Hannah Kahn Dance Company

     HANNAH KAHN (choreographer and Artistic Director) holds a BFA from the Juilliard School.  She founded the Hannah Kahn Dance Company in New York, and directed it there for twelve years before moving to Colorado in 1988.

Some of the strongest influences on her choreography were her childhood classes in Ithaca, New York with Iris Barbura, her studies of the techniques of Jose Limon and Martha Graham, and her performance of dances by Doris Humphrey and Anna Sokolow. The practice of Tai Chi has also influenced her movement style.

Hannah is a master teacher with thirty-five years experience creating over one hundred dances. She has received two NEA choreography fellowships, a New York State Council on the Arts individual choreographers fellowship and a CoVisions Recognition Award in dance choreography from the Colorado Council on the Arts. Her New York based company was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and her current Colorado company receives funding from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, the Denver Foundation, the Denver Ballet Guild, the Janus Foundation, the Ralph and Florence Burgess Charitable Trust,  and the City and County of Denver. In addition to her own company, her works have also been in the repertories of many other companies, including Contemporary Dance System (Daniel Lewis, artistic director), Pennsylvania Dance Theatre, Maryland Dance Theatre, Concert Dance Company of Boston, Zenon Dance Company of Minneapolis, DanceWave of Miami, In The Company of Dancers of Baton Rouge, Chamber Dance Company of Seattle. In Colorado, her work has been performed by the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dance Connection (Fort Collins), David Taylor Dance Theatre, Haan Dances (Boulder), the Jan Justis Dance Company, Kim Robards/Dance the Story Gleaner, and most recently, Ballet Nouveau.

Theresa Anton is performing in her third season with the Hannah Kahn Dance Company. Hailing from the D.C. area, she has a BFA in ballet from College – Conservatory of Music and an MFA in choreography and performance from CU/Boulder. Theresa also dances with Interweave Dance Theater.

     Jennifer Fagan Archer, a Florida native, has been dancing since she could walk.  Her diverse training has included studies with many world-renowned dance professionals including Gary Lund, Augusto Soledade, Anjali Austin, Ramazon Bapov, Gerri Houlihan, Leslie Neal, Mary Wohl-Haan and Christina Noel-Adcock.  She has been commissioned in the US and abroad to teach and choreograph for stage and film and has performed with Moving in the Spirit, Georgia Dance Theatre, Concepts in Motion, Troupe Binti and her very own Ascential Dance Collective.  She has enjoyed the privilege of performing Donald McKayle’s Rainbow Etude for the 2002 National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta and for Delray Beach’s First Night 2006 in Liz Lerman’s Bobcat Ballet.  While studying dance, music and theatre at Florida State University whilst directing, producing and choreographing in Tallahassee, she earned a BS in Anthropology and History and an AA in Nutrition and Fitness.   Her passion is teaching dance to beginners and the under-served.

Mande Broderick, a Colorado native, received her BFA in Dance from Wright State University. She has performed with Deborah Reshotko’s Speaking of Dance, No Name Dance Company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Dayton Ballet, Kim Robards Dance and David Taylor Dance Theatre. Mande is a Certified Pilates Instructor from the Pilates Center and practices at Pilates Downtown in Denver. She enjoys living in Dnver with her husband Bob and new son Steven.

Katie Brogren trained at the Denver School of the Arts and the Academy of the Colorado Ballet. She received her BFA from the University of Wyoming. Katie spent a couple of years in Chicago and apprenticed with Joel Hall Dancers and Deeply Rooted Dance Company. She currently dances with Hannah Kahn Dance Company; Fragments of Divine; Denver Independent Choreographers Project, Art; Compost and Word Mechanics and Speaking of Dance. She teaches for Ballet Ariel, Dance Renaissance - Colorado Ballet’s outreach program  and Follow My Footsteps Dance Company.

Jessica Garcia, a New Mexican native, graduated with her BA in Dance from New Mexico State University in 2005. She began dancing at the age of three, and continuously studied various forms of dance throughout high school and her college years.

Jessica Hastings graduated with her BFA in Theater and Dance and BA in Spanish from the University of Wyoming in 2002. While there she worked with Bill Evans, performing at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She began in modern dance working with Kevin Iega Jeff and Gary Abbott of Deeply Rooted Productions. She teaches for area arts organizations while dancing with Hannah Kahn Dance Company, Fragments of Divine and Moraporvida Contemporary Dance.

Lara Hayes-Giles is originally from Denver where she studied with Jan Justis Dance Company and Colorado Contemporary Dance Company. Lara returned to Denver after ten years of dancing in New York City. She is a graduate of New York University Tisch School of the Arts, with a BFA in Dance. In New York she performed with many choreographers including Doug Varone, Ann Carlson, Gus Solomons Jr. and JoAnna Mendel Shaw. Besides being a member of the Hannah Kahn Dance Company Lara dances with Speaking of Dance and Third Law Dance/Theater.

Jennifer Hightower is a native to Colorado, and has been dancing since the
age of three. In 2004, she graduated from the University of Colorado at
Boulder with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. Upon graduating,
Jen moved to Seattle where she danced and performed with contact
improvisation artist Alia Swersky for the Northwest New Works Festival,
Andre Bouchard and Walrus Performance Productions, Juliet Waller-Pruzan, and
the Velocity Dance Center. Jen also dances
and performs with the Evolving Doors Dance Project, based in Boulder,
Colorado.

Gina Jacobs Thomas moved to Denver from New York City in 2006.  While in New York, she spent six years making dances with MOB Productions, directed by Mollie O’Brien. She has performed the works of Tere O’Connor, CompanyAmyCox, Jennifer Allen, Drastic Action/Aviva Geismar, and Laura Staton, among others.  Gina received her MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University and her BFA in Dance from the University of Texas.

Lauren Kanive, originally from Denver, began dancing at age six and received her B.A. in Dance from the University of Northern Colorado where she danced leading roles in productions including the Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Carmina Burana. She has also enjoyed advanced instruction from David Howard, Gelsey Kirkland, Paul Taylor and Hannah Kahn. This is her fifth season with Hannah Kahn.

Jacob James Mora was born and raised in the Mile High City, Denver. Jacob received a BFA from the University of Northern Colorado. He has danced for Alaska Dance Theatre, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, David Taylor Dance Theatre, Toronto based Mohawk choreographer Santee Smith Group, and Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre. Jacob has had the pleasure of working with master choreographers Donald McKayle, Milton Myers, Betty Jones, Bill T. Jones and Eleo Pomare among others. Jacob teaches and choreographs using a unique blend of contemporary techniques and ideas that fuse modern, jazz, hip hop, poetry and ethnic dance. He is currently director of the dance project MORAPORVIDA, a company based on urban experiences and human emotions.

Michael Richman is originally from Omaha. This is his second season with the Hannah Kahn Dance Company. Michael studied dance at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Under Lisa Fusillo, Sara Semonis and Lynn Nevin. He has performed with Ruth Davidson-Hahn & Company, Kim Robards Dance, and Dance Consort with Carol Mezza Cappa.

Ben Schultz holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Ballet and Theatre from Indiana University.  His previous performance experience includes touring with the Tony award winning production of Blast, and performing with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble.

Kristi Siciliano, a Colorado native, started dancing at the age of four. She received a scholarship to the School of American Ballet Summer Program. Kristi was an apprentice with the Colorado Ballet and with David Taylor Dance Theatre. This is her third season with the Hannah Kahn Dance Company. She also dances with Fragments of Divine and is a member of the Denver Independent Choreographers' Project.

Becky Sievers Peterson has been dancing professionally with various musical theater companies and repertory companies since she was fourteen. In 1992 she studied with the Royal New Zealand Ballet in Auckland, New Zealand, and in 1995 she spent the summer studying at the Laban Center in London. This is her ninth season with the Hannah Kahn Dance Company.

CRAIG BUSHMAN (lighting designer and stage manager) has been designing lights for dance since 1992. He is the technical director of the Dairy Center for the Arts. He was production manager of the Colorado Dance Festival and Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp in Steamboat Springs. He has also been part of the production staff of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and technical director for Doug Varone and Dancers. This is his twenty-third show with Hannah Kahn.

RUSSELL ETMER (costume designer) was born in Denver where he studied costume and fashion design. He worked freelance for several years. Mr. Etmer has been a costumer with Colorado Ballet since 1996.

JANET WHITE (costume designer) Janet's passion for sewing and design began at a young age and has yet to diminish.  She earned her BA in Clothing and Textiles from CSU in 1979.  She currently owns her own business, JM Designs, (303-237-3930),  designing and constructing costumes of all sorts. When not sewing she can be found outside biking or in a rink ice dancing, two activities she shares with equal passion.  She is the mother of two inspiring  young adults.

Videographer: David Andrews