EmSpace Dance


HOME DANCES DATES PEOPLE PICTURES REVIEWS SUPPORT CONTACT	photo: Andy Mogg	EmSpace Dance is People. Artistic Director: Erin Mei-Ling Stuart Dancers: Blane Ashby Ann Berman Damara Ganley Phil Halbert Maggie Kelley Tessa Nebrida Noel Plemmons Julie Sheetz EmSpace Dance Supporters: CHIME (Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange) The Zellerbach Family Foundation The San Francisco Arts Commission The American Composers Forum June Watanabe Travis Mowbray & Michele Madansky Matthew & Kate Albright Nicole Andris & Harrison M. Bains, III Emma Lou Huckabay Cynthia & Dennis Stuart Jan & Glenn Sims Tracy Desmond & Nick Baggott George & Amy Baggott Irene Dick-Endrizzi Tomar Mason Kirsten Turner Click here for information on how you can become a supporter of EmSpace Dance
Erin Mei-Ling Stuart (Artistic Director) has been creating dances since 1997. Prior to forming EmSpace Dance, Erin presented her work in the SF Lesbian & Gay Dance Festival, Women's Work at Venue 9, ODC's Wild Cabaret, Huckabay McAllister Dance's annual performances, and showcases at Dancers' Group Studio Theater and Brady Street Dance Centre. In addition to choreographing and performing her own work, Erin has been dancing professionally in the Bay Area since 1995. Some of the many dance companies and choreographers she has danced with include Huckabay McAllister Dance, Flyaway Productions, Saltfarm, Nancy Karp & Dancers, Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Lizz Roman & Dancers, STEAMROLLER, Kneejerk Dance Project, POTRZEBIE, and Alleluia Panis. Erin's has been called "an absolute power on stage" by Sima Belmar of the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Erin is also a participating member of CHIME, Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange, a program of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. Blane Ashby ... Pilates instructor by day and dancer by night (and some afternoons), Blane has been a member of EmSpace since its inception. He can also be seen dancing with Huckabay McAllister Dance and Company Chaddick. Ann Berman received her BA in Dance from Washington University in St. Louis, MO in 1995 and her MFA from Mills College in 1999. Since moving to the Bay Area in 1996, Ann has had the pleasure of performing with many wonderful companies and choreographers including Molissa Fenley, Megan Nicely, Dance Repertory/San Francisco, Strong Current Dance Company and Zaccho Dance Theatre. Currently she is working with Kate Mitchell, Fellow Travelers Performance Group and Huckabay McAllister Dance. As a choreographer, Ann has presented her work both locally and nationally and is the Artistic Director of Bibliodance. Ann has been with EmSpace Dance since its inception. Damara Ganely began dancing with her mom and dad in Mendocinco County where she often held spontaneous improvisation performances in her living room. She later joined youth dance company Kalidoscope directed by choreographer Jenna Byrne. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with degrees in Anthropology, Women's Studies and Theater Arts, Damara continued dancing for Mel Wong in The Mel Wong Dance Company. She has also had the honor of working with Jo Kreiter/Fly Away Productions, Mark Franko, Nancy Karp, Carol Kueffer, dance ceres, and Kate Mitchell. Damara joined EmSpace Dance in 2003 Phil Halbert's training in modern dance began in the rigorous environment of UC Berkeley's Department of Dance. His path of movement studies continued with some great teachers, including Kathleen Hermesdorf, Lizz Roman, Cecilia Marta, Cheryl Chaddick, Ron Brown, and Duncan Macfarland. Phil has appeared with Bay Area Repertory Dance, Capacitor, the Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble, the Joe Goode Performance Group, Trout, and in the works of Ami Student, Adriane Lee, Valerie Wendell, and Ondrea Ackerman. Phil also currently performs with Company Mecanique Dance Theater, Huckabay McAllister Dance, the Kook Troupe, and the fabulous Fou Fou Ha! Dancing girls. Phil joined EmSpace Dance in 2004. Maggie Kelley has made her way to San Francisco via West Virginia and Pittsburgh, PA, where she earned her BA in modern dance from Point Park College. She has performed with Printz Dance Project, Deborah Slater Dance Theatre, Laura Derosier, and others. Maggie loves knitting, The Simpsons, and ketchup doused french fries. She uses dance as a means to share her zest for life and love of personal connection. Maggie joined EmSpace Dance in 2003 Tessa Nebrida is an improviser, performer and teacher of recent arrival to the Bay Area. After receiving her BFA from California Institute of the Arts in 1996, she moved to NYC where she spent the next 7 years investigating movement and performing with a multitude of wonderful teachers and artists. She was a founding member of The Ensemble Project, a NYC based collective of dancers and musicians dedicated to the exploration and performance of compositional improvisation. Since arriving in the Bay, she has had the pleasure of reconnecting with Lisa Townsend & Company, and is also excited to be working on a new project with Shift Dance. Tessa continues to inform her artistry with ongoing practices in authentic movement and somatic studies. Tessa joined EmSpace Dance in 2005. Noel Plemmons took his first dance class at UC Berkeley in 1997. He received his BA in Anthropology and Queer Studies in 1998. In 2002, at the age of 30, Noel rediscovered dance when he realized his black-hole career as an activist was sucking every last drop of life from him. Broken down and burned out, he returned to San Francisco to dance and hasn't looked back. Noel has had the honor of dancing under the direction of Lizz Roman & Dancers, Peck Peck Dance Ensemble, Keith Hennessey and Oberlin Dance Collective. Noel joined EmSpace Dance in 2004. Julie Sheetz escaped from Nevada in 2000, where dance technique was not an option, and has been a joyful San Franciscan ever since. She has performed on elevated stages, low-budget screens, and now as an aspiring dancer is perpetually hunting for the perfect marley. Letting her MS in Geography gather dust, she is a Pilates instructor by day and bartender by night. Gleeful to dance again for EmSpace Dance, Julie has also worked with Strong Current Dance Company, Hilary Bryan, Huckabay McAllister Dance, and the newly formed Peck Peck Dance Ensemble. Julie joined EmSpace Dance in 2002.