Animus Movement Company Dancers
Rebecca
Allen
Artistic Director
Rebecca, a New York City native, is a graduate of LaGuardia H.S., and the Dance Conservatory at SUNY Purchase. During her college years she performed works by Doug Varone, Ori Flomin, Mark Morris, and John Heginbotham. She also studied in Perth, Australia at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, focusing on contemporary dance and aerial circus silks.
Beck has danced with AMS Project and was a guest artist in Doug Varone's Choreographic Intensive where she had the opportunity to dance with Dance Householder, MATYCHAK, and Sum Bones Co. In NYC she was a long time company member of CoreDance Contemporary, SynthesisDance, and Copy That Dance. She also created and is the artistic director of her own dance company, Animus Movement. Beck recently relocated to Colorado where she started a second company, as well as dancing for T2 Dance Company.
Larah
Assistant Director
Pamplin
Larah recently moved to Denver from NYC after dancing and teaching for 11+ years there. Since graduating from Pace University with a BFA in commercial dance, she has danced with companies such as SynthesisDANCE and CoreDance
Contemporary to name a few. You might have seen her in the award winning documentary “Amy’s Victory Dance” on AppleTV and is currently the assistant director for Animus Movement. Larah has assisted choreographers such as Rhonda Miller at dance conventions and has worked with Michael Rooney and Jackie Sleight in LA. Some of Larah’s performance experience includes, the New York Film Academy, Rising Stars at the Joyce Theatre and Synergy at New York Live Arts.
Davis
Jennifer
Jennifer Davis is currently based in Denver, CO as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Growing up, she had the privilege of studying under German and Valentina Zamuel, who graduated from the Vaganova Russian Ballet Academy and taught at The Royal Ballet School. She went on to graduate summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Since graduation, Jennifer has danced for Ad Deum II, Hub Dance Collective, Zion Dance Project, Hannah Kahn Dance Company, and Messengerz Dance. She has also performed work by William Forsythe, Gabriel Speiller (Bruce Wood Dance), Vincent Hardy (Complexions Contemporary Ballet), Noelle Kayser (PARA.MAR Dance Theatre), and Franco Nieto (NW Dance Project). She is so excited for this performance with Animus Movement!
Nathan Nirschl
Nathan Nirschl is a Seattle born and raised dancer, choreographer, and Dance/Gyrotonic teacher. Nathan attended SUNY Purchase in New York from 2013-17 where he received his BFA in dance performance. Upon completion, Nathan moved to New York City, where he danced primarily with, and was project manager for The DASH Ensemble. He continued teaching dance, freelancing performance work, and studying Gyrotonic. Some dance artists Nathan has had the pleasure of working for include Gregory Dolbashian, Doug Varone, Wesley Ensminger, Evangelos Poulinas, The Cunningham Trust, NYCB’s Bettijane Sils, Fernando Melo, and others. Nathan also had the pleasure of Teaching at The Graham School, The Juilliard School’s Summer Intensive, LINES Ballet, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Joffrey Ballet Dallas, and other institutions around the country. Nathan is currently dancing with Animus Movement, after finishing his season with 3rd Law Dance Theater in Boulder CO. He looks forward to seeing where his training in movement continues to take him.
Originally from Finksburg, MD, Emmy Spaar graduated from DeSales University in 2018 and began dancing with Animus Movement in 2021. She has been honored to perform works by Antony Tudor, Doug Varone, Trinette Singleton, Colby Damon, and Er Dong Hu. She was also seen in the 2016 and 2017 seasons of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival in their productions of West Side Story and Evita. In New York City, she danced with the Chase Brock Experience, the Nathaniel Hunt Project, Neville Dance Theatre, and Alma Collective. Since moving to Colorado in 2022, she performs with Hannah Kahn Dance Company and Animus Movement. Emmy also teaches yoga at Whole Body Studios in Denver and would love to see you on your mat!
Alex Tenreiro Theis
Originally from Colorado, Alex Tenreiro Theis earned her BFA from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. As a freelance performer in New York City for ten years, she had the pleasure of working on projects with Yoshito Sakuraba’s Abarukas, Jonah Bokaer, Pamela Pietro, Rohan Bhargava’s ROVACO, Eryc Taylor Dance, Asia Duo Dance Company, Angie Moon Dance Theatre, Netta Yerushalmy and Gregory Dolbashian to name several. She has had the opportunity to perform internationally at MASH International Choreography Festival (Israel), Masdanza International Contemporary Dance Festival (Spain), Avant Garde International Dance Festival (Mexico), ASWARA University Building Bridges Workshop (Malaysia) and the FIDCDMX Festival (Mexico). Additionally, she’s performed nationally at iconic venues and festivals such as The BAM Fisher (NYC), Kaatsbaan International Dance Center (NY), Palm Desert Choreography Festival at McCallum Theatre (CA), Rabbit Island Festival at Rozsa Center MTU (MI), Bryant Park Contemporary Festival (NYC), Jacob’s Pillow InsideOut Theater (MA) as well as others. She is thrilled to join Animus for their premier of Metus!
Christiana Wheeler is an interdisciplinary artist specializing in dance. She began her training at the age of two and graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance spring of 2021. She has worked with artists and choreographers such as Wade Madson, Kate Wallick, Laura Smith, and performed with a variety of Seattle based dance companies before moving to Boulder CO to work with Wild Heart Dance, Animus Movement, and her own ensemble, CarnivalGlass. Alongside live performance, Christiana creates dance films through her ensemble as well as collaborating with local artists and Sans Souci Festival Of Dance Cinema. She currently teaches a variety of dance techniques at Colorado Conservatory of Dance, Broomfield, and Dance Dimensions, Longmont. Christiana connects with dance as her primary source of self-expression as she learned to dance before she could read, speak, and practically walk.
Camelia Wilderlove
Camelia Wilderlove is a dance artist and educator originally from Santa Cruz, CA. Her dance background was formed by lots of ballet with Agape Dance Academy and many musicals. She received her BFA in Dance from Belhaven University in Jackson, MS, this is where she also fell in love with modern dance. There Camelia was privileged to work with Abigail and Vincent Hardy (Zion Dance Project), Ryan Corriston (Doug Varone), and the amazing dance faculty at Belhaven. While living in Denver, Camelia has danced for Hannah Kahn, Animus Movement, Messengerz, and Chadash Contemporary Dance Movement. She loves being part of the AniFam!
Animus Movement
The mission of Animus Movement is to provide artists a chance to "perform" through dance films and other alternative mediums. The company was born out of the cage of the pandemic with the purpose to continue providing opportunities for artists to move freely and share their craft and love of dance to audiences. The company loves to collaborate with their dancers, as well as other choreographers, musicians, visual artists and beyond. In October 2022 the company expanded and now has two locations, one in its original hometown in NYC and another in Denver, Colorado. Receiving several festival invitations, the company has performed at Dixon Place, the KnJ Theater, Triskelion, Mignolo Arts Center, Sam Scripps Studios, Green Space and the TADA Theater in NYC, and at the Nomad Playhouse, Dairy Arts Center, the Byron Theater at the Newman Center, the Parsons Theatre, the Children’s Museum Denver, and The Spark in Colorado. In the last three years Animus Movement has created four dance films, co-produced a show at New York Live Arts and three shows at Ballet Arts, City Center NYC, and produced two season shows here in Colorado. Animus Movement is excited to premiere their first ever full length work tonight.
Photos by Scott Allen