Alums - ETLE 1

Ariel Speedwagon (Performer, ETLE and the Anders) Ariel "Speedwagon" Federow is a dancer, clown, bingo caller, itinerant professor, and real nice guy. Key past projects: the Ballez (company member), the Holey Army (choreographer for giant street performance), SJNN (the internet's premiere independent news network), lots else. She feels very fortunate to have a chance to help save the universe so directly. 

Tara Aisha Willis (Performer, ETLE and the Anders) recently danced for Kim Brandt, Megan Byrne, and Anna Sperber, and forthcoming in projects by Yanira Castro and Will Rawls. Her choreography has been shown at Movement Research at Judson Church, BAX, Roulette, THROW, Dixon Place, The Painting Center, AUNTS, the CURRENT SESSIONS, and CPR. She was a 2009 Dance Theater Workshop Van Lier Fellow and a 2016 Chez Bushwick Artist in Residence. As Movement Research’s Program Advisor, she coordinates their diversity initiatives, and programs their Studies Project discursive series. A PhD candidate in Performance Studies, NYU, where she writes about black experimentation in dance, Tara co-edited an issue of The Black Scholar with Thomas F. DeFrantz; her writing appears in Women & Performance, where she is also an Editorial Board Member, as well as TDR, Movement Research Performance Journal,The Brooklyn Rail, and Magazin im August. 

Eli Steffen (Performer, ETLE and the Anders) is a Seattle based artist whose work focuses on the intersections of community, culture, and identity. Eli seeks to understand what binds communities together and how that relates to violence, safety, and exclusion. How does culture, the way we define right and wrong, affect the kinds of interdependencies we can build? How can we as artists empower people to own and change their cultures? And how does who we are, what we were born as and the selves we choose, impact who we can belong to? How does our representations of self affect others? How does violence and our resistance to it shape who we and others were, are and might be? For more information please visit elisteffen.com.

Jax Jackson (Performer, ETLE and the Anders) is an agender transsexual actor best known for originating the role of Max in Taylor Mac's Hir at the world premiere at the Magic in San Francisco, as well as originating the role of Jaq in Christopher Shinn's Teddy Ferrara at the world premiere at the Goodman in Chicago, where Jax was the first openly transgender performer on that stage in Goodman history. Film roles include Jamie in Jamie and Jessie Are Not Together and Greta in Hannah Free, starring Sharon Gless. In addition to acting, Jax is also a certified yoga instructor, tarot reader, crystal consultant, creativity coach, level 2 reiki practitioner, and transgender advocate.

(Performer, ETLE and the Anders)

Benedict Nguyen (Performer, ETLE and the Anders) is a freelance dance artist, writer and scholar based in NYC. Since graduating from Vassar College, they have performed in various projects and worked as an administrator, server, and educator. Drawing from modes of melancholy, humor, and the speculative, Benedict's creative work seeks to transgress usual boundaries of motion and emotion.

Photo: Kadijah Watkins

Tony Carlson (Performer, ETLE and the Anders) was born and raised in Rochester, Minnesota, attending high school at the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Minneapolis before relocating to New York City. He graduated with a B.A in dance performance from Eugene Lang College in 2015, where he studied under Neil Greenberg, Miguel Gutierrez, John Jasperse, Eiko Otake, Yvonne Meier, Sarah Michelson, and others. Professionally, he has appeared in the works of Ming Wong, Lance Gries, and Yanira Castro; presenting his own work as part of the Rooftop/GroundFloor Introducing Series, a joint-curation between the Roger Smith Hotel and Rooftop Dance, as well as through Movement Research at the Judson Church. Tony is a fiscally sponsored artist through New York Live Arts' Associate Artist Program. He loves the AOMC xo

Leah Ives (Performer, barrish; Researcher, ETLE and the Anders) is a graduate of the University of Michigan.  This is Leah's second project with The AOMC.  In addition to thoroughly enjoying slipping through time with the wonderful Sarah A.O. Rosner, Leah also dances for Avodah Dance and Elizabeth Dishman.

Idgy Dean (Composer and Musician, The ETLE Universe) is the solo music project of Brooklynite Lindsay Sanwald.  Experimenting with accumulative sound, percussion and choral arrangement, Idgy Dean builds haunted rhythm-driven songs, recorded and produced alone at home and looped live on stage.  After touring in early 2012, she released her first music video (for the song "Onion's Milk"), and later collaborated with the A.O. Movement Collective for the Adobe ad campaign, "Why I Create."  She is currently writing and recording "Ominous Harminus," a new record due in 2014 to follow-up her debut EP, "Heart & Lung."

Walter Dundervill (Costume Designer, The ETLE Universe) Walter Dundervill is a dance artist living in New York City. His dance Dear Emissary,… was presented at the Chocolate Factory in March of 2010. Two previous works were presented at Dance Theater Workshop – You Wrote the Book, 2008 (on a shared bill with Heather Olsen) and Would You Read My Poetry? 2007 (as part of the Nothing Festival curated by Tere O’Connor). He created a three- hour installation/ performance entitled Room at Fred Torres Collaborations as part of the Movement Research Spring Festival 2009. Dundervill has danced for many choreographers including Keely Garfield and RoseAnne Spradlin. In 2003, he won a Bessie award for his performance in Spradlin’s under/world. He has also worked with visual/performance artists including Bruce Nauman, Pat Olezsko, and David Wojnarowicz. In 2009, Dundervill collaborated with Tere O’Connor on the set design of O’Connor’s Wrought Iron Fog at DTW. In 2010, he designed the costumes for Luciana Achugar’s Pureo Deseo at the Kitchen. He was a co-curator of Hardcorps the Movement Research Spring Festival 2010. He has taught and performed as a guest artist at The University of Wisconsin, Madison, Frostburg State Univeristy, MD, the Staadtstheater in Magdeburg, Germany, and for ClassClassClass in NYC. Dundervill received a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Georgia.

Matt Romein (Researcher and Technologist, The ETLE Universe) is an artist and performer working at the intersection of live performance, generative computer art, and multi-media installation. Originally trained as an actor, he has worked in NYC’s downtown theater and dance community as a sound and video designer while also making his own technology-centric live performances. He is currently the tech director for the Obie award winning performance showcase Catch.

He is a recent graduate of Tisch School of the Art's ITP, a masters program focusing on experimental and artistic uses of technology, where he now works as a researcher in residence. While at ITP much of his work focused on the various ways the physical body can be augmented and distorted by technology. His current research looks at how deep learning can be applied to motion capture and how these techniques and technologies fit in the world of contemporary dance.

He grew up in Seattle, WA and enjoys biking, graphic novels, and indie video games.

Poppy Lyttle (Illustrator, The ETLE Universe) I do many things, and the list keeps growing. My work is mostly mixed media, attempting to bridge CAD, digital painting, and illustration. The thread that holds all my experiments together is my use of unusual colors, which highlights the surreal. When I'm not doing art, I like cartoons, dance music, and science fiction novels. In the future, I would like a dog and a gantry crane.

Martha Hipley (Illustrator, The ETLE Universe) is an artist and programmer working in digital and paint, occasionally under the brand everyoneisugly. Her work explores identity formation through the lens of fandom culture and nascent sexuality. In addition to being awarded a Rhizome microgrant for her project “Untitled Twitter Hack,” she is also the second best web surfer in the world.

Maria Baranova (Photographer, The ETLE Universe) is a Russian-Finnish, Fashion and Theatre photographer with a background in painting. Her work is inspired by the 17th century Dutch palette and Renaissance symbolism. Her photography mainly focuses on the theatrical side of the fashion world and working behind-the-scenes during rehearsals and performances.   Her photography’s style is dark and mysterious, with minimal use to color to create a heavy feel. They convey a mood of erotism combined with sadness. At the theatrical part of her photography Maria try to capture the essential of moment in play and a feeling of it, same time trying to be invisible and see everything. From 2011 and by this day Maria shot rehearsals, performances and photo calls for US based and international Theatre and Dance Artist’s and company’s such as: Mikhail Baryshikov, Laboratory of Dmitry Krymov, Double Edge Theatre, 600 Highwaymen, David Neumann, Ken Mai and more. As well as worked with young Fashion Designer’s and Model’s in New York and Helsinki, for editorial assignments. Her photos wore published in various international news paper’s and magazine’s such as: New York Times, American Theatre Magazine, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Le Figaro, Hufvudstadsbladet, Vanity Magazine and REVS Magazine.  During last 10 years, Maria’s Photo and Painting exhibition has been presented in several venues in Russia, Italy, Finland and US. Maria is the owner of the Sepia Photography & Design Studio specializing in photography, graphic and web design for a wide range of clients in Europe and the US. www.mariabaranova.com

Jeff Poulin (Costume and Conspiracy Wearables Designer, The ETLE Universe) is a cross-dressing, drunk, conspiracy-theorist and mind-controlled Transhuman. A Brooklyn-based drag artist, his mediums of fashion and 3D printed accessories explore themes of gender fluidity, glamour, and what it means to be an extraterrestrial."

Ashur Rayis (Composer, The OH Files) is a musician, sound designer, and performance artist based in Brooklyn. He is a co-founder of the Eat Drink Tell Your Friends puppetry collective (2016 recipients of The Tank's Flint and Tinder grant) and a member of the TRUX monster truck collective.

Shantel Grant (Illustrator, The ETLE Unvierse) was born into the arms of the state of New York. Raised by Jamaican immigrants in apartments nestled in housing projects. Educated by public schools in cities with the exception of one private art school in the heart of midtown. Her personal work is based in traditional mediums exploring the idea of setting.

Isabelle Lutz (Illustrator, The ETLE Universe) is a swiss artist born in Geneva and living in London after having spent a few years in Berlin. In 2001, she graduated with a Masters in Psychology and since 2005, playing with the codes of pop culture, which has replaced absolutist dreams with a deep relativism, she reveals through her artistic practice, her growing concern about the evolution of our post-modern world and more specifically the ambivalence to emerge, where alienation and emancipation are no more readily recognizable. She attempts however to challenge our perception of daily life by proposing questions on a series of commonly held notions. www.isabellelutz.com

Keith Carlon/KV (Illustrator and technologist, The ETLE Universe) is an illustrator and game designer living in the furrows of the Brooklyn scape. From an early age he was fascinated by the sci fi and fantasy art that he would find on movie posters and book covers, and thusly set about drawing furiously his visions of those far off lands. Graduating from a pen to a wacom tablet, KV continued dreaming up designs for space ships, alien races, warrior goddesses, and insectoid enemies all the while playing more video games than is probably acceptable for a grown man.

Vincent Vigilante (Lighting Designer, The ETLE Universe) is a SUNY New Paltz graduate with a BA in Theater Performance and Technology. He recently moved to Western Massachusetts after working in the New York City dance and performance scene for over 12 years at arts institutions including The Kitchen, Dance Theater Workshop, New York Live Arts, and Performance Space 122. He currently is the Director of Technical Production for Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and continues to work as a freelance lighting designer.

Brian McGaw (Technologist, the ETLE Universe) is a technical designer and creative developer.  He created Occurrent Arts in 2011 to facilitate the formation of experiences which transform and connect participants.  He has a passion for poetic experiences, and a belief that through radical experimentation we can discover new things about ourselves and the world.

Sydney Alison Batten (Technologist, The ETLE Universe) joined Occurrent Arts as a writer and performer to fulfill a desire to escape the limits of traditionally defined media, and explore the transitory intersection between creator and audience.  She believes in creation's ability to blur life, art, and wonder and instill oneness amidst isolation. Building the bridge to engagement beyond the fourth wall is the core of her work. Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, she now resides in Brooklyn. 

Amy Schiller (Writer, The ETLE Universe) reads, writes, thinks, and consults at the intersection of political theory, feminism, and philanthropy. She has been published in The Atlantic, The Nation, The American Prospect, The Daily Beast, and many others. She is a Ph.D. candidate at CUNY Graduate Center in political science, and has eight years of experience as a major gifts fundraising consultant, campaign director, and political organizer. 

Hadassah Damien Luxe (Writer, The ETLE Universe) is a Brooklyn-based queer femme liberationist artist, digital technologist, and community organizer who creates, produces and performs political and participatory multimedia works all over the US and Canada. Her recent major works include: Exorcize, a satirical and serious healing aerobics program for all bodies; Hot Pink Mass, a church service that invokes the deity Trisha; and Femmes Fight Back, an interactive installation honoring queer herstories while resisting the State. She is co-founder of Heels on Wheels, a working-class-led, multi-racial queer femme performance art Glitter Roadshow and monthly Opentoe Peepshow. She is currently writing a book on the history of raised fists in political art, and her sci-fi novel Polyester can be read online at: www.damienluxe.com

Jessica Goldschmidt (Writer, The ETLE Universe) is a writer and theater artist living in Brooklyn. She has deep feelings about nostalgia, the former Soviet bloc, tarot cards, Joni Mitchell, Kindles, formalism, and the American musical theater tradition. Most recently, she’s created W.R. Salome (Dixon Place), The Museum of Nostalgia (AUNTS), and MUSE (Standard Toykraft). Jess studied Literary Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University. Her plays include Rose Marie: A Bright Shiny Concert in Multiple Numbers, Sitting Room, and The Death Book (developed by Arena Stage & Open Fist Theater). Her writing has also appeared in Philadelphia magazine, thephillypost.com, feministing.com, and the BAM blog.

Joel A. Nichols (Writer, The ETLE Universe) writes sf, erotica and more, including professional books for other librarians. Originally from Vermont, he now lives in Philadelphia with his boyfriend and their baby. He studied at Wesleyan, Temple and Drexel Universities, and spent a year in Berlin on a Fulbright. Recent and upcoming stories of his can be found in the weird fiction venue Phobos Magazine, the anthology With: New Gay Fiction, and the magazine Chelsea Station. queertext.tumblr.com/

(Performer, The OH Files)