THE DANCE CENTER PRESENTS
FREE FALL: STUDENT PERFORMANCE NIGHT November 16–17, 2023
dance.colum.edu
ABOUT Fall into new discoveries in this sampler evening of original, brand new, short works by student choreographers – some sharing pieces on the Dance Center’s stage for the first time – lit by Theater’s rising lighting designers.
CREDITS gndr & fmnnty CHOREOGRAPHERS AND PERFORMERS: Terry Falcon, Jasmin Rios, Keilani Williams MUSIC: fue mejor by Kali Uchis featuring SZA, 16 Shots by Stefflon Don, De Aquí No Sales by Rosalía, SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY by Amaarae featuring Kali Uchis and Moliy LIGHTING DESIGNER: Caden Riley FACULTY MENTOR: Jessica Young
Survivor CHOREOGRAPHER AND PERFORMER: Brittanyrose Lonergan MUSIC: Pretty Distraction by Skydxddy, Not All Men by Morgan St. Jean LIGHTING DESIGNER: Socorro Park FACULTY MENTOR: Emma Draves
Unconditional CHOREOGRAPHER: Anyce Paul-Émile PERFORMERS: Rylee Binkley, Na’Ima Flores, Najah Muhammad, Anyce Paul-Émile, Amari Smith, Imani Smith MUSIC: Unconditionally by Katy Perry LIGHTING DESIGNER: Jack Goodman FACULTY MENTOR: Lisa Gonzales
A Lover’s Dream CHOREOGRAPHY: Violet Czerwinski PERFORMERS: Shannon Lane, Lauren Payne, Sophia Peck, Ash Williams, Emma Wilson MUSIC: Puppy Love by Paul Anka, Oh Klahoma by Jack Stauber, Maps by Freya Ridings MUSIC EDITOR: Violet Czerwinski LIGHTING DESIGNER: Will Donovan FACULTY MENTOR: Bevara Anderson
How Are We Boundless? Where Are We Free? CO-CHOREOGRAPHERS: Wyatt Sutter and Charles Pierson CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS: Charles Pierson, Wyatt Sutter, Breslin “Bre5lin” Webb MUSIC: Deep In Vogue by DJ Delish, He Loves Me by Jill Scott (Eli Escobar Bootleg Mix), I’m Hot for You - Original No Offence Mix by Lil’ Louis, Life Is Like A Circle by Derrick Carter & Chris Nazuka, Prayer - 623 Again Vocal Mix by Kerri Chandler & Rev F. L. Brown, The Ha Dub Rewerk’d by MikeQ MUSIC MIX: Breslin “Bre5lin” Webb LIGHTING DESIGNER: Jacob Sousley FACULTY MENTOR: Kelsa “K-Soul” Rieger-Haywood Dedicated to the Dancers and the DeeJays, to the Black and Brown Queer People who have created and sustained these House and Ball cultures, to the spaces and places where we can feel free.
THE DANCE CENTER PRODUCTION TEAM TECHNICAL DIRECTOR AND PRODUCTION MANAGER: Kevin Rechner MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR: Jane Jerardi SPN CONCERT COORDINATOR: Jessica Young LIGHTING MENTOR: Quinn Chisenhall
BIOS gndr & fmnnty Terry Falcon (Co-Choreographer & Performer) is a Ballroom trained dancer who is continually seeking out to explore different forms of dance. She is trained in forms such as Cha Cha, Tango, Waltz, Foxtrot, and Paso Doble.
Jasmin Rios (Co-Choreographer & Performer) has revived training in forms such as West African, Modern, and variations of Street Hip-Hop dance. Their first years of dance were self taught and revolved around Commercial Hip-Hop, Popping, and Latin forms.
Keilani Williams (Co-Choreographer & Performer) is a self taught and trained dancer whose movement vocabulary consists of Commercial Hip-Hop and Heels dance. Keilani is a performer with much experience leading and being in dance teams.
Caden Riley (Lighting Designer) (he/him) is a junior Lighting Design major from the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Credits include Lighting Designer for Valleyfair Amusement Park, Lighting Designer for On The Town, and previous SPNs. Caden also works actively in the Chicago area running lasers and lights for nightclubs and bars. Jessica Young (Faculty Mentor & SPN Coordinator) (she/her), Associate Professor in Dance and co-coordinator of the Arts in Health Minor, teaches ballet, joyfulness and wellbeing, and arts in health courses. She is the 2020 recipient of the American Dance Therapy Association’s President’s Award and Excellence in Education Award. The arc of her 20+ year career includes serving those who are homeless with severe and chronic mental illness, educating graduate students in dance/movement therapy (DMT) and counseling, and teaching undergraduates how to tend to their own and others’ joyfulness and well-being. She has facilitated over 35 peer reviewed conference presentations nationally and internationally in DMT theory and practice, clinical supervision, motivational interviewing, harm reduction, violence prevention, trauma informed and healing centered engagement, and wellness. Her publications
focus on DMT theory and education. She provides clinical superivison in DMT and counseling as well as direct services to children, adolescents, and adults at New Prairie Counseling Center. Jessica strives to integrate wellness research and practice into all areas of her teaching such that students develop lifelong skills of tending to their own and other’s well-being as a means of sustaining healthy careers and socially just communities. Jessica received her Master of Arts (MA) in Dance/Movement Therapy at Columbia College Chicago. Her additional credentialing includes: Board Certified Dance Movement Therapist (BC-DMT), American Dance Therapy Association; Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), Department of Professional Regulation, State of Illinois; Graduate Laban Certificate in Movement Analysis (GLCMA), Columbia College Chicago.
Survivor Brittanyrose Lonergan (Choreographer & Performer) is a senior Dance BA. She grew up in the military and has danced all over in places like North Carolina, South Korea, and Maine.
Socorro Park (Lighting Designer) is a Los Angeles, California native and a Chicagobased lighting designer. Currently in their third year at CCC, they have designed multiple shows such as Or, Lemons Lemons Lemons, and Prequel to Animal Farm. They have also designed The Fallen Angels Hotel at the GreenHouse Theatre. This marks Socorro’s debut in dance design, and they could not be more excited to share it. Emma Draves (Faculty Mentor) is a dance artist and educator navigating intertextual spaces of identity. Emma draws from trainings in modern, bharatanatyam, ballet, jazz, and ethnography, to weave work of kinesthetic narrative - derived through colliding multiplicities of physical effort, idiosyncrasy, and emotional landscape. Emma’s choreographic work has been shown internationally in Edinburgh (UK) & Vancouver (BC), as well as at NYU, Hamlin Park, High Concept Labs, Links Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, Columbia College Chicago; and commissioned by Danceworks Company and UW-Milwaukee. As a performer, Emma worked with Mordine & Company, Hedwig Dances, and Archana Kumar; and theatrical productions at Victory Gardens and Lookingglass Theatre. Trained in bharatanatyam under Smt. Hema Rajagopalan, Emma has enjoyed a long association with Natya Dance Theatre as a performing artist - participating in national tours and international collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma & Silk Road Project, NanJombang (Indonesia), and Astad Deboo (India) - grant-writer, archivist, and Executive Director. Emma holds a GLCMA & MFA - and has served on faculty at Columbia College Chicago, College of DuPage, Northwestern University, and OK State University.
Unconditional Rylee Binkley (Performer) is a sophomore attending Columbia College Chicago. She became a Dance Major this year and has fallen more in love with dance. Once she graduates, she hopes to join a dance company and continue her career in event management.
Na’Ima Flores (Performer) grew up in Buffalo, NY and came to Chicago to attend Columbia College Chicago. She is in her second year of college as a Dance Major and a Creative Writing Minor.
Najah Muhammad (Performer) is a dedicated mover who’s been dancing for 4 years now. With a background in Musical Theater, SPN 2023 is Najah’s first dance performance and she’s so excited to help share this piece with the world.
Anyce Paul-Émile (Choreographer & Performer) and was born and raised in the Chicagoland area. She is a thirdyear Columbia College Chicago student majoring in Dance with a minor in Film Acting. She spent last semester studying abroad in Manchester, England where she took an acting for the camera and digital dance class. This experience solidified her decision to act and dance in film and television once she graduates in 2025. Amari Smith (Performer) grew up training in dance programs in Chicago, IL focusing on various styles such as Ballet, Modern, Jazz, West African, and Hip-Hop. She has been a part of many programs within her community while also training with The Joffrey Ballet. Amari is currently a junior at Columbia College Chicago acquiring her BA in Dance, while also taking many dance classes in the Chicago community. She is extremely excited to continue her passion and journey into dance auditioning for companies, becoming a commercial dancer, performer, and choreographer.
Imani Smith (Performer) is a junior at Columbia College Chicago. She’s had a passion for dancing for awhile now and whenever she steps onto a dance floor, it feels like home for her. She’s danced her whole life and it’s made her the person she is today. She’s trained with the company Move Me Soul where she did Modern, Jazz, and West African. Jack Goodman (Lighting Designer) (he/him/his) is a Chicago-based lighting designer in his senior year at Columbia. Previous SPN Credits include: Unconditional Love, To, Too, Two, and To Understand. Theatre Design credits at Columbia include: Dance Nation, Home Is Where the Heart Is, Language of Angels, and Forever and a Day/On the Inside. www.jackgdesigns.com Lisa Gonzales (Faculty Mentor) is an Associate Professor and Chair of Dance. She teaches courses in Choreography, Improvisation, Contemporary Technique and Experiential Anatomy. She has been described as a performer of “stunning power and nuance” by the New York Times and remains professionally devoted to the practices of performing, improvising, choreographing and teaching. Domestically her work has been seen in a diverse collection of spaces including in New York City: DTW, Danspace at St. Mark’s Church, Joyce Soho, Dixon Place, WAX, Joe’s Pub, John Jay College, and Brick Studio among others, and Chicago: at the Dance Center of Columbia College, Hamlin Park, Links Hall, and MANA Contemporary as part of an Incubational Artist Residency with High Concept Labs. Internationally, Gonzales’ work has been presented at the historic Lu-Ling Theater in Taipei, Taiwan, at the Dostoyevsky Theater in St. Petersburg Russia, in Helsinki, Finland, and in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. She is a recent recipient of an Individual Artist Grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and she will be presenting her new work, a dance-puppetry collaboration with designer, Tom Lee, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia this fall. Gonzales received a BA from Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT and an MFA in Dance with a specialization in choreography from The Ohio State University.
A Lover’s Dream Violet Czerwinski (Choreographer) (she/her) is a sophomore Dance BFA at Columbia College Chicago. She has been dancing for 15 years, 10 of those competitively. She trained in mostly Contemporary and Jazz work.
Shannon Lane (Performer) is pursuing her BFA in Dance as a sophomore at Columbia College Chicago. She started dancing when she was seven years old in her hometown Oak Park, Illinois, training primarily in Ballet and Modern techniques at the Academy of Movement and Music.
Lauren Payne (Performer) is a sophomore at Columbia College Chicago, majoring in Dance and minoring in Arts Management. She has danced since the age of four under Kathi Nallia, and has trained and performed for the past 11 years around the greater Kansas City area.
Sophia Peck (Performer) is a sophomore working towards her Dance degree at Columbia College Chicago. After 12 years of training under Jeri Pinnell and working with several notable choreographers, Sophia is excited to be furthering her dance education.
Born and raised in Oregon, Ash Williams (Performer) started their Contemporary Dance training with NW Dance Project and Open Space since age 13. In 2022, they started at Columbia College Chicago and working in and out of school on various performances. They’ve performed at Common Canvas at Common Conservatory, and trained at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and DanceWorks Chicago. Emma Wilson (Performer) is currently in her sophomore year of a BA in Dance at Columbia College Chicago. She was born in Houston, Texas and grew up training in Ballet, Modern and Tap. Along with being a student, Emma also has been a Ballet and Contemporary teacher to many students since 2018. Will Donovan (Lighting Designer) is a Chicago based lighting engineer and programmer in his 3rd year at CCC. Selected Credits include: The Wolves, Little Women (Taylor’s Version), and Catch me if you can. He also oversees lighting at various Chicago venues including Tao Chicago, Roof on the Wit, and LP’s Tap house.
Bevara Anderson (Faculty Mentor) is a professional dance artist from the Maryland coast. Ms. Anderson focuses on the embodied research that lives within Umfundalai, house footwork, Horton, contemporary ballet, improvisation, and many other contemporary movement styles. Anderson is now rendering dance work based in narrative, abstraction, meditation, and continues to consider the experience of joy as a form of resistance in the Black American community. Bevara is of the final generation of dancers to study under the direct tutelage of Dr. Kariamu Welsh, and holds this feat with pride as she continues to share Dr. Welsh’s technique, Umfundalai.
How Are We Boundless? Where Are We Free? Charles Pierson (Co-Choreographer & Performer) is a Chicago-based dance artist and performer, born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. As a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Musical Theatre and minor in Dance Performance, Charles has training in a wide range of dance styles such as Musical Theatre, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Improvisational Performance, and Vogue aesthetic. Since moving to Chicago in 2019, Charles has danced with a variety of companies including Common Conservatory, DanceWorks Chicago, Thodos Dance Chicago, and is currently a member of The Seldoms. Wyatt Sutter, first introduced to dance through his mother who is a dancer and movement artist, developed a love and curiosity for Hip-Hop, House, and Funk dance styles in his early teenage years. Now a current senior at Columbia College Chicago with a double major in Dance and Cultural Studies, Wyatt is an avid participant in the Hip-Hop and Street Dance scene in Chicago. Wyatt recently began dancing and performing with BraveSoul Movement in the summer of 2023, having now been a part of their most recent performances at Chicago Live, Chicago Harvest Festival, and the American Dancing Bodies Symposium hosted by the Dance Presenting Series at Columbia College Chicago. Breslin Webb, also known as Bre5lin (pronounced B-5), (Performer & Music Mixer) is an up and coming dancer, rapper, and DJ who was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. He grew up in the city learning about Hip-Hop culture, but soon started studying an array of dance styles like West African and Afro-Brazilian. He currently lives in Chicago and is studying Dance at Columbia College.
Jacob Sousley (Lighting Designer) (they/them/theirs) is a junior Theatre major with a concentration in Directing originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. They’ve most recently worked as the director for the theatre department’s production of The Giver. They are very thankful for the lighting opportunities given to them. Kelsa “K-Soul” Rieger-Haywood (Faculty Mentor) is a culturally responsive educator, dancemaker, and curator. Kelsa’s passion and training in social justice organizing is infused in all areas of her work. Her movement training is primarily rooted in Afrodiasporan vernacular dance forms and spaces including underground House and Hip-Hop, as well as capoeira, samba, salsa and bachata. Kelsa’s dancemaking investigates improvisation as performance and celebrates the rawness, exuberance, individuality and deep sense of community embedded in street dance forms. She has performed and presented work locally and internationally, including at the Pivot Arts & Physical Theater Festivals (Chicago, IL), danceGathering (Lagos, Nigeria), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), B.Supreme (London, UK), B-girl Be (Minneapolis), J.U.I.C.E. Hip-Hop Dance Festival (Hollywood), Constellation/ Links Hall and Pritzker Pavilion (Chicago). A prominent focus of Kelsa’s work is building reciprocal collaboration and meaningful exchange between Hip-Hop and the academy. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Instruction at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago and Curator of The B-SERIES, a biannual festival and co-curricular program celebrating Hip-Hop & street dance culture at the College since 2013. Kelsa is also a Fellow of Columbia’s Antiracist Transformation Team, Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Hip-Hop Studies Minor, a member of the internationally known street-dance crew, Venus Fly, and Co-Artistic Director of BraveSoul Movement. Kelsa holds a Bachelor degree in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Kevin Rechner (Technical Director and Production Manager) has been Production Manager and Technical Director for the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago since 1996. He has a bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Illinois State University and spent 3 years in Paris, France studying Movement Theatre with Jacques Lecoq and Daniel Stein. He has created four solo performance works including I AM HUGO and performed in Emily Johnson’s Thank You Bar at the Dance Center. Technically, he has worn many hats for The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Daniel Stein, Akira Kasai, Kota Yamazaki, Momenta!, Hedwig Dances, Urban Bush Women, HT Chen and Dancers, Natya Dance Theatre, Mordine and Company Dance Theatre, The Seldoms and many more. Kevin’s work with Lucky Plush Productions includes Cinderbox 18, The Sky Hangs Down Too Close, Punk Yankees, The Better Half, Cinderbox 2.0, Trip the Light Fantastic: The Making of Superstrip, and Rink Life. Recent lighting designs include Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and Junie B. Jones, The Musical for The Young People’s Theatre of Chicago.
Jane Jerardi (Media & Technology Coordinator) is the Media/Technology Coordinator for the Dance Department and is also on faculty at the Dance Center where she teaches video for dance. She is a time-based artist working in the media of choreography, performance, and video. She has created work for a variety of contexts –- from theaters and galleries to storefronts, record store listening booths, public subway escalators, and outdoor projected videos –- constructing pieces that often move fluidly between media. A frequent collaborator, she has been fortunate to work with musicians Mitsu Salmon, Amy Farina (of The Evens), Scanner (aka Robin Rimbaud), and Lucas Zarwell as well as visual artists Michael Wichita and Olek, among many others on her projects. Her work has been presented by spaces such as the Joyce Soho, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, the LUMEN Festival (in New York); Links Hall, 6018North, Sector 2337, and defibrillator performance gallery (Chicago); at Transformer, The Warehouse, Dance Place, and the Kennedy Center (in DC), among other venues. A recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Artist Fellowship and a three-time recipient of its Young Emerging Artist award, she received support through its New Media grant program. Her work has also been commissioned by the Creative Communities Fund and the Washington Performing Arts Society. She was a 2019 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist and has received support through Links Hall’s LinkUP Residency program as well as a creative residency from Sector 2337. Quinn Chisenhall (Lighting Mentor) (he/him)’s recent credits include: lighting design for At Your Own Risk, The Wolves (University of Chicago), and Puppet Lab (Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival), and assistant lighting designer for Describe the Night (Steppenwolf) and New Stages (Goodman).
The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago Home to the academic Dance Department and the Dance Presenting Series, the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago values embodied human expression and nurtures an expansive understanding of dance from the established to the experimental. Centering pluralism, the Dance Center aims to be a nucleus for innovation and creativity —on stage, in the classroom, and beyond. By partnering with local, national, and international dance artists dedicated to transforming the field, the Dance Presenting Series offers live performances and other shared opportunities for students, faculty, artists, and audiences to connect, witness, research, experiment, practice, imagine, and grow. We cultivate an environment and culture that prioritizes respect for self and others, and advances an anti-racist, equitable, and just society.
THE DANCE CENTER Founder Shirley Mordine
Matthew Hollis
Chair of Dance Lisa Gonzales
Mary Klonowski
Associate Chair Dardi McGinley-Gallivan
Michael McGinn
Dean, School of Fine and Performing Arts Dr. Rosita M. Sands
Jimmy Payne
Faculty Bevara Anderson Lisa Gonzales Susan Imus Darrell Jones Dardi McGinley-Gallivan Kelsa “K-Soul” RiegerHaywood Dr. Ayo Walker Jessica Young Adjunct Faculty T. Ayo Alston Keesha Beckford Malik Camara Zineb Chraibi Shaker Cohlmia Allen Desterhaft Emma Draves Colleen Halloran Carrie Hansen Daniel “BRAVEMONK” Haywood Gina Hoch-Stall
Jane Jerardi Hau Kum Leung Kneip Pamela McNeil Emily Stein Trae Turner Meghann Wilkinson Thomas Zwergel Staff Michael Caskey Music Director, Accompanist Coordinator Dan DiLuciano Director of Facilities and Operations Raynner Garcia Box Office/Reception Caity Gee Administrative Assistant/ Communications Ize Heinzen House Manager Jane Jerardi Media and Technology Coordinator Ambe’r Johnnson Box Office Associate Angelika Lewis Box Office Associate Pamela McNeil Academic Manager
Mia Nelson Box Office/Reception Disha Patel Box Office/Reception Kevin Rechner Technical Director and Production Manager Roell Schmidt Dance Presenting Series Producing Director Meredith Sutton Dance Presenting Series Artistic Director
FRIENDS OF THE DANCE CENTER The Dance Center gratefully acknowledges its donors for their generous support. $1,000 AND ABOVE Taylor and Carrie Olivia Adams
$100-249
Bonnie Brooks
Bernadette Casey
David Colburn
Dr. Kurt Christoffel
Pamela Crutchfield
Margi Cole
William Hunt
Andrea Edwards
Marcia Lazar and Alan Amos
Peter N. and Susan F. Gray
Elizabeth Liebman
Nancy Juda
Susan Manning and Douglas Doetsch
Arnold and Carol Kanter
Kathleen Miles
Maggie Kast
D. Elizabeth Price
Philip Martini
Anonymous
Thomas and Shirley Neiman $500-999
Stephen Roy and Lloyd Kohler
Ellen Chenoweth
Judith Sagan
Melynda Lopin
Clyde Whitaker
Robert Mrtek and Marsha Mrtek Susan J. Stall
$50-99
Shawn Wax
Charlotte and Alan Bath Dr. Bob
$250-499
Cornelio Casaclang
Nancy Church and Charles Jett
Nancy K. DeDakis
Amor Kohli
Paul E. Fisher
Jamey Lundblad and Bill Melamed
Lisa Gonzales
K. McGriff
Colleen Halloran
Susan F. Rossen
Dawn Renee Jones Dardi McGinley-Gallivan Pamela Hoffman McNeil Evemarie Moore Bette Rosenstein Dr. Elaine Sachnoff Emily Stein Mary Beth Van Dyke
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DANCE CENTER SPONSORS
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