Production &
Choreography
Table of Contents
Production:
Choreography:
Artistic Director
Suzy is the founder of the Garden State Dance Festival.
Suzy is currently in her eighth year of providing endless opportunities to
emerging choreographers and dancers in the region through the Garden State
Dance Festival. As choreographer for the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders,
Suzy has choreographed the 2004 & 2005 NFC Championship Half-time Shows, the
NFL Kick-Off Party in Times Square, Super Bowl XXIX in Jacksonville, 2006
Hall of Fame Game in Akron, Ohio and tours to Kosovo and Bosnia with AKA
Productions. Suzy formerly had a dance company, Dance Fusion, that performed
nationally. Dance Fusion was seen at the Final Four Basketball Hoop City
Tournaments in San Antonio, New Orleans, and Tampa, The NHL All Star Fantasy
in Toronto and the Major League All Star Fan Fest in Philadelphia. This
group later became known as Wired! Wired has performed at the Sunoco Welcome
America Celebration, Burger King’s 3 on 3 King of the Court’s Tour, and
McDonald’s Extreme Dance Challenge Finalists. Suzy is employed by Hasbro
and created the new Twister Moves game, choreographing all special event
publicity tours with Nick and Aaron Carter, Nick Cannon, and Jesse
McCartney. She has choreographed the Boscov’s Philadelphia Thanksgiving
Parade for three years. Suzy is on staff at the University of Pennsylvania
as choreographer for the Mask and Wig Club, one of the oldest theatre
institutions in the Ivy Leagues.
Production Assistant
Diana is a 2005 graduate of Montclair State University
with a BFA in Dance. Diana was most recently seen at The Carousel Theatre in
Akron, OH, playing Fransisca in West Side Story. Favorite credits include
dancing back up to pop singer Jesse McCartney and R&B artist Nick Cannon,
along with dancing the summer stages at Hershey Park multiple times! Diana
has served as assistant choreographer for the Philadelphia Eagles
Cheerleaders and the Mask and Wig Club at the University of Pennsylvania.
Diana is currently on staff as a dance educator and choreographer at several
studios in the Philadelphia area, and is thrilled to be working as
Production Assistant for the Garden State Dance Festival.
Choreographer, Modern
Zane Booker, a native Philadelphian, began his dance training at the age
of seven with the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts under the direction of
Joan Myers Brown. By age fourteen he was selected by Ms. Brown to perform
with Philadanco. He went on to become one of the Company’s principal artists
dancing roles created by Talley Beatty, Louis Johnson and Gene Hill Sagan.
Zane went on to pursue a degree at the North Carolina School of the Arts.
Encouraged by his teachers to continue his training at the School of
American Ballet, Zane moved to New York, auditioned and was accepted into
the SAB. Once there, he was invited by Mikhail Baryshnikov to augment his
studies at the American Ballet Theater. Zane maintained a rigorous training
schedule at both institutions for two years.
During a trip to Holland with the School of American
Ballet to perform on a joint program with the Vagonava School, Zane
auditioned for the Netherlands Dance Theater. He was quickly accepted into
the company and spent the next six years dancing under the direction of Jiri
Kylian. As a soloist he danced roles created by Kylian, Nacho Duato, William
Forsythe, Mats Ek and Ohad Nahrin. In 1996 Zane accepted an offer to join
Les Ballets De Monte Carlo under the direction of Jean Christophe Maillot.
During his tenure there he was featured in ballets created by John Alleyne,
Ted Brandsen and Jean Christophe Maillot.
Zane left Les Ballets De Monte Carlo in 1999 to accept
invitations to appear as a guest artist with major ballet companies around
the world including the new National Theater of Tokyo, Philadanco,
Complexions, Les Ballet De Monte Carlo, the Opera of Monte Carlo, and
Rhythmek. During this period Zane also focused his energies on creating
choreographies for universities, ballet companies, operas and musical
productions. His credits include works for the Philadelphia Dance Company,
Mogador Theatre-Paris, the Jackson Ballet Competition and the Opera of Monte
Carlo. Mr. Booker has also taught for companies and schools in the U.S.,
Europe, and Australia. After moving back to the U.S., Zane was invited to
dance with Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project. There he danced for two
years before the group disbanded.
In 2006 Zane became the founder and artistic director of
the Smoke, Lilies and Jade Arts Initiative (SLJ), a socially conscious,
multimedia, dance theater company, promoting HIV/ AIDS awareness. He created
Ebony, Beige and Bronze: The Philadelphia Show to inspire social
consciousness about HIV/AIDS. Dance Magazine chose SLJ as one of 25
companies to watch in 2007. Zane is a professor at University of the Arts
and Howard University.
Choreographer Hip Hop
A native of New Jersey, Crystal began training in dance
and gymnastics at the age of six. She attended University of the Arts, where
she earned an Associates Degree in Dance, and is currently on staff teaching
Styles of Jazz
Crystal began her training in hip hop and became principal
dancer with "Rennie Harris Puremovement". She made appearances in
Repertoire, Rome and Jules, Illadelph Legends, Dance Magazine, and many
more. Her choreography has been featured in the Philadelphia 76ers Dance
Team, Fringe Festival, Drexel University, University of the Arts, Encore
Danses en Tournee in Canada, Hip Hop Extravaganza Bermuda, Taipei University
of the Arts in Taiwan, Cruzan Dance in St. Croix, and Dance Ability Canada.
She has performed in the movie Beloved, VH1 Fashion Awards with Macy Gray,
BET Comicview, BET Awards "Opening Act", MTV Lip Service, and Global Groove.
Crystal has also appeared in the television show Monk on USA, a video with
Mike Philips, hip hop company Groovaloos in LA, and NYC/LA Carnival. She has
been on tour with Kath Sledge in Italy, and was a featured
dancer/choreographer for Jill Scott’s “Big Beautiful Tour”. Crystal is also
a judicator for local preliminaries for the Miss America Organization,
Dancers Inc. Competition, and Convention and Dance Quest in Canada. Crystal
teaches Hip Hop, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical and Afro-Funk from children to adults
throughout the world. Crystal is the Co-Founder of Montazh Performing Arts
Company, an all female dance company based in Philadelphia.
"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have
already mastered, you will never grow."
Choreographer Tap
Rochelle is a native of Dallas, Texas, where she began her
dance training at the age of three. She attended Booker T. Washington High
School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She continued her dance training
in Philadelphia while attending college at the University of the Arts, where
she received her BFA in modern dance. While in college, she trained under
Pat Thomas, Milton Meyers, Ruthie Andrien and Andrew Pap, just to name a
few. Rochelle also studied at The Dance Theater of Harlem and Dallas Black
Dance Theater.
Miss Haynes performed at the Merriam Theater and The
University of the Arts Dance Theater during her years of college. She also
performed with Freedom Theater on many occasions. Such performances
included, Black Nativity, Alkynza Dance, and The Barrymore Awards at the
Annenburg Theater.
Rochelle joined Tap Team Two and Company as a principal
dancer in 1997 where she traveled throughout the United States teaching the
history of tap and promoting tap dance as an American art form. She also has
been teaching tap throughout the Philadelphia and New Jersey area for the
past 10 years. She is currently in her second year as the Guest Artist in
Residence at Moravian College. Miss Haynes’ greatest teaching accomplishment
is being one of the tap instructors at the University of the Arts. She has
also taught the tap classes at their Summer World of Dance for the past two
years. Rochelle is also happy to be in her third year as choreographer for
the Garden State Dance Festival.
Miss Haynes has taken classes from the Masters of tap for
over six years. Her studies have taken her within the United States, Brazil
and Prague, Czech Republic. Rochelle has taken the stage with tap greats Van
Porter, Nicole Hockenberry, and Germaine Ingram just to name a few. She has
performed in “Danceboom 2005”, Philadelphia Folklore Project’s “Dance
Happens Here” 2006 and the “Tap Extravaganza” in New York City, which was a
special tribute performance to LaVaughn Robinson. The most recent
performance was “Prague-DC-Philly” in Prague, Czech Republic.
Choreographer Jazz
Andrea Mychaels began dancing at age 2, and found her
passion. She began performing at age 10. Andrea has been teaching and
choreographing for the past 20 years. She has performed both as a dancer and
as a vocalist in Las Vegas and Branson, MO. She has worked with Kathy
Sledge, Taylor Dayne, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and The Trammps.
Andrea has choreographed for the New Jersey Nets Dance Team, The Richard
Stockton College of New Jersey, “Dance is Life”, The Garden State Dance
Festival and has won choreography awards for several theatrical productions.
Andrea is also a dance educator at several area studios
and enjoys cultivating future dancers. Andrea encompasses all ranges of
Modern, Jazz, funk and hip hop and turns it in to an aggressive style that
is an energetic ride.
Choreographer Contemporary Ballet
Meredith Rainey, former soloist with Pennsylvania Ballet,
began dancing at 15 in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale. In 1985 he joined
the Milwaukee Ballet. In 1987, he was asked to join the newly formed
Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet, remaining with the Pennsylvania Ballet when
the collaboration ended. He was also a demi-soloist with the Dance Theatre
of Harlem for a short time in 1997. Meredith has performed throughout Europe
and the United States, as well as in South America. His repertoire includes
many principal and soloist roles in the works of George Balanchine, Alvin
Ailey, Mary Anthony, Paul Taylor, Lar Lubovitch, Jose Limon, John Butler,
John Cranko, and William Forsythe. He has premiered original works by Kevin
O’Day, Christopher D’Amboise, David Parsons, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Robert
Weiss, Richard Tanner, Jean Grand-Maitre, Dwight Rhoden, Jorma Elo, Ib
Anderson, Matthew Neenan, and Christine Cox. Awards include the 1995 & 2002
PA Council on the Arts Fellowship Grant for Choreography, the 2001 Mid
Atlantic Arts Foundation Artist as Catalyst Grant, the 2002 Independence
Foundation Fellowship in the Arts, winner of the Hubbard Street 2
Choreographic Competition and a 2003 Pew Fellowship in the Arts Finalist.
Meredith has been commissioned to create work for Pennsylvania Ballet,
Incolballet, Delaware Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, Phrenic New Ballet, Ballet
X, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Wills Eye Hospital, and Philadanco for their
25th Anniversary celebration. Meredith has had his work performed at many
festivals throughout North and South America including Jacob’s Pillow,
Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Miami International Ballet Festival, the
Garden State Dance Festival, the International Ballet Festival of Ecuador,
the First International Ballet Festival of Calí, and toured throughout Spain
by Incolballet. In 2002 Meredith collaborated with acclaimed new music group
Relâché Ensemble and Composer Guy Klucevsek to create the first full evening
of his work entitled Mixed Company. In addition to choreographing for dance
companies, Meredith has been commissioned to create works for Bryn Mawr
College, University of the Arts, Temple University and was awarded a
residency at Swarthmore College in the summer of 2006. He has also taught
numerous master classes for these institutions. Meredith is a founding
choreographer and yearly contributor to Shut Up & Dance, an event that was
created by the dancers of the Pennsylvania Ballet to benefit MANNA a
non-profit organization that feeds and cares for home-bound HIV and AIDS
patients.
Choreographer Hip Hop
Diva has been apart of the dance community in Tri-State
area for many years. Currently she runs a personal training business in
Cherry Hill, New Jersey .She is known for her high energy, athletic and
aggressive dance style. She has BFA in dance from Temple University and was
named choreographer of the year of her graduating class.
Diva work has been featured in “The Bric Studio Concert
Series” in New York City (2005) and “This Woman’s Work Concert Series” in
New York City (2004) .She Choreographed a college tour for Independent R&B
Artist Kym Branch (1999) .Diva was also the artistic director and
choreographer for “Bodies In Motion” a hip hop dance company based out of
Philadelphia.
Diva has performed in such Musical Theater Productions as
Freedom Theater’s Black Nativity(2001,’2000), Alkynzadanz (1999,2001) and
Cooley High (1996).She is trained in Ballet, Jazz, Graham Technique, Horton
Technique, African dance (Umfundila technique) and a wide variety of hip-hop
dance styles.
In the classroom Diva strives to push her students to
excellence. She believes young dancers must fully learn to exploit all
available resources to them; she helps them accentuate what she teaches by
stressing the importance of now; because once the moment passes, one cannot
gain it back. She helps her students to become artists of the craft, rather
than just technicians of it. She teaches them this through her theory that
technicians are a dime a dozen but artists are a diamond in the rough.
Hip-hop is not just a dance ….it’s a way of life.
Choreographer Jazz
Coming soon...
