ARTISTIC COLLABORATORS
Jimmy Balistreri, Assistant Lighting Designer, is excited to be working with The Wooden Floor for the first time! He is currently finishing the first year of his MFA in Lighting Design at UC-Irvine. He is a Wisconsin native and has designed at various theatres around the state including Third Avenue Playworks and Northern Sky Theater. Falon Baltzell, Choreographer and Sound Designer, is a minimalistic choreographer, dance educator, and performer. She teaches youth through the Evans Technique at The Wooden Floor, where she is Artistic Director. Baltzell has shared her choreography at festivals, conferences, site-specific venues, museum galleries, concert stages, and dance film nationally and in Mexico. Baltzell has served as a Field Tester for the Ohio Arts Council, Co-Chair of Creation and Presentation for the World Dance Alliance-Americas, and a current member of NDEO. Jennifer Bassage Bonfil, Rehearsal Assistant and Costume and Makeup Supervisor, earned her MA in Dance Education from the University of Northern Colorado, a BFA in Dance Performance from Chapman University, and a Comprehensive Pilates Certification from BASI. As a founding company member, Jenn danced professionally with Backhausdance for 13 years. She has been teaching both ballet and modern at The Wooden Floor since 2006 and became The Wooden Floor’s Dance Education & Curriculum Specialist in 2017. Maribel Cervantes, Costume Wardrobe Mistress, was born and raised in Southern California. She is currently working towards a BA in Drama at UC Irvine. Her hobbies include anything to do with a needle and thread. She is currently looking to expand her knowledge on garment construction and historical costume restoration and creation. This is her first production with The Wooden Floor. Rocio Cruz, Rehearsal Assistant, was born in El Salvador, San Salvador and is a former student of The Wooden Floor. She graduated with a BFA in Dance from California State University, Long Beach where she is currently
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pursuing her teaching credential. Rocio has attended to workshops such as American Dance Festival (ADF), Backhausdance Summer Intensive, Keith Johnson Dance Intensive, Ledges and Bones Intensive, Limon Dance Intensive, and Doug Varone Summer Intensive. Kate Darby, Stage Manager, is joining the production team of The Wooden Floor for the first time. Kate is the Stage Manager and Head of Props for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, performing at the Harris Theater in Chicago as well as touring. She also is a Stage Manager for Blue Man Group Chicago. Lisa Kowalewski, Assistant Costume Designer, has worked with The Wooden Floor since 1996 and designed costumes for IBM and Disney commercials. As a costume artist, she has created hand-painted and airbrushed designs for several concerts including Janet Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Mary J. Blige, and the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake City Olympics. Recent work includes costumes for the preand post-game events of Super Bowl 50 and headpieces for Katy Perry. Daniel Miramontes, Rehearsal Assistant, received his BFA in Dance from California State University, Long Beach. He is a bright, whimsical force in the young Los Angeles dance scene, as a performer, dance maker, collaborator, and teacher. Daniel currently teaches Modern Dance at The Wooden Floor and Renaissance High School for the Arts. Sarah Nearhoff, Production Manager, is a graduate of MFA Stage Management (UCI) and BA in Theater with an emphasis in design and German (UCSB). She has worked in entertainment for 10+ years in creative management roles. Sarah is also a national and international dance competitor. She has had the pleasure to work with companies such as Disney on Broadway Auditions, American Ballet Theatre, Warner Bros., Geffen Playhouse, and Queen Mary. Nicole Pearce, Lighting Designer, is a multidisciplinary artist whose work has been seen across the United States, Cuba, England, Germany, Japan, Korea, Italy, New Zealand,
and Russia. She has worked with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theater, Dance Heginbotham, Hubbard Street, Malpaso, Mark Morris Dance Group, & New York City Ballet. Her installation of 1,000 paintings entitled Tiny Paintings for Big Hearts is open to doctors, nurses, staff, and patients of Elmhurst Hospital in Elmhurst, NY. Kendra Portier, Choreographer, is also an educator, and performer. Born at home in Ohio, Kendra has facilitated and promoted dance across the globe from San Diego to Salzburg, Dushanbe to Athens (Greece, Georgia, and Ohio). She has an extensive teaching roster and has collaborated in a range of works—most notoriously a decade-long tenure with David Dorfman Dance and the interdisciplinary, project-based performances of BAND/Portier. Christina Robson, Choreographer, is also a dancer, educator, and graduate student at The University of Maryland. Christina has performed internationally with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, David Dorfman Dance, Sean Curran Company, and others. Her choreography moves fluidly between expressions of visual order and wildness producing fleeting glimpses of humanity through the collaborative effort of shared physicality. Mike Salvino, Technical Director, marks his first year as Technical Director for The Wooden Floor, but has assisted in production with the organization for four years. He has worked in entertainment production for 12+ years and currently works on a variety of events for the Disneyland Resort. He has worked behind the scenes for countless live and recorded shows primarily as a lighting designer and lighting programmer. Jennifer Vaughan, Costume Designer, has designed costumes for over 80 The Wooden Floor pieces since 1987. She is continually excited to work with the creative artists at The Wooden Floor. Other credits include designs for Santa Rosa Repertory Theatre, various television shows, and many ice skating productions including HBO’s Gershwin on Ice starring Dorothy Hamill.
Hope Abounds
