CURRENT PERFORMERS

Portraits by wowe
www.wowephotography.com

	Zachary Leigh Denison--Originally from Northwest Arkansas attended AMDA and other various acting schools including The Actors Workshop under Mike Nichols before making the leap to dance at age 21. Toured internationally with "CATS" , and the 1st Bway tour of "The Music Man" regionally has been in shows such as "The Shadow Box, West Side Story, (VMT) NYC credits include Bway Bares, Fire Island Dance Festival, "Barrish" at HERE Arts Center, "Platforms" (NYMF) Aarons Lathams "Pogo and Evie" and For the Love of Christ for NYC Fringe, was a member of the Sean Curran Company and Salvatore LaRussa Dance, STEPS Repetory Ensemble and has danced for Heidi Latsky, Malcom Low, Mario Zambrano, Bradley Shelver, Regina Nejman, Dorell Martin, Levy Dance, Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater, Project 44, Tough Cookie Dance is currently a member of Gibney Dance Company.
	Michele Jongeneel, originally from Southern California, received her BFA in Dance Performance from California State University, Long Beach. Upon relocating to New York City, she began working with AMDaT/Andrea Haenggi, performing onstage and in site-specific works throughout New York and Europe. She has worked with choreographers: Stephen Petronio, Oliver Steele, and Natasha Trifan, and has also performed with Naganuma Dance and Esse Aficionado. Michele is currently dancing with BODYART Dance Company and performing in the off Broadway show Fuerza Bruta. She is so grateful to be finally working with the Jody Oberfelder family!
	Joey Kipp was born in Brazil and raised in California. He received a BA in Biology and Dance from Marymount Manhattan College and was a former scholarship student at the former Cunningham school. He has performed works by Merce Cunningham, Melinda Ring, Peter Kyle, Stacy Grossfield, niv Acosta, and Ann Liv Young. Currently he is working with the Sean Curran Company, and has shown work at Dancewave, BAAD, and the Judson Memorial Church.
	Mary Madsen is a small town gal from Maribel, WI. She holds a BFA in dance from UW-Milwaukee, and has been working as a freelance dancer in New York City since 2003. Since then Mary has sought out interesting collaborations with music groups such as Jigsaw Soul (’05-08) and currently The Glass Half. Choreographers Mary has had the opportunity to work with include Regina Nejman, John J Zullo, Rebollar Dance Theater, David Appel Dance, Kelly Anderson, & Simone Ferro. Most recently she began working with the Resonance Collective & is delving into her own solo work. She is ecstatic to have the opportunity to work with Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects!

	Mercedes Searer is a Brooklyn based dancer, choreographer and freelance arts administrator. She received her MFA in dance from Sarah Lawrence College and her BA in modern dance from The Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park College. Since arriving in New York in 2009 Mercedes has had the pleasure of dancing for Elizabeth Streb, Lucinda Childs, Deganit Shemy and Twyla Tharp. She currently is in process with Peter Kyle, Sara Rudner, and Jody Oberfelder. Mercedes’ choreography has been performed at the Andy Warhol Museum, The Children’s Museum, and Bellefield Hall, all in Pittsburgh, PA. Her work has also been featured in New York City at the Solar One Dance Series and Green Space’s Taking Root Series.
	Jake Szczypek is originally from New Haven, CT. He began his movement career studying gymnastics and springboard diving for the majority of his childhood and adolescence. Discovering dance in his teens, he went on to receive a BA in dance from Sarah Lawrence College in 2007. Working as a freelance dancer in NYC, Jake has worked with many wonderful artists over the years, and has had the privilege of performing in the works of Neil Greenberg, David Dorfman, Ezra Caldwell, Doug Varone, Jeanine Durning, and several others. He can currently be seen dancing for Liz Gerring Dance Company, Alison Chase/Performance, Douglas Dunn & Dancers, White Wave/Young Soon Kim Dance Company, Mary Seidman & Dancers, and choreographing his own work on high schoolers in Westchester. Additionally, Jake competes as a Masters Springboard Diver for Team New York Aquatics and poses as a figure model for Parsons and SVA. He has been a member of Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects since 2007.

PAST PERFORMERS

ChristinaNoel Reaves received her BFA in Music: Voice Performance from Georgia State University and an MFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She pursues dance performance and instruction, choreography and music composition. In addition to singing Operas and Musicals, she has had the privilege of dancing for David Dorfman, Doug Elkins, Ivy Baldwin, Kurt Haworth, Christopher Williams and others.

	Christian Coulson, Theatre includes Journey's End in the West End, Ghosts at London's Gate Theatre, the UK national tour of Festin, Romeo and Juliet (Liverpool Playhouse) and Rumble Ghost at PS122. TV includes Gossip Girl, Charles II - the Power and the Passion, Hornblower, Miss Marple & Little Britain. Film includes Four Feathers,The Hours, and the role of Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Christian has directed several shows in New York at venues including Joe's Pub, Cafe Sabarsky and Don't Tell Mama, and is also a photographer with work published in the New York Times, LA Times, Time Out New York, Elle, and a variety of UK publications. www.coulsonphotography.com
	Aditi Dhruv is a contemporary and Indian classical dancer in NYC. She received Bharathanatyam training in Houston, Texas and Chennai, India. She also studied Odissi in Mumbai, India. In addition to working with JODP, she has performed with various modern and Indian companies including Parijat Desai Dance Company, Treehouse Shakers, Blacksmith's Daughter, and Thresh Dance Company. Certified through Yoga Union, Aditi teaches yoga at the Yoga Center of Brooklyn, Bend & Bloom and Brooklyn Heights Casino. Aditi is grateful to her family and friends for all their years of love and support. Edward Rice, originally from the suburbs of Chicago, started dancing as a child and received his early training from The School for Saltcreek Ballet, Lyons Township High School, and Jo's Footwork Studio. He holds a B.S. in Performance from Illinois State University and a M.F.A. in Dance Performance from the University of Iowa, where he was the recipient of the Iowa Arts Fellowship. His choreography has been performed at a number of venues in the Mid-West and most recently at Dixon Place, NYC. He has had the pleasure of dancing with Jennifer Kayle + Company, The Brian Brooks Moving Company, Stone Depot Dance Lab and Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects. He is also the Technical Director at Dance New Amsterdam.
	Rebekah Morin started dancing at age four in Brimfield, MA. At the time, she wanted to become a paleontologist. She now holds a BA in dance from Connecticut College, and a 200 hr certificate from Laughing Lotus Yoga. Rebekah has been working with JODP since 2002. She also works with the Equus Projects and Third Rail Projects. She teaches yoga in the workplace through Relax Already and Balance Integration, and offers private instruction and Thai Yoga Bodywork. She also swings a pretty efficient wrench backstage.
.	Carlton Cyrus Ward is a dancer, circus performer and sometimes actor. He graduated from NYU's Tisch School of Arts in 2001 with a degree in drama. After graduating he quit theater and began dancing and circusing. He is a member of Circus Amok, Proto-type Theater Inc., Freefall (ltd), and El Gato Teatro. He has also worked with Alex Bag, Gary Indiana, Maureen Fleming and many others. Carlton also paints and choreographs in his free time.
	Jessica Weiss was raised in Cheshire, Connecticut, where she studied ballet and Doris Humphrey technique under the direction of Ernestine Stodelle and Gail Corbin. She studied dance at Sarah Lawrence College, the Limon Institute and the Tisch School of the Arts, and holds a BA with Honors in Dance and Dance Writing from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU. She has performed and toured with several New York companies, including Douglas Dunn & Dancers, Nejla Yatkin/NY2Dance, Shannon Hummel/CORADance, H.T Chen and Dancers and Alan Danielson Dance. Ms. Weiss currently dances for the Liz Gerring Dance Company and Anne Zuerner/RoxanneLolaMovementMachine.
	Lonnie Poupard, Jr. is from Monroe, MI and received a Bachelor of Arts in Dance at Western Michigan University. Since graduation in Spring 2009, Lonnie has worked with Mark Dendy, Catherine Miller, Mark Morries (Metropolitan Opera's production of "Orfeo ed Eurydice"), Jody Oberfelder, and Neta Pulvemacher. He is currently a dancer for Lucinda Childs and is touring with Robert Wilson/Phillip Glass opera "Einstein on the Beach". Lonnie was distinguished in New Yorker Magazine as one of the “Ten Best Dance Performances of 2009” for his performance at the Fall for Dance Festival at City Center. He was a principal dancer and resident sound designer for Dendy, a featured dancer for the International Motorcycle Show, and played Greg in "A Chorus Line" (Kalamazoo Civic Theatre). Lonnie has been an Artist in Residence at the Yard and Jacob’s Pillow. He also majored in Aviation Flight Science at WMU and holds a private pilot's license.

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