Elise Knudson is a New York based dancer/dance maker. Her interest in being where ideas and action intersect has led her to collaborations with artists of various media. She has created over 30 long and short pieces which have been presented around New York City, Canada and Mexico. She holds an MFA from Hollins University and has worked with Koosil-Ja/Dance Kumiko, Risa Jaroslow and Luke Gutgsell and other wonderful people. Elise recently created a dance for students at Manhattanville College and taught a theory and practice of improvisation course at Yale University. She is a core member of Antititled Dialogue, a collective dedicated to the practice and performance of dance improvisation.
Eric Nordstrom is a specialist in contact improvisation and contemporary dance and has performed with Karen Nelson, Keith V. Goodman and was a core company member of Oslund + Company. As a director and editor, his films feature prominent artist and scholars such as Kent De Spain and Ann Cooper Albright. Additionally, he has provided video production for Portland Opera, Tere Mathern Dance and and Portland Taiko through Portland Performing Arts Video (www.ppav.me). He is a recipient of a professional development grant through RACC and various artistic residencies. He studied with fimmaker Mitchell Rose and choreographer Bebe Miller at the Ohio State University where he earned his MFA in Dance.
Nicholas Daulton was born in Los Angeles, CA but has called Portland, OR his home since he was eight. He began his technical training in dance at Portland Community College where he received his Associates Degree in 2012. He moved away from technique for two years exploring Ecstatic Dance and Contact Improvisation within Portland’s community and considers these experiences to be his foundation within dance. He has danced in spaces such as Performance Works Northwest, Zoomtopia/Studio 2, the Alice Sheets Marriott Center for Dance and within the Ten Tiny Dances performance series. He is currently creating works and working towards his BFA in Modern Dance at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Justin Leon Johnson, aka ‘Fatha Green’, has been a messenger of truth, love, strength, freedom, perseverance, and light—a truly gifted soulful singer/songwriter/performer with the heart of a child and a smile that could light up a black hole. He is a very empathic spirit and quite obviously born to entertain. Enjoy Yo Self!!!\
Ben Kates plays alto saxophone and has done since the 4th grade. He’s played with folks like Han Bennink, Mary Oliver, William Hooker, Thollem McDonas, John Gruntfest, Linda Austin, Gino Robair, Tere Mathern, Tatsuya Nakatani, John C. Savage, Wally Shoup, Jonathan Sielaff, Arrington de Dionyso, Urs Leimgruber, U Sco, Reed Wallsmith, Smegma and John Wiese. His ongoing collaborations include Thicket (a trio with John Niekrasz and Brian Mumford), Brother Donkey (duo with Brian Mumford), Alma Freer (a trio with Ryan Stuewe and Brandon Conway), Halfbird (a trio with Grant Pierce and Brandon Conway) as well as It’s OK, Girl with Danielle Ross. He’s performed at the CMG’s Improvisation Summit of Portland, The No-West Fest, FanFare at Performance Works Northwest, A Portland Circus for John Cage’s Silence at PNCA, The Quiet Music Fest and toured around the country. He is the artistic director of the Creative Music Guild.
LG DANCE 