Notes in Motion - Artists (Outreach)

Jessica Danser (teaching artist)
Jessica Danser received a B.F.A. cum laude in dance composition from the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. She received a “Bronx Recognizes its Own” award for choreography from the Bronx Council on the Arts in 2007. Jessica was an assistant teacher for the Ailey School's Junior Division from 1999-2006 and was promoted to faculty in 2006. She is also on the faculty of the Astoria Dance Centre in Queens, NY, the Allegra Dance Studio in Greenwich, CT, the Play Group Theatre in White Plains, NY, and was a teaching artist at the Renaissance Charter School and the Central Queens Y. Jessica founded the dance company Jessica Danser/dansfolk in 2005.

Sherece Donalds (teaching artist)
Sherece Donalds a native of Jamaica, West Indies, moved to New York City at the age of 10. She received her B.A. in dance and theater from Oberlin College. While at Oberlin, she was a performer, choreographer, producer and assistant for countless student recitals, theater productions and annual dance showcases. Sherece was a company member for Dance Diaspora, directed by Adenike Sharpley, and has toured and facilitated workshops throughout Kentucky and Ohio. She has been a dance instructor, teaching artist, facilitator, performer and choreographer for a number of non-for-profit and educational organizations including CAW (Concerned African Women), Harambee, Family Literacy and Arts Program (FLAP), The Madd Factory, Girls in Motion and Arts4Learning. Sherece was most recently a company member of Delou Africa Dance Ensemble in Miami, Florida. She has traveled extensively in West Africa where she studied with master dancers and drummers Alasane Souma, Aisha Dioubate, Aisha Bangoura and Alsainey Manding.

Caron Eule (teaching artist)
Caron Eule received her B.F.A. in dance from SUNY Purchase and has studied at the London Contemporary School of Dance, the Bat D’or School in Israel, and The Paul Taylor School in New York City. She teaches ballroom dance in the public schools with “Dancing Classrooms” through American Ballroom Theater. She has taught dance at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute, Ballet Hispanico School of Dance, Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech, and Chelsea Day School in New York City; Peak Performance and the Tenafly JCC in New Jersey; and master classes at SUNY Buffalo and SUNY Fredonia. She has performed with Stephan Koplowitz, Daniel Gwirtzman, Tina Croll, Carol Fonda, Naomi Goldberg, Jodi Liss, Anna Sokolow, and Shadow Box Theater, and has toured Germany with Ariane Mertz and Company. As director of C. Eule Dance, she has presented choreography at The Remember Project (Dancers Responding to AIDS), the Elan Awards, Williamsburg Art NeXus, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, the 92nd Street Y, Dance Space, University Settlement, dumbo Arts Festival, the Williamsburg Bridge 100th Birthday, the Pelham Street Fair, and Pride Fest and has choreographed for film, opera, and theater.

Alden LaPaglia (teaching artist)
Alden LaPaglia trained at the school of the Richmond Ballet in Richmond, VA and performed their professional company's production of The Nutcracker for nine years, dancing her way from children's roles into the corps de ballet. She earned her B.A. in dance and psychology Goucher College. She has toured nationally as a featured dancer in Bye Bye Birdie and danced at the Kennedy Center with Goucher College's Choreographie Antique. As the founding director of ALDEN MOVES Dance Theater, Alden has produced her own work in and out of New York City. She has also danced with Becky Radway Dance Projects, Incidents Physical Theater, and in work by Sarah Seely. Alden completed her pilates certification under Romana Kryzanowska and Sari Santo and now teaches young athletes and dancers. She has written for *-ISM Magazine, an online arts publication, and has been featured as a consultant for Dance Spirit magazine.

Amir Levi (teaching artist)
Amir Levi is a graduate from the Atlantic Theater Conservatory. Amir currently dances for Alexx & Ann Make Dances and Philippa Kaye Company, and is the Artistic Director for The Poisonous Ladies: Amir Levi Dance. Also an actor, his credits include Turning (Working Man's Clothes), Generic Hispanic (Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre), The Chrome Warrior (Sum of Us Theatre), The Field of Mars: Chapter 1 (Counts Media), Blind Date (Bouchez-Brazda), Requiem (Kirkos), and The World May Be Ending… But at least the sex is good (WOW Café’). Amir is currently developing a solo show, Te Busco, which he has performed at Sarah Lawrence as well as Williamstown, Manhattan Theatre Source, and most recently through the Emerging Artists Theatre' One Man Talking Festival.

Fatima Logan (teaching artist)
Fatima Logan received a B.F.A. in dance and choreography with a minor in African-American Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Also in Virginia, she presented choreography as the Artistic Director of VashtiDance. Fatima has received the Joan Oates Dance Education Award and The Carpenter Scholarship for her excellence and commitment to dance. She has danced with Chuck Davis’s African-American Dance Ensemble (Durham, NC) and Ezibu Muntu African Dance Theatre (Richmond , VA). In New York, Fatima currently dances with Forces of Nature Dance Theater, Harambee Dance Company, LaRoque Bey Dance School Theater, and Roots in Revolution.

Natalie L'Etoile (dancer/assistant to the director/teaching artist)
Natalie received her BFA in modern dance from the University of Utah. As a student, she earned the Orchesis Performance Award in 1993 and was a member of Performing Dance Company in 1994. Natalie was a company dancer, instructor, and choreographer at Alaska Dance Theatre from 1995 to 1999 and an adjunct faculty member of the University of Alaska Anchorage Department of Theatre and Dance from 1996 to 1999. While in Anchorage, Natalie performed with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, in Aida and Carmen with Anchorage Opera, and in "Expanding the Stage" at UAA. In New York, Natalie has performed with Susan Joy Share, Bass River Dance Project at WAX, Built on Stilts on Martha's Vineyard, in Jennifer Muller/The Works "Hatch" Series, and at Broome Corner Studio. Natalie is a founding member of Notes in Motion.

Tami Mansfield (teaching artist)
Tami Mansfield has performed in the lab at Lincoln Center, The Pearl Theatre, Dodger Stages, The Kraine Theatre, and others. She has guest starred on Law and Order SVU, The Guiding Light, and Hope and Faith. Tami has an M.F.A. from The Old Globe Theatre and is a teaching artist for Notes in Motion, The Roundabout, Leap, and the school at Columbia University.

Pearl Marasigan (teaching artist)
Pearl Marasigan earned a B.A. in dance at Hofstra University. She has taught ballet, creative movement, jazz, and hip hop in public schools and privately owned dance studios for the past three years. She has worked with choreographers Lance Westergard, Abdel Salaam, Courtney French, Candice Franklin, Carol Nolte, Beth Soll, and Amanda Selwyn. Pearl currently teaches dance at BARD High School Early College.

Katie Mather (teaching artist)
Katie Mather graduated from the dance program at Tisch School of the Arts last spring. While a student, she was chosen to perform works by Ulysses Dove, Gerald Casel, and Charlotte Boye Christensen, among others. She currently performs with Ashley Browne/Kinetic Project and Danielle Russo Dance Company.

Darnetha M'Baye (teaching artist)
Darnetha Lincoln M'Baye earned a B.A. in dance from Wake Forest University. In 1995, she joined African Caribbean Dance Theater. She was a guest performer with Orchesis Contemporary Dance Theatre of Florida A& M University. In New York City, she has worked with Mamadou Dahoue and The Ancestral Messengers, Bousso Dance Company, Aminata Gueye Dance Company, and currently, Sing Sing Rhythms. Darnetha has taught ongoing open classes on the campus of Columbia University and has given workshops around New York City for teens and adults. For the past two years, she has taught and choreographed for Long Island University’s Post Concert Dance Company. Darnetha gives private dance lessons and teaches classes in Wolof (traditional Senegalese) language.

Anastasia Niemann (teaching artist)
Ani Niemann received a B.F.A. in Theatre from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she pursued teaching artist work and her own choreography in addition to her theatre training. She was born and raised in New York City, where she has trained extensively in ballet, jazz, modern and tap at Ballet Hispanico and Steps on Broadway. At NYU, she trained at CAP21 (musical theatre), the Classical Studio (Shakespeare), the Experimental Theatre Wing, and the 2007 Tisch Summer Dance Residency Festival. In 2007, she co-founded the street performance collective The Glass Company, for which she has choreographed and directed a number of pieces. Ani has taught for the Red Hook-based company Dance Theatre Etcetera. She has performed with Les Freres Corbusier, David Dorfman Dance, The Glass Company, and Liz Swados' NYU Reality Show.

Shira Pelleg (teaching artist)
Shira Pelleg is a graduate of the Thelma Yellin Arts — the leading arts high school in Israel. She has a B.A in international relations and sociology from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and studied dance and movement studies at the Rubin Music and Dance Academy. She studied contact improvisation with U.S. masters Ray Chung, Steve Paxton, Daniel Lapkoff, Lisa Nelson and Julyen Hamilton from Spain. She also studied with Buto artist June Wakabyashi and Acrobalance master Peter Van Ganlhof. Shira teaches personal investigation workshops and studies in modern dance, classical dance, yoga, aikido, theater, clowning, African dance, acrobalance, aerial dance, and modern circus arts. Shira was the co-founder and program director of the Sandciel New Dance Center, an innovative and first-of-its kind center in Israel. She managed and co-taught “Movement through Borders,” a program for physically challenged dancers. She has extensive experience teaching dancers, actors, youth, and people with physical disabilities in various dance centers, cultural institutes, and festivals.

Renée Peña (teaching artist)
Renée Peña has been dancing since the age of 4 in a dance community arts school named Better Community Life. She have danced with Little Black Feet Dance Company, Illusions, and Move the House Dance Company. She received her B.A. in dance and integrated arts at Bard College in 2001 where she discovered community arts education through an internship at El Museo Del Barrio. As a teaching artist, Renée has worked with City Lights Youth Theater, Hoboken Charter School, and Beyond the Horizon. She is excited to be teaching for Notes in Motion.

Eva Perrotta (teaching artist)
Born in France, dance brought Eva to Argentina, and then New York where she studied at the Martha Graham School and performed with the Martha Graham Ensemble, AMDaT, NDTV, and Human Kinetics Movements Arts. She has created various physical theater works for the Aurillac and Avignon festivals in France, as well as shows for fashion designers in Paris. In NY, her work have been presented at the Puffin Room, La Guardia High School of Performing Arts, Merce Cunningham Studio Theater, Dance New Amsterdam, Theresa Lang Theater, Triskelion Arts, The Theater for the New City, and Spoke The Hub. Since 2007, she has led a creative dance class and choreographed for the Young Artist Program at the Martha Graham School. Eva is the artistic director of Nu Dance Theater.

Joya Powell (teaching artist)
Joya Powell, a native New Yorker, received her M.A. in dance education at New York University and her B.A. in Latin American studies and creative writing at Columbia University. She has danced with choreographers such as Katiti King, Neta Pulvermacher, Donlin Foreman and Paco Gomes. Her choreography has appeared at City Parks Dance, The Riverside Theatre, DNA, Casa del Prado Theatre in San Diego, and The TANK. Joya has taught a fusion of Simonson Jazz and Afro-Brazilian dances in Salvador, Puerto Rico, and NYC. As Artistic Director and Choreographer of Movement of the PEOPLE Dance Company she is dedicated to connecting cultures and finding ways to empower underprivileged communities through dance.

Amanda Selwyn (artistic director/choreographer)
Amanda Selwyn founded Notes in Motion Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre in 2000 and in ten seasons, has directed over 20 productions, developed a network of artists, and created the curriculum for Notes in Motion Outreach Dance Theatre’s arts-in-education programs. Amanda’s choreographic works include: Passage, Undercurrent, Hearsay, Interiors, Disturbance, Salut, Tilt, Tidal, Shift, Siren, Contradicting Unity, Save My Spot, Hold On, Momentum, and Behind Us. She has choreographed dance for Chicago's Motivity, a collective of modern choreographers; for theatre productions including House on Mango Street, Free to be You an Me, Once Upon a Mattress, The Wiz, Little Shop of Horrors, and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory; and for her original theatre productions which include Herland, Yellow Feather, and Slitting the Clouds. In addition to her choreographic work, Amanda has directed off-broadway theatre in NYC at John Houseman Studio, 30th Street Theatre, Grove Street Theatre, Kraine Theatre, Center Stage, and the Producer’s Club. Amanda teaches dance and theatre to New York City children and has been on faculty at independent schools including The Brearley School, Brooklyn Friends School, Beit Rabban School, Solomon Schechter School, and the New Acting Company. In addition, she has taught dance composition and technique at the Berkshire Institute for Music and Art. Amanda taught dance and theatre in Israel at the Israel Museum, English Village, and the Arad Community Center. Amanda led the workshop “Accessing Inspiration for Dance-Making” at the NYC Arts-in-Education Roundtable's 2007 Face to Face conference and "Teaching a Choreographic Process" at the 2008 conference. She presented her choreography at NYU’s Women and Theater conference in 2003. She is the recipient of 2 grants from the Illinois Arts Council for the development of new works, a grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Community Arts Fund 2 grants from the Bronx Council on the Arts, and a grant from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Development Fund. In 2008, Amanda participated in the Choreographer's Lab program at Jacob's Pillow in Beckett, MA. She has a Masters from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in performance studies and a B.S. from Northwestern University in theatre, women's studies, and dance.

Jules Skloot (teaching artist)
Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Jules Skloot holds a B.A. in dance from Hampshire College, and an M.F.A. in dance from Sarah Lawrence College. Jules has performed with Fritha Pengelly, the Crispin Spaeth Dance Group, Marielle Amrhein, Peggy Gould, and Sara Rudner, among others, and was a founding member of Seattle's Left Field Dance collective. Jules now teaches and makes dances, videos, and windowsill gardens.

Alicia Wargo (scenic designer)
Alicia Wargo is a visual artist who works primarily in the mediums of drawing and site-specific installation. Her exhibitions include PS 122 Gallery, NY, NY, 31 Grand, Brooklyn, NY, SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA, Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ, and the University of Connecticut at Stamford Gallery. She has been the recipient of an ALJIRA EMERGE fellowship, a Jerome Foundation Grant, and an Emerging Artist Grant from Pilchuck Glass School. Her recent shows include a group drawing exhibition at Plane Space Gallery, NY and a solo show at Washington State University. Alicia has been collaborating with Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre as a scenic designer and arts education program consultant since 2004. She is currently the Assistant Principal at Dreamyard Preparatory High School in the Bronx.