2005 Artists-In-Residence:
Please click on an artist name below to read their biography.
Lauri Stallings
Sharon Jakubecy
David Wilson

2005 Gala Showcase Choreographers:
Please click on a choreographers name below to read their biography.
Stefan Fabry
Banafsheh Sayyad
Holly Johnston
Hassan Christopher
Rande Dorn
Arianne MacBean

Lauri Stallings

Lauri Stallings, a fifth generation Floridian, continues on from performing artist to dance-maker after beginning her career with Cleveland San Jose Ballet, followed by BalletMet and Canada's Ballet British Columbia. For the last five seasons she danced with Hubbard St. Dance Chicago, at which time she began to weave the broad spectrum of experience into her own language of movement. Chicagoan of the Year in 2004, Lauri recently received a Ruth Page award from the Chicago Music and Dance Alliance for her first full-length dance, "Moody Hollow." She is the most recent recipient of a Cliff Dwellers Award for her choreographic work. Upcoming commissions include invitations to Jacob's Pillow and Vail International Dance Festival. In the 2005-06 season Lauri will create works for both Atlanta Ballet, and the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Lauri is thrilled to collaborate with the dance community of Los Angeles for the Dance Moving Forward Festival. Inspiration comes from many sources, and certainly the sweetest comes from the glorious individuals that are the richest treasures of her world.

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Sharon Jakubecy

Sharon Jakubecy is an AmSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher who trained at ATI-Los Angeles. She has been studying, performing, and choreographing modern dance in San Diego and Los Angeles since 1992. She began her training under Jean Isaacs at UCSD where she also earned a B. S. in Cognitive Science. In 2000, Sharon received San Diego's Tommy Award for Emerging Choreographer for "Romp." Most recently, she performed at the John Anson Ford Theater and the Ivy Substation with PTERO dance under the direction Paula Present. She premiered "Dissolve" at last year's DMFF. Sharon teaches Alexander Technique and Movement to actors at Stella Adler Academy of Theater. She is honored to be able to choreograph with the students of LAVC.

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David Wilson

David Wilson is an independent filmmaker/ dance artist based out of Chicago, currently living in Long Beach, California. His short films Donut Love & O My Beating Heart have appeared in the Rooftop film festival in New York, The Slamdance & Tromadance film festival in Utah, The Around the Coyote film festival in Chicago, and The Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. In 1998, He formed the performance art group The AVID DVD Society. Using Wu-Tang techniques of fist of fury films, teeter-totter theatre, and melo-dramatic modern dance, The AVID DVD Society strives to illuminate the humor and horror of our everyday lives. The ADS has been quoted as "Just plain odd" by the Chicago tribune and "Lots of energetic, high spirited choreography by the Chicago reader. The ADS has performed in dance festivals nationwide. In November 1998 Wilson founded, produced, and curated The Heartzz & Bonies Performance Art Festival. A multi media festival featuring choreographers, filmmakers, and musicians nationwide. The festivals have been produced at the National Pastime Theater (1998) and Links Hall (1999) in Chicago, The Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater (2002) in Long Beach, and Highways Performance Space (2004) in Santa Monica and all including artists nationwide. From 1999-2001 Wilson served as the Around the Coyote Arts Festival co-dance curator. The festivals featured Chicagoland alternative choreographers/companies and were held at the Vittum Theater, The Note, and Moeksha Yoga Center in Chicago.

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Stefan Fabry

Stefan Fabry is a dancer, improviser, contact improviser, minimalist and choreographer. Since 1997 he pursues his choreographic and improvisational body of work as solo creations and in collaboration with local dancers and improvisers in southern California. He continues to add new movement forms to his background like Tango, T’ai Chi and Ballett. Stefan studies, assists and collaborates with Rudy Perez in his ongoing Post Modern choreographic projects since 1997. For this project, Fabry is collaborating with Jeffrey Grimaldo. From 1977 to 1981, Grimaldo trained with the Oakland Ballet under Ronn Guidi and Howard Sayette. He is a former and founding member of Mobius Stageworks, a multi-disciplinary theatre company in LA, directed by the late Nancy Fenster and Linden Gilbert. Mr. Grimaldo joined the Rudy Perez Performance Ensemble in 1986. He was nominated for the Lester Horton Dance Award in 1992, for his solo performance in Losingthelight, choreographed by Rudy Perez. Jeffrey is a pilates-based personal fitness trainer. He joined his wife Anne in founding their own dance company, Naked with Shoes, in 1993.

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Banafsheh Sayyad

Banafsheh Sayyad’s work communicates the universal message of Persian mysticism in a physically explosive yet quietly intuitive way, an interplay between trance and directed movement. Using a dance language that traverses the boundaries of cultural specificity, she draws from her extensive background in Persian classical and tribal dances, Sufi ritual, Tai Chi and Flamenco to present a form that both preserves and innovates the Persian mystical dance tradition. A recipient of the James Irvine Foundation grant in dance, Banafsheh holds an MA in Chinese Medicine and an MFA in Dance from UCLA where she also taught mystical Persian dance. Banafsheh draws from her knowledge of Persian mysticism and the Taoist view of the internal functioning of the body to discover movement that is at once healing and self-illuminating. The Artistic Director of the CA nonprofit company, NAMAH, her work has been presented extensively in festivals and by presenters in the US, Canada and Europe. For more information visit www.namah.net

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Holly Johnston

Holly Johnston is a Los Angeles based dance artist and educator. She graduated with a BA in Dance from Loyola Marymount University in 1996. In 1997, she was invited to become a founding member of TONGUE Artistic Director, Stephanie Gilliland. Since then she has worked extensively with Gilliland as a principle dancer, rehearsal director and teacher. Gilliland has been instrumental in her development as an artist, educator and choreographer. Ms. Johnston brings to her work a developed understanding of the movement arts and sciences, including biomechanics of contemporary and classical dance techniques. She is credited with codifying the physical language of Ms. Gilliland into a systematic approach now being taught as the Gilliland Technique. She also works as a massage therapist and is deeply inspired by the transformative practice of yoga. She has taught modern dance classes for Idyllwild Arts Academy, Loyola Marymount University, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, Moorpark College, UC San Diego and numerous TONGUE workshops and Master Classes throughout Southern California. She has toured nationally and internationally with TONGUE, and is currently the only collegiate access to the Gilliland Technique. She is also the Director of The Ledges and Bones Dance Project, a dance laboratory for artists seeking excellence in concert dance. Ms. Johnston’s choreographic work has been performed in Los Angeles and most recently throughout Arizona gaining statewide attention during its first season in the Southwest. Her current choreographic projects include work for TONGUE; Onidance Artistic Director, Maria Gillespie; Loyola Marymount University, Cal State LA, UC Santa Barbara and Scottsdale Community College. Holly is currently apart of the dance faculty at Loyola Marymount University and is committed to the rigor that transforms passion into art.

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Hassan Christopher

Hassan Christopher's career has spanned nearly 15 years and has covered a broad spectrum of performance. He has worked with pop icons like Britney Spears, Usher and Shakira, in addition to building an outstanding reputation as a concert dancer. Recent projects include work with Heidi Duckler's Collage Dance Theater, David Rousseve's Rose Colored Glasses and Rossana Gamson's WorldWide. He is a former company member of Diavolo Dance Theater and currently teaches at The Edge Contemporary Dance Center in Hollywood. Hassan is also a guest lecturer at UCLA 's Department of World Arts and Cultures. As a choreographer and Artistic Director of his new troupe, “The Company of Srangers,” Hassan combines his broad understanding of movement with his passion for music, experimental theater and the written word to create exciting and innovative work. www.companyofstrangers.org

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Rande Dorn

Rande Dorn is a choreographer, dancer, singer, and artistic director of The Ciagio Collective. She was born and raised just south of Los Angeles in Gardena, CA. Her dance and theatre training began formally at the University of California San Diego where she received her BA in Theater. She also holds an MFA in Dance from CalArts. With a lot of encouragement and support, Rande began The Ciagio Collective (count it all joy) in 2003 with talented alumni from CalArts and UCSD. Rande is a dance teacher at Marymount High School, and a certified Pilates and Gyrotonics instructor throughout Los Angeles. Last year, she was honored to receive the James Irvine Dance Grant for her work developing an original musical dance theater piece.

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Arianne MacBean

Arianne MacBean is Artistic Director of the Big Show Co. and Producer of the Dance Moving Forward Festival. For DMFF 2005, MacBean is creating a new trio for camera-man, video camera, and dancer that explores today’s obsession with reality television. She is honored to be a City of Los Angeles Artist-In-Residence for the second year in a row.

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Selected photographic work of Tammy Abbot. Please view additional woork by Tammy at www.anastarose.com