Chriselle D. Tidrick, Artistic Director |
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Chriselle Tidrick is a former competitive gymnast and has performed extensively as a dancer and stilt dancer with various New York based companies. She has also choreographed dance work, stilt work, and aerial work. Her interest lies in merging modern dance with circus arts, and she feels there is a huge range of untapped potential in this blend. After discovering that few New York-based companies have managed to tap very deeply into this creative wellspring, she ultimately decided to create her own company with this intention in mind. Above and Beyond Dance is the result, and she is pleased that such talented choreographers and performers have agreed to take this journey with her. She is also grateful for artistic and administrative guidance from Pi Dance Theater, as she steps into the new role of Artistic Director. Her choreography, varying from modern dance to aerial and stilt work to tango, has been shown in New York at the following venues: The Zipper; The Micro Museum; The Surrey at Skidmore College, Streb; The Belt Theater; Galapagos, BRIC; Trinity on Main Fall Festival and Dance Space. |
She has also performed for a variety of companies and choreographers including: Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance; The Metropolitan Opera; Alice Farley Dance Theater; Dances by Isadora & Catherine Gallant/DANCE; Pi Dance Theater; Voices of the Wind, directed by Katie Takahashi; Mezzacappa/Gabrian Dance Consort; AMDaT: Andrea Maria Dance art Technology directed by Andrea Haenggi; and Mino Nicolas Dance Gallery. Chriselle was also hired as a Feature Stunt performer for the Disney film Enchanted, Kevin Lima, Director. She has studied Ballet and Modern (contemporary, Horton, Duncan and Humphrey/Limon techniques) with notable teachers from Steps on Broadway, Peridance Center, the Jose Limon Institute and at the Metropolitan Opera. Chriselle earned a B.A., with a minor in dance from George Washington University, at which she performed works by Doris Humphrey, Jose Limón, Eleanor King, Anna Sokolow, Vincent Cacialano, & Natalie Smith.
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Pawel Cheda |
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Pawel Cheda was born in Radom, Poland. He received his
early training in ballroom dancing and participated in several international ballroom competitions.
Mr. Cheda was also a founding member of the musical Metro, with which he made his Broadway
debut in 1992. In the same year he was admitted into The Juilliard School Dance Division.
During his dance studies Mr. Cheda has performed choreography by Benjamin Harkarvy, Jirí Kylián,
José Limón and Paul Taylor, among others. In the summer of 1995, Mr. Cheda toured Taiwan with the
Active Cultures Dance Group, a troupe comprised of Juilliard alumni. Pawel participated in collaborating
with Zhongmei Li Dance Company, Ariane Anthony Dance Group, Artichoke, Michael Mao Dance Company, and
others. As choreographer Pawel worked with several productions in dance, drama and opera including Von Einem’s Visit of the Old Lady, his debut for New York City Opera , as well as production of The Juilliard School Drama Division of August Strindberg’s A Dream Play. Pawel’s work was also presented at the prestigious Bessie Schonberg Choreographers Residency at The Yard. Currently Pawel is teaching and performing Argentine Tango and is looking to create interest in this unique style of dance.
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Friends in High Places, originally founded by Coralie Romanyshyn and Clinton Smith, has been in existence for over 20 years and has performed throughout the US and the Far East. Known for its special brand of wit and athleticism, the company’s years of experience and technical skill allow an ease and elegance on stilts that has become its trademark. Its application of the aesthetics and discipline of dance as an art form extends the theatrical tradition of stilt-walking into the realm of stilt-dance.
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| Mark Mindek
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Mark Mindek, a graduate of the Hartford Conservatory, is a dancer and
choreographer in New York City. He works in dance styles ranging from modern to jazz, Renaissance and Baroque
and has toured both nationally and internationally thanks to his work with, Alice Farley Dance Theater,
NY Historical Dance Company, I Giullari di Piazza and others. He performed in the Bessie Award winning
“Black Water” at La Mama etc, and created the role of “Tower” in Alice Farley’s EROTEC at the New York Public
Theater. With Coralie Romanyshyn, he co-directs Friends in High Places, a touring company that performs ballroom
dance and classical ballet in a very unusual way - on stilts. Currently performing in NY in the Metropolitan Opera’s
“The Magic Flute”, directed by Julie Tamor, he can also be seen in the movie “Enchanted” by Disney Pictures.
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| Sharon Livardo du Maine
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|  As a performing artist, Sharon Livardo du
Maine has been involved in a wide variety of dance styles. Most recently, she worked as a stilt dancer in The
Metropolitan Opera’s Die Zauberflöte. As a member of the Alice Farley Dance Theater, she has performed at The
Public Theater, Festival Juste Pour Rire in Montreal, The World Financial Center’s Winter Garden and Lincoln Center
Out-of-Doors. Sharon has performed with Forces of Nature at BAM and St. John The Divine, with The Murray Louis Dance
Company at Carnegie Hall and can be seen in the Walt Disney film "Enchanted". Sharon received a Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree in Dance from Montclair State University and will be receiving her Doctor of Physical Therapy graduate degree
from Seton Hall University in May 2008.
| (The talented Sharon Livardo du Maine is graciously replacing Coralie Romanyshyn who is injured and unable to perform in Seeking, the Above and Beyond Dance inaugural season at Kumble Theater.)
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photography: Charles Samuels Photography NYC
Tomomi Imai |
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Tomomi is a dancer, choreographer and certified Pilates instructor who came to New York from Japan.
She has danced in the New York area with companies including: Toni Taylor’s Pi Dance Theatre;
Maxine Steinman; Dagmar Spain’s Dance Imprints; Noemi Lafrance, Sense production; Daniela
Hoff’s HoffTanzt; Catherine Gallant; and Ensemble eMotions. In Japan, Tomomi was a resident
member of the Yoshiki Homma Modern Dance and Ballet Theater. She performed as a soloist
with the Kho Fujji Dance Company, the Dance Deux and others (Performances sponsored by
Japanese Ministry of Culture, and the Metropolitan Government of Tokyo). She is also an
experienced teacher, and has taught Modern dance and ballet for 14 years in Japan, at the
Peridance Studio in NY and at the Montclair Academy of Dance & Laboratory of Music in NJ.
Tomomi won the Grand Prize at the Matsudo Art Society Modern Dance Competition, 2nd Prize at the
Be Moved Grand Prix at Kita-Kiyushu and Asia National Modern Dance Competition, 2nd Prize at the
Itabashi National Modern Dance Competition, and 3rd Prize at Akita National Dance Competition.
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Anabella Lenzu is a dancer, choreographer and teacher with over 15 years experience working in Argentina, Chile, Italy, England and the USA. Additionally, she has spent many years studying tango and the traditional dances of Argentina, Spain and Italy. Her company, Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama works to introduce unfamiliar individuals to contemporary dance and to develop a cultural, educational and artistic exchange between New York and communities in Argentina, Chile, Italy and others. Anabella believes that teaching and performing worldwide emboldens, promotes and enriches people, communities and dance, transcending socio-political and cultural boundaries. |
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The Company’s repertory consists of solo and ensemble pieces representing
an uncommon blend of traditional modern dance (the lineage of Humphrey-Limon, Graham and Sokolow),
ballet and ethnographic folk traditions. Anabella completed her classical Ballet dance training at
the renowned Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colòn in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
She has studied choreography at the Juilliard School and with Igal Perry, Mary Anthony,
Jim May and many others. Anabella conducts lectures, master-classes and residencies at
universities throughout the US and abroad. She is also a published author for various dance
and arts magazines. Todd Carroll is Anabella's husband and partner. Together they have been
teaching Tango in Argentina, Italy and the USA.
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Martin Løfsnes was born in East Germany, grew up in Norway, and received his early dance training in Ballet, Jazz and Graham-based modern in Norway with Øyvind Jørgensen and Kirsti Skullerud. In 1990 he left Norway to study at London Contemporary Dance School/The Place and trained there for two years, studying with Clover Roope, Ronald Emblen, Jane Dudley and Susan McGuire. In the spring of -92, he was offered a summer scholarship to Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and moved to New York City; the same fall he joined the Martha Graham Ensemble. After touring the US for a year with the Ensemble he was invited to join the Martha Graham Dance Company, which remained his artistic home from 1993 until 2006. While at Graham he worked with his most influential teachers and mentors; Carol Fried, Pearl Lang and Yuriko. |
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Emily is a dancer, teacher and choreographer with an amazing range of skills. She has danced in a
variety of productions in New York and Los Angeles, with recent highlights including:
the Palmer Arts Collaborative Metronome Tap Company; Dance Electric 82 Decibels from
"Breaking Ground"; Kybele Dance Theater; UCLA All-Star Dance Team Led Zeppagain; De LiRitmo
Flamenco Company; Elevate Body Tjak 2000 and as a swing dancer at House of Blues Concerts.
Emily has appeared in the following theatrical productions as well: Forever Swing’s Zoot Suit
Tour; Voices of the Wind, Fringe NYC 2005; South Pacific, Alameda Civic Light Opera; Carousel,
Diablo Light Opera Company; Fiddler on the Roof, Piedmont Light Opera Theater and A Chorus Line,
DVC Theater. Emily’s choreography blends many influences and techniques, including Modern and
Contemporary Dance, Ballet, Tap, Lindy Hop, Body Music and Aerial Work. Currently, she teaches
Lindy Hop, East Coast Swing, the Charleston, Blues and Tap Dancing at Dance Manhattan and in
Hoboken, New Jersey. She has also taught Tap and Body Music in California. Emily earned a B.A,
Dance Concentration in World Arts and Cultures and was a Broadway Theater Project Apprentice in
2004.
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Gabriel Zaragoza |
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Luis Gabriel Zaragoza was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He earned his BFA from the National School of Dance of Mexico (NDSM) where he graduated Cum Laude. He also has a BA in Philosophy, an MFA in Dance Education, and has specialized in Dance Philosophy. Gabriel was also a much respected teacher at the NSDM for eight years. Gabriel attended the Merce Cunningham Studio as a scholarship student and has received his certificate of completion. He has danced with several companies in France and Mexico, and he was a member of the Martha Graham Ensemble (2000-2003). Currently, he dances with the Sokolow Theater Dance Ensemble, Hunter Dance Company, Nilas Martin Dance, Dankmeyer Dance Company, Alan Good Dance, and is founder of Filos Tanz. In 1990, he received the award of Best Choreographed Solo for Nijinsky, El Ojo de Dios from Asociación Danza Mexicana. In 1991, La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico granted him the Artistic Creative Award. As a choreographer, he has created over 64 works which have been performed in Canada, France, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, El Salvador, Peru, Costa Rica and the United States. |
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Pi Dance Theatre, 501c3 umbrella |
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The mission of Pi Dance Theatre is to build a creative community of individuals composed of the public, its Board members, dancers, designers, visual artists, funders, and presenters using the works of Toni Taylor and the company’s constituents as a catalyst to deepen our collective humanity via dance and other mediums to further expand the human conversation. |
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Pi Dance Theatre was formed in 1990 in New York City, by its founder and artistic director,
Toni Taylor. Toni developed the company not only to create a community of dancers to express
her esthetic but also to allow younger dancers to present their own dances in the company’s
performances. Seeking is an outgrowth of Toni’s desire to support the creative ventures of
her dancers; Chriselle Tidrick has danced with Pi Dance Theater for several seasons as has
collaborator Tomomi Imai.
The company itself explores the intersection of dance and modern music by contemporary composers as well as the use of folk, jazz, liturgical, and classical music for the dances. It often works improvisationally and in particular, explores the dynamics between dance and other mediums by collaborating with composers, designers, sculptors, poets, and puppeteers among others. While most of the pieces layer and weave topics and themes together, some favorite themes are spirituality, human foibles, and relationships. Since Pi Dance Theatre’s inception, the company has produced ongoing New York City seasons in various venues, showing the modern dances of Taylor as well as works by company members & guest choreographers. Taylor has successfully organized dance concerts throughout 15 seasons in New York. In that time and with a company of 4 to 6 dancers, the company has continued to present artistically stronger seasons, with more performances attended by more people in New York City and Connecticut. |
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photo: Eva Groven