MARY AVRAKOTOS

ARTSwego @ SUNY Oswego

Mary Avrakotos began her arts career in the museum field working for the Museum of African Art and the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. On moving to Oswego, NY she quickly became involved with the community. She was the founding director for Harborfest, a summer arts festival, and helped to launch an arts council as its first board president. Together with a partner she established Northern Edge Associates, a public relations and events planning firm that operated for five years, before assuming her present position at SUNY Oswego. She has been on the staff of SUNY Oswego for approximately twelve years managing and providing oversight for ARTSwego, a program that provides support for visiting artists, film programs, visiting authors, exhibitions and a performing arts season. She also serves as the President of the Board for the Ontario Center for Performing Arts, an all-volunteer organization that presents 18 acoustic concerts a year. Avrakotos has served on a number of grants panels for the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts.

GREGORY CARY

Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, Inc.

Gregory Cary is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music. He studied professionally with José Limón, Martha Graham, Anthony Tudor, Margaret Craske and at the American Ballet Theatre School. He joined American Ballet Theatre in 1978. In addition, he worked with many modern dance choreographers including Jose Limon, Helen McGehee, Saiko Ichinohe, and Kazuko Hirabayashi. He has served on the dance faculty of the State University of New York. In 1990, with Bentley Roton, Kevin McKenzie, and Martine van Hamel, Cary co-founded the Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, a dance center dedicated to the growth, advancement and preservation of professional dance. Kaatsbaan provides a creative residence in an aesthetically inspirational and healthy working environment for dance-related artists from all disciplines and ethnic backgrounds. Cary is a former dance panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts. He is also a nationally recognized visual artist with public commissions throughout the Washington, DC area and collaborated with Bentley Roton on the set design for SO LONG EDEN for the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

DIANA CHERRYHOLMES

Huntington Arts Council

Diana Cherryholmes is the Executive Director of the Huntington Arts Council in Huntington, Long Island. The Huntington Arts Council is a private nonprofit arts agency that supports and fosters the arts to enhance the lives of the citizens of Huntington Township and their visitors. Central to its mission is providing access to the arts through free and public programming, such as the annual Huntington Summer Arts Festival, a free performing arts festival that presents dance, music, theatre and spoken word. Currently, Cherryholmes serves as the chair of Huntington Community Council a volunteer group dedicated to providing professional development and networking to not-for-profit organizations in Huntington, NY. In 2008 Long Island was host to Cultural Blueprints a NYSCA statewide initiative. Cherryholmes founded the Long Island Dance Consortium, with membership of dance advocates, instructors, choreographers and presenters from Suffolk and Nassau Counties. She worked with the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, and was Chair of the Festival Special Interest Group for Americans for the Arts. Cherryholmes holds a B.A. in History and Religious Studies from Michigan State University and a M.A. in Community Arts Management from University of Illinois at Springfield. Cherryholmes is a former panelist with New York State Council on the Arts and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation/PennPat.

JACQUELINE DAVIS

The College at Brockport

Jacqueline Davis, professor of dance, brings 40 years of teaching and presenting experience to dance residency planning. The College at Brockport, State University of New York, has an extensive history as a dance presenter and residency host and the dance department is one of the country's largest and most comprehensive. Ms. Davis supports the continuing development of community partnerships between dance artists and her western New York colleagues and has facilitated many wonderful dance residencies that include activities for all ages. A charter member of the DanceForce, she is also a CMA, an Alexander Technique teacher, a K-12 state certified dance teacher and an occasional performer of her own solo dances.

NANCY DUNCAN

CoDanceCo

Nancy Duncan has had an eclectic career in the performing arts as a dancer, educator, producing director, manager, and arts management consultant. Founder and Producing Director of CoDanceCo, she established the company in 1982 as a production company devoted to nurturing the creative development of dance artists and providing audiences access to a wide-range of outstanding dance artistry that reflects the creativity and eclecticism of American dance. For her work with CoDanceCo, she was awarded a Special Citation New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Award in 1991. Other highlights include her work as a dancer and teacher for the Minnesota Dance Theatre; artistic director for the London Contemporary Dance Theatre; director of the booking department for Pentacle, a national dance service organization; producer of a four-week dance festival in New York City, Dancing in the Isles: British Invasion '97; special project manager for Arts International; and community outreach programs director for Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project production PastForward, touring both nationally and internationally. Duncan has served as an Arts Administration Fellow with the Presenting and Commissioning Program at the National Endowment for the Arts; a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Jersey State Arts Council, and the Huntington Arts Council. She is currently a member of the Suffolk County Citizens Arts Advisory Board and the Patchogue Arts Council.

KIM ENGEL

UALbany Performing Arts Center

Kim Engel is Assistant Director of the University at Albany Performing Arts Center, a five-theatre complex which hosts over 600 events annually in all of the performing arts including dance, music and theatre. She is also the Education Coordinator and a teaching artist for the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company (ESDC). Beginning its 21st season, ESDC is the Capital Region's premiere modern dance company and the resident company of The Egg. Kim was a company member of ESDC for thirteen years as well as its General Manager for two of them. Previously, Kim was also the General Manager of The Egg and, during her twelve years there, she programmed The Egg's dance series with such artists as the Mark Morris Dance Group, DanceBrazil, Donald Byrd/The Group, Toronto Dance Theatre, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company and ODC/San Francisco. She also administered long and short-term residencies with The Egg's visiting dance companies. Kim studied dance at Adelphi University and holds a BA in Communication from the University at Albany. She has worked at Jacob's Pillow, has served on the board of directors of the Dance Alliance, and has acted as a panel member for the Albany/Schenectady League of Arts, the Saratoga County Arts Council and The Arts Center of the Capital Region.

ELAINE GARDNER

Pick of the Crop Dance

A native of Glasgow, Scotland, Elaine Gardner studied ballet and modern dance in Syracuse, Phoenix, Los Angeles, London, Boston and New York. She performed in contemporary dances by Margo Sappington, Bill Evans, Charles Weidman, Donald Byrd, Kei Takei, Doris Humphrey and Laura Dean as a member of the Los Angeles-based touring repertory company Dance/L.A. from 1978 to 1980. In 1980, while living in Los Angeles, she founded Pick of the Crop Dance, a contemporary repertory company and in 1982 she re-established the company with her husband Curt Steinzor in Buffalo. Since then, she has performed individually and with the company throughout the northeastern United States as well as in Scotland and Latvia, creating a repertory of over 100 pieces as well as commissioning works by guest choreographers. Among the artists who have created works for the company are Colin Connor, Richard Colton, Terry Creach, Laura Dean, Itzik Galili, Gail Gilbert, Linda Kent, Jessica Lang, Kun Yang Lin, Peter Pucci, Nicholas Rodriguez, Marcus Schulkind, and Kevin Wynn. Gardner is a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts Dance Program. She teaches contemporary dance, ballet, and choreography at Nichols School in Buffalo, where she also directs the Nichols Dance Ensemble.

photo by Michael Hart

JUDY HUSSIE-TAYLOR

Danspace Project

Danspace Project Executive Director Judy Hussie-Taylor has over twenty years of experience in arts administration and community relations. The former Executive Director of the nationally acclaimed Colorado Dance Festival (CDF), she has also served as Artistic Director for Theater Programs at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and Deputy Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver. She taught in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Colorado-Boulder and served as a director of the Department's prestigious Visiting Artist Program. Through her work at CDF, she participated in the National Performance Network and the National Dance Project. Recently, she served as a consultant for the National Dance Project's Regional Dance Development Initiative and Contemporary Art Centers Initiative. Her interviews, articles and essays have been published in Colorado newspapers, journals, and in catalogues and gallery brochures.

MARGARET L. KAISER

Dance Activist

Margaret L. Kaiser is an independent Arts in Education consultant. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the NYS Dance Force and is a Facilitator for the Lincoln Center Institute for Arts in Education's online aesthetic education course. Ms. Kaiser is a member of the NYS Regents Professional Standards and Practices for Teaching Subcommittee, a docent for the Burchfield Penney Art Center, and a Board member of Pick of the Crop Dance. Ms. Kaiser was Executive Director of the Arts in Education Institute of Western New York in Buffalo, New York for the past 17 years, where she directed an in-depth multi-cultural focus for the Institute's aesthetic education program. Among her many projects, Ms. Kaiser co-produced and co-commissioned a Native American dance production, THE MAID OF THE MIST AND THE THUNDERBEINGS, funded by the Lila Wallace Readers Digest Arts Partners Program, which toured the East and West coasts. Ms. Kaiser has also served as a dance panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts, Arts MidWest, and the Ontario Arts Council (Toronto). Ms. Kaiser received an M.A. and B.A. from SUNY College at Oswego.

BIT KNIGHTON

Dance Activist

Bit Knighton, currently serving as a dance activist in western New York, has had the pleasure of working for Garth Fagan Dance for 34 years as School Administrator (1 year), Company Manager (14 years) and as a principal dancer (19.5 years). In addition to functioning in a managerial capacity, Ms. Knighton co-taught at SUNY College at Brockport as an adjunct lecturer. As a company member she taught master classes in Fagan technique and helped formulate and run residencies both in the U.S. and abroad. Ms. Knighton has served as a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts and a consultant for the Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester. She has taught on the dance faculties of the Hochstein School of Music and Dance, the Rochester-based School of the Arts, and has assisted in program evaluation for the Rochester City School District. S he was privileged to have had such notable teachers as Garth Fagan, James Truitte, Karel Shook, Thelma Hill, Lorna Mafata, Pearl Reynolds and Arthur Mitchell. She attended college at SUNY/Brockport and SUNY/Binghamton.

MOHAWK VALLEY DANCE PARTNERSHIP

Nancy Long

The Mohawk Valley Dance Partnership, established in 1995 to broaden dance activity in Central New York, combines the talents and resources of three community partners: Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Hamilton College and the Arts in Education Institute of the Stanley Center for the Arts. Enriching people's lives through dance, the Mohawk Valley Dance Partnership is a consortium of organizations that advances an understanding of dance across a broad spectrum of the community, inspiring people to make dance a meaningful part of their lives. Nancy Long serves as the Mohawk Valley Dance Partnership's representative to the DanceForce.

ELENA MOSLEY

Kuumba Dance & Drum

Elena Mosley, Director and Founder of Kuumba Dance and Drum, began her dance career in various community centers in New York City. She performed with the Lady Helena Walquer Dance Company, Harlem, NY, Brothers and Sisters United of Staten Island and Haitian Dance Theater, under the direction of Louines Louinis. She participates in many cultural programs for Columbia, Greene and the Capital Region Schools and community arts programs. Elena serves as facilitator for the Kuumba adult company, which functions as a collective of African influences in modern society. She is currently the Executive Director of the Operation Unite Education and Cultural Arts Center located in Hudson.

PARTNERS IN DANCE

Beth HArtle Fecteau

Partners in Dance is a catalytic organization devoted to maximizing the audience for each year's Capital Region season through initiatives in youth and adult education. Partners in Dance consists of over 30 members who support this mission and share in the goal of keeping dance alive in our community. Beth Hartle Fecteau serves as a managing partner and representative to the DanceForce.

photo by Michael Kirby

CARLA PETERSON

New York Live Arts

Carla Peterson has been Artistic Director of New York Live Arts (foremerly Dance Theater Workshop) since fall 2006. She is responsible for leading the institution's overall artistic vision and designing programming that advances dance and live performance in New York City and worldwide. She continues to serve on panels, most recently as advisor for the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Fellowship Grants to Individuals, the Pew Fellowships in the Arts' Discipline-Specific and Final Interdisciplinary Panels, and The Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography's Choreographic Fellowships panel. From 2002 to 2006, she served as the Executive Director of Movement Research. She has also worked as a writer, project manager, project development advisor, and fundraiser for independent artists and arts organizations, such as the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, SURDNA Foundation, Association for Performing Arts Presenters, and the National Performance Network. From 1993 to 1996, Ms. Peterson was Director of Inter/National Projects at Dance Theater Workshop. From 1988 to 1993, she was Assistant Director of Performing Arts at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

CARLOTA SANTANA

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana

Carlota Santana, Artistic Director and Founder of Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, has been designated "The Keeper of Flamenco" by Dance Magazine in recognition of her commitment to creating new works and developing young artists and choreographers. She has dedicated her company to the mission of building bridges between cultures, using the universal spirit of Flamenco. The company was founded in 1983 by Carlota Santana and Roberto Lorca; it was their vision that new Spanish dance should not only find a permanent home in the U.S., but also an environment in which its creation and performance would thrive. Since Mr. Loca's death in 1987 the Company, under Ms. Santana's direction, has expanded its repertory by presenting new music, dramatic works, and a mixture of various dance vocabularies, as well as by integrating Hispanic-American influences. Recent creations include "Bailes de Ida y Vuelta", flamenco's journey through Latin America, "Mano a Mano", a tribute to the bullfighter Manolete, and the contemporary flamenco story-ballet "Federico", a celebration of the life of Federico Garcia Lorca, all at The Joyce Theater.

Ms. Santana created the company's innovative arts-in-education program, integrating Spanish dance and culture with the school curriculum, and travels widely implementing this program. She is a member of the dance panel for the New York State Council on the Arts and has served on the panel for the National Endowment for the Arts. She is on the faculty of Duke University and has taught at Long Island and New York Universities. Under her artistic direction, the company has performed at Lincoln Center, The Joyce Theater, The New Victory Theater, Summerdance Santa Barbara, Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Van Wezel Performing Arts Center in Sarasota, Universidad Bucaramanga in Colombia, South America, Palacio de Congresos in Granada, Spain, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, among many others.

JIM SELF

Cornell University Department of Theatre, Film and Dance

Jim Self, choreographer and painter, has taught modern and post-modern dance technique, improvisation, choreography and dance studies at Cornell's Department of Theatre, Film and Dance since 1989. He has been choreographing and teaching dance since the early 1970s in Chicago. Credits include dancing in Merce Cunningham Dance Co. (1976-79), collaborating with Robert Wilson and Philip Glass for the Civil Wars/Rome Opera (1984), creating the BESSIE AWARD winning film BEEHIVE with the late Frank Moore, and touring Europe and the USA with his former company, JIM SELF and DANCERS. His work is featured in the films RETRACING STEPS (1987), and JIM SELF COMES HOME (1986/Alabama Public TV). He is committed to cutting edge performance and dance, particularly in the collaborative areas of music, visual design, light, costume, and new technologies.

TONI SMITH

Capital Region Dance Activist

Toni Smith, M.F.A., is a dance activist from the Capital Region of New York. She has been the Artistic Director of the National Museum of Dance and on the dance faculty for Skidmore College, Union College and Schenectady County Community College. She continues to host dance companies for the Office of the Dean of Special Programs at Skidmore College. She was the Artistic Director of Toni Smith & Dancers from 1978 to 1986 in New York City. She has toured worldwide with various dance companies including the Vanaver Caravan. Toni is the recipient of grants in choreography from the New York State Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer, National Arts and Letters Society and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council among others. Toni Smith is the Founder of Partners in Dance: a Consortium of Capital Region Dance Sponsors, and Artistic Director of Rebound Dance Company, a company that supports the work of independent choreographers, fine arts and educational body work programs. Toni is a Body-Mind Centering Practitioner with a private practice specializing in chronic pain and neurological disorders. She is currently a guest lecturer in dance and somatics.

IVAN SYGODA

Pentacle

Since 1976, Ivan Sygoda has been a Director of Pentacle, a service organization to which many dance artists outsource administrative functions such as accounting, grant writing and booking. He designed most of Pentacle's special projects, such as its current Help Desk mentoring program; co-founded the New York State DanceForce; contributed to many arts publications; served on numerous panels; lectured widely on aspects of arts administration; and is or has been on the boards of Dance/USA, NAPAMA, Arts Presenters and the Western Arts Alliance. He was awarded Dance/USA's "Ernie" in 1996 and the Arts Presenters Fan Taylor Distinguished Service Award in 2000.

photo by Todd Richmond

Paz tanjuaquio

Topaz Arts

PAZ TANJUAQUIO is a choreographer, performer and is co-founding director of TOPAZ ARTS, Inc. She has been creating dances in New York City since 1990. Her work has been presented by the Danspace Project, Performance Space 122, La MaMa, DanceNow/NYC, Dance Theater Workshop, Movement Research at Judson Church, Aaron Davis Hall, Symphony Space, Dixon Place, Thelma Hill Performing Arts, Brooklyn Museum; and nationally at Godt-Cleary Projects in Las Vegas, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and Ohio University. Awards for her choreography include National Endowment for the Arts, NY Foundation for the Arts BUILD/Homer Avila Memorial Award, two Individual Artist Awards from Queens Council on the Arts, and DTW's Suitcase Fund where she participated in the Mekong Project's Cambodia Creative Residency and artistic research travel in Vietnam. As a dancer, she has performed with Molissa Fenley and Dancers since 1997. She has performed in the works of Marlies Yearby, Carl Hancock Rux, Clarinda Mac Low, Christalyn Wright, among others. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Akiyoshidai International Art Village in Japan, The Yard at Martha's Vineyard, Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, and Movement Research in NY. She received her MFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and her BA in Visual Arts from University of California, San Diego.

TOPAZ ARTS, Inc. is a nonprofit organization founded in 2000 by artists Todd Richmond and Paz Tanjuaquio. TOPAZ ARTS fosters the creative process, producing the collaborative works of its founders and providing public programs for contemporary dance, music and visual arts. TOPAZ ARTS maintains a 2,500 sq. ft. multidisciplinary arts center in Woodside, Queens which includes a dance rehearsal space, audio room, and exhibition gallery. Providing a creative space, technical support, residency and presentation opportunities, TOPAZ ARTS enables artists to realize their projects and the process shared with audiences.

CYNTHIA WILLIAMS

Hobart & William Smith Colleges

Cynthia Williams received her BFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah, and her MFA in Dance from Connecticut College. She has been teaching at Hobart and William Smith Colleges since 1986, receiving tenure in 1992 and promotion to full professor in 2002. Cynthia teaches modern dance and ballet techniques, dance history, dance composition, improvisation, teaching methods, and interdisciplinary dance courses. She has been certified to teach Rommett Floor-Barre, is an active choreographer and lighting designer for dance. She has built a dance performance series at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in spite of limited funding and space and facilities challenges that has included Jane Comfort and Company, David Dorfman Dance, Molissa Fenley, Maureen Fleming, Lingo dancetheater, Bebe Miller, Claire Porter, Lisa Race, and Marlies Yearby among others.