Podcast

Hannah Kahn, founder and artistic director of the Hannah Kahn Dance Company, is a master teacher with fifty-two years of experience creating over one hundred and forty dances. Some of the strongest influences on her choreography were her childhood classes in Ithaca, New York with Iris Barbura, her studies of the techniques of Jose Limon and Martha Graham, and her performance of dances by Doris Humphrey and Anna Sokolow. The practice of Tai Chi has also influenced her movement style.

After graduating from the Juilliard School in 1972, Kahn founded the Company in New York, and directed it there for twelve years before moving to Colorado in 1988, where she has directed the company ever since.  In addition to her own company, her works have been in the repertories of over a dozen other dance companies.

Originally from Calgary and a former New Yorker, Lisa’s career as a performer, solo-artist, choreographer and director has reached great heights. One of her greatest credits includes being an original cast member of SHUFFLE ALONG on Broadway choreographed by Savion Glover and directed by George C. Wolfe. With such an all-star cast, she performed at the 70th Annual TONY Awards, was a recipient of the Fred Astaire award for “Outstanding Ensemble in a Broadway show” and the A.C.C.A. Actor’s Equity Award for “Outstanding Broadway Chorus”. She was also both Off-Broadway and on tour for multiple years with the production STOMP directed by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas and later then toured with Savion Glover and his production of STEPZ. In film/ television, some of Lisa’s credits include Amazon’s Original TV series Z- The Beginning of Everything starring Christina Ricci with choreography by John Carrafa, the Maya And Marty show c/o NBS and Secret Talents of the Stars with Maya Harrison c/o CBS.

Some of her previous overall performance highlights have also included being in the original ensemble of Dormeshia’s “Sophisticated Ladies” performing weekly at The Cotton Club in Harlem, being a member of Jason Samuel Smith’s company A.C.G.I, Max Pollak’s Rumba Tap, and Barbara Duffy and Co. Her foundation as a professional tap dancer truly began in Chicago as part of the legendary M.A.D.D. Rhythms (founded by Bril Barrett and Martin “Tre” Dumas III), which had her Direct M.A.D.D. Rhythms Canada in her hometown, Calgary, and then later continue great works working with The Chicago Human Rhythm Project with Lane Alexander’s BAM! and Martin “Tre” Dumas’ company JusLisTeN.

As a guest artist and choreographer, Lisa has appeared in venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Royal Albert Hall in London c/o Michele Drees’ Jazz Tap Project, and with bands such as the Revive Da Live Big Band, and both Marcus Strickland and E.J. Strickland in NYC’s jazz scene. She founded her own company TAP PHONICS in 2009 and has been commissioned to present for such organizations such as The Brooklyn Museum, 92Y, Gibney Dance and Fall For Dance North. Some of her most sought after choreographies include “Love Me Or Leave Me”, “So” and “Fragile” to name a few which can all be found online.

As an educator, she has been on faculty as Adjunct Professor at PACE University in Manhattan and at the University Of Calgary, and held appointments at NYU, Princeton University, the Juilliard School, USC, George Brown University and many others. Her outreach initiatives has lead her to work with Rosie O’Donell’s “Rosie’s Theater Kids”; a New York youth-outreach theater program, as well as countless after school programs on the South Side of Chicago c/o M.A.D.D. Rhythms and the Chicago Human Rhythm Project. She has appeared on faculty commercially at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, The American Tap Dance Foundation, taught residencies at institutions such as The School at Jacob’s Pillow under the direction of Dianne Walker and at the Hinton Battle Dance Academy in Tokyo, Japan. She has been blessed to reach an abundance of dancers as well worldwide via the dance and tap festival circuit. This includes reputable festivals like Tap City, The Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s Rhythm World, RIFF/Woodshed, Tap Kids, Third Coast Rhythm Project, North Carolina Tap Festival, and the likes across Canada and in Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, China, and the UK. She now currently hosts her own series of courses online
 at tapclasswithlisa.teachable.com and offers an online after-school program called “Tap For the PPL”. Her recent endeavors includes co-curating the Tap Dance Legacy Series along with Travis Knights in partnership with Toronto’s Dance Immersion providing the local black community free access to their cultural history. She also has written and directed her debut film TRAX encompassing her journey back to Alberta while discovering important local black history.

As an ever evolving artist, Lisa continuously immerses herself in studies and has trained in Meisner and Method based acting via Matthew Corozine and Susan Batson Studios in New York. She works with vocal coaches Shelton Becton and Susan Eichborn Young to continue her singing training, and loves the journey of rising to new discoveries as a performing artist.

She believes whole heartedly, to quote the great Maya Angelou, “when you learn, teach” and that the journey is infinite and full of fascination if we trust those nudges of inspiration. Please visit www.lisalatouche.com for further info.

Veteran choreographer and dance educator, JoAnna Mendl Shaw has been devising performance works for stage, rural and urban landscapes since the 1980’s. Her body of interspecies work initiates visceral engagement with the natural and cultural environment. Redefining the possibilities for dance-making, Shaw’s research into the human-equine dialogue began in 1998. Her company, The Equus Projects, tours throughout the States and Europe creating site-specific works through immersive collaboration with local equine and arts communities. An internationally recognized dance educator, Shaw has taught on faculty at NYU, The Juilliard School, Alvin Ailey, Princeton, Mount Holyoke and Montclair State. Shaw is the recipient of NEA Choreographic Fellowships and multiple NEA grants for Interdisciplinary Performance. She has brought her somatic practice of Physical Listening into elementary schools and academic think tanks, into the Strategic Studies group at the Naval War College and NYU Medical school. She is a certified Laban Movement Analyst. She is the author of the 2021 book, Physical Listening, A Dancer’s Interspecies Journey.

Loni Landon is a Dancer, Choreographer, and Movement Consultant based in New York City. In addition to creating dances for her own collective Loni Landon Dance Project, her work is commissioned by Dance Companies and Film Director’s across the country. Born and raised in New York City, Landon received her BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School. While a student at the NYC High School of Performing Arts, Landon was a NFAA YoungArts Modern Dance Winner. After Juilliard, Landon performed with Aszure Barton and Artists, Ballet Theater Munich, Tanz Munich Theater, and The Metropolitan Opera.

Landon is a Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Winner. As a sought after choreographer, her work has been commissioned by The Joyce Theater, Keigwin and Company, BODYTRAFFIC, James Sewell Ballet, Whim Whim, LEVY DANCE, The Juilliard School, American Dance Institute, Northwest Dance Project, Groundworks Dance Company, Hubbard Street II, BalletX, Ballet Austin, SUNY Purchase, NYU, Boston Conservatory, and Marymount Manhattan College. Her company has performed at The Joyce Theater, Pulse Art Fair, Jacob’s Pillow, Insitu Dance Festival, Bryant Park, Beach Sessions in Rockaway Beach and Guggenheim Works and Process Series.

Landon has won numerous awards including 1st Prize Winner of Ballet Austin’s New American Talent Competition, Northwest Dance Project’s “Pretty Creatives’” Choreographic Competition, Next Commission from CityDance Ensemble, Finalist in the International Solo Tanz Theater Competition in Stuttgart, Germany, Finalist in the Hannover International Choreography Competition and an Emerging Choreographer at Springboard Danse Montreal. Landon choreographed the feature film “Saturday Church,” Directed by Damon Cardasis, which premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival.

Landon was a participant in the New Movement Residency at USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation New Directions Choreography Lab made possible through the generous support of the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Other residencies include ITE, NYU, CUNY Dance Initiative, Kaatsbaan, and Stephen Petronio’s new residency center, Crow’s Nest, in collaboration with Dance Lab NY and Dancers Responding to Aids. She has been adjunct faculty at NYU, Barnard, SUNY Purchase and Princeton University. Landon is passionate about Entrepreneurship in the Arts and has co-founded THE PLAYGROUND, an initiative designed to give emerging choreographers a place to experiment, while allowing professional dancers to participate affordably. The Playground was recognized by Dance Magazine as a 25 To Watch. As well as four/four presents, a platform that commissions and presents collaborations betweens dancers and musicians.

Margaret Jenkins, founder and artistic director of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company (MJDC) is a choreographer and mentor to many artists as well as a designer of unique community-based dance projects. Jenkins began her early training in San Francisco at the Peters Wright School of Dance (modern). In the sixties, she moved to New York to study at Juilliard, continued her training at UCLA and returned to New York to dance in the companies of Jack Moore, Viola Farber, Judy Dunn, James Cunningham, Gus Solomons, Jr. and Twyla Tharp’s original company with Sara Rudner. In addition, Jenkins was a member of the faculty of the Merce Cunningham Studio and restaged his works for companies in Europe and the United States for over 12 years.

In 1970, Jenkins returned to San Francisco, and in 1973, formed the MJDC. She opened one of the West Coast’s first studio-performing spaces and a school for the training of professional modern dancers. This venue quickly became the center for local and traveling companies to show their work. Viola Farber and Merce Cunningham and June Finch were frequent guests, and dozens of young choreographers had the chance to experiment and take risks. This San Francisco rehearsal and performance space also became the “stage” for Jenkins and her Company. Jenkins takes great pride in being one part of the revitalization of the West Coast as a major center for dance activity. In 2022, Jenkins celebrates the 50^th Anniversary of her Company.

In the last five decades, she has created an impressive body of work, with over 85 works created on her Company, as well as resident companies in the United States, Asia and Europe. Jenkins has received commissions from renowned national and international arts presenters and cultural institutions, including the Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Maryland, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), The Dance Center of Columbia College in Chicago, National Dance Project (NDP), Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, New Dance Ensemble in Minneapolis, Repertory Dance Theatre in Salt Lake City, Oakland Ballet, Cullberg Ballet of Sweden, and Ginko, a modern dance company in Tokyo, Japan. In 2008, Jenkins was commissioned to create a new work for the 75th anniversary of the San Francisco Ballet. In addition, she has set work on dancers within various college and university dance departments.

Beginning in 2003, Ms. Jenkins’ choreographic attention was, in part, focused on cross-cultural collaborations between her Company and international artists, including the Tanusree Shankar Dance Company of India, and the Guangzhou Modern Dance Company of China, and the Kolben Dance Company of Jerusalem, Israel.

All three of these companies, will join her in 2022 for the premiere of Global Moves in San Francisco.

 She has also developed ambitious multi-disciplinary works such as Light Moves, an evening-length dance created in collaboration with media artist Naomie Kremer, Times Bones, Site Series (Inside Outside), and Skies Calling Skies Falling which toured extensively and to Sweden in 2016 and 2018.

A proponent of a fully realized collaborative art, Jenkins has worked with dance, music, literary (poets and writers) and visual arts luminaries, including Terry Allen, Alvin Curran, Paul Dresher, Rinde Eckert, David Lang, Bruce Nauman, Alexander V. Nichols, Michael Palmer and Yoko Ono, among others.

As an organizer and enthusiast for dance, Jenkins served as Artistic Consultant to Dance About, a dance facility at the UC Berkeley Extension in San Francisco; sat on the steering committee for the 2002 International Women’s Day Conference in San Francisco; and facilitated a showcase for presenters to be introduced to the work of Swedish choreographers in Stockholm. She was a founding member of the Bay Area Dance Coalition and of Dance/USA, serving on its first Board of Directors as well as 6 years on the YBCA board. She remains an active participant on panels across the United States.

Jenkins is committed to advancing the health and future of the field of dance through a variety of projects. In 2004, she and her Company launched CHIME (Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange). CHIME is a unique mentorship program that fosters creative exchange and long-term relationships between emerging and established choreographers, creating an arena for the critical analysis of choreography outside of the academic environment. In 2019 she launched Encounters over 60, a program to provide new opportunities for these over-60 artists, often soloists, whose work needs to be experienced by our dance community again or for the first time, Ms. Jenkins has curated and will continue to do so – 2 week-long series of workshops and performances and outreach activities.

Coinciding with the commencement of CHIME, she opened her new studio, the Margaret Jenkins Dance Lab, in the South of Market area of San Francisco, her seventh working space in San Francisco, since 1970. (This Lab has since closed – a casualty of Covid -19).

In the last 17 years, CHIME has had many iterations:  including CHIME in Southern California, which engaged artists in Los Angeles County, and CHIME Across Borders, which brought internationally renowned masters of dance, in a position titled as Chair, to San Francisco to work with locally established choreographers. CHIME Across Borders Chairs have included choreographers David Gordon, Ralph Lemon, Elizabeth Streb, Tere O’Connor and Dana Reitz. CHIME’s latest iteration has Ms. Jenkins as a mentor to 3 emerging artists each year.

In addition, Jenkins conceived The National Dance Lab (NDL) a “product-driven,” as opposed to “market-driven,” model for creativity in the performing arts. Jenkins has also helped to structure and implement Choreographers in Action (CIA), a unique gathering of Bay Area choreographers who, in combination and collaboration, posit solutions to the myriad of issues that surround the working artist.

Similarly, Jenkins was one of the founding members of the Center for Creative Research (CCR) based in New York, which was a collection of eleven senior choreographers who came together under the leadership of Sam Miller and Dana Whitco to create artistic research residencies within universities.

For her unique artistic vision, Jenkins has received numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Irvine Fellowship in Dance, the San Francisco Arts Commission Award of Honor, three Isadora Duncan Awards (Izzies), and the Bernard Osher Cultural Award for her outstanding contributions to the arts community in San Francisco and the Bay Area.  April 24, 2003 was declared “Margaret Jenkins Day” by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. On that day, she also received a Governor’s Commendation from Governor Gray Davis. In 2013, she was awarded a residency at The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in Italy.