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ELLIS WOOD (Founder/ Artistic Director)
choreographs, teaches and does residencies at schools, universities and festivals both nationally and abroad. Ellis Wood is a 2007 recipient of Building Up Infrastructure Levels for Dance (BUILD), a program of New York Foundation for the Arts. Wood was nominated for a 2006 United States Artists Fellowship and was awarded a 2006 Joyce SoHo Residency, the subsidiary of the Joyce Theater located in New York City. She received a 2002 NYFA Fellowship in choreography, and was one of ten choreographers in NYC nominated for the "Emerging Choreographer Award" given by the Downtown Arts Festival in collaboration with The Colbert Foundation. She has taught for two consecutive spring semesters as a Full Time Visiting Guest Artist at SUNY Brockport and eight years as a Guest Artist at UC Berkeley. Prior to founding Ellis Wood Dance, Wood danced in the companies of Stephen Petronio, Dan Wagoner, Bay Area Repertory Dance, and in the works of various New York City choreographers. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley in Dramatic Art/Dance, where she studied with her parents Marni and David Wood, who both danced with Martha Graham. At Berkeley she was awarded the two highest dance awards, The Eisner Prize, and The Florence Schwimley Award, as well as being named Athlete of the Decade in the sport of gymnastics. Wood’s community outreach projects and workshops held in conjunction with her own company performances, have crossed cultural, racial, religious, socio-economic, generational, and gender boundaries to bring dance to communities that might not otherwise have this opportunity. Ellis Wood is honored to have been a 2006-2007 Artist in Residence at Dance New Amsterdam and is in her seventh year at Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York City. Ellis Wood Dance was also a Company in Residence for the 2007 Tisch Dance Residency Festival at New York University and the Summer Dance Workshop at Vassar College.

ELLIS WOOD DANCE performs, teaches and does residencies both nationally and abroad. The Company has been in residence at various colleges and universities such as UC Berkeley, Rutgers University, SUNY Brockport, New York University and New World School for the Arts as well as at The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard. Ellis Wood has been presented at Dance Theater Workshop for eight seasons, Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, The Martha @ Mother series, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, LMCC Evening Stars Series and other NYC venues. She has traveled to perform in such festivals and theaters as: The Tanzwoche Festival, Germany, The Fringe Festival in Portugal, Tseh School in Moscow, Russia, The Palucca Schule in Dresden, Germany, Overtoom 301 in Amsterdam, Dance Acadamien in Upsala, Sweden, The Fringe Festival in Toronto, Canada, Jacob's Pillow, The New Performance Gallery and Cowell Theater in San Francisco, The Fire Island Festival, The Generation X Festival and Panorama Sesi De Danca, Brazil.

Ellis Wood Dance is a 2007 recipient of BUILD, a program of New York Foundation for the Arts. BUILD is a JPMorgan Chase Regrant Program, made possible by The Starry Night Fund of the Tides Foundation. Wood has received seven DTW First Light Commissioning Grants with funds provided by The Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, the Jerome Foundation and from the New York State Council on the Arts. Ellis Wood has been awarded generous funding from The Jerome Foundation, Altria Group, The Bossak/Heilbron Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, LMCC Creative Communities Fund, The Puffin Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, The Greenway/Leibowitz Foundation, Salesforce.com and the Asian Pacific Fund.



JENNIFER PHILLIPS (Rehearsal Director/ Dancer)
grew up in California and now lives in Brooklyn. She has worked with Ellis Wood since 1997 and is an original member of the company. She has toured extensively with the group to perform and teach at festivals and universities, as well as assisting Ms. Wood in setting work. Other artists she has worked with include Wendy Perron as part of Lincoln Center Festival, Charlotte Boye-
Christensen, and Keely Garfield. In 1995, she received a BFA in Dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and prior to that, she trained with her beloved teacher, Shiela Darby.



LOREN DAVIDSON (Dancer)
is a native of Florida and now enjoys life in Brooklyn. In 2003 she received a BFA from New World School of the Arts under the direction of Daniel Lewis, where she performed classic works by Jose Limon and Anna Sokolow. She was awarded full scholarship to the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, which led to involvement on a project with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. This is Loren's first season with Ellis Wood Dance, and she is thrilled for the opportunity to dance with such a passion filled company.




NAOKO NAGATA (Costume Designer)
started her career as a biochemist in Japan. Her evolution into costume making is a long story. Nagata’s first costume was created in 1998 for Jeanine Durning’s DTW show. From that moment, she has been creating for a diverse group of choreographers and dancers non-stop. She has collaborated with David Dorfman Dance, Bebe Miller, David Neumann, Liz Lerman, Doug Elkins, Gina Gibney, Zvi Gotheiner, Paul Matteson, Karl Anderson, Mollie O’Brien, Molly Rabinowits, Ellis Wood and many, many others. Working closely with collaborators, Naoko helps bring to life what she calls “the creation of a shared dream.



ED RAWLINGS (Set Designer)
is a licensed architect and designer. A graduate of Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, with minors in Art & Architectural History who has studied in Rome and worked in New York City for the last 16 years, he has led several award winning projects, including The Roosevelt Island School, the winning entry for the New York City Police Training Academy competition and the winning entry for the Massachusetts General Hospital ambulatory care facility competition. Other recent noteworthy work includes Dance Theater Workshop’s new building, Veritas Restaurant, and an award winning Temporary Walkway Canopy at Newark Airport. website: rawlingsarchitects.com



DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN (Composer)
completed his doctoral work at the University of Michigan, where he also received his Masters in Music. An accomplished violinist, his works have been performed throughout Europe and the United States. In January 2001, Daniel’s work for voice and violin, Epilogue, 1965 was pemiered at Weill Recital Hall as part of a concert entitled “I, Too, Sing America” which celebrated African American poetry. The New York Times lauded his composition, Harlem Essay for Orchestra and Digital Audio Tape, for its “sophistication, invention and dry wit.” Roumain has composed music for and was a featured performer in The Breathing Show by dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones. Roumain is the Lead Teacher of the Music Composition and Theory Department as well as Artist-in-Residence at the Harlem School for the Arts. Recent commissions include works for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, and the San Antonio Symphony. CD’s are available on his website at www.dbrmusic.com.


Yael Acher (Composer)
Yael Acher's work has been called "spell binding, action packed and deeply original" (Berlingske Tidende, Denmark.) A native of Tel Aviv, Acher graduated with a BA degree in music and classical flute performance from the Rubin Academy for Music and Dance in Jerusalem. She lived and worked in Copenhagen from 1992-2005. Since 2005 she has worked, studied composition, and resided in New York. Acher has a wide background as a soloist. She performs classical and modern music, contemporary, progressive/groove electro-acoustic jazz and Latin music, as well as free-improv. She has appeared with chamber ensembles, DJs, Choirs and modern dance groups. Among her many credits are productions in the Camerie Theatre, Susan Dellal Centre for Modern Dance, Beit-Lesin Theatre, The Esoteric Conference in Tel Aviv, the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, and the European Culture City Lille2004, France.

Acher frequently performs Solo concerts in galleries, museums and churches, in Scandinavia, Israel, Romania, France and New York City. She Collaborates as a composer/performer with various choreographer such as: Kim Itoh (Japan), Tim Rushton (UK, DK), and Ballet Mink Colbert (USA).

Since the early 90s, Acher has been the leader of Junk KAT, an electro-instrumental progressive groove jazz group. The band has performs throughout Europe and New York, in collaboration with DJs and video artists. Acher also is involved in the free-jazz scene, performing with artists in Tel Aviv, Copenhagen, Milano and New York.

Her music has been reviewed internationally in Jazz Magazine (France) and Cadence Magazine, among others, and has been broadcast in Denmark,
Spain, France, Rumania and the USA. She is the recipient of many grants, including awards from the Fulbright Commission, American Scandinavian Society, Copenhagen Culture Foundation, Danish Art Council, Danish Artists Union, Danish Jazz Foundation, Danish Musicians Union.
Her compositions have been released on three CDs thus far, Redcar (MODIANO), Modiano (MODIANO) and La Belle Ombre (Capstone.) www.modianomusic.com



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