Affinity III - deepening our creative relationships with these artists.

EAST COAST – New York

DANCE ENTROPY - Valerie Green
Website: www.DanceEntropy.org
Valerie Green performed in the 2011 SB-ADaPT Festival as well as the 2012 RAW MATTERS ADaPT Special in Vienna

Photo by Rodney Zagury
Company Bio:
Dance Entropy is a professional modern dance company featuring 8 multi-ethnic dancers that tours and teaches both domestically and abroad. Dance Entropy abstracts the potential chaos of the body and creates order through expressive movement reflecting the world within which we live. Dance Entropy supports Valerie Green’s vision as Artistic Director where by she creates stage and site-specific work. The company uses creation, performance, and teaching to link dance and the people of a particular community.



Choreographer’s Bio:

Valerie Green has been an active dancer, choreographer and teacher in the NYC dance community for over 17 years. She created her own company, Dance Entropy in 1998, adding a permanent company home in 2005 called Green Space in LIC Queens. Green Space serves the dance community by providing an affordable and welcoming environment for rehearsals, classes, and performances. To date Ms. Green has created 23 dances and 6 evening length works. Her choreography has been seen throughout NYC and has also toured to various venues throughout the US. Internationally she has taught and performed in Canada, France, Italy, Greece, Russia, Austria, India, Russia, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, and Albania. As a guest artist, Valerie has received commissions from Texas State University, BITEF Theater in Belgrade, Serbia, and Theater Alternativa in Tirana, Albania. She has also taught at the UNLV, Texas State, LaGuardia Community College, University of Nanterre, France, and at the Faculty of Drama & Art in Belgrade, Serbia and Sarajevo, Bosnia.


TRINA MANINNO
Trina Mannino performed in the 2011 SB-ADaPT Festival
Photo by Eric Bandiero
Choreographer’s Bio
Trina Mannino studied dance at the University of Michigan under Amy Chavasse, Bill DeYoung, Jessica Fogel, Judy Rice, Peter Sparling, and Robin Wilson. During her time at U of M, she had the pleasure of
dancing in a number of works by her peers and faculty, but her favorite U of M experience involved befriending a weeping willow tree and creating a dance in honor of it. She has performed with Anabella
Lenzu’s Dance/Drama, Chris Masters, and Laura Peterson Choreography, in addition to presenting her own work in Brooklyn, Detroit and Santa
Barbara. Her writing has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Dance Europe Magazine, Hour Detroit Magazine, and The Dance Enthusiast. Trina still manages to return to Michigan a few times a year to enthusiastically frolic in the gorgeous state lakes and sand dunes.

What do you hope to gain from this experience?
While performing in Pasadena and Santa Barbara I will continue a
dialogue with the ArtBark International community by exchanging ideas,
address issues in the field and receive and give constructive feedback
of one another's work. I want to delve to a new level in my own work
during this trip, and would love to witness another artist's "new
place".

PACIFIC NORTHWEST - Oregon

BODYSENSATE - Matt Nelson - Salem
Website link: www.bodysensate.com
Matt Nelson performed with his company in the 2011 SB-ADaPT Fest

photo by Matthew Nelson and Rachel Remba

Company bio:
BodySensate Contemporary Dance aims to research embodied ecology through movement aesthetics. Ecology is a study of relational systems: How do we interact with our internal and external environments? Can we sense these relationships firsthand by moving, or by witnessing movement? What do our movements reveal about our worldviews?

Choreographer’s Bio:
Matthew teaches dance in the theatre department at Willamette University, where he also directs the annual dance concerts, PeopleDance. He holds an MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah, and is a certified Laban Movement Analyst. He has performed extensively with Santa Barbara Dance Theatre, and additionally credits his artistic lineage to the communities of the University of California Santa Barbara, American Dance Festival, University of the Arts, Pomona College, Dance Fusion, Anne Marie Mulgrew Company, and Philadanco. Research interests reflected in academic and choreographic publication include spinal connectivity, somatic philosophy, and embodied ecology.

WEST COAST – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara

ARPANA DANCE COMPANY - Ramya Harishankar - Los Angeles
Website Link - www.arpanadancecompany.org
Ramya Harishankar taught a master class for the 2011 SB-ADaPT Festival

Photo by K V Ramanai

Company Bio:
Irvine based and award winning Arpana Dance Company has had the honor of
performing in the US, Europe and India under the guidance of Artistic
Director, Ramya Harishankar. Named a LA Milestone Dance Company by the Dance
Resource Center of Los Angeles, the Arpana Dance Company is a recipient of
grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts
Council, the Fund for Folk Culture and the Alliance for California
Traditional Arts. The Company has presented 15 full length productions
raising over $90000 for charities worldwide in the last 20 years.

Choreographer’s Bio:
A protégé of legendary ‘gurus’, Ramya Harishankar has performed all over the
world as a soloist. As a teacher, she has introduced and trained several
hundred youngsters both at her school, Arpana and thru the education program
at the Segestrom Center for the Arts. As a choreographer, she has over 15
full length productions to her credit, many of which have raised nearly
$100,000 for charities worldwide. Under her guidance, her company Arpana has
toured the US, Europe, India and more recently, Japan. She also regularly
conducts workshops on Bharata Natyam and particularly abhinaya in the N.
America, Asia and Europe. As a producer, she co-convened the first seminar
on Indian dance in California and has presented over 50 Indian dance
soloists/companies to S California audiences. Besides receiving several
awards, citations and grants from state and national agencies, Harishankar
is the recipient of the Helene Modjeska Cultural Legacy award from Arts OC
and a 2 time National Endowment of the Arts Choreography fellow.

What do you hope to gain from this experience?
I believe that even as the globe shrinks, it is important build relationships with those that are on the same wave length and share the same passion for dance.

HARTPULSE DANCE COMPANY– Amanda Hart - Los Angeles
Website Link: www.hartpulsedance.com
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/hartpulse
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWpsyRZYYSA
HartPulse participated in the SB-ADaPT Fest 2011 and the February 2012  Affinity I project

Photo by Sue Bell, Decadent Images

Company Bio:
Hart Pulse Dance Company creates unforgettable and inspiring works that refresh Southern California's love for dance. Through Contemporary movement, HPDC brings their cutting edge blend of Ballet, Modern and Jazz to break the barrier between dancer and viewer. Now in their 6th year, HPDC and their annual MixMatch Dance Festival aim to lead the dance world in providing affordable, professional performances in approachable settings to the every day dance enthusiast.

Choreographer’s Bio:
A California native, Amanda's early training began with the Sierra Performing Arts Center in Visalia, CA under the technical instruction of Susan Pallas and Melinda Cordell (ABT). After winning many awards in the competition dance world, she was accepted into The Fresno Ballet Company where her professional career began.
A talented ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern and tap dancer, Ms. Hart has appeared in numerous shows, including the Cal Arts Dance Ensemble at REDCAT, while receiving her BFA in Dance from the California Institute of the Arts in 2005. Amanda soon fell in love with choreography and began creating new works performed throughout the Los Angeles areas.
Ms. Hart was accepted in the Strathmore and Cambridge Women's Who's Who and was nominated for a 2009 Horton Award for Outstanding Production of a Festival or Series. She is the Artistic Director or her own, Hart Pulse Dance Company and annual MixMatch Dance Festival and is currently on the Board of Directors for the Dance Resource Center of Los Angeles.

What do you hope to gain from this experience?
HPDC aims to create work that many people and fellow creators can relate to and feel from. Creating a bridge between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles is something very important for Hart Pulse as a So Cal dance company and to Director, Amanda Hart, as a Dance Resource Center Board Member and choreographer.
 
MOVEMENT THEATER COLAB - Robert Salas – Los Angeles
Facebook Link: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Movement-Theatre-CoLab/323032254384806
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/MovementTheatreCoLab
Robert Salas participated in the 2011 SB-ADaPT Festival as a photographer and participated in the February 2012 Affinity Project as a choreographer
Photo by Robert Salas
Company Bio:
Robert Salas directs the newly formed Movement Theatre CoLab. MTC is a new company with seasoned artistic collaboration. Its dance artists have been performing, touring and creating dance works together for two years and are proud to officially join the multitude of strong Southern California dance companies.

Works have been presented in Santa Barbara Dance Alliance's "New Works Concert" and "Dance at the Top of the Hill," as well as the Nancy Evans Family and Friends Concert, Encore Dance Invitational, MixMatch Dance Festival 2011 by Hart Pulse Dance Company, SpectorDance's Emerging Choreographers Showcase 2011, The So-CAL Dance Invitational Concert 2011 and for Patrick Franz’s La Danserie. It was these performance and choreographic presentations and a need to have a committed group of dancers to create new works that spawned the founding of Movement Theatre CoLab.

The philosophy of Movement Theatre CoLab is to provide a platform for movement exploration and collaboration of the arts: Dance, Music, Visual and Sculptural expression. Their work is an attempt to visit the fertile lands of collaboration brought to light by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes.

Choreographer's Bio:
Robert Salas has been involved in dance and movement for about 30 years --first as a martial artist, where he studied Chung Moo Kwon, Tai Kwon Do, Shorin Ryu, and Aikido. It was this early influence of martial arts that an appreciation for structured movement and movement as a vehicle of cathartic expression took root.
This desire for physical expression brought Robert to theatre and dance during his early years in college. Having been fortunate enough to work professionally with the California Shakespeare Festival under Director Mark Lamos in Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet, his passion for performance took flight.
In his junior year in college at Humboldt State as a theatre major, Robert realized that dance was his preferred form of theatrical expression. He was accepted to study dance at the University of California, Irvine, where he received both his BA and MFA.

He has studied Ballet, Jazz, Modern Dance, Acting and Mime with such notable teachers as Finis Jhung, Israel "El" Gabriel, Claude Thompson, Hama, Jamie Rogers, Athena Pallas, Natalie Clare, Nina Weiner, Lena De Marco, James Penrod and Paul Jones. He continues to study contemporary modern technique with Stephanie Nugent and Holly Johnston and studied Laban with Janice Meaden, Ed Groff and Peggy Hackney. Robert enjoys exploring the principles of the Laban theories of Space, Shape and Movement and how they reveal the complexities of the Human experience.

Robert has danced with Terry Lewis Dance Ensemble, Francisco Martinez Dance Theatre, Long Beach Ballet, South Bay Ballet, The Montgomery Ballet and Le Ballet Pallas.

As an instructor, Robert been teaching dance primarily in the California Community College system and with private studios. He has taught dance at Ballet Pacifica Conservatory, Dance West, Cypress College, Cerritos College, Irvine Valley College, Academy of the Performing Arts at Huntington Beach High School and currently is at Moorpark College as a tenured faculty member.

As a choreographer, Robert has presented his work in Santa Barbara Dance Alliance’s “New Works Concert” and “Dance At The Top Of The Hill.” Nancy Evans’ Family and Friends Concert, SpectorDance’s Emerging Choreographers Showcase 2011, Patrick Franz’s La Danserie, SB-ADaPT Fest Sprouts-Affinity 2012, and Evoke Dance Concert at the Portal 2012. It was through these performance and choreographic presentations that a need to have a committed group of dancers to create new works that spawned Movement Theatre CoLab. Robert is excited for this prospect and looks forward to the experiences of this collaboration.

The philosophy of Movement Theatre CoLab is to provide a platform for movement exploration and collaboration of the arts: Dance, Music, Visual and Sculptural expression. Their work is an attempt to visit the fertile lands of collaboration brought to light by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes and to bring these works of human expression to the greater community to foster dance art appreciation.

What do you hope to gain from this experience?
My main wish is to share my art with like-minded individuals, get some feed back and share in the joy of sharing our visions. My second objective is to research and gather data for producing a show under the auspices of ArtBark’s umbrella. Thirdly to provide a venue for my dancers and possibly cultivate new acquaintances and possible collaborations.

RUBANS ROUGE DANCE COMPANY - Noelle Andressen Kale – Los Angeles
Website: http://www.rubansrougesdance.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RubansRougesDance
Noelle has performed and presented work in the 2011 SB-ADaPT Festival and the 2012 Affinity I Project. Affinity III she is joining the administrative group collectively managing the production helping out with graphics and the website.
Photo by Sue Bell, Decadent Images

Company Bio
Rubans Rouges Dance Company was founded in 2009 by it's Artistic Director: Noelle Andressen. After having choreographed and performed a modern dance piece entitled: "Shattered Innocence - Red Ribbons" at her Alma Matter Moorpark College, Misa Kelly invited her to share this piece at Montecito's School of Ballet. Thus the delicate birthing of Rubans Rouges (French for Red Ribbons) ensued. The company is a labor of love in which she shares her artistry in: film, dance, theatrical movement and the talents of her husband's Emmy nominated scores. Her desire is to present pieces that touch the heart and move one's soul to ponder the wonderful intricacies of life's journeys.

Choreographer’s Bio
Noelle Andressen, a former Emmy nominated filmmaker, writer & music composer returned to her first love: DANCE. With an AA in dance (Moorpark), BA in film (UNLV) she's merged her two passions: film and dance into a multi-media dance company. She herself has performed in various venues such as CSUN in Northridge, Main Stage in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Hollywood, and San Diego. Her credits include: ABC's "Modern Family", g.l.a.a.d. Awards, TLN Cable Network, Clipper's Half Time, choreography for FlashMob America and several music videos. Recently, she was cast as a lead in a modern dance film: "Entropy" which is currently in production. She is greatly honored to have received a special invitation to perform internationally next year in Istanbul.

What do you hope to gain from this experience?
The hope is to continuously further the community of dance and connect with fellow artists who share this same goal. The soulful goal is to support one another in reaching artistic goals and always reciprocating with graciousness the joy of dance and movement with the community.

PERCEPTIONS WEST - Melissa Gendreau – San Francisco
Website Link www.perceptionsdance.com
Melissa showed an "Affinity" for the work we do as an outcome of a connection established between Dance Entropy and then SonneBlauma Danscz Theatre. The affinity between Valerie, Stephen and Misa led to the Kelly's touring to New York to perform in Valerie's space.  They shared a program with the New York branch of Perceptions Dance company which led to a connection with Perceptions West. 

Photo by Johnny Grace
Company Bio:
Perceptions Dance was founded in 2007 by Melissa Gendreau and has shown works throughout New England and Northern California. In 2009 Perceptions Dance migrated to New York City from the Boston, MA area, while continuing to set work at colleges and universities. In 2011, Assistant Director Molly Fletcher Lynch branched out to San Francisco, where she is currently the West Coast Director, building new repertoire works specifically for the western area. "Dance de Terroir" is a collaboration between Lynch and dancers.

Perception’s works scale a broad range of styles, from classical dance techniques, to creating imaginative plots with theatrical dance, and provoking inquisitive minds through abstract work. In addition to classic concert dance, Perception’s versatile styles also include work in music videos, off-Broadway musicals, and live performances with pop music groups. Perceptions uses the term “contemporary” to create a boundless container of endless possibilities.

Choreographer’s Bio:
Molly graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 2007 where she studied sociology, psychology and dance. She has danced professionally in Boston and NYC with the likes of Bryce Dance Company, Kelley Donovan and Dancers, Ballet Lolita, Anahata Modern Dance Company, Keen Dance Theater and Perceptions Contemporary Dance Company. While in NYC Molly took over the role as Assistant Director of PCDC. Molly moved to San Francisco in 2011 and has continued to work with PCDC by directing and choreographing for West Coast branch of Perceptions. Their most recent project was a commission of Carmina Burana for the San Francisco Choral Society at Symphony Hall this past August. Molly also dances for David Herrera Performance Company and teaches pilates.

Robin Bisio – Santa Barbara
Website:  www.Robinbisiodance.com
Robin participated in the 2011 SB-ADaPT Festival as a film  maker.

Photo: FILM Whisky Winter - Ghost Tiger by Robin Bisio, Nik Blaskovich, Ted Mills, DANCERS Monica Ford, Kaita Lepore PHOTO Kathee Miller

Artist’s Bio:
Robin Bisio’s award winning dance films have been screened at film fests worldwide, including six years at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Short Fest, Dance On Camera, Danza Di Napoli, Festival Du Films Independants/Brussels, Chicks With Flicks, A New Generation of Women Film Makers/Napa, CA., New Media Film Fest, Hollywood Short Pictures Film Fest, Washougal/Columbia Gorge Film Fest, Wine Country Film Fest and many others. Her aim is to present indigenous dance that celebrates landscape.

She has presented site-specific dance in Santa Barbara for many years, and produced Coastal Project with Helen Daniels for ten years. She received the Santa Barbara Arts Fund Award for Choreography in 1995 and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Dance from the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance in 2010.

Bisio studied at the Sorbonne, USCB and UC Berkeley where she received a MA in English with emphasis on the structure of the novel. She studied dance at South Coast Contemporary Dance Theater and at UCSB in Santa Barbara, at Lone Mountain College and at the Margaret Jenkins Dance Studio in San Francisco and with Deborah Hay, David Gordon, Valda Setterfield, Meredith Monk, Merce Cunningham and other post modern luminaries. She worked with Charlotte Selver and Charles Brooks in Sensory Awareness and with Joan Chodorow in Authentic Movement. She was born in San Francisco and raised in the Bay Area.

What do you hope to gain from this experience?
Robin: Meet super cool artists from around the world for pleasure and work

Ted Mills - Santa Barbara
Ted Mills is an award-winning filmmaker from Santa Barbara. He most recently curated the Standard Deviation pop-up gallery on State St. during this year's Fiesta celebrations, bringing alternative, interactive art into the party heart of downtown.

NECTAR Collaborative – Cybil Gilbertson Santa Barbara
Website: www.cybilgilbertson.com
Facebook: http: //www.facebook.com/pages/NECTAR/171212932191
Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtueYrjiI71lIs6fofHB6Wg?feature=results_main
Photo by Dani Lynch
The affinity for Cybil comes through her relationship with the Kelly's  and ArtBark through being a consistent resource or providing performance opportunities to the community via her NECTAR series.

NECTAR BIO:
NECTAR was started in October, 2009, by Cybil Gilbertson, in response to her Aunt Barbara's suicide. After several perfomances of her dance theatre piece, Skinny Long Legs, which was a memoir of her aunt's life, it became evident that the Santa Barbara community needed a place to create and witness reflections on challenging personal and social themes in artistic mediums. NECTAR has since hosted 13 evening length shows, over 150 professional-level artists and has had the pleasure of honoring/ highlighting the work of, 17 local organizations; Hospice of Santa Barbara, Transition House and Friendship Center, to name a few. The NECTAR Collaborative is any group of artists appointed by Artistic Director, Cybil Gilbertson, to represent NECTAR in creative endeavours outside of NECTAR.

Choreographer’s Bio:

Cybil Gilbertson received her BA in Dance from UCSB in 1997. Upon graduation she was awarded The Alice Condodina Performance Award and Dean's Honors. Cybil has danced with Santa Barbara Dance Theatre (1997-2011), SB Museum NIGHTS, Robin Bisio (for stage, film and site specific projects), Monterey Dance Collective, Esalen Int'l Arts Festival, LA Music Awards and Cirque Destino. She a certified yoga and Pilates instructor and licensed massage therapist, practicing in SB since 1999. Cybil is also the Artistic Director and Founder of, NECTAR (2009-present); a quarterly professional-level artists' forum that highlights the work of local organizations through the arts and education. She was awarded the Profant Foundation for the Arts Award in 2002 for Dance Performance, and most recently, The SB Arts Collaborative grant (2010) and The SB County Arts grant (2011) in support of NECTAR and her community-centered vision. Her greatest performance to date was giving birth to her son, Trey, in August 2011.

What do I hope to gain from this experience?
There is so much to gain from collaboration; eye-opening inspiration, humility, graciousness, laughter, challenge of bending one's set ways, sitting in the back/front seat, holding each other accountable, holding each other's hands, supporting, being supported, breathing and sharing, embracing and letting go. I hope to gain perspective on being an individual and part of a team. Thank you for the opportunity to grow as an artist and a human being!

Valarie Mulberry – Santa Barbara
Website Link: www.valariemulberry.com
Facebook Link: www.facebook.com/vmulberry
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/7bvoicetr
Valarie's Affinity comes through the many encounters with the Kellys and ArtBark through the NECTAR series.

Artist’s Bio
Typically noticed first for her emotive voice, Mulberry’s song craft has gained attention too, winning her a guitar in a national lyric contest and several regional awards and nominations. Her songs are often informed by her travel adventures; an Oregon native, relocated to Hawaii and then to Vietnam for two years, then to the SF Bay Area and six years ago to Santa Barbara. Known for connecting with her audience, her live show consists of part story telling part dead pan humor. With her songs running the gamut from silly songs about a little boy, eating pie and making light of getting caught in a love triangle, to heavier personal experiences such as learning to let go, how our relationships reflect in the world and then to storytelling songs about getting caught flash flood waterfall.

Valarie is usually backed up by electric guitarist Maximiliano De Leon. De Leon an adept guitarist, originally from Uruguay, gives each song its own signature sound with the licks and leads of the best radio friendly tunes. She has been an ongoing contributing musician to NECTAR, Santa Barbara’s professional-level performance artist collective that raises awareness about and funds for local non-profits and a frequently featured guest on the television show, Musical Café. She has played festivals such as Earth Day and opened for international touring artist Jonatha Brooke at Soho. She has toured up and down the California coast, Hawaii, Oregon and New York. Valarie has worked with filmmaker/choreographer Robin Bisio, by providing live music to thoughtful and evocative dance pieces.

Currently, Valarie is collaborating on a children’s book with illustrator Mollycules aka Molly Hahn (see the Huffington Post “Buddha Doodles” blog in the Good News section). The book titled “Baby Toes” will feature Valarie’s song Lullaby, with the lyrics of the song being the text of the book. “Baby Toes” will be accompanied by a CD of the song and will also be available in Ebook format. “Baby Toes” is due out December 1st, 2012. In addition, Valarie is currently recording her debut CD. The CD release date to be announced on her website; www.valariemulberry.com

ARTBARK INTERNATIONAL  - Collaborators in Slovenia, Taiwan, Turkey, Austria & in the US - Santa Barbara, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco - SANTA BARBARA choreographer Melissa Block debuts as the newest ArtBark choreographer
Company Website: www.artbark.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeLoveArtBark
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/artbarkinternational?feature=mhee

Photo of Melissa Block by Misa Kelly

Company Bio:
ArtBark International builds on the 15 years experience as SonneBlauma and 25 years experience Stephen Kelly Music. The organization is a professional inter-generational, cross-cultural, inter-disciplinary Dance & Physical Theater Company that works with creative beings from all walks of life based in Santa Barbara California with key collaborators living in Santa Barbara, New York, Los Angeles, France, Slovenia, Austria, Taiwan and Turkey.

An exciting cross-cultural collaboration is also in the works with Israel.

In 2012, through our Affinity Project, the company toured Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, New York, and to Paris, France. Through our ADaPT Festival series ArtBark International toured to Vienna, Austria for the Raw Matters ADaPT Special Festival.

Additionally performances took place in Venice Beach, CA for MAX10 and at Yoga Soup in Santa Barbara for NECTAR: Golden. The company looks forwards to performances in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara in September and October for the MixMatch Festival and through their ongoing Affinity series.

Our present activities embrace innovative ways of organizing that serve to shift the paradigm of how professional artists organize and how success is measured staying abreast of how the arts industry is evolving.

As ArtBark International we are continuing to carve out work for theater while giving ourselves permission to embrace more co-creative, collaborative & experimental sensibilities.

The work is becoming global in context with key collaborators living in different countries and different cities and new collaborators gathered with each project we undertake. For instance, in Vienna we connected with artists from Taiwan, Austria and Estonia who expressed an interest in collaborating and we are working on fostering these relationships.

We make positive use of the power of the internet using skype, facebook, dropbox, and YouTube for project planning, networking, rehearsals & are beginning to integrate it into our performances.

Choreographer’s Bio: Melissa Block
Melissa Lynn Block has danced locally with SonneBlauma Dancz Theater, Robin Bisio, and others (including her gifted 12-year-old daughter, Sarah Block), and in her own original works/explorations created for NECTAR. Her choreographies blend theater, contemporary dance, yoga, and other modes of inhabiting and expressing through the body. Her work blends of wry humor, deep presence and raw physicality. This is Melissa’s premiere as an ArtBark International choreographer as ArtBark. ArtBark choreographers Stephen Kelly and Misa Kelly feel as if they’ve had lots of great performance opportunities in 2012 and want to provide opportunity for Melissa in the Affinity III project.