CHICAGO – See Chicago Dance (SCD), the dance industry's leading nonprofit service organization, announced the recipients of its inaugural Dance For Camera Production Residency. Dance for Camera is designed to create a learning environment where artists can practice the fundamentals of video production for dance, have time to experiment, learn from mentors and peers and plan and create a short dancework for camera. The residency, scheduled for two sessions - spring and fall, began Wednesday, March 21 and will continue through Monday, October 3. More information on the ten participants and their project proposals may be found at SeeChicagoDance.com.
See Chicago Dance created the Dance For Camera Production Residency in response to COVID-19 and its effects on gathering and performing for live audiences within the dance community. Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, See Chicago Dance has reorganized its programming to cultivate sustainability and resilience in the Chicago dance field, both during and beyond the evolving public health crisis. In 2020, dance companies and artists swiftly transitioned their artistic work onto digital platforms when theaters and studios closed due to COVID-19. The results have been mixed as many companies report a lack of experience and understanding of best practices regarding the digital presentation of dance for devices ranging in size from a smartphone to a tablet/laptop to a large television. Through conversations, convenings and sector-wide conferences, it has become clear that more training would greatly benefit the dance community.
“This workshop series has been a long standing idea and with the aid of the Walder Foundation we are making it happen,” said Dance for Camera Senior Project Manager and Producer Surinder Martignetti. “I don’t think that there is any other residency available in Chicago with this level of support and mentorship. I am excited to work with the talented artists to not only bring their ideas to fruition but to create a support system for people creating and producing this type of work.”
The inaugural participants in Dance For Camera are Leana Allen, Emma L. Barnhart, Brandon K. Calhoun, Corinne Imberski, Shalaka Kulkarni,Cat Mahari,Brian Martinez, Amanda Ramirez, Michelle Reid and Alexandra Webb.
Frank Konrath joins Martignetti as project manager with mentors: David “Enki” Andrews, Millicent Johnnie, Jenny Stulberg and Nejla Yatkin. The project managers coordinate access to knowledge, space, equipment and monetary resources to support participants through their creative processes. From start to finish, participants will also have one-on-one mentorship with industry professionals and structured opportunities for peer feedback from other members as well as a $3,000 stipend.
Top Row: (L to R) Leanna Allen, Emma L. Barnhardt, Brandon K. Calhoun, Corinne Imberski | Second Row:(L to R) Shalaka Kulkarni, Cat Mahari, Brian Martinez, Amanda Ramirez | Third Row: (L to R) Michelle Reid, Alexandra Webb, David Enki Andrews, Millicent Johnnie | Last Row: (L to R) Frank Konrath, Surinder Martignetti, Jenny Stulberg, Nejla Yatkin
More information on the inaugural participants in Dance for Camera:
Leana Allen
Leana Allen is a dance and film artist with interests in styling. Allen comes from a large family residing in Southwest Michigan (Cassopolis/Dowagiac). A few things that are central to her work are her personal meditation and spiritual practices, authentic movement and continued studies of the philosophy of yoga. Allen continues to practice art making to stay sensitive, investigative and to stand in the right relationship with herself and other beings in the world.
Emma L Barnhart
Emma L Barnhart is a dancer, choreographer and performer from and based in Chicago. She currently dances with Noumenon Dance Ensemble and Dollop Dance Theater, where she is also managing director. Barnhart graduated from Hope College Summa Cum Laude in 2021 with a BA in double majors Dance Performance and Choreography and Sociology. At Hope, she was a member of the H2 Dance Company, a member of Strike Time Dance Theater. Barnhart also performed and choreographed for Student Dance Showcase each semester and was co-director of Hope’s Ballet Club, which produces a ballet each spring. Before college, she danced with Joffrey CE’s Exelon Strobel Step-Up Program and at the Chicago Ballet Center and sang with various choirs and played and performed guitar.
Brandon K. Calhoun
Brandon K. Calhoun is a director, writer, editor, animator, a Chicago footwork dancer, dance educator and filmmaker. As a filmmaker, Calhoun’s direction and hand-drawn animations accentuate footwork’s rhythms and phrases, revealing dance as a visual language. His animations drive the recent projection, Footnotes, a video made for large scale display on the facade of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. As a dance filmmaker, he has produced and edited dozens of short videos for Chicago Dancemakers Forum, beginning in 2017. His dance films and videos have screened at the Chicago Cultural Center, University of Chicago, Theaster Gates’ Stony Island Arts Bank and other respected venues. A cultural organizer and multidisciplinary artist, Calhoun also performs poetry and footwork in an award-winning new multimedia footwork performance by The Era, “In the Wurkz,” that toured to Wesleyan University in Connecticut and the Walker Art Center in Minnesota in 2021.
Corinne Imberski
Corinne Imberski is a Chicago based dance performer, choreographer and improviser. As an independent dance artist, she has presented solo and ensemble works for more than 30 years, at venues grand, small, digital and impromptu. Recent works include the “shadow comforts the body,” a duet created as a Links Hall Co-MISSION Summer Residency recipient and later re-created as a dance for camera project in June 2021 as part of Chicago Takes Ten. In April 2020, she began the dance for camera project Roof Series 2020-2021 in response to life in quarantine and crisis. She is a recipient of the 2020 Meier Achievement Award and was nominated as “Best Dancer” and “Best Choreographer” in the 2021 Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago poll. In addition to presenting her own work, she is also a member of RE|dance group and performs and collaborates with Ayako Kato/Art Union Humanscape.
Shalaka Kulkarni
Shalaka Kulkarni started in dance as a child in her native India, where she studied and continues studying Bharatnatyam and Kathak. Her practice intersects Indian Classical dance with other forms, text and technology. Her interest is in creating a hybrid form of Indian Classical dance that fuses Bharatnatyam and Kathak. Kulkarni is exploring female identity and erased narratives, both in Western and Indian cultures. She holds an MFA in Arts and Media from Columbia College Chicago. She has choreographed for other artists and performed her original work in India and in Chicago for more than 15 years. Most recently, she presented her work in Austria and Germany and completed the SloMoCo Summer & Fall 2021 Residency. In 2022, she is commissioned by MOMENTA Dance Company to set an original work, is resident artist with Mandala South Asian Performing Arts with support from Illinois Arts Council and is a 2022 artist in residence with High Concept Labs.
Cat Mahari
Cat Mahari’s practice is built from a richly layered body history, stemming from an archive of research, physical training and intent to manifest an intellectual, material and informal legacy of liberation through documentation. By examining personal marks and socio-genealogical maps, she explores inner and outer environments. Her upcoming film “Sugar in the Raw” is an exploration of Blk intimacy, trust and touch. In 2021 she was named the City of Chicago Esteemed Artist Awardee in Dance and a 2021 3Arts award in dance. Her works include the Afrofuturist Krump film “Imprints & Traces” and multi-disciplinary performance “BAM!” for which she received a CSF Generative Performing Artist Fellowship. “BAM!” is an immersive ensemble work, focusing on Blackness, Amerikkka and violence. Her post-disciplinary work, the mixtape series “violent/break vol i” and “violent/break vol ii” has received national and international development support at Brink Festival (London), High Concept Labs (Chicago) and Imir Scene Kunst in Norway. Mahari is a culture bearer of Hip Hop and House; former member of the Krump family Gool, with a BFA in dance performance from UMKC and MA in performance, practice and research from RCCSD.
Brian Martinez
Brian Martinez received his BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from The University of Southern Mississippi, where he also performed as a guest artist with Hub Dance Collective. After graduating in 2019, Martinez moved to Chicago to further his training with Hubbard Street's Professional Program. He has been a company dancer with PARA.MAR Dance Theatre since 2020 and he has had the opportunity to create films for Chicago’s New Dances and New York’s Future Dance Festival and stage works for performing arts schools and university programs as well.
Amanda Ramirez
Amanda Ramirez is a dancer, movement director and choreographer from El Paso, TX and has lived in Chicago for seven years. Ramirez is a graduate of Texas Tech University and is currently a company member with modern and contemporary dance companies, VADCO and Synapse Arts. Ramirez has performed professionally throughout the country spanning theatre, modern-contemporary dance and improvisation.
Since 2016, Ramirez has presented choreography throughout Chicago with Synapse Art's New Works & Mural Dances, Links Hall, College of Lake County and more, including co-directing shows with self-produced works, "Machismo" and "Sonder" (co-created with Kimberly Baker). She is a choreographic grant recipient of Cliff Dwellers and a recipient of several choreographic residencies including Links Hall CO-Missions, Chicago Cultural Center Artist in Residency, Keshet Makers Experience and others. In 2021, she began her certification in Intimacy Direction & Coordination for theatre & film with IDC Professionals.
Michelle Reid
Michelle Reid graduated from The Ohio State University in the spring of 2013 receiving her BFA in Dance. In addition to her dance studies, she spent two semesters learning dance for camera which served as the catalyst for her journey in photography. After graduating, Reid moved to Chicago to pursue a career in dance. Since then she has performed with Joel Hall Dancers, Aerial Dance Chicago, Lyric Opera, Banks PerformanceProject, Winifred Haun and Dancers and Brendan Fernandes. In 2016, she began her journey as a photographer with a focus on dance portraiture and events. She has photographed for various companies in Chicago and nationwide such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Visceral Dance Chicago, Satellite Dance (Nashville) and Ruth Page dance companies. Reid has recently begun to explore dance for camera again after a commission from Banks Performance Project for their “Fall Film Series,” as well as a film collaboration with Symbiosis Arts.
Alexandra Webb
Alexandra Webb is a freelance dancer, teacher and filmmaker based in Chicago. She is originally from Fayetteville, AR where she began her dance training in an afternoon school program. She went on to attend UNCSA, studying ballet in high school, under the direction of Susan Jaffe. Webb also attended the University of Oklahoma before spending time at the Tulsa Ballet studying with Wang Yi. She then made her move to Chicago, participating in HSPro under Alexandra Wells. During her time at HSPro, she learned from teachers and artists such as Peter Chu, Jenna Pollack and Meredith Dincolo, as well as many others. After graduating, she has performed in New Dances 2020 and has presented video works at Dance Chance. She has performed as a founding member of house of dov and as a guest artist with TGDC.
More information on the Dance for Camera Project Managers:
Surinder Martignetti, Community Engagement Consultant, See Chicago Dance
Surinder Martignetti (Project Manager) is See Chicago Dance’s Community Engagement Consultant (see “Key Individuals” for role detail). She holds a BA in Dance and Theater and a Graduate Diploma in Education from Western Sydney University in Australia. She also holds a Masters Degree in Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management from Columbia College Chicago. Career highlights include the Chicago Dancing Festival, where Surinder served as Interim Executive Director; and Manager of Performance Programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Prior to her life as an arts administrator, she enjoyed a career as a dancer, choreographer, and artistic director. Surinder has deep knowledge of the Chicago dance field and has served as part of the See Chicago Dance in various program management capacities since 2013.
Frank Konrath, Media Specialist, See Chicago Dance
Frank Konrath holds a BA/BS in Communications / Business Administration from Northeastern Illinois University. Frank is a transmedia producer; developing story worlds for multi-platform and multi-medium storytelling. He is also an indie film & podcast producer, cinematographer, and editor (video, photo, and sound). Frank has spent the past six years researching and developing new methods of storytelling, such as applying new media styles, like NFT’s, to benefit creators of all backgrounds. Frank is a forward thinker, and he brings this to his duties with See Chicago Dance to activate and bring the Chicago dance community to the next stage of entertainment. Frank will function as assistant project manager, informal mentor, and documentarian of the project for evaluation purposes.
More information on the Dance for Camera Mentors:
David “Enki” Andrews, mentor; Dance for Camera curriculum co-developer
Enki Andrews creates art inspired by complex systems. Based in Chicago, he is a multimedia interactive artist experimenting with physical phenomena to discover how humanity views itself in light of our finite human perceptions and how expanding those reflections enhances our self awareness. He studied Physics and Philosophy at Boston University. Initially inspired by “technology” artists like Eadweard Muybridge, Alfred Stieglitz, Chuck Close, and United Visual Artists; Enki began working as a photographer in 2000. In 2010, he started exploring video, time-based photographic progressions, and interactive media arts. His work has been seen at New York Figment, Nuit Blanche New York, Mexico’s Monitor Digital Festival, and the Flint Public Art Project (collaborative works with Chris Jordan). His current year-long art project in collaboration with choreographer and dance artist Nejla Yatkin is titled Dancing Around the World.
Nejla Yatkin, mentor
Nejla Yatkin is a 2018 Drama Desk Award nominee, a 3Arts Award fellow, and a Princess Grace choreography award recipient. Her focus is the role that memory and history play in constructing identity, causing and resolving conflict and transforming cultural tensions into moments of human connection. Nejla danced as a principal with numerous companies in Germany and the U.S. (Cleo Parker Robinson, Dayton Contemporary Dance). In the 1990’s, she worked with leading choreographers Donald McKayle, Eleo Pomare, Anzu Furukawa, Katherine Dunham, Diane McIntyre, and Ron Brown among others. Since 2000, she has choreographed solo dances inspired by great female choreographers. The works have toured nationally and internationally to critical acclaim (Europe, South America, Russia, Taiwan). Since 2001, she has received awards from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the University of Maryland, and the Kennedy Center
Millicent Johnnie, mentor
Millicent Johnnie is a two-time United States Artists nominee in dance. Former Assoc. Artistic Director of Urban Bush Women, she has worked to bring together her diverse experiences in theater and dance into the music industry. After choreographing “Thoughts of a Colored Man” (Syracuse Stage, Baltimore Center Stage), Johnnie received her MFA in film with a specialization in producing and story development. Johnnie’s NEFA National Dance Project “Bamboula: Musicians’ Brew” inspired her short film “Bamboula is Not Bamboozled.” With significant contribution from the National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago, she developed/produced “La DiaBlesse Curse.” Both toured the film festival circuit, receiving screenings in South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago. Johnnie's hybrid concert film “Pulling Back the Curtain” was released in 2020, reckoning with the intersection of COVID-19 and systemic oppression.
Jenny Stulberg, mentor
Jenny Stulberg is an LA-based dance artist, filmmaker, and educator inspired by the symbiotic relationship between dance and film. Drawn to the intimacy of movement within both mediums, her work aims to highlight the idiosyncratic beauty of what it means to be human. In 2014, Jenny co-founded the performance company Simpson/Stulberg Collaborations with Lauren Simpson. Their work was nominated for two Izzie Awards in 2016, and they were artists-in-residence at CounterPulse Theater, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, and the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company's CHIME Program. Jenny’s films have earned screenings at several international festivals including San Francisco Dance Film Festival, ADF International Screendance Festival, and Dance Camera West. She is an adjunct professor in the LEAP Program at St. Mary’s College and teaches screendance workshops across the country. Jenny holds an MFA from NYU and a BFA from Western Michigan University.
ABOUT SEE CHICAGO DANCE
See Chicago Dance is the leading service organization for dance in Chicago, with a mission to advocate for and strengthen a diverse range of dance organizations and artists through services and programs that build and engage audiences. SCD provides dance organizations and individual artists with increased visibility and expansive performance and audience engagement opportunities. The organization’s journalism platform is the most comprehensive source for dance writing and criticism in the city and serves as an essential aspect of SCD’s vision to fearlessly inspire an ever-growing inclusive community to share in and spread the power of dance in Chicago. See Chicago Dance strives to provide equitable access to dance experiences for Chicago dancers and audiences, always valuing diversity inall its forms and especially, as it pertains to dance: race, ethnicity, gender, age, ability, sexual orientation, dance genre, history, neighborhood, geography, budget, scale, and experience.
The Dance for Camera Production Residency is generously funded by the Walder Foundation.