BIOGRAPHIES

Ellen Robbins teaches dance for children, teenagers and, alumni in SoHo. She was the resident dance educator at Dance Theater Workshop for 34 years. She is a recipient of the 1993 Arts in Education Round Table Award and a 1986 Bessie (New York Dance and Performance Award) for her work with children. In May of 2015, she was the honoree of La MaMa Moves Gala. Ms. Robbins is a consultant to choreographers working with children, and presents an intensive teachers’ course, Growing a Dancer, for the 92nd Street Y’s Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) program. She has also taught dance education at Sarah Lawrence College and as a guest lecturer around the country and abroad. She has been on the faculties of the 92nd Street Y, the Bennington College July Program, and ArtsConnection, a performance arts project for public school children, and has directed the Young Dancers School at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina. In the summer of 2001, Dances By Very Young Choreographers (Ellen Robbins’ students ages 8-18) was produced at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the

Doris Duke Theater. Ms. Robbins is known for her repertory of group dances, choreographed in collaboration with children. For more information, see: ellenrobbinsdance.com

Serena Wong (Lighting Designer) is a Brooklyn-based freelance lighting designer for theater and dance. Her designs have been seen at American Ballet Theater, Fall For Dance at City Center, Danspace, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Most recently she has designed for choreographers Gemma Bond, Caleb Teicher, Leonardo Sandoval, and Jaamil Olawale Kosoko. She enjoys biking, beekeeping, and bread baking.

Alumni

Marina Rebecca Chan is a Brooklyn-based performer and playwright (Dramatists Guild member), with a softspot for musical theater and a commitment to advancing Asian representation. Marina grew up studying music, theater and dance, including modern dance and choreography with Ellen Robbins, which had a tremendous influence on Marina’s development and creative growth.

Ellen taught Marina the power of art and expression at an early age, which has stayed with Marina ever since and made her feel she could pursue a career in the arts. A Columbia graduate, with a Drama & Theatre Arts degree, Marina went on to conceive and produce the Asian Americans in Theatre: Art and Activism panel series at Asia Society and Barnard College. During Covid, she’s performed in numerous Zoom productions, including three of her own plays: Elizabeth’s Wonderland (self-produced), Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow (Little & Fierce Theatre Company), and Two Lovers (Rachel Love’s AirPlay); and recently had her play Asian American Girl developed at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre. Recent NYC acting credits: A Black and White Cookie (The Tank); A Tomato Can’t Grow in the Bronx (Chain Theatre). NYC dance credits: Il Re Pastore (Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival); and self-choreographed dances “War Danse Macabre” (Studios at New York City Center), “Finding My Voice” (tsunami relief at Brooklyn Friends School), and “Which Witch is Which?” and “Quest” in Ellen Robbins’ Dances by Very Young Choreographers (Dance Theater Workshop). Marina is incredibly excited to be studying with Ellen again after 16 years! marinachan.com

Chanda Cragnotti has studied dance since she was 6 years old, and she started dancing with Ellen a year later. She freelanced in NYC for many years and danced with Dances Patrelle, Catherine Gallant-Dances by Isadora, and the Isadora Duncan Dance Company. She now studies environmental science and journalism at The New School. Accolades include best choreography for her pieces Lament, and A Journey through Blue at the Vienna International Ballet Competition in Missoula, Montana.

Morgan Cragnotti: In the spring I graduated with an MFA in Collaborative Theatre Making from Rose Bruford Collage in the UK. The trip through a practicebased degree during covid was heartbreaking, but forced me to work on a variety of mixed media virtual theatre projects. These included and combined motion capture, live streaming, video, and avatars in a 3D environment. I found I had some innovative ideas on how to direct actors in these new mediums, bridging the gap between people working on the tech side and the performance side. Some of the people and companies I worked with are; Coppercandle A Creative Technology Company, Target3D

The Home of Motion Capture, Riley Makes Stuff and Things, J. L. Pichelski Playwright and Filmmaker, Niamh Dowling, Irina Brown, Victoria Schultz, Diane Alison-Mitchell, Sebastian Senior, Jeffrey Louis Salkilld, Babak Mehrabi Parsiyan, Angela Clerkin, Quinn Birkholz, and others.

Lina Dahbour is a Hudson Valley based multimedia artist whose work centers around dance and outdoor spaces. She practices improvisation as a means to reconnect with self, curation as a means to connect with others, and multimedia performance as a means to connect with larger forces. She is the founder of BADDANCE, an experimental dance event series that prioritizes community engagement. She is a co-founder of MOMENTA, a New York City based event series in residence at Trans-Pecos that showcases artists at the intersection of dance and performance art. She has performed and presented her work at New York Live Arts, Rosekill Art Farm, the Joyce Theater, the Portland Terrain Biennial, and DIY venues across

New York State. Raised in New York City, Lina was trained in ballet and modern dance before attending the Dance Conservatory at SUNY Purchase. She graduated cum laude in 2018. You can keep up with her on Instagram @lina__azalea and MOMENTA on Instagram @momentanyc.

Saskia Globig and Michael Ipsen perform together for live audiences and for film. They have collaborated on installations, publication design, and curation for projects at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Icebox, AUTOMAT Gallery, and HOT BED Micro Gallery in Philadelphia, as well as at Artspace New Haven. Globig danced with Ellen in 2014 and 2015. She also learned with Peggy Peloquin, Leslie PartridgeSachs, Kathy Wildberger, and other New York teachers. In Philadelphia, she was in residency at Headlong Performance Institute in 2019 and has taught and performed contemporary dance at MAAS, Fidget Space, Fringe, the Bok Building, and the Washington Avenue Pier. She continues to explore a multidisciplinary practice of site-specific movement, video, and print design as an MFA candidate at the Yale School of Art. Ipsen’s background is in theater and documentary filmmaking. He has performed at the Glove in Brooklyn and the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Contemporary Art. He has also worked as a film and photography tech advisor at the Bard MFA and UPenn School of Art. In 2018, he started Lino Kino, an experimental video collective expanding accessible possibilities for screening and production. Globig joined in 2020. Together, their work plays at the crossroads of poetry, sensory experience, and broadcast media.

Krista Jansen is a dancer and choreographer born, raised and based in New York City. She is one half of the duet company Jansen & Holm, where she performs and choreographs alongside CJ Holm. Her own choreography has been performed at Dixon Place, STUFFED! at Movement Research, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the 92nd Street Y, Triskelion Arts, the Flea, and for an award-winning film with director Bat-Sheva Guez. Krista is currently performing with the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, and was an original cast member and Assistant Rehearsal Director for the critically acclaimed Doug Elkins &

Friends’ Fraulein Maria

.

She also choreographs for the theater department at Beacon High School. Krista started dancing with Ellen at the age of five, and has never left — she continues as a teaching assistant in Ellen’s classes. kristajansen.wordpress.com is a great place to sign her mailing list, look at dance-y pictures, and stay updated on her performances.

Jessica Poletti Love danced with Ellen from the ages of 4-17. After studying dance in undergrad she decided to switch paths and became a veterinarian, moving from New Jersey to Colorado, back to New York then to Utah. Jessica returned to dance, taking classes locally in Utah for the last 4-5 years. When not working or dancing she enjoys hiking with her dog, doing yoga, cycling, and camping in the desert with her husband and daughter. Jessica would like to thank Nick Cendese and Repertory Dance Theater of Utah for their help in organizing rehearsal space.

Alison L. Moy began dancing at the age of 6 with a local Brooklyn dance teacher. From age 8 to 15, she danced with Ellen Robbins and had the unique opportunity to choreograph every year. Alison expanded her dance experience at Wesleyan University where she explored ballet, West African dance, jazz, and hip hop. She performed with Wesleyan’s dance department, as well as becoming a leader and choreographer of Isis, Wesleyan’s women of color dance troupe. After moving to San Francisco in 2007, she danced with an urban contemporary group called Loose Change from 2009-2011. Alison moved back to NYC in 2014 and has been teaching and working with middle school students since. She reconnected with Ellen in 2019 and this is her second time performing in the alumni concert.

Amelia Dawe Sanders (pronouns: zie/zir) has studied with Ellen Robbins since 2011 and has been a teaching assistant for Ellen. Zie has presented zir choreography at New York Live Arts, 92Y, Mary Anthony’s Studio, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, Norte Maar’s Dance at Socrates, and Montclair State University. Amelia graduated summa cum laude with a DanceBFA from Montclair State University, where zie performed work by Emmanuèle Phuon, Maxine Steinman, Kathleen Kelley, Jody Sperling, Abby Zbikowski, and Jessica DiMauro. Currently, zie is working with Emmanuèle Phuon on the new work, We, which will be performed at Kaatsbaan and Fairfield University this year. Zie has performed works by Isadora Duncan with Loretta Thomas, Catherine Gallant, and Lori Belilove at venues including Jacob’s Pillow and St. Mark’s Church. Amelia was a founding member of the Paul Taylor Teen Ensemble under the direction of Raegan Wood, performing at venues including The Joyce Theater and Symphony Space.

Silvie Schlien trained in ballet and modern dance from a young age and started dancing with Ellen Robbins when she was ten. She is currently an English major at Mount Holyoke College where an exploration of dramaturgy and sculpture has added new dimension to her love of dance. She is thrilled to be back with the alumni group.

Rakhel Shapiro danced with Ellen Robbins from ages 5 to 18, and is so happy to be back with Ellen now, in her 30s! Thanks to Ellen, dance has been a steady companion throughout Rakhel’s life, from living room dance parties, to Ecstatic Dance, to studying modern, ballet, and dance improvisation at Vassar

College. Rakhel is currently a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at Long Island University - Brooklyn, and a creator and meditation facilitator at Madrona Meditation. Rakhel incorporates somatic work extensively in both her work as a soon-to-be psychologist and as a meditation facilitator, and thanks Ellen for planting the seeds of this nourishing lifelong relationship with the body.

Lou Sydel has been dancing with Ellen Robbins since the age of six. He is a graduate of Bowdoin College with a degree in interdisciplinary performance and anthropology, and has studied drama / physical theater at LaGuardia Arts HS and Accademia Dell’Arte (Arezzo, Italy). This year Lou created an evening-length performance work entitled On The Other Hand. The piece is a series of musings about gesture and gender, guided by the architecture of the body: if we had eight hands, we might instead say, ‘on the eighth hand!’ His work also draws from experiences of transness, imagining dance as a living journal for a body moving towards new directions. Lou has performed in Dances by Very Young Choreographers with Ellen Robbins, as well as the Celebration Barn, the Teatro

Virginian, Norte Maar Dance at Socrates, Sokolow Theater / Dance Ensemble, Rascal Arts at Theater Row, and at the International Society for Gesture Studies. You can follow Lou and learn more about upcoming projects at @gesturestudies. Dancing with Ellen Robbins has taught him everything — from developing a choreographic voice to learning how to tell a story without any words at all. Thank you Ellen!

Deychen Volino-Gyetsa (she/ her) I’m an actor, musician, and choreographer and I’ve been studying with Ellen Robbins since I was 5 years old. One of my first creations was a dance about the day in the life of a baby Cheetah. For the past several years I’ve been performing with a variety of theater companies including Williamstown Theatre Festival, Chautauqua Theater Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Texas Shakespeare Festival, and I was part of The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals’ cohort 2022. I graduated with a BFA in acting from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2020. Without Ellen, I doubt I would be the performer I am today. Endless gratitude for all that she continues to teach me.