Company Members

Bios

BLUE MOON DANCE COMPANY – Artist Profiles 2008

PAT CONNELLY (Director) moved to Boulder in 1974, and worked for many years as an individual performer and choreographer before founding Blue Moon Dance Company in 1995. Three consecutive entries, commissioned by three different dance companies, were awarded a place in the Colorado Choreographers Showcase and her work was chosen for the 2001 Aspen Dance Festival, a juried showcase. Denver Contemporary Dance Theatre, Turning the Wheel Productions, Interweave Dance Theatre and many other organizations commissioned her work. She specializes in partnering, acrobatic lifts and social dance forms. She is serving a second term as board member for the Boulder County Arts Alliance and was elected Treasurer in 2007 & 2008. In 2007, she performed in Nancy Cranbourne’s company "40 Women Over 40" and competed in the YWCA Benefit at the Boulder Theater. She returns to the YWCA Benefit "Dancing with the Boulder Stars" in October 2008 with a new partner, Barry Cooper. Currently, her original choreography for "Nearly Invisible," commissioned for Turning the Wheels Productions, is being produced in several cities throughout the United States.

ADJEI ABANKWAH, a native of Ghana, is the co-producer and director of the BaoBao Festival and co-founder of Enkambum. He was a principal dancer and choreographer with The Ghana Dance Ensemble for eleven years.  In addition to dancing, he is an accomplished musician and composer.  He plays a number of traditional African instruments including the flute, xylophone, bass marimba and drums.  In addition to teaching dance and music; he also composes for, and performs with, his band Charlie Sounds.  This is his fourth season with Blue Moon Dance Company. 

SOL BENSON began dancing at an early age, studying ballet, modern & jazz dance. At age 18, she moved to Alaska where she performed with Dance Theater North, a modern dance company.  After opening her own dance school, she returned to ballet, put on her toe shoes and danced in many roles, including the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker. She has taken classes and workshops across the United States.  After moving to Boulder, she joined Turning the Wheel Productions and enjoyed the world of improvisational movement before finding a new love - ballroom dance. She also performed in Nancy Cranbourne’s "40 Women Over 40".  This is her fourth season with the company.

YING CHANG began training in hip-hop at Motion Underground, but had his modern dance performing career jump-started in 1999 when he was chosen for the David Dorfman Community Project, sponsored by the Colorado Dance Festival and then joined the company in 2000.  He continues to expand his exposure to different dance styles, finding frustration and enjoyment in the endeavor.  In 2003, Blue Moon Dance Company received a BCAA/Addison grant to stage his multi-media work "STROKES" which premiered at the Carsen Theatre, Dairy Center for the Arts in April 2004 and was also performed at the Longmont ArtWalk. 

CAMILLE HENSLEY, a Boulder native, is in her second year as a dance major at CU, Boulder. She began studying dance at an early age and performed in musical theatre productions while attending Boulder High School.

RITA JENKINS-GAYNES, recently moved to Boulder from Florida where she worked as a professional dancer, choreographer and musical theatre instructor.  After receiving a BFA in dance performance and choreography from Ohio State University, she worked in New York City, NY as a freelance dancer and choreographer before settling in Florida. She has performed leading roles in several musicals including: A Chorus Line, Damn Yankees, Jesus Christ Superstar and Sweet Charity. In May 2008, she restaged the original choreography of A Chorus Line for Starstruck FAC in Florida.

BETH MOGER, a Boulder native, is a recent graduate from Shining Mountain Waldorf High School where she began her career as an acrobat. She studies, performs and teaches with Imagination Circus Arts. She was accepted into the company in December 2007, and performed for Katie Elliott in a modern dance project for the Global Warming Expo in April 2008. She now attends the University of Colorado at Boulder, majoring in theater.

CHRISTOPHER NUERNBERGER, an ardent salsa & Latin dancer,  brings years of experience in dance partnering to the company. Originally trained as a gymnast, he also competes in soccer leagues and jujitsu. With Sol Benson, he is co-choreographing several duets for the 2008 concert.
 
JULIUS REINANTE, a native of the Philippines, began studying ballroom dance with Pat Connelly, joining the company in 2002. He trained in competitive ballroom dance at Booth DanceSport Studio, Denver and performed in the Turning the Wheel 2005 production of "Nearly Invisible." He teaches through the Lifelong Learning Program for the Boulder Valley School District. In 2007, he won the YWCA benefit, "Dancing with the Boulder Stars," with his partner, Wendy Reynolds and is returning for the next round with a new partner in October 2008.

ARTHUR SIEGLE danced with Pat Connelly at the debut performance of Blue Moon Dance Company in 1995 at the Denver Art Museum in conjunction with the Hot Tomatoes Dance Orchestra.  He specializes in swing dance styles and has won many dance contests during his career.  A dedicated amateur dancer, he performs with the company for charity events and community dance performances, most recently in December 2007.

Choreographers
(1995 to present)

1. Ying Chang - 2002/2004/2006
2. Sol Benson - 2006
3. Pat Connelly - 1995 to 2006
4. Thomas Dixon (posthumously) - 1996
5. Rachel Grote - 2005
6. Landon Gustafson – 2004 to 2006
7. Seth Gustafson – 2003/2004
8. Karen Howard – 1996 to 2000
9. Tobi Johnson-Compton – 1997 to 2002
10. Sarah Leversee – 2003/2004
11. Debra Mercer - 1995
12. Yuki Ojika – 2003 to 2005
13. Dreah Pentell - 2005
14. Julius Reinante – 2004 to 2006
15. Stephen Schroeder – 1997 to 2001
16. Ben Schultz – 1997
17. Jessica Simpson - 2005
18. G. Webster Smith – 1996 to 1999
19. Larry Southall – 1999
21. Franca Telesia – 1995 to 1997
22. Alison Yoder - 2004
23. Colleen Young – 1997 to 2001

"You have to love dance to stick to it. It gives nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on the walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive." Merce Cunningham

Company Members/Guest Appearances:
(current members in bold face type)

Adjei Abankwah, Tyffanie Ammeter, Gemma Asir, Sol Benson, Michelle Ballard, Andrew Berry, Jeni-Sue Briggs, Ying Chang, Marty Connell, Pat Connelly, Laurie Coulis, Cindy Davis, Heather Davis, Eric Donovan, Sue Yoon Farabaugh, Bruce Feistner, Rachel Grote, Landon Gustafson, Seth Gustafson, Lisa Harris, Karen Howard, Tobi Johnson-Compton, Joel Kelly, Kit Kyle, Desiree Lanz-Ewertz, John LeRoux, Sarah Leversee, Allen McCowan, Kara McRae, Scott McLane. Debra Mercer, Carrie Noel, Yuki Ojika, Karen Panasewicz, Dreah Pentell, Laura Rains, Julius Reinante, Stephen Schroeder, Ben Schultz, Arielle Schwartz, Arthur Siegle, Jessica Simpson, G. Webster Smith, Jason Smith, Larry Southall, Tiffany Stone, Sara Stranovsky, Justin Taggart, Franca Telesia, Gustavo Vargas, Cheryl Vick, Alison Yoder, Colleen Noelani Young.

Members in the News

Julius Reinante and Eva Kovacs were married in April 2008 in the Philippines and are now living in Firestone, Colorado.

Rachel Grote graduated from CU in 2008 and moved to France; Jessica Simpson also graduated from CU and moved to New York City, NY; and Tyffanie Ammeter also graduated from CU with a business degree.

Landon Gustafson graduated from UNC and moved to Redding, CA to join her brother and former company member, Seth and his wife.

Sarah Leversee has returned to Boulder from Seattle and reactivated her multi-media company, Art as Action.

Tobi Johnson-Compton, Ben Schultz and Colleen Noelani Young are all dancing in Denver, separately and sometimes together.  Colleen & Tobi founded a dance company "Legacy" and all three performed in the 2007 "Dance is for Every Body" in Boulder.

For the 2007 concert, "Love is Strange," local musicians Mike Valenti and Matt Davis performed with the company in "Wegobe" choreographed by Adjei Abankwah.

Stephen Schroeder is currently located in Minneapolis, MN where he dances with Zenon Dance Company. His choreographic works have been performed in Colorado, Minnesota and Illinois and he has toured Russia several times with Zenon to teach and perform.

Kara McRae & Eric Donovan are married and have become avid tango dancers/performers in the Denver metro-area.

Yuki Ojika is back in Japan and has set up her Rolfing practice in the beach community of Kamakura. She welcomes visitors.

G. Webster Smith was back in Colorado in August 2006 to teach at the Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop and choreograph for Interweave Dance Theatre.

Debra Mercer is teaching ballet at Colorado College in Colorado Springs and also in Boulder for Ballet Arts.

Ying Chang and his wife Agnieszka are the proud parents of a baby girl, Alexandra, who was born in February 2006.

Joel Kelly in associate vice president (development) of the Hale Center Theatre in Utah. He continues to act and direct in theater productions.