Gaspard&Dancers program for Asheville, May 2 & 3, 2025 by Wortham Center for the Performing Arts

WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

GASPARD&DANCERS

Friday & Saturday, May 2 & 3, 2025 at 8 p.m.

PROGRAM

Tota Pulchra Es/You are all beautiful (2015)

Choreography: Gaspard Louis

Music: Michael Wall

Costumes: Mahalia Stines

Lighting: David Ferri

Performers: Auriana Carrington, Mia Crider, Ian Kell, Frankie Lee III, Claire Schiffer, TJ Warren

Magical Cusp (2011)

Choreography: Gaspard Louis

Music: Andy Hasenpflug

Costumes: Melody Eagan

Lighting: Tiffany Schrepferman

Performers: Alexis Cruz and Andréa Ward

L’esprit/The Spirit (2014)

Choreography: Gaspard Louis

Music: Avishai Cohen

Costumes: Mahalia Stines and Gaspard Louis

Lighting: David Ferri

Performers: Auriana Carrington, Mia Crider, Alexis Cruz, Ian Kell, Frankie Lee III, Claire Schiffer, Giovanna Taddeo, Andréa Ward, TJ Warren

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– Intermission, 10 minutes –

(a)Part (2024)

Choreography: Christian von Howard

Music: Michael Galasso and Camden musique

Costumes: Christian von Howard

Lighting: Austin Powers

Performers: Frankie Lee III, Claire Schiffer, Giovanna Taddeo, Andréa Ward

Femme Noir (1999)

Choreography: Alison Chase

Music: Paul Sullivan

Costume: Angelina Avallone

Lighting Concept: Alison Chase

Performers: Mia Crider (Giovanna Taddeo)

Suite Linda (2024)

Choreography: Gaspard Louis

Music composed by: Caroline Shaw

Works: Excerpts from Entre’acte and Plan & Elevation

Costumes: Anna-Alisa Belous

Lighting: Austin Powers

Performers: Auriana Carrington, Mia Crider, Alexis Cruz, Ian Kell, Frankie Lee III, Claire Schiffer, Andréa Ward, TJ Warren

Suite Linda is commissioned by Linda and Scott Wishart. It is in honor of Linda’s 60th birthday. The piece is an abstract interpretation, using conversations/interviews Gaspard conducted with both Linda and Scott, about their relationship. These conversations were used as prompts in conjunction with painting images from British painter Trevor Bell for the creative process.

CHOREOGRAPHERS

Gaspard Louis is the Founder and Artistic Director of Gaspard&Dancers (G&D). He received a BFA in Dance from Montclair State University and continued his dance studies on scholarship at Gus Giordano’s in Chicago and Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab in New York. Following his studies, he joined the New York-based company called AllNations where he performed traditional dances from many parts of the world for US troupes across the globe. Subsequently, he performed and traveled worldwide with Pilobolus Dance Theater. He collaborated on the choreography of nine major dance works with the company and taught master dance classes both nationally and internationally. Gaspard received an MFA in Dance from the Hollins University/American Dance Festival Program and is the Director of ADF’s year-round creative movement outreach program which provides free dance classes to youth

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in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill community of North Carolina. Additionally, Gaspard has been a guest teacher and choreographer at numerous universities including North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), Duke, Elon, Montclair State, and North Carolina Central.

Christian Von Howard is the Founder/Artistic Director of the VON HOWARD PROJECT, a projectbased contemporary dance company in New York City. As an international artist, he has worked with many dance artists such as Fred Benjamin, Fernando Bujones, Daniel Gwirtzman and his choreography has been produced in venues across the globe including Europe, South America, Asia, and throughout the US. His guest artist teaching/residency highlights include Rambert Dance (UK), Dallas Black Dance Theater, American Dance Festival, Dance It! Festival (Bulgaria), Peridance Dance Center, and the Korean Dance Festival, to name a few. Christian is an Associate Professor of Performance & Choreography at Montclair State University, part of the teaching faculty at the Alvin Ailey School, and served as the Northeast Regional Director of the American College Dance Association (20162023). He holds advanced degrees from the School of Classical and Contemporary Dance at Texas Christian University and Tisch School of the Arts, NYU, as well as being a Fulbright Specialist (20192021) for the United States in his cultural exchange work in Eastern Europe. His humanitarian work also includes cultural outreach collaborations with the US Embassy in Ecuador. Christian continues to engage with the field in his role as company manager/artistic team member for Company SBB, under the direction of Stefanie Batten Bland and MoBBallet, founded by Theresa Ruth Howard.

Alison Chase is the Artistic Director of Apogee Arts. Collaboration is the bedrock of Alison Chase’s creative practice. The illustrious and world-renowned Maine-based choreographer has been expanding the ways that collaboration can amplify and augment how we consume dance and how dance consumes us for many years. As a choreographer, director, teacher, and theatrical artist, her work explores emotional terrain through innovative movement, multidimensional storytelling, fusions of film and dance, site-specific works, and museum installations.

Alison’s instinct for collaboration and education led to a position as Choreographer-In-Residence and Assistant Professor of Dance at Dartmouth College in 1970, after she graduated from UCLA with an M.A. in Dance. Her initial class was offered to the all-male undergraduate student body, many of whom were athletes with no dance background. Alison’s ability to teach improvisation and collective creativity proved transformational, and from this unexpected setting emerged the origins of Pilobolus Dance Theater, where she was a Founding Artistic Director. Alison has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1980; the 1992 Laurel Award for Life Time Achievement; the 2007 Connecticut Governor’s Award; the Scripps Award in 2000; and the CINE Golden Eagle Award in 2002. She was named Performing Arts Fellow for 2009 by the Maine Arts Commission.

DANCERS

Auriana Carrington (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) holds a BFA in Dance from Slippery Rock University and is the recipient of the 2023 Outstanding BFA Award and Scholarship. She has worked professionally for two seasons as a “Mover Maker” with WhirlWind Dance Company (Columbus, Ohio) under Joshua Manculich. Carrington was a competitor on Season 2 of NBC’s “World of Dance” and at the Universal Dance Association Competitions. Recently, she performed at the American Dance Festival (ADF), American College Dance Association (ACDA) GALA, National Association of Schools of Dance, Dancewave Through College and Beyond, Koresh Artist Showcase, and El Colegio Del Cuerpo (Cartagena, Colombia). Carrington has performed works by Hanna Elisabeth

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Bricston, Helen Simoneau, Cameron McKinney, Joshua Manculich, Monique Haley, Jordan Lloyd, John Litzer & Cody Szarko, Elisa Alaio, Grady Bowman, Lindsay Fisher Viatori, Ursula Payne, and more. She attended the 2023 ADF Summer Intensive, ACDA Conferences, WhirlWind Workshops, and SpringboardX to further her training.

Mia Crider (Holly Springs, North Carolina) trained at Holly Springs School of Dance (HSSOD) and Holly Springs High School. As of May 2024, Mia has earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a minor in Business, graduating summa cum laude from Montclair State University. She has performed in works by Christian von Howard, Brandin Steffensen, Maxine Steinman, Michelle Manzanales, Shen Wei, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Abdel R. Salaam, Doug Varone, Gaspard Louis, and Jenna Riegel. Mia has returned to HSSOD to set choreography and teach a variety of styles, including ballet, jazz, modern, and contemporary. For the past three summers, Mia has attended the American Dance Festival Summer Dance Intensive to grow her technique and further her knowledge.

Alexis Cruz (Caguas, Puerto Rico) received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Montclair State University in spring 2024. He attended CoDa21, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, School for the Performing Arts, and Ballet Forte, where he trained in Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz, Tap, HipHop, and Musical Theater. He has performed in Democracy by Doug Varone, Caught in the Rapture by Tommie-Waheed Evans, Pippin directed by Peter Flynn, Without Home by Yusha Marie-Sorzano, Jump, Jive, & Wail by Christian von Howard, and With Wine and Sugar by Maxine Steinman. He choreographed La Espera and Adiós, presented in Montclair State University.

Ian Kell (Chicago, Illinois) grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. Ian holds a B.S. in Marketing from the University of South Carolina where he minored in dance and received collegiate and professional training in contemporary, hip hop, ballet, modern and jazz styles. He has worked professionally in Columbia since 2022 as a company member with Unbound Dance Company, under the Direction of Caroline Lewis-Jones and Morgan Holton, and a guest artist for Anne Brodie’s Carolina Ballet. Ian received additional training at the American Dance Festival Summer Intensive where he trained with Monique Haley and Brenna Monroe-Cook, as well as performed and collaborated in works with Jenna Riegel and Xián Martinez. He also trained with David Dorfman Dance at their Emerging Artist Winter Intensive. Ian is the Founder of CREATIAN, a creative direction and community building platform centered on the collaboration between creatives in all artistic mediums.

Frankie Lee III (Raleigh, North Carolina) is the founder and artistic director of FLEE DANCE, a two-time Isadora Duncan Award nominee, Webby Award winner and the 2022 Artist of Excellence Prism Award winner. He attended American Dance Festival (ADF) as a youth, then graduated from the High School and College Dance Program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. After receiving his BFA in Contemporary Dance, Frankie continued training at ADF, Springboard Danse Montreal, The Merce Cunningham Trust, The Dance Company Experience, Shen Wei Dance Arts & Alonzo King LINES Dance Center. Frankie started dancing with Gaspard&Dancers in 2014 and has also danced with Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Oakland Ballet, dawsondancesf, Helen Simoneau Danse, Antonio Brown Dance, Justice Theater Project, and Zaccho Dance Theater, to name a few. Frankie is grateful to dance and share this opportunity.

Claire Schiffer was adopted from South Korea and grew up in Florida. She graduated from University of North Carolina School of the Arts high school program in 2021 and continued her training there, receiving her BFA in Contemporary Dance this spring. She has had the privilege of performing works by Robert Battle, José Limón, Trisha Brown, Igal Perry, Jim Vincent, Juel D. Lane, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Ashley Lindsey, Dwana A. Smallwood, Amyia Burrell, and Gaspard Louis. Elsewhere, she has worked with Jennifer Archibald, Sidra Bell, Betsi Graves, Antoine Vereecken,

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and Jon Lehrer. She has also trained with BODYTRAFFIC, A.I.M., Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and at The School at Jacob’s Pillow and UNCSA’s Professional Studies Program. In addition to dancing, Claire is a certified Classical Pilates Mat Instructor, held leadership positions in Student Government Association, and was the founder of the first Asian student organization at UNCSA, Asians Come Together. Claire is extremely grateful to be joining G&D this season.

Giovanna Taddeo is a graduate from Point Park University with a Bachelors in Fine Arts in Modern Dance and a Masters in Elementary Education, Pre-K–Fourth Grade. Giovanna is a New York-based dancer who dreams of sharing her life experiences through the medium of art. An aspiration she has is to travel the world and use dance as a form of communication. She has been lucky to work with so many talented people and wants to give a shout out to all of her mentors. Specifically, she is grateful to have worked with Jason McDole, Kiesha Lalama, Al Blackstone, and Jolene Baldini. Giovanna wants to thank her family for supporting and giving her these opportunities, as well as sharing their unconditional love.

Andréa Ward was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where she graduated from the Boston Arts Academy in 2018. She is a graduate of Montclair State University with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography as well as a minor in Business Administration. Immediately post-graduation, Andréa was accepted into the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company as a company apprentice and was promoted to a full-time company member within two months. During this time, Andréa pushed to maintain her training in the commercial dance field. She has performed and worked with many choreographers throughout the East Coast and has shared the stage with local and global music artists. Her dance training includes ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop, heels, African, contemporary, musical theatre, and more. She has also attended and trained with institutions such as Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts, José Mateo Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and Debbie Allen Dance Academy LA.

TJ Warren, born in Columbia, South Carolina, and raised in Camden, SC, developed a passion for dance and theater early on. He trained at the Freed School of Performing Arts in Sumter, SC, before attending the University of South Carolina, where he is pursuing a degree in Dance Performance with a cognate in Education. In 2023, Warren was a company member of Unbound Dance Company in Columbia, SC, working with Caroline Lewis-Jones and Morgan Holton. He has also collaborated with notable artists such as Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Colin Connor, and Peter Powlus. Warren has trained at prestigious programs like New Dialect and the American Dance Festival Summer Intensive, working with Joy Davis, Brenna Monroe-Cook, and Jenna Riegel. He also participated in David Dorfman Dance’s Emerging Artist Winter Intensive, collaborating with fellow artists and the company members. Warren aspires to spread joy and convey meaningful messages through dance and choreography.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND PRODUCTION STAFF

Victoria Gintautienė (Company Manager) discovered her passion for dance with her very first modern dance class at the age of six. Graduating from the University of North Carolina with a degree in math, she began her foray into arts administration with a finance position for the Mark Morris Dance Group. After several cross-country moves, each time landing a role in dance organization administration, she most recently returned to a finance position for the American Dance Festival. Through the ADF she was introduced to Gaspard&Dancers and was immediately captivated by their work. She is excited and grateful to be a part of the company and support G&D’s mission.

Austin F. Powers (Technical Director/Lighting Designer) Based in Durham, NC, he designs sound, lighting, and video for live performance. Recent credits at Duke University include lighting design for The Roadkill Club and broadcast video direction for Medea and Citizen: An American Lyric. He

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was the scenographer for an installation work, Sinewaves in the Triangle, created by Christopher and Jennifer Scully-Thurston. He has also worked with Carolina Ballet, as projection engineer for Sleepy Hollow, Frankenstein, and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Austin is a staff designer and supervising technician at Duke, where he graduated from the Department of Theater Studies and works frequently with the American Dance Festival.

David Liu (Philosopher-in-Residence) continues to philosophize, write, make music, cook for family, and plan an institute in Rome. He sees Gaspard’s dancers with the imagined proprioception of a naïf, and engages them accordingly.

DESIGNERS

Mahalia Stines (Costume Designer) is a Brooklyn Based Fiber artist. Formerly trained as a Costume Designer she draws her inspiration in the Urban cityscape and fuses those influences with cultural elements from her Native Haiti.

Anna-Alisa Belous (Costume Designer) holds an MFA in Interior Design and Textiles from St. Petersburg, (Russia) State Academy of Art and Design, and MFA in Costume Design from Brandeis University. She works as a freelance costume designer for dance, theater, and individual performers. She also does set design and scenic painting primarily in the New York area. She works with notable dance companies and institutions such as: Philadanco, Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre, Dusan Tynek Dance Theatre, Metropolitan Ballet Company, New York Theatre Ballet, Ikada Dance Company, Marymount Manhattan College, and Duke University Theatre Department. Anna-Alisa is currently teaching a “Costume for Dance” course at Marymount Manhattan College. www.aabelous.com

Steven Silverleaf (Set Designer) attended the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee during the 1970s where he studied painting and drawing. He was active in the local art, poetry, and experimental theater scene in Milwaukee. He maintains a studio in Carrboro, NC. Artist. Stevensilverleaf.com

Robin Gallant (Company Photographer) is a multiple time international award-winning fine dance photographer. She won second place in the famed Px3 photo competition in Paris where thousands of images were entered from photographers from 85 countries. She has trained with both Lois Greenfield and Roy Volkmann. She has worked with professional dancers from many different countries and companies, including Alvin Ailey, Urban Bush Women, Elisa Monte, and the show So You Think You Can Dance. She especially took a particular interest in Gaspard&Dancers and enjoys working with the company since 2009.

Anigiduwagi Land Acknowledgement

The Wortham Center acknowledges that we are on the ancestral land of the Anigiduwagi, more commonly known as the Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩᎠᏰᎵ).

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