The JCE JAZZ DANCE PROJECT
APRIL 2022
The JCE Jazz Dance Project is a celebration of jazz dance featuring original works by emerging and established choreographers. Audiences of all ages will be treated to dances in a variety of jazz styles, from classic to contemporary, and the chance to see the richness of this great American art form. We look forward to welcoming you to our first live performances since 2019!
Featured choreographers include:
Ashley Carter
Teresa Perez Ceccon
Jeff Davis
Danielle Diniz
Tony Fraser
Jess LeProtto
Kayhla Lewis
Fatima Logan-Alston
Cat Manturuk
Austin Marquez
Vanessa Martínez de Baños
Spencer Pond
Jaime Shannon
Marian Hyun and Merete Muenter, Artistic Directors
“Safety Dance” choreographed by Skye Mattox
Photo: Jan La Salle
DATES
Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 24, 2022 at 4 p.m. – a talkback with the choreographers follows the performance
LOCATION
KnJ Theater at Peridance
126 E. 13th Street
New York, NY 10003
www.peridance.com
Tickets Available Now
Early Bird Price through March 31st: $25
(Promo Code Earlybird)
Online Sales: $30 General; $25 children and students with valid high school or college ID’s (Promo Code Student)
At the Door: $35 General; $30 children and students with valid high school or college ID’s
Groups of 10 or more, paid in advance: $25. For group sales: info@jazzchoreography.com
If you can’t attend the performances, we hope you’ll consider donating to JCE.
For Early Bird or Student discount, enter Promo Code after choosing the performance date, then click Apply.
Online ticket sales will close one hour before the performance time; thereafter tickets will be available only at the door.
Useful Information
Covid Policy:
Masks must be worn in the building. Audience members will not be allowed in the building until the ticket desk opens, approximately 30 minutes before the show starts. When the performance ends, audience members must leave the building, and if they wish to meet the performers, they must wait outside.
Door Policy:
Please present a printout of your receipt (and valid high school or college ID for students) at the ticket desk to claim your tickets. Doors will open one half hour before show time. The ticket desk will close when the show begins, so please arrive on time.
Refund Policy:
Refunds up to 1 day before event. Eventbrite’s fee is nonrefundable.
Artistic Directors
Marian Hyun
Marian Hyun has studied jazz and ballet with Luigi, Bob Audy, Ed Kresley, Shirley Bassat, and Julia Dubno. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, she was a freelance writer and a writing instructor at the New School before enrolling in the Dance Education Lab (DEL) at the 92 nd Street Y. Since then she has taught dance to people of all ages, from two-year-old pre-ballerinas to senior citizen jazz buffs in New York studios and community centers, including the 92 nd Street Y. She has choreographed for the JCE Jazz Dance Project, Choreographer’s Canvas, and the Fridays at Noon Marathon at 92 nd Street Y. In May 2007 at New Dance Group, Marian produced the first performance of the New York Jazz Choreography Project (now the JCE Jazz Dance Project), a showcase devoted to jazz dance. It sold out. Subsequent performances of the Jazz Project have been produced semiannually by Jazz Choreography Enterprises, Inc., a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization established in 2007 to promote the creation of original jazz choreography. Marian is the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Jazz Choreography Enterprises.
Merete Muenter
Merete Muenter is a choreographer and director, as well as the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Jazz Choreography Enterprises. Choreography: Off-Broadway – Fiddler on the Roof - In Yiddish (Assistant Choreographer – Director, Joel Grey), Amerike – The Golden Land (The National Yiddish Theater - Folksbiene), The Golden Bride (Chita Rivera Award Nomination / The National Yiddish Theater - Folksbiene), South Pacific and Man of La Mancha (Plaza Theatricals), The King of Second Avenue (New Repertory Theatre). Director/choreographer:Fiddler on the Roof - In Yiddish (Associate Director, Off-Broadway / New World Stages – Director, Joel Grey), The Bridges of Madison County, (American Theater Group), Chicago, Tommy, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Woodstock Playhouse), They Walk Among Us (MITF / Award - Best Choreography). Short Film: Through the Ages (Director/Choreographer/Producer) Multiple Film Festival Awards. Originally from Buffalo, New York. SUNY Geneseo Graduate.
Featured Choreographers
Ashley Carter
Ashley Carter is passionate about her work as a dancer, teacher and choreographer; and as co-director of NYC-based company DoubleTake Dance www.DoubleTakeDanceCo.com. She has had the opportunity to perform and/or choreograph at venues such as Jacob’s Pillow, SummerStage, Battery Dance Festival, Webster Hall, the New York Jazz Choreography Project and Carnival Choreographer’s Ball. Ashley is on faculty at Ballet Academy East and Joffrey in New York. She can be seen working alongside artists such as Ricky Martin, NeYo, Lady Sovereign, Nicki Minaj and Mila Kunis, for companies like Pilobolus, Balasole, Derek Mitchell, Germaul Barnes/Viewsic Expressions, Ruddur Dance, HannaQ Dance Co, the Little Opera Theatre of NY and Balasole, and for brands such as Nike, Athleta, Nokia, Microsoft, Heineken, Yahoo, Ameriprise, the Rachel Ray Show and Lush Cosmetics. She has been seen off-Broadway in “West Side Story”; performed in a music video for Sia, a Boost Mobile commercial, a feature film with Justin Timberlake, and is credited with choreographing independent feature film “The Ride of Tom and Valkyrie” and the musical “Dragula.” Recently, Ashley was featured in the original dance film “Here We Go Again” (dir. Nathan Cohen), performed as Fritz/Rat King/Russia in “DIY Nutcracker,” danced in “Barber of Seville” with the Amore Opera, and worked on “Peter Pan” for Broadway Asia.
Teresa Perez Ceccon
Native New Yorker Teresa Perez Ceccon earned a BA in Theater/Dance from Queens College. In 2020, she obtained her MFA at Montclair State University with a thesis on Latin Jazz Dance. For over 25 years, she has been performing her own choreography as well as works by a variety of highly regarded choreographers. Throughout her career, Teresa has accrued a long list of choreographic achievements performed by students and professionals at numerous diverse dance institutions and venues. In 1997 she began teaching Simonson Modern Jazz Technique classes at the legendary Dance Space (later Dance New Amsterdam). As a protégée of Lynn Simonson, Teresa conducts Simonson workshops and teacher trainings in the U.S. and abroad. Currently, she teaches virtual dance classes to her global network of students through her online enterprise Lines of Energy (www.linesofenergy.com). She is also in-person at Gibney Dance teaching weekly Simonson Jazz classes. As a guest artist/choreographer, she is frequently invited by various studios, organizations and university programs. Her most recent JCE piece, Do I Move You?, was featured in the 2019 JCE Jazz Dance Project, and she is thrilled to participate in the 15th year anniversary performance.
Jeff Davis
Jeff Davis is a NYC based Dancer, Choreographer and Visual Artist. He is the Founder and Director of Jeff Davis Dance, fusing art, musical theater, contemporary and jazz dance to tell unique stories. His background in dance, theater, opera and puppetry have led to multifaceted, thought provoking and highly entertaining performance pieces. He recently choreographed Caravantasy for the Spring JCE Jazz Dance Project. His work French Trio premiered at the 2019 Fresh Fruit Festival, winning outstanding dance. His collaborations with Glitter Kitty Theater include Director and Choreographer of the Gunfighter Meets his Match for the New York Musical Festival (NYMF) and One for the Ages! at Theater for the New City. He is a former Co-Artistic Director of the Hudson Vagabond Puppets, touring and staging large scale puppetry. He is also co-creator of The Dick & Anita Holiday Hour! and The Lovely WILDS with composer Elliot Roth. As a performer, he has been featured with Labyrinth Dance Theater, NYC Children’s Theater, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, Josh Prince’s Broadway Dance Lab, PCLO and Pittsburgh Opera; international tours with Attack Theatre and Zullo/Raw Movement; national tour of the hit musical FOSSE.
Danielle Diniz
Danielle Diniz has been commissioned to create new works for Jacob’s Pillow, Performance Santa Fe, Avant Chamber Ballet, two ballets for Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Ballet Hartford, Central Utah Ballet, was a featured choreographer for DanceBreak, has an upcoming ballet for Ballet Excel Ohio, and will have artistic residencies via CUNY Dance Initiative at Tribeca BMCC 22/23 and Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning this fall (MMF). She is a winner of the New York Dance Project Choreography
Tony Fraser
Jesse LeProtto
Jess LeProtto is a New Jersey native and Broadway performer, who holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theater at Pace University. Broadway credits include Carousel, Hello, Dolly!, Cats (Mungojerrie), On The Town, Newsies (OBC), Bye Bye Birdie, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and The Boy From Oz. National Tours/Regional Theater include Hello, Dolly! (Barnaby Tucker), Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Grand Ole Opry), American Dance Machine for the 21st Century (Joyce Theater), A Bronx Tale (Papermill Playhouse), In Your Arms (Old Globe Theater), Freddie Falls in Love (Signature Theater). Film/Television credits include Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” (A-Rab), “So You Think You Can Dance” (Season 8, Top 8), “Isn’t It Romantic,” “Smash,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “One Life to Live,” and the MTV VMAs.
Jess has also choreographed for Christy Altomare (“Freedom Inside”), Mike Eldred (“Here For You”), iHeartDance NYC, Pace University, as well as conceived and directed the short film The Nightfly. Today, Jess continues to teach at Steps on Broadway, Broadway Dance Center, and for Break the Floor Productions.
Kayhla Lewis
Kayhla Lewis was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She is currently a Senior at Benjamin Banneker High School and a member of the National Honor Society. Kayhla started dancing at a very young age and has developed a passion for dance as well as a love for the arts. She has been a student at several local dance studios where she has been trained in various genres of dance. She is currently a senior member of IFE The Movement and has danced alongside Ntrinsik Movement for several years. Throughout the years, she has participated in multiple local and regional dance competitions, dance parades, video shoots and showcases. Kayhla has also used her passion for dance to assist the liturgical dance ministry at her local church, Kingshighway United Methodist Church. Although she has performed at JCE several times, this performance will be her debut of her own choreography. Kayhla will be attending college in the fall to pursue a degree in biochemistry in hopes of becoming a forensic pathologist. However, she will continue to train, perform and choreograph.
Fatima Logan-Alston
Fatima Logan-Alston, a native of Durham, North Carolina, is founder and Artistic Director of VashtiDance Theater and an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist. Fatima received her BFA in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA), a Teaching Artist Certification from the Teacher’s College at Columbia University, and a Master’s in Liberal Arts from SUNY Old Westbury. Fatima has toured internationally with Forces of Nature Dance Theater, the African-American Dance Ensemble, and VashtiDance Theater. She has performed with Ntozake Shange, Bobby Sanabria, Paul Winters, and at Lincoln Center Outdoors. Fatima has been in residence at Long Island University Post, Gibney Dance, and Hostos Community College through the CUNY Dance Initiative. She has been a Guest Teacher and presented at Hunter College, Queens College, Barnard College, and has received recognition for her commitment to dance education from Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor. Fatima is currently a teaching artist with Alvin Ailey Arts in Education, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute and is celebrating more than a decade as Artistic Director of VashtiDance Theater.
Cat Manturuk
Cat Manturuk is the founder and artistic director of DANCE CAT-ALYST, a soul-driven contemporary dance company. A native of Detroit, MI, she holds a BFA in Dance and BS in Exercise Science from Western Michigan University. After graduating, Cat was a scholarship student at Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Center in Chicago, later moving to LA, where she performed with LA Modern and Ballet Company, Blue13 Dance, Regina Klenjosky Dance Company, and Collage Dance Theatre. Upon her arrival in New York, she joined Dance 2XS and became rehearsal director to Decadancetheatre. Her music video credits lie with BET and MTVIndia, and she has been featured in Dance Spirit, Shape, and Elle magazine.
DANCE CAT-ALYST outreach programs and performances: Nanjing, China; the NY Jazz Choreography Project; Battery Downtown Dance Festival; Brooklyn Dance Festival; Detroit Dance City Festival; Wellspring Cori Terry & Dancers; NYC’S Chelsea Piers Sports Center and Sky Rink; and Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. Cat is a recipient of the ACDF Excellence in Performance and Choreography Award, a Harkness Scholarship, a National Dance Association Outstanding Scholarship, and Presidential Award. Her choreography has been noted as “creating heat…” by the LA Times and teaching role as “crisply alive…” by the NY Times.
Austin Marquez
Austin Marquez is a performer, choreographer and teaching artist based in New York City. Austin has been seen in several productions around New York City including the immersive theatrical experience Zerospace, the Off-Broadway premiere of GEEKS! The Musical and The Turkeys Go on Strike, the equity showcase of MANIFESTO: The Diaghilev Project, and When Broadway Went to Hollywood at the Merkin Concert Hall. Austin is an active choreographer who has choreographed for several dance schools around the country and theatrical productions in New York City including The Drowsy Chaperone, The Addams Family, and A Chorus Line. He is currently a teaching artist at the acclaimed ABT affiliated dance school, American Youth Dance Theater, and has taught for the musical theatre program at Marymount Manhattan College, the same program he graduated from in 2018. Austin is thrilled to share this piece with a larger audience. He would like to thank his incredible dancers, the support from American Youth Dance Theater, and his many mentors. He hopes Midnight Moonlight puts a smile on your face and reminds you to appreciate all the beauty the world around us has to offer.
Vanessa Martínez de Baños
Vanessa Martínez de Baños is a recognized dancer, teacher and choreographer, and co-director of DoubleTakeDanceCo.com (NY SummerStage, Battery, Carnival, Jazz Choreography Project, etc). Featured twice in Dance Informa Magazine, DoubleTake Dance (DTD) has recently received several commissions: Rock that Rolls choreographic commission for Dancing Wheels in Cleveland, OH; HT Chen New Steps residency NYC; Next Step commission and performance for JPAC NYC. Currently she dances and choreographs for DTD, Daniel Gwirtzman and American Tap Dance Foundation. Other companies/choreographers include DIY Nutcracker, BalaSole, Noir Tribe Media, RSW & associates, ABT, Little Opera Theater, Ikada, Ryan Beck, Derek Mitchell, Guillém Alonso, Lynn Schwab and Tony Waag, L’OREAL, Heineken, Ameriprise, Yahoo, Ursus Vodka, KDDance, Tag Heuer, Lush Cosmetics/Gorilla Perfumes, Fuse TV, X- Box/Kinect (Times Square with NeYo and Lady Sovereign), Rachel Ray Show etc. Film credits include “Friends With Benefits” with Justin Timberlake (IMDB 2011). Vanessa is passionate about her teaching career. On faculty at Steps, Joffrey, BAE and a Tap City Leader, she’s been featured on CNN, NBC and TV Globo in Brazil.
Spencer Pond
Jaime Shannon
Jaime Shannon began her dance training at the age of four at the Lee Lund Studio of Dance in Milford, CT. In 2006 she received her B.A. in dance from Hofstra University where she studied with Lance Westergard, Stormy Brandenberger, Robin Becker, Carla Wolfangle, Rachel List, and Amy Marshall. Since then, Jaime has performed professionally with Azul Dance Theatre, Dance Cat-Alyst, Soluq Dance Theater, Lauren Hale Dance, and Kelley Donovan and Dancers. In 2010 Jaime met Tony Fraser and together, they quickly became a dynamic partnership in the swing dance community. Together they have performed and taught various styles of swing dance throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia. In 2014 Jaime formed Kilowatt Dance Theater (KDT), a dance company specializing in the roots of early jazz dance, swing, lindy hop, and blues in combination with modern and contemporary dance. KDT has had the honor of performing at such noted venues as Jacob’s Pillow, The Battery Dance Festival, Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night’s Swing, and Jazz Choreography Enterprises.
JCE Jazz Dance Project is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and Restart NY supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the State Legislature and administered by LMCC. LMCC serves, connects, and makes space for artists and community.
