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P R O F I L E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
April - May, 2017
|
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SHANNON ALVIS
has
danced on the Lyric stage
in five productions, most
recently this season’s
Carmen.
After nine years
with Hubbard Street
Dance Chicago, she
furthered her career in
Europe with Nederlands
Dans Theater. She has toured internationally
and danced works by many world-renowned
choreographers, among them Jiri Kylian,
Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, and Crystal
Pite. Additionally, Alvis has created her own
choreographic works for Thodos Dance
Chicago, DanceWorks Chicago, and Joffrey
Ballet Academy.
KRISTIAN BROOKS*
,
before receiving her
bachelor’s degree from the
University of Rochester,
spent five years on the
U.S.A. Gymnastics Rhyth-
mic National Team. An
inaugural member and
choreographer of the
University of Rochester’s Louvre Performance
Ensemble, she has also danced with Royal
Caribbean Cruise Lines, Aerial Dance Chicago,
Cedar Point’s Luminosity (as a featured
aerialist), and most recently completed her
first national tour in
Dirty Dancing: The Classic
Story on Stage
.
DANIEL GOLD*
was in
the national tour of
Beauty
and the Beast
. Gold has
performed with Utah’s
Tuacahn Center for
the Arts (
Peter Pan
,
The
Hunchback of Notre Dame
,
Tarzan
), Little Theatre on
the Square in Sullivan,
Illinois (
Mary Poppins
,
The Addams Family
,
Swing!
), American Repertory Theatre’s Club
Oberon (
The Donkey Show
,
Clubland: Monster
Pop Party
), Rhode Island’s Theatre By The
Sea (
Mary Poppins
,
Grease
), and most recently
Fireside Theatre. Gold is on faculty with
Broadway Connection and Liberate Artists.
TASHA HEGGEM*
, a
native of St. Petersburg,
Russia, received her training
at the National Academy of
the Arts in Oslo, Norway.
Onstage, she has been seen
in
West Side Story
(OsloNew
Theatre),
Czardasfyrstinnen
(Norwegian National Opera),
Peter Pan
,
Singin’ in the Rain
, and
A Fireside
Christmas
(all three at FiresideTheatre). Heggem
danced with the Oslo Dance Ensemble and was
a dancer and dance captain for two national
tours with the Norwegian State Theatre/
Riksteatret.
JAMES E. JOHNSON V
trained at the Chicago
Academy for the Arts
and the State University
of New York – Purchase.
He has worked with
choreographers such as
Robert Battle, Donald
Byrd, Sidra Bell, and Lauri
Stallings and has danced with Hubbard Street
2, Chicago Opera Theater, Muntu Dance
Theatre, West Indian Folk Dance Company,
DanceWorks, and Cirque Du Soleil. Receiving
NAACP awards for choreography and solo
dance performance, Johnson has been seen in
tours of
The Color Purple
and
The Lion King
.
ETHAN R. KIRSCHBAUM
debuted at Lyric in
Les
Troyens
earlier this season,
and has been a company
member at Chicago’s
River
North
Dance
since 2011. Among his
other engagements have
been the Saarländische
Staatstheater’s Donlon Dance Company,
Hubbard Street 2, The Santa Fe Opera,
and Holland Dance Festival. Kirschbaum
graduated with honors from the Ailey School
at Fordham University with a bachelor’s degree
in dance and received additional training at the
San Francisco Ballet School.
TERENCE MARLING*
,
a Chicago native, trained
at the Ruth Page School
under the direction of Larry
Long. He then danced
with Pittsburgh Ballet
Theatre, Nationaltheater
Mannheim in Germany,
and Chicago’s Hubbard
Street Dance before becoming rehearsal
director for Hubbard Street in 2010. In 2013
Marling moved on to direct Hubbard Street 2
where he remained until December of 2016.
He has choreographed work for Pittsburgh
Ballet Theatre, Hubbard Street, Hubbard
Street 2, and Point Park University, among
others.
JAMY MEEK
, a dancer
from Lubbock, Texas,
has appeared at Lyric in
The Merry Widow
and
La clemenza di Tito
. He
enjoyed a 13-year career
with Hubbard Street
Dance Chicago, before
he joined Nederlands
Dans Theater for three years. Since his return
to Chicago, Meek has performed with the
Goodman Theatre in
Brigadoon
and joined
The Cambrians contemporary dance company
for
The Nexus Project: Autumn and Jamy
. The
Oklahoma City University alumnus has taught
master classes in ballet and jazz throughout the
country.
HAYLEY MEIER
was
previously seen at Lyric as
a principal dancer in this
season’s
Les Troyens
. She
trained at the University of
Arizona, Chicago’s River
North Dance Summer
Intensive program, and the
Timothy Draper Center
for Dance Education. Meier has performed
with numerous companies, including
Chicago’s River North Dance, C5 “Create
With No Limits,” and RPM Productions. She
was a principal dancer with the Rochester City
Ballet, where she was involved in the creation
of Jamey Leverett’s
The Blood Countess
.
JESSICA WOLFRUM
RAUN
performed at Lyric
this season in
Carmen
. She
was recently seen as the
Lady in Green and Olga
Mara in
Singin’ in the Rain
(Marriott Theater)
.
Prior to
that, she danced for 14 years
with River North Dance
Chicago, directed by Frank Chaves, where she
performed works by Robert Battle, Ivan Perez,
and Nejla Yatkin, among others. A graduate of
the University at Buffalo, Raun is on faculty
teaching ballet at Hubbard Street Dance.
TODD RHOADES
has
appeared in ten Lyric
productions, most recently
Carmen
(2016/17),
Die
Fledermaus
and
Parsifal
(both 2013/14). He
received his B.F.A. from
Point Park University
(Pittsburgh) and danced as
a guest artist with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
and as a company member with Ballet Austin.
*Lyric debut