DanceWorks Chicago is excited to work with passionate choreographers who are interested in exploring their craft and sharing their journey with our artists and audiences.
FRANCISCO AVIÑA,attended Orange County High School of the Performing Arts, where he was lucky to have had the chance to work with Kenny Ortega on the motion picture Newsies. Striving for a deeper understanding and knowledge of his craft, Francisco decided to make the transition to the world of contemporary dance as he received the opportunity to fulfill a scholarship in New York with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. After having the chance to sample a taste of contemporary movement, he was hooked and made the life-altering decision to move to Chicago to work for Hubbard Street 2 for one amazing season. He then moved on to dance for River North Chicago Dance Company before returning to the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago family and joining the big company HSDC, where he stayed for 2 years, performing brilliant roles created by acclaimed choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Jiri Kylian, Nacho Duato, Twyla Tharp, Daniel Ezralow, and David Parsons.
ROBERT BATTLE, originally from Miami, FL, is a graduate of the New World School of the Arts and The Juilliard School, where he received the Princess Grace Dance Scholarship and the Martha Hill Prize. Upon graduation, Mr. Battle joined the Parsons Dance Company (1994-2001) and began setting his work on the company in 1998. Parsons has performed his choreography across the United States and internationally, as well as featuring his work in several New York City seasons. In 2001 Mr. Battle founded Battleworks Dance Company which premiered in August 2002 at the World Dance Alliance’s Global Assembly in Düsseldorf, Germany. Selected as the American representatives to the festival, the company was chosen for its unique outlook on the future of modern dance. Battleworks has performed extensively in New York City and across the country at such venues as The Joyce Theater, Dance Theater Workshop, American Dance Festival, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. As an independent choreographer, Mr. Battle is in high demand. Hubbard Street 2, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, River North Dance Company, Koresh Dance Company, Introdans, and PARADIGM have all commissioned Mr. Battle for both new works and re-stagings of Battleworks repertory. Mr. Battle regularly conducts residencies at universities throughout the country and teaches master classes in NYC and abroad. In 2005, Battle was honored at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with a medal proclaiming him one of the "Masters of African-American Choreography" and he has recently been honored with the coveted Princess Grace Statue Award for achievement in choreography
JOHN CARRAFA, is the two-time Tony Award-nominated choreographer of Into The Woods and Urinetown:The Musical. He also received an Obie Award, Lucille Lortel Award and Dora Award for Urinetown as well as nominations for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Other Broadway credits include Dirty Blonde, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Dance of The Vampires and Dance of Death. He directed and choreographed the Beach Boys musical Good Vibrations. He has choreographed extensively Off-Broadway at The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Lincoln Center Theater and Manhattan Theater Club with writers Wendy Wasserstein, Terrence McNally, A.R. Gurney, Paula Vogel and The Civilians. His choreography for the New York City Center Encores! Series includes The Pajama Game, Out of This World and On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. He choreographed A Little Night Music for the Sondheim Celebration at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He has directed workshops of new musicals at Yale Repertory Theater, American Conservatory Theater and The Kennedy Center as well as in New York. He's choreographed over 20 films including The Thomas Crown Affair, Bride Wars, The Last Days of Disco and The Polar Express for which he pioneered the use of motion capture technology to create choreography on film. For television he directed the BBC/PBS Great Performances Thou Swell, Thou Witty: The Songs of Rogers and Hart and was frequent choreographer for Sex and the City on HBO.
BRIAN ENOS, from San Francisco, CA, has been making dances since age 14 and has been described as “a wonder kid of contemporary ballet.” At age 18, while still a student in the Houston Ballet Academy, Enos was invited by Ben Stevenson, O.B.E. to create his first work for The Houston Ballet. He has since gone on to create works for companies such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Ballet Met, DanceWorks Chicago, Ballet Austin II, Chicago Ballet, and Hubbard Street 2. As a dancer, he has performed with The Houston Ballet as well as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Through his choreography, Enos hopes to engage, inspire, and entertain both audiences as well as the beautiful and dedicated dancers he is so fortunate to work with every day in the studio. He also enjoys writing about himself in the third person.
JAY FRANKE, began his formal training at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas. In 1993 he was selected as a Finalist for Presidential Scholar in the Arts and accepted into the Julliard School, were he furthered his studies by working with choreographers such as Harkarvy, Tetley, Perry and York. Upon receiving his BFA in Dance from the Julliard School, Franke went to work with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, “THARP!” Franke has since danced with The 58 Group, Lyric Opera Ballet Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and is currently a member of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company.
ADAM HUNDT, now in his fifth season with BalletMet, has danced as a member of Ballet Pacifica, American Repertory Ballet, and Hubbard Street 2, and as a guest with the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater. Mr. Hundt studied with San Francisco Ballet, BalletMet, Indiana University Ballet Department and Barbara Pontecorvo in his hometown of Dayton. In addition to teaching for the Lou Conte Dance Studio, Princeton Ballet School and BalletMet, he performed and taught for the International Contemporary Dance Festival in Poland and in Lithuania. Mr. Hundt was a guest faculty member of choreography at Denison University . He has choreographed for Ballet Pacifica and in 2006 was a fellowship recipient from the Greater Columbus Arts Council's Columbus Choreography Project. In 2007, Adam constructed 3 works for BalletMet, including Vivaldi's 4 Seasons, made possible by the New York Choreographic Institute. He also was named one of the Top 5 creative "Artists to Watch" by the Columbus Alive newspaper. Mr. Hundt continues to be artistic producer of the Dance Compassion Project, a dance performance benefitting the Ohio AIDS Coalition.
ALEX KETLEY, is a former member of the San Francisco Ballet. In 1998 he co-created The Foundry with Christian Burns to more deeply explore his interests in choreography, improvisation, mixed media work, and collaborative process. With The Foundry, he has been an artist-in-residence at many of the nations leading art institutions, and has invested in a wide span of artistic projects investigating the creation of dance from many different creative entry points. Independent of his work with The Foundry, Alex has been a guest choreographer for many companies and universities throughout the country, and has received the national Choo-San Goh Award and the inaugural Princess Grace Award for Choreography, as well as awards from the Hubbard Street 2 National Choreography Competition and the International Choreographic Competition of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur in Quebec. In the Bay Area, he works closely with Summer Lee Rhatigan on the creation of the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, where in addition to teaching he is the resident choreographer. For 2008 Alex has been commissioned to create new pieces for companies in Arizona, Colorado, San Francisco, Seattle, Cincinnati and Chicago.
PAOLO MANGIOLA, was born in 1978 in Reggio di Calabria, Italy, studying dance from a very young age. In 1997 he moved to Milan, Spain, where he won a scholarship at the School of Art, Milan, under the direction of Susanna Beltrami. There he trained in classical ballet, Cunningham technique and improvisational dance theatre. On completing his studies in 2001, Paolo joined the company Aterballetto, under the direction of Mauro Bigonzetti. He stayed there for 4 years, dancing repertory by the likes of Mauro Bigonzetti, William Forsythe, Jacopo Godani, Fabrizio Monteverde as well as choreographing his own work, which took part in the “red festival 2005”. In September 2005 Paolo moved to Germany and joined the Tanztheater-Nurnberg, under the direction of Daniela Kurz, staying there for 3 years and dancing in works by choreographers Daniela Kurz, Rui Horta, Jorma Elo, Andres Gringras and Stjein Cellis. In January 2008 Paolo created his own piece for the company which took part in the 'next generation' programme. Paolo joined Wayne McGregor | Random Dance in 2008.
HARRISON MCELDOWNEY, has choreographed for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street 2, River North Chicago Dance Company, the Civic Ballet of Chicago, the Cerqua/Rivera Art Experience, Ballet Met, American Repertory Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Chicago Shakespeare Repertory, and he is the resident choreographer for Configurations Dance Company. He has created original dances for special occasions of the 97th Birthday Celebration of noted dance historian, critic, and friend Ann Barzel, a work to open the 10th Anniversary of Dance for Life, and the Finale for Dance Chicago’s 10 Year Anniversary. Harrison is the recipient of the Prince Prize and the Ruth Page, After Dark, and Choo-San Goh Awards for choreography. He is also choreographer of the nationally renowned Baton Show Lounge. He choreographed the 35th Anniversary Tour of American Bandstand and directed the Australian Tour of More Dirty Dancing. His work was seen at the ’92 Barcelona Olympics’ Closing Ceremonies and Carnegie Hall’s Celebration of 125 Years of Musical Theater. He has choreographed for film and television and most recently starred in the revival and re-imagining of the Ruth Page ballet Billy Sunday for both stage and the televised documentary of the same name. Harrison is a Creative Director for Chicago’s Wilson Dow Group, an opportunity that has lead to conceiving and directing shows for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines including Freedom of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship.
GINA PATTERSON, has performed on the world’s stages since she was sixteen, touring with the Pittsburgh Opera. During twenty years as a Principal Dancer, she has become known as a consummate actress. Her versatility shows in a wide range of roles including Giselle, Kitri, Juliet, Odette/Odile and Ophelia partnered by Desmond Richardson in Mills’ Hamlet as well as extensive repertoire works, both classical and contemporary. She has appeared internationally as a guest artist and at the Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center.
Ms. Patterson is an internationally acclaimed choreographer, winning the Choo-San Goh Award, the B. Iden Payne Award for Outstanding Choreographer, the National Choreographic Competition at Hubbard Street 2, Ballet Builders in NY, and the National Choreographic Initiative. Her works have been performed by Ballet Austin, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Florida, Dayton Ballet, BalletMet, Ballet Pacifica, Hubbard Street 2, Ballet Austin II, Ballet East, and Montana Ballet.
JULIE PECQUET, trained extensively in Paris in dancing, singing, and acting, and continued a focus on dance with studies in Hamburg, Los Angeles, and New York City. She is in demand as a dancer/choreographer/coach and has worked across the globe for various international dance/music artists, record companies, and television productions. Julie has choreographed for the Eurovision Song Contest and has been a jury member for the tv show You Can Dance (the German version of So You Think You Can Dance).
MIGUEL PEREZ, started dancing at the late age of 18. He began his dance training at the University of Arizona where he received a four-year scholarship. After college Miguel moved to Chicago where he danced with River North Chicago Dance Company as well as Hubbard Street 2 and taught at different studios in the city including Lou Conte Dance Studio. Moving to Las Vegas to dance in the Celine Dion production "A New Day...", Miguel also had the opportunity to teach company class for "A New Day..." and work with the Las Vegas Contemporary Dance company. Miguel was fortunate to continue with Celine Dion on her "Taking Chances World Tour". He has been very blessed to see so many different countries and cultures, performing and teaching all over the world.
MARIO SCHRÖDER, born in Finsterwalde, Germany, received his eight year dance education at the Palucca Hochschulen Dresden under the direction of Prof. Gret Palucca, Prof. Hans-Joachim Metz and Patricio Bunster. From 1983-1999 he danced as a principal dancer at Leipziger Ballett – from 1991 under the direction of Uwe Scholz. Additionally, he completed a choreographic degree at the Berliner Hochschule für Schauspielkunst und Regie „Ernst Busch“. From 1999 he served as artistic director and chief choreographer at the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, before being called in 2001 to lead Theater Kiel, retaining the same positions. Mario Schröder crated so far more than 60 pieces and worked as dancer and choreographer in Japan, USA, Russia, Mongolia, France and other European countries. In Germany, his works have been presented at the Deutschen Oper und the Komischen Oper – Berlin, the aalto-ballett-theater Essen and Oper Leipzig.
TWYLA THARP In 1965 Ms.Tharp formed Twyla Tharp Dance, creating 80 pieces including NINE SINATRA SONGS and IN THE UPPER ROOM. When TTD merged with American Ballet Theatre, she created over a dozen works. She also choreographed for Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, NYC Ballet, Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance, Martha Graham Company, American Ballet Theatre, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Broadway: WHEN WE WERE VERY YOUNG, THE CATHERINE WHEEL with David Byrne ,SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, and MOVIN’ OUT with score by Billy Joel winning Ms. Tharp a Tony Award, Astaire Award, Drama League Award for Sustained Achievement in Musical Theatre, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Choreography.
Film: Collaboration with Milos Forman on HAIR, RAGTIME and AMADEUS ; Taylor Hackford on WHITE NIGHTS and James Brooks on I’LL DO ANYTHING.
Television: SUE’S LEG for PBS’ DANCE IN AMERICA; co-produced/directed MAKING TELEVISION DANCE, winner of the Chicago International Film Festival Award; directed THE CATHERINE WHEEL for BBC-TV; co-directed BARYSHNIKOV BY THARP, winning 2 Emmy Awards and the Director’s Guild of America Award for Outstanding Director Achievement.
Books: PUSH COMES TO SHOVE and THE CREATIVE HABIT: LEARN IT AND USE IT FOR LIFE .
Ms. Tharp has received 19 honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President’s Award, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, the Jerome Robbins Prize, The Kennedy Center Honors and numerous grants including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She continues to create, write and lecture.
EDGAR ZENDEJAS, was born and raised in Mexico City. He began his dance training at the Studio Professional de Danza Ema Pulido. A few years later, Edgar received a dance fellowship from the University of San Diego. His accomplishments led him to positions with The International Ballet Company of USIU, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and finally, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal where he has danced for the past 15 years. While dancing in Les Ballet Jazz, Edgar distinguished himself as a gifted choreographer. His works “Sonata De Luna” and “I and Other” garnered critical acclaim at both the 2002 and 2003 Festivals Danse Encore in Trois-Rivières, Québec. Shortly thereafter, Les Ballet Jazz Artistic Director Louis Robitaille invited Edgar to choreograph several pieces for the company, notably the sultry ballet “Besame… Besame Mucho”. Edgar has been commissioned to create new works for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Ballet de Monterrey, and Playhouse Dance Company, among others, and has been presenting his own work for the past 8 years at festivals around the United States and Canada, most notably at Jacob’s Pillow and Danse Encore. In 2006, while still performing with Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Edgar launched his own company and choreographic medium, ezdanza, which has gained much notoriety throughout North America in its first two seasons.
