MEMBERS

Members

Dana Albertson is a mover, artist, and maker. She was born and raised in the hills of Massachusetts and graduated from Hampshire College with a B.A. in Modern Dance and Outdoor Education. Dana lived and worked at Earthdance Workshop & Retreat Center from 2007-2009, completed her Yoga Teacher Training from Purusha Yoga Center SF in 2010, coached Alpine skiing from 2011-2015 in Lake Tahoe and moved to Bozeman, MT in 2016. She has performed with Northeast American School of Ballet, M.A.D.E. In France, David Dorfman Dance, Lisa Race, Vanessa Anspaugh, John Ollom Dance Theatre, Lake Tahoe Dance Collective and IndepenDance. She is a proud member of Collective Movement, a quiet and quirky choreographer, and lover of contact improvisation.

Blair Bodie is co-founder of BodiGram Dance Company. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with an MFA in choreography and received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in dance. She performed with Ground Zero Dance Co., Kelly Donovan and Dancers, Joey Liew, Dance Theater of Shannon, Number 9, Joe Goode Performance Group, Cali and Company, Zaccho Dance, and Cat Call Choir. She left her native home of Virginia to teach dance, pilates, and yoga in Malaysia; where she returned regularly to produce dance works and conduct yoga workshops. Outside of her graduate school studies in NYC, her local work focused on choreography for Clay Chapman’s up and coming theater group, The Pumpkin Pie Show, and building “.... And Dancers” collective. She left NYC, to establish herself in the San Francisco Bay area as a dance theater artist. She now lives in Bozeman, MT, where she is helping to build the contemporary dance scene with Collective Movement and raising her baby girl to be a mountain mama.

Melissa Dawn is a native of South Carolina who moved to Montana after spending five years studying and performing in New York City. Melissa trained extensively at the studios of Trisha Brown and Merce Cunningham, and she completed the Professional Training Program of the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio where she was a Merit Scholarship recipient. Melissa expanded her training by participating in workshops taught by Bill T Jones, Stephen Petronio, Mark Morris, and other modern dance choreographers. In New York, she performed in the companies of June Finch, Hiske Dooper, Himiko Minato, and Richard Decker. After moving to Bozeman, Melissa danced with Montana Ballet Company, participated in IndepenDANCE, and co-founded Collective Movement’s adult modern dance class. She is currently a company member, choreographer, and teacher for Raison D’êtreDance Project and Collective Movement while continuing to work as an independent choreographer and dancer. Melissa is an interdisciplinary artist who completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Montana State University with concentrations in sculpture and printmaking, and she maintains a devoted studio practice and exhibits her artwork in the region.

Jackie Englehart is a dancer, choreographer and kinetic explorer. She began dancing in New Jersey at the age of 6. After a pause of 10 years, she returned to dancing, this time with the Colorado Ballet. In 1970 she moved to Durango, Colorado where she began teaching, choreographing, and performing with the Durango Dance Academy. From 1992-1995, she majored in dance at Cornish College of the Arts, in Seattle, Washington. She continued to teach and perform with Whidby Island Dance, Wendy's school of Dance, and South West Washington Dance center. In 2004, Jackie moved to Bozeman where she has taught for The Dance Center, Main Street Dance, MSU, Yellowstone Ballet, and Collective Movement. She has been part of the IndepenDANCE Community Dance Project since 2009 and also co-founded Collective Movement’s adult modern dance class. For more inspiration and opportunities to move, she has trained at Pure Barre Studio, Club Pilates, and Big Sky Barbell. Dance is her creative expression, exploration and centering place of spirit.

Suzann Kienast-Brown grew up in the west and requires expansive landscapes and four seasons to thrive. She’s been dancing her whole life, but discovered modern dance at Utah State University while pursuing her B.S. in Soil and Water Science. After completing her M.S. in Soil Science, teaching modern and African dance at USU, and working with various independent choreographers in Utah, Suzann had the fortune of becoming Artistic Director of Valley Dance Ensemble in Logan, UT. During her tenure as Director from 2003-2014, she enjoyed sharing her passion for expression and joy in movement, and the opportunity to grow as a choreographer, teacher, and dancer. The company worked with many guest artists and experienced a wide range of movement possibilities. In 2014, Suzann moved to Bozeman to pursue advancement in her career as a soil scientist. She has found a welcoming home in the Bozeman dance community as an independent choreographer, teacher, and dancer working with local studios and independent dance groups. She co-founded Collective Movement’s adult modern dance class and most recently joined Raison D’être Dance Project in 2018.

Cathy Werner has been a movement lover since she was a child. Studying gymnastics, then dance and aerial dance; she loves learning new styles and finding the art in movement. Cathy has a B.S. in dance and an M.F.A. in teaching and choreography from the University of Colorado. Teaching and performing modern dance and aerial arts with Frequent FLyers Productions, Wicked Sister Dance Theatre, Zenon Dance Company and Augsburg University gave her the drive to found her own non-profit aerial dance company in 2009 after moving to Bozeman. Over the past 10 years her company, Mountain Air Dance, has given Cathy the platform to share her love of movement with the Gallatin Valley through classes, workshops and performances. Collective Movement is her newest endeavor and she is so excited to share her love of dance with such a talented and driven group and to bring more modern dance to the community.