otb: break my heart

Break a Heart began as the brainchild of Kristina Dillard, artistic director of Big Red Dance, in late 2008. With the desire to get a group of her peers and collaborators together for one event, Dillard gathered the 9 artists who then collectively decided on the theme of love and the most unfortunate holiday of the year, Valentines Day, as a uniting force. With their individual dance and theater savvy, each artist created one section for the piece, providing the evening with a full range of choreographic voices and ideas. Jon Harmon (lighting designer) and more than 30 dancers will additionally participate.

The title is a nod to one of OtB’s first technical director, Gary Vaughn. Many of the choreographers encountered Gary backstage in the early days at OtB. Instead of wishing dancers the traditional “merde,” he sent them onto the stage by saying “break a heart.”

Bios for each of the participating artists are included on pages 2 – 5.

Kristina Dillard (Project Director, Choreographer) has been performing and creating work in Seattle since 1993. She is the artistic director of the Big Red Dance Company, receiving grants from the Seattle Arts Commission, the Washington State Arts Commission, and the Allied Arts Foundation. Dillard’s choreography for the Big Red Dance Company has been presented by Velocity, On the Boards, Seattle Center, and 10 Tiny Dances in Seattle and Portland. She has also choreographed and set dances for the d9 dance collective, Pacific Lutheran University, and Edmonds Community College. Kristina is a member of the faculty at Shoreline Community College, and is the director of dance and fitness for the City of Mountlake Terrace where she teaches ballet, modern, creative movement, and yoga. She holds a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts, and an MFA in Choreography from Sarah Lawrence College.

Diana Cardiff (Choreographer) is a critically acclaimed performer and choreographer from Seattle, Washington. She has created, produced, and performed in an original production called the Buttrock Suites since it’s inception in 2003. With Buttrock Suites, she was able to express her flair for the dramatic to much success. Diana has also been a member and collaborator with the Pat Graney Dance Company since 2002 and Wade Madsen and Dancers since 1991. She has toured nationally with the Pat Graney Dance Company and continues to be called upon to perform with those companies when available. Diana has set work for the Rebar’s Brown Derby performances and various musicals. She has also choreographed performance for everything from double dutch jump rope troupes to children’s groups. Diana was a founding member of d9 Dance Collective (1992-2004). Diana has a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts.

Sara Jinks (Choreographer) received a BA in Dance from the University of Washington. She is a member of the Methow Dance Collective and Pat Graney Company. With Pat Graney Company, Sara toured nationally with Vivian Girls and House of Mind, as well as participating in Keeping the Faith, an arts workshop for incarcerated women. Sara has performed extensively with Crispin Spaeth Dance Group, Big Red Dance Company, Buttrock Suites, BetterBiscuit Dance and d9 Dance Collective. With d9, Sara had the honor of performing works by Dayna Hanson, Wade Madsen, Bebe Miller, KT Niehoff, Lisa Race, Donna Uchizono and Llory Wilson to name a few. Her own work has been presented at Velocity, the Merc Playhouse, and Spin the Bottle. She has served on the boards of Velocity, d9 Dance Collective, and KICK. Sara is a Licensed Massage Therapist, certified yoga instructor, and mother of two.

Juliet & Stephen is the collaboration between Juliet Waller Pruzan and Stephen Hando. Juliet & Stephen’s pieces have been seen in On the Boards’ Northwest New Works Festival, Ten Tiny Dances (Seattle and Portland), Ten Tiny at PNB, Portland’s TBA festival, Velocity’s Fall Kick Off and Spin the Bottle. They began a consistent working relationship in 2005 after working together in various capacities since 1997.

Juliet Waller Pruzan (Choreographer) is a dancer, choreographer and playwright who has been living in Seattle since 1992. She has performed her work and the work of others throughout the Northwest and in Europe, Ecuador and Indonesia. In Seattle her work has been presented at On the Boards’ NW New Works Festival, Bumbershoot, Ten Tiny Dances, Buttrock Suites, and Velocity. She danced with Amii LeGendre (1992-2002) and Mary Sheldon Scott (1997-2000). Her plays, most co-written with Bret Fetzer, have been presented at Annex Theater, The Chamber Theater, On the Boards and the Interart Theater (NYC). Their plays have been published in The Kenyon Review and Rain City Project’s The Mansifesto Series.

Stephen Hando (Choreographer) has been acting in Seattle since he first arrived here in 1992 and has been artistic director of Printer’s Devil Theater since 2001. Under his leadership Printer’s Devil has produced many new works including The IKEA Cycle, A Boy in the Beastly City, The Chris Schussler Incident and The Gas Man. Recently he helped to create and was featured in the improvisational performance piece Keefee’s House of Cards. Other performance credits include King John with Greek Active, Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant with Book-it Repertory Theatre and Pinkk at On the Boards.

Wade Madsen (Choreographer) is a Seattle based choreographer and has received choreographic fellowships from the NEA, King County, and Artist Trust. Wade has also received grants from Seattle Arts and Washington State Arts commissions, along with Art Matters and Bossak/Heilbron foundation. Wade is currently a professor and is teaching for the 25th year at Cornish College of the Arts. He is also on faculty at Velocity dance studio. Madsen’s work has been seen at ACT, Seattle Repertory Theater, Seattle Opera, Re Bar, and with House of Dames. Madsen has also been commissioned by various dance companies including d9, ARC, Spectrum, and Dance Gallery. Wades company, Wade Madsen and Dancers has been producing and performing in Seattle since 1979.

mouse bones is a collaborative performance effort duo between dancer Jody Kuehner and writer ilvs Strauss.

Jody Kuehner (Choreographer) arrived in Seattle five years ago and joined LAUNCH Dance Theater and d9 Dance Collective. Jody co-founded Left Field Dance Collective in 2004 as well as the company’s off-shoot, Left Field Revival with Heather Budd in 2006. Left Field Revival presented work at On the Boards, The Joyce SoHo NYC as well as Chop Suey & Cairo Gallery. Currently Jody is working with Ricki Mason on a show opening in October 2009 titled the Cherdonna & Lou Show. She was the dance intern for the Pat Graney prison project Keeping The Faith 2007 series and became a Pat Graney Company member in 2008 with the debut of House of Mind set to tour nationally in 2010.

ilvs Strauss (Choreographer) is a performing artist, writer, technical director and lighting designer. She works with Lingo dancetheater, Book-It Repertory Theatre, On the Boards, Meany Hall, Bumbershoot, Folklife, and the Degenerate Art Ensemble.

Crispin Spaeth (Choreographer) has been making dances in Seattle since 1990. Her award-winning work with Crispin Spaeth Dance Group (1992-2007) was commissioned by Western Bridge, Consolidated Works, On the Boards, Velocity Dance Center, and Seattle’s Center on Contemporary Art, among others. With a legion of collaborators, she has created seven full-evenings, and over 30 smaller works for CSDG, and other theater and dance companies, including D9, Cornish, On the Boards, Freehold, Velocity, One World, and Printer’s Devil, among others. Through CSDG and other producing collaborations, Spaeth has curated and produced over a dozen evenings of multi-disciplinary short works, including the Seattle-Portland exchange of Mike Barber’s Ten Tiny Dances. She graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in Visual Art.