Artists, Board & Staff
Staff List
Bill T. Jones - Artistic Director
Jean Davidson - Executive Director
Janet Wong - Associate Artistic Director
Artistic
Bjorn G. Amelan - Creative Director
Liz Prince - Resident Costume Designer
Robert Wierzel - Resident Lighting Designer
Christopher Lancaster - Band Leader
Bill Katz - Artistic Consultant
Program & Education
Bob Bursey - Producing Director
Leah Cox - Education Director
Annie Perretta - Program Intern
Lindsey Turner - Education Intern
Development
J.J. Lind - Director of Development
Sheila Parekh - Development Associate, Individual Giving
Irfana Jetha - Development Associate, Institutional Giving
David Bury & Associates- Fund Raising Consulting Firm
CCS Fund Raising - Fund Raising Consulting Firm
Simpatico - Special Events Consulting Firm
Finance & Administration
Bill Wagner - Director of Finance & Administration
Marcus Dargan - Office Manager/Executive Assistant
Phillip Lanzetta - Administrative Intern
Anginese Phillips - Administrative Intern
Rhea Daniels - Archival Intern
Yauri Kelly-Dalencour - Archival Intern
Parent McLaughlin & Nangle - Auditors
Production
Kyle Maude - Production Stage Manager
Laura Bickford - Lighting Supervisor
Eric Launer - Technical Director
Shoshanna Gross - Company Manager
Sam Crawford - Sound Supervisor
Dean Perry - Head Carpenter
Daniel Wiener - WebMaster
Real Design Associates - Identity Design Concept & Graphic Design
Board of Directors
Derek Brown, Chairman
Bill T. Jones, President
Bjorn Amelan, Vice-Chairman
Terence Dougherty, Secretary
Kweli Washington, Treasurer
Claire Danes
Jean Davidson, Ex-Officio
Sandra Eskin
Stephen Hendel
Dr. Michael Lomax
Kathy O'Connor
Jane Bovingdon Semel
Cindy Sherman
Beatrice Sibblies
Gloria Steinem
Jack Taylor
Ric Wanetik
Chairs Emeritus
Eric Anderson
Eleanor Friedman
Advisory Council
Victoria Bassetti
Nancy Gabriel
Jenette Kahn
Naima Kradjian
Dr. Jeremy J. Nobel
Ronald Slye
Edward M. Zimmerman, Esq.
Performers
Antonio Brown (Dancer) a native of Cleveland, Ohio, began his dance training at the Cleveland School of the Arts. He then traveled to New York City to attend The Juilliard School from which he graduated in the spring of 2007. While there, he performed works by Jose Limon, Ohad Naharin, Jiri Kylian, Eliot Feld, Aszure Barton, Jessica Lang, and Susan Marshall. Mr. Brown joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 2007.
Asli Bulbul (Dancer) is from Istanbul, Turkey. She started dancing when she was six years old. After graduating from Mimar Sinan University of Istanbul, Bulbul came to New York in the summer of 1997 to study modern dance. She worked with JoAnna Mendl Shaw, Guido Tuveri and various choreographers in New York City. This is her sixth season with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and she is so exited to be a part of this beautiful group.
Peter Chamberlin (Dancer) born in Augusta, Maine, has trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts and BalletMet of Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2007. He has performed with the Kevin Wynn Collection, Take Dance, NOA Nelly van Bommel, and Sidra Bell Dance New York, and has been on faculty of Ballet International with Kazuko Hirabayashi as artistic director. Mr. Chamberlin continues his movement exploration under the tutelage of Barbara Mahler and enjoys choreographing whenever he gets the chance. Mr. Chamberlin joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 2007.
Leah Cox (Education Director, Dancer) danced with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company from 2001-2009. She currently acts as the company's Education Director, working to document and develop Mr. Jones' aesthetic and the company's collaborative process as teachable systems. She oversees and teaches under the company's partnership with Bard College and conducts masterclasses nationwide for all abilities, non-mover to professional. Mrs. Cox spent her youth training in ballet, graduating from North Carolina School of the Arts high school dance division. Her dance studies continued at Texas Christian University, where she received a B.A. as a Philosophy major and Religion minor. Cox creates her own dance-and-film work under the pseudonym Stella Rabbit whenever the opportunity arises.
Talli Jackson (Dancer) was born and raised in Liberty, NY. He received his first training with Livia Vanaver at the Vanaver Caravan Dance Institute in upstate New York. With the Vanaver Caravan he performed in venues throughout the U.S. and Europe. Talli has enjoyed opportunities to work with and perform works by Marianela Boan, David Dorfman, Francesca Harper, Heidi Latsky, and Sandy Silva. He has been a recipient of full scholarships from the American Dance Festival in '06 and '08, the Bates Dance Festival, and the Ailey School. He was honored to join the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at the start of 2009.
Shayla-Vie Jenkins (Dancer) began her primary dance training at the Watson Johnson Dance Theatre and the Mercer County Performing Arts School in New Jersey. In 2004, under the direction of Denise Jefferson and Ana Marie Forsythe, she graduated with honors from Fordham University with a BFA and minor in English. She has also danced professionally with Kevin Wynn's The Collection, Nathan Trice/Rituals, Earl Mosely's Diversity of Dance, and the Francesca Harper Project.
Lamichael Leonard (Dancer) graduated from the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida. He joined the Martha Graham Dance Company and danced lead roles touring nationally and internationally. He most recently danced with the Buglisi Dance Theatre. Mr. Leonard joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 2007.
I-Ling Liu (Dancer) a native of Taiwan, received her BFA from Taipei National University of the Arts in 2005. She has performed with Ku and Dancers, Taipei Crossover Dance Company, Image in Motion Theater Company, Neo-Classic Dance Company, and in works by Trisha Brown, Lin Hwai-Min, and Yang Ming-Lung. Ms. Liu joined BTJ/AZDC as an apprentice in 2007 and became a member of the company in 2008.
Paul Matteson (Dancer) originally from Cumberland, Maine, has received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Middlebury and Bennington Colleges, respectively. He was a member of David Dorfman Dance and Race Dance from 2000-2005 and has also performed for Terry Creach, Peter Schmitz, Kota Yamazaki, Chamecki/Lerner, Jamie Cunningham, Neta Pulvermacher, Susan Sgorbati, Helena Franzen, and Keith Johnson. He has been a guest teacher at universities and festivals including the American Dance Festival, the Florida Dance Festival, the Bates Dance Festival, and the TSEH Festival in Russia. He choreographs and continually collaborates with Jennifer Nugent. Mr. Matteson joined the BTJ/AZDC in 2008.
Erick Montes (Dancer) most recently voted one of Dance Magazine 2004's 25 to Watch, Erick is originally from Mexico City and joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 2003. He trained at the National School of Classical and Contemporary Dance in Mexico City. His professional career began with the Compañia Barro Rojo Arte Escenico, A-Quo Danza Contemporanea, Aksenti and Thania Perez-Salas. In 2001, he received the first prize in the Premio Intercontinental INBA-UAM. In 2002, he collaborated with choreographer Stephen Petronio in projects sponsored by Lincoln Center Out of Doors and Queens Theatre in the Park. He received grants in both 2002 and 2005 through the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y Las Artes. In 2004, he was invited as an emerging Mexican choreographer to participate in the Festival Mexico Now in New York City. In 2005, Erick received a grant from Aaron Davis Hall for E-Moves.
Collaborators
Bjorn G. Amelan (Sculptor/Creative Director/Set Designer) was the partner of the late fashion designer Patrick Kelly from 1983 until Mr. Kelly passed away on January 1, 1990. Mr. Amelan moved to the United States to begin his collaboration with Bill T. Jones in 1993. He has designed sets for the following works by Bill T. Jones: Green and Blue (1997) for the Lyon Opera Ballet; How! Do! We! Do! (1999) for Bill T. Jones and Jessye Norman, in conjunction with the Lincoln Center's Great Performers New Visions series; We Set Out Early... Visibility Was Poor (1997), The Breathing Show (1999), You Walk? (2000), The Table Project (2001), Another Evening (2002), Verbum (2002), WorldWithout/In (2002), Black Suzanne (2002), Reading, Mercy and The Artificial Nigger (2003), Mercy 10 x 8 on a Circle (2003), Chaconne (2003), and Blind Date (2005) for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Mr. Amelan is the recipient of a 2001 "Bessie" for his designs of The Breathing Show and The Table Project. View samples of Bjorn G. Amelan's sculpture here.
Jerome Begin (Composer/Piano) studied music composition at Ohio University with Dr. Mark Phillips and studied piano and music for dance, both accompaniment and composition, with André Gribou. He has been commissioned by The Juilliard School, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Sacramento Ballet, Alabama Ballet, Richmond Ballet, and many other dance companies throughout the United States. His works have been performed in the United States, Korea, and Japan. Mr. Begin is on staff at The Juilliard School (Dance Division) and also works as a composer, performer, teacher, and dance accompanist in Brooklyn, NY, where he currently resides.
Wynne Bennett (Composer/Pianist/Keyboardist) has performed and appeared nationally with diverse artists such as James Carter, Konstantin Lifschitz, Philip Glass, Joan Tower, Cassandra Wilson, Beetroot, Akim Funk Buddha, Slick Rick, Little Brother, and Mobb Deep. She has co-written arrangements for Cassandra Wilson's Glamoured album and members of the Orchestra of St. Luke's recently premiered her works Insomnia for string quartet and Tiny Chapters for flute and clarinet. She made her Kennedy Center debut at the age of 18 and has since performed in various venues around the world. Ms. Bennett serves as Music Director/keyboardist for "DBR & The Mission" and is Projects Manager for DBR Music Productions. She will be featured on the legendary Pete Rock's new album to be released in Japan. Aside from performing, composing, and recording, she has accompanied dance classes for Bill T. Jones, Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Ellis Wood, and The Nest. Ms. Bennett is currently working on a solo show involving laptop, piano, keyboard, drum machine, and film.
Sam Crawford (Sound Designer/Supervisor) completed both his Associate of Science degree in Audio Technology and Bachelor of Arts in English at Indiana University in 2003. A move to New York City led him to Looking Glass Studios where he worked on film projects with Philip Glass and Björk. He currently lives in Jersey City where he works as a freelance live sound recording engineer and plays banjo and bass guitar in the groups Stereofan and The Goodwill Orchestra.
Lindsay Jones (Sound Designer) Off-Broadway credits include: The God of Hell, Dedication, In the Continuum, 1001, Something You Did, The Glass Cage, String of Pearls, Boy, O Jerusalem, Beautiful Thing, and Closet Land. Regional theatre credits include: McCarter Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Arena Stage, Goodman, Old Globe, Steppenwolf, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Guthrie, Hartford Stage, Chicago Shakespeare, Lookingglass, Yale Repertory, as well as many others. International credits include productions in Austria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Scotland and with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, England. Lindsay has received four Joseph Jefferson Awards and 13 nominations, an Ovation Award, LA Drama Critics Circle Award, two ASCAP Plus Awards, nominations for Barrymore, Austin Critics Circle and NAACP Theatre Awards and was the first sound designer to win the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award. Recent TV/Film scoring work includes the pilot Family Practice for Sony Pictures/ Lifetime Television and A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (2006 Academy Award winner, Best Documentary, Short Subject) for HBO Films.
Lisa Komara (Composer/Vocalist) a native of California, moved to New York to attend the Manhattan School of Music, where she completed her graduate studies in Classical voice. She has performed with the Bronx Opera Company in productions of Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Der Freischutz, with the Martina Arroyo Foundation as Meg Page in Falstaff, and abroad with the Centro Studi Italiani Opera Festival in Urbania, Italy. Ms. Komara enjoys singing contemporary works and was most recently seen as Emily in the premiere of A Phonographic Novel and has collaborated extensively with composer Matthew Welch in creating the role of Borges in the premiere of Borges and the Other.
Christopher Antonio William Lancaster (Cello) is a composer and performing artist living in New York. His live and recorded music is created by the processing of acoustic cello sound through real-time samplers, audio effects and filtering. He composes predominately for Theater, Dance and his band "The Black Sounds". His compositions have been performed at U.C. Irvine; U.C.L.A.; U.C. Berkeley; the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; the Biennale De La Danse, in Lyon; Bellevue Teatret; Kanon Hallen in Copenhagen; the Kaleidoscope Festival and Sergio Porto in Rio de Janeiro; Dance Theater Workshop; Symphony Space; the 42nd Street Duke; the New Victory Theater; Tisch School of the Arts at NYU; the Joyce and Joyce Soho, in New York; and the American Dance Festival at Duke University. Currently Mr. Lancaster is working on commissions from, Staccato Movimento, Palindrome Inter.media, Colleen Thomas, Sean Curran, and making videos for You Tube. He can be contacted at ChrisLancaster [at] mac [dot] com.
Jim Lewis (Dramaturg) received "Best Book for a Musical" TONY and Drama Desk nominations for Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Broadway, 1995). He worked with Graciela Daniele on Dangerous Games (Broadway, 1990) and Tango Apaisionado (Westbeth, 1988). He conceived and wrote the libretto for Ballet Hispanico's Nightclub and "Titles and Narration" for Philip Glass' Les Enfants Terribles. Translations: Ionesco's The Chairs; Ibsen's Lady from the Sea. Production Dramaturg: White Oak Dance Project's PastFORWARD with Mikhail Baryshnikov; Anna Deavere Smith's House Arrest; Bill T. Jones' Dream on Monkey Mountain; the WOZA AFRIKA Festival at Lincoln Center; the OBIE-winning revival of Granville-Barker's Waste and Shakespeare's Cymbeline, both with director Bartlett Sher. Jim was Program Director at the American Center in Paris and Resident Dramaturg at The Guthrie, Second Stage Theatre, and INTAR Hispanic-American Theater. He is an on-going collaborator with numerous theater and dance companies, including The Civilians, Jane Comfort, Shapiro and Smith, and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, where he helped re-imagine STILL/HERE for their 20th Anniversary production of The Phantom Project at BAM. Jim recently wrote the libretto for The Tyrant, a new opera with composer Paul Dresher and sung by John Duykers which toured nationally in 2006-07. Mr. Lewis is currently at work on two commissions: a new play about the Evangelical Christian community in Colorado with The Civilians (premiere February 2007), and a new musical with Bill T. Jones about the Nigerian superstar and political activist, Fela Kuti.
Kevyn Morrow (Actor) Broadway: Original Casts -The Scarlet Pimpernel; Dream; Smokey Joe's Café; Leader of the Pack; Dreamgirls (Revival '87); A Chorus Line (Closing Co. '90). London West End: Ragtime (2004 Olivier Nom. Best Actor/Musical); 125th Street (World Premiere). Off-Broadway: First Wives Club (Bill, 2010 NAACP Best Lead Male Nom.); The Boys in the Band (Bernard, 40th Anniversary); Radio Golf (Harmond); A Winter's Tale (King Polixenes); Our Town (Dr. Gibbs); Stone My Heart (Othello); Stormy Weather (Billy Strayhorn); The Pajama Game (Sid); The Three Musketeers (Aramis); Tambourines to Glory (Buddy, 2005 Helen Hayes Nom. Best Actor/Musical); Blue (Blue). Film: The Trade; Staying Alive. Television: Guest -Law & Order; Murphy Brown; Recurring - Hope & Faith; Ed; Coach; One Life to Live; Kidsworld (Host).
Liz Prince (Costume Designer) has worked extensively with Bill T. Jones since 1990 designing for his company as well as his productions on: Boston Ballet, Berlin Opera Ballet and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Other work includes designing for: Doug Varone ( Doug Varone and Dancers, Jose Limon Dance Company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company), Trey McIntyre, Mark Dendy, Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project (Meg Stuart, Lucy Guerin), Tamar Rogoff (Claire Danes), PILOBOLUS, Neil Greenberg, Jane Comfort , Bebe Miller, Ralph Lemon, Arthur Aviles, Larry Goldhuber, David Dorfman and LAVA. Her costumes have been exhibited at: The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art and Snug Harbor Cultural Center. She received a 1990 New York Dance and Performance Award for costume design.
Clarissa Sinceno (Singer), a Harlem native, started formal voice training with Frederick Gamble, Athena Lampropoulos, Betty Allen, Nancy Marano, Bettye F. Forbes and Barry Harris. She began at the Harlem School of the Arts and went on to undergraduate studies at North Carolina School of the Arts and Manhattan School of Music. At 17, she performed at the Metropolitan Opera. She has since performed at jazz clubs the Blue Note and Birdland and toured with the Yusuke Hirado Trio and Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble. She has performed excerpts from "Porgy and Bess" and "Children's Requiem" at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls. Ms. Sinceno is a soloist at Marble Collegiate Church, The Riverside Church and Ridgeway Alliance. Ms. Sinceno recorded the voice of Eve in "Paradise Lost" based on the epic poem by John Milton; Stop By, Lord, selections from the African American Church Music Series, conducted by James Abbington; jingles for Master Charge and McDonald's; and her own CDs, A Spirit Sings, Live Recording at Ridgeway and Simply Me. www.clarissasinceno.com
Robert Wierzel (Lighting Designer) has collaborated with Bill T. Jones and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company for over ten years, on numerous projects including Still/Here and Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land; Dream on Monkey Mountain at The Guthrie Theater; as well as with the Boston Lyric Opera; Lyon Opera Ballet; the Welsh dance company, Diversions; London's Contemporary Dance Trust and the Deutsche Opera Berlin. Mr. Wierzel is the recipient of a 1993 New York Dance and Performance Award ("Bessie") for Sustained Achievement in Lighting Design for his work with the Company. He has also worked with Philip Glass on 1000 Airplanes on the Roof and Hydrogen Jukebox, for which he is the 1991 recipient of the American Theater Wing Design Award; musicians Lou Reed and John Cale; The New York City Opera; The Houston Grand Opera; Glimmerglass Opera; the Canadian Opera; Seattle Opera; with choreographers Margo Sappington, Molissa Fenley and J. Fregalette-Jansen, and with artists Red Grooms and Robert Longo. Mr. Wierzel has his undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and his MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
Janet Wong (Associate Artistic Director) was born in Hong Kong and trained in Hong Kong and London. Upon graduation she joined the Berlin Ballet where she first met Bill when he was invited to choreograph on the company. In 1993, she moved to New York to pursue other interests. Ms. Wong became rehearsal director of the company in 1996 and associate artistic director in August 2006.
