MOVERS & SHAPERS: A DANCE PODCAST

Alan Obuzor was honored in 2013 by Dance Magazine by being named one of the “Top 25 to Watch”. In 2023-2024 he was selected as a School of American Ballet (SAB) National Visiting Fellow. Originally from Pittsburgh, Alan began dancing at the age of nine. Two years later he attended Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School(PBTS), where in 1998 he was a recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Foundation Dance Honorarium.  Alan received a contract to join Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s(PBT’s)professional company at the age of 17.  During his seven years in PBT’s Company, he danced a wide array of ballets ranging from classical to neoclassical to contemporary, which included principal and soloist roles in ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Symphony in C, Carmina Burana and Divertimento 15.  In that time he also worked with many world renowned figures in dance, and was selected to originate soloist roles in new works by choreographers Dwight Rhoden, Derek Dean, Matjash Mrozewski and Jiabin Pan.  Alan began teaching in 2002; from 2007-2012 Alan was on the faculty of PBTS as one of the primary Pre-Professional Division teachers and choreographers.  In the fall of 2012, Alan joined the teaching faculty of Pittsburgh Youth Ballet.  Alan choreographed his first work in 2002 on himself and a fellow dancer.  Since that time he has choreographed over 120 new works for Texture Contemporary Ballet, Texture Ballet School, PBT, PBTS, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet Company, New Ballet Ensemble, Harvard Ballet Company, Point Park University, Dancers’ Trust, Canton Ballet, Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and various independent projects.  In 2011, Alan won first place in the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters Dance/Choreography competition. During 2014 Alan was awarded a BRAZZY Award – “Outstanding Male Dancer in Pittsburgh 2014”. In 2017 Mr. Obuzor received an “Outstanding Teacher Award” by Youth America Grand Prix. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Texture Contemporary Ballet 2011, and Texture Ballet School 2019. 

Connect:

Texture Website

Texture Contemporary Ballet Facebook

Texture Contemporary Ballet Instagram

Texture Ballet School Facebook 

Texture Ballet School Instagram

Head shot by Katie Ging

ABOUT Shana Simmons

Shana Simmons holds a BA in Dance from Point Park University (2003) and an MA in Choreography from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance (2009). Simmons has performed in her own works in New York City, Belgium, London, Chicago, Boston, and Pittsburgh. Traditionally trained in the Graham technique, Simmons expanded into release based movement during her New York City and London residencies before moving back to Pittsburgh. Performance credits include Noemie Lafrance “Agora” (NYC), Alexandra Beller(NYC), Artmongers(London), Flat Feet Dance Company (London), The Pittsburgh and Atlanta Operas, Staycee Pearl Dance Project(Pittsburgh), and Jamie Erin Murphy (Pittsburgh) to name a few.

SHANA SIMMONS DANCE (SSD, est 2009), creates immersive contemporary dance and is a Pittsburgh based dance organization. Simmons is a movement artist who creates immersive dance theatre works that have a heavy focus on research as practice. Her work aims to engage the viewer in thoughtful ways, encouraging active participation, and absorbing them into the piece as part of the final meaning of the work. SSD provides opportunities for outside choreographic voices to be heard as part of the collaborative process.

Connect:

Shana Simmons Dance Website

Instagram: @shanasimmonsdance

ABOUT Peter Kope

Peter Kope is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Attack Theatre. Peter began his dance career working with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. He also toured internationally with Jacob Pillow’s “Men Dancers: The Ted Shawn Legacy.” Prior to founding Attack Theatre with his partner, Michele de la Reza, Peter danced with Pittsburgh-based Dance Alloy (Mark Taylor, Artistic Director) and NYC-based Perks DanceMusicTheatre (Rebecca Stenn, Artistic Director), creating and touring new works throughout the US with both companies for seven years. Together with Michele de la Reza, Peter is the recipient of three Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowships and the Hardie Educator of the Year award. 

Peter’s work with Attack Theatre led the company to honors of “Best Dance Company” (Pittsburgh City Paper 2007-2011, 2016), “Best Dance Performance” (Post-Gazette 2006, 2010, 2011), and the National Dance Project touring award for Games of Steel. Peter is also on faculty Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Music, where Attack Theatre is the dance company in residence.

About Attack Theatre:

Founded in 1994 by Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope as a collaboration between two dancers and a city, Attack Theatre fuses modern dance, original live music, and interdisciplinary art forms to create engaging dance performances. We aim create work at the intersection of art and community, resulting in productions that are personal, authentic, welcoming, and fearless. It is our mission to explore artistic expression in our commitment to remain curious in our investigation of new ideas; to artistically collaborate through deliberate, interdisciplinary partnerships; to connect with local and global communities to provide accessible, creative learning opportunities.

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Attack Theatre

ABOUT Brittany Nettles

Brittany Nettles (she/they) is a freelance choreographer and dancer originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They received their BFA in Dance from Point Park University, where they now find themselves as an adjunct faculty member. Brittany has also performed as a dancer with Shana Simmons Dance for the past 3 years. Recently, she has presented choreography with Shana Simmons Dance, PearlArts and inter PGH. They also work as a dance educator and choreographer for Act One Theater school, where they have the pleasure of choreographing/co-directing their 2nd-8th grade musical. Currently based in Pittsburgh, she continues to explore work that centers queer, femme identities through interdisciplinary theater for diverse audiences.

Brittany Nettles Website

Clare Cook (Choreographer) is a hyphenate artist working simultaneously as a choreographer, dancer, teacher, and arts administrator through her work as Founder & Creative Director of Basin Arts, a interdisciplinary arts incubator in Lafayette, La. Throughout Louisiana, she can be found creating dances, facilitating artistic opportunities for others, advocating for new models integrating the arts, and envisioning a more sustainable arts ecosystem for all. Past dance projects include presenting choreography at Joe’s Pub/DanceNOW Festival, the New York Musical Theatre Festival, Triskelion Arts, Opera Slavica, Columbia University, NYU, and the New School for Drama. Clare was the choreographer for the First National Tour of Bullets Over Broadway, re-setting Susan Stroman’s Tony-Nominated choreography, and traveled to Bulgaria with the Drama League of NYC to choreograph the Sofia Puppet Theatre of Bulgaria’s American Musical Theatre Showcase. Recent performance projects include Full Head of Hair with Elana Jacobs (CabinFever Live Art), The Panic of Fixing Things with visual artist Hagit Barkai, Paige Barnett’s A Song of Visions, and Ten Tiny Dances – Lafayette. She has presented work at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, Hilliard Art Museum, with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, and for UL Lafayette’s Dance Program. Clare has been on the faculties of LSU, UL-Lafayette, NYU Tisch Dance, and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. She holds an MFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Connect with Clare Cook

Basin Arts

Clare M Cook

Clare on Instagram

Basin Arts on Instagram

Clare Cook on Vimeo