Treeline Dance Works is a New York City and Phoenix based modern dance performance co-op under the direction of founders Jenny Showalter and Lyndsey Vader.
The distance that separates us geographically is the very force that influences our work, as we draw inspiration from the diverse landscapes of these cities and the thumbprint movement aesthetics they foster.
It is the mission of Treeline Dance Works to honor the creative voices and artistic input of its multiple collaborators through joint investment in movement research.
With an emphasis on an open feedback forum, this collaborative entity entangles juxtapositions in movement, intermingling the quirky with the athletic, the subtle with the explosive, and the personal with the universal. Treeline Dance Works creates kinetically charged works rooted in the wellspring of deeply intimate memories, thoughts and encounters.
Megan Harrold graduated Magna Cum Laude from Virginia Commonwealth University’s department of Dance and Choreography. In the past six years, she has received the Carpenter Foundation Scholarship, the Phi Kappa Phi Wayne C. Hall Arts Scholarship, Ucross Foundation, an award from VCU’s School of the Arts, Individual Artist grant from the Queens Council on the Arts, an artist at residency from the Klaustierd Foundation in Iceland, Newsteps Artist Residence at the Chen Dance Center, Salvatore LaRusse residency in Queens, and will be making work at the International Studios at Denkmalschmiede Höfgen, Germany. She founded Inimois Dance in 2008 based in Brooklyn, NY which has been funded by Meet the Composer, Fractured Atlas and the Untitled SOF grant. She was also the artistic director of The Union Project, based in Long Island. Her work has been presented at Lincoln Center, Judson Church, the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Our Space, Greenspace NY, The Tank, Ailey CityGroup Theater, FLICfest Cabaret, WAXWorks, Rooftop, CPR, White Wave Festival, WestFest at the Cunningham Studios, Chen Dance Center, NY The Clarice Smith Performing Arts 25th and 26th Annual Choreographer’s Showcase MD, Ucross WY, Source Art Center, Chicago IL, The Grace Street Theatre and Art6, Richmond VA, The Show Room, Little Hamilton, Studio1406 Nashville, Open Lot TN, Performatica, Puebla Mexico, and at Henrico High School, Northstar Academy and Riverside where she taught as a guest artist. She spent 2008 touring with the Latin Ballet of Virginia as a company member and faculty. In Nashville Tennessee she became a teaching artist with the Tennessee Arts Commission and performed with Company Rose. She has performed in the repertory pieces by Keith Thompson, Doug Varone, Lar Lubovitch, Robert Battle, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Laura Dean, Ashley Anderson, Mariah Meloney, Rodger Belman, Davis Freedman for PS122’s COIL Festival and Ground Zero/Rob Petris. In New York she currently dances for Burr Johsonson and Helen Simineau.
Lyndsey Vader, Artistic Co-Director, founded Treeline Dance Works in 2009 with fellow dance artist Jenny Showalter. Vader works as Operations Manager for Andrea Miller’s Gallim Dance. She has danced in choreography by David Dorfman, Larry Keigwin, Pamela Vail, Lisa Neidermeyer, and Mariah Maloney. Vader thrives on the creative process, most recently taking part in two Choreographic Residencies at Mt. Tremper Arts with Treeline Dance Works (2009, 2010), and DanceNOW [NYC] sponsored creative residencies at Kirkland Farm with Lisa Niedermeyer (2009) and TreelineDW (2010). Her choreography has been set on Perpetual Motion/ Modern Dance Oklahoma, INC and presented at the Ailey Citigroup Theater (NY), WHITE WAVE RISING Festival (NY), 92nd St. Y (NY); DUMBO Dance Festival (NY), Pushing Progress (NY), Rebound Dance Festival (CT; IL), Joy of Motion Dance Project (DC), Green Space Blooms (NY), and Dance Under Construction (CA). Teaching credits include, but are not limited to, SUNY Brockport, Ball State University, Franklin & Marshall College, and Dickinson College. Vader holds an MFA in Dance, Choreography & Performance, from The College at Brockport State University of New York.
Caroline Nelson is a founding member of Treeline Dance Works, while freelancing for various other dance companies within NYC. Performance credits include venues throughout Sweden, NYC, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Upstate NY, Connecticut, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, among others.
Nelson has toured with the James Hansen Dance Ensemble (Ophelia's Reclamation, Shaken With a Twist) and Melinda Planey (Sepia Enduring) throughout the East coast. Nelson holds a BFA from SUNY the College at Brockport, Magna cum Laude, where she performed in works by Keigwin and Company and David Dorfman Dance. Since receiving her BFA, Nelson has risen to become a staple in the NYC nightlife and hospitality management industry.
Jenny Showalter is a dancer and choreographer whose work has recently been presented at Les 7ème Rencontres UPPAdanse (France), American Dance Guild (NYC), DUMBO Dance Festival (NYC), WAXworks (NYC), Heidelberg Music Festival (OH), Joy of Motion (Washington DC), Midwest RAD Festival (MI), Vision of Sound (NY), Dance Chicago (IL), Rebound Chicago (IL), Oklahoma Contemporary Festival (OK), and Cool NY Festival (NYC).
Showalter has been invited to teach technique and set repertory as a guest artist at Lincoln College, Western Illinois University, and Perpetual Motion Dance Company. She has performed extensively throughout western New York, New York City and Chicago with both established and emerging artists and is a member of the Bill Evans Dance Company.
Showalter holds an MFA in Dance Choreography and Performance from The College at Brockport and a BS in P.E. Exercise Science from Western Illinois University. She is a certified personal trainer, Pilates instructor, and somatic practitioner. She is the artistic co-director of Treeline Dance Works.
Cristina Gustaitis began her formal training with the Indiana University Ballet Theatre in Bloomington, Indiana. She holds a BS in Dance Performance from Ball State University. After graduating with honors in 2011, she relocated to Upstate New York where she became a member of Treeline Dance Works. She has had the opportunity to study and perform in Italy and France, as well as throughout the Midwest and East Coast. She is currently living in New York City, working as a freelance dancer and collaborator. Outside of Treeline Dance Works, she has performed in works by Anne Burnidge, Audra Sokol, Bill Evans and z3Movement Project. Her most recent performance credits include UPPAdanse, France, American Dance Guild Festival, NYC, Dance Chicago, Chicago, and Midwest RAD Festival, MI.
Erin Johnson holds a BS in Dance and Communication Studies from The College at Brockport State University of New York. Johnson has served as the Performance Intern for the American Dance Festival, with additional internship and scholarship studies at the Limón Dance Company Summer Intensive, Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts, and Parsons Dance Intensive Workshop.
She has performed in choreography by Bill Evans, David Dorfman, Earl Mosley, James Hansen, Larry Keigwin, and Sidra Bell, among others. Johnson’s choreography has been showcased at Middlesex University in London, England, where she spent a semester abroad.
Jessica Reidy is a freelance dancer/choreographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Outside of the studio she is a non-profit Development Coordinator with Outward Bound USA. Reidy has been a collaborator with Treeline Dance Work since its inception in 2009 and has also performed in works by areadance, David Dorfman, Earl Mosley, Mariah Maloney and James Hansen among others. Her own work has been presented by the DUMBO DANCE FESTIVAL, WAXworks, and Under Exposed in NYC; as a guest choreographer with areadance in Pittsburgh; and internationally at Middlesex University in London; choreographic research funded through the Eric M. Steele Scholarship for International Study. Reidy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from The College at Brockport State University of New York.
Danielle Schlauderaff began her formal training in Minneapolis, Minnesota under
the artistic direction of Julia Levina. Before graduating from the Alvin Ailey
Professional Division, Danielle was honored to perform in the 2011 Spring Gala at the
Apollo Theater. She has toured with internationally recognized hip hop/pop artist Kid
Akimbo, as well as performed with AUC contemporary dance and in various industrials.
In addition to Treeline, Danielle is a member of Malcolm Low/Formal Structure,
Overground Physical Theater Company, and Synthesis Aesthetics Project. Having
studied at Movement Invention Project, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Complexions
Contemporary Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Kirov Academy of Ballet, she
performed works by Scott Rink, Alonzo King, Francesca Harper, Gregory Dolbashian,
Earl Mosley, Darrell Moultrie, Desmond Richardson, and Dwight Rhoden among others.
Photo Credits: photo by Lorinda Fraboni
Nichole Geary graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in the spring of 2011. Additionally, she participated in a number of dance residencies under the direction of Paul Taylor, David Dorfman Dance, Keigwin + Co, Battleworks, and Gibney Dance. After graduating she worked and performed with Missy Pfohl Smith’s BIODANCE in Rochester, New York while studying to become a registered yoga instructor.
Now located in New York City, Geary is exploring different facets of art production and administration while seeking to pursue a career in dance performance. Working with Treeline Dance Works has provided her with her first opportunity to perform in NYC.
Dancers
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