Free to Rep
April 1 - 21, 2007

The goals of the program with AXIS were three fold; to provide subsidized research and development time for AXIS and the four choreographers void of the usual time and financial constraints surrounding many commissioning structures; to assist AXIS in creating a formal orientation program for future choreographers working with the company; and to spark a larger dialog about research and development opportunities for U.S. based companies and choreographers.

Additional collaborators included Margaret Jenkins and Victoria Marks.  National convening participants included Rita Felciano, Writer and Critic, Jane Forde, National Dance Project/New England Foundation for the Arts, Mary Luft, Tigertail Productions, Jodee Nimerichter, American Dance Festival, Douglas Sonntag, National Endowment for the Arts, Todd Wingate, University of California Riverside and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Urban Bush Women. 

artist outcomes   |   community outcomes   |  biographies   |   collaborators   |    photos    |    website

The MANCC residency was the first time two new AXIS company members began working with the company.  The residency enabled these and several other new members of AXIS time and space to get to know one another on an intimate level.

Participating choreographer Kate Weare was offered a commission by AXIS to further develop the work began at MANCC.

The Florida State University performing arts festival, Seven Days of Opening Nights Festival, will present AXIS and the premiere of Kate Weare's new work in February 2008.

Video documentation of the residency will be available for the AXIS Dance Company archives.

"This was one of the most creative, informative, inspiring three weeks of my twenty years of working in dance!  It was an absolutely priceless experience." -  Judith Smith

"I liked the seeds of material I came away with which were a result of having time to move way beyond my first investigative idea.  It did leave me wanting to have more time to grow some of the seeds more fully; that said, it feels very valuable to have fragments of material that I am really attracted to, as opposed to large sections of finished material that I'm not." - Alex Ketley

COMMUNITY OUTCOMES

AXIS and the individual choreographers actively and intimately engaged our national and local communities by way of several entrypoints.  Two informal community showings were held where AXIS dancers showed movement ideas that they had worked on with each choreographer; dialogue between the dancers/choreographers and viewers were integral in both.  Moments of connections continued throughout the residency in open rehearsals, technique classes and social engagements hosted by generous local residents interested in raising awareness of "physically-integrated" dance.

The rich outcomes of the residency continue to unfold.  Our FSU and Tallahassee communities fueled the success by contributing time and resources for the 2007 residency and for a 2008 follow-up experience.  The Florida State University performing arts festival, Seven Days of Opening Nights, will present AXIS Dance Company in the February 2008.  Special thanks to our Local AXIS Host Committee consisting of: Judith Barrett, Ability First; Randi Golstein, Council on Culture and Arts; Carrie Sandahl, Disabled Women on the Web; Bea Awoniyi, FSU Student Disability Resource Center; Tom Welsh, FSU Department of Dance; Lynda Davis, FSU Department of Dance.

The national convening, enhanced by additional preliminary research conducted with artistic directors of U.S. based repertory companies, directors of dance festivals/centers and choreographers, prompted an engaging dialogue about current commissioning structures, artistic risk-taking, opportunities for emerging artists and the benefits of Free to Rep for AXIS.  Douglas Sonntag, Director of Dance for the National Endowment of the Arts, joined the convening and was a guest speaker for the FSU Theatre management program and the Department of Dance.  He shared essential information about existing trends in the field of dance and current initiatives of the Endowment with our students.  He referred to the FSU dance facilities as the “palace of dance”.  Amongst the other ideas that stemmed from the convening was an acknowledgement that the opportunity for a choreographer to work with a repertory company for multiple weeks on movement and creative exploration, before setting the commissioned piece, could lend better quality work and working relationships.  MANCC is continuing to research and collect thoughts about commissioning structures and plans to engage with partners who will continually explore effective shifts

COMPANY BIOGRAPHY

Since 1987, AXIS Dance Company, under the Artistic Direction of Judith Smith, has created an exciting body of work developed by dancers with and without disabilities. They are in the forefront of paving the way for a powerful and inclusive dance form, “physically integrated dance”. AXIS has performed in theaters and dance spaces at its home base in the Bay Area, on tour throughout the U.S., as well as in Germany and Siberia. Described as a "visual and physical discovery, creating fascinating works of movement art, " the Company has become internationally known for its high artistic and educational standards and innovative movement vocabulary. The Company has created over thirty repertory works, two evening length works and two works for young audiences. AXIS targets their younger audiences through an extensive community education/outreach program, Dance Access and its youth component Dance Access/KIDS!, which offers classes, workshops, and travelling community work for adults and youth of all abilities.

DANCER BIOGRAPHIES

Judith Smith, Artistic Director and dancer
Rodney Bell, dancer
Lisa Bufano, dancer
Margaret Cromwell, dancer
Sonsheree Giles, dancer
Alice Sheppard, dancer 

Judith Smith (Artistic Director and dancer) has earned an international in the field of physically integrated dance. Judith is a founding member of AXIS and upon taking over artistic leadership of the company in 1997, began commissioning works by some of the nation's best choreographers and launched Dance Access Community Education/Outreach Program. Prior to becoming disabled in a car accident at age 17, Judith was a champion equestrian. She transferred her passion for riding to dance after discovering contact improvisation in 1983. Judith has been featured in several award winning videos including Dancing from the Inside Out, WNET TV's nationally broadcast series People in Motion and John Killacky's Crip Shots. In 1997, she was a co-curator and Artistic Consultant for Dance Umbrella's International Festival of Wheelchair Dance. Judith teaches dance to youth and adults and lectures at community organizations, schools, universities and conferences. She has been on the faculty of Florida Dance Festival and Bates Dance Festival. In addition, she serves on numerous arts review panels and is on the advisory board of the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, The National Art and Disability Center, and Bates Dance Festival. Judith received the Artship Foundation's Local Hero award in 1999, KQED's Local Hero and the Homer Avila danceAble awards in 2005.

Rodney Bell (dancer) is of New Zealand Maori Descent from the Ngati Maniapoto Iwi (Tribe) and a founding member of Touch Compass Dance Trust.  Rodney also teaches Mixed Ability Dance to those with and without disabilities and is constantly educating his technique and knowledge through various workshops and Dance Intensives. Rodney has traveled extensively with dance, traveling as far as Seattle/USA to a Summer Intensive 2005 held by AXIS, the Worlds most prestigious Mixed Ability Dance Company.  Rodney has choreographed dance works for Touch Compass and CCS Royal Oak under the watchful eyes of Janet McVeagh, Justine Hunter, and Kerry O’Hara and assisted with Direction for the End of Year Dance Presentations.  Rodney is also an avid Wheelchair Basketball Player representing NZ 1999-2006 in many national and international events and represented Auckland in the NZ Wheelchair Basketball Championships 1996-2006.  Rodney also Coaches the Auckland Junior Wheelchair Basketball Team and has worked as an Occupational Therapy Assistant. Rodney was featured on various television Programmes such as 60 Minutes, Good Morning Show, Maori Television, various Disabled television programmes. Rodney has pursued acting roles in various plays and performed in a Wellington play Nga Moemoea (The Dreamers) 1997, spoken in Maori and presented to Wellington schools then toured the following year 1998 throughout the North Island to various Kohanga Reo and Kura kaupapa (Maori Schools).Rodney belonged to Poutokomanawa (Maori Kapa haka group) and performed at local competitions and events, kaiako (Director) Camela Wilson.

Lisa Bufano (dancer) is an interdisciplinary artist from Boston, Massachusetts. Her current performance work has brought her to Manhattan, NY. In Spring, 2007, She will be in Oakland, CA to work with Axis Dance CO.  Lisa is an award-winning animator and doll-maker whose recent initiation into performance based work has led to an international collaboration and support with the University of Linz. Lisa has been the focus in art and media for publication and broadcast, including projects with Hugh Kretschmer (photographer), Joel-Peter Witkin (photographer), and the BBC, among others.  Lisa was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1972. She is a School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University graduate.

Margaret Cromwell (dancer) is originally from Oklahoma, and received her BFA in modern dance and her high school diploma from North Carolina School of the Arts.  She earned her MFA from Mills College in choreography and performance in 2006.  Prior to her time at Mills, Margaret taught dance in a secondary school on the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies.  She has performed the work of dance artists such as Margaret Jenkins, Sonya Delwaide, Molissa Fenley, Andrea E. Woods, Neta Pulvermacher, and Brenda Daniels.  This will be her first season dancing with AXIS Dance Company, and she is delighted to have the opportunity to work with and learn from the AXIS dancers.  

Sonsheree Giles (dancer) began her dance training in Louisiana. She received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida, then moved to Jacksonville, Florida where she co-formed a collective consisting of dancers, musicians and visual artists, including Jerry Smith, whom she married in 2003. Together they started creating dance performances involving dance, video, sound, installation, props and costume design. Since moving to the Bay area she has designed costumes for various choreographers and companies including Sonya Delwaide, AXIS Dance Company and peck peck dance ensemble. Currently Sonsherée is studying for her MFA in dance/choreography at Mills College in Oakland. In May of 2005 she began working with AXIS Dance Company. She is thrilled to be a new dancer with the company.

Alice Sheppard (dancer) is a former musician and literature professor; she grew up in England and moved to the United States in 1991.  Alice came to dance late in life; she began to explore movement in response to a dare from disabled dancer Homer Avila.  She soon discovered that dance was a passion.  Alice made her professional debut in New York with Infinity Dance Theater as a wheelchair dancer.  She loves to explore a wide variety of dance forms; she is particularly interested in work that challenges conventional understandings of the relationship between dance and disability.  She is over the moon about working with AXIS.

COLLABORATORS

Isabel Croxatto, choreographer
Shinichi Iova-Koga, choreographer
Alex Ketley, choreographer
Kate Weare, choreographer

Isabel Croxatto (choreographer) resides in Chile and is a choreographer, dancers, teacher and Director of Grupo Abundanza.  Before discovering her passion for dance, she studied biology at the University of Chile.  She began her dance training in Chile in 1983, and continued her studies in the US and France.  Since 1993, she has directed her own company Grupo Abundanza.  Her works have been presented in Brazil, USA, Finland, Spain, Mexico, Venesuela, Portugal, and recently in Singapore and Malaysia.  Recent work includes "Erotica" (Fondart 2003), "Passengers of the Body" (Fondart 2004), and "Mas Alla De Tu Piel", which was created for the 60th anniversary of the National Chilean Ballet.

Shinichi Iova-Koga (choreographer) is originally a photographer, filmmaker and theater actor/director, Iova-Koga (born 1968) entered the life of Butoh dance in 1991 (initially through Akeno Ashikawa and then consistently through Hiroko Tamano). In 1994, he founded the performance company inkBoat. Iova-Koga's productions, both solo and ensemble, have been experienced throughout the North American Continent, Europe and Japan. Productions collide between dance, theater and cinema to illuminate the personal existence entering or exiting the stage (living room, street, or screen). Iova-Koga has collaborated intensively with cokaseki (Germany: 2004-present), Yumiko Yoshioka and TEN PEN CHii (Germany: 1996-2001), Do Theatre (Russia: 1997-present), Minako Seki (Germany: 2001-present), Shadowlight Theatre (SF: 1993-1997), Degenerate Art Ensemble (Seattle: 2001), and often creates improvisation evenings with longtime production collaborators Yuko Kaseki, Sten Rudstrøm and Cassie Terman.  Iova-Koga and inkBoat have received funding from Rockefeller Foundation, Irvine Dancemaker Grant, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Creative Work Fund, Zellerbach Family Fund, Barkley Fund, American Composers Forum, Meet the Composer, CASH grant and the California Arts Council. Iova-Koga was an Wattis Artist in Residence at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2002. inkBoat and cokaseki won “Outstanding Performance” from the Isadora Duncan Awards for the production of “Ame to Ame” in 2004 as well as the award for “Visual Design” for “Heaven’s Radio” in 2003.  For more information: www.inkboat.com

Alex Ketley (choreographer) is an independent choreographer, teacher, and the artistic director of his own company, The Foundry. Formerly a member of the San Francisco Ballet and Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, he retired from dancing full time in 1998 to more deeply explore his interests in choreography, improvisation, mixed media work, and collaborative process. For The Foundry, he has created dance, installation, and video work as an artist in residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts (CA), the Santa Fe Art Institute (NM), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (CA), The Yard (MA), ODC Theater (CA), and the Taipei Artist Village in Taiwan – a body of work that has established for the company a growing reputation within both the dance and fine art communities. Independent of his direction of The Foundry, Ketley has been a guest choreographer at the North Carolina School for the Arts and at Florida State University. He has received the national Choo-San Goh Award and the inaugural Princess Grace Award for Choreography, as well as awards from the Hubbard Street 2 National Choreography Competition and the International Choreographic Competition of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur in Quebec. Over the past five years he has had an ongoing relationship with Hubbard Street 2, creating four new works for the company that have been performed internationally. In 2005 he was awarded a grant from the Creative Work Fund and developed a systemic work with California poet Carol Snow; received funding from the Irvine Foundation to explore California’s diverse cultural and physical landscape through the use of video and improvisation; and was commissioned by Jim Vincent for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Robert Moses for his company, KIN. In 2006 he was appointed resident choreographer at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and has been commissioned to create new work for the dance departments at Stanford University and San Francisco State University. In 2007 Ketley will be an artist in residence with The Foundry at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming and ODC Theater in San Francisco, where he will continue to work on a new creation collaborating with video artists Tony Dicenza and Torsten Burns, with music by former Frankfurt Ballet composer Les Stuck. For more information:  www.foundryprojects.org

Kate Weare (choreographer) is a young choreographer recently described in The New York Times as helping to define the next generation of dance makers. Awarded a 2006-07 Joyce Soho Residency (subsidized by the Joyce Theater), Weare is currently at work on a suite of six dances entitled, Leveling. Weare’s 2005/06 season of choreography, produced by Dance Theater Workshop in NYC and The West Wave Dance Festival in SF, received high praise from critics on both coasts:  “Drop Down is simply the finest locally produced duet of the season.” (Allan Ulrich, Voice of Dance), “(her) dances are so smart and so well executed and so full of stimulating invitations for thought…” (John Rockwell, The New York Times), “…a beautiful duet…tender and curious…complex images of doubt, insecurity and fear, which run through them like the tides that are a part of love.” (Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice.) Weare earned her BFA in Dance from CalArts in 1994 and has since presented work in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Montreal, Belgrade, London and Vienna. Since moving to NYC in 2000, Weare has been produced twice by Dance Theater Workshop and presented at Joyce Soho, Danspace at St. Mark’s Church, The Kitchen,The 92nd St.Y, WAX, Judson Church, DancemOpolitan at Joe’s Pub, NYU’s Frederick Loewe Theater and La Mama Theater. Awarded a 2004 Djerassi Artist’s Residency in Woodside, CA, Weare has been showing work in SF’s West Wave Dance Festival since 1998 and was nominated for San Francisco’s Isadora Duncan Dance Award for her duet “Suit/Skin.” For more information: www.kateweare.com

PHOTOS