GIORDANO DANCE CHICAGO (GDC) - Key Persons

Elise Paschen is the author of The Nightlife (forthcoming); Bestiary; Houses: Coasts; and Infidelities, winner of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize. Her poems have been published in The New Yorker and Poetry Magazine, among other magazines, and in numerous anthologies. While an undergraduate at Harvard, Paschen received the Lloyd McKim Garrison Medal and served as Poetry Editor of The Harvard Advocate. At Oxford University, where she received her M.Phil. and D.Phil. degrees in 20th Century British and American Literature, she co-founded and co-edited Oxford Poetry. Paschen is co-editor of Poetry Speaks, Poetry Speaks Expanded, Poetry in Motion, and Poetry in Motion from Coast to Coast and editor of The New York Times best-selling anthology Poetry Speaks to Children and Poetry Speaks Who I Am. Former Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America, she is the co-founder of Poetry in Motion, a nation-wide program which places poetry posters in subways and buses. Dr. Paschen has taught in the MFA Writing Program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago since 1999. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Stuart Brainerd, and their children, Alexandra and Stephen.

Giordano II

Job Titles:

Director

Gorman Cook

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Member of the Board of Directors
HMS Media
Vice President / Vice President, William Blair & Company

Gus Giordano - Founder

Job Titles:

Founder

Gus Giordano Founder | Nan Giordano Artistic Director | Michael McStraw Executive Director Gus Giordano's dedication to jazz dance exhibited itself in all facets of his extraordinary life: dancer, master teacher, choreographer, author, and founder of the Giordano Dance School (GDS) in Evanston, Illinois, founder of the dance company Giordano Dance Chicago and founder of Jazz Dance World Congress. Mr. Giordano created and taught the Giordano Technique at venues across the United States and around the world. He choreographed in all areas of performance including television, film, stage commercials, industrials, and concert dance. In 1976 Giordano wrote the highly acclaimed Anthology of American Jazz Dance. In August 1990, Giordano organized the first Jazz Dance World Congress, which gathered renowned jazz dance master teachers and companies. The Congress has been held at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Northwestern University, the University at Buffalo, Point Park University, as well as Phoenix, Chicago, Japan, Germany, Mexico, and Costa Rica. Gus Giordano received many awards including the 1984 Dance Educators of America Award for his outstanding contribution to the world of jazz dance, the 1988 Mayor's Award for the Arts, the 1989 Governor's Award for the Arts for exemplary individual artistic achievement, the 1991 Dance Teacher Now Circle Award, the 1993 Ruth Page Lifetime Service to the Field Award, and the 1996 University of Missouri Distinguished Alumni Award and William Francis English Scholar- in-Residence Award. In 1985, Governor James Thompson declared April 25 Gus Giordano Day. In 1995 he received the Honorable Artist Award from Chukyo University in Nagoya, Japan. In 1997 Gus served as National Spokesperson for National Dance Week. In 1999, he received the Third Annual Katherine Dunham Award for excellence and great contributions to the Arts, and in 2003, Chicago's Mayor Daley presented Gus with the Chicago Senior of the Year Award. In 2005 the National Dance Association presented Mr. Giordano with its Heritage Award, and the same year he received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree from Shenandoah University.

Haley McGlynn

Job Titles:

Member of the Associate Board

Harriet Ross

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Member of the Advisory Board

Homer Hans Bryant

Job Titles:

Artistic Director
Assistant

Homer Hans Bryant is a former principal dancer with the renowned Dance Theatre of Harlem where he also served as Director of the Workshop Ensemble. His professional performing credits include Timbuktu with Eartha Kitt and The Wiz with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. He has been a guest teacher and trainer for United States ice dance medalists and Olympic contenders Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov, Canada's mesmerizing Cirque Du Soleil, and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Mr. Bryant has also shared his teaching gift in the role of ballet master for the Joel Hall Dancers. He is the recipient of the Chicago Cultural Alliance's 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award and was recognized nationally for significant achievements in the field of Dance School Services in the Who's Who in Dance Heritage Registry of Who's Who. He is the founder and artistic director of the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, located in Chicago's South Loop in Historic Dearborn Station. Known as a strict disciplinarian, his slogan "The Fun is in the Discipline, The Discipline is in the Fun" has established Mr. Bryant as one of the most respected teachers in the country.

Jacob Snodgrass - CTO

Job Titles:

Technical Director

Jeanne Montana

Jeanne Montana has been in the fitness and weight loss consultation industry for over 20 years as a personal trainer and a certified sports nutrition specialist. She is passionate about helping people transform their lives through an improved self-image. Jeanne Montana has helped thousands of people get fit and change their dietary eating regimens to lose weight and experience both physical and emotional transformations. Your Loss Your Gain, located at 552-4 N Lincoln Ave in Winnetka Ill., is the weight loss consultation business owned by Jeanne Montana. Besides, the medically designed weight loss protocol she coaches and consults at her weight loss center, she opened up her world to a new chapter and started to manufacture her own product line. MONTANA Macro-Balance is the well-balanced, nutritionally sound "on-the-go" staple or snack for busy lifestyles and quick snacking manufactured by Jeanne. The Montana Macro-Balance product supports a lean protein, low sugar, and well-balance diet. Jeanne Montana's goal is to help create a healthy and strong initiative for our children and teens today. Jeanne's launch of healthy snacks encourages healthy awareness and an initiative, "Healthy Habits for a Lifetime of Longevity (H2L2)". This initiative is to educate our future adults on the importance of healthy eating habits and an active lifestyle. Jeanne's product and desire is to educate children, teen and adults on nutritional behavior. Additionally, Jeanne has a great love of helping others. Fortunately, her day -to -day business is to inspire others through education and support. Due to her success, she is passionate about continuing to help support and donate time to various charitable organizations. Throughout the years she has volunteered at the Lydia House, Off the Street Club, Erika's Lighthouse, and of most recent she was the auction chair for Boys Hope Girls Hope of Illinois 2016 Gala, and exceeded their goals and the results were outstanding.

Jennifer Kastenholz

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Member of the Associate Board

Jessica Hehmeyer

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Member of the Board of Directors

John Seebeck

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Member of the Advisory Board

joshua blake

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Operations Manager

Originally from Atlanta, GA, Joshua Blake Carter joined the Giordano Dance Chicago team in 2009 as a member of Giordano II. He then danced for seven seasons with the GDC main company before taking his final bow in 2017 to join the administration team as operations manager. Joshua has also served as the Director of Giordano II since 2013. Joshua holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from the University of Arizona, where he began to find his choreographic voice. In 2009, he was selected as the winner of Wonderbound's (formerly Ballet Nouveau Colorado) national choreography competition, dancemakers2.0, and in the spring of 2013 he was one of six winners commissioned to create a new work for DanceWorks Chicago's DanceMoves choreography competition. Later in 2013, Joshua was awarded the Producers' Panel Prize by the Ruth Page Foundation for his work, Ripen, as part of Dance Chance: Redux 5.0. His 2015 work for Giordano Dance Chicago, the only way around is through, was referred to as "fresh and cohesive...honest and genuine" by Halfstack Magazine, and The Chicago Reader called his 2016 work Fracture for Giordano II "high octane." Other commissions include Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Nomi Dance Company, Visceral Dance Chicago, Artifact Dance Project and Glendale Community College (Artist in Residence 2012), as well as an original work for Embarq with Joffrey Ballet. Additionally, Joshua created the finale for the 2016 event Sing! featuring Elton John. Joshua serves on the Dance For Life Chicago Ambassador Committee since 2013, an event he is very passionate about. As a dance educator, Joshua travels throughout the country in addition to being on faculty to several Chicago dance institutions.

Kara Horsley

Job Titles:

Member of the Associate Board

Kate Robinson

ka..@giordanodance.org

Job Titles:

Office Manager

Keith Scott

Keith Scott is a very dynamic individual with multiple talents and skills. First and foremost Keith is a teacher. He is a Tennis Pro with the East Bank Club in Chicago and teaches all skill levels from young children to adults. Keith attended Chicago State University, where he played tennis. He started teaching tennis in the late 1980's with the National Junior Tennis League before joining the staff at East Bank. Keith has been with the Club for more than 20 years, and he supervises many of the adult tennis programs. Keith also served in the military for 15 years as well as the Airforce Reserve until 1995. In this capacity Keith worked in logistics moving ammunition and equipment to military bases throughout the United States. In his spare time, Keith does home repair and is very handy.

Kevin Janes

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors
Treasurer / Audit Partner, Ernst & Young LLP

Kip Helverson

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Member of the Board of Directors
President / Sales Executive, Deloitte Consulting, LLP

Krissie McMenamin

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Member of the Associate Board

Leah Marcus

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Member of the Associate Board

Lindsey Millman

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Member of the Associate Board

Maggy Fouché

Job Titles:

Development Consultant

Matthew Ehrhard

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors
President, Hewitt Horn Construction & Development

Matthew Tolbert

Job Titles:

Member of the Associate Board

Michael McStraw

mi..@giordanodance.org

Job Titles:

Executive Director

Executive Director Michael McStraw is a member of and outstanding advocate for the Chicago performing arts community. As a professional dancer, semi-professional musician, arts administrator, dance educator, board member, and arts patron, Michael has been a positive and constant influence in the community for the past 30 years. Raised in Western Pennsylvania, his life includes a BS degree in Geology from Allegheny College, a Master of Fine Arts degree in Modern Dance from the University of Michigan, and a stint as an agricultural extension agent in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He danced extensively with the area's premier contemporary dance companies, including Mordine & Company Dance Theater, an organization he also managed, Jan Erkert & Dancers, and DanszLoop Chicago, of which he is a founding member. Michael was a member of and soloist with Chicago Master Singers for over 12 years, and has performed extensively at numerous area churches and synagogues. Michael's return to full-time arts administration ends a successful 17-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, most notably with G.D. Searle and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America. He is an experienced marketing, operations, and project management professional with special skill in developing strategic long-term solutions for complex business issues. Michael is Executive Director of Jazz Dance World Congress, has twice served three-year terms on the Illinois Arts Council Dance Panel, and was just elected as a Board member for Audience Architects, Chicago's dance service organization.