THE RESIDENT ARTISTS OF
MUTUAL DANCE THEATRE
Cincinnati, Ohio
For guest artists presented through The Jefferson James Contemporary Dance Theater Series, choose the performance in the menu above.
Mutual Dance Theatre
is the result of a 2021 merger between Contemporary Dance Theater (est. 1972 by Jefferson James) and MamLuft&Co. Dance (est. 2007 by Jeanne Mam-Luft). Both organizations began as performing troupes, but in the early 1990s, CDT dissolved its resident company and focused on presenting out-of-town artists while continuing to support local artists in various ways. Today, in its 50th season (adopting numeration from the elder organization), the name Mutual Dance Theatre and Arts Centers emphasizes collaboration, connectedness, and commonalities across individuality. The organization has combined both priorities: growing a virtuosic and viable local company while also bringing nationally-significant art to Cincinnati’s residents.
CDT has presented over 200 dance productions and founder Jefferson James was a recipient of the Scripps Corbett Lifetime Achievement Award. MDT has received awards and accolades from Cincinnati Magazine, CityBeat, and the League of Cincinnati Theatres. In 2015, the Enquirer’s David Lyman named MDT (as MamLuft&Co. Dance) amongst only two other, behemoth organizations (Cincinnati Ballet and Alvin Ailey) as having performed the most “exceptional moments in dance” in Cincinnati. CityBeat editorial staff named the Company the “Best Company Pushing the Envelope” locally in 2012.
MDT’s Company Members have come from across the country — from Utah to Massachusetts over the years. Guest choreographers have included Sarah Gamblin (Bebe Miller Dance Company), Amii Legendre (Pat Graney Company), Cody Szarko (Visceral Dance Chicago), John Litzler (River North Dance Chicago), Kristin O’Neal (Core Dance), Betsy Miller, Elisa de la Rosa, Leslie Dworkin, Jefferson James (Contemporary Dance Theater), and in 2022, Victor Lewis, Jr. (of PHILADANCO!) and Sidra Bell of Sidra Bell Dance New York.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Jeanne Mam-Luft
ARTISTIC AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jeanne Mam-Luft is the Artistic and Executive Director of Mutual Dance Theatre and Arts Centers, which she founded as MamLuft&Co. Dance in 2007. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Texas Woman’s University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University. Mam-Luft studied at both American Dance Festival and Bates Dance Festival on full scholarships and assisted then-ADF director Charles Reinhart. She has studied with Sarah Gamblin (Bebe Miller Dance Company), Mary Williford-Shade (Dance Alloy), James Caton (Ballet Metropolitan), Michelle Young (Dallas Black Dance Company), Ming-Lung Yang (Trisha Brown Dance Company), Tatiana Baganova (Provincial Dances Russia), and many others. Mam-Luft was the Assistant Director of Contemporary Dance Theater for 4 years and later approached by the organization to take over leadership through a merger. She is certified in Labanotation from the Dance Notation Bureau (NY) and is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional. As an artist-producer, Mam-Luft has produced 18 evening length and 61 shorter works (35 of which she was lead choreographer). She was the first and only dance artist to be named a Cincinnati Arts Ambassador Fellow in support of an original dance-for-camera she choreographed, filmed, and edited. She served on the board of OhioDance (the state-wide organization for dance) for 6 years and is a founding member of Greater Cincinnati Dance Alliance. She has been a grant panelist for both the Ohio Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. She was raised in Texas after her family escaped the Khmer Rouge genocide.
CHOREOGRAPHERS
Steven P. Evans
COMPANY DIRECTOR and CHOREOGRAPHER, MODERN MIX (Jun 17-18, ’22)
Steven P. Evans hails originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance and Choreography at Ohio University, as well as a Master of Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University. Evans apprenticed with the Sean Curran Company in New York City in 2012. Evans joined Mutual Dance Theatre when it was MamLuft&Co. Dance in 2014. He has performed lead roles since his very first season in the original productions and canon of works, /SHIFT/, The Tragedy of Time, Maps, and Memoriam. He starred in The Double, an evening-length work based on the eponymous Dostoevsky novella. Evans has premiered work at Contemporary Dance Theater’s Area Choreographer’s Festival in 2014 and 2015, and regularly contributed sections of choreography for MūDa’s aforementioned stage works. In 2016, he was tapped to create an evening-length work with Elena Rodriguez Moore, titled Double|Sided, which became one of the Company’s most successful productions selling at 138% capacity, standing-room only. He returned to the company in 2020 as Company Co-Director. While at Ohio University, he was the recipient of the Undergraduate Student Enhancement Award and the College of Fine Arts Creative Research Award for his project “Improvisational Dance: Performance Development, Exploration, and Movement Stylization.” Evans is also a Certified Professional with the Society for Human Resources Management.
Rowan Salem
CHOREOGRAPHER, PULP (Nov 12-20, ’21)
Rowan Salem is a choreographer, performer, and teacher originally from Massachusetts, currently based in Ohio. As an artist, her interests lie in compositional improvisation and philosophy’s links to movement. Her teaching is influenced by Humphrey/Limón technique, contact improvisation, and contemporary forms. Rowan earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Choreography and Performance as a Teaching Fellow/Gretchen Moran Scholar at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Recent teaching affiliations include Amherst College, Smith College, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado Ballet Academy, Cincinnati Ballet Academy, and Northern Kentucky University. She has recently collaborated on and performed in the work of Chris Aiken, Angie Hauser, Kate Speer, and Tara Rynders. Rowan’s work has been presented at Redline Contemporary Arts Center, Counterpath Exhibition Space, Green Street Studios, and Art Gym, Denver where she was the 2017 recipient of the Create Award Residency. Pulp is Ms. Salem’s premiere work on Mutual Dance Theatre. She joined the Cincinnati company last year and performed in FFIFF (2020) and |S|P|A|C|E| (2021).
Jasmine Snellen
CHOREOGRAPHER, MODERN MIX (Jun 17-18, ’22)
Jasmine Snellen began her dance training at Louisville Youth Performing Arts School where she studied Martha Graham’s technique and classical ballet. Snellen earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Shenandoah Conservatory and University where she trained with equal emphasis in Ballet, Jazz (classical, contemporary, & commercial), Modern (Graham, Limón, & Horton), composition, and pedagogy. Snellen has had the honor of training with Alan Arnett, Tiffanie Carson, Ting-Yu Chen, Maurice Fraga, Elijah Alhadji Gibson, Erica Helm, Linda Miller, and Lisa Startsman among others, including mainstage features by Mike Esperanza of Bare Dance Company NYC, Company | E of Washington DC, and Brussels-based artists Katie Vickers and Albert Quesada.
Jasmine has performed at Peridance Salvatore Capezio Theater in NYC, trained with LA Contemporary Dance Company and Sidra Bell Dance New York, and presented work at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. Snellen is currently dancing, teaching, and choreographing as Company Director with Mutual Dance Theatre in her third season. Recently, she conceptualized, choreographed, and edited a five-part dance-for-camera entitled FFIFF (2020), which explores society’s rapidly shifting polarity, clashes of beliefs, and the tethers of groupthink.
Ms. Snellen is also a performer in the company.
Hannah Williamson
COMPANY REHEARSAL DIRECTOR and CHOREOGRAPHER, VARIATIONS IN A BRAINSTORM (Nov 12-20, ’21)
Hannah Williamson, a 5th year performing member of Mutual Dance Theatre (formerly MamLuft&Co. Dance), is choreographer, Rehearsal Director, and performing member. She is a 2017 graduate of Wright State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance – Magna Cum Laude. She has performed in works by Dwight Rhoden and Clifford Williams of Complexions Contemporary Ballet and the Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre in Carmel, IN.
Through her passion for choreography, she strives to communicate eternal truths where mere words come up short. Her prior works have been selected for such presentations as Columbus Modern Dance Company’s January 2018 Emerging Choreographer Residency, The Area Choreographers Festival (Contemporary Dance Theater), and Yes! Virginia Dance Festival (Richmond, VA).
Ms. Williamson is also a performer in the company.
PERFORMERS
Claire Dieringer
COMPANY MEMBER
Claire Dieringer is a 2016 graduate of Kent State University, from which she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Magna Cum Laude. Claire has worked professionally as the director of the dance program at Lake Bryn Mawr Camp in Pennsylvani. In 2017, Claire joined Mutual Dance Theatre (when it was MamLuft&Co. Dance) after training in New York. She is now also entering her 3rd year of tenure as the organization’s Education and Outreach Coordinator. She has performed in Géographie, a multi-week installation by French choreographers Annie Vigier and Franck Apertet (les gens d’Uterpan) at the Contemporary Arts Center, as well as in the Area Choreographers Festival (Contemporary Dance Theater). As a student, Dieringer was a member of the Kent Dance Ensemble and performed in faculty-choreographed concerts. In 2014, she studied at American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina, studying with numerous teachers in multiple styles from all over the world and received the Kent State Outstanding Achievement Award as an Emerging Artist Award.
Kiersten Edwards
COMPANY MEMBER
Kiersten Edwards is a Louisville, Kentucky native who began dancing at the age of 13, training at the University of Louisville Dance Academy, Louisville Ballet, and the Youth Performing Arts School. Kiersten is a graduate of Northern Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and minor in Dance. While at NKU, she performed in Dance Troupe, dance concerts, and at the American College Dance Association (ACDA). Kiersten has danced professionally with De La Dance Company, Tulsa Modern Movement, and at the Big River Dance Festival. She is excited for her first season with Mutual Dance Theatre.
Ana Hart
COMPANY MEMBER
Born in Osijek, Croatia, Ana Hart graduated magna cum laude from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts & Design with a concentration in Interactive Design. In the summer of 2019, Ana attended the American Dance Festival and studied with Shayla-Vie Jenkins, Ray Schwartz, Maayan Sheinfeld, Noa Zuk, and Ohad Fishof. She was also cast in work by international choreographer Chien-Kuei Chang. Ana has also performed in works by Matt Pardo, Ryan Corriston, Christian Warner, Gregory Dolbashian, Stephanie Liapis, and Darla Stanley. Ana danced with Virginia Repertory Dance Company from 2019-2021. Ana is passionate about dance in the community and has been a volunteer with JMU’s Dance for Parkinson’s Program, later completing Dance for Parkinson’s Professional Development Training from the Mark Morris Dance Group under a grant from JMU’s Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship.
Stevie Lamblin
COMPANY MEMBER
Stevie Lamblin was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. She was a member of Dayton Contemporary Dance Company for 8 years (initially as a three-year member of the second company before being promoted to the first). She has had the immense pleasure of working professionally with Donald Byrd (Spectrum Dance Theater), Bridget L. Moore and Ray Mercer (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), Francesca Harper (Ailey II), Ronald K. Brown (EVIDENCE), Keisha Lalama, Crystal Michelle and Debbie Blunden-Diggs (DCDC), and Robert J. Priore, among others. She attributes much of her growth as an artist to the mentorship of Shonna Hickman-Matlock and Qarrianne Blayr (Director and Associate Artistic Director of DCDC, respectively). One of Stevie’s favorite memories as a professional was performing “This I Know for Sure” by Ray Mercer at the Shanghai Dance Festival in China. Stevie retired in 2020…or so she thought! Stevie joined Mutual Dance Theatre in 2021. She is humbled to be able to continue her passion of dancing and hopes to continue to grow as an artist. Stevie also holds a Master’s of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Wright State University. When she’s not on stage or working with clients, she can be found sculpting, painting, or playing with her pet jumping spiders.
Caroline Nymberg
COMPANY MEMBER
Caroline Nymberg is a first-year member of Mutual Dance Theatre, a recent graduate of George Mason University. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Nymberg studied at the Cincinnati Ballet, San Diego Ballet, and Company E. She has performed in works by Bill T. Jones, Hope Boykin (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre), Karen Reedy, Rob Kleinendorst, and worked as the assistant rehearsal director for Christopher D’amboise.
Emma Raney
COMPANY MEMBER
Emma Raney was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and started as a gymnast before pivoting to dance after 15 years. Emma has danced with Moving Collective, Vandivier-Ford Company, Kasari Dance, Amberly Modern, and others. She is currently a Company Member of Exhale Dance Tribe and Mutual Dance Theatre. She has had choreography featured in the Vandivier-Ford Company Show, Louisville Dance Series, and for the Atherton High School dance team. She danced for Ice-Cube during his Big3 League Tournament and performed as a lead in the NBA’s first ever sponsored musical in Chicago, working with award winning director John L. Ruffin and Grammy winner musical director Percy Bady. In addition to dance, she has performed aerial circus with Turners Circus. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Engineering from University of Louisville. Emma was a guest artist with MDT last season and makes her premiere this year as an official Company Member.
Courtney Ziegelmeyer
COMPANY MEMBER
Courtney Ziegelmeyer hails from Northern Kentucky and recently graduated from the University of Michigan. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the School of Music, Theater, and Dance as well as a Bachelor of Science in Movement Science from the School of Kinesiology. She has studied and taught a wide variety of movement techniques, including ballet, Modern (Graham and Humphrey), jazz, contemporary, tap, and acrobatics: skills which she uses as a faculty member at Mutual Arts Center. As a performer, she has had the honor to dance in works such as Chair Pillow, Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, Studio A, Will You Die With Me?, and Cuca Deluxe by world-renowned choreographers Yvonne Rainer, Doris Humphrey, Jennifer Harge, and Carols Pons Guerra, as well as participate in diverse concerts and festivals, including Arts in Color, A World Beyond, and Oakland Dance Festival. As a choreographer, she has collaborated in many creative processes including collaborations with chamber musicians. She is eager to share her passion for movement and the musculoskeletal system through new opportunities and experiences. Ziegelmeyer is a first-year member of Mutual Dance Theatre’s company.
The Jefferson James Contemporary Dance Theater Series presents
Sidra Bell Dance New York
MAR 25-26, '22
2021-2022 SPONSORS
The season is generously supported in part by: donations (big and small) from individuals; the National Endowment for the Arts; The Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation; the generosity of more than 40,000 contributors to the ArtsWave Community Campaign; state tax dollars allocated by the Ohio Legislature to the Ohio Arts Council (OAC); The Warrington Foundation; Karen Zaugg; Dr. John M. Hall and Dr. Sarah M. Knox; and The Greater Cincinnati Foundation Aronoff Center Rental Subsidy. The presentation of Sidra Bell Dance New York is supported by a National Performance Network (NPN) Artist Engagement Fund, with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information, visit www.npnweb.org. The workshopping of Bakari Lindsay’s work is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts. To support Mutual Dance Theatre’s important work that keeps the genre of Modern Dance in Cincinnati, please visit mutualdance.org/support.