The Company
Laura Ward, Artistic Director
Canadian born, East Village resident, Laura Ward, founded Octavia Cup Dance Theatre in 1998. Octavia Cup performed in February of 2010 in Barbados with Barbara Morrison and the Tom Finlay Trio. Other interesting places include Alta, Norway, Avignon, France and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as on the Delacorte Theater stage in Central Park (in a Tribute to Marc Bolan). Laura's work has been shown at many New York venues including the 92nd St Y with New Choreographer's On Pointe, Merce Cunningham Studios, Williamsburg Art Nexus, The Chocolate Factory, and the Byrdcliffe Theatre in Woodstock. Octavia Cup guested with Ballet for Young Audiences in their past two Spring Dance Festivals. In 2009 that included doing Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks with the Astoria Symphony at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center.' In 2008 in addition to doing Whistle me Higher: Imaginary Dances from Bingo Palace at the Theater for the New City, Laura collaborated with experimental theatre director, Peter Campbell, on Yellow Electras at the Ontological Hysterical Theatre. Laura and Peter are looking forward to another multimedia Medea project at the Meadowlands Environment Center this September. Laura also worked with Erin Kamler on one incarnation of her musical Runway 69. Laura has choreographed for NYC's Earth Celebrations Festival and danced with Classics Dance Theatre, Yass Hakushima Mime Theater and Roots of Brazil. Laura is a Laban Movement Analyst and teaches for Equinox and the Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies.
Georgina Aragon, Assistant Director
Georgina Aragon began her training in New Paltz, NY and graduated high school from the North Carolina School of the Arts. She attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and studied under Deborah Noble at S.U.N.Y., New Paltz. In 1996, Georgina joined In Forward Motion Dance Company, with whom she performed the works of Jean Churchill at DTW and danced in David Matthew's music video "Crash." She has performed in Tucson, AZ with the Arizona Dance Collective under the direction of Jane Willet and Richard Holden, where she was featured as the Gypsy Queen in Two Pigeons and danced in Guido Tuveri's Fourth Wall. Georgina is currently a teacher and guest choreographer for Configurations Dance Company in High Falls, NY and for Figures in Flight, and teaches at both the New Paltz School of Ballet and Highfalls School of Dance. Georgina has been on faculty at Duchess Community College since Fall 2002, and has also taught at Equinox Fitness Clubs in NYC. In 2003, began teaching dance at High Meadow School in Stone Ridge, New York. Happily commuting from New Paltz every week to rehearse with the company, Georgina joined Octavia Cup in 2000 after meeting Laura Ward at a choreographer's concert in Woodstock, NY in August 1999.
Jen Barrer-Gall
Jen Barrer-Gall grew up in Westport, CT, and started dancing at age four. After dancing at Westport’s Academy of Dance and the Ballet School of Stamford, she trained at Ballet Academy East in New York City, working closely with Cheryl Yeager and Darla Hoover. She then danced professionally with the Orlando Ballet studio company for two seasons under the directorship of Bruce Marks. Jen has attended summer programs at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Houston Ballet and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Jen has also trained with Olivier Muñoz, Christina Fagundes and Devani Maijala and currently studies with Lisa Lockwood. She was a top twelve finalist in the Youth American Grand Prix Orlando regional competition in 2008 and continued on to the New York City finals. Jen is the current Artistic Director of the Columbia Ballet Collaborative and is double majoring in English and History at Columbia University.
Nana Hitomi
Nana Hitomi was born in Tokyo, Japan. She started training in Gymnastics at age 5. and started ballet at age 10, as well as various performance techniques, including Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Theatre, Tap. She performed with Tokyo Disney Land. She came to NYC to study at Dance New Amsterdam in 2008. Currently she is enjoying aerial dance too.
Jessica Martineau
Jessica Martineau graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with degrees in Dance Performance and Anthropology-Zoology. She has been a scholarship student at the Merce Cunnningham Studio, and apprentice with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and has danced in the companies of Liss Fain Dance, Penninsula Ballet Theatre, Christopher Caines Dance, Todd Williams/WilliamsWorks, Douglas Dunn & Dancers, Abel Costa, Christopher Williams, and Paul Singh/Singh & Dance. She also had a 2 year stint as Las Vegas showgirl in Donn Arden's Jubilee!. This is her first season with Octavia Cup.
Cassie Roberts
Cassie Roberts is a classically trained dancer from New Jersey. She migrated west to Arizona State University, where she received a B.F.A. in Dance, with a concentration in Performance. While in Arizona she danced with Dance Arizona Repertory Theater and Temenos Dance Collective, danced with nationally renowned guest artists, and worked in the community to help bring dance to youth throughout the greater Phoenix Area. Cassie has danced with Douglas Dunn & Dancers and also dances with Joey Arminio & the Family. Cassie currently teaches dance at a public high school and is working towards getting her Masters Degree in Dance Education.
Jaime Thompson
Jaime Thompson is a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Growing up, she studied ballet, modern, tap, and jazz at the Pennsylvania Regional Ballet, formerly known as Cumberland Dance Company. Ms. Thompson studied at summer programs with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, The Rock School of The Pennsylvania Ballet, and Boston Ballet. After high school she spent two years studying at Point Park College in Pittsburgh. Ms. Thompson then finished her college education with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from The Boston Conservatory. She joined Laura Ward/ Octavia Cup Dance Theatre in 2004. Ms. Thompson is also a member of Ballet for Young Audiences/ Long Island City Repertory Ballet. She currently resides in Eastport, New York and teaches ballet, tap, and jazz at the East End Dance Studio.
Natalia Wodnicka
Natalia Wodnicka began her early dance training in Texas and at the age of 15, she spent a year in France where she studied with Dani'le Villers of the Paris Opera Ballet School. She has trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, at Alvin Ailey, at STEPS on Broadway and in Biarritz, France. Natalia has performed both soloist and principal roles with festival ballets and has danced for numerous choreographers in New York City. She also danced in Europe as a corps member at the National Ballet in Wroclaw (Poland), where she performed corps and soloist roles in Swan Lake, Paquita, the Nutcracker, and many contemporary works. Natalia continues to coach with Lisa Lockwood, formerly of ABT, and with Arleen Sugano, Artistic Director of Ballet Arkansas. She is a guest artist with the Festival Ballet in Texas, and joined Octavia Cup Dance Theatre in July 2009.
Collaborating Artists
Ella Condon
Ella Condon is an artist from Sydney, Australia, working with photography, video and installation. Her practice investigates the resonance of the past within spaces that have since been repurposed. She has been collaborating with Octavia Cup Theatre since 2008 on a range of artistic projects.
Ella's work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, including in collaboration with Octavia Cup for the New York International Fringe Festival, 2011. Ella curated the Bondi Illumination Screening, 'Echoes of Echo' at Bondi Pavilion, Sydney (2011). She was selected for the Redlands Westpac Art Prize (2010). Ella was commissioned to document the Australian artists at the Venice Biennale (2009) for Australia Council of the Arts. Her work has been acquired by Australia Council of the Arts, and Gold Coast City Art Gallery as part of the Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award.
Ella has a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours Class 1) from Sydney
College of Arts, University of Sydney, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts
(Distinction) from the College of Fine Arts, University of NSW. Ella
is currently completing her Master of Fine Arts by Research,
University of Sydney.
www.ellacondon.com
Anna Hovhannessian
Anna Hovhannessian has been creating music since she was a child. Almost a native New Yorker, she immigrated here with her parents from Baghdad, Iraq. She began her formal studies in film theory and production at Hunter College. Through the years she has worked in both music and film, believing film to be her ultimate art form because it has the ability to combine all the arts into one.
Judy Thomas, Installation Artist
Judy Thomas began her formal art studies at the University of Iowa where she majored in painting, drawing and printmaking. In her junior year, she was one of 30 art students from around the country to be selected for the Yale Summer School of Art at Norfolk. After receiving her BFA from Iowa in 1982, Judy won a Harriet Hale Woolley fellowship to Paris to study with renowned printmaker S.W. Hayter at the Atelier 17.
In 1986, Judy moved to New York City to attend graduate school at Hunter College. After completing her MFA in Painting in 1988, she joined the mass exodus of young artists to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The pioneering, renegade spirit of the early 90's helped to shape the direction of her art. Turning away from painting, Judy began to create temporary, large scale sculptural works. These individual works were specifically created for the abandoned warehouse spaces along the waterfront in Brooklyn, as well as more accessible venues in Manhattan and the around the country.
Judy's collaboration with Laura Ward has been a natural extension of her artwork. Their first project in 2001 at Williamsburg Art Nexus was a success. The spirit of cooperation continues in 2004 at Merce Cunningham Studio, where Judy will be creating sculptural pieces to compliment Laura's unique choreography.
Michel Ayello, composer
Born in 1960, Michel Ayello, aka Lugg Vale, is a French composer currently living in Marseille.
Active as a professional musician since 1987, Ayello collaborated on world tours with the theatre company Generik Vapeur as well as other top international acts including Iggy Pop, Dave Stewart, Shirley Bassey and Charles Aznavour. Ultimately, he gave up this career path in favor of work which would offer him a closer relationship with the public, choosing to pursue training in music therapy.
After receiving his degree in Music Therapy from the University in Tours (France), Ayello began to perform in nursery schools, elementary schools and hospitals under the auspices of the French program "Culture ' l'h'pital" (Culture in the hospital). Greatly enriched by these experiences, he continues today to work as a music therapist while at the same time composing for France television and for various dance companies (Christine Fricker (Marseille), Doriane Moretus (Anvers).
His current show "Rimbshot," which recounts the life of poet Arthur Rimbaud, was recently performed in Paris in collaboration with the dancer Montaine Chevalier (Ballet Prejlocaj).
Ayello's work can be heard at:'
Sari Fainburg
A graduate of the Shenkar College of Fashion and Design in Israel, Sari now works as a designer in the textile industry. In 2007, she moved to New York to live out her dreams, among which was her desire to dance again. Having danced intensively from the age of 5 until the age of 15, it was dancing in New York that brought Sari together with Laura Ward/Octavia Cup Dance Theatre. She is thrilled to be collaborating with such a talented group of people who have created this special space for creativity and expression.
Like in a dream, one thing leads to another: playing with snow freed from old strings led to hallucinated dresses and cues of sound and movement.
