SIDRA BELL, Artistic Director of Sidra Bell Dance New York, has a BA in History from Yale University and an MFA in choreography from Purchase College Conservatory of Dance. Recent commissions include the Alvin Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, Ailey Student Performance Group, Duo Multicultural Arts Center, Ballet Divertimento (Montréal), Arts Umbrella Dance Company (Vancouver), Canadian Children’s Dance Theatre (Toronto), Purchase College Conservatory of Dance in conjunction with the St. Luke’s Orchestra, LaGuardia High School, Springboard Danse Montréal, National Choreographers Initiative, The Margie Gillis Foudnation, Bessie Schönberg Choreographers Residency at The Yard, Ballet Austin, Sacramento Ballet, Ailey II, and The Juilliard School.
A solo work “Conductivity” recently won a second prize for performance at the 13th International Solo Dance Theatre Festival in Stuttgart, Germany and was also presented at the International Competition for Choreographers in Hanover, Germany. The work was presented at the International Dance Festival in Athens, Greece. It returned to Europe for a tour of various cities in Germany in November 2009. Ms. Bell was selected to work as an emerging choreographer at Springboard Danse Montréal for two consecutive years and created works that were presented at Place des Arts, Piscine-théâtre, and Usine C. She has also been awarded several creative residencies at Stella Adler Studio of Acting and Tribeca Performing Arts Center. The company, Sidra Bell Dance New York, has been presented by the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Inside/Out Series, Symphony Space, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Ballet Builders, The Harlem Stage E-Moves Series, Tangente (Montréal), The Gershwin Hotel, The Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church, Stella Adler Studio of Acting (MAD AIR), the Margie Gillis Foundation, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, danceNOW at Dance Theater Workshop, The Duo Theater, Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Chutzpah Festival at The Norman Rothstein Theater (Vancouver), and Joyce SoHo.
She has been on the faculty at Stella Adler Studio of Acting in the Movement Department as well as the Physical Theater Intensive and was also an artist in The Harold Clurman Center for New Work in Movement and Dance Theater (M.A.D.). She is a sought after teacher and has taught master classes and workshops in the United States and abroad. Her guest teaching has included The Movement Invention Project, Peridance Center, Canadian Children’s Dance Theatre, Arts Umbrella, Purchase College Conservatory of Dance, Marygrove College, Ballet Divertimento, New Haven Ballet, Greenwich Academy, LaGuardia High School, Long Island University, Springboard Danse Montréal , and The Ailey School.
LANE GIFFORD, Artistic Director received a BFA in dance performance and an MFA in choreography from The Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. Seeking ways to explore a multi-arts approach to the language of dance led Lane Gifford to work in the television industry for such companies as Time Warner and Sony Music where she designed and produced promotions for artists including Wynton Marsalis, Marc Anthony, Shawn Colvin and John Mellencamp. Her choreographed works range from commissioned modern ballets for companies such as Ballet Philippines and Tappan Zee Dance Group for children, to fashion shows and promotional videos for companies such as Seventeen Magazine, Converse and designer Issey Miyake.
She has taught choreography at several schools including Purchase College and the School for Ballet Philippines in Manila as well as children’s dance and creative process classes at The JCC in Manhattan and Fieldston School. Lane & Co. has performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Purchase College for a commissioned work at Queens Museum of Art (2007), at Dance New Amsterdam RAW Material Concert in New York (2008), on the Inside/Out stage at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (2008), during the New York International 2008 Fringe Festival, with the Downtown Dance Festival in New York’s Battery Park (2008), at Dance Theater Workshop as part of DanceNow (2008 & 2009), The Puffin Foundation Cultural Forum (2008), American Dance Guild (2009), Dance Gallery (2009) the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio (2009) and at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City (2009).
KATE GRIFFLER is a dance artist (performer,choreogrpaher, producer, teacher) who hails originally from Glenview, Illinois. Her early training was in gymnastics and later she went on to study art and design at the Brick Township Vocational School of Visual Communications. Her early dance training was at the Conservatory of Dance Education in Red Bank, New Jersey. Kate is a 2006 graduate of the Conservatory of Dance (Magna Cum Laude) & holds a Certificate in Arts Management from Purchase College, SUNY where she danced the works of Lauri Stallings, Jacquline Buglisie, Megan Williams, Assun Noales, Sidra Bell, Lane Gifford, among others. In 2005, Kate co-founded a-core-dance arts under the direction of Ayako Kurakake which was in residence at CAVE Arts Space 2006 to 2007. Dance performances with a-core-dance arts include (JAPAN) the Kobe Fashion Museum, the Ishikawa Arts Center , & the 2007 Heart Expo Tour with The Foundation of Global Harmony. NYC performances include Ailey CitiGroup Theater: REVERB dance Festival 2005,2006 & 2007 (performance, curation & producing)
Kate has shown her choreography at the Brooklyn Fashion Festival, the Akashi Arts Center (Japan) The Gershwin Hotel, The Ailey Citigroup Theater, The Clemente Soto Theater , and TANK. As a performer, Kate is currently dancing in the works of Brooke Broussard (TOUCH) & Masumi Kushimoto. She has had the privalidge to dance for Megan Williams, Ayako Kurakake, Stacy Grossfield & Dancers, Yung Li Chen, Ofelia Loret de Mola, Takuya Muramatsu & Kun Yang Lin among others.
As a producer, Kate is credited with the Equity reading of new musical, “The Awakening of Angel DeLuna” at Theater 80 (www.angeldeluna.com), danscores by Ofelia Loret de Mola presents: “NYC-MEX Festival de la Ciudad International Tour” : El Teatro José Peón Contreras, (2008), “O! Balletto” directed by Lane Gifford at the New York International Fringe Festival (2008), “Antigones” directed by LEIMAY at Joyce SoHo (2008) and “International Dance Exchange & Performance” in collaboration with CAVE. Kate is currently in the beginning stages of launching The 121 Dance Co. Kate has been involved with Reverb Dance since it’s inception and has been a producing director/ curator since 2007.
NELLY VAN BOMMEL was born in Senlis, France. She received an eclectic early training in dance and theater and participated in numerous programs, workshops and projects with choreographers including Claude Brumachon, Richard Alston, Susan Buirge, Jeannette Dumeix, Marc Vincent and Christian Trouillas. She continued her training at the Centre National de la Danse in Paris. She performed throughout France and Morocco with Claudine Peny/Cie L’Agasis and graduated with a BA in Dance from Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, a BA in Modern Literature from Université de Provence and a MA in Comparative Literature from Université de Bourgogne. She moved to New York in 2002, and upon completion of the dance program at Purchase College, was presented with an Outstanding MFA Graduate Award for excellence.
Ms. Van Bommel is also an alumna of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, as recipient of a full scholarship there to work with choreographer Susan Marshall during summer 2005. Her choreography has been featured in France, Taiwan, Canada and the US in major festivals and venues including The Alvin Ailey theater, Dance Theatre Workshop, PS 122, St. Mark’s Church, Joyce SoHo, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, Battery Park, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater and Usine C , to name a few. In spring 2007, Ms. van Bommel won first prize at the Genesis International Choreographic Competition organized by the Milwaukee Ballet. Also in 2007 she was a finalist at the A.W.A.R.D Show in NY. She has been an artist-in-residence at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting (MAD AIR), and a guest teacher at the Taipei national University of the Arts where her work has been presented at the Kuandu Arts Festival (fall 2008). Recent commissions include Milwaukee Ballet, CorbinDances, and Purchase College Conservatory of Dance. Most recently, her work has been featured at Usine C in Montréal as part as of Springboard Danse (June ’09) and at DTW for the SummerTanz Festival (CorbinDances). Ms. van Bommel is one of the three choreographers selected for Ballet Austin’s nationally renowned biennial choreographic project New American Talent/Dance. She will choreograph a new work for the company, to be performed March 25-April 4, 2010. Ms. van Bommel is pleased to announce she has been selected as one of the “25 to Watch” in Dance Magazine (January’10 Issue). Ms. van Bommel is currently on faculty in the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, SUNY.
