“The dancers, in bright, flattering, slightly Grecian tunics (designed by Christina Kim), were elegant and willowy.  Grossman used their ballet training, shown in their soft, pliant arms and eloquent upper bodies, very effectively, without exaggeration–no hyper-extended poses. ” Dance View Times Mary Cargill

CURRENT DANCERS

Claire Cholak is from St. Clairsville, OH.  She received her BS in Dance and Early Childhood Education from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.  She has had the opportunity to perform professionally with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and has performed works by Paul Taylor, Jose Limon, Billy Siegenfeld and Jeanne Bresciani. She is thrilled to be working with Ariel and the other talented dancers.

Stephanie A. Chun received her BA in Government from Dartmouth College and earned her MFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She has danced for several New York-based companies and choreographers including Earl Mosley’s Diversity of Dance, Mariana Bekerman Dance Company, ESS/Danceworks, Nimbus Dance Works and others. She is currently working with XDance Theater/Cynthia Xavier as well as HT Chen and Dancers and is honored to be a member of Ariel Rivka Dance.

Hana Ginsburg holds a BA from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and an MFA from Purchase College, SUNY.  In addition to Ariel Rivka Dance, she is currently a member of 360° Dance Company, Lane & Co., Riedel Dance Theater, York Dance Works and Catherine Miller’s Walking/Talking.  She has danced professionally in Spain, Japan, Mexico and Norway, and attended The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard for three years.

Kristin Licata received her BFA from the Ailey School- Fordham University.  While there, she had the opportunity to perform works by Alvin Ailey, Joyce Trisler and worked with Robert Battle, Sean Curran, William Forsyth, and Elisa Monte.  After graduation, she danced with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company II, Felica Lesser Dance Theater, and Vox Luminere.  She can be seen in the film Jaaneman and Newspeak’s music video “sweet light crude”.  Currently, Kristin is freelancing with Covenant Ballet Theater, Matthew Westerby Company, Regina Nejman and Company, Vabang!, and Valerie Green Dance Entropy.

Anastassia Perfilieva (Apprentice) started her dance training at Ravel Dance Studio in Reston,Virginia. She recently moved to New York and is currently a trainee at the Joffrey
Ballet School. Anastassia is very excited to be working with Ariel Rivka Dance.

Danita Shaheen is a dancer and choreographer from upstate New York. She received her BFA in dance from Marymount Manhattan College and graduated with honors. Since then, she has performed with Jacobs/Campbell Dance, Dance Cat-alyst, Gehring Dancetheatre, Banana Peel Dance, MAD About Dance , H.T. Chen and Dancers, Tamara Saari Dance, AERA, Beth Soll, Andrea Gise and Dancers, Laura Ward/ Octavia Cup Dance Theatre, and Nina Buisson Contemporary Move. Danita’s own works, including collaborations with various choreographers and artists, have been seen throughout the metropolitan region. Danita is also a founding member and the Artistic Director of the Alternative Arts Association, multimedia arts organization and registered 501c3. www.alternativearts.org