Laurie Eisenhower, EDE Artistic Director, received her BAE and MFA degrees in dance from Arizona State University where she received the Wanda Turk Choreography Award and the Faculty Excellence Award. In the early years of her career, she danced professionally in both California and New York City with various dance companies and choreographers, most notably, Pilobolus Dance Theatre, David Parsons, Chen and Dancers, Harry Streep III, and Mel Wong. Ms. Eisenhower began setting her work on professional dancers in 1981 when she was invited to set a work on Baker’s Half Dozen in New York as part of the Prospect Park Dance Festival in Brooklyn. Since then, she has set her works on numerous professional and university dance companies including Detroit’s Harbinger Dance Company, of which she was artistic director. Most recently, she set her comedic work Night Music on BalletMet Columbus. In 1991, she formed the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, which, with the help of committed and talented dancers, has become the premiere dance company in the state of Michigan. Since the founding of EDE, the company has grown from a small ensemble of four dancers on a pay-per-performance basis to the current company with an extensive schedule of rehearsals, performances and national touring. Ms. Eisenhower has received frequent grants and honors for her choreography. Her work was presented twice at the Morningside Dance Festival in New York City and she has received three Creative Artists grants from state arts foundations, the Michigan Dance Association Choreographers Festival Award, and the Women in Art Award for Choreography. In addition, Ms. Eisenhower was presented with the Outstanding Michigan Artist Award by Governor Jennifer Granholm at the 2003 Governor’s Arts Awards ceremony. Ms. Eisenhower is also well known for her teaching and is a Full Professor of Dance at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. At OU, she has been honored twice by the OU Board of Trustees, was awarded a Travis Professorship, has received over 20 faculty research grants in support of her work, and has received the Faculty Recognition Award for her outstanding contributions in the field of dance.
Stephanie Pizzo, EDE Associate Artistic Director, is a native of Clinton Township, Michigan where she began her training with Orchid Diane and Denise Boucke and continued on with Evelyn Kreason. She danced with the Michigan Ballet Theatre, Oakland Dance Theater and Harbinger Dance Company. She has a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in Dance from Oakland University. As a student, she received the Jacob S. Decker Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance and a scholarship from the American College Dance Festival to study with the Ririe Woodbury Dance Company in Utah. In 2009, she received a Distinguished Alumni or “MaTilDa” award from the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance at Oakland University. As a founding member of EDE, Ms. Pizzo currently teaches company class, rehearses the company, and choreographs. She has staged works by Laurie Eisenhower on numerous companies and universities including Desert Dance Theatre, Scottsdale Community College, Collin County Community College and Alma College. She has set her own choreography at Illinois Wesleyan University and numerous works on Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. Ms. Pizzo is a special lecturer in dance at Oakland University and also enjoys teaching ballet at the Detroit Skating Club to National and International Competitive Figure Skaters.
Dancers
Mary Devitt, EDE Rehearsal Director, from Sterling Heights, Michigan, first performed with EDE as a student at the EDE Center for Dance. Mary continued her training on scholarship at Oakland University where she earned her BA in Dance. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and was the recipient of the Jacob S. Decker Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance. She also trained at the Limón Institute in NYC as a Maggie Allesee Summer Study Scholarship recipient. Ms. Bischoff has performed with Oakland Dance Theatre and OU Repertory Dance Company and, prior to joining EDE, appeared as a guest dancer and apprentice with the Company. She has performed dance roles in Aida at the Detroit Opera House and in Motor City Lyric Opera’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. Ms. Bischoff is also the Director of the EDE Center for Dance where she is in her ninth season as an instructor.
Alicia Cutaia earned her BFA with honors from Point Park University with a double major in Ballet and Jazz. Her previous training included scholarships at Hubbard Street Dance, North Carolina Dance Theater, and River North Dance Company. She has worked with and performed pieces by many renowned choreographers, including Lar Lubovitch, Louis Falco, Michael Foley, Keisha Lalama-White, Joel Hall, Lou Conte, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Daniel Ezralow, Choo-San Goh, Alan Hineline, Harrison McEldowney, Kevin O’Day, Frances Patrelle, David Storey, Margo Sappington, and Christian Holder. Ms. Cutaia previously danced with Hubbard Street and Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. Her choreography has been chosen as a finalist in the Jazz Dance World Congress “Leo’s Choreography Competitive Event”, the “Maggie Allesee New Choreography Award”, “Michigan Youth Arts Festival” and the “NSAL Mid-Michigan Chapter.” Ms. Cutaia’s teaching credits include the Lou Conte Dance Studio, Oakland University, the ABT Summer Intensive and the EDE Center for Dance. She also enjoys teaching master classes and setting choreography. Read an interview with Ms. Cutaia here.
Rebecca McLindon, who grew up in Baton Rouge, LA, began her training with Donna Blanchard and Stacie Mellor Theard. She continued her studies in dance at Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) under the direction of Katie Langan. While at MMC, Rebecca was able to work with choreographers David Parsons, Edwaard Liang, Anthony Ferro and Geoffrey Doig-Marx, as well as perform with the Marymount Manhattan College Dance Company. She graduated Magna Cum Laude, earning a BFA in dance with a modern concentration. Upon graduation, Rebecca relocated to Chicago to work with Giordano 2. While there, she studied on scholarship at Lou Conte Dance Studio and apprenticed with River North Dance Company. Ms. McLindon has performed several times at DanceChance Chicago and has also performed works by Robert Battle, Frank Chaves and Monique Haley. Read an interview with Ms. McLindon here.
Morgan Williams’ dance training began at the Joel Hall Dancers & Center and the Hyde Park School of Ballet in Chicago when he was twelve years old. He attended the Chicago Academy for the Arts, where he studied under Randy Duncan, Guillermo Leyva, Deborah Goodman, Natalie Rast and the late Anna Paskevska. Mr. Williams has received scholarships to attend summer intensives at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Deeply Rooted Productions, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. He has performed works by Eddy Ocampo, Randy Duncan, Troy Powell, Nick Owens, Joel Hall, Kevin Iega Jeff, Gary Abbott, and Joseph Holmes. He has danced professionally with Dance Kaleidoscope and Joel Hall Dancers, and performed as a guest artist with MOMENTA, Alma Dance Company, Kenyetta Dance Company, Willingham Project and Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre. Read an interview with Mr. Williams here.
Greg Blackmon began dance training at the age of 17 under the direction of Larry Brewer at Northwest Indiana Dance Alliance (now South Shore Dance Alliance) in Gary, IN. He attended Emerson School for the Visual and Performing Arts where he studied music from sixth to twelfth grade, adding dance as a second major his last two years of school. He’s completed summer intensives at South Shore Dance Alliance, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, and Kenyetta Dance Theatre, and went on to study at The Ailey School and Dance Theatre of Harlem, during which times he was a member of Dance Iquail! and Opus Dance Theatre. He’s worked with a number of world-renowned choreographers, including Christopher Huggins, Francesca Harper, Pedro Ruiz, Prince Credell, Sidra Bell, Troy Powell, Camille A. Brown, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Robert Garland and others.
Andrew Cribbett, originally from Thomasboro, Illinois, began his dance training at the age of six. He trained with Christine Rich and Luciana Rezende at the Christine Rich Studio Dance Academy and Performing Arts Center in Savoy, IL. He also guest starred in Champaign-Urbana Ballet productions. At the age of 16 Andrew received a full scholarship to The Washington School of Ballet in DC to further his training while attending Duke Ellington School of the Arts to finish his senior year of High School. Andrew has received scholarships to attend summer intensives at Washington School of Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Rock School of Ballet in Philadelphia, and Faubourg Ballet Chicago.
Apprentices
Barbara Schoen was raised in Macomb, Michigan and started her dance training with Rene Wood at the age of three. In 2001, she began training at the EDE Center for Dance, where she performed with the Center Dance Ensemble. After graduating from high school, Ms. Schoen attended the trainee program at the Conservatory Program of Fort Wayne Ballet under the direction of Karen Gibbons-Brown. While there, she trained with Jeremy Blanton, Tracy Tritz-Hartman and Eleanora Pokhitonova Hartung. In 2008, she joined Fort Wayne Ballet as a corps de ballet member. Read an interview with Ms. Schoen here.
William J. Peake hails from Akron, Ohio where he started his dance career at Studio West Performing Arts Centre. He moved quickly up the ranks, eventually joining the school’s senior company competition team. He began his college career at Bowling Green State University as a music major, but after performing in a student-choreographed dance showcase his sophomore year, he switched to dance. As a dance major, Mr. Peake choreographed and performed with the University Dance Alliance. During his final year at BGSU, he became a member of the Dance Repertory Ensemble. Later, he was invited to join Bowling Green University’s Rhythm Project, a tap dance ensemble. In addition to choreography and dance, Mr. Peake has a passion for color guard and winter guard. He is a former member of Zydeco Winter Guard from Dayton, OH, Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corp in Canton, OH, and has taught at Maumee High School’s winter and fall guard for 3 years.
Ashley Duke is originally from Toledo, OH where she began her dance training at the age of 8. Ashley has trained with the Toledo Ballet, Dance FX Academy and The Ailey School and has training in Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap, Horton Based Modern, Graham Based Modern, West African, Contemporary, Lyrical and Praise Dance. Her summer training includes American Ballet Theatre and Earl Mosley’s Institute for the Arts. She has worked with choreographers and learned repertory by Earl Mosley, Nathan Trice, Sidra Bell, Darrell Moultrie, Troy Powell, Meredith Rainey, Beth Goheen, Ronald K. Brown, Fernando Carrillo, Frederick Moore, Amy Hall, and Lanette Alvarez.
Justine Gagne was raised in Monroe, Michigan, where she trained at Haja Dance Academy under the direction of Selena Pollzzie. After graduating high school in 2008, she was accepted to Oakland University, where she is currently on scholarship and pursuing a BFA in dance. She has performed as a member of Oakland Dance Theater and OU Repertory Dance Company and has worked with many choreographers, including Alison Woerner, Gregory Patterson, Thayer Jonutz, Daniel Gwirtzman, Luis Piedra, and Rodney Brown, as well as appearing as a guest with EDE. Ms. Gagne attended Bates Dance Festival and Axis Dance Company’s Physically Integrated Intensive as a Maggie Allesee Summer Scholarship recipient. She has previously taught at Haja Dance Academy and Adagio Dance Company, and will be approaching graduation within the next year.
Maddie Metzger started her dance training at age three at RARA Dance Studio in Rochester, Michigan. At the age of six, she continued her training at Deborah’s Stage Door Center for the Performing Arts. Ms. Metzger is currently a senior at Oakland University, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Ms. Metzger has performed with Oakland Dance Theatre, OU Repertory Dance Company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Company. Ms. Metzger has also performed works by Greg Patterson, Allison Woerner, Luis Piedra, Laurie Eisenhower, Debbie Blunden-Diggs, Ray Mercer, Thayer Jonutz, and Daniel Gwirtzman.
Kristen Manor is from Harper Woods, Michigan. She started her dance training at the age of 3 at Allard Academy of Dance. She continued to train there until graduating high school and attended Oakland University, earning a B.F.A in Dance. While at Oakland, Kristen earned the Maggie Allesee Distinguished Dance Student Award. Kristen has taken many master classes and performed in works by Michael Foley, Randy Duncan and Donald McKayle. Before apprenticing with EDE, Kristen performed as a guest dancer with the company.
Jasmine Page-Cox, from Detroit Michigan, began dancing at Northwestern High School at the age of 14. While in high school, she trained with Michael Means and former Ailey II member Aimee Cox. With hard work, she earned summer scholarships and work-study opportunities at The Detroit Opera House to study with choreographers and teachers, such as Hope Boykin, Christopher Huggins and Gina Ellis. She continued her training at Oakland University, and has since performed with Oakland Dance Theatre, OU Repertory Dance Company and The Brown Dance Project. She is currently working towards her BFA in Dance at Oakland University.
Emily Zatursky was raised in Killingworth, Connecticut where she received her early dance training with Starship Dance Theatre, Eastern Connecticut Ballet and New Haven Ballet. After graduating high school in 2007, Emily attended The Hartt School at the University of Hartford where she graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance. Emily has spent summers dancing with American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet School and Alonzo King Lines Ballet School. Emily danced with Full Force Dance Theatre during their 2010-2011 season. Emily has danced works by Antony Tudor, Jose Limon, and Emery LeCrone.
2011-12 Guest Choreographers
Harrison McEldowney has created original dances for special occasions of the 97th Birthday Celebration of noted dance historian, critic, and friend Ann Barzel, the Finale for Dance Chicago’s 10 Year Anniversary, a work to open the 10th Anniversary of Dance for Life, and for the past three years original pieces for Dance for Life. This includes in 2010 the first time in its 19-year history an outside choreographer has been asked, to create its world-premiere finale. His choreography may be seen on dance companies around the world including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street 2, River North Chicago Dance Company (his work was featured as well on both companies nationally televised specials and a HSDC2 special aired in Europe), DanceWorks, the Civic Ballet of Chicago, the Cerqua/ Rivera Art Experience, Ballet Met, Louisville Ballet, Ballet Ensemble of Texas, American Repertory Ballet, Configurations, Omaha Theater Ballet, and Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. Harrison is the inaugural recipient of the Prince Prize and has received the Ruth Page, After Dark, and Choo-San Goh Awards for choreography. He choreographed the 35th Anniversary Tour of American Bandstand and directed the Australian Tour of More Dirty Dancing. Harrison has done film, television, concert dance, Broadway, off- Broadway, the West End, Carnegie Hall, and danced in the Barcelona Olympics’ Closing Ceremonies. He has also worked with stars Sammy Davis Jr., Van Johnson, Chita Rivera, Dorothy Lamour, rap artists Salt n Pepa and Nell Carter (a televised special from LA’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion), Carol Channing, Debbie Reynolds, and collaborated with or worked for directors and choreographers Alan Johnson, Sam Mendes, Mark Medoff, and Rob Marshall. He was chosen to collaborate with Ben Vereen on an original musical for the star. He starred in the revival and re-imagining of the Ruth Page ballet Billy Sunday for both stage and the televised documentary of the same name, earning an Emmy nomination for his performance. He served as one of the directors of the John G. Shedd Aquarium’s multi- species show Fantasea and recently made his Chicago Lyric Opera debut as choreographer.Harrison is a Creative Director for Chicago’s Under the Radar and Wilson Dow Group, the latter leading to directing and choreographing shows for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines including their production of the Broadway musical Hairspray.
Daniel Gwirtzman is an established producer, director, choreographer, teacher, and critically acclaimed performer. Celebrating fifteen years as a New York City choreographer, Daniel has earned praise for creating a diverse repertory known for its humor, inventiveness and accessibility. “A flair for the entertaining,” says critic Elizabeth Zimmer. “Mr. Gwirtzman does know that in dance less can be more. And that’s a good thing for any choreographer to know,” says The New York Times. His dance musical Encore, presented at the New York Musical Theater Festival in 2009, has toured to strong acclaim. “Daniel is clearly a fan of Broadway,” wrote Deborah Jowitt, “it’s great to see imaginative dancing like this.” The twelve year-old Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company was “founded upon a philosophy that dance should celebrate human achievement through a combination of discipline and unbound optimism” says The New York Sun. The DanceBreak Foundation, which showcases the next generation of great Broadway choreographers, has selected Daniel Gwirtzman as one of its six choreographers for 2010.
Gregory Patterson, is Dance Program Director and Associate Professor of Dance at Oakland University and a certified McEntire Method Pilates instructor. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Company (PRP). Born in Toledo, OH, he received his BS from Bowling Green State University and his MFA from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Patterson has been a member of Harbinger Dance Company, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble (EDE), Ann Arbor Dance Works, and Rigmarole Dance Company. He has also performed as a guest artist with both the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the Doug Elkins Dance Company of New York. His work has been set on EDE, Orchesis Dance Company at Western Michigan University, University Performing Dancers at Bowling Green State University, Alma College, and Bal-Chi Dance Company based in Chicago.
Mr. Patterson received the Maggie Allesse Choreography Award, and his work was chosen for the Leo Choreography competition at the Jazz Dance World Congress. His signature piece, “Who’s the Boss,” was performed in Russia as part of an EDE appearance with the Pushkin Ballet. In 2003 Mr. Patterson choreographed Die Fledermaus for the Michigan Opera Theatre. Mr. Patterson regularly travels to Greece to teach, choreograph and perform as part of the University of Detroit Mercy/Oakland University Classical Greek Theatre Summer Study Program. In 2008, Mr. Patterson received a Travis Professorship, an award that will enable him to develop his dance company through annual stipends for the next three years. Last June, his company made their debut in New York City at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre.
Elizabeth Shea has received numerous grants and commissions to create dance works. Her choreography has been chosen for performance by the World Dance Alliance, the National Dance Association, the American College Dance Festival Association, the International Computer Music Association, Regional Dance America and for other national and international venues. Most recently, her work was shown at Dance Theatre Workshop in New York City and at the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C., where former Paul Taylor dancer Constance Dinapoli performed Shea’s seminal work These Hands with Karen Reedy Dance. She has served on the faculty and as a guest artist at many American universities, dance companies, and dance schools. She was also an Artist-in-Residence for the State of Florida, and in 2006 traveled to China, teaching master classes and presenting choreography. She recently received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to produce Bella Lewitzky’s Suite Satie and served as choreographer for internationally renowned Don Freund’s oratorio Passion With Tropes. In May 2011, she traveled to Israel as part of a USA arts delegation and taught at the prestigious Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Upcoming projects include a new choreography commissioned by the IU Institute for Digital Arts and Humanities that will utilize motion capture technology. Liz currently serves on the dance faculty at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she is Director of Contemporary Dance.
Ginger Thatcher has choreographed over 30 works for theater, television, film and concert dance. Most recently, she choreographed a ballet of Pinocchio for Dancing Wheels, a dance company dedicated to integrating dancers of all physical abilities. Other works include Oklahoma!, Swing, the film Far From Heaven, and Maury Yeston’s new musical Hans Christian Anderson for Maine State Music Theatre. Her regional credits include works for Oregon Ballet Theatre, Louisville Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, for which she won the Triple Circle Choreography Award, Minnesota Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, Verb Ballets, and Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY at the Joyce Theater in New York City.
She has self-produced her own evening of work, Dances by Ginger Thatcher, at Lincoln Center and was the founding director of New Steps Choreography Project in Cleveland, OH, for which she received an Achievement in the Arts Nomination. Ms. Thatcher’s other New York City choreographer credits include Warsaw, Wild Women of Planet Wongo for the New York Musical Theatre Festival, the Umbrellas of Cherbourg for Two Rivers Theatre Company, Syncopation for Stamford Theatre Works, Big for Gateway Playhouse, The Lucky Chance for Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre, The Winter’s Tale and Othello for the New York City Shakespeare Project, Barrio Babies for Amas Musical Theatre, and As The World Turns. Broadway credits as Associate Choreographer, Assistant Choreographer and Resident Choreographer include: The Red Shoes, Carousel, Big, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Oklahoma! and A Year with Frog and Toad. Other credits include PBS Dance in America-Othello, American Ballet Theatre, the San Francisco Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, A Brahms Symphony, and Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame, Berlin.
As a dancer and actress Ms. Thatcher has appeared with the Cleveland Ballet (Principal), the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Oklahoma! on Broadway, The Phantom of the Opera, Showboat, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Kiss Me Kate, Peter Pan, Woman of the Year, and Evita. Her television and film credits include Blue in the Face, As the World Turns and Another World.
Bill De Young has danced with the companies of Al Huang, Bella Lewitzky, Rudy Perez, Elizabeth Keen and Cliff Keuter. In 1975, he formed the DeYoung Dance Theatre in New York City and took the company on two national tours. Professor De Young has received choreography commissions from the Harvard Dance Center, the Joffrey II, the Chautauqua Festival Dance Company, NBC Television, The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard, Danza Universitaria in Mexico City, Truzka of Hermosillo, Mexico, Danza Una and Danza Universitaria of Costa Rica, Ann Arbor Dance Works, the National Company of Paraguay, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, and others.
During winter semester of 2000, he was guest faculty and choreographer for the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona, Spain, and guest teacher for the Jove Compania of Barcelona. In 1990, he was guest director of the National Dance Company of Costa Rica. Mr. De Young is a recipient of a prestigious Kellogg National Fellowship, in addition to two National Endowment of the Arts Choreography Fellowships, a Jerome Foundation Award and several grants from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs. He has been a cultural specialist for the United States Information Agency/Arts America and a member of Affiliate Artists, Inc., of New York. Mr. De Young has been a Fulbright Senior Lecturer and Research Scholar in Costa Rica and has taught and performed in Germany, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Venezuela, Chile and Paraguay.
Joel Hall is Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer for the Joel Hall Dancers and Chief Dance Instructor for the Joel Hall Dance Center. Co-founded in 1974 by Mr. Hall and the late Joseph Ehrenberg, the Joel Hall Dancers & Center comprise one of Chicago’s most diverse and respected performing arts organizations. During the past thirty-three years, Mr. Hall has achieved an international reputation for his dance company along with acclaim as a choreographer. He is noted as the creator of his own innovative Chicago urban jazz style of movement.
Mr. Hall’s unique dance style expresses a rich vocabulary of movement embracing both the classical and modern idioms. Mr. Hall also directs his annual and acclaimed mid-summer Joel Hall Jazz Camp for children, parents and dance instructors. Apart from the many works created for his own company, Mr. Hall has choreographed for Maria Tallchief’s Chicago City Ballet, Chicago Opera Theater, the Zenon Dance Company, Ballet Tennessee and Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. In addition, he was choreographer for Goldie Hawn’s now classic film Wildcats. Under Mr. Hall’s leadership, the Joel Hall Dancers have performed nationally and internationally, in places such as New York City, England, Scotland, the former West Germany, Norway and the former Soviet Union. Mr. Hall is the recipient of numerous awards including the Katherine Dunham Award, two Awards of Merit from the Black Theater Alliance and the King/Chavez/Parks Visiting Scholar Award from Western Michigan University. Mr. Hall was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame by the late Mayor Harold Washington and in 2001 received the Black and Hispanic Achiever of the Year Award from the Metropolitan YMCA of Chicago.
Lindsay Thomas (1952-2003) was a member of the dance faculty at Western Michigan University from 1979 until July of 2003. She was responsible for developing the jazz dance program to a level of international recognition.
Ms. Thomas received numerous professional awards, including Michigan Dance Teacher of the Year (1988), the Leo “Gold Shoe” Award for excellence in jazz dance choreography (1997) and third place in the jazz/hip hop category at the Prague Dance Festival (2000).
Ms. Thomas’ musical choreography was presented at a Regional American College Theatre Festival and her jazz concert choreography was showcased at four Jazz Dance World Congresses, winning the Gold Leo Award at the 6th Congress in Germany. Ms. Thomas conducted workshops for several organizations including International Dance Association, Chicago National Association of Dance Masters and the American College Dance Festival Association.
