Anne-Marie Mulgrew and Dancers Company



The Mission The mission of ANNE-MARIE MULGREW AND DANCERS CO (AMM & DCO) founded in 1986, incorporated in 1993, 501 c 3 exempted in July, 1995, is to educate and involve the public in the performance and creation of new interdisciplinary dance works and other art form works through performances, workshops, residencies, classes and special projects. The company's mission is to create new works by Philadelphia born director, Anne-Marie Mulgrew. Interdisciplinary, mixed media and experimental work will continue to be the focus. Thus, providing rich and diverse programming with a cross cultural influence. In addition, AMM & DCO builds community by working with community base dancers/performers in special projects. To deepen this vision of engaging the public in the creation and performance of the work, the company would like to tour the materials creating an opportunity for artistic and cultural exchange, to gain a national presence and perspective and to bring a taste of Philadelphia to other places.
History and Background
Known in the city since 1986 for its "visually arresting," "highly imaginative," dance theater works, and unusual collaborative projects AMM & DCO has performed over 55 major works choreographed by Anne-Marie Mulgrew in 260 performances in the United States and Canada. The company has also conducted more than 60 residency programs and 2,500 classes/workshops. These works have appeared in theaters, alternative spaces, site specific locations, schools, festivals, collaborative projects and for film and TV. Locally, the company has performed at the University of the Arts/Drake Theater, The Painted Bride, The Institute of Contemporary Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, University of PA Museum of Anthropology & Archaeology, The Philadelphia Cathedral, Mandell Theater, Penn's Landing, Fairmount Park, The Horticultural Center, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philly Fringe Festival/Live Arts, Parallax Pictures Studios, Wilma Theater and The Kimmel Center to name a few. Ms. Mulgrew's acclaimed choreography for the TALES OF THE BUFFOON was commissioned by Channel 12 TV and has appeared nationally. Fusing modern dance, theater, music, technology and art, the company charms, provokes and informs audiences of all ages with its insightful and wacky views of the world. The company consists of five to seven professionally-trained dancers and various peer collaborators. Additional performers are used on a per project basis to flesh out materials and involve new communities.
Performance Highlights
The company has appeared in NYC at University Settlement House, Context Studios, DanceSpace, the DIA Center, Evolving Arts Studio, Free Range Studio, UBU Repertory Theatre and Movement Research. AMM & DCO firsts include the first Philadelphia based company to appear twice at the prestigious fFIDA Festival in Toronto, Canada; the only dance company to perform at the Rodin Museum alongside of the masterpieces (Phila. PA); the first company to perform a site-specific work Zone One Gallery and Parallax Film Studios (Phila. PA); the first company to perform a public work for Dilworth Plaza, City Hall and the Schuylkill River Banks (Phila. PA); and the only company to perform at The Philadelphia Cathedral for four consecutive seasons 06-03, Phila. PA AMM & DCO’s commissions include Friends of the Rodin Museum, The Borowsky Gallery, WHYY- Channel 12 TV, Chester Springs Studio, The Mahler Project and The 10th Annual Enterprise Awards. The Board of Directors Anne-Marie Mulgrew (Founder/President/Artistic Director) ANNE-MARIE MULGREW is the Founder/Artistic Director of ANNE-MARIE MULGREW AND DANCERS CO., (AMM & DCO), an experimental modern dance company founded in 1986. For the company, she has created 52 major works that have appeared on traditional concert stages, festivals, alternative venues, unusual places, museums and film in the United States and Canada. In the Spring 2001, under her direction, AMM & DCO was selected for a prestigious month long artist-in-the schools residency at The Yard, Chilmark, MA. Anne-Marie is the recipient of the Temple University Fellow Award, Stella Moore Dance Award, two Woo Awards from The Leeway Foundation, a PA Council Fellowship and a Philadelphia Fringe Rocky. Under her direction, AMM & DCO has received numerous grants and commissions, notably from WHYY, Channel 12 TV, funded by PEW, to create a video that aired nationally, a commission from the Friends of the Rodin Museum, a 2002 commission for a new work instigated by Mahler's music and a commission to create the “Opening Dance” for the 10th Enterprise Awards ceremony attended by Governor Rendell. Anne-Marie holds a BS in Ed and an MFA in Dance from Temple University where she was adjunct faculty for five years. Anne-Marie has also served as dance faculty for Penn State, The College of NJ, and University City Arts League. She has performed in special projects with internationally known artists - Kei Takei, Wendy Perron, Stephan Koplowitz, Bridgman/Packer and London’s Royal Ballet. She was a featured actress for Jonas dos Santos' Lila Wallace Digest documentary, appeared in Robert Palumbo's feature film Fallout, was the subject of a thirty minute documentary Creativity produced by and aired on Comcast Cable TV and involved with Night Shamalyan’s film The Last Airbender to be released in 2010. Anne-Marie was selected from a national pool to attend the first Choreography for the Screen program at The School of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Beckett MA in 2003. Jacqueline Elizabeth Bowman (Vice-President, Director) Born in England, she has a PhD in Biological Anthropology (University of Cambridge) and a certificate in Executive Administration (University of Pennsylvania). She is currently Director of Education at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. She has served on the Boards of the University City Historical Society and the University City Arts League and is, in addition to AMM & DCO, currently on the Advisory Board for Curio Theatre. She was Executive Director of UCAL from Oct. 2005-Jan. 2008. She has also been involved in a number of programs in both Pennsylvania and California introducing children to dance, and has been an enthusiastic 'Umbrella lady' since 2000. Elizabeth Luff (Treasurer, Director) Elizabeth Luff has been a professional dancer, choreographer, teacher, and administrator. As managing director of ZeroMoving Dance Company, she produced the company's first New York season. Working with Carunchio & Associates, Ms. Luff researched arts education programs in the 5-county area and helped raise over a $1 million dollars for college access programs for Philadelphia Schools Collaborative. Currently, Ms. Luff operates Moving Studios which teaches creative dance on-site at preschools, after-school programs and in the community. She is a certified trainer for the Department of Public Welfare early childhood programs and is presently developing written materials for parents and teachers to infuse more movement into children's studies. Most recently Luff presented a workshop entitled "Creative Dance for the Preschooler" at the 26th Annual National Head Start Parent Training Conference held in San Jose, California in December 2009. Sharon Kornelly (Secretary, Director) Sharon Kornelly fell in love with dancing at the age of 5 and has practiced ballet, modern and improvisational dance ever since. She earned a doctoral degree in cultural anthropology from Temple University, and conducted research in New Zealand and Bali that demonstrates the importance of performing arts in building local communities in a multicultural world. Ms. Kornelly has taught courses in anthropology and media studies at Moore College of Art & Design and Rowan University. She also served in the Education program with Enchantment Theatre Company. Recently, Ms. Kornelly worked with the Free Library of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in developing their online collections. Andrew F. Erba Esquire (Counsel, Director Emeritus) Andrew Erba brings his legal experience to the organization. Mr. Erba moved to Philadelphia and has served for more than ten years as an attorney for Community Legal Services. In this capacity, he has defended hundreds of cases for low income clients, many of which were artists. An avid music lover, Mr. Erba joined William and Cuker in 1997 and shifted his focus to entertainment law.

Company Bios

The Performers

ANNE-MARIE MULGREW see artistic director/founder bio below.

Elrey C. Belmonti, dancer, also known as Starchild, was born and raised here in Philadelphia. He studied theater for 12 years before switching to dance his sophomore year at University of the Arts after studying with Myra Bazell and attending a summer program at Philadanco. He is grateful to have worked with talented and creative choreographers and companies such as Myra Bazell, Arche Dream, Dance Theater X, At Marah Dance Theater, Jeanne Ruddy Dance Company, Group Motion and most recently Kun Yang Lin. He has had opportunities to show his own works at the CEC's Glue performances, Le Cabaret Melange and Philly Fringe Festival. Star has been a featured dancer with AMM & DCO since 2001.

Joe Cicala, dancer, founding member, rehearsal director of AMM & DCO, graduated from University of the Arts (UARTS) with a BFA in dance. He has danced with Group Motion, Convergence, Paradigm Dance, Body Language Dance Co., Trapezius, Ariel, P3, Anna Sokolow’s Players' Project NYC, and Sokolow Now (the archival repertory company). Joe currently dances with Dancefusion and SHARP. He recently performed Sokolow's duet SEPTEMBER SONNET for Dancefusion and in June will be in residency in Cape May with SHARP. He was a guest artist with Mid Atlantic Ballet in March and will be dancing with Chicago choreographer Marcel Williams Foster next weekend for the GLBT Festival. He has taught at Temple, Drexel, Villanova, and Muhlenberg College. Joe has also worked in musical theatre for the last 28 years, choreographing over 75 musicals for various high schools, community theatres, and professional theatres including Theatre Art Center and Theatre Horizon. Joe has danced with Anne-Marie Mulgrew and Dancers Co. since 1986.

Frances Gremillion, dancer, began her career dancing numerous roles for Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre. During this period she studied with Charleston Ballet, South Carolina Dance Conservatory, Joffrey Ballet and The Rock School. While studying for an English Literature and Creative Writing degree at Louisiana State University, Frances performed as a featured dancer with the Cangelosi Dance Project. Joining Ameri-Corps brought Frances to Philadelphia where she taught poetry and dance at South Philadelphia High School. Recently, Frances danced in the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s production of Turandot and was accepted into Temple’s Dance MFA program. Frances performed with Group Motion in REVIVAL choreographed by Wally Cardona, Alchemy Dance Company and AMM & DCO for the past three seasons.

Rebecca Patek dancer, graduated with honors from The University of the Arts with a BFA in dance. She attended Walnut Hill School and North Carolina School of the Arts as a ballet major. Rebecca co-founded and co-directs Mascher Space Cooperative. Her choreography has been presented in New York as part of NewSteps at Mulberry St. Theatre, at The Joyce Soho as part of the Performance Mix, and at The Overture Center in Madison WI. Rebecca has performed as part of In Flux, where her collaboration with Allison Lorenzen was chosen to be included in a juried final showing. Rebecca and Allison have recently formed NEDEA or New Extreme Dance Explosions Awesomes, creating numerous comedic dance works and short films. Rebecca has danced with AMM & DCO since 2005

Leslie Ann Pike, dancer, started her dance training at age 2. In 2005, she graduated with a B.A. in Dance from DeSales University in Allentown, PA. While at DeSales she studied under Trinnette Singleton, Vincent Brousseau and Lynne Mariani and was a member of the DeSales University Touring Company. Before graduating she joined BosmaDance of Washington, DC. Leslie Ann has performed with Mary LaBianca, Serendipity Dance Ensemble, Re-Cored Dance Co., Eng & Friends Dance Co. and Alchemy Dance Co. This is her first season performing with AMM & DCO.

Elizabeth Anh Reid dancer, trained in gymnastics for 14 years and holds a Masters in Education in Dance from Temple University. She is currently working on a series of choreographic vignettes in collaboration with playwright and emcee, Grandsunn. Elizabeth has taught at Rowan University, Institute for the Arts in Education, Mt. Airy Moving Arts Studios, and various youth programs throughout Philadelphia. She has danced with Group Motion, Melanie Stewart Dance Theater, Charles O. Anderson, Tamara Xavier, Tamar Rogoff Performance Projects, H.T. Chen & Dancers and danced with AMM &DCO for two seasons.

Gabrielle Revlock dancer, has danced with AMM & DCO for four seasons. Additionally, she is a company member of Jeanne Ruddy Dance and has performed the works of Myra Bazell, Darla Stanley, Melisa Putz/PIMA group, and Matthew Neenan for the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Recently she was awarded a Dance Advance grant for development and rehearsal (including travel to London) of a new work by London choreographer Sean Feldman. In addition to performing, Gabrielle is Founding Director of Mano/Damno, an interdisciplinary arts group, known for promoting Wear Your Wig to Work Day, an annual holiday occurring the last Friday in January. Gabrielle was honored to be a New Edge Mix recipient, the Alumnae Choreographer for Vassar College and has shown her work at the New Festival and assorted venues.

Kate Speer, dancer, her work ranges from performance, choreography, to research scholarship. She holds a BA in dance and biology from Swarthmore College and has studied with David Dorfman, Michael Foley, Robert Een, Odile Duboc, Leah Stein, and Lisa Kraus. In addition to AMM & DCO, Speer is also a member of Philly Contact Collective. Speer’s newest research project which examines the choreographies of David Dorfman, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and Jérôme Bel was presented at Dance Under Construction XI Conference at UCLA. Her own choreography has been presented at ETC Performance Series and React/Dance’s South Philly Salon.

Charles Tyson dancer, is artistic director and founder of Underground DanceWorks (UDW,) an EclectiFunk dance company. Charles received a BFA in dance from Temple University. His work has been performed in Philadelphia, Atlantic City, San Diego, Los Angeles, New York City and Wu-Han, China. In 2004, Charles and UDW were awarded the "Incubator for Talented Youth Award" by the Atlantic City Dance Theatre. His performance credits include: Persona Zenobia Dance Ensemble, Kariamu & Company Traditions, Paule Turner/Duchess, Tania Isaac, Sean Curran, Michael Roberts, A.D.D. Dance Company, New LEJA Dances, the Company, Dancefusion, International Ballet Theater, The Philadelphia Civic Ballet Company, Stephen Welsh and Dancers and AMM & DCO for four seasons.

The Collaborators

Keith Calmes, Guitarist/Composer is the director of the guitar program at Wall High School and Monmouth University in New Jersey. He performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and with the instrumental rock band Neptune Society. Dr. Calmes has earned degrees in Classical Guitar performance from The Juilliard School, California State University Northridge, and the University of Southern California. His compositions, arrangements, and performance editions have been published by Mel Bay Publications. He has collaborated with Anne-Marie frequently since they were introduced by composer Daniel Dorff in 2004. Recently, he has created a new website, recorded a new CD, and performed solo recitals in Florida, California, New York, and New Jersey.

Carmella Vassor videographer, is recognized for her documentaries on Philadelphia dance artists such as Philadanco's Joan Myers Brown ("Standing at the Edge: We Dance") and PureMovement's Rennie Harris ("Endangered Species"). In 1999, she was awarded a Dance Media Fellowship at UCLA, as part of the PEW funded National Initiative To Preserve America's Dance (NIPAD). Her local production company Wild Child Productions produced, "Creating Across Cultures" a documentary on the Asia Pacific Performance Exchange and documents dance concerts for local and national artists. In 2001, she collaborated with Jawole Zoller and Urban Bush Women on "Hair Stories" through special residencies at Jacob's Pillow and Atlanta Arts Center. Vassor-Johnson was the resident videographer for Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival where she produced Video Journals, half-hour documentary/performance videos distributed to the educational community. During her professional dance career, Vassor-Johnson performed with Philadanco, Philadelphia Civic Ballet and AMM & DCO. Since 1998, Vassor-Johnson and Mulgrew have collaborated on numerous dance for camera and experimental video works.

Stan Sadowski photographer/video artist, graduated from Temple University’s School of Communication and Film. His work has appeared at the Wilma Theater, Walnut Theater and Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival. Currently, he is working on the Robinson Freedenthal documentation project. He has worked on special projects with AMM & DCO since 1994.

Peter J. Jakubowski Lighting Designer, IATSE USA 829, is an Assistant Professor and Production Design specialist for the Department of Dance at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He holds a BA in theatre from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an MFA in design from Temple University. His work has been awarded the ARTIE award for best lighting design and he has been nominated five times for the F. Otto Haas Award. His designs have been seen in 30 states as well as the US Virgin Islands. He has designed at North Shore Music Theatre (MA), The Prince Music Theatre (PA), The Walnut Street Theatre (PA), The Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center (NJ) and Main State Music Theatre. He serves as Resident designer and production manager for Jeanne Ruddy Dance, AMM & DCO and Snowy Range Dance Festival. He has work in the repertoire of Peter Pucci Plus Dancers, Koresh Dance, Elban Elved Dance Company and Colorado Ballet.