Biography

Performance

Theresa is a freelance dancer who has been hailed by the Louisville Courier Journal as a “delight to watch” and by the Louisville Arts Review as “mesmerizing” on stage. Theresa has performed professionally with ICONography Dance in Colorado Springs, CO, The Susie Thiel Collaborative at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, The Brown Dance Projects at the RAD Festival in Kalamazoo, MI, Anna Sapozhnikov’s MOYAMO DANCE in Chicago, IL and Louisville, KY, Rachel James for the Choreographers without Companies Festival in Cincinnati, OH, and Gordon Dance Projects, jan street dance theatre and Art! Art! Barking Dog in Louisville, KY. Theresa was the founder and served as Co-Producer of Moving Collective, a dance organization based in Louisville, KY. During its twelve year existence, the organization produced festival-style concerts to provide local and regional choreographers and dancers a venue in which to share their craft. Through Moving Collective, she has danced for Amanda Browning, Faryn Kelly, Liz Shea, Ila Conoley Paladino, Rodney Brown of Brown Dance Projects, danah bella, Kimberly Nygren Cox, John Cartwright, Lew Winstead, Emily Gorman, Amber Marquez, Anna Sapozhnikov, Mari-Elise Gates, Brian Grant, Lauren Vandivier Ford, Chwee Yeen Foong and Tamara Begley.

Choreography

Theresa has choreographed works for Cincinnati's Area Choreographer Festival, Moving Collective, the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, U of L Dance Theatre, the University of Kentucky’s Department of Theatre and Dance, Berea College Dance Troupe, Empujon, the University of Kentucky Dance Ensemble, The Center for Women and Families, and Bluegrass Youth Ballet. She presented her recent solo work, “I am a pretty girl” at the Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival in September 2018, the Regional Alternative Dance Festival in Kalamazoo, MI in March 2018 and the Big River Dance Festival in Huntington, WV in September 2017. Pillow Talk: function, dream, support, rest was described by Keith Waits of Arts-Louisville,com as “a fresh piece of choreography [that is] arguably the most engaging dance of the evening.” It has been re-stage in the last year at Centre College and the Kentucky Center’s Governor’s School for the Arts. Her work, Go Round, an excerpt from What Your Angle (2014) was presented in March 2015 at the Regional Alternative Dance Festival in Kalamazoo, MI. She also received Gala honors at the Southeast Regional Ballet Festival for her work, Victims. Theresa has also directed and choreographed three dance films with the Kentucky Center's Governor's School for the Arts.

Teaching

Theresa is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Kentucky’s Department of Theatre and Dance and has also taught collegiate dance courses at the University of Louisville’s School of Music. She is on faculty at the Louisville Ballet School, University of Louisville Dance Theatre and Gloria Deo School of Arts. She enjoys teaching masterclasses, most recently for Big River Dance Festival, Ormao Dance, MamLuft & Co Dance, Centre College and Peoria Ballet. Theresa has taught dance for the Kentucky Center’s Governor’s School for the Arts, a nationally recognized program, for thirteen years, serving as Chair of the Dance Faculty for six years.

Training

Theresa began her dance training in dance and musical theatre in Southern Indiana. While earning her BS in Biology for Indiana University, she continued her dance studies there in a program directed by former NYCB dancers Jean Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride. After college, Theresa began studying modern dance with AfterImages Dance Company and Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company in Louisville, KY. She continues her professional development recently attending in workshops and classes in New York, Michigan, West Virginia, Arizona, Ohio, and Colorado.