ANDREA BLESSO ALBUQUERQUE

ANDREA BLESSO ALBUQUERQUEhas danced with each of the elements - underwater, 18ft in the air, spinning fire fans, and in the mountains of Portugal. She has many careers - as a dance instructor for Partners for Youth with Disabilities, as a performer & board member for EgoArt, Inc., as a model for artist Judith Larsen, and as Dance & Program Manager at the Boston Center for the Arts. Andrea founded the dance programs at the Boston Center for the Arts in 2009 and has been refining and creating opportunities for the dancers of Boston ever since. A firm believer that dance can happen everywhere and anywhere, Andrea uses her experience as a site-specific dancer in the curation and imagining of dance events. Throughout her dance life, Andrea has performed with Snappy Dance Theater, Bennett Dance Company, Falling Flight Project, and Annie Kloppenberg & Dancers, among others. Andrea lives in Cambridge with her husband, two kids, and dog.

MAGGIE FOSTER

MAGGIE FOSTERis originally from Somers, New York where she trained at Logrea Dance Academy and was a member of the Westchester Ballet Company. She graduated from the Boston Conservatory with a BFA in dance performance. She is grateful to have studied with wonderful Boston teachers, and had the opportunity to perform works by Paul Taylor, Jose Limon, Alwin Nikolas, Larry Keigwin, Parren Ballard and Cathy Young. Since moving to Boston, Maggie has performed with the ICA and Louis Boston, Urbanity Dance, Olivier Besson, and Courtney Peix of Contrapose dance, for which she is now currently a company member, and is an active Pilates instructor. Maggie (M2) is thrilled to have joined Ego Art, Inc. in the fall of 2013!

MAGGIE HUSAK

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 LUSTIG

JENNIFER LUSTIGis originally from Rochester, NY where she began her dance training in ballet with MaryKay Touris. She holds a BA in Dance with a minor in Art from Goucher College. She has also had the pleasure of studying dance at Middlesex University in London, The Princeton Ballet School and Ballet Austin. Since moving to Boston in 2005, Jenny danced as a founding member of Contrapose Dance from 2009-2013, and has enjoyed performing works by many wonderful dance makers including Marcus Schulkind, Gianni DeMarco, David Parker, Sydney Skybetter, Audra Carabetta, and EgoArt’s own Nicole Pierce among others. Jenny began dancing with EgoArt, Inc in 2010, where her exploration and interest in modern dance continues to expand. Additionally, Jenny teaches ballet, pointe and modern technique at two dance schools in the greater Boston area, and serves on the faculty of The Movement Project, a student performance company in Ashland, MA.

MARY MCCARTHY

MARY MCCARTHYserves on the EgoArt, Inc. Board and has danced in the New England area for audiences large and small for the past thirteen 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, 18 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. With EgoArt, Mary has enjoyed participating in many annual festivals including Gowanus Guest Room Brooklyn, NY; SomFest & Som Dance, Somerville Acts Council; Provincetown Dance Festival; Out of the Box, Boston Common to name a few. Additionally, Mary is a veteran volunteer at The Dance Complex's Workstudy Program, where she also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

MARY MCCARTHY

CAITLYN SCHRADERis from upstate New York, fell head-over-heels in love with modern dance at the age of 15 while attending Summer Stages Dance at Concord Academy under the direction of Richard Colton and Amy Spencer. Before relocating to the Boston area, Caitlyn was a member of contemporary dance company, BIODANCE, in Rochester, NY. She has performed in works by William (Bill) Evans, Annie Kloppenberg, Nathan Andary and Jody Weber. Caitlyn has taught ballet, modern, jazz, African, and creative movement throughout Central New York state and Boston areas for dancers and non-dancers alike. She has provided master classes in local schools in NY, MA and in Southern France. Caitlyn is currently on the dance faculty of South Shore Ballet Theatre, José Mateo Ballet Theatre, the Advent School, Mass Movement Inc., and Dance in Schools programming. She is also a choreographer and her work has been presented locally at Green Street Studios, Somerville’s ArtBeat Festival and the Atlantic Wharf. She received a BA in French and Francophone Studies and Communication Through the Arts, with a minor in Dance from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a MS in Adolescent Language Education from the University of Rochester. When not dancing, Caitlyn is a French teacher; she enjoys any and all things French and would live her life by inspirational quotations if she could!

MARY MCCARTHY

YUKA TAKAHASHIjoined Ego Art Inc. in 2013. She is a dancer, performance artist, choreographer, certified Pilates instructor and cat lover born and raised in Japan. After she received professional training at Joffrey Ballet School, she extended her interest and training in dance and performance art in NYC and Europe. In 2006 she moved to Vienna, Austria. There, she received a residency at D.ID curated by Liz King and she was an artist in residence at the experimental performance LAB called LABfactory for 2 years. At LABfactory she regularly created inter-disciplinary productions with full professional support under the direction of Thomas J. Jelinek and Kazuko Kurosaki. Since she was in Vienna, she has been strongly engaged with artists of other disciplines. Her works and collaboration projects were performed around Europe, Japan and the United States. Since moving to Boston in May 2011 she has presented her own works at Mobius, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston University, Movement Research (NYC), Y Theater at YMCA and OBERON. She produced the experimental performance events Living Space at OBERON (2012) and Test Kitchen at the Cambridge YMCA (2014). Since 2014, she is a member of Mobius Artist Group. For more about Yuka, check out High Bridge Project.

KATHRYN DUNKEL

KATE DUNKEL ZEEKearned her BA in Dance from Hamilton College and is a graduate of the Trinity/La Mama Performance Art Program. Since moving to Boston, she has had the pleasure of performing work by choreographers and companies including Audra Carabetta, Lorraine Chapman The Company, Contrapose Dance, Falling Flight Project, Meghan McLyman, Quicksilver Dance, and Danny Swain Dance Company. Katie has taught dance for 10 years and currently teaches at Arlington Dance Place and LINX Dance Studio. Katie completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification through YogaWorks and teaches yoga in the Boston area.

ANNA M. ZAMARRIPA

ANNA M. ZAMARRIPAA founding member of EgoArt who has moved to Portland, Oregon after dancing with the company for 15 years. But she still knocks out a fabulous costume now and then from afar. You can check out her wares at annazee.com.