Building A Better Fishtrap / Part 1

Audrey Elaine Hailes (Ocean.Walker) is a dance-theatre artist raised in Washington DC. Committed to public performance as a necessary tool for wellness and revolution, she received a BFA in Experimental Theatre from NYU and is a 2013 Laundromat Project Professional Development Fellow. Audrey is a teaching artist, performer with the Dance Cartel and co-host of the women-run radio show Hip Hop and Her Family. Her work was recently commissioned by Gibney Dance as part of the DoublePlus performance series. Operating in the blessing of abundance, the support, fortification and history shared by family is the fuel behind her practice.

Christine King (Spirit.Dove) has contributed vocals to the sound score for the University of Illinois dance department dance series and performed in a collaborative movement & sound projects with Kirstie Simson (U of I), Darrell Jones (Columbia College) and other movers, instrumentalists, and engineers. She is currently working on community engagement projects with Dance Exchange. For 20+ years Ms. King had the honor of being part of the core performing company of Urban Bush Women, where she had the gift and pleasure of performing with Paloma McGregor.

Jessica Lee (Understudy) is a dancer, teacher, and arts administrator from Fairfield, Connecticut. She has lived and grown in the Fishtrap since 2011 when Paloma visited her Alma mater, Middlebury College. Since then, Jessica has participated in various iterations of the process, including Follow the Water Walks and Dance Exchange. Most recently Jessica dances with hazel & company, Bash the Trash, and Rosie DeAngelo, and works for BAX, Dancing in the Streets, and Purpose Productions. Jessica is also the Project Manager of The Sable Project, an alternative artist residency in Vermont. She sends endless love and gratitude to the Fishtrap crew!

Stephanie Mas (Mother) grew up surrounded by the sunny skies of Miami, Florida, and now resides in New York City. She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Dance/Performance, and upon graduation continued her studying as an apprentice/intern with Kate Weare Company in 2008. During her time in New York she has had the pleasure of collaborating and performing with Millicent Johnnie, Megan Kendzior, and Megan Bascom and Dancers. She is also thrilled and grateful to currently be working with Urban Bush Women, and with Paloma McGregor, whom she has collaborated, performed, and shared with since 2009.

Erica Saucedo (Little.Dove) is a Mexican-American performer from Austin, Texas. Before moving to New York, Erica received her BFA from The University of Texas at Austin. Under the direction of David Justin, Charles O. Anderson, Yacov Sharir, Andrea Beckham, and many other truly influential professors, Erica left college with an insatiable desire to soak up the wide range of possibilities within contemporary and modern dance. In search of dance rooted in her past, dance that is necessary to the present, and dance that will forever influence her future, she feels truly humbled to work with all of the collaborators inside the Fishtrap.

Ricarrdo Valentine (Fisherman) is a Brooklyn-born dancer, choreographer, organizer and activist who has presented his choreography at Bates Dance Festival, Brooklyn Museum, El Museo del Barrio, and LaGuardia Community College. He also collaborates with Christal Brown/ INSPIRIT, a dance company, Edisa Weeks/Delirious Dance, Dante Brown|Warehouse Dance, Malcolm Low/Formal Structure, Jill Sigman Thinkdance, Ni’Ja Whitson, and B3W/Emily Berry. Ricarrdo is the co-founder of Brotherhood Dance, a new and vibrant multidisciplinary collective.

Ebony Noelle Golden (Writer) works with communities who are committed to progressive social change. She believes in people power, liberatory art-making, and the infinite power of love. www.bettysdaughterarts.com

Everett Saunders/Ngozi Flux (Soundscore) is a Philadelphia native, producer, composer, audio editor, songwriter, and performer. His work spans across many genres and forms, from composition for dance to songwriting and production. He’s composed for Montage Dance Company, LOVE|FORTÉ A COLLECTIVE, and has premiered original scores at Dance Theatre Workshop, Danspace Project, Dance New Amsterdam, Gibney Dance and Brooklyn Arts Exchange. Flux has also mixed, mastered, and arranged a score for internationally acclaimed dance company Urban Bush Women. He has been collaborating with Paloma McGregor in various roles on this project since 2012.

Kym Chambers (Costumes) is a Designer & Stylist from Toronto, Canada. Her work in costume has been featured in film, print, photography, stop-motion animation, modern dance and dance theatre with work being shown in New York, Toronto, Berlin, Athens and Cannes. Often touching on issues of sustainability, deterioration and time lapse, Kym employs a myriad of hand-sewing techniques in her costume design work.

LA Williams (Stage Manager) is a Harlem-based theatre director and developer of new work. LA has developed and directed new work at The Public Theater Emerging Writer’s Group, Black Playwright’s Group Dramatists Guild of America, The Cell Theatre, The Fire This Time Festival, Harlem9 “48 Hours in Harlem”, National Black Theatre, and The Classical Theatre of Harlem. LA was the Kenny Leon Directing fellow in 2009. LA is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and is an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. Training: AM in Theatre Education from Emerson College; AB in Theatre Arts from Alabama State University.