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Company Members
Bios
BLUE MOON DANCE COMPANY – Artist Profiles
PAT CONNELLY (Artistic Director) worked for many years as a performer
and choreographer before founding Blue Moon Dance Company in 1995.
Three consecutive entries, commissioned by three different dance
companies, were awarded a place in the Colorado Choreographers Showcase
and her work was chosen for the 2001 Aspen Dance Festival, another
juried showcase. Denver Contemporary Dance Theatre, Turning the
Wheel Productions, Interweave Dance Theatre and many other arts
organizations have commissioned her work. She teaches private classes
and through the Lifelong Learning Program for the Boulder Valley
School District, specializing in partnering, acrobatic lifts and
social dance forms. She is serving a second term as board member
for the Boulder County Arts Alliance and is a member of Nancy Cranbourne's
company "40 Women Over 40."
ADJEI ABANKWAH, a native of Ghana, is the co-producer and director
of the BaoBao Festival and co-founder of Enkambum. He was a principal
dancer and choreographer with The Ghana Dance Ensemble for eleven
years. In addition to dancing, he is an accomplished musician and
composer. He plays a number of traditional African instruments including
the flute, xylophone, bass marimba and drums. Adjei now lives in
Boulder where he teaches dance and music; he also composes for,
and performs with, his band Charlie Sounds. This is his third season
with Blue Moon Dance Company.
SOL BENSON began dancing at an early age, studying ballet, modern
& jazz dance. At age 18, she moved to Alaska where she performed
with Dance Theater North, a modern dance company, for several years.
After opening her own dance school, starting a family and building
a cabin in the woods, she returned to ballet, put on her toe shoes
and danced in many roles, including the Sugar Plum Fairy in the
Nutcracker. She has taken classes and workshops across the United
States. After moving to Boulder, she joined Turning the Wheel Productions
and enjoyed the world of improvisational movement before finding
a new love - ballroom dance.
YING CHANG had his modern dance performing career jump-started
in 1999 when he was chosen for the David Dorfman Community Project,
sponsored by the Colorado Dance Festival. He continues to expand
his exposure to different dance styles, finding frustration and
enjoyment in the endeavor. In 2003, Blue Moon Dance Company received
BCAA/Addison grant to stage his multi-media work "STROKES"
which premiered at the Carsen Theatre, Dairy Center for the Arts
in April 2004 and performed at the Longmont Artwalk.
LANDON GUSTAFSON, a Boulder native, began studying swing and ballroom
dance with Pat Connelly while in high school. She first appeared
with the company at the Space for Dance Sock Hop in 1996. As one
of the smallest members of the company, she usually volunteers for
any new acrobatic maneuvers. She worked as co-choreographer on "Grease"
for Monarch High School in Louisville, received an AAS Degree in
2003, and is now attending the University of Northern Colorado in
Greeley. The 2004 concert season marked her debut as a choreographer
for the company and she has continued producing works for the company.
JULIUS REINANTE, a native of the Philippines, began studying ballroom
dance several years ago. He trained in competitive ballroom dance
at Booth DanceSport Studio, Denver and performed in the Turning
the Wheel 2005 production of "Nearly Invisible." With
Pat Connelly, he now teaches through the Lifelong Learning Program
for the Boulder Valley School District. He will be competing against
Pat Connelly in the YWCA Fundraiser at the Boulder Theatre on October
3, 2007.
ARTHUR SIEGLE danced with Pat Connelly at the debut performance
of Blue Moon Dance Company. He specializes in swing dance styles
and has won many dance contests during his career. He performs with
the company for charity events and non-staged dance performances.
TIFFANY STONE began studying ballet at an early age and was accepted
into the North Carolina School of the Arts when she was eleven years
old. At age seventeen, she joined the pre-professional ballet company
at Ballet Arts in Minnesota. After dancing in a variety of roles
in "The Nutcracker" for ten years, she decided to move
on to other art forms. She is presently an art major at the University
of Colorado in Boulder and pursuing her new passion, ballroom dancing.
JUSTIN TAGGART, originally from Pennsylvania, began dancing when
he moved to Boulder ten years ago. His primary training is in ballroom
dance, and he is a USISTD Certified Instructor with a burning passion
for Argentine tango. He has participated in ballroom competitions
and performed with the Boulder based tango company, Dance of the
Heart.
ALEXANDRA ZELINSKAYA, spent her childhood in Moscow, Russia and
began dancing when she moved to Boulder with her family in 1998.
She studied hip-hop, jazz and ballet, and competed on a synchronized
swimming team. Currently a student at CU, she is also a member of
the Schiff Dance Collective Training Company.
Choreographers
(1995 to present)
1. Ying Chang - 2002/2004/2006
2. Sol Benson - 2006
3. Pat Connelly - 1995 to 2006
4. Thomas Dixon (posthumously) - 1996
5. Rachel Grote - 2005
6. Landon Gustafson – 2004 to 2006
7. Seth Gustafson – 2003/2004
8. Karen Howard – 1996 to 2000
9. Tobi Johnson-Compton – 1997 to 2002
10. Sarah Leversee – 2003/2004
11. Debra Mercer - 1995
12. Yuki Ojika – 2003 to 2005
13. Dreah Pentell - 2005
14. Julius Reinante – 2004 to 2006
15. Stephen Schroeder – 1997 to 2001
16. Ben Schultz – 1997
17. Jessica Simpson - 2005
18. G. Webster Smith – 1996 to 1999
19. Larry Southall – 1999
21. Franca Telesia – 1995 to 1997
22. Alison Yoder - 2004
23. Colleen Young – 1997 to 2001
"You have to love dance to stick to it. It gives nothing
back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on the
walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold,
nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive."
Merce Cunningham
Company Members/Guest
Appearances:
(current members in bold face type)
Adjei Abankwah, Tyffanie Ammeter, Gemma Asir, Sol Benson,
Michelle Ballard, Andrew Berry, Jeni-Sue Briggs, Ying Chang,
Marty Connell, Pat Connelly, Laurie Coulis, Cindy Davis,
Heather Davis, Eric Donovan, Sue Yoon Farabaugh, Bruce Feistner,
Rachel Grote, Landon Gustafson, Seth Gustafson, Lisa Harris,
Karen Howard, Tobi Johnson-Compton, Joel Kelly, Kit Kyle,
Desiree Lanz-Ewertz, John LeRoux, Sarah Leversee, Allen McCowan,
Kara McRae, Scott McLane. Debra Mercer, Carrie Noel, Yuki Ojika,
Karen Panasewicz, Dreah Pentell, Laura Rains, Julius Reinante,
Stephen Schroeder, Ben Schultz, Arielle Schwartz, Arthur Siegle,
Jessica Simpson, G. Webster Smith, Jason Smith, Larry Southall,
Tiffany Stone, Sara Stranovsky, Justin Taggart, Franca
Telesia, Gustavo Vargas, Cheryl Vick, Alison Yoder, Colleen Noelani
Young.
Members in the News
Colleen Noelani Young participated in the 2006 Colorado Independent
Choreographers Project in Denver, Colorado. Another former company
member, Tobi Johnson-Compton danced with her in this performance
series.
Stephen Schroeder is currently located in Minneapolis, MN where
he dances with Zenon Dance Company. His choreographic works have
been performed in Colorado, Minnesota and Illinois and he has toured
Russia several times with Zenon to teach and perform.
Kara McRae & Eric Donovan are married and have become avid
tango dancers/performers in the Denver metro-area.
Yuki Ojika is back in Japan and has set up her Rolfing practice
in the beach community of Kamakura. She welcomes visitors.
Seth Gustafson, US Marine Corp., is stationed in San Diego and
has recently become engaged. The wedding is planned for March 2007.
G. Webster Smith was back in Colorado in August 2006 to teach at
the Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop and choreograph for Interweave Dance
Theatre.
Debra Mercer is teaching ballet at Colorado College in Colorado
Springs and also in Boulder for Ballet Arts.
Ying Chang and his wife Agnieszka are the proud parents of a baby
girl, Alexandra, who was born in February 2006.
Tyffanie Ammeter is in Chile on an internship until May 2007.
Sarah Leversee has moved to Seattle to work with another dance
company.
Joel Kelly in associate vice president (development) of the Hale
Center Theatre in Utah. He continues to act and direct in theater
productions.
Julius Reinante is engaged to be married to Eva Kovacs.
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