theory. Carpenter has worked with Chicago’s XSIGHT! Performance Group where he served as an
artistic associate (1993-2001) and the StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance in Chicago and
Chapel Hill, N.C. where he served as the resident choreographer (1992-2001). He received his M.F.A. in
Dance from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures in 2003 and is currently writing his dissertation for
a Ph.D. in Culture and Performance Studies (also from UCLA). He has been a full-time faculty member at the
Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago since 2005.
critical theory. Carpenter has worked with Chicago’s XSIGHT! Performance Group where he served as an
artistic associate (1993-2001) and the StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance in Chicago and
Chapel Hill, N.C. where he served as the resident choreographer (1992-2001). He received his M.F.A. in
Dance from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures in 2003 and is currently writing his dissertation for
a Ph.D. in Culture and Performance Studies (also from UCLA). He has been a full-time faculty member at the
Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago since 2005.
| P. Amaniyea Payne has built an impressive thirty year career as a dancer, choreographer and teacher working in Washinton D.C., New York ans Chicago. For the last twenty years, she has devoted her attention to her role as Artistic Director of Chicago's Muntu Dance Theatre, where she has been the principal architect of the company's technical growth, expanded repertory and national reputation. Among her awards, Payne has recieved the prestigious Ruth Page award two times in 1994 for Dance Archievement and in 2001 for Lifetime Service. She was honored by The Black Theater Alliance in 1998 and the African American Arts Alliance for the Black Excellence Award in 2004. |
Lauri Stallings is a, fifth generation Floridan, continues on from performing artist to dance-maker after beginning
her career with Cleveland San Jose Ballet, followed by BalletMet and Canada's Ballet British Columbia. For the last
five seasons she danced with Hubbard St. Dance Chicago, at which time she began to weave the broad spectrum of
experience into her own language of movement. Chicagoan of the Year in 2004, Lauri recently received a Ruth
Page award from the Chicago Music and Dance Alliance for her first full-length dance, "Moody Hollow." She is a
recent recipient of a Cliff Dwellers Award for her choreographic work. Some of her recent commissions include
invitations to Jacob's Pillow and Vail International Dance Festival. In the 2005-06 season Lauri created works for
both Atlanta Ballet, and the Joffrey Ballet Chicago. Lauri recently collaborated with the dance community of Los
Angeles for the Dance Moving Forward Festival. Inspiration comes from many sources, and certainly the sweetest
comes from the glorious individuals that are the richest treasures of her world.
her career with Cleveland San Jose Ballet, followed by BalletMet and Canada's Ballet British Columbia. For the last
five seasons she danced with Hubbard St. Dance Chicago, at which time she began to weave the broad spectrum of
experience into her own language of movement. Chicagoan of the Year in 2004, Lauri recently received a Ruth
Page award from the Chicago Music and Dance Alliance for her first full-length dance, "Moody Hollow." She is a
recent recipient of a Cliff Dwellers Award for her choreographic work. Some of her recent commissions include
invitations to Jacob's Pillow and Vail International Dance Festival. In the 2005-06 season Lauri created works for
both Atlanta Ballet, and the Joffrey Ballet Chicago. Lauri recently collaborated with the dance community of Los
Angeles for the Dance Moving Forward Festival. Inspiration comes from many sources, and certainly the sweetest
comes from the glorious individuals that are the richest treasures of her world.
Barbara Mahler's first initiation into modern dance was with the Alvin Ailey dance company, and
offshoots of that style - hard on the body and the spirit, but definitely "spirited". I was injured, and then
injured again. My studies at Hunter College led me to the modern dance department where, under the
tutelage of Dorothy Vislocky (a pioneer in kinesiology for dance), I was led to understand that there was
a way to more correctly use the body. Getting on top of one's legs (as the expression goes) was
supposed to improve coordination and skill, and make the body move more efficiently. This was the
beginning for me of an understanding of anatomy and kinesiology, but there was an empty spot here -
there was somehow no "me" -the process was missing. I still could not figure out how to get those
shapes, forms and movement that I loved so much to work on my body - I needed something else. In
1977 I began my studies at the Susan Klein School of Dance. I was not "fixed", placed, or corrected for
many weeks. I began to relax inside myself. I was no longer just a body that needed to conform, but a
person with an individual style of learning. I was a person with a spirit. I realized I could now actually
begin to learn, to figure out how to move, to have movement sequence through MY body. I understood,
on a body level, that learning was a process, and that everyone needed to find their own, with
guidance, AND respect, as well as with attention to mechanics. My coordination became better, as did
my technical skill and flexibility. That was truly the beginning for me. My interest in choreography
parallels this journey. I constantly look to "invent" new movement, and as there truly is no new
movement I create new relationships and juxtapositions. For me the movement creates both the
personality and the structure of the dance. It is what allows the dance to manifest itself. My passion is
the solo dance, which I create both for myself and others. My work with Susan Klein has laid a
foundation for me: a foundation of support, of groundedness and body felt understandings. My
teaching, as well as my contributions to this work (Klein Technique) reflect this experience. I began
teaching classes in 1979, and daily class 1984-2004. I currently teach workshops throughout the U.S.
offshoots of that style - hard on the body and the spirit, but definitely "spirited". I was injured, and then
injured again. My studies at Hunter College led me to the modern dance department where, under the
tutelage of Dorothy Vislocky (a pioneer in kinesiology for dance), I was led to understand that there was
a way to more correctly use the body. Getting on top of one's legs (as the expression goes) was
supposed to improve coordination and skill, and make the body move more efficiently. This was the
beginning for me of an understanding of anatomy and kinesiology, but there was an empty spot here -
there was somehow no "me" -the process was missing. I still could not figure out how to get those
shapes, forms and movement that I loved so much to work on my body - I needed something else. In
1977 I began my studies at the Susan Klein School of Dance. I was not "fixed", placed, or corrected for
many weeks. I began to relax inside myself. I was no longer just a body that needed to conform, but a
person with an individual style of learning. I was a person with a spirit. I realized I could now actually
begin to learn, to figure out how to move, to have movement sequence through MY body. I understood,
on a body level, that learning was a process, and that everyone needed to find their own, with
guidance, AND respect, as well as with attention to mechanics. My coordination became better, as did
my technical skill and flexibility. That was truly the beginning for me. My interest in choreography
parallels this journey. I constantly look to "invent" new movement, and as there truly is no new
movement I create new relationships and juxtapositions. For me the movement creates both the
personality and the structure of the dance. It is what allows the dance to manifest itself. My passion is
the solo dance, which I create both for myself and others. My work with Susan Klein has laid a
foundation for me: a foundation of support, of groundedness and body felt understandings. My
teaching, as well as my contributions to this work (Klein Technique) reflect this experience. I began
teaching classes in 1979, and daily class 1984-2004. I currently teach workshops throughout the U.S.
Ping Chong is an internationally acclaimed theatre director, playwright, video and installation artist. Since
1972, he has created over 50 multidisciplinary works for the stage, which have been presented at major
venues including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Lincoln Center Festival, the Spoleto USA Festival,
the Kennedy Center, La MaMa ETC, the Barbican Centre , the Setagaya Public Theatre and the Vienna
Festival. Cathay: Three Tales of China, created in collaboration with the Shaanxi Folk Art Theater of Xian,
China, was chosen as one of the Top 10 productions of the 2005 season by NY Theatre Wire, and was
nominated for 4 Henry Hewes Design Awards by the NY Theatre Wing. He has created over 35 works in his
Undesirable Elements series of community-based oral history projects in the United States and around the
world. Theatre Communications Group published The East /West Quartet, a collection of his plays
Deshima, Chinoiserie, After Sorrow and Pojagi in 2005. Mr. Chong is the recipient of numerous awards
and honors including Bessie and Obie awards for Sustained Achievement. In December 2006, Ping Chong
was honored the USA Prudential Fellowship by the United States Artists Foundation.
1972, he has created over 50 multidisciplinary works for the stage, which have been presented at major
venues including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Lincoln Center Festival, the Spoleto USA Festival,
the Kennedy Center, La MaMa ETC, the Barbican Centre , the Setagaya Public Theatre and the Vienna
Festival. Cathay: Three Tales of China, created in collaboration with the Shaanxi Folk Art Theater of Xian,
China, was chosen as one of the Top 10 productions of the 2005 season by NY Theatre Wire, and was
nominated for 4 Henry Hewes Design Awards by the NY Theatre Wing. He has created over 35 works in his
Undesirable Elements series of community-based oral history projects in the United States and around the
world. Theatre Communications Group published The East /West Quartet, a collection of his plays
Deshima, Chinoiserie, After Sorrow and Pojagi in 2005. Mr. Chong is the recipient of numerous awards
and honors including Bessie and Obie awards for Sustained Achievement. In December 2006, Ping Chong
was honored the USA Prudential Fellowship by the United States Artists Foundation.
