ANDREA BLESSO ALBUQUERQUEhas many careers - as a dance instructor at Green Street Studios and Partners for Youth with Disabilities, as a performer with EgoArt, Inc. and Falling Flight Project, as a model for artist Judith Larsen, and as Office Manager & Dance Coordinator at the Boston Center for the Arts. Throughout her dance life, Andrea has performed with Snappy Dance Theater, Bennett Dance Company, and Turnpike Project, among others. She has danced with each of the elements - underwater, 18ft in the air, spinning fire fans, and on various land surfaces. Andrea's latest collaboration, which was selected for ADF’s Dancing for the Camera festival, had her dancing on the streets and mountains of Portugal.
JIMENA BERMEJOis a founding member of EgoArt, Inc. She has killed stuffed animals, worn fat suits, danced in roller skates, cried, screamed, tried to breakdance, has been a prima ballerina and a heavy metal rock star. She has danced to Kermit The Frog, J.S. Bach and the Flashdance soundtrack among others. After years solving crime around the city as WonderWoman/Luchadora she decided to take a break to finish a Master of Fine arts from Massachusetts College of Arts and have a Wonder Baby. You can see what she is up to now by checking out her website jbermejo-black.com.
KATHRYN DUNKELreceived her BA in Dance from Hamilton College with a Minor in Anthropology and is a graduate of the Trinity/La Mama Performance Art program out of New York City. She has taught dance at schools in New York, Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and was the Director of Dance at Burr & Burton Academy in Manchester, VT. Katie has had the pleasure of performing work by choreographers and companies including: Audra Carabetta, Lorraine Chapman, Contrapose Dance, Falling Flight Project, Meghan McLyman, Mariah Steele, Danny Swain Dance Company, WeberDance, and of course EgoArt! An alumna of the Shared Choreographers Concert (2007) at The Dance Complex & the Emerging Artists Program (2009) at Green Street Studios, Katie has presented her own choreography in Cambridge, MA and New York City. Katie is the Director of Operations at Green Street Studios in Cambridge, holds her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training certification through YogaWorks, and teaches yoga in Somerville in Cambridge.
JULIE PIKE EDMONDbegan her academic pursuits in Dance Education and Performance at Columbia College in Chicago and completed her BFA at Bradford College. Upon graduation, Julie immersed herself in the Greater Boston dance community and has had the pleasure of performing with Brian Crabtree, Caitlin Corbett Dance Company, Exit Dance Theatre, Karen Murphy, Nicola Hawkins and WeberDance. Julie met Nicole Pierce through Green Street Studios and has been performing with EgoArt Inc. since 2002. In 2003, Julie founded the TurnPike Project, an experimental contemporary dance company, and has since shown her work in Cambridge, Newburyport, and New York City. Julie teaches dance at The Ipswich Moving Company in Ipswich, MA and The Dance Place in Newburyport, MA.. She also runs an independent Shiatsu, Craniosacral, and Reiki practice where she works on humans and pets alike.
MAGGIE HUSAKformally discovered dance in high school at the "late" age of 16. Prior to that, her physical expressions consisted mostly of tantrum-throwing (age 3), impatiently circling her mother in department stores (age 6), country line dancing in "kicker" clubs in her home state of Texas (age 9), and diving for yet-to-be-served volleyballs (age 14). Maggie graduated in 1997 from Brown University with a degree in Urban Studies, and since moving to the Boston area oh-so-many years ago, she has had the pleasure of dancing with the wonderful ladies and gents of Caitlin Corbett Dance Company, Digby Dance, Falling Flight Project (with Karen Murphy-Fitch), Ipswich Moving Company, Nicola Hawkins Dance Company, Turnpike Project (with Julie Pike Edmond), Weber Dance, and EgoArt. Maggie is earning her MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. Last but not least, she is currently carrying her first bun in the oven.
JENNIFER LUSTIGbegan her dance training with Mary Kay Touris in Rochester, New York. She attended Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, graduating in 2005 with a BA in Dance and Art. While at Goucher, Jenny performed in many original works by students, faculty, and guest artists, in addition to favorites such as George Balanchine's Valse Fantasie and excerpts from August Bournonville's Napoli. She has also received additional training at Middlesex University in London, and the summer intensives of The Princeton Ballet School and Ballet Austin. Since moving to Boston in 2005, Jenny has performed with Northern Ballet Theatre, Anna Myer and Dancers, Boston Dance Company, and Contrapose Dance, for which she is currently a company member. Jenny is head-over-heels thrilled to be dancing with the fabulous gals of Egoart, Inc!
MARY MCCARTHYhas danced in the New England area for audiences large and small for the past ten years. Performance spaces include numerous colleges and schools, and a variety of theaters, outdoor stages and unique public spaces such as: Somerville's Davis Square Train station, 16 feet above the ground; a floating bridge on Lake Hibiscus in the heart of historic Forrest Hills Cemetery; Black Rock City in the Nevada desert at Burning Man 2007, dangling 40 feet in the air in front of an audience of over four thousand people; the Huntington Theatre's lovely Calderwood Pavilion; New York City's WAXWorks in Williamsburg and the 92nd Street Y; Cambridge's Green Street Studios and Boston's historic Cyclorama Theatre. She is an active volunteer at The Dance Complex, and is the Program Curator of the annual Daniel Charon Dance Intensive.
LINDSEY RIDGEWAYhas lived and danced in the Boston area since 2003. After training at Boston Ballet School she joined Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre for their 2006 season. Since returning to dance after a two-year break, she has had the wonderful opportunity of performing with a variety of individuals and companies including Audra Carabetta, Jennifer Hardy, Mariah Steele, Marcus Schulkind, Lorraine Chapman the Company, Contrapose Dance, and of course EgoArt, Inc.
VICTOR TIERNANDancer, bicyclist, strong-man, hiker, accountant, chef, lover. Oh, and Executive Director.
ANNA M. ZAMARRIPAis proud to be a founding member of EgoArt. She has served as Secretary on the Board of Directors and designs most of EgoArt’s costumes. Anna holds a BSED in Dance Education from the University of Georgia and has taught dance technique at various private studios and in the Boston Public High Schools through the Topf Center for Dance Education. She has also worked in children's theater in Canton, Boston, Ashland, and Weston and in after school programs such at the Freelance Players in Cambridge and ArtBarn Community Theater in Brookline. Currently, she teaches fitness classes for senior citizens in Arlington, Somerville and Watertown. A self-taught seamstress, Anna has designed costumes for Weber Dance, Turnpike Project, Daniel McCusker, Ipswich Moving Company, Marjorie Morgan, Danny Swain and Falling Flight Project through her own business AnnaZee. She also creates custom clothing, quilts and accessories. You can check out her wares at annazee.com.