Artistic Staff

She has been an active dancer, teacher and choreographer in the Twin Cities since 1993. The companies and choreographers she has danced for include 45 Chartreuse, Gomez Dance Group, 10,000 Dances, Flying Sisters Theater, Dancing People Company, Sarah Hauss and Megan Flood.

Gretchen’s own choreography has been in original concerts at Studio 6A, Red Eye Collaborations and Old Arizona Studios in Minneapolis. She has also presented her choreography at the Show Off Gallery in Bellingham, WA and the International Festival of Contemporary Dance in Bytom, Poland.

Her work has been commissioned by the Walker Art Center, Winona State University and Carleton College. Gretchen teaches dance and yoga to students of all ages at various schools in the Twin Cities metro area.

She is currently on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Yoga Workshop, and the Northfield Arts Guild. Gretchen also works in the Minneapolis Public Schools developing curriculum that infuses dance into academics.

She has received funding for her work as both a choreographer and as a teacher from the Lyndale Neighborhood association and the Perpich Center for Arts Education.

Gretchen will be working with all levels as both a teacher and a choreographer and overseeing the choreography projects of the dancers.

2007-08 Teaching Staff

Suzanne Wiltgen, Administrative Assistant, is the co-founder of Three Dances, a Minneapolis-based dance company, with Brinsley Davis and Jamey Garner Leonard.  She is currently finishing her MFA at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and teaches in the youth dance programs at Zenon Dance School and the Waconia Center for the Performing Arts.

Sarah Jacobs, Guest teacher and choreographer:  An active teacher throughout southeast Minnesota, Sarah Jacobs recently relocated back to Minneapolis. She has performed with various Twin Cities choreographers and has been a guest artist at Florida State University and the Florence Dance Center (Italy). She has presented her work at the Walker Art Center, Bryant Lake Bowl, Red Eye Theater, and at Florida State University. Jacobs holds a degree in dance from Carleton College where she received honors for Excellence in Performance. Recent study includes a month in Berlin, Germany, practicing action theater with performance artist Sten Rudstrom.

Sarah will be teaching the Creative Movement and Middles classes all year. She will be teaching the High School Thursday class during Session II and will be choreographing a dance for the High School group.

Justin Jones, guest teacher and choreographer: is a dancer, choreographer, sound designer and child educator based in Minneapolis, MN. He is the recipient of a 2003 NYFA New York Fellowship for Peforming Artists and 1 2007 McKnight Fellowship for Choreographers. His work has been seen at many venues including the Bryant Lake Bowl, The Southern Theater and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and CBGB’s and the Kitchen in New York. He creates sound design for his own work as well as for the work of other local choreographers. He is also a teacher at Temple Israel Early Childhood Center in Minneapolis.

Justin will be teaching the Boys Get Movin’ class and teaching the high school Thursday class for Session III. He will be choreographing a dance for the High School group.

Kaori Kenmotsu, guest teacher and choreographer: was the Co-Artistic Director of Young Dance for 7 years. She is currently Assistant Professor of dance in Hamline University’s Theatre Department and is the Artistic Director for the Hamline Dance Ensemble as well as her own professional company, The Charcoal Line Group.  She is a member of Carl Flink’s Black Label Movement. Kaori is on the teaching staff of the St. Paul Yoga Center.

Kaori will be teaching the high school class Thursday class during Session IV, and will be choreographing a piece for the High School group as well as collaborating with Gretchen to choreograph a piece for graduating seniors.

Maria Gomez Tierney, guest artist: has been choreographing and dancing in the Twin Cities for 17 years. She received her B.A from the University of Minnesota and M.F.A. from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her work has been presented at many venues throughout the St. Paul and Minneapolis area. She was a founding member of the dance company 45 Chartruese, danced with Zenon Dance Company and several independent choreographers. Tierney is Artistic Director of Gomez Dance Group. She was a dance faculty member at Hamline University for three years and was a dance faculty member at Gustavus Adolphus College for nine years, where she co-directed the Gustavus Adolphus College dance program

Maria will be collaborating with Gretchen to choreograph a dance for the entire company.

Kate Lynch, guest artist: is a freelance composer, vocalist, and performer of both dance and music in the Twin Cities. In the 90’s, she co-founded the site-specific dance collective P.O.L.K.A. and danced with Shawn McConneloug and her orchestra as well as other Minneapolis choreographers and performed throughout Minneapolis as well as New York About six years ago she took a break from the dance world and moved into music. Since then, Kate has been recording and performing live original music. In addition to studio work as a commercial vocalist (clients include Toyota, Nationwide, Pepsi, etc.) Kate has composed works for dance and theater projects with choreographers: Krista Langberg, Cindy Stevens and theater director Binky Wood. She lives here in Minneapolis with her husband (with whom she makes music) and their two kids.

Kate will be working with a group of dancers to guide them in choreographing a dance and composing the music.

Leslie Ball, guest artist: has performed around the country - from opening for Ellen Degeneres at the Guthrie Theater to singing back-up for the late Gene Pitney at Carnegie Hall.  She's won a number of MN Music Awards for her singing and songwriting.   In 1991, Leslie launched BALLS Cabaret, a greenhouse for artists to develop work.  BALLS is now in its 17th year and continually wins awards – including being cited in the New York Times as a "must-see" while in the Twin Cities.  The local press often refers to Leslie as "the den mother of the Twin Cities art community."  In addition to her work as an artist, Leslie is also an activist and educator.  She earned her MFA at NYU and is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity Degree at United Theological Seminary.

Leslie will be writing and performing original music to accompany some of the choreography for Sounds and Silences.

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