2023 artists

LIANE AUNG - DANCER

Born and raised in Southern California, Liane received her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts Degree in Dance Performance at the University of California, Irvine. At UCI, she had the honor to perform and learn legendary works from the late Donald McKayle with UCI’s Etude Ensemble.

As a professional, Liane has had the honor of spending six seasons with Whim W’Him Contemporary Dance Company under the direction of Olivier Wevers in Seattle, WA. With Whim W’Him, Liane has had the opportunity to perform and collaborate in original creations with Joseph Hernandez, Ihsan Rustem, Maurya Kerr, Yin Yue, Flockworks Dance, Miceala Taylor, Mark Caserta, Penny Saunders, Banning Bouldin, Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa, Danielle Agami, Brendan Duggan, Zoe Scofield and Sidra Bell amongst others. In Southern California, five seasons were spent dancing with Backhausdance where Liane performed original works and repertoire under the direction of Artistic Director, Jenny Backhaus.

As a freelance artist Liane has had the pleasure to collaborate and create with Flockworks Dance, Yin Yue Dance Company YYDC, Alejandro Cerrudo, Seattle Dance Collective SDC, Schoen Movement Company, Erica Essner Performance Co-Op, KT Neihoff, Entity Contemporary Dance Company and PARA.MAR Dance Theatre. 

KEVIN J. SHANNON - DANCER

Kevin J. Shannon is a graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts. He received additional training from the School of American Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Paul Taylor, and Springboard Danse Montréal. After receiving his BFA from The Juilliard School in 2007, Kevin was invited to join Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Over his fifteen-year career with the company, he performed leading roles in works by Kyle Abraham, Aszure Barton, Brian Brooks, Alejandro Cerrudo, Peter Chu, Sharon Eyal, William Forsythe, Jirí Kylián, Alice Klock, Florian Lochner, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Twyla Tharp, Robyn Mineko Williams, among many others. In 2013 Kevin participated in DanceMotion USA, a cross cultural exchange program between Hubbard Street, BAM and the US State Department, where he taught and performed in North Africa and Spain. As an educator, Kevin has taught dance master classes around the world, led the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Summer Intensive, and has been a guest teacher for Hubbard Street’s main company and the José Limón Dance Company. He has been invited to be a visiting artist for the School of The Art Institute of Chicago and has served as faculty for The Joffrey Summer Intensive, Gibney-Pro, Chicago Movement Collective, SpringboardX, Youth American Grand Prix, and Peridance Center. In addition, Kevin is a certified IMAGE TECH for dancers™ teacher. 

ROBERT RUBAMA - DANCER

Robert Rubama is a graduate of George Mason University with a BFA in Dance. They have worked with Haus of Bambi, Groundworks Dance Theater, Carolyn Dorfman Dance, LaneCo Arts, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, and Alejandro Cerrudo. They were an artist in Residence at The National Building Museum, The Floor on Atlantic, and Homeport Art House. Robert works with Orange Grove Dance, Yin Yue Dance Company, and Flockworks Dance. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Terre Dance Collective. Robert has choreographed for Company E Dance, Spark Movement Collective, Bucknell University, Dogwood Dance Project, Cleveland Dance Project, and Jane Franklin Dance. Robert is an animal lover, a daydreamer, and loves the color black. 

EMILY KRENIK - DANCER

Emily Krenik is originally from Los Angeles, California. She is a graduate of the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA Program where she had the opportunity to train with and perform works by Maurya Kerr, Flockworks, Robert Moses, Carmen Rozestraten, Amy Seiwert, and more. She was a Movement Fellowship Scholar with LA Contemporary Dance Company and trained many summers with them. She studied in Italy, with DanceItalia, and Orsolina 28 where she worked with Flockworks and Juliano Nunes. Most recently, she performed with Laurie Sefton Creates, in Sefton’s work, “The Mythology of Self.” When not performing, Emily enjoys teaching students and sharing her love of dance with the younger generation.

JULIE E. BALLARD - TECHNICAL DIRECTOR/LIGHTING DESIGNER

Julie E. Ballard, USA829 is a professional lighting designer an ETCP certified electrician and theatrical technician. She is affiliated with IATSE Local 2 and the Actors’ Equity Association and was previously the Stage Manager and Properties Master for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Additionally, Ms. Ballard is the owner/operator of OverlapLighting, a freelance production company specializing in production/stage management, lighting design and photography.  She has designed for the Charlotte Ballet, Ballet West and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She has freelanced for two decades in and around the Midwest, touring regionally, nationally and internationally with Hubbard Street, Pilobolus, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater and David Dorfman Dance, among others. Her designs have been seen by theatre audiences in the U.S., Germany, Italy, Siberia and South Africa. Ms. Ballard holds degrees in Theater (BA, 1999) and Lighting Design (MFA, 2004) from Kent State University and the University of Florida, respectively. Visit her portfolio at overlaplighting.com

MALCOLM WESLEY - FILMMAKER

Filmmaker statement:

“Unstable Connection offered a unique opportunity to take Flock’s dynamic partnership off the stage and into the world. We embraced a kind of digital Nouvelle Vague approach to the production. The film’s brief running time is packed with a variety of real world locations and organic lighting situations, forgoing sets and film lighting. Contrasts in outfits and backdrops are used to express the multiplicity of Flock, to show that a duo can be as multifaceted as a larger ensemble.

The film uses sharp juxtapositions of imagery and dislocations in setting to create a visual energy and a sense of fractured narrative that would not be possible on stage. It aims for a feeling of speed and vitality that may overwhelm the audience on a first watch but would reward repeat viewings with an increasingly comprehensible density of kinetic and pictorial richness.

Made for the internet first, Unstable Connection stands at the intersection of dance, cinema, and internet video. It fuses classical ideals with the aesthetic rhythms of contemporary life and media. It hopes to cut its way through the noise and distraction of the modern internet and forge a visceral, if unstable, moment of connection.”

KAELYN LEFFERTS - DANCER

Kaelyn is a company dancer with Ballet Idaho and often dances in her hometown of Seattle, Washington. She began training at a young age—first taking classes from her mother and then at her local studio, Emerald Ballet Theatre. A Youth America Grand Prix first place finish led to a trainee offer at Ballet West, where Kaelyn danced in company and school productions including Aladdin and Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht. Kaelyn left Ballet West to join Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Professional Division (PD) where she performed alongside the company in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and Kent Stowell’s Cinderella. As a Professional Division member, Kaelyn was featured in premiere works by company members Christopher D’Ariano, Amanda Morgan, Margret Mullin, and Abby Jane DeAngelo. She left the PD program to spend her pandemic year as a Ballet Idaho trainee, learning choreography by Anne Mueller, Nell Josephine and FLOCK. Over the years, Kaelyn attended summer programs at Orsolina28, Ballet Met, LINES Ballet, Hubbard Street, Grand Rapids Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, ArtEmotion, Ballet West, Ballet Austin, and Ballet Chicago.

As a Ballet Idaho dancer, Kaelyn has performed in Lar Lubovitch’s Concerto 622,FLOCK’s A Single Shore, Balanchine’s Divertimento 15, and Jonathan Fredrickson’s Once Again. 

CHRISTOPHER D’ARIANO - DANCER

Christopher D’Ariano is from the Bronx, New York. He studied at Ballet Tech, the School of American Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and he attended summer courses at Ballet Tech, Boston Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. He was the recipient of the School of American Ballet Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise. He joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2017 and was promoted to corps de ballet later that year. Christopher was promoted to soloist in 2022.

Christopher has danced leading roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, Duo Concerante, and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® (Cavalier, Mouse King, Hot Chocolate, Mother Ginger); Alejandro Cerrudo’s Little mortal jump, One Thousand Pieces, PACOPEPEPLUTO, and Silent Ghost; Ulysses Dove’s Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven; Albert Evans’ One Body; Justin Peck’s The Times Are Racing; Miles Pertl’s Wash of Gray; Crystal Pite’s Plot Point; Alexei Ratmansky’s Wartime Elegy; Eva Stone’s F O I L; Kent Stowell’s Carmina Burana; and Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling. He originated leading roles in Donald Byrd’s And the sky is not cloudy all day, and Love and Loss, Nia-Amina Minor’s And yet here we are, Amanda Morgan’s This Space Left Intentionally Blank, Matthew Neenan’s Bacchus, Penny Saunders’ Wonderland, and Robyn Mineko Williams’ Before I Was and The Trees The Trees.

Christopher has danced as a guest artist at Fire Island Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, Hudson Valley Dance Festival, and Chop Shop Contemporary Dance Festival. He has choreographed three works for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s NEXT STEP, along with creating a work for Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s annual School Performance. In 2021, he choreographed for you for PNB’s digital Season Encore. He has been commissioned to create for the Seattle AIDS Memorial Pathway, Seattle International Dance Festival, The Seattle Project, and the Seattle Art Museum.

SCOTT LEVY - LEVYFILMS - FILMMAKER

MICHAEL WALL - COMPOSER

Michael Wall is a highly innovative and impactful figure in the world of music and dance. With diverse influences ranging from Nils Frahm to Nina Simone, he has been distributing music since 1999 and has an extensive library of 53 albums with over 500 tracks. Michael is an in-demand composer who writes approximately 200 new commissions per year for internationally renowned dance companies and choreographers. After 15 years of teaching and accompanying in higher education, Michael is currently developing an industry-first: online educational resources that teach composing for dance, accompanying dance classes, and teaching music for dance to dance educators. These resources are available on his website at www.soundformovement.com.