WELCOME
to Alternative Motion Project Presents
10//X: On Demand
***DATE EXTENDED***
March 23rd - April 3rd
Online Video Streaming of AMP's 10th Season Performance
All movers were fully vaccinated and tested Negative for COVID-19.
to Alternative Motion Project Presents
10//X: On Demand
***DATE EXTENDED***
March 23rd - April 3rd
Online Video Streaming of AMP's 10th Season Performance
All movers were fully vaccinated and tested Negative for COVID-19.
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Co-Founders + Co-Artistic Directors
Kristin Howe + Joanna Lees Special Guest Artists Dameun Strange, Sound Cole Sarar, Spoken Word Erinn Liebhard, Choreography Original Works Kristin Howe Joanna Lees Erinn Liebhard, Guest Choreographer Brenna Mosser, Company Member Company Movers Stephanie Flanagan // Laura K Johnson // Zoë Koenig // Julia Moser-Hardy // Brenna Mosser // Erin Ross // Jesse Schmitz-Boyd // Addie Smith // Bridgett Tegen // Lauren Vanchina |
Guest Mover Crissy Tolson Lighting Designer Tony Stoeri Production Stage Manager Rachel Lantow Special Thanks to AMP's current roster of artists, crew + personnel, Bill + Connie Cameron, Dameun Strange, Cole Sarar, Erinn Liebhard, Katy Ross + Joe Lees, Steve Miller, Kathy + Gary LeLoup, AMP's Board of Directors, + all the collaborators, artists, + personnel who have worked with AMP over these past 10 years. |
On behalf of everyone at Alternative Motion Project, we are proud to welcome you to 10//X: On Demand and our triumphant return to live indoor performance! We could not be happier that this return accompanies our 10-year celebration: a decade of Moving BIG and creating more professional opportunities for Twin Cities artists, audiences, + students. This is an incredibly special event for many reasons and we are elated to share it with you.
Two years ago, we were devastated to cancel our 9th Season two weeks before opening night. All we could do was wait and see with the rest of the world. Whilst waiting, we still found economical ways to keep moving creatively: we taught free virtual classes from home, we created a Screendance film, and we brought the dance community at large together for virtual fundraising celebrations. Kristin and Joanna even collaborated to make an entirely new work while working outdoors on tennis courts and performed outside on concrete. This work, On The Verge, will get its stage debut. We are thrilled to have collaborated with award-winning sound artist/composer, Dameun Strange for this relentless and beautiful work.
We are delighted to welcome Guest Choreographer, Erinn Liebhard, who brings her moves and grooves to AMP in assemblage. We are also excited to showcase the work of Company Member Brenna Mosser in Cycles, which was the 2019-20 Audience Create-A-Dance. Both works are two years in the making and were set to premiere in 2020. We are overjoyed that these works finally get to have their world premiere performances fully realized.
Co-Artistic Director Joanna Lees returns with her first professional solo choreographic world premiere since completing her MFA degree in 2020 from The University of Utah. We are heartened to share this intimate and deeply personal duet entitled, split.
Our final collaborator whom we are especially ecstatic to welcome is Spoken Word Artist, Cole Sarar. Their stunning and evocative words are part of Kristin Howe’s world premiere, SHINE ON, a bittersweet ode to all of her past creative works with AMP. This will be Kristin’s last new work as acting Co-Director, as she is stepping away from this role after our fiscal year closes in August. We are thrilled that her final work as Co-Director beautifully encapsulates her joyful, generous, and resilient spirit: a presence that we have been incredibly fortunate to witness and depend on. This evening is also a celebration of all Kristin has accomplished as one of our fearless leaders.
Whichever way you experience contemporary dance, we are incredibly grateful for your presence here today. We look forward to seeing you again through performance this Fall 2022 for a new production, entitled ViewPoints. We hope you enjoy all this show offers.
With Gratitude,
Kristin Howe + Joanna Lees
Co-Artistic Directors
Alternative Motion Project
Two years ago, we were devastated to cancel our 9th Season two weeks before opening night. All we could do was wait and see with the rest of the world. Whilst waiting, we still found economical ways to keep moving creatively: we taught free virtual classes from home, we created a Screendance film, and we brought the dance community at large together for virtual fundraising celebrations. Kristin and Joanna even collaborated to make an entirely new work while working outdoors on tennis courts and performed outside on concrete. This work, On The Verge, will get its stage debut. We are thrilled to have collaborated with award-winning sound artist/composer, Dameun Strange for this relentless and beautiful work.
We are delighted to welcome Guest Choreographer, Erinn Liebhard, who brings her moves and grooves to AMP in assemblage. We are also excited to showcase the work of Company Member Brenna Mosser in Cycles, which was the 2019-20 Audience Create-A-Dance. Both works are two years in the making and were set to premiere in 2020. We are overjoyed that these works finally get to have their world premiere performances fully realized.
Co-Artistic Director Joanna Lees returns with her first professional solo choreographic world premiere since completing her MFA degree in 2020 from The University of Utah. We are heartened to share this intimate and deeply personal duet entitled, split.
Our final collaborator whom we are especially ecstatic to welcome is Spoken Word Artist, Cole Sarar. Their stunning and evocative words are part of Kristin Howe’s world premiere, SHINE ON, a bittersweet ode to all of her past creative works with AMP. This will be Kristin’s last new work as acting Co-Director, as she is stepping away from this role after our fiscal year closes in August. We are thrilled that her final work as Co-Director beautifully encapsulates her joyful, generous, and resilient spirit: a presence that we have been incredibly fortunate to witness and depend on. This evening is also a celebration of all Kristin has accomplished as one of our fearless leaders.
Whichever way you experience contemporary dance, we are incredibly grateful for your presence here today. We look forward to seeing you again through performance this Fall 2022 for a new production, entitled ViewPoints. We hope you enjoy all this show offers.
With Gratitude,
Kristin Howe + Joanna Lees
Co-Artistic Directors
Alternative Motion Project
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS + LINKS
We acknowledge that we are performing on stolen land of the Dakota + Anishinaabe Indigenous peoples. Acknowledging this violent history, that often goes unrecognized, is a first step we are taking in understanding how we can better honor the land on which we create and perform. We are committed to continue expanding and deepening this work as Indigenous communities and traditions are still active and alive today and are not simply relics of the past.
As part of an ongoing, long-term call to action, AMP will continue to donate a portion of our ticket sales for 10//X to the Black-led organization, Juxtaposition Arts, with their permission. Juxtaposition Arts is a black led arts organization serving the Northside of Minneapolis and “is a teen-staffed art and design center, gallery, retail shop, and artists’ studio space in North Minneapolis. Juxtaposition Arts develops community by engaging and employing young urban artists in hands-on education initiatives that create pathways to self-sufficiency while actualizing creative power."
"JXTA welcomes people to commit to long-term support which is essential to address the long-term funding inequalities that black led organizations face in Minnesota and the nation. JXTA values are centered on self-determination and youth empowerment encased within a social enterprise business model. We have worked with, educated, and trained emerging artists of color for 26 years through this lens."
- Allison Wagstrom, JXTA, statement from June 8th, 2021
This contribution is one avenue of AMP's ongoing work recognizing and dismantling systemic racism and white supremacy. We encourage you to check out the valuable work JXTA is doing and join us in monetarily supporting their mission, if you are able. JXTA is beginning an Amplifiers Campaign where you can also make a recurring donation.
DONATE TO JXTA: https://juxtapositionarts.org/donate/
As part of an ongoing, long-term call to action, AMP will continue to donate a portion of our ticket sales for 10//X to the Black-led organization, Juxtaposition Arts, with their permission. Juxtaposition Arts is a black led arts organization serving the Northside of Minneapolis and “is a teen-staffed art and design center, gallery, retail shop, and artists’ studio space in North Minneapolis. Juxtaposition Arts develops community by engaging and employing young urban artists in hands-on education initiatives that create pathways to self-sufficiency while actualizing creative power."
"JXTA welcomes people to commit to long-term support which is essential to address the long-term funding inequalities that black led organizations face in Minnesota and the nation. JXTA values are centered on self-determination and youth empowerment encased within a social enterprise business model. We have worked with, educated, and trained emerging artists of color for 26 years through this lens."
- Allison Wagstrom, JXTA, statement from June 8th, 2021
This contribution is one avenue of AMP's ongoing work recognizing and dismantling systemic racism and white supremacy. We encourage you to check out the valuable work JXTA is doing and join us in monetarily supporting their mission, if you are able. JXTA is beginning an Amplifiers Campaign where you can also make a recurring donation.
DONATE TO JXTA: https://juxtapositionarts.org/donate/
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PROGRAM
Cycles
World Premiere
2019-20 Audience Create-A-Dance
Cycles is a reflection of the night sky and the awe it brings us.
World Premiere
2019-20 Audience Create-A-Dance
Cycles is a reflection of the night sky and the awe it brings us.
Choreography
Brenna Mosser
AMP Company Member
Movers
Stephanie Flanagan, Laura K Johnson, Zoë Koenig,
Julia Moser-Hardy, Jesse Schmitz-Boyd, + Lauren Vanchina
Music
Svitjold by Forndom
Laukr by Warduna
Special Thanks to
Harper Foote and Karin Jarvise who helped create this work in the pre-Covid days.
Your influence carried through to the end.
Brenna Mosser
AMP Company Member
Movers
Stephanie Flanagan, Laura K Johnson, Zoë Koenig,
Julia Moser-Hardy, Jesse Schmitz-Boyd, + Lauren Vanchina
Music
Svitjold by Forndom
Laukr by Warduna
Special Thanks to
Harper Foote and Karin Jarvise who helped create this work in the pre-Covid days.
Your influence carried through to the end.
split
World Premiere
World Premiere
Choreography
Joanna Lees
in collaboration with the performers
Movers
Zoë Koenig
Addie Smith
Music Composition
Michael Wall
Sound Design
Joanna Lees
Costumes
Joanna Lees
Special Thanks to
Zoë + Addie for their presence, curiosity, commitment, + playfulness throughout the creation process.
Thank you to my therapist for holding space for all my paradoxes.
Joanna Lees
in collaboration with the performers
Movers
Zoë Koenig
Addie Smith
Music Composition
Michael Wall
Sound Design
Joanna Lees
Costumes
Joanna Lees
Special Thanks to
Zoë + Addie for their presence, curiosity, commitment, + playfulness throughout the creation process.
Thank you to my therapist for holding space for all my paradoxes.
assemblage
World Premiere
Guest Choreographer
assemblage is a musing on the joy generated by the ways we come into and out of the
groove/s of one another's lives, both purposefully and happenstance.
World Premiere
Guest Choreographer
assemblage is a musing on the joy generated by the ways we come into and out of the
groove/s of one another's lives, both purposefully and happenstance.
Choreography
Erinn Liebhard
with improvisations by the performers
Music
East of the Sun (And West of the Moon):
composed by Brooks Bowman + performed by the Christian McBride Trio
Downtime by Joey Alexander
Movers
Brenna Mosser, Erin Ross
Jesse Schmitz-Boyd, Bridgett Tegen, + Crissy Tolson
Costumes
Erinn Liebhard + Performers
Special Thanks
Erinn would like to thank: the dancers for their generous and meaningful investigations of this movement with one another, her husband Kris and their parents for making it possible for her to jump back into choreography-land with this piece after welcoming son Niko in early December, and Kristin and Joanna of AMP for appreciating jazz as a form that can represent contemporary experiences in accessible, nuanced and impactful ways. Thank you thank you thank you!
Erinn Liebhard
with improvisations by the performers
Music
East of the Sun (And West of the Moon):
composed by Brooks Bowman + performed by the Christian McBride Trio
Downtime by Joey Alexander
Movers
Brenna Mosser, Erin Ross
Jesse Schmitz-Boyd, Bridgett Tegen, + Crissy Tolson
Costumes
Erinn Liebhard + Performers
Special Thanks
Erinn would like to thank: the dancers for their generous and meaningful investigations of this movement with one another, her husband Kris and their parents for making it possible for her to jump back into choreography-land with this piece after welcoming son Niko in early December, and Kristin and Joanna of AMP for appreciating jazz as a form that can represent contemporary experiences in accessible, nuanced and impactful ways. Thank you thank you thank you!
SHINE ON
World Premiere
World Premiere
Choreography
Kristin Howe
in collaboration with the performers
Spoken Word Composition + Performance
Cole Sarar
Special Guest Artist
Movers
Stephanie Flanagan, Laura K Johnson, + Julia Moser-Hardy
Music
René Aubry, Gracie + Rachel
Costumes
Kristin Howe
Special Thanks to
The dancers for showing up as their true authentic selves and supporting the backbone of this work that will
carry us into whatever comes next. You truly make this world a more joyful place to exist.
Kristin Howe
in collaboration with the performers
Spoken Word Composition + Performance
Cole Sarar
Special Guest Artist
Movers
Stephanie Flanagan, Laura K Johnson, + Julia Moser-Hardy
Music
René Aubry, Gracie + Rachel
Costumes
Kristin Howe
Special Thanks to
The dancers for showing up as their true authentic selves and supporting the backbone of this work that will
carry us into whatever comes next. You truly make this world a more joyful place to exist.
Cheers to 10 years of Moving BIG!
Video Package
Editing
Joanna Lees
Interviews
Amy Jones
Anna Resele
Erinn Liebhard
Crystal Secor
Harper Foote
Lee Kesselman
See more memories and reflections on AMP's Website + Social Media.
Video Package
Editing
Joanna Lees
Interviews
Amy Jones
Anna Resele
Erinn Liebhard
Crystal Secor
Harper Foote
Lee Kesselman
See more memories and reflections on AMP's Website + Social Media.
On The Verge
Staged Premiere
(2021)
Staged Premiere
(2021)
Choreography
Kristin Howe + Joanna Lees
in collaboration with the performers
Sound Composition + Design
Dameun Strange
Special Guest Artist
Movers
Stephanie Flanagan, Karin Jarvise, Laura K Johnson, Zoë Koenig, Brenna Mosser,
Jesse Schmitz-Boyd, Addie Smith, Bridgett Tegen, + Lauren Vanchina
Special Thanks to
Karin Jarvise who also helped to create the first iteration of this work.
Thank you to the dancers for their vulnerability, presence, sweat, + courage.
Kristin Howe + Joanna Lees
in collaboration with the performers
Sound Composition + Design
Dameun Strange
Special Guest Artist
Movers
Stephanie Flanagan, Karin Jarvise, Laura K Johnson, Zoë Koenig, Brenna Mosser,
Jesse Schmitz-Boyd, Addie Smith, Bridgett Tegen, + Lauren Vanchina
Special Thanks to
Karin Jarvise who also helped to create the first iteration of this work.
Thank you to the dancers for their vulnerability, presence, sweat, + courage.
SURPRISE!
Congratulations, Kristin
Video Package
Editing
Joanna Lees
Interviews
AMP Company Members
Dameun Strange
Cole Sarar
Congratulations, Kristin
Video Package
Editing
Joanna Lees
Interviews
AMP Company Members
Dameun Strange
Cole Sarar
This is Kristin Howe's last performance acting as AMP Co-Director.
Join us in celebrating her!
Join us in celebrating her!
Get an in depth look at the behind the scenes processes on AMP's Rehearsal Video Blog.
MEET THE PEOPLE...
Kristin Howe (Co-Founder, Co-Artistic Director, she/her) received her Bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts, with an emphasis in Dance, from Colorado State University in 2005. During her time with CSU, she studied with Toronto Dance Theatre and at the American Dance Festival (Durham, NC). She has performed with Korzatkowski Contemporary Dance, Rebound Dance, The Sonic Inertia Performance Group, Labor Force Dances, Wicked Sister Dance Theatre, We Dance (Erin Drummond), Joanna Lees, Jennifer Mack, Kelly Radermacher, Strange and Liebhard New Music and Dance Ensemble, and Jesse Schmitz-Boyd. Kristin’s choreography has been shown at the American College Dance Festival (Long Beach, CA), New Visions Dance Festival (Fort Collins, CO) Rebound Dance Festival (Chicago, IL), The Dance Lab (Minneapolis, MN), Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (Anchorage, AK), Kinetic Kitchen (Minneapolis, MN), and with Moving Collective (Louisville, KY).
In 2011, she co-founded Alternative Motion Project (AMP) alongside Joanna Lees. Since AMP’s beginning, Kristin has choreographed 14 world premieres and co-produced 11 evening-length dance performances. As a choreographer, she enjoys collaborating with live musicians and visual artists that have included Steve Howe (beat boxer), Alyssa Anderson (vocalist), Dameun Strange (sound artist), Richard Haglund (composer/musician/percussionist), Ellen Gustafson (photographer), Jane Cords-O’Hara (cellist), Grand Symphonic Winds Ensemble, and Cole Sarar (poet). Kristin is overwhelmed with gratitude and pride for AMP's community of artists!
In 2011, she co-founded Alternative Motion Project (AMP) alongside Joanna Lees. Since AMP’s beginning, Kristin has choreographed 14 world premieres and co-produced 11 evening-length dance performances. As a choreographer, she enjoys collaborating with live musicians and visual artists that have included Steve Howe (beat boxer), Alyssa Anderson (vocalist), Dameun Strange (sound artist), Richard Haglund (composer/musician/percussionist), Ellen Gustafson (photographer), Jane Cords-O’Hara (cellist), Grand Symphonic Winds Ensemble, and Cole Sarar (poet). Kristin is overwhelmed with gratitude and pride for AMP's community of artists!
Joanna Lees (Co-Founder, Co-Artistic + Executive Director, she/her) is a choreographer based in Minneapolis, MN. Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Joanna graduated cum laude with distinction in 2007 with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Business from The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH). At OSU, she was an Arts Scholar and the recipient of the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum Scholarship. Joanna studied with various artists including Bebe Miller, Susan Hadley, Karen Eliot, Abigail Yager and Ming-Lung Yang. She performed Doug Varone’s Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) in collaboration with BalletMet Columbus.
Since moving to the Twin Cities in 2008, Joanna has performed in works with and by several local dance artists including Penelope Freeh, Blake Nellis, Taja Will, Darrius Strong, Heather Klopchin, Jennifer Glaws, Erin Drummond, Laura Holway, Jennifer Mack, Erinn Liebhard, Kelly Radermacher, and Kristin Howe. Joanna also showcased her own choreography independently before co-founding the Minneapolis dance company, Alternative Motion Project alongside Kristin Howe in 2011. She has served as Co-Artistic Director and Executive Director since AMP’s inception, creating performing opportunities for Minneapolis artists, educational outreach programs for public school students and audience engagement initiatives.
Joanna’s work has been presented by the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL), The Moving Collective (Louisville, KY) and at the Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival (Kalamazoo, MI). Joanna enjoys the collaborative process including with COD professor/composer Lee Kesselman and Chicago visual artist René Romero Schuler. She also premiered her first multi-media dance work entitled #binge (2016) in Minneapolis.
In 2020, Joanna earned her Masters of Fine Arts degree in Dance at The University of Utah (Salt Lake City). Whilst there, she served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the School of Dance and received the L. Scott Marsh Mentorship Award & a University Teaching Assistantship. She performed works by Charles O. Anderson, Stephen Koester, Sara Pickett, Christine McMillan. She performed in work by Doug Varone in collaboration with Doug Varone and Dancers and was selected as a choreographer for Varone’s DEVICES mentorship program, showcasing her work, Spiral Into Control, in New York City in 2018. An excerpt of her MFA thesis, B E C O M I N G, was selected to represent University of Utah in performance for the American College Dance Association Northwest Regional Conference at Gonzaga University.
Joanna is immensely grateful for the community of artists, personnel, audiences, + supporters who have contributed to AMP, especially her dear partner, Kristin Howe.
Since moving to the Twin Cities in 2008, Joanna has performed in works with and by several local dance artists including Penelope Freeh, Blake Nellis, Taja Will, Darrius Strong, Heather Klopchin, Jennifer Glaws, Erin Drummond, Laura Holway, Jennifer Mack, Erinn Liebhard, Kelly Radermacher, and Kristin Howe. Joanna also showcased her own choreography independently before co-founding the Minneapolis dance company, Alternative Motion Project alongside Kristin Howe in 2011. She has served as Co-Artistic Director and Executive Director since AMP’s inception, creating performing opportunities for Minneapolis artists, educational outreach programs for public school students and audience engagement initiatives.
Joanna’s work has been presented by the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL), The Moving Collective (Louisville, KY) and at the Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival (Kalamazoo, MI). Joanna enjoys the collaborative process including with COD professor/composer Lee Kesselman and Chicago visual artist René Romero Schuler. She also premiered her first multi-media dance work entitled #binge (2016) in Minneapolis.
In 2020, Joanna earned her Masters of Fine Arts degree in Dance at The University of Utah (Salt Lake City). Whilst there, she served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the School of Dance and received the L. Scott Marsh Mentorship Award & a University Teaching Assistantship. She performed works by Charles O. Anderson, Stephen Koester, Sara Pickett, Christine McMillan. She performed in work by Doug Varone in collaboration with Doug Varone and Dancers and was selected as a choreographer for Varone’s DEVICES mentorship program, showcasing her work, Spiral Into Control, in New York City in 2018. An excerpt of her MFA thesis, B E C O M I N G, was selected to represent University of Utah in performance for the American College Dance Association Northwest Regional Conference at Gonzaga University.
Joanna is immensely grateful for the community of artists, personnel, audiences, + supporters who have contributed to AMP, especially her dear partner, Kristin Howe.
Dameun Maurice Strange (Special Guest Artist - Sound, he/him) is a sound artist, multi-instrumentalist, and award winning composer whose conceptual works are focused on stories of the African diaspora, often exploring afro surrealist and afrofuturist themes. Dameun is compelled to express through sound and poetry, the beauty and resilience of the Black experience, digging into a pantheon of ancestors to tell stories of triumph, while connecting the past, present, and future.
Dameun has worked with such artists as J. Otis Powell and Sha Cage and has been a featured performer on concerts celebrating the work of Thurston Moore and Henry Threadgill. He is a 2018 recipient of the ACF | Create Award and 2019 Jerome Hill Fellowship.
Dameun is currently the Director of Community and Belonging at ACF and lives in Saint Paul, MN with his wife, Corina and son, Ezra. Like any good nerd, he enjoys a good sci-fi story and has a soft spot for anything related to astrophysics.
Dameun has worked with such artists as J. Otis Powell and Sha Cage and has been a featured performer on concerts celebrating the work of Thurston Moore and Henry Threadgill. He is a 2018 recipient of the ACF | Create Award and 2019 Jerome Hill Fellowship.
Dameun is currently the Director of Community and Belonging at ACF and lives in Saint Paul, MN with his wife, Corina and son, Ezra. Like any good nerd, he enjoys a good sci-fi story and has a soft spot for anything related to astrophysics.
Cole Sarar (Special Guest Artist - Spoken Word, she/they) is a writer, photographer, and tech-artist. She writes plays, web-based and traditional fiction, and both “page” poetry and “stage” poetry. She’s won Urban Griots Spoken Word, Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative, VERVE, and Emerging Writer awards and grants for her performed and tech-poetry. Cole has created public, interactive literary pieces in collaboration with local writers, using phone technology and simple physical design. She’s featured at Poetry & Pints, Convergence, Cheap Theatre, Encyclopedia Show, Not So Silent Planet, Midstream Reading Series, Minnesota Fringe Festival, The Racket, and Silverwood Park. She’s the creator of Cole Sarar’s Sci-Fi Reading Hour, a live reading series featuring new science fiction from Cole and special guest writers, underscored with futurist soundscapes by accomplished musicians.
Cole’s creative work envisions possible futures and alternate presents, employing under-represented characters and situations as a way of making space for us to imagine ourselves existing in the future, having roles, and doing things other than what has been written for us in the past. Their work falls along the intersection of technology and literature. They might use code and tech behind the scenes, or simple physical items like paper, flags, and our cell phones to create surprising, interactive fiction in physical space. Cole serves on the board of directors for Art Shanty Projects, and moonlights doing tech, communications, and design work for various arts organizations.
Cole’s creative work envisions possible futures and alternate presents, employing under-represented characters and situations as a way of making space for us to imagine ourselves existing in the future, having roles, and doing things other than what has been written for us in the past. Their work falls along the intersection of technology and literature. They might use code and tech behind the scenes, or simple physical items like paper, flags, and our cell phones to create surprising, interactive fiction in physical space. Cole serves on the board of directors for Art Shanty Projects, and moonlights doing tech, communications, and design work for various arts organizations.
Erinn Liebhard (Special Guest Artist - Choreography, she/her) is a dance artist making opportunities for people to experience the reflective and connective power of groove through performance and education. Having grown up dancing socially at her dad’s rock band’s gigs in the Midwestern region of the United States, she discovered young the exhilaration of playfully experiencing groove alongside others. Guided by this inspiration and a fondness for jazz and American social dance ideas, she's worked with creatives as varied as hip-hop dance theater artists Rennie Harris and the Wild Goose Chase Cloggers Appalachian clogging company. In performance, she makes and performs new staged works and presents those of others through her company Rhythmically Speaking, is a member of Afro-Brazilian contemporary company Contempo Physical Dance, and performs as self-created character “Nerdette” for St. Paul Saints Baseball’s Entertainment Team. She also creates new works for professional dance companies. Her creative works emphasize groove, interaction and improvisation, and are inspired by both social and concert dance movement while often driven by contemporary jazz music. In education, she is an active jazz dance residency artist in higher education, works as a Teaching Artist for the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts and serves as a member of their Advisory Council, and is faculty at Muhlenberg College, St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, Winona State University and Zenon Dance School. She is also an active writer and conference presenter. She's driven to help connect people to themselves, one another and the moment through rooted and innovative embodiment of groove. (PC: Isabel Fajardo)
Stephanie Flanagan (Mover, she/her) grows nostalgic for her rural hometown in Junction City, Wisconsin. Upon graduating high school in Stevens Point Steph traveled to Minneapolis and received a B.A. from the University of Minnesota's dance program in 2008. Shortly thereafter she had the esteemed honor of performing in Trisha Brown's installation of Planes under Will Swanson at the Walker Art Center. Additionally Steph has performed in Choreographer's Evening with artists Emily Michaels King Wigs and Dresses and Jessica Briggs Long Vanishing Spirals or something of that Nature. In 2013 Steph joined AMP and has had the privilege to continue working with them.
Outside of moving and shaking, Steph is a massage therapist and a Maker. A Maker; of children, laughs, gardens, clothes, food, etc. Stephanie Marie Shirek Flanagan is incredibly grateful for the support given by her family and friends - lookin' at you Pete. <3
Laura K Johnson (Mover, she/her) is a performer, choreographer and instructor based in the Twin Cities. She is originally from Rosemount, MN where she was introduced to modern dance in high school and hasn’t looked back since. Laura is a 2016 graduate from Gustavus Adolphus College, where she received the Distinguished Dance Student Award and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Dance Honors. After graduation, Laura interned and studied at the American Dance Festival, performed her own work in Paula Mann’s Solo Composition Workshop, Hold This, and co-directed two MN Fringe productions titled Chapter 23 and Blackbirds on an Icicle. Laura is extremely passionate about dance because she believes it is essentially the art of being alive. Laura currently teaches modern technique at Ballet Royale Minnesota during the school year and is in her fourth season dancing with Alternative Motion Project. Laura is excited to see where her passion takes her in life.
Zoë Koenig (Mover, she/her) is a dancer and choreographer from Madison, WI. She has performed recently at DUMBO Dance Festival (New York City), Queerly Contemporary Festival (New York City), World Dance Alliance Global Summit (St. John’s, Newfoundland), Going Dutch Festival (Elgin, IL), Detroit Dance City Festival (Detroit, MI), and RADfest (Kalamazoo, MI). Zoë was a member of the Kanopy Dance Company II in Madison, WI from 2011–2014 before attending Beloit College where she worked with numerous choreographers, including Kate Wallich and Katy Pyle, and was awarded the 2017 Chavey Family Endowed Award in Dance for outstanding performance. In addition to AMP, she is a member of Analog Dance Works, and has danced for Twin Cities artists Sarah Abdel Jelil, Erika Martin, and Gabriel Rodreick, among others. She has shown work in Minneapolis at Squirrel Haus Arts, Praxis Gallery, and the Off-Leash Art Box and was a 2019 Generating Room Artist at the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts for the development of her newest work, Cloud Cover.
Julia Moser-Hardy (Mover, she/her) trained for thirteen years at Neta Barker School of Ballet in her hometown of Wayland, Massachusetts, and continued with Modern and Improvisation at St. Olaf College where she received her Bachelors degree in Dance and Psychology, two fields that she feels see people as whole beings. Julia has had the opportunity to perform choreography by Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater, Alexandra Beller/Dances, SEVEN DANCE and Concerto Dance byJolene Konkel. Julia currently teaches at CREO Arts & Dance Conservatory and Prairie School of Dance and is excited to perform again with AMP this year!
Brenna Mosser (Choreographer + Mover, she/her) is a Minnesota native. She went to the Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance for her bachelor’s, and supplemented her degree with a level 3 license in Performance Dance and Arts Management from le Centre National de la Danse Contemporaine in Angers, France. On returning home, Brenna joined the Conservation Corps, an Americorps program that focuses on prairie restoration in Minnesota. Alongside AMP, Brenna dances for Threads Dance Project and Bernadette Knaeble. She is the Artistic Director of Analog Dance Works, a company that explores intersections between dance and science.
Erin Ross (Mover, she/her) was born into a family of musicians. She began studying dance at Ballet Arts Minnesota and Minnesota Dance Theater. At age 16, she became an Apprentice with the Minnesota Dance theater, under the direction of Lise Houlton, where she performed Nutcracker Fantasy, Swingin’ Nutcracker, Rite of Spring, Carnival of the Animals and Swan Lake. She spent summers at Interlochen Arts Camp, where she received the Fine Arts Award for Ballet, at ABT and Complexions in New York, Houston Ballet and the Dawson/Wallace Dance Project Professional Workshop in Denver. In 2012 she graduated from the Alonzo King Lines Training Program in San Francisco, and soon after moved to Miami to dance with the Dance Now Ensemble for a season. Since returning to the Twin Cities, Erin has performed works by Pennelope Freeh, Helen Hatch, Kevin Iverson, Darrius Strong, Jennifer Glaws, Jesse Schmitz-Boyd, and AMP's Joanna Lees and Kristin Howe. She is also the ballet director at Headline Dance Center. This is Erin's 6th season with AMP.
Jesse Schmitz-Boyd (Mover + Social Media Coordinator, he/him) is a Twin Cities based performer, choreographer and arts educator. This is Jesse's 9th year with Alternative Motion Project. Jesse also has performed locally with Off-Leash Area at the Cowles Center and throughout Minnesota as a part of the company’s Neighborhood Garage Tour. Additionally he has worked with RE|Dance & Erinn Liebhard.
Jesse’s choreography has been presented at The Minnesota Fringe Festival, Off-Leash Area ArtBox, Zenon Dance Zone, The Ritz Theatre, and Movement Arts Day (Eau Claire, WI). In 2017 he presented 35 Different Angles From Which to Hate Yourself at the Minnesota Fringe Festival with his newly formed performance group Rogue & Rabble Dance. The Start Tribune said it was one of the ten must see shows of that year’s Fringe.
Currently Jesse is on faculty at Children’s Theater Company Theater Arts Training, and Ballare Teatro Performing Arts Center.
Addie Smith (Mover, they/them) A California native, Addie graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in Theater Arts and Dance; collaborating, choreographing, and directing new works both professionally and within the university. Since moving to the Twin Cities in 2017, they have created and performed with Loom Lab, Crash Dance Productions, and Analog Dance Works. Addie loves bringing humor and vulnerability into dance spaces; their style and work is often theatrical, absurd, and steeped in child-like curiosity. They have loved every step of putting this show together and are so grateful to be performing with AMP in their tenth season!
Bridgett Tegen (Mover, she/her) began her professional dance training at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she earned a BFA in Dance and a Minor in Women's Studies. In Milwaukee, she performed with Gerald Casel Company and Wild Space Dance Co. After moving back home to the Twin Cities, Bridgett auditioned for Alternative Motion Project and landed herself a company position in Minneapolis. Bridgett is now entering her eighth season with AMP and couldn’t be more grateful for the hard-working, talented, and overall swell directors of AMP, Joanna Lees and Kristin Howe. Since beginning with AMP, Bridgett is thankful to have had the opportunity to work with local forces like Jennifer Glaws, Erinn Liebhard, Nic Lincoln, Blake Nellis, Darrius Strong, and Taja Will. She couldn't be happier to be back on stage and hopes you enjoy the show!
Crissy Tolson (Guest Mover, she/her) has danced with numerous Twin Cities artists and companies such as Rhythmically Speaking, Loom Lab, Borealis Dance and others. She is also passionate about creating her own work as a solo artist and has produced and directed two shows, here i am and Duality. Her performance has been highlighted by the Star Tribune: "She commanded such presence...articulating emotions with precision...downright terrifying". Crissy holds a BFA in Dance from George Mason University and most recently went to Amsterdam to study improvisation composition under Katie Duck. She is excited to come back to AMP as a guest artist this season!
Lauren Vanchina (Mover, she/her) received her BA in Dance and Psychology from the University of Iowa in 2014. While at Iowa, Lauren immersed herself in several aspects of dance study: she studied dance history and theory as an Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates Fellow under the guidance of dance scholar Rebekah Kowal, taught the kiddos how to shuffle with the University of Iowa Youth Ballet, and performed across Iowa as a member of Dancers in Company. She has performed in works by Charlotte Adams, Gabriel Anderson, Jennifer Kayle, Alan Sener, Lisa Gonzales, Ester Baker-Tarpaga, and Olivier Tarpaga. Lauren interned with Dance Magazine in the summer of 2013, and her contributions to the magazine appear in several issues from late that year. Since moving to Minneapolis, Lauren has performed work by Joanna Lees, Kristin Howe, Jesse Schimtz-Boyd, and Penny Freeh. Lauren also holds an MSW from the University of Minnesota, and she currently balances dance with work as a clinical social worker. She is thrilled to be a part of the wonderful cast!
Rachel A. Lantow (Production Stage Mananger, she/her) Rachel is thrilled to join AMP for the first time! Rachel has been privileged to work on a variety of dance productions here in the Twin Cities, including Loyce Houlton’s Nutcracker Fantasy (Minnesota Dance Theatre), SOLO (McKnight Foundation), In the Margins (THREADS Dance Project), Heaven, French Twist (Flying Foot Forum), Momentum: New Dance Works 2017 & 2019 (The Cowles Center/The Southern/Walker Arts Center/The O' Shaughnessy), Four Saints in Three Acts (VocalEssence & Black Label Movement at the Cowles Center), & Taiko Groove (Mu Performing Arts Center). She has been the PSM for Cirque Mechanics & Circus Juventas for the last 4 years, as well as several theatre companies here in Minnesota including Park Square, Artistry, Walking Shadow Theatre Company, and CLIMB Theatre. During the pandemic, she assisted the state rollout of the vaccine coordinating logistics for mass sites. Proud Minnesota local, B.F.A. Theatre Technology/Design, Minnesota State University, Mankato. For my Audience of One and for Kaela.
Tony Stoeri (Technical Director, he/him) is a free-lance lighting designer based in Minneapolis.He is a graduate of Carleton College, and recently graduated with an MFA in lighting design from Indiana University. His work has most recently been seen with Walking Shadow Theatre Company, Collide Theatrical Dance Company, Cardinal Stage (Bloomington, IN), and Mission Theatre Company.
AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM CO-DIRECTOR, Kristin Howe
Dear Valued AMP Patron,
It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that I will be stepping away from my role as Co-Artistic Director of Alternative Motion Project at the end of its 2021-2022 season. My final day as Co-Artistic Director will be August 31st, 2022. Being a Founder and Director of this organization, along side my dear friend and artistic partner, Joanna Lees, has been an intricate force in who I am today.
AMP was founded on the value of providing meaningful and professional opportunities to dance artists and that is exactly what AMP has given me. The opportunity of being a leader for this organization has taught me many significant lessons, both in administration development and artistic creative growth.
I do not make this decision lightly! AMP is so much more than a small non-profit dance company – AMP is a family. I am honored to have served this organization for the past decade and look forward to see what changes and growth evolve in the near future. I want to thank everyone that has shared their time, energy, artistry, and dedication to both myself and the organization as a whole. I am overwhelmed with pride and joy as I move towards my next chapter.
I will always be connected to AMP and the community for which it serves. I look forward to continuing to support the organization and remind myself, that Move BIG is more than a tag line, it’s a philosophy that I commit to live by.
Let’s join together and celebrate this new venture with the performances of 10//X! I am excited to share my last premiere work with you that explores where and how we find JOY. I have found a magnitude of JOY during my time with AMP. Thank you for your compassion, understanding, and support!
With Gratitude,
Kristin Howe
Co-Artistic Director
Alternative Motion Project
It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that I will be stepping away from my role as Co-Artistic Director of Alternative Motion Project at the end of its 2021-2022 season. My final day as Co-Artistic Director will be August 31st, 2022. Being a Founder and Director of this organization, along side my dear friend and artistic partner, Joanna Lees, has been an intricate force in who I am today.
AMP was founded on the value of providing meaningful and professional opportunities to dance artists and that is exactly what AMP has given me. The opportunity of being a leader for this organization has taught me many significant lessons, both in administration development and artistic creative growth.
I do not make this decision lightly! AMP is so much more than a small non-profit dance company – AMP is a family. I am honored to have served this organization for the past decade and look forward to see what changes and growth evolve in the near future. I want to thank everyone that has shared their time, energy, artistry, and dedication to both myself and the organization as a whole. I am overwhelmed with pride and joy as I move towards my next chapter.
I will always be connected to AMP and the community for which it serves. I look forward to continuing to support the organization and remind myself, that Move BIG is more than a tag line, it’s a philosophy that I commit to live by.
Let’s join together and celebrate this new venture with the performances of 10//X! I am excited to share my last premiere work with you that explores where and how we find JOY. I have found a magnitude of JOY during my time with AMP. Thank you for your compassion, understanding, and support!
With Gratitude,
Kristin Howe
Co-Artistic Director
Alternative Motion Project
All AMP Photos by Bill Cameron.