ARTIST and COLLABORATOR BIOGRAPHIES
Updated September 30th, 2008 . All information is subject to change! Please check back regularly for updates.
Karola Lüttringhaus, Choreographer and Dancer, was born and grew in Berlin, Germany where she attended Elly's Dance School for three years studying Modern, Ballet, Jazz and Choreography. She attended and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the North Carolina School of the Arts in Modern Dance and Choreography. During her student years at NCSA she was a full time member, a dancer and actress, of the Wheel Theatre Company under the direction of Russian actor/director Felix Ivanov.
She worked as a dancer and choreographer in Europe for four years, mostly in the UK and Germany which also lead to the presentation of her own choreogrpahies in various showcases and full evening productions. During that time she worked for several dance companies, as well as for film and television. She particularly enjoyed and felt honored to be able to work with Robert Wilson in Weimar, Germany. In 1997 she began working as a dancer and choreographer for Benoit Maubrey’s Audio Ballerinas which she was a member of until her move to the US in 1999.
Ever since she decided to work as a dancer professionally her foremost goal was to form her own company. Since 1997 she has been the artistic and executive director, the choreographer and a dancer for alban elved dance company/KAROLA LÜTTRINGHAUS which is serves as an outlet for many of her artistic endeavors. In the last 10 years she has created over 40 original dance theatre works ranging from shorter pieces to full evening length productions and from solos to group works of up to 13 participants. (www.albanelved.com)
Ms Lüttringhaus and alban elved dance company/KAROLA LÜTTRINGHAUS have multiple home bases, splitting their time between New York City/USA, Berlin/Germany and North Carolina/USA. The company performs extensively in the US and also in Europe. alban elved dance company/KAROLA LÜTTRINGHAUS has gained a national reputation for an outstanding artistic integrity, solid choreographic work and a desire to delve into the unknown by embracing collaborations with university scientists and by involving aerial works and unconventional performance venues into their repertoire. alban elved dance company/KAROLA LÜTTRINGHAUS is regularly presented at the d.u.m.b.o. Dance Festival, Cool New York Festival, Wave Rising Series, Dance Now! New York and Raw Materials festivals in New York City, the Old Dominion University Choreographers showcase in Norfolk, VA, the American Dance Festival Acts to Follow Series in Durham NC, the Snowy Range Dance Festival in Laramie, WY, the International Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder, CO, the North Carolina Touring and local Dance Festival, The Charlotte Dance Festival in Charlotte, NC and many others. Most recently in March of 2006 her work “Wrath” was chosen to participate in the prestigious ‘10. Internationales Solo Tanz Theater Festival und Wettbewerb’ in Stuttgart, Germany.
A quote from the Classical Voice North Carolina describes Ms Lüttringhaus’s work as “marked by an unpretentious athleticism and a philosophic quality. … the dances are closely reasoned sequences that exploit the physics of movement for its emotional resonance. Not pretty but often beautiful, Lüttringhaus' dances depend on the proud power and flexibility of the dancers' bodies – and their joint and mutual willingness to risk themselves.” Ms Lüttringhaus’s work is fiercely physical, tracing the changeable electricity of thought and sensation that underlies human interaction and interpersonal relationships. The interdisciplinary nature of her works expands the boundaries of dance performance, creating startling and evocative psychological landscapes.
The company’s repertoire is very diverse. No two pieces are alike, varying in style and movement vocabulary.
Ms Lüttringhaus is the proud recipient of the 2006 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship. North Carolina’s 'GoTriad Magazine' voted her one of the top 20 people of the year with great influence on the arts scene in NC in 2003. alban elved dance company/KAROLA LÜTTRINGHAUS were featured on the cover of the Dance Spirit Magazine ( the second largest national dance publication in the US) in February 2005 including an 8-page article. Another article on Ms Lüttringhaus’ science collaborations was published in the Dance Spirit Magazine in the September 2006 issue.
As a teacher, Ms Lüttringhaus has been working in public schools, private studios, Colleges and Universities for 17 years. Among many other teaching engagements she has taught Governor School, NC, is a returning teacher and artist at the International Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder, CO and at the Snowy Range Dance Festival in Laramie, WY, at the University of Southern Mississippi, The American Dance Festival in Durham, NC, Salem College, NC, Wake Forest University, NC, Ruth Cansfield Dance Summer Program in Winnipeg, Canada, Studio Balance in Berlin, Germany, aerial dance at the Juggling Convention Tankerton, UK, etc. She organizes workshops and alban elved dance company/KAROLA LÜTTRINGHAUS engages in an annual arts in education program with high school students working on the creation and performance of new works.
Ms. Lüttringhaus is a visual artist, and shows her large colorful abstract paintings as time allows. In 2007 some of her paintings are on exhibit at the art+life gallery/shop in Potsdam, Germany. She is a carpenter and builds and paints scenery and sets for alban elved dance company/KAROLA LÜTTRINGHAUS.
Dancer:
Janelle Tatum Eggleston Janelle Eggleston has danced as Principal and Soloist dancer with North Carolina Dance Theatre, under Salvatore Aiello, Le Grande Theatre du Geneve (Switzerland) Chatauqua Dance Company (New York), under Jean Pierre Bonnefoux, Cincinnati Ballet, under Ivan Nagy and Alabama Ballet, under Dame Sonia Arova. She has worked with such renowned choreographers as Juri Kilian, in Stamping Ground, Ohad Naharin in Kyr/Perpetuim and Christopher Bruce in Rooster. Most notable roles performed are Swanhilda in Salvatore Aiello’s Coppelia, Choleric in Balanchine’s The Four Temperments, and lead dancer in Itzik Galili’s Cendrillion.
Mrs. Eggleston is currently a returning guest artist instructor at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and teaches with Virginia School of the Arts both in Lynchburg.
Dancer:
Naomi Greenberg was born and grew up in Kibbutz Cabri, Israel. She started dancing at the age of 11, in the "Matte Asher" studios, under the direction of Ms Yehudit Arnon. Naomi attended the "Mannor-Cabri Arts High School", double majoring in Modern Dance and Visual Arts. After graduating she participated in a two year dance program in the "Matteh Asher Workshop". In the fall of 1999 she moved to the U.S. enrolling in the Modern Dance dept. of the "North Carolina School of the Arts". Naomi danced with the "Alban Elved dance Company" for the first time on "Inertia" in December of 1999. She attained her BFA from the North Carolina School of the Arts in 2004, and is delighted to be working again with "Alban Elved Dance Company".
Dancer:
Photo: jeff Cravotta
Dancer:
Sarah Emery is co-founder of Echo Arts, Charlotte, NC.
Sarah is from Chesapeake, VA and currently resides in Charlotte, NC. She began her dance training in Norfolk, VA at the Tidewater Ballet Association and later continued her training at the North Carolina School of the Arts. She has studied at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Boston Ballet and the Hungarian National Ballet.
Her professional dance experience includes the Moving Poets Theater of Dance, Alma Dance Company, Omaha Dance Theater, Kim Robards Dance, Terpsicorps Theater of Dance, North Carolina Dance Theater and the Tulsa Ballet Theatre.
Sarah is also a teacher and choreographer in the Charlotte area and in her spare time she enjoys working towards a degree in Web Technologies.
Dancer:
Andrea Lieske was the Assistant Director of alban elved dance company for 8 years until the birth of her son in 2006. She grew up in Berlin, Germany and is a New York City resident.
She attended Elly's Dance School in Berlin and received her BFA in modern dance from the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. She has performed and toured with such companies as Leslie Partridge and dancers, Steven Koplowitz, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, Eric Dunlap / "Forward", Mary Bruce Blackburn, Maja Milenovic-Workman, Benoit Maubrey and Tim Harling.
Ms. Lieske has been teaching aerial and partnering classes at festivals and residencies including the International Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder, CO and the Snowy Range Dance Festival at Laramie, WY.
Ms. Lieske and Ms. Lüttringhaus have been dancing together for over 15 years and built alban elved dance company together.
Dancer:
Dawn Shropshire Webster is a graduate of UNC-Greensboro where she received a Bachelors of Science degree in Dance Education. She is teh lead dance teacher for the Forsyth COunty Public School system. She is the head dance teacher at East Forsyth High School and has been building a strong modern-based dance program since 2001. In 2003, she founded E.Co Dance, an East Forsyth student company with hopes to raise money for charity and to support local artists through fundraising performances. The company’s work focuses on abstract expressions that reflect life experiences and how people relate to one another. Dawn is also involved in The Dance Movement, a performance and dance advocate group for high school students. In addition to public school teaching, Dawn teaches at Miss. Joyce’s Dance Studio in King and at In Motion Dance in Winston Salem. Dawn started working with alban elved dance company in 2005.
Dancer:
Rebecca Smith was raised in Cary, North Carolina and
now resides in New York City where she works as a dancer and personal trainer. She attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, receiving her B.F.A. in Modern Dance. Since moving to NYC, Ms. Smith has performed and toured with Leslie Partridge, Eric Dunlap/forward...., Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, and Mary Bruce Blackburn and the American Dance Ensemble. She has also toured internationally with the North Carolina Contemporary Dance Ensemble, and with Austin Hartel Dance. Ms. Smith has also taught creative movement and modern dance to students in public schools, as well as private institutions. She opened her own business "Integration Fitness Training" in New York City.
Musician / Composer:
Mark A. Wienand is a saxophonist residing in Ithaca, NY. Mr. Wienand has played for dance and drama productions and in bands of many styles. He has both BM and MM degrees in saxophone, and also plays flute, clarinet, and various other wind instruments. As well as performing, Mr. Wienand teaches private saxophone lessons and has taught middle school band in Winston Salem. He has taught at Livingston College, NC and was recently director of instrumental music at Pfeiffer University, NC. Mr. Wienand has been playing and composing music for Ms. Luttringhaus for almost ten years, and under her direction, will make his dancing debut in this piece. He regularly performs in the Triad and New York. He released a CD with the "Hog - Tie Sessions", an Irish and Bluegrass Band. As well as music, Mr. Wienand is passionate about non-polluting technologies, and has been driving a car that runs on vegetable oil for over two and a half years.
Musician / Composer:
Steve Bloom has been living and performing as a guitarist
in New York City since 1983. Mr Bloom plays a variety of styles such as Jazz (Swing to Modern), Classical (Renaissance/Baroque, Spanish & 20th Century), Afro-Cuban, Argentine Tango, Brazilian, Blues, Funk, R&B, Folk Music, etc. as well as composing and arranging music.
Currently he plays with the following groups: The Harlem Renaissance Orchestra (Big Band Swing), The Last of the International Playboys (Cuban, Swing, and 'Spy Music'), Paris Match (Tango Trio), Classical Guitar & Flute/Violin, Jazz Trios/Duos/Quartets, Solo Guitar (Jazz, Classical, Brazil) , and various other groups depending on the situation.
Musician / Composer:
Jeff Matlock Schmitt Jeff enjoys a rich life filled with science,
music and art.
He did his undergraduate work at Wake Forest University followed by a graduate fellowship at the University of Bath, during which time he was a visiting scientist at Oxford University. Jeff has collaborated with numerous American and European artists, including ventures with ex-King Crimson drummer Michael Giles and LA sound artist Rhan Small. Jeff has been creating music with alban elved for nearly 10 years now, leading to collaborations in England, the USA and Germany. Jeff has been creating music with alban elved for many years, leading to collaborations in England, the USA and Germany. Jeff served as chairman of AE's board of directors. he currently resides in Asheville, NC.
Musician/Composer:
tapecase is the signature of sound artist Rhan Small. Rhan was born and raised in North Carolina and is currently living and working in Los Angeles.
He was a founding member of the multi-media performance groups:
- 3people 1990-1995 with Sylvia Bognar and Victor Faccinto
- Swimming with Her 1995-1997 with Sylvia Bognar,
Jeff Schmitt and Pam Wagner
- tapecase 1996-present with Sylvia Bognar and Xtevion.
Musician/Composer:
Composer, guitarist and computer sound artist, Samuel Allen Taylor explores a variety of collaborative situations, including music, theatre, poetry and dance. His music seeks a fusion between notated composition and structured improvisation synthesizing electronic and acoustic media. He studied guitar, composition and electronic music at the North Carolina School of the Arts, and currently resides in Winston-Salem.
Musician/Composer:
Joe Morgan is a ten year veteran of North Carolina's experimental music fringe. His approach to compostion is informed by subliminal sound used in movies and television advertising. Mr. Morgan has participated in projects as diverse as jazz and rock music to multimedia sound art performance. He currently performs with the group "the tape is now the music". Joe has worked with alban leved on several mayor productions in the last 5 years, including "Animate", "Aurora", "Counterpart", "The Web" and others.
Musician/Composer:
Mark Engebretson (b. 1964) is Assistant Professor of Composition and Electronic Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A 2007 recipient of a commission from Harvard University’s Fromm Music Foundation, his compositions have been presented at festivals such as ICMC (International Computer Music Conference), Bowling Green Festival of New Music and Art, Third Practice Festival (University of Richmond), Wien Modern (Vienna), Gaida Festival (Vilnius, Lithuania), Sonoimagenes (Buenos Aires) Hörgänge Festival (Vienna), Ny Musikk (Bergen, Norway), Indiana State University New Music Festival (Terre Haute, Indiana), the Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, ISCM Festivals (Tirana, Albania and Baku, Azerbaijan), the UNCG New Music Festival and World Saxophone Congresses (Pesaro, Italy, Montreal, Canada, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Ljubljana, Slovenia).
Recent performances include premieres by UNCG’s EastWind Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, the SUNY Fredonia Wind Ensemble at a College Band Director’s National Organization (CBDNA) regional conference, the Wroclaw (Poland) Philharmonic Orchestra, a presentation by the Jacksonville Symphony and a three-night, sold out engagement featuring Winter Ashes, with dance and video by John Gamble. Since it’s completion in January 2006, SaxMax for saxophone and interactive electronics has received twelve performances worldwide.
She Sings, She Screams for alto saxophone and digital media has been performed countless times worldwide, and has been released on three commercial compact disc recordings, two of which are on the Innova label. Other works on CD include Nesseln (Arizona University Recordings American’s Millennium Tribute to Adolphe Sax, Volume VIII, AUR CD 3121); Duo Concertante (recorded twice); and Events (to be included on FEMF vol. 2 proceedings disc). A composer-feature disc of chamber music was released in 2007 (Innova 645).
Dr. Engebretson taught composition at the University of Florida, music theory at the SUNY Fredonia and 20th-century music history at the Eastman School of Music. He studied at the University of Minnesota (graduating Summa cum Laude), the Conservatoire de Bordeaux (as a Fulbright Scholar), and Northwestern University, where he received the Doctor of Music degree. At Northwestern he studied composition with M. William Karlins, Pauline Oliveros, Marta Ptaszynska, Michael Pisaro, Stephen Syverud and Jay Alan Yim and saxophone with Frederick Hemke. His teachers in France were Michel Fuste-Lambezat and Jean-Marie Londeix.
Audio Electronics / Composer:
Andy Turner was born and grew up in Winston-Salem, NC. He is the designer of the movement to midi converter. As the co-owner of Mojo Musical Supply in Wilmington, NC he enjoys a unique view of the past and present states of the audio electronic industry. Over the past 3 years his support behind the scenes has become invaluable to alban elved and the movement to MIDI converter has been one of the most successful assets to alban elved dance company, leading to extensive touring from Florida to Alaska. visit www.mojotone.com !
Lighting Designer:
has studied Scenography, Marionette, Painting, Ballet, and Architecture. She has been teaching set & lighting design, interior design, architecture, and computer 3D lighting & rendering for the past sixteen years. She is currently is a full time assistant professor of Scenography in the department of theatre at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, UNCW. Fereshteh holds an MFA degree in set and lighting design from The Ohio State University. Fereshteh has worked as a Free-lance Scenographer for numerous plays internationally. She also served as a special effects artist for film, theme parks, advertising and retail industries. She has won many design awards and her work has been published in books, Magazines, and Music Medias. Her lighting design for Jesus Christ Superstar in 2006 has won her the outstanding lighting design at the 20th Annual Charlotte Theatre Awards. Fereshteh had also delivered seminars on lighting techniques within the retail environment at the International Retail Design Conference in Orlando, FL and Pasadena, CA. She is a professional member of USITT and the associate member of OISTAT.
Lighting Designer:
Jonathan Christman is a scenic and lighting designer for Wake Forest University Theater andDance Program. Jonathan has designed lighting and projected scenery for Belfast Blues. The production opened in Los Angeles and was performed at the Feile Festival in West Belfast. The production will be returning for performances in Ireland and Belfast in February. Jonathan has designed the background for the comedian Vince Morris which will be seen on an upcoming special on Comedy Central. For Wake Forest, he has recently designed the Fall Faculty & Guest Artist Concert, Angels in America and Vieux Carre. Jon is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and received his MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Jonathan has been working with Ms Luttringhaus and alban elved since April 2000.
Lighting Designer:
Jennifer Wynn O’Kelly delights in the collaborative telling of a great tale whether it be through lighting, scenic, or production design. She has been resident designer with Clarence Brown Theatre Company, Greensboro Ballet, and Blowing Rock Stage Company. Her credits include NC Shakespeare Festival’s A Christmas Carol, A Dickens of a Christmas for Triad Stage, Three Pickers (PBS), Juwanna Mann (film), Having Our Say (film), Music Man, The Country Wife, Measure for Measure, The Nutcracker, Brooklyn to Broadway II, TANGO, and Kafka’s The Trial. She recently traveled to Alaska with the company and looks forward to collaborating on more projects as the company expands their repertoire in the coming months and years, Jennifer earned her MFA at NCSA, owns a residential/industrial design business (O’Kelly Design Studios) which operates a mural and scenic painting studio in Winston-Salem’s Arts District, and is a dedicated member of United Scenic Artists (IATSE local USA829) and local 635.
Lighting Design:
Aaron Hock coming soon...
Master Electrician:
Chelsea Opdyke is a grad. of theatre from Grand Valley State Univ. in Michigan. During the last four years of living in Wilmington she has been employed at UNCW in the theatre dept. as the master electrician and properties head. She has done the properties design for many UNCW production and even a lighting design for their production of Fuddy Meers. She also recently designed lights for Big Dawg's recent production of 1000 Clowns. This is the third production with Alben Elved, including Persians, performed last year at UNCW which she not only work tech on but performed in as well. She would like to thank Karola and Fereshteh for their art as well as including her in their process.
Filmmaking:
Erik Martin is an independent filmmaker originally from Chapel Hill, NC.
He graduated from Tulane University with a degree in American Studies, and he got his filmmaking start documenting hip-hop artists and basketball events.
Recently, he has written, edited, co-directed and produced several feature films and documentaries with Carrboro NC's banzai! entertainment. He worked for LEAP Technologies, a laboratory robotics company. By late night, he is working on “Invisible Gorilla” (a novel). He lives and works in New York City.
Poetry:
Konstantin grew up and lives in Berlin, Germany.
He started writing poetry at age 12. his poetry is strongly influenced by
the fantasy and fiction genre. The rich imagery reaches to deep emotional
places that catches the reader off guard.
He has written poetry for Lux Eterna I and II and inspired many pieces on the
company repertoire.
Filmmaking:
Alexander grew up in Stuttgart, Germany and later on attended the North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking. After leaving NCSA he worked in New York City in the filmmaking business for 2 years.
He resided in Berlin, Germany working as a screenwriter for several years and currently lives in Stuttgart, where he is a manager for two restaurants and works as a film director and screenwriter. Alexander has been collaborating with alban elved for about 10 years, as a camera man for two dance films and as photographer.
Computer Sciences:
Jennifer Burg holds Masters degrees in English and French and taught these subjects at the college level before returning to school to earn her PhD in computer science in 1992. She has been a faculty member of Wake Forest’s Department of Computer Science since 1993. Dr. Burg has found a place to bring together her interests in computer programming, poetry, literature, and art in the realm of digital media. She is currently working on an NSF-funded grant in digital media curriculum development.
Computer Sciences & 3-D Animation:
Yue-Ling Wong, Ph.D
Lecturer in Digital Media
Department of Computer Science
Department of Art
Wake Forest University
Computer Sciences:
Dr. David Brady is the Brian F. Addy endowed Director of the Fitzpatrick Center for Photonics and Communication Systems and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. Professor Brady received Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Applied Physics from California Institute of Technology in 1986 and 1990 and a B.A. in Physics and Mathematics from Macalester College (home to Nobel prize winners) in 1984. He was on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1990 through 2000 as an Assistant, Associate and adjective-free Professor. He has received several awards, including a David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship (also home to Nobel prize winners). Professor Brady's work focuses on optical communications and sensing systems. He is currently the Information Processing Division Chair of the Optical Society of America.
alban elved dance company/KAROLA LUTTRINGHAUS
Berlin - New York City - North Carolina
albanelved@albanelved.com
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