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The Company
Starrene Foster,
Artistic Director of Starr Foster Dance Project, is the recipient of
the 2006 Theresa Pollack Award for Artistic Excellence and was recently
featured on the PBS broadcast Virginia Currents. Foster was also
awarded Richmond’s Most Prestigious 25 Arts Innovators and The Top
to 40 under 40 by Style Weekly in The Fall of 2007. A Richmond native,
Starrene is a graduate of the Dance and Choreography Department of Virginia
Commonwealth University, where she is the beneficiary of the 2003 VCU Star
Alumni Award and is presently in her eighth year as an adjunct faculty
member. Recently reviewed as "Richmond's leading, most original
choreographers", Starrene has received grants from the Virginia Council for
the Arts, three full scholarships from the American Dance Festival, and many
commissions that include Norfolk Governors School for the Arts, University
of Richmond, James Madison University, the Richmond Ballet, VCU, Appomattox
Regional Governors School, as well as commissions from many independent
performers and various dance companies. Foster has also choreographed
several music videos and commercials and the musical Hair for the Department
of Theatre at VCU. Ms. Foster's choreography has been presented at the
Charlottesville Festival of Contemporary Dance and Improvisation, the
American Dance Festival (NC), The Philadelphia Fringe Festival (PA), Old
Dominion University’s Choreographers’ Showcase, The Goose Route Dance
Festival (WV), The National High School Dance Festival in Miami, the
Demetrius Klein Dance Festival (FL), the Virginia Dance Festival, and the
state-wide dance invitational "Yes, Virginia-Dance!”. Starrene has taught
master classes nationally which include classes at Dance Fremont (Seattle,
WA), Old Dominion University, Goucher College; the Regional High School
Dance Festival, Dance Masters of America, the Mid-Atlantic American College
Dance Festival, Appomattox Regional Governors School, the Virginia State
Governors School, St. Annes Belfield School, St. Catherine’s School,
Richmond Dance Center, Jet City Improv (WA), and JMU to name a few. As a
dancer, Starrene has performed works by Mark Taylor, Mark Haim, Chris
Burnside, Barbara Grubel, Doug Varone, Sharon Kinney, Mark Dendy, Pewan Chow
(Hong Kong), Raul Parro (Mexico), among many others. In addition to her
faculty position at VCU, Starrene is currently on faculty at the Richmond
Ballet and St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Virginia.
Jordan Livermon,
a native of Richmond, VA, has been a student of ballet since the age of
four. She studied at The School of Richmond Ballet and appeared in several
performances of Richmond Ballet’s The Nutcracker.
Jordan discovered her passion for modern dance and
choreography while pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at
Virginia Commonwealth
University. In addition to numerous student performances, Jordan has had
the privilege to study with guest artists such as David Dorfman, Gerri
Houlihan, Bebe Miller, Gus Solomons, and many others throughout her VCU
career. She enjoyed working with numerous choreographers, including Paule
Turner (VCU’s Gala Performance) and faculty member, Scott Putman (2003 VCU
Student/Faculty Concert, 2003 American College Dance Festival.) Jordan has
had the opportunity to be an Assistant Stage Manager for multiple
productions of Yes! Virginia Dance at Grace Street Theatre and
Richmond Ballet’s The Nutcracker at the Landmark Theatre.
Following graduation in the spring of 2003, Jordan taught ballet, pointe,
and modern for a year at
Regency
Dance
Academy.
In July 2004, Jordan traveled to Los Angeles, CA with Scott Putman’s
company, Cerulean Dance Theatre, where she taught and performed during a
two-week residency at California Institute of the Arts. While pursuing
opportunities to further her career in dance and choreography, Jordan enjoys
being the Audience Development and Marketing Associate for Richmond Ballet.
Jordan has been dancing with Starr Foster
Dance Project since 2004.
Briah
Hodal,
originally from the West Coast, moved to Virginia in 1990 and continued her
dance training at the Richmond Ballet. She holds a BFA in Theatre from
Virginia Commonwealth University, where she also took classes in the
Department of Dance and Choreography. She has been teaching four years at
The Village Dance Center and in 2006 began teaching at various other venues
including Shuffles, St. Christopher's, and the Appomattox Regional
Governor's School. Briah joined SFDP in January of 2005.
Ashley
E. Thibodeau has
trained at a number of prestigious dance academies, including the Kirov
Academy, Boston Ballet, and the Academy of Colorado Ballet. She graduated
Magna Cum Laude from VCU with a BFA in Dance and Choreography in May 2005.
At VCU, she was a recipient of a Dean’s Academic Scholarship, the Brian
Whitfield Scholarship, the Carpenter Foundation Scholarship, and the Phi
Kappa Phi School of the Arts Undergraduate Scholarship. In June 2004, Ms.
Hodges performed at the Kennedy Center in Jose Limon’s Choreographic
Offering. She has also performed with Colorado Ballet, Dance Alive, and the
Richmond Ballet. In her years at VCU, she danced in a number of student and
faculty projects, including works by Scott Putman, Jill Brammer, and Melanie
Richards. She performed a solo created especially for her in Rebecca
Farrell’s debut concert, “Playback” last spring. In 2003 she attended the
American College Dance Festival in Miami, FL. Ms. Hodges also enjoys
teaching ballet to all ages at Shuffles Dance Center in Mechanicsville,
where she choreographed a short version of the ballet "Cinderella" for their
recital in 2004. Ashley joined SFDP in the summer of 2005.
Sarah G.
Ferguson’s interests
in dance and music started at a very early age and influenced her decision
to pursue dance and voice training at VCU where she earned a degree in Dance
and Choreography in 2005. While at VCU, Sarah studied with guest artists
Terre O’Connor, Gerri Houlihan, and Gus Solomons. She attended Bates Dance
Festival in Maine during the summer of 2003 where she studied with Gabe
Masson, Nancy Stark Smith, and musician Bob Een. Sarah has also worked with
VCU faculty Robbie Kinter and Melanie Richards in the VCU Tap Ensemble. Her
choreography was chosen for two VCU Student Faculty Concerts and was also
shown in the department’s salon and informal programs. She is a dance
photographer in the Richmond community and currently serves as the Education
Administrator for Richmond Ballet. Sarah has been dancing with SFDP since
October of 2005.
Sarah E. Ross
began her dance training at the age of 3 in Lexington, Virginia. Sarah
became a member/soloist in the Rockbridge Ballet in 1997. While earning her
undergraduate degree at VCU she took class with guest artists Donald McKayle,
Charles Scott, Gerri Houlihan, Robert Battle, Maria Bauman and Jawole Willa
Jo Zollar of Urban Bush Women, Monica Bill Barnes, and faculty Scott Putman,
Melanie Richards, Jill Brammer Ware and Judith Steel. She studied ballet
under the instruction of Susan Massey, Arnott Mader, and Julie Job of the
Richmond Ballet, as well as ballroom dance under John Massey, and
African-Caribbean dance under Faye Walker. Ross has also had the privilege
of dancing in works by VCU faculty member Jill Brammer-Ware and guest
artists Gerri Houlihan and Robert Battle. Miss Ross performed at the Kennedy
Center in Washington, D.C. in the Spring of 2006. Ross has presented her own
work in the VCU Dance Spring Informal, Salon, and Spring 2007 Senior
Projects. Ross recently received her B.F.A in Dance and Choreography in May
2007. She is currently teaching at The Institute for Dance in Williamsburg,
Virginia.
Sarah Szymanski
is a native of Dublin, Ohio. She began her ballet training at a local
studio at age five, began training in jazz and tap when she was eight, and
it wasn’t until she was thirteen that modern entered her world. This was the
same year she pursued more prestigious training at the New Albany Ballet
Company. Sarah has had the opportunity to attend many esteemed summer dance
intensives on scholarship including: Long Beach Ballet, American Ballet
Theatre, Orlando Ballet, Virginia School of the Arts, and Richmond Ballet.
After graduating from high school, Sarah danced the 2005 and 2006 dance
seasons as a Trainee with the Richmond Ballet. Sarah loves learning,
performing, and choreographing contemporary ballet and modern. She is
looking at her first season with SFDP as the perfect environment and year in
which to grow, explore, gain experience, and to be inspired.
Tiffany Brooks
graduated from James Madison University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Dance and Theatre. Tiffany has been dancing for most of her life,
starting her training in highland and then moving to tap, jazz, ballet, and
contemporary while living in Michigan. She moved to Virginia with her family
in 1997 where she continued her training five days a week at Richmond Dance
Center as well as Henrico Center for the Arts. While still in high school,
Tiffany choreographed various musicals at Henrico and Varina High School. In
2001, Tiffany was selected to attend the summer Governor’s School program
for dance at the University of Richmond. In the 2002 and 2003 seasons, she
performed in King’s Dominion’s Nickelodeon “Slime Time the Live Show.”
Through college, Tiffany performed with the Contemporary Dance Ensemble as
well as the Virginia Repertory Dance Company. She also taught dance in the
St. Catherine’s summer arts program “Cat’s Cap.” After graduation in 2006,
Tiffany took on the position as Regional Director of Creative Dance for
Children based in Northern Virginia and expanding from Virginia Beach and
into D.C. and Maryland. This past year Tiffany danced as a featured extra in
the movie Step Up 2 the Streets, and performed with the company Next Reflex
Dance Collective. Tiffany is now very excited to have relocated to Richmond
where she is starting in her first season with SFDP.
Amy Page
Wilhelm began dancing
at the ripe old age of four at the Linda Watkins School of Dance in Roanoke,
VA. She studied ballet at the Post School of Ballet before training at the
North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. After receiving her
BFA in Contemporary Dance, she transplanted to Chicago where she danced for
Thodos Dance Chicago, Lucky Plush Productions, Ginger Farley, and Asimina
Chremos. She created costumes for Lauri Stallings, Thodos Dance Chicago,
Impetus Dance Theater, Riverside/Brookfield High School, Mordine and
Company, Columbia College, and Hubbard Street 2. Her choreography was
commissioned and acquired by Riverside/Brookfield High School, Thodos Dance
Chicago, Impetus Dance Theater, and Hubbard Street 2 as well as creating and
presenting her own work at the Dance Chicago festival. Amy brought her love
of dance into the studio, teaching company class for Thodos Dance Chicago,
as a guest artist at Riverside/Brookfield High School, and for the
students of the Gus Giordano Dance Center and Dance Motions in Bartlett, IL.
After three long winters, Amy moved east to New York where she had the
pleasure of teaching at the Scilla School of Dance in Queens and Mount
Sinai's preschool. Her New York debut occurred at the Lincoln Center
Institute as the lead in Lina Puodziukaite's Egle to full houses. She had
the honor of dancing for the Nancy Meehan Dance Company, participating in
the company's 35th Anniversary Season. Amy also showed her choreography on
Jennifer Muller/The Works' Hatch program. She was swept off her feet by Josh
Wilhelm who brought her back to her native Virginia. She currently manages
the Nourish Department at Ellwood Thompson's Local Market. Her life is now
completed by her beautiful stepdaughter, Jasmin and terribly naughty cat,
Arthur. She is so very thankful for the opportunity to dance in her first
season with the Starr Foster Dance Project.
Ryan Love, (musical director),
studied at The Boston Conservatory (voice/piano) and graduated with a BFA in
Theater Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University. Ryan has worked
with Yo-Yo Ma, Clark Terry, Donald Byrd, Bebe Miller, Stanko Milov, Asaf
Ronen (Imp), Jill Bernard (Drum Machine), Joe Bill (Annoyance Theater), The
Firehouse Theatre, HBO, VCUDance, The University of Richmond, The Richmond
Ballet, Jose Limon Co., Arnie Zane/Bill T. Jones Co., Pacific Northwest
Ballet, Spectrum Dance Theater, Cornish College of The Arts, University of
Washington, Dance Fremont, The Seattle Festival of Improv Theater and of
course, The Starr Foster Dance Project. Ryan is the Musical Director of
Wing-It Productions and can be seen performing with the highly acclaimed
'Jet City Improv' & 'Twisted Flicks'. Ryan Love is also the founder and
producer of Jet City Records. RyTunes can also be found on iTunes, Verizon
Wireless.com, Yahoo!Music, MSNMusic and many more online stores for his
album "CUPCAKE". His song "Ballad of The Broken Hearted Girl" which he
co-wrote with Leeni on her debut album "Are We There Yet?" was a finalist
for the International Songwriter's Competition and can also be found on
iTunes. For more information please log on to:
www.myspace.com/jetcityrecords.
Robin D. Jones (Lighting Designer) has had the pleasure of designing for Starr Foster's choreography since 1993. In her alternate lives, she lights art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and writes Young Adult fiction(all three titles available on your favorite book web-site!).
2005-06 Season.