WRITER BIOS

Eva Yaa Asantewaa
photo by Deborah Feller

Eva Yaa Asantewaa (Editor in Chief) has contributed writing on dance to Dance Magazine, The Village Voice, SoHo Weekly News, Gay City News and other publications since 1976. Ms. Yaa Asantewaa has also interviewed dance artists and advocates as host of Body and Soul podcast. She served as a member of the New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Awards committee for three years and as a consultant or panelist for numerous arts funding and awards organizations. She blogs on the arts for InfiniteBody (http://infinitebody.blogspot.com), with dance as a specialty, and has taught the annual "Writing on Dance" workshop series for New York Live Arts. A native New Yorker of Black Caribbean heritage, Eva makes her home in the East Village with her wife and two cats.

Troy Ogilvie
photo by Franziska Strauss

Troy Ogilvie (Managing Editor) is a dancer, writer, producer, daydreamer and rehearsal director living in Brooklyn, NY.  After her graduation from Juilliard, she has had the pleasure of getting sweaty in the studio with many artists including choreographers Andrea Miller, Sidra Bell, Gabriel Forestieri, Idan Sharabi;  musician Liv Heym; and director Peter Sellars.  Having worked as a solo artist since 2008, Troy has produced and performed a solo show, RESET, featuring choreography by Shannon Gillen, Margie Gillis, Austin McCormick, and Harumi Terayama.  As Program Manager and Assistant to the Artistic Director, she works closely with Alexandra Wells on the NYC-based Movement Invention Project as well as the Montreal-based Springboard Danse Montreal.  Troy is a current cast member in Sleep No More and will be performing in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Prince Igor in the spring of 2014.  Troy has been featured in "You Should Know: Troy Ogilvie" (Dance Spirit, Dec 2010), "Top 25 to Watch" (Dance Magazine, Jan 2011) and "Why I Dance" (author, Dance Magazine, Sept 2012).  www.troyogilvie.com

Jazzmen Lee-Johnson
photo courtesy of
 Jazzmen Lee-Johnson

Jazzmen Lee-Johnson (Art Director) is a visual artist, animator, musician and MC. Upon graduation from Rhode Island School of Design, she lived in Benin, Mali, South Africa, India, and Brazil to study the "politics of performance" as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow.  Her award-winning films and animations, such as Beat Back Bush; Songs from The Haven of Despair; Black, White, Whatever; and Soundcheck have been exhibited globally. Jazzmen lives and works between New York and Johannesburg, South Africa, collaborating with artists, musicians, dancers and media professionals on both sides of the Atlantic. Currently, Jazzmen is in production of her forthcoming audio/visual graphic novel Grandma's Lament/Sello Sa Nkoko in collaboration with her multi-media arts collective Folk Told ME and will pursue her Master's in Public Humanities at Brown University in the fall.

Soledad Sklate
photo courtesy of Soledad Sklate

M. Soledad Sklate is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the French Department at New York University, where she also teaches French and Spanish. Her academic interests lie in Francophone Caribbean Literatures concentrating on the intersection of literature and embodied cultural practices such as dance and performance as means of resistance. She has been involved with ‘of note’, an online publication that features global artists using the arts as tools for social change and ‘ETC_Caraïbe’, a non-profit organization based in Guadeloupe that supports and promotes playwrights of the Caribbean and the diaspora. She is currently in charge of creating the content of “Cumbe Culture,” a blog that aims to unearth and share the rich stories behind the people and cultural events at Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance.

Evan Teitelbaum
photo by Matthew Murphy

Evan Teitelbaum is a native New Yorker and became an avid spectator of contemporary dance while still in elementary school.  At age 15 he finally joined in, his studies culminating in a BFA ('09) from the Juilliard School.  He is a dancer and rehearsal director with Brian Brooks Moving Company and has also performed with Aszure Barton and Artists, Gallim Dance, Shen Wei Dance Arts, Dance Heginbotham, Compagnie Julie Bour, and Kevin O'Day - Ballet Mannheim, among others.  His choreography has been presented at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater and the Clark Studio Theater in New York and at Tangente in Montreal.

Jaime Shearn Coan
photo by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Jaime Shearn Coan is a poet involved with dance. He has collaborated with choreographer Mariangela Lopez / Accidental Movement since 2009 and will continue his studies in contemporary poetics and performance at the CUNY Graduate Center in fall 2013. Poems and critical writings have appeared or are forthcoming in journals including the Mississippi Review, Drunken Boat, EOAGH, The Portland Review and in the anthology Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics (Nightboat Books, 2013). His artist book, dear someone, the product of a collaborative letter-writing project, is distributed through Printed Matter. Jaime has been awarded residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, and was a 2012 Poets House Emerging Poets Fellow.

Anita Gonzalez
photo courtesy of Anita Gonzalez

Anita Gonzalez is a Director/Writer/Choreographer  who views dance/theatre practice as cultural exchange. Her work has appeared on PBS national television and at Dixon Place, The Workshop Theatre, HereArts, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Ballet Hispanico, and other venues. Gonzalez’ has authored or co-edited three books: Black Performance Theory, Afro-Mexico: Dancing Between Myth, and Jarocho’s Soul. Her awards include a residency at Rockefeller’s Bellagio Center (2003) and three Senior Scholar Fulbright grants. She earned her Ph.D. in Theater/Performance Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1997) and enjoys serving as a destination lecturer for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise lines. www.anitagonzalez.com

Melanie Greene
Photo by Sinru Ku

Melanie Greene is a graduate with a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography from UNC-Greensboro and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from UNC Chapel Hill. Beginning her dance and writing career in high school, she has participated in a variety of performance endeavors and writing ventures.As a teacher, performer, and choreographer, Greene is excited to continue studies that facilitate the intersection of visual and performing arts, pedagogy, literature, and intellectual scholarship. Read more at: http://methodsofperception.bandzoogle.com/aboutmethods.cfm

Isabelle Dom
photo courtesy of Isabelle Dom

Isabelle Dom is originally from Houston, TX, and is an honors BFA graduate from Randolph Macon-Woman’s) College. While in school, Isabelle trained under numerous talented professionals such as Clay Taliaferro, Maureen MansfieldKaddar, Takehiro Ueyama, and Tyrone Brooks. Isabelle also collaborated with and choreographed for Randolph College’s Wildcat Theater and Randolph College’s Center for Ancient Drama. She first developed an interest in dance writing during her studies in college. Although she is a published writer in another academic field, dance writing is her main focus, and she is committed to bridging the gap between the dance world and the rest of the world through her writing.

Komal Thakkar
(photo by Ben Sanders)

Komal Thakkar recently graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from The George Washington University with a BA in dance and in history. In school, she trained under Maida Withers, Anthony Gongora, Kelly Bond, and Dana Tai Soon Burgess. She developed an interest in dance history, writing, and analysis through her coursework at GWU. In 2011, she spent five months studying African dance and conducting research with a Luther Rice Research Grant in Ghana. Komal has contributed to Dance Spirit Magazine and interned at the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation, Dance/USA, Dance Spirit Magazine, and Move This World. She is originally from Morganville, New Jersey and is pursuing a career in nonprofit work and dance.

Amanda Hameline
(photo courtesy of Amanda Hameline)

Amanda Hameline is a choreographer, dance writer and arts administrator living in Brooklyn, New York. A native of that city, Amanda has returned to work, create and write for the dance world after spending four years at Harvard studying one of her favorite topics: American history and literature. In the past two years she has presented her choreography at Triskelion Arts, WOW Cafe Theater, the Harvard Dance Center, the Loeb Mainstage Theater and the Harvard Advocate. She is driven by the idea that the body is an inherently fascinating medium and by a desire to investigate how people can move.  Amanda also enjoys making money for and supporting other companies. She currently works as the Development Assistant at Martha Graham Contemporary Dance and previously interned at Gallim Dance for both the Executive Director, Max Hodges and Artistic Director, Andrea Miller.

Alejandra Emilia Iannone
(photo courtesy of Alejandra Amelia Iannone)

Alejandra Emilia Iannone is an interdisciplinary artist who works at the intersection of dance, philosophy, and education. In addition to her work as a performer--favorite venues include Carnegie Hall, Jacob’s Pillow’s Inside/Out Stage, The Ailey Citigroup Theater, and the Versace Mansion--she teaches philosophy at The City College of New York, and is on faculty of The Ailey School--Junior Division. Alejandra is presently appearing as the “Columbus Circle Ballerina” in The Ride, (2013 Drama Desk Nominee, Unique Theatrical Experience).

Sarah Elizabeth Lass
(photo courtesy of Sarah Elizabeth Lass)

Sarah Elizabeth Lass is a mover, writer, thinker, and teacher who finds the physical and intellectual exploration of dance essential to a deep understanding of each other, our world, and ourselves.  A native of Denver, Colorado, Lass graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Kenyon College in May 2013 before relocating to New York where she has continued to question, explore, and research the ways in which dance and movement encourage a more compassionate, thoughtful, and humble perception of both our everyday lives and the fascinating complexities of our human experience. Lass has had the privilege of participating in numerous festivals and workshops across the country, including the Tisch Summer Residency Festival, Bates Dance Festival, and Dance New Amsterdam’s New York Summer Intensive. She has performed with Kenyon College Dance Ensemble and in her own, original choreography, and also worked with Double-Edge Dance, Delhi Dance Theater, and mishiDance. For Lass, enlightenment is nestled in every movement we make, and so she is dedicated to nurturing an understanding, supportive community that facilitates a spirit of playful curiosity, where this dynamic process of learning, understanding, and growing is possible.

A. Nia Austin-Edwards
(photo by Gerry Eastman)

A. Nia Austin-Edwards (ANAE) began her dance training in Atlanta, GA, at Total Dance / Dancical Productions, Inc. She went on to major in dance at Tri-Cities Visual and Performing Arts Magnet High School and received a B.F.A. in Dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Nia currently performs with Brooklyn-based ASE Dance Theatre Collective and remains an associate member of Atlanta's Total Dance Company and Axam Dance Theatre Experience. In 2013, she started PURPOSE Productions--a company that supports artists and activists in the manifestation of PURPOSE-full work that seeks to unify and develop our world community. She serves as an editor and correspondent to The Dance Enthusiast, and shares more personal thoughts on her blog, nocurtains.wordpress.com. Nia is enthusiastic about opportunities for movement to be a lens for viewing, redefining, questioning, challenging, living, loving, and anything else.