Kimi Eisele (Artistic Co-Director) studied ballet, jazz, modern, musical theatre and tap until she was 17. She gave up dancing for sports, a social life and travel. A decade later, in Tucson, Arizona, she discovered West African and other African-based, redefining her perception of movement and dance as communication forever. Kimi eventually found her way back to modern dance and to NEW ART, where she has directed, facilitated and performed in collaborative projects covering themes such as gay marriage, the food system and downtown public space. She has performed with the Dance Exchange in Washington, DC and Urban Bush Women in Brooklyn, New York, and has danced in Tucson with Thom Lewis Dance, O-T-O Dance, and Odaiko Sonora. Kimi is also co-founder and member of the improv performance group, Movement Salon, and makes her living teaching writing and dance to K-12 students in arts-deprived, rural schools throughout Southeast Arizona.
Katie Rutterer (Artistic Co-Director) was born and raised in St. Louis, MO where she recieved a BA in dance from Washington University and was a member of the Mid-America Dance Company. In 2002, Katie moved to Tucson and started dancing with O-T-O Dance, Funhouse Movement Theatre, and NEW ARTiculations. She recieved her MFA in dance from the University of Arizona in 2008 and is currently serving as the Artistic Director of NEW ART. She has also danced with Thom Lewis, ZUZI!, University of Iowa, and the Gravity Project.
April Douet calls Louisiana home, although as a military brat she also lived in Florida, Texas, and North Carolina as a child. Graduate school brought April to Tucson where she fell in love with the dry desert heat after the humidity of bayou country. After graduate school, April began doing research and program evaluation. For dance training April took the requisite ballet, tap and jazz as a child but stopped taking lessons and began doing liturgical dance in high school. Although she has been dancing all her life, April never expected to be performing on stage as an adult. April joined NEW ARTiculations in 2007 and is excited to be dancing with such an amazing group!
Erika Astrid Farkvam was born and raised in Oak Park IL., just outside of Chicago where she began her dance training at the age of the 3. She hasn’t stopped moving and grooving since. In 2005 she moved to Tucson where she received a B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Arizona in May of 2009. Erika’s dance education was continually nourished through her summer experiences dancing at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance in 2006 and 2008, American Dance Festival in 2009, and during a month in Ghana, West Africa in 2008. Erika is grateful and delighted to be dancing in her first season with NEW ARTiculations.
Heather Heager is a native Tucsonan who has been dancing all her life. She has performed with New Articulations since 2000.
Corinne Hobson grew up dancing in Flagstaff, AZ at the Flagstaff School of Ballet, and Canyon Dance Academy. While in Flagstaff she helped start, and danced with Bravura! Dance Ensemble. She has also taught childrens’ dance for Canyon Dance Academy, and Tippy Toes Dance in Flagstaff, as well as The DanceLoft here in Tucson. This is her third year performing with NEW ART.
Lisa-Marie McFarlane completed her Bachelor of Arts in Dance (2001) from Australia’s prestigious Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and completed an international exchange with Ohio State University’s dance department. While in Australia, Lisa-Marie danced with Tracks Dance Collective, Juniper Tree Dance Co., noted Australian choreographers Sue Peacock, Chrissie Parrott, Nanette Hassall, and Diane Reid, and has danced throughout Australia, the United States, and toured to Malaysia. Lisa-Marie is the recipient of the Professional Dance Development Grant (WA Council on the Arts), the Frogs Hollow Dance Scholarship (Northern Territory Arts Commission), and the Beat Dance Award (Arts Education Foundation).
Emily Oppelt is originally from Lawrenceville, Georgia where she studied under Lisa Sheppard-Robson at the Gwinnett Ballet Theatre. She recently graduated summa cum laude from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music with a BFA in Ballet and minor in Psychology. While working on her degree, Emily had the opportunity to dance as a member of Dayton Ballet II, an apprentice with Ballet Theatre of Maryland, and a company member with Charlottesville Ballet. Currently, she is working on her MBA at the University of Arizona and is thrilled to be a part of New ARTiculations.
LeighAnn Rangel Sotomayor is the former Artistic Director, as well as a co-founder, choreographer, performer and instructor for NEW ARTiculations. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Dance Education from the University of Georgia and her MFA in Theater Arts/Dance from the University of Arizona. She has also danced with Funhouse Movement Theatre and Theatrical Mime Theatre in Tucson. LeighAnn is currently the Center for the Arts Manager at Pima Community College and an independent personal and small business coach, as well as mother of two little movers and shakers.
Tammy Rosen is a former director and co-founder of NEW ART for which she choreographs, dances and teaches. She is also the owner and director of NEW ART’s home studio, The DanceLoft. In addition to her performances with NEW ART, she has performed with FUNHOUSE movement theater, Tenth Street Danceworks and O-T-O Dance (all in Tucson). She is a practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method(R) of somatic education.
Emily Runyeon was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio where she recently graduated from Wright State University with a BA in Psychology. She grew up dancing with South Dayton Dance Theatre under the direction of Gigi Gardner, Gina Walther, and Elizabeth Karns. She continued her studies at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, where she participated in the documentary film Cardiac Dance; The Spirals of Life (2008). Most recently, Emily spent three seasons with Dayton Contemporary Dance Second Company under the direction of Shonna Hickman-Matlock. She is excited to be performing in her first season with New ARTiculations.
Megan Shaffer holds a BFA in Dance Performance from California State University, Long Beach. In 2008 she was the first student of the arts at CSULB to receive a scholarship from the Women and Philanthropy group, for which she used it to create, direct, choreograph, and edit her own dance film, Endless Ground. Megan has also attended the Bates Dance Festival, Strictly Seattle Dance Intensive, and the Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop. This is her second season with NEW ARTiculations.