|
|
|
|
|
Present Collaborators
|
A Connecticut native, Jennifer Cormier studied dance and visual art at the College of Charleston, where she earned a BA. Her association with Scapegoat Garden began in 2005 as dance photographer. Her slow shutter speed shots of dance performances have resulted in two solo photography shows in conjunction with Scapegoat Garden performances. Jenn is a certified Pilates instructor, Yoga teacher, and Licensed Massage Therapist specializing in Traditional Thai Bodywork. She has taught dance, Yoga, and Thai Massage at Omega Institute's Teen Camp where she has merged fine arts with the healing arts since 2006. Her performance resume includes five years dancing with JII Performance Group in Charleston, South Carolina, and a study of Traditional Hawaiian Hula with Ka Pi'o O Ke Anuenue in Ashland, Oregon. Jennifer is overjoyed that, since returning to Hartford in January 2010, her path has come full circle to be a part of the creative engine that is Scapegoat Garden. |
Leslie Frye Maietta
is a performer, educator and choreographer. She holds a BFA in Dance from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Leslie has studied under some of the most influential dance professionals and has worked alongside famous performance artists and world-renowned choreographers including Mia Michaels and George Faison. Since making her home here in CT, she is on Faculty at The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and The University of Hartford, Hartt School Community Division. Leslie takes her passion for performing to the stage with Full Force Dance Theatre and Scapegoat Garden in Hartford, CT. |
Katie Jackson Cook
attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, graduating with a BFA in Modern Dance, receiving the Senior Modern Performance Award and the Elizabeth Pulaski Memorial Scholarship. She also receiving training at The Laban Center for Movement in London, England. Her performance credits while in Philadelphia include: The White Oak Dance Project (in collaboration with U of A), Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Bald Mermaids, New Action Theater and The Barrymore Awards (SCRAP), also performing in works by Jose Limon, Paul Taylor, Group Motion Dance Company, Isaburoh Hanayagi and Koresh Dance Company. Her choreography has been seen at Rebound Dance Festival, 5x5 Dance Festival, The Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, National Dance Day in Philadelphia, The Adrienne Theater, The Duke Studios on 42nd Street, The Jersey City Studio Theater and Victory Hall. While in New York City, Katie performed with Jana Hicks, 3:33 Dance company, Clark Dance Theater, Linda Diamond & Von Ussar Danceworks, Gritty Cherries Inc., Angel Feliciano, AKRNYM and Salvatore LaRussa Dance Theatre. She is extremely excited to have been collaborating with Scapegoat Garden since 2010. |
Amy Nesbitt is a CT native, and has been teaching and choreographing in Hartford since 1998. A graduate of Saint Joseph College with a BA in Psychology, she has taught for the Hartford Ballet, The University of Hartford, The Hartford Conservatory, CT Dance Alliance, and various other local public and private schools across the state. Amy is currently a full-time artist instructor at her alma-mater, the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. For more than ten years, she was a member of Spectrum in Motion Dance Theatre Ensemble under the direction of Olivia Ilano-Davis. She has performed in NYC in the off-Broadway production of "There's a Marquee”, and has danced the works of Douglas Boulivar, C.Y. Ching, Avis Hatcher, Olivia Ilano-Davis, Rebecca Lazier, and Monica Levy. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
Jennifer
Morley received her BA in Dance from Hofstra University. The Connecticut
native earned an MFA in dance at Temple University where she currently directs the dance conditioning program. She is the founder and Artistic
Director of Figments Dance Ensemble which is dedicated to inspiring students to use movement as a means for
communication by creating and performing ground-breaking modern dance works for children of all ages - offering workshops, lecture demonstrations and residencies.
She is a certified Pilates instructor, performs with several choreographers in Philadelphia, and produces her own choreographic works. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
Dancer and choreographer Mano Preto (José Emanuel Brandão) co-founded
Raiz di Polon Contemporary Dance Company in 1991 in the city of the Praia, Cape Verde.
Lessons learned from early encounters with European contemporary dance continue to form the foundation for Raiz di Polon and form the basis for the
training of new dancers, the development of new choreographic works, and are applied to the traditional Cape Verdean dance forms to
expand their impact for modern audiences. Under Mano's direction, Raiz di Polon has received many awards, and performed internationally. The company’s
work is also featured in the 2007 documentary film Movement (R)evolution Africa, by Joan Frosch and Alla Kovgan. Raiz di Polon is, along
with artists like Cesária Évora, an important cultural ambassador, transmitting Cape Verde’s cultural heritage throughout the world through its dance, song,
language, literature and theater. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
Jose "Shokanti" Monteiro has been described by Afropop.com, Vibe.com, and MTViggy.com as an outstanding representation of African hip-hop. The artist Shokanti approaches the mic with a unique expression of hip-hop, theater, and social consciousness. Blending the rhythms and soul of Cape Verde, Africa, with the American African creation of hip-hop, Shokanti is an artist who uses the language of kriolu and his music to paint stories of the past, present and future, and theater to enact a visual and lyrical representation of reality. Along with talented producer Djim Job, he will release his first self titled album in 2009. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
A native of Sao Vicente island, Cape Verde Djim Job is one of the most sought after Cape Verdean musician/producers. A multi-instrumentalist who has produced for well established Cape Verdean artists such as Maria DeBarros, Djosina and many more. He has recorded and performed in many countries throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America with artists like Cesária Évora, Lura, Tito Paris, Mayra Andrade, Boy G. Mendes, amongst many others. Djim Job released his first solo project in the fall of 2009. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
Sarah Weiss
graduated from Bates College with a B.S. in Biology and received a One Year
certificate from London Contemporary Dance School at The Place. Sarah also holds an MFA from the University of
Utah where she taught undergraduate non-majors classes and explored the physical and psychological realms of boundaries.
Since her arrival in New Haven in December 2003, Sarah has taught children’s
creative movement at Yale University and led workshops for Waterbury’s
Brass City Ballet’s Reading in Motion program, which integrated
dance and reading in public school classrooms. She has also performed with Yale Repertory Theater, with local
choreographer Mary Barnett, and began dancing with Scapegoat Garden in 2005. After several years serving as Assistant Director of Annual Giving at Yale University, Sarah now resides in Sweden with her husband Erik. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
Hanna Kivioja
is originally from Finland, where she has recently returned to live and work. She is a BA Hons graduate in Contemporary Dance from
London Contemporary Dance School at the Place, England and also
studied at the California Institute of the Arts. Hanna has also studied
yoga and kung fu with Damon Honeycutt and Master Hu
Jianqiang. While living in the United States, Hanna was a founding member of Scapegoat Garden,
danced with Full Force Dance Theater, in the works of Amber Sloan, Nicole Wolcott, and Julian Barnett, and collaborated with Leela
Leela Dance Theatre. Hanna has served as choreographer and assistant director in numerous projects in Connecticut and New York. During her time in the states, Hanna taught dance and yoga at a number of institutions including Hartford Conservatory,
Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, Dance Connecticut, and Peridance in NYC. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
Tony Olivares
was born in Managua, Nicaragua. His dance
training began in Edmonton, although he had performed in Managua, Mexico and the United States
before that time. In Edmonton, Tony assisted the dance program at Grant MacEwan College.
Later he formed Dirty Feet Productions, a dance collective which was active for 3 years and
produced 5 independent shows. Tony performed and trained in Improvisation in Montreal, New York,
at Bennington College, and at EarthDance in Massachusetts. Tony moved to Hartford in 2003 to study
massage therapy at the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy. He is a graduate of Hartford Conservatory where he earned a certificate in dance pedagogy.
He is currently a student in the Theater and Dance department at Trinity College. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
Damon Honeycutt
is a transdisciplinary artist whose work involves the cohesion of many traditions. He holds
an MA in Conscious Evolution and Integral Studies from The Graduate
Institute and a BFA from California Institute of the Arts in music
composition and cross cultural dance studies. Damon is a grassroots
martial arts practitioner and yogi with twenty years of experience.
He is the founder of The Temple of the Monkey, through which he
teaches Taoist Yoga, and Monkey Kung Fu as well as creates programs
and apprenticeships in those fields. Damon is a founding member
of Scapegoat Garden and has worked with Nai Ni Chen dance company,
Mei Yin Ng, Beijing Opera company Yuan, I Nyoman Wenten and the
Burat Wangi Gamelan, Oddfellows Playhouse, The Oregon Shakespeare
Festival, Leela Dance theater and has been featured at numerous
martial art festivals and independent films. He currently tours internationally with Pilobolus Dance Theater.
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
Ana
Manuela Jara is from Bogota, Colombia where she began her
dance training. She performed and toured Colombia with the pre-professional
modern dance company “Danta Danza”. Manuela is a Magna
Cum Laud graduate from the Hartt School/University of Hartford
BFA program. She was a member of the Touring Ensemble, performing in
works by Martha Graham, Peggy Lyman and Katie Stevinson-Nollet,
and had the privilege of performing at Jacob's Pillow and the
Festival of Arts and Ideas Festival in New Haven. She served on the
faculty of the School of Dance Connecticut and performed with Greater
Hartford area artists, including Full Force Dance Theater, the
Judy Dworin Performance Ensemble as well as Scapegoat Garden. She is
currently a dance teacher and entrepeneur back home in Colombia.
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
Anne
Tegtmeier originally trained in Denver, Colorado and went
on to receive her BFA from The Boston Conservatory in 1996. Since
then she has danced in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco,
and has performed with various modern dance companies
in the Hartford area, including the Bare Bones Project and Scapegoat
Garden. Anne is a licensed massage therapist. |
| |
|
|
