MASTER CHOREOGRAPHERS Dance Concert to Play Muhlenberg College, 2/7-9

Related: Muhlenberg College, Master Choreographers

Corrie Franz Cowart has performed with the Mary Miller Dance Company, LABCO Dance, Minh Tran and Company, the Dance Theatre of Oregon, and the Pittsburgh Opera. She is also the co-artistic director of Co-Art Dance and has performed both nationally and internationally with ImpACT Productions' "Dayuma," and "The Masterpiece." Cowart continues to perform and choreograph for her own company Co-Art Dance, a contemporary dance company she co-founded in 1997 with her husband, Tim Cowart. Cowart is an assistant professor at Muhlenberg College, where she teaches modern, dance composition, and dance on camera.

Dorrell Martin is founder of the jazz and contemporary dance program, LEON Dance Arts NY, which is associated with LEON Contemporary Dance Company/NY, of which Martin is the artistic director. A native of Houston, Texas, Martin has been the creator/director of the Jazz and Contemporary Program at the Joffrey Ballet School for the past six years. He is also former artistic director of Houston Metropolitan Dance Company. Martin was a soloist for the national and international touring company "A Few Good Men Dancin" and has danced in shows such as "Aida," "West Side Story," "The Lion King" and "Swing." He has also performed with many professional companies, including Arch Dance, Locke Contemporary Dance, Houston Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera, and Richard Rivera's PHYSUAL as well as Radio City's Christmas Spectacular, just to name a few.

Shelley Oliver is a Canadian born tap dancer, choreographer and educator. She has appeared internationally with some of the legends of the tap world. She is the artistic director of The Shelley Oliver Tap Dancers currently touring with the David Leonhardt Jazz Group throughout the northeast. She was a founding member of Manhattan Tap and served as a co-artistic director and choreographer with the company. Oliver has toured in concert halls in Europe, China, the Caribbean, Canada and the United States. She has performed with Savion Glover, Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slide, Buster Brown, Jimmy Slide, and Chuck Green. Her television appearances include "Tap Dance in America" with Gregory Hines and "Star Search." She has conducted lecture demonstrations for Lincoln Center and New York City Public Schools, as well as universities throughout the United States. On faculty at Muhlenberg College, Oliver teaches a comprehensive jazz tap program and directs the Muhlenberg Jazz Tap Ensemble, providing community outreach in the Allentown area. Oliver has produced a series of "Tap Music For Tap Dancers" CDs that have become a standard pedagogical tool in the tap dance world.

Jeffrey Peterson has performed with JAZZDANCE by Danny Buraczeski, Stephan Koplowitz, Clare Byrne, Edisa Weeks, The Minnesota Opera, and The Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps. He has previously taught at Gustavus Adolphus College, Hamline University, St. Olaf College, and Minnesota State University, Mankato, as well as The Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company, and Perpich Center for Arts Education. Peterson's choreography has been commissioned by Dance New Amsterdam's In The Company of Men and Movement Research at Judson Church. His work has also appeared in the DanceNOW/NYC festival at Joe's Pub and Joyce SOHO, as well as Patrick's Cabaret, Intermedia Arts, Rhythmically Speaking, Kinetic Kitchen, Minnesota Fringe Festival and The Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis. Peterson's creative research casts a wide net, weaving together modern, jazz, colorguard, and theater; his work for Jeffrey Peterson Dance often utilizes this integrative approach to alter our perspectives regarding social constructs. Peterson is an assistant professor of modern and jazz dance at Muhlenberg College.

Trinette Singleton was a principal dancer with The Joffrey Ballet for 15 years. She was thrust into national prominence in 1967, appearing in the multi-media ballet "Astarte," created on her by her mentor, Robert Joffrey. She was the first American dancer to appear on the cover of the national news magazine, Time in 1968. Singleton toured throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe, performing in ballets by notable choreographers such as Joffrey, Arpino, Ashton, Balanchine, DeMille, Jooss, Tharp, and Tudor. Following her performing years, she was administrative assistant to Robert Joffrey and ballet mistress for the company. In 2010, she won the Outstanding Choreographer Award for the Youth America Grand Prix semi-finals. In 2011, she was given the LVAIC Award for Distinguished Service in Dance. Currently, Singleton is co-artistic director of Repertory Dance Theatre and on the faculty at DeSales University, in the Lehigh Valley. She is on the board of directors for The Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey Foundation. She is also on the advisory board for Cecchetti USA and an honorary member of Cecchetti International-Classical Ballet. Trinette holds her Licentiate, Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance, London, England, and her Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa, DeSales University.

Artistic director Karen Dearborn has choreographed more than 70 works in concert, theater, and musical theater, including national tours of the Tony Award-winning National Theatre of the Deaf and several Equity theatres. She has provided choreography for the Muhlenberg Theater Productions of "On the Town," "The Pajama Game," "Oklahoma!," "Urinetown," and "West Side Story," and Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre productions of "Hairspray," "The Sound of Music," "The Who's Tommy," and "Oliver!" to name just a few. Dearborn is the founding director of Muhlenberg's dance program. Her scholarly research has been published in the Journal of Dance Education, and she contributed an essay to the book "Performing Magic on the Western Stage." She serves on the executive board of the American College Dance Festival Association.

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