A Choreography Showcase

The Steffi Nossen Dance Foundation will present A Curated Collection of Dance Works, a choreography showcase,  on Sunday, December 10^th at 4:00 PM at Mamaroneck’s Emelin Theater. Featuring the work of emerging and established choreographers selected by audition and commission, it will include a post-performance Conversation with the Artists. This performance brings Westchester professional artists together with artists from the tri-state region for an exciting afternoon of dance.

Featured on the program will be new work by Westchester choreographer Caitlin Trainor and area  choreographers Natalia Sanchez, McKenzie Brewer, Lisa Peluso, Sarah Kramer, and the partners Olivia Passarelli and Sophie Gray-Gaillard.

The Steffi Nossen Dance Foundation  has granted commissions to choreographers Gabriella Mittenthal and Sarah Kramer who are creating work on  the Steffi Nossen Dance Company and Steffi Nossen Group that will be premiered.

AnnMaria Mazzini is working with the SNDC to recreate a section of her Lincoln Park (After Dark) originally commissioned by the Foundation in 2012.

About the choreographers:

Caitlin Trainor, named by Dance Magazine as “One of 25 to Watch in 2016,”  Caitlin is a dancer, choreographer, entrepreneur and the artistic director of Trainor Dance. Driven by music and imagination, Trainor creates and performs highly physical, intensely human dances. She has made dance for site, game-based audience interactive work, and extravagant group dances for the concert stage. Trainor is the founder of Dancio.com, which provides world class on demand dance classes and is in use in 175 countries. Caitlin lives in Rye with her husband and daughter, a student at the Steffi Nossen School of Dance.

McKenzie Brewer’s choreography has debuted at Montclair State University’s DanceMakers Show 2022 and 2023 along with Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts Emerging Choreographer Show 2022.

Sarah Kramer’s work has premiered in several venues and festivals in and around New York, notably 92nd Street Y’s Dance Up! Emerging Choreographers series and the KoDaFe International Dance Festival. Her most recent works, “Tylwyth Teg” and “Beginning” premiered in May 2023 at the Martha Graham Studio Theater in New York City.

Natalia Sanchez, born and raised in Monterrey Mexico, is a visual and movement artist who explores and plays with dance, photography, and graphic design. She credits the Martha Graham School, Universidad de Monterrey, Comunidad de Danza Urbana and The Certificate Program at Peridance Center for her artistic education.

Lisa Peluso has been commissioned to create work by several dance companies throughout New Jersey. Choreographic highlights include the International Dance Festival in Hawaii, the 2010 American College Dance Festival Gala concert in Virginia, Bryant Park, Merce Cunningham theater, the Fringe Festival Edinburgh, UK.

Olivia Passarelli and Sophie Gray-Gallard will be showing work for the second year at the Showcase; they have collaborated since 2021 to form “five two Dance Company”.   Most recently, five two was awarded the Directors’ Choice Award at the Spring for Spring Dance Festival. Their work has also  been seen at White Wave’s SoloDuo Dance Festival, KoDaFe International Dance Festival, American Dance Guild Performance Festival, more. The company appeared in Kai Tsao’s “Red” music video Anything You Want and has been collaborating with the women-led, global, sustainable fashion brand, Hope Sews and participated in the SharedSpace Program at Mark Morris Dance Group in 2023.

AnnMaria Mazzini is working with the SNDC to recreate a section of her Lincoln Park (After Dark) originally commissioned by the Foundation in 2012.  Ms. Mazzini, a principal dancer with Paul Taylor Dance Company for twelve years is the artistic director of Mazzini Dance Collective and Choreographer in Residence for American Modern Ensemble.

The Steffi Nossen Dance Company, a group of  pre-professional young dancers, selected by audition to the storied performance group and representing nine Westchester communities from Yonkers to Rye Brook will present a new work by Gabriella Mittenthal. Recently Mittenthal ‘s work “LOLA” was featured at the 92Y virtual Future Dance Festival run by Harkness Dance Center and has been seen at the  American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women 2022 Gala, Earl Mosly’s Dancing Beyond 2023, and the 2023 NYSDEA/NDEO conference.

The Paul Taylor Teen Ensemble, a pre-professional performing company that offers young dancers an opportunity to perform excerpts of Mr. Taylor’s diverse choreography,  will complete the program in a section of Mr. Taylor’s A Field of Grass, “Daydream.”

Jessica DiMauro, the event’s producer,  will wrap up the event leading choreographers, dancers and audience members in a post-performance discussion, your chance to learn about choreographers’ inspirations, process, and more.

Join us to experience an exciting and varied afternoon of dance. For additional information, please contact us at 914-328-1900 or www.steffinossen.org. Tickets are available at $20 for adults, $15 for students and seniors at https://choreographyshowcase2015.eventbrite.com.

About Steffi Nossen Dance Foundation:

The Steffi Nossen Dance Foundation, formerly the Dance in Education Fund, is a not-for-profit dance advocacy and community outreach organization, which seeks to foster the arts in Westchester County. Through the support of the Foundation, the Steffi Nossen School of Dance enables students, of all ages and abilities the opportunity to participate in their extensive programs and classes in a supportive, non-competitive environment. A generous financial aid and scholarship program supports those with significant economic challenges. With a sterling reputation in the dance world and a rich 78-year history, Steffi Nossen is a leader among dance schools, focusing on the growth of students’ mind, body, spirit, and character.