Barriskill Studio Company

The Barriskill Studio Company includes Conservatory-level students who are interested in a more dedicated study of dance. The Company is a pre-professional program which gives students opportunities to work with guest choreographers from around the country to gain real audition, choreographic and performance experience. Company members commit to an intensive rehearsal and performance schedule in addition to their dance classes throughout the year. While it is not a competition team, Company does train dancers to work collaboratively and provides a supportive collective for young people interested in exploring dance and its many avenues.

 

The Company has performed at festivals and community events around the Triangle, including Wake Forest Dance Festival, SPARKcon Festival, Carrboro Arts Festival, and the American Tobacco Tower Lighting.

 

For more information or to inquire about a choreography or performance opportunity, please contact Mari O'Donnell, company director.

 

2023-2024 Guest Choreographers 

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Kristin Taylor Duncan is a native of Durham, NC. She is a BFA graduate of the UNC School of the Arts.  Mrs. Duncan has trained at Jacobs Pillow, and on scholarship at the Lou Conte Dance Studios in Chicago. In New York, she apprenticed with Urban Bush Women, and worked with choreographers Nathan Trice, Bridget Moore, Christal Brown and Sidra Bell.  Kristin has performed with Kariamu Welsh and Nnenna Freelon in the Clotheline Muse, cellist and vocalist Shana Tucker, Andrea Woods Valdez, Helen Simoneau, Mexico City-based Tania Perez-Salas Compania de Danza, Juel Lane, Gaspard Louis, nosi DANCE theatre, as well as created and performed works with Yuxtadanza Compania de Danza of Venezuela.

In 2013 Kristin performed with Helen Simoneau for the DANCE X Tour traveling to Montreal, Tokyo and Busan, South Korea. She has taught in UNCSA’s preparatory program, for the Festival of North Carolina Dance, Slippery Rock and also as a guest teacher at Enloe High School (Raleigh, NC), Durham School of the Arts and Tri-Cities Performing Arts School in Atlanta, GA.

For two seasons Kristin joined the Community Choral Project at UNC Chapel Hill as the High School choreographer. She as also worked with the Glenwood Elementary award winning 5TH grade Show Choir. Kristin has choreographed works for the elementary students participating in Evening of Entertainment presented by Durham Public Schools performed at the Durham Performing Arts Center.

Mrs. Duncan is a proud recipient of the Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artist Grant producing her first concert for KT COLLECTIVE. Since the founding days of KT COLLECTIVE, she has been commissioned to create works by Helen Simoneau, NC Museum of Art, the Nasher Museum, NC Museum of History and Myra Weiss of Proxemic Media.  Most recently Kristin has performed a solo work choreographed by Jasmine Powell. Ms. Powell also invited Kristin to perform in the “Problem PSA” by music vocalist Kwanza Jones.

Currently, she is the Dance Educator at Riverside High School, Duke University and the Ballet School of Chapel Hill and Kristin is excited to begin the planning for KT COLLECTIVE’s 10th Anniversary season.

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WELCOME TO CAMPFIRE is the story-making platform of creators and performers Tony Bordonaro and Ingrid Kapteyn. Merging dance and theater, their live and film productions immerse performers and audiences in dystopian futures that both endanger and engender intimate human connection. They have collaborated to conceive, direct, produce, and perform three original danceplays in Shanghai and New York City that have been recommended by TimeOut Shanghai, TimeOut NY, Playbill, and No Proscenium. Their films The Pigeon & The Mouse and Subject are available to stream globally on Broadway On Demand and the Emmys® OTT platform.

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SarahAnne Perel grew up in New York, attending the School of American Ballet from 2004-2014. During her time there she performed in countless productions with the New York City Ballet, including Nutcracker, Coppelia, and Circus Polka. While at SAB, she attended summer programs at San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet among others. SarahAnne also had the opportunity to study under Suzanne Farrell for three summers at the Kennedy Center in D.C. She graduated from SAB and Professional Children’s School in 2014. SarahAnne then joined Los Angeles Ballet as a Corps de Ballet member. While in LAB, she performed works by George Balanchine, Sir Frederick Ashton, and the Artistic Directors: Colleen Neary and Thordal Christensen. Her favorites were Don Quixote and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2. She has taught ballet at the School of American Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet School, and Triangle Day School. In 2016, she attended Duke University and is now a senior. At Duke, SarahAnne has continued to dance with Los Angeles Ballet, Carolina Ballet, and the Duke Dance Program. She is majoring in International Comparative Studies with minors in Dance and Spanish. SarahAnne is the Artistic Director of Devils en Pointe (DEP) which is a student run ballet group on campus. In May 2018, she received the Clay Taliaferro Award from the Duke University Dance Department.

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