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Rutgers In New York 2004
 John Evans holds a Masters Degree in Dance from The Ohio State University. He has danced in the companies Victoria Marks, Colin Conner, Monica Levy, Robin Becker, and The Pittsburgh Dance Alloy. John has choreographed over 30 dance works that have been performed in NYC, regionally and internationally. He has twice been a choreographer and performer at The Yard and has had work commissioned by Steele Dance, Thompson & Trammel, James Madison University, The University of Maryland, Hofstra University and the School of Performing Arts in Middlesex County. John has also worked as a lighting designer, technical director and stage manager for dance for over 20 years. John is in his eighth year as full time faculty in the Department of Dance at Mason Gross School of the Arts.
 Randy James was born and raised in New Jersey and currently lives in Highland Park. He began his training at Rutgers University as a Dance and Theater major. In May 2002 he received the New Jersey Governor's Award in Arts Education. The NJSCA/Department of State honored him with a Choreography Fellowship in recognition of his artistic excellence and recently named him "Distinguished Teaching Artist". He has been a guest artist at various institutions nationally and internationally including ADF, Jacob's Pillow, Bates Dance Festival, London Contemporary Dance Theatre, International Contemporary Dance Conference and Performance Festival in Poland, Tage des Tanzes in Germany and Austria, Fine Five School in Estonia, Via Danse in Latvia, among others. James is currently the Artistic Director of Randy James Dance Works as well as Assistant Professor in the Dance Department at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University.
Cleo Mack earned her BFA in dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, where she was the recipient of the ACDFA/Dance Magazine Award for Outstanding Student Choreography. She was selected by Dance Magazine as one of “25 to watch in 2002”. Her work has been shown at DTW’s “Fresh Tracks”, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., P.S.1 Contemporary Dance Center, George Street Playhouse presented by Terra Firma Dance Theatre, Judson Church for Movement Research, and the Hungarian/American Dance Festival in Hungary. She is currently the director of dance at the Purnell School and Artistic Director of the Cleo Mack Dance Project.
David Parsons has enjoyed a remarkable career as a performer, choreographer, teacher, director and producer of dance. Mr. Parsons was born in Illinois and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. From 1978-1987, he was a leading dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Mr. Parsons founded the Company that bears his name with lighting designer, Howell Binkley in 1987. He has created over 60 works on the Company, having received commissions over the years from such eminent presenters as the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the Spoleto Festival, National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada, Het Muziektheater, Dance Theater Workshop and the American Dance Festival. David Parsons choreographed and directed the dance elements for Times Square 2000, the 24-hour festivities in Times Square celebrating the turn of the Millennium, which was watched by billions of people all over the globe. He was a recipient of the Dance Magazine Award for the year 2000. In 2001, Mr. Parsons served as a director/choreographer for AEROS, a production featuring the Romanian Gymnastic Federation, for which he received an American Choreography Award. Mr. Parsons created a piece for American Ballet Theatre using the music of George Harrison that premiered on October 18, 2002 in New York City at City Center.
Lisa Race enjoys dancing on feet and hands. She is inspired by the use of momentum and suspension, and the opportunity to defy gravity. For the last nine years, she has been making and showing dances in New York, and began touring with her company of six in 1997. The choreography is created in collaboration with company members Holly Handman, Curt Haworth, Melanie Kloetzel, Jennifer Nugent, Tom O’Connor and Pamela Pietro. Race has also collaborated on duets with guest artist Sondra Loring, having created Site (1998) and Two Strong Girls Dancing (1995). This season marks Lisa Race/Race Dance’s third appearance at Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery. Her choreography has also been featured at Dance Theater Workshop, First Night New York, Movement Research at the Judson Church, the Kitchen/Dance In Progress and The Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse in New York, as well as in Vermont, Iowa, Maine, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Buenos Aires and Rosario, Argentina. In May of 2000, the company will be presented by Dance Cleveland, followed by a summer performance with Dancing in the Square, at Union Square Park in New York City.
Race has toured and taught internationally and throughout the United States. She has received commissions to choreograph at James Madison University, Texas Women’s University and from the University of Maryland. She is a 1999-2000 recipient of an Artist-in-Residence grant sponsored by Movement Research. In the fall of 2000 she will be creating a duet for Abens Dans, a dance company based in Copenhagen. Race has taught regularly at the American Dance Festival and at Bates Dance Festival in the U.S., as well as at the Festival de Danza in Rosario, Argentina and Tanzwochen in Vienna. She is on the faculty at Trinity College/Performing Arts at La Mama in New York, in addition to teaching technique classes at Movement Research and Dance Space Inc.
Race has been a member of David Dorfman Dance since 1989, and was honored with a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) in 1995 for her dancing with the company.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Race began dancing as a child with Fred Kelly (Gene’s brother), tap dancing around Bergen County at various hospitals and community events, before giving over to gymnastics in high school. She was educated at Rutgers University where she received her bachelor’s degree in dance and had a brief fling with downhill ski racing.
 Julia Ritter is a choreographer whose work combines years of movement training with continued exploration of vocal and theater techniques. She has presented her dance theater works in internationally in Russia, Germany, Canada and the Czech Republic and at many venues in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Julia is the recipient of a 2004 Choreographic Fellowship for artistic excellence from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award by the United States Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, Julia was an artist in residence for 2002-2003 at the Akademie des Tanzes in Mannheim, Germany. She was also a guest artist at the Duncan Dance Conservatory in Prague in spring of 2003. In 2004, Julia was awarded a position on the Fulbright Senior Specialists roster, allowing her the opportunity to participate in special short-term international arts and education projects. Julia is the artistic director of Julia Ritter Performance Group, a non-profit organization that performs nationally and internationally. Julia has received support and generous funding for her creative research from The Trust for Mutual Understanding, the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Puffin Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Walt Whitman Center for Culture and Democracy. Julia performed with Paule Turner and his Philadelphia based company, Court, as a dancer and vocalist from 1996-2002. She has also performed in the works of many independent artists including Amy Pivar, Claire Porter and Melanie Stewart. Julia graduated with her B.F.A. from the Department of Dance at Mason Gross School of the Arts in 1992 and received her M.F.A. degree in Dance from Temple University in 1997. She is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Mason Gross School of the Arts.
Michele Silk was raised in Roxbury, New Jersey. She is a senior at Mason Gross School of the Arts completing her BFA degree in dance. She has worked with choreographers Randy James, Gail Gilbert, John Evans, Susan Marshall, Patricia Mayer, Craig Patterson and has performed the work of Mark Morris at the American Dance Festival. She was a member of the nationally recognized Rutgers Dance Team and is a second year member of University Danceworks. Her work has been presented in numerous student concerts and she is the 2004 recipient of the Dance Express Award for outstanding choreography.
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