Dancers
JAN JOHNSON, director
Jan Johnson is the face of dance in Colorado Springs. As the founder of the Ormao Dance Company she has brought a longed for level of professional contemporary dance to our city. Her work has brought noted choreographers to the company and given young, emerging choreographers fertile ground to launch exciting new works. As a choreographer, she has developed a wide repertoire of works including “Beyond Spatial Limits,” “Cracks in the Narrative“ and “From Fire.” But her true gift is in the classroom. As have many fine choreographers and company directors before her, she recognizes that excellent, dynamic and challenging choreography is only possible when the body, mind and soul of the dancer are well-formed. Whether teaching youth at the Ormao Dance School or company class, she is able to bring out of each student and professional dancer an extraordinary level of excellence. Jan was herself well-schooled in dance at the University of Wisconsin and then began dancing, teaching and choreographing in a variety of companies until founding Ormao Dance Company in 1990. From its humble beginnings as the vision of a professional dance company for the Front Range, Ormao has become an outstanding part of the Colorado Springs’ cultural offering. Her belief in the inclusive nature of the dance experience has created a company with depth of artistic expression and brilliance of technical skill. Ormao performances are consistently excellent, and each results in an evening to remember. Jan Johnson has take the raw material of well-trained dancers and given back to the Colorado Springs community a professional contemporary dance company they can call their own.
TIFFANY TINSLEY-WEEKS, assistant director
Tiffany was raised in Miami, Florida where she began her dance training in performing arts elementary and middle schools. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. While earning her BFA, she performed in choreography by Shapiro and Smith Dance, ODC/ San Francisco, Adele Myers, and Kelly Drummond Cawthon. She was a founding member of the Florida MOD Project and Physical Theater Productions, with whom she toured nationally as a featured performer. Tiffany was a lab dancer at Jacob’s Pillow in their collaboration with Tanglewood Music Center and later an apprentice for Shapiro and Smith Dance. She moved to Colorado Springs and began dancing with Ormao Dance Company in 2001, where she is currently Assistant Artistic Director. In addition to dancing with Ormao Dance Company, Tiffany is on faculty at the Colorado Springs Conservatory and Ormao Center for Contemporary Dance where she directs the Junior Repertory. She has taught at American College Dance Festival and been a guest artist at Colorado College. Her choreography has been nominated for the Peak Area Performer and Artists Award for her work ‘Aria’. Her passion for collaboration inspires her dancing, teaching and choreography.
BROOKE BELL
Brooke has truly danced from coast to coast. She began her training in California and became known as a teacher at the Performing Arts Conservatory while still in school. She then moved across the nation to attend New York University. While at NYU she studied at the world-renowned Alvin Ailey Dance Center and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Dance and Dance Education. Before settling in Colorado Springs and auditioning for Ormao Dance Company in 1999, she performed with Kaleidoscope Dancers, The Washington Square Repertory Dance Company, and Dance Aura. In the fall of 2004 Brooke won the highly acclaimed Peak Area Performer and Artist Award for excellence in choreography for her new work, “A World’s Worth.”
ILA CONOLEY
Ila Conoley began her studies in the south at the Alabama Dance Theatre, where she attended the South Eastern Regional Ballet Association yearly. She earned her Bachelors of Arts in Dance from the University of Colorado at Boulder before venturing to New York City. There at the famed Tisch School of the Arts at New York University she earned her Masters Degree in Fine Arts in Dance and joined the Second Avenue Dance Company. In 2004, Ila accepted an invitation to move to Colorado Springs and join the Ormao Dance Company, with whom she currently performs and choreographs. Ila chairs the dance department at Pikes Peak Community College and directs the student dance company, the High Altitude Dance Ensemble. She has had the privilege of dancing with choreographers such as Darrah Carr, Doug Elkins, Deborah Jowitt, Liz Lerman, Rosongela Silvestre, Ken Tosti, and Kevin Wynn to name a few. Ila demonstrates the great advantage of being well educated in all facets of dance, combining artistry and beauty with knowledge of the business of dance
MARIA LINN DECKARD
Maria holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). Her extensive dance training background consists of ballet, jazz, and modern, with an emphasis on contemporary-modern technique. While at CSULB, she was trained under Rebecca Wright (ABT), Victoria Koenig (Los Angeles Chamber Ballet/Inland Pacific Ballet), and Jeff Slayton (Merce Cunningham Dance Company, NY). Maria has performed in numerous venues within the Southern California region, including the Crystal Cathedral and the Entertainment Division of Disneyland. A former elementary school teacher, she currently teaches dance classes at Ormao and the Ballet Society of Colorado Springs. She is also a full-time textbook editor with the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI).
MICHELLE MCGREGOR
A dancer with Ormao Dance Company since the 2003 Season, Michelle graduated from Colorado State University. There she earned her Bachelors of Art in Performing Arts. Ms. McGregor was the Director of Dance at Fountain Valley School of Colorado from the fall of 2002 through the spring of 2004. As the director she taught ballet, jazz, modern, improvisation and composition. An artist-entrepreneur, Michelle owns her own Jazzercise classes where she uses her knowledge of dance to educate and motivate people of all ages.
DEBRA MERCER, ballet mistress
Debra has been dancing with Ormao Dance Company since 1994. In addition to her performing with the company, she is also the ballet mistress continuously challenging the other members to maintain and improve technique. For the past fifteen years, she has been teaching at Colorado College. She earned her Bachelors of Arts in Dance with honours from York University in Toronto, Canada. Debra has danced with various ballet companies through out the country including the Colorado Ballet, Dance in Flight, David Taylor Dance Theatre, Denver Civic Ballet and Jackson Ballet.
LINDSAY MERCIER
Born and raised in Montana, Lindsay received her early training from Jeff & Cathy Giese, Spectrum Dance Theater, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She continued her education at the University of Utah and received her BFA in Modern Dance in 2003. She has performed works by Sara Rudner, Doug Elkins and Lisa Race. She joined Ormao in the summer of 2006, having recently returned from Germany. This is Lindsay’s second season with Ormao.
SARA MURDAUGH
Sara comes to the Springs from Longview, Washington where she received her early training. In 2001, she received her Bachelors of Arts in Dance, Cum Laude, from San Jose State University. She has been performing, choreographing and teaching ever since, first aboard cruise ships in the Caribbean, and then as a dancer for Ormao Dance Company. In addition to her position with the company, Sara teaches at several area studios as well as working with world class ice skaters at World Arena. Her work with area dancers receives acclaim from competition judges and audiences alike, as her innate ability to bring about excellence and exhilaration brings excitement to every performance.
GWEN PHILLIPS
Gwen began dancing in Singapore at the age of three. She continued her training under Wynn McCurdy at the Academy of Ballet Arts in Marietta, GA and then went on to minor in dance at the University of Georgia, where she danced works by Carlos Orta, Alwin Nikolais, Emily and Matt Kent of Pilobolus, studied aerial silks under Elsie Smith of Cirque du Soleil, and performed throughout the Southeast and NYC. She danced for a season with Zoetic Dance Ensemble in Atlanta before moving to Colorado Springs in the Fall of 2005. Gwen currently works as graphic designer/copywriter and is going back to school for physical therapy. She has performed with Ormao since January of 2006.
MARY RIPPER BAKER
Mary left Texas for the Springs after dancing with Suchu Dance Company in her native Houston. She is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance and has become known for her choreographic talent in the U.S. and in Mexico. She has been dancing with Ormao Dance Company since 1999 and in addition to her performance and rehearsal schedule, Mary maintains ownership of a Pilates studio, Motion Studies, and specializes in dance rehabilitation. She also teaches dance at Pikes Peak Community College, choreographs for the REP at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and is the proud mother of two.
SARAH TIETJE
Sarah grew up in rural southwest Louisiana and has studied and performed all kinds of dance (particularly contemporary dance) at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts, Tulane University in New Orleans, and the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She uses movement as a creative practice and cultural expression, as well as a learning device to help her students access all kinds of knowledge that exist both inside and outside of their bodies.
CORAL TURK
Coral Turk has been studying dance for ten years. Her experience includes training at private studios in Colorado Springs, Boulder, Los Angeles, CA, and Wichita, KS, and institutions of higher education. Coral studied dance at the University of Colorado at Boulder for four years. At CU Boulder, she studied ballet, African, funk, hip-hop, break-dancing, with a focus on modern dance. Coral’s post-graduate training continues to focus on modern and ballet technique. Ms. Turk’s hard work and devotion to dance has only grown over the years. She continues to dedicate her time and passion for dance towards her own personal growth in hopes of attaining the utmost ability in the field.
DANCERS ON LEAVE