16th Annual Modern Dance Festival at The Modern, in collaboration with the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

July 12-27, 2019

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (3200 Darnell St., Fort Worth, TX 76107)
Admission: FREE

For directions to The Modern and other visitor information, please visit their website at www.themodern.org.

April 16, 2019 marked choreographer/dancer Merce Cunningham’s 100th birthday, and Contemporary Dance Fort Worth and collaborators are taking the time to reflect on Cunningham’s work and his legacy as one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century.

Cunningham was known for his groundbreaking experiments in collaboration with artists from other disciplines. Cunningham’s conscious removal of his own personality in decision-making, left the experience of character, emotion, and story in his choreography to the experience of the viewer. Within a 16-day window at The Modern, a variety of films, videos, lectures, “happenings” or “events” and performances will be offered in the Grand Lobby, the Museum Auditorium, and Gallery 14. Content directly representing Cunningham’s work is provided courtesy of the Merce Cunningham Trust.

On July 18 guest artist Tamsin Calrson will teach a Cunningham Technique and Chance Dance Choreography workshop for advanced / professional dancers.
-more info-

SCHEDULE

WEEKEND ONE (Friday - Sunday, July 12-14)

Performance of Dance and Music
Friday July 12, 6:30pm, Grand Lobby

"Quartet Rolling"
photo: Jordan Fuchs

The Texas New Music Ensemble (Houston) will be highlighted, with Dallas flautist Meg Griffith performing works by TNME composers: Chad Robinson (TNME Artistic Director), Joel Love, Till Meyn, Marcus Maroney, and Rob Smith.

Smith will premiere a new work in a Cage-Cunningham-type collaboration with Loris Anthony Beckles (Beckles Dancing Company, Dallas). Pairings will include experiments in simultaneity of art forms with guest choreographers/dancers performing to works they have not previously heard, including appearances by Collette Stewart (Madison, WI), Tina Mullone (LA/TX), Jessica Thomas (Celina, TX), and Mysti Jace Pride (Austin).

Additional works include an original duet by Julia Nova Cognito and her husband James Cognito blending ideas from the ballroom dance world with inspiration from Merce Cunningham’s work “Duets” with accompaniment by Fort Worth composer John Hopkins; and Jordan Fuchs’ (Denton) presentation of a segment of his 2019 work Once We Were Afraid of Being Changed. That is Done. with sound score by Andy Russ (Providence, former Music Supervisor for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company).

The program will close with Echoes of 4’33”: To Perform Or Not To Perform, That Is The Question, Asked and Partially Answered in about 10 minutes, Give or Take a Bit -- a whimsical structured improvisation in honor of John Cage designed by CD/FW artistic director Kerry Kreiman, variations of this framework will “not” be performed by volunteers from the audience and various human beings with or without previous non-performing experience. This non-performance is in honor of composer John Cage’s controversial work 4’33” which premiered in 1952, and which instructs the performer(s) not to play their instrument(s) throughout the piece. This playful tribute will shift from a non-performance to some impromptu “noise music” for the un-grand finale.

“If The Dancer Dances”
Film screening and discussion with guest Gus Solomons jr
Saturday July 13, 12:30pm, Museum Auditorium

"If The Dancer Dancers" film still

“If The Dancer Dances” (2019, 87 minutes – a documentary film by Lise Friedman and Maia Wechsler, edited by Mary Manhardt) follows one of New York City’s top modern dance companies as they struggle to reconstruct an iconic and mysterious work by the legendary Merce Cunningham, revealing what it takes to keep a dance – and a legacy – alive.

Unlike other live arts, dance has no script or score. Instead, dance is transmitted from body to body, one generation to the next. With unprecedented access, If the Dancer Dances delves into this intimate, unfolding process, as Merce Cunningham’s 1968 RainForest is brought to life once again. Starring the Stephen Petronio Company and members of the former Merce Cunningham Dance Company, including: Stephen Petronio, Gus Solomons jr, Andrea Weber, Davalois Fearon, and Gino Grenek. RainForest (as performed by the Stephen Petronio Company, 2015-2017) features music by David Tudor, décor by Andy Warhol, lighting design by Aaron Copp and costume design after the original design by Jasper Johns. Timed to coincide with Cunningham’s Centennial, If the Dancer Dances is the first documentary on the subject of Cunningham’s work since his passing in 2009. Guest speaker Gus Solomons jr (a former Cunningham company member who is featured in the film) will participate in a Q&A with the audience via Skype immediately following the film

“Night of 100 Solos” film screenings in three locations
Film screenings and discussion with guest Gus Solomons jr
Saturday July 13, 3pm to 4:30pm (three locations)

Gus Solomons jr
photo: Jordan Matter

Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event– With the original performances taking place on April 16th in New York City, Los Angeles, and London, the edited versions of this largest Cunningham Event ever will be displayed simultaneously in three locations:

Museum Auditorium -- New York City
Grand Lobby -- London
Gallery 14 -- Los Angeles

Note: Guest speaker Gus Solomons jr (a former Cunningham company member, choreographer, writer and dance critic) will introduce the screening of the New York City location video via Skype in the Museum Auditorium. Solomons was at the April 16th performance, and he will provide some context and background for the audience.

Performance of Dance and Music
Premieres of several composer/choreographer collaborations will be featured.
Sunday July 14, 1:00pm, Grand Lobby

Collette Stewart
photo: John Maniaci

Alisa Behrens (Birmingham, AL, former CD/FW company member and former director of the dance program at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts) returns to Fort Worth to premiere “Two and Two” with Oklahoma-based musician Andy Behrens (her brother).

Arlington composer George Chave is paired with Grand Prairie choreographer Lacie Minyard Sereika to create a new work for Momentum Dance Company (Irving). Momentum will also premiere “Partita,” a new group work by choreographer Ian Forcher (Irving) in collaboration with Brent Fariss of the New Music Co-op (Austin). Fariss will also present a new sound score for Kiera Amison’s trio “edikSHen” to be performed by Muscle Memory Dance Theatre (M2DT, Dallas).

Flatlands Dance Theatre (Lubbock) will premiere a new chance dance variation of a previously performed group work entitled “Havillah” – choreographer Allison Beaty and composer Neemias Santos are re-shuffling all of the content and applying chance determination to create a new structure from the original material.

Choreographer Jessica Thomas (Celina, TX) and composer David Bacon (Celina, TX) will premiere “Chance Divided by 2- #1” and “Chance Divided by 2- # 2” – an in the moment exploration on the nature of chance in two parts. One musician and one dancer merge together on the spot, riding the happenstance moments of movement, rhythm and sound from classical instruments and everyday objects.

Spoken word artist Tammy Gomez (Fort Worth) will share "Current thoughts" including memories of when she saw Cunningham & Cage in Austin.

Collette Stewart (Madison) will perform a chance dance variation of her solo “Dissolution” in silence after allowing audience members to draw playing cards to determine the order of the dance.

Julia Nova Cognito and her husband James Cognito will reprise their Friday premiere, blending ideas from the ballroom dance world with inspiration from Merce Cunningham’s work “Duets” with accompaniment by Fort Worth composer John Hopkins.

The program will close with a new incarnation of Echoes of 4’33”: To Perform Or Not To Perform, That Is The Question, Asked and Partially Answered in about 10 minutes, Give or Take a Bit – including audience volunteer opportunities. (see Friday July 12 description).

WEEKEND TWO (Friday - Saturday, July 19-20)

Performance of Dance and Music
Friday July 19, 6:30pm, Grand Lobby

Tamsin Carlson in Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event at UCLA's Royce Hall.
Scenery: Jennifer Steinkamp
Photo: Reed Hutchinson/CAP UCLA.

Special guest Tamsin Carlson will perform the Merce Cunningham solos she learned for the Los Angeles performance of the Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event. Both opening and closing the program, she'll perform the solos two different ways, with chance elements determining how they are performed.

Mary Hill of Lightbodies Geometries (Fort Worth) will premiere "Vortical Wave." Hill created the solo structure through the process of synchronicity inspired by the I Ching, and which will be further enhanced by audience participation in the sound element.

Additional performances will include choreography by Kali Taft Johnson (Kaliopi Movement Collective), Kerry Kreiman (CD/FW), and Jessica Thomas (Celina, TX).

Special musical guests from Austin’s New Music Co-Op: composers Andrew Stoltz and Travis Weller will perform on “The Owl” (an instrument created by Weller).

Viola Farber and the Cunningham Legacy
Screenings of Brazos River and January, and discussion with guest Jeff Slayton
Saturday July 20, 12:30pm, Museum Auditorium

A rare glimpse into The Modern’s archive, Brazos River (60 minutes) features the Viola Farber Dance Company in a special project which originated in Fort Worth. Shot in December 1976, this collaborative video features choreography by Viola Farber, music by David Tudor, and costumes/set by Robert Rauschenberg. The project was conceived by the Fort Worth Art Museum's Performing Arts Director, Anne Livet, in conjunction with their Texas Bicentennial program, and was co-produced by KERA-TV Channel 13, Dallas-Fort Worth.

According to the Rauschenberg Foundation, this project marked Rauschenberg's first use of video, and he spent time working with studio technicians to understand what colors could be best transmitted on television. Funding for the initial project included support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts & Humanities, the Fort Worth Art Museum, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Directed by Dan Parr.

Dancers featured: Jumay Chu, Larry Clark, Viola Farber, Willi Feuer, June Finch, Anne Koren, Susan Matheke, Andé Peck, and Jeff Slayton. Guest speaker Jeff Slayton will introduce the video and lead a Q&A with the audience. Farber and Slayton were members of the Cunningham company for many years, and this project is a perfect example of how Cunningham's work impacted the work of dancers who came out of his company. Special thanks to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth for contributing this work from their archives.

Slayton will also introduce a screening of Farber’s January (26 minutes) – Directed by Kevin Crooks in 1984, the Viola Farber Dance Company collaborated with TSW LTD to record her group work “January" at Dartington Hall in Devon, UK.

Introduction to the “Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event” screenings
Saturday July 20, 2:45pm, Museum Auditorium

Guest speakers Tamsin Carlson (featured performer from the Los Angeles location), Jeffrey Slayton (L.A. dance critic and former Cunningham company member), and Ken Tabachnik (executive director of the Merce Cunningham Trust), will give introductory remarks, background, and context regarding this special Event in honor of Merce Cunningham’s 100th birthday. In addition, all three will be available for audience Q&A immediately following the screening of the Los Angeles performance.

“Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event” screenings
Saturday July 20, 3:00-4:30pm (three locations)

Museum Auditorium -- New York City
Grand Lobby -- London
Gallery 14 -- Los Angeles

WEEKEND THREE (Thursday - Saturday, July 25-27)

Performance of Dance and Music
Thursday July 25 and Friday July 26, 8:00pm, Grand Lobby

Lynn Lane and Jennifer Mabus of The Transitory Sound and Movement Collective (Houston) will perform "An Echo of Nothing." The title is taken from the John Cage quote, "Every something is an echo of nothing."

“Blind Collaboration” a collaboration between composer German Lopez (Dallas) and choreographer Anna Preston (Preston Contemporary Dance Theatre, South Florida). Through a chance drawing it was determined that the new group work will be 7:35 in length.

Muscle Memory Dance Theatre (Dallas) will perform artistic director Lesley Snelson’s quartet “Unveil Me” to a new sound score entitled "Heuristic Manifestations" by Fort Worth composer John Hopkins. Decisions about the harmonic and melodic content, a free parameter and a textual prompt will be extracted from an I Ching reading. The yins and yangs will be assembled into the free parameter number and a code that will select one of 8 songs popular in the year of Merce Cunningham’s birth, 1919. Audience members who arrive early may have the opportunity to influence the outcome of the music for the dance by participating in the I Ching reading with the composer.

“I’m tired of talking about race” - a new duet by Mel Mobley and Tina Mullone of M2 (Monroe, LA) based on a mesostic generated in a similar fashion to John Cage’s mesostics. Using names to create spine words and then chance procedures to populate the poetry read across, the music and dance that surround and accompany the poetry were built on the same chance procedures and the resulting text choices. Though most of the poem is read throughout the performance of the work, certain lines are left unspoken in homage to John Cage’s predilection for silence.

Choreographer Claudia Orcasitas (Fort Worth) is paired with composer Andrew Stoltz (Austin’s New Music Co-Op) for the premiere of her work “In transit" based on various combinations of solos determined through chance procedures. Immediately prior to the performance, the dancers will use a chance drawing to determine which solo they will perform within the work. Inspired by Cunningham’s unconventional ways to make dances, Orcasitas is using chance elements to explore the endless possibilities of human connections within a specific place and time frame. While Cunningham's work emphasized abstracted movement without character or story line, Orcasitas is interested in seeing how the chance elements might create their own “story” in the viewer’s mind.

Additional works include a group structure by Kerry Kreiman (CD/FW) in collaboration with the performers: Cher Anabo, Courtney Mulcahy, Tina Mullone, Claudia Orcasitas, and Jessica Thomas.

Subject vs. Object: Can Dance Be Abstract?
Saturday July 27, 1:30pm, Museum Auditorium

Lecture-performance and discussion exploring questions at the heart of the development of modern and contemporary dance. Attendees are invited to bring their questions and observations to a conversation led by CD/FW artistic director Kerry Kreiman. Experiments in trying to see human beings “abstractly” on the stage will be conducted in honor of the twentieth century dance maverick Daniel Nagrin, using some of the techniques he used to teach choreography and performance.

“Found, 1972, an Open Audience Pedestrian Dance”
Saturday July 27, 2:30pm, Grand Lobby

“Found, 1972, an Open Audience Pedestrian Dance” designed by performance artist Laney Yarber. Inspired by source materials from NYC-based post-modern choreographers of the 1960’s and 70’s, Yarber’s performance structure pays homage to aesthetics established by former Cunningham company members such as Yvonne Rainer and Steve Paxton, along with cultural and aesthetic influences from Taoist master Mantak Chia,

Dutch sound artist Jaap Blonk, and Russian director/actor/producer Vsevolod Meyerhold’s actor training system of “biomechanics” (which was a precursor to much of the “physical theatre” of the 20th Century). In the post-modern tradition, the purpose and boundaries of all art forms were tested to their limits, including what may or may not constitute a “dance.” Performers include: Clancy Manuel (sound creation), Tim King, Brian Patrick McCarthy, Katrina Perez-Titze, Jeffrey Pulis, Susan V. Taylor, and Laney Yarber. Volunteers from the audience will be invited to participate in a follow-the-leader fashion led by the performers.

“Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event” screenings
Saturday July 20, 3:00-4:30pm (three locations)

Museum Auditorium -- New York City
Grand Lobby -- London
Gallery 14 -- Los Angeles

Mary Hill

Photographer: Timothy C. Hutchins

Mary Hill, Ed.D. of Lightbodies Geometries, LLC (Choreographer/Performer of �Double Infinity and �Current� on July 12-13 and �Bleed� on July 14) is engaged in a broad range of movement disciplines and continues to push the boundaries of these endeavors. These movement modalities include GYROTONIC� method, Pilates, Thai Bodywork, Yoga therapeutics, and Wall/Vertical Suspension, as well as dance. She is also a certified Reiki Master Teacher and Practitioner. Her movement experiences range from the performative, to the educational, to the therapeutic, to the transformative. Mary holds a Doctorate in Dance History/Education from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. along with a Women�s Studies teaching certification. She was awarded the first Doctor of Philosophy Excellence in Scholarship Award in the Dance Department at Temple for her research on the Modernist influences of Primitivism, Dimensional Reality, and the Artist-As-Seer on Martha Graham�s early dance practices (Postmodern Reflections on Dance Modernism: Modernist Currents of Primitivism, Dimensional Reality, and the Artist-As-Seer on Martha Graham�s �Heretic,� �Lamentation,� and �Primitive Mysteries.�) Mary received a Master�s of Fine Arts at Texas Christian University under the tutelage of international choreographer James Clouser, and Martha Graham Rehearsal Director, David Hochoy. She taught Modern Dance while attending TCU, and also taught Ballet and Modern Dance while attending Temple. A previous Artist-In-Residence for the Texas Commission on the Arts, Mary has performed, choreographed, studied, and taught throughout the United States and internationally.

Aaron Levy

Sarah Inkster Photography

Aaron Levy, The Circusball Ninja, is 27-years-old and a graduate of The University of Texas at Dallas. When he's not balancing his act on stage, he is training athletes to compete on the television show American Ninja Warrior at a Dallas-based obstacle course gym.

Jackie Mill�n

Photo by Marissa Ericson

Jackie Mill�n has a BA in Dance from Hunter College with department honors in dance. She has danced with MWest & Company, Bolly Dhamaal Dance, imPULSE Dance Project, Cholorock Dance Collective, and as an independent artist. She is currently the Assistant Director of Dance at Arlington Heights High School, Director of Dance at Monnig Middle School, and on the dance faculty at Texas Dance Conservatory. Jackie is the recipient of the Bates Dance Festival Teacher Fellowship Scholarship and the Dance Council of North Texas Artful Dancewear Teacher Scholarship.

Donald Strikeleather

Donald Stikeleather spent the 1990�s as a dance professor and modern dance choreographer known for witty solos and collaborations funded by the Indiana Arts Council. �Flat,� a signature solo work, has been performed by Illinois Dance Theatre, Purdue Repertory Dance Company, at Saint Mary's College, and for adjudication at the ACDFA at Missouri State University. During the period when Flat was choreographed, Stikeleather studied with Beverly Blossom, a former Nikolais dancer. Donald has a BA in Theatre from Purdue University, an MFA in Dance from The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a MDiv from Naropa University.

Project In Motion

Tara Kolberg
Photo by Steve MacIntyre

White Fox Archetype is an experimental hip hop artist creating music representing dreams and the surreal, using beats, loops, samples and live instruments.

Tara Kolberg is a New Mexico native and has been a lifelong movement artist. She has trained in ballet and attended The Public Academy for the Performing Arts in Albuquerque. She works primarily with New Mexico performance groups including Albuquerque Circus Arts, New Mexico Air Dance and Nemcatacoa Teatro. Tara has danced for Project In Motion for two seasons.

Hilary McDaniel-Douglas is the Artistic Director of Project In Motion. She attended Interlochen Arts Academy, Sarah Lawrence College, and graduated from Indiana University. Hilary is a Bill Evans certificate holder. She has taught and choreographed for decades, both in a higher education and a community capacity. She is an Indianapolis Arts Council Fellow as well as a former Young Audiences performer. Hilary has successfully acquired many grants under PIM�s guise including NEA, NMarts and private foundations. Affiliated with PIM for decades she has created and directed hundreds of dances and productions for commercial, university and PIM programs, fundraisers and concerts including Midwest Arts, New Mexico State University, Chalk The Block El Paso and Creative Santa Fe�s Fantas� Fest, as well as others. She will be looking forward to a guest choreographer position with East Village Dance Project to take place at La Mama Theater in New York�s East Village in December and PIM�s NM Arts funded festival �Above Borders� in September.

Claudia Orcasitas and Najwa Seyedmorteza

Photo by Angela Lewis

Claudia Orcasitas is a dance educator and psychologist born in Lima, Peru. She is deeply invested in practicing ballet, modern and contemporary dance. She has taught ballet and modern dance at The School of San Marcos Ballet (Peru), the Wise Music and Dance Conservatory (Texas) and San Marcos University Department of Dance (Peru). Orcasitas has performed and presented her work with the San Marcos Ballet Company (Lima, Peru), the Contemporary Dance Fort Worth Company from (Fort Worth, Texas), and Epiphany DanceArts Company (Dallas, Texas) and participated in diverse festivals around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Recently, she has participated as an artist residency with the organization Danzon Nuclear and Ministry of Culture of Peru, performing movement research about abject bodies as well as architectural spaces. As part of her professional development, she is now pursuing her Masters in Fine Arts at Texas Woman�s University. Her goal as a dance educator and art advocate is to create educational programs in North Texas that prepare elementary school students for a career in the arts.

Photo by Claudia Orcasitas

Najwa Seyedmorteza is a dancer and choreographer from Fort Worth, Texas. She became active at an early age, training as an elite gymnast and a competitive taekwondo fighter, in which she holds a 1st degree black belt. She began her dance career at the age of 18 at Tarrant County Community College, training under Dr. Kihyoung Choi where she learned ballet and modern dance techniques. She transferred to Texas Woman�s University (TWU) in Denton, Texas where she refined her skills in modern, improvisation, composition, theory, and production. She graduated from TWU with her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Studies in 2016. Seyedmorteza�s work has been shown at the American Collegiate Dance Association (ACDA), TWU Alumni Concert, TWU Dance Upclose Concert series, and TCC Movers Unlimited Dance Company Showcase. She has performed at the Texas Dance Improvisation Festival, ACDA, and the Dallas DanceFest. She is currently working on her Master of Fine Arts in Dance at TWU. Her research interests are in exploring different ways of entering into a psychological flow state through the use of extreme physicalities, state shifting, and improvisation.

Brittany Padilla is a music performer, composer, and producer residing in Fort Worth, TX. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and minor in Spanish from the University of North Texas, where she began her experience and career as a dance musician. She danced and played with the percussion ensemble for African dance classes and performances at UNT during her undergrad, which led her to play for world dance at Texas Woman's University, also in Denton. During the following years, she expanded her repertoire, playing for modern, ballet, improv, and jazz. She is now a dance accompanist at TWU and Tarrant County College Northwest in Fort Worth. She performs and composes in collaboration with local dance companies and individual artists around the United States for various workshops and festivals (ACDA, TDIF, MALCS etc.) as well as other colleges and universities in DFW (UTA, TCU, etc.) As a multi-instrumentalist, she plays and records an array of acoustic and digital instruments with emphasis on percussion and voice. Brittany works with Ableton Live, a software for producing music and is a certified Ableton Specialist.

Caryn Heilman

Still from "Icarus Reimagined"

The most wonderful thing about her is the mysteriousness of her dancing. She has the nameless ingredient that we all seek, the alchemic gold, a material that magnetizes. It sets her apart, is unseen, only felt.
      — Paul Taylor, Paul Taylor Dance Company

Caryn Heilman is the Artistic Director of LiquidBody media, movement and dance. As a �standout dancer� she performed for ten years with the Paul Taylor Dance Company before founding LiquidBody.

Caryn Heilman stands out for her reserved yet piquant performing� (In Ariadne) she was beautiful.
      — Jennifer Dunning, New York Times

With Taylor, Caryn performed as a soloist in over 50 countries at such venues as Paris Opera Garnier, New York City Center, Kennedy Center and London's Sadler's Wells. She collaborated on over ten new works, directed rehearsals for several revivals and represented the United States as a cultural ambassador in Japan, China, India, Egypt, Greece, Russia, Turkey and Hungary and is featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary Dancemaker.

Caryn Heilman is an exceptional dancer�
      — Ze�eva Cohen, Former Head of Dance Program, Princeton University

Having received a direct choreographic tutelage from one of American Modern Dance�s recognized masters, Caryn has taken this formidable foundation into more experimental territory, focusing on the fluid systems of the body and choreographic structures that include audience interaction, multimedia, live music and aerial dance. LiquidBody has been presented at Jacob�s Pillow Dance Festival, Dixon Place and BRIC in NYC, SOMA Fest in L.A., at the Electronic Festival in Warsaw, at spas in Mexico and Italy and at a 2000 seat amphitheater in Greece. She has choreographed for Julianne Moore in The Forgotten, for animations by DorosMotion and Volvox, and for the theater company Mad Woman of the Woods and was hired for The Acting Company�s production of American Dreams. She created multimedia for the premiere of award-winning hip-hop choreographer Rennie Harris's Something to Do with Love. Recent choreographic commissions include Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth and Sola Fest for students at Orange County High School of the Arts. Her multimedia work has recently been commissioned in New York and L.A. and is currently on exhibit at the networked art site turbulence.org.

Caryn Heilman of New York-based LiquidBody, won the prize for the most unusual�Every part blended beautifully with Nana Simopoulos' original music and Chad Jung's lighting.
      — Margaret Putnam, Dallas Morning News

Caryn is currently on faculty at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. She has an MFA from the University of California, Irvine and has taught graduate classes in multimedia and multidisciplinary performance at the University of California, Irvine in the Studio Art, Drama and Dance departments and has been an artist in residence and has taught master classes at Princeton, Hollins, Texas Christian and Dennison Universities, Smith College, Beijing Dance Academy, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Orange County and LaGuardia High Schools of the Arts, SOMA Fest L.A. and more. She has taught with and been mentored by Continuum Movement founder Emilie Conrad, award-winning filmmaker and postmodern dance icon Yvonne Rainer, intermedia artist Annie Loui, John Crawford, founder of the Embodied Media + Technology Performance Lab and Emmy-nominated choreographer Paul Taylor.

People are still talking about the absolutely extraordinary concert you put on here. I knew it was going to be great, but I wasn't prepared for how great. Really, really marvelous performance - both the dance and the music. It was truly one of the best things we've ever had here, and that includes some pretty powerful work.
      — Tim Blunk, Director Puffin Cultural Forum - a center for dialogue through the arts

She has received scholarships, fellowships and grants from the American Dance Festival, Alvin Ailey, UCI, TCU, The Andy Warhol Foundation, Turbulence.org, Medici Circle and more. She has served on the Professional Advisory Committee of the Dance Notation Bureau, Somatic Movement Arts Festival.Continuum Movement and is Vice President of the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association and is a Registered Somatic Movement Educator through that organization.

Photo by Milton Adams

Mel Mobley A native of Texas, Mel Mobley currently resides and teaches in Monroe, Louisiana. Performed in the U.S. and abroad his works include orchestral, band, chamber, choral, and electronic music. His most recent work centers on the combination of live and recorded music and dance. This collaboration with dancer Tina Mullone seeks to break down the barrier between dancer and musician as well as between live and recorded performance. His music has appeared on the Revello, Navona and Ansonica labels and has been commissioned by organizations including the Monroe Symphony Orchestra and the Louisiana Music Teachers Association. Major works include Sylvan Beach, (chamber opera) and Labored Breathing (orchestra). Dr. Mobley teaches at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and is a founder and coordinator of the New Music on the Bayou Festival that connects composers from around the world with the communities of north Louisiana. www.melmobley.com.

Tina Mullone Tina Mullone, a Texas native, studied ballet under Fernando Schaffenburg in Fort Worth, modern dance at Dallas Black Dance Theatre and the University of Oklahoma. After graduating, she performed and taught for JAADE Dance Theater, Contemporary Dance/ Fort Worth, Kariamu and Company and Beckles Dancing Company. She has taught in numerous places throughout the Fort Worth/Dallas metroplex including Texas Ballet Theater School and Texas Christian University. After receiving a MFA from TCU, she continued teaching at several Dallas/Fort Worth community colleges. She has performed in Germany, Mexico, New York, Philadelphia, Louisiana, Virginia and Texas. Over the years, she attended several intensives including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Dance Festival and the Katherine Dunham Institute. As Associate Professor of Dance at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, she continues to commute from Louisiana to Texas to work with Beckles Dancing Company, Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth (as Associate Artistic Director) and co-directs M2 (m squared), a performance art duet based in Monroe, LA. She currently sits on the Arts Advocacy committee under the National Dance Education Organization, dance specialist for Louisiana A Plus Schools, a certified Pilates mat and M�Singha Wuti level Umfundalai African dance instructor. Her most recent accomplishments include sitting on academic discussion panels at the International Association of Blacks in Dance and the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance conferences as well as performing in honor of the great Eleo Pomare with Beckles Dancing Company.

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Jessica Thomas

Photo by Milton Adams

Jessica Thomas is an independent dance artist and multidisciplinary explorer. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a BFA in Dance in 2008 and humbly received the Lucille Murchison Scholarship. Her inborn curiosity for the latent unknown — inside and outside of ourselves — serves as a continuous source of playful investigation and evolution. The core of her performances stem from self-inquiry collaborations with Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth and surrounding DFW creatives. She is also the founder of The Soma Movement, where she provides integrative bodywork and expressive arts therapies.

Momentum Dance Company

Photo by Jerry Forcher

Ian Forcher danced with Momentum Dance Company and was a Dance Major at SMU, during which time he performed at the Joyce Theater in New York at the 70th Anniversary of the Limon Company festival. He is now focusing his talents on choreography, and is pleased to present his 4th work for the "Modern Dance Festival at the Modern". He also choreographs for Momentum and teaches at Forcher's Dance Center.

Lacie Minyard Sereika is a seasoned performer, choreographer, teacher and currently a dancer and choreographer with Momentum Dance Company in Irving, Texas and the Artistic Director and founder of Living Motion Dance Company. As a dancer she has performed 5 seasons at Six Flags Over Texas, has worked under the direction of Neil Goldberg in "Cirque Dreams Coobrila", the Gary Goddard company in the "Glow in the Park Parade," and with Mark Dendy at the prestigious American Dance Festival. As a graduate of the Dallas Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and of Texas Woman's University Lacie has been an active participant in master classes and choreography by Ron Brown, John Giffin, Excel Garner, Miguel Gutierrez, Bill Young, Dwight Roden and Desmond Richardson (Complexions), Kanji Segawa (Battle Works), SHUA Group, Alex J Russo (Tap Dogs), Vernon Gooden, Camilie, John Dixon, Mary Williford-Shade, Jordan Fuchs, and Sarah Gamblin and Bruce Wood. Lacie choreographed and produced a full evening of her own work sponsored by Texas Woman's University in November, 2010. Her artistic work has won her several nominations and awards. During her career she has been nominated for the prestigious TWU Leman Award, the Dallas Dance for the Planet Festival and the Southern Region American College Dance Festival.

Edin Velez

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Edin Velez studied painting at the University of Puerto Rico and at the School of Fine Arts of the Institute for Puerto Rican Culture.

In 1970, inspired by the writings of Marshall McLuhan, Edin moved to New York in order to explore the possibilities of video as an art form and became one of the pioneer artists of the medium. Through rich imagery and an acute sense of visual metaphor, Edin has consistently expanded the paradigms of the genre. He has produced award-winning video works, artist�s books, digital prints, and video installations.

A recipient of Guggenheim and Rockefeller Fellowships, as well as the American Film Institute�s Maya Deren Award for Excellence in Film and Video, his works have been exhibited at the Whitney Biennial, Documenta 8, Sao Paolo Biennial, The Tate Gallery, and the Louvre Museum, among others, and are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (NY), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Hara Museum (Japan), and others.

Edin has received prestigious grants from entities such as the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Massachusetts Council for the Arts, and The Jerome Foundation. A professor and coordinator of the Video Program at Rutgers University in Newark, Edin lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Sue Collins

Photo by Milton Adams

Ms. Sue Collins has a B.S. with honors in biology from the University of Tennessee and an M.F.A. in dance from Southern Methodist University. In the summer of 2018, Ms Collins is delighted to be presenting her work �Gesundheidt Follies� both locally at Contemporary Dance Fort Worth�s 15th Annual Modern Dance Festival at the Modern and internationally in Florence, Italy! Sue had a professional dance career that spanned over fifteen years and included the Chicago based dance companies: Ballet Entre Nous, American Danz Theatre (jazz), Perceptual Motion, Inc. (modern), Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Ensemble (modern and jazz), and Winifred Haun and Dancers (modern). The later three companies, the Barefoot Brigade, and Contemporary Dance Fort Worth plus numerous universities have enabled her to produce over twenty dance works. Sue was also a featured dancer for the Lyric Opera of Chicago (A.G.M.A. Equity) and has performed over seventy works in various genres of dance. Ms. Collins was formerly on the dance faculty at the University of Tennessee, the University of Akron, Kent State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, the University of Dallas, Collin County College, and Tarrant County College. She is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Dance and Theatre Department at the University of North Texas where she has taught Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Stress Reduction through Movement, Dance Appreciation, and Survey of Dance; as well as choreographed �Cinderella,� a play for children, �Wind on Mountain� for the UNT Faculty Dance Concert 2014 and �Gesundheidt Follies� for the UNT Dance Faculty Dance Concert 2015.