Kiro Kopulos, Choreographer, WI Performance Artist is Artistic Director of KirOga Theatre and a frequent guest of Kanopy. He produces KirOga Theatre here and internationally. In 1998 he was invited to Oakland, CA. to perform at “Studio For” presenting “No More” and “Breath, Sound, Light,” excerpts from a work-in-progress “Accidental Dialogue.” He presented work at the 1997 San Francisco Fringe Festival. In collaboration with composer Thomas Powell and Kanopy Dance Company, he choreographed “Moon Came Down,” (1996) partially funded by grants from CitiARTS and Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission. He has also presented his work at the Edmonton Fringe Festival (1994 & 1995.) Since 1985, Kopulos has served as Director and Founder of Barrier Free Theatre; Vagrant muse Performance Art Theatre; Intersect Theatre Dance Company; and KirOga Theatre. Kiro Kopulos has performed with: Intersect Theatre Dance Company; Kanopy Dance Company; Connie May; Nonce Dance Ensemble; Ann Arbor Civic Theatre; Frank’s Absurd Repertory Theatre; People Dancing; and The Harmony Vanover Video Dance Project in Jamaica (1987) funded by the NEA. He holds a BS in Dance Company Management from Eastern Michigan University. He has studied with Parker Coply, Connie May, Karen Steele, Ariel Weymouth-Payne, Eugene Featherstone and the San Francisco Moving Company. Kopulos teaches movement meditation and Yoga for St. Mary’s Health Works, Dean Health Care and Supreme Fitness.
Kathleen Conklin Erickson, Dancer, WI is founder and director of Body Conscious, LLC a studio dedicated to pilates and other cognitive movement technique. She completed the requirements of a dance certificate at UW Madison in 1990 when she graduated from the UW-Law School. She began those dance studies 10 years earlier and was most drawn to the work of then-Professor Lonnie Joseph Gordon. The opportunity to move again in his dance is a gentle answer to a mid-life crisis and a wonderous perceptual peek into the intricacies of nearly a quarter-century of being, as her mother called her at age seven, a "slave to the dance." As a former member of the Board of Directors for Kanopy Dance Company, Conklin is truly impressed at the commitment of the company at another level - dancing is hard work. She is most grateful to her "new husband, John Erickson, for his remarkable, patient, and unconditional support in life, business and the pursuit of mid-life identities."
Tom Powell, Composer, WI is busily involved in both politics and music. He has served as a City of Madison Alderman, the Dane County Board Supervisor, and as a Legislative Aide in the state Capitol. He completed his doctorate in music composition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003. Originally from Detroit, he has completed graduate degrees in music and the arts from Michigan State, and Warwick and Surrey Universities in England. He has had works premiered at the Guildford International Music Festival; the Edmonton Fringe Festival, Canada; the San Francisco Fringe Festival; The Viterbo New Music Festival, La Crosse; Danceworks, Milwaukee; The MadWAC Concert Series; the Ear and Now Concert Series, Madison; and, at various Kanopy Dance Company concerts and Kiroga Theatre events.
Vicky Tzoumerka-Knoedler, Composer, WI was born and raised in Athens, Greece where she started her musical training at a young age, studying piano under Ms. Mina Bonni. As a teenager, her studies included voice, ballet, folk music, and dance. As a young woman she studied archaeology in Tyre, Lebanon. She has led tours for adults and college students from all around Europe and the United States. In her lectures, she integrated her study of Medieval and Ancient history with the history of Mediterranean Art, Drama and Mythology. Early on she felt a special connection to certain mythical women particularly Antigone and Medea. “I have always felt that myths are created to tell a story about something that actually happened. I feel that whatever the names or events, behind every legend is a truth or a lesson.” Despite the horror of the story of Medea’s revenge for Jason’s perfidy at Corinth, the complete story tells of her fierce loyalty as a queen, as a defender of her husband, of her family and of her country. After a twenty-five year hiatus with no formal involvement in the arts, a period that included a move to the United States in 1972, Tzoumerka-Knoedler resumed her study of the piano with Ellsworth Snyder in l984. Later in l986 she continued her voice study with Joan Kepecs and Genevieve Gersbach as well as beginning the study of music composition with Karlos Moser. Recently she has taken up the study of the violin. Since 1977, she has been active as a dancer, choreographer, and singer. She founded and continues to direct the Mesoghios Dance Troupe, a folk dance troupe performing authentic dances from Greece, Turkey, and areas of the Middle East. Her musical compositions (all produced since 1986) include solo piano works, chamber pieces, and art songs, and have been performed in Athens, Greece, at Lawrence University, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the First Unitarian Society in Madison. Her music has been broadcast on Public Radio. In l989, Tzoumerka-Knoedler was a recipient of a Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission Grant. The composer's long attraction to such legendary women as Medea and Antigone has ripened into a deep understanding and affinity for these strong and passionate figures.Theirs are stories of honor and of great love: Medea for her husband, Antigone for her brother. They were characters "who had the courage and strength to do what had to be done, despite the consequences. I think I understand Medea, perhaps because I too left my native country for a great love and became a stranger in a new place.” As Tzoumerka-Knoedler is herself a dancer and choreographer, her compositions are not merely music for attached dance. She reaches deeply into the tones and rhythms of her familiar Mediterranean folk dances and into the beat and sounds of her adopted country.
Ede Thurrell, Choreographer, NYC is a member of bopi's black sheep/dances by Kraig Patterson, and also the Stanley Love Performance Group. In NYC, she has appeared at St Mark's Church, Symphony Space, PS 122, The Kitchen, Downtown Arts Festival, The Tunnel, The Ohio Theater, The Door, Loacation1, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, and many galleries and night clubs. Nationally, she tours with Pink Inc Art in Motion. In the past Ms Thurrell has danced with Troika Ranch, Nayo and Friends, The Amazon Project, Oona Haaranen Dance Company, Elise Knudsen, Susan Rethorst, Denise Griffin, Property of Us, Isadora Duncan American Dance Company, Judith Moss and Dancers, Kanopy Dance Company and KirOga Theatre. An honors graduate of Barnard College, she has been a student of Mark Dendy, Sally Hess, Katiti King, Sean Lavery, Cathy McCann, Mark Morris, and at The Juilliard School. She has choreographed and taught in Denmark, and at the Brooklyn College Prep Center and Creative Arts Studio in New York. Her choreography has been presented at: Brooklyn Fresh Produce Festival; Kids' Cafe Festival; The Kitchen; Long Island University; Danish Embassy, Paris; Oure & Odense, Denmark; and various cities in WI. It has also been seen on VH1's Ru Paul Show, and well received in Kanopy and KirOga concerts. A Madison native, she received her early training from Bess & Tibor Zana; Vivian Tomlinson; Judy Moss and briefly with Claudia Melrose. Last month, she produced a full length concert performing her own choreography and that of guests at the Flamboy‡n Theater of the Clemente Soto VŽlez Center, NYC. The Village Voice reviewer, Eva Yaa Asantewaa praised Ede Thurrell's work.
David Quinn, Costume Designer, NYC has been designing costumes since “forever”. Ballet Review described his work in their “people to watch” column as “never at a loss for fresh fantasy,” also adding that “Quinn made both dancers and models (including drag artists) look elegant and enviably freeÉ”. He has received critical acclaim inBackstage.com, The New York Times, Art Forum, The village Voice, LGNY, among others. WWD called his designs, “tasty.” And Dance View Times said he, “is cutting and draping and coloring the most beautiful dance costumes to be found in New York.” Recently, his costumes were said to, “hold(s) us even when the choreography wobbles.” In addition to costumes, Quinn designs a ready-to-wear line of women’s wear clothing and made-to-order gowns. To learn more about his work or for contact info, visit: www.quinndustry.com
Erica Pinigis, dancer, MN began dancing at the Kanopy School of contemporary dance and
choreography six years ago. In the past she has been involved in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, the East High School Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Children's Choir, and the Madison East Encore Show Choir. She is currently attending the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities as a BFA dance major and is hoping to have the opportunity to display some of her choreography this spring in the Student Dance Concert. Erica is very excited to perform with the Kanopy Dance Company again this season.
Stanley Love, Stanley Love Performance Group, NYC
Kraig Patterson, Bopi Black Sheep Performance Co., NYC
Wendy Hambidge, choreographer , Portland, OR
Patrick and Kristanne Connolly, Connolly Dance, WI
Maureen Jansen, Smartdance, WI
Meenakshi Ganesen, Kalannjali Dance, WI
Lon Gordon,Dean of Fine Arts, Illinois State University, choreographer
Mark Kotz, choreographer, WI
Emily Cox, choreographer, WI
Tania Tandias, Tania Tandias Flamenco Dance, WI
Georgia Corner, dancer, choreographer, WI
Perfect Harmony Men's Chorus, WI
Tom Welboune, composer, WI
Joseph Koykarr, composer, WI