DDT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- TEchnical Director
- MFA - Technical Director / LD
Chris Holland has been working with DDT since 2010. With over 20 years in theatre design and production, Chris understands how the right lighting, rigging, and automation equipment can enhance the artistry of a performance. As a theatre equipment designer, he works to understand each clients' specific needs and then designs equipment systems to meet their creative goals with a focus on functionality, ease of use, and sustainability.
Chris has been creating performing arts spaces since 2011. He joined us from Charcoalblue, where he designed equipment systems for a multitude of projects including Royal Caribbean Cruises, Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston, DC Studio Theatre, and Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland. Previously at Texas Scenic, he managed the installation of rigging and lighting systems for over a dozen projects including the Ruth Caplin Theatre at University of Virginia, the George Washington Carver Center for Arts & Technology in Baltimore, and the State Theatre in Culpepper, Virginia. He has worked as a stagehand alongside Locals 1, 4, 125, and 346 in venues ranging from horse parks to opera houses.
Chris earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre design and technology from the University of Kentucky and his Master of Fine Arts in lighting design from Purdue University. In his spare time, he plays jazz trombone in NYC, and is a Local 802 Musician. He continues to provide lighting design and technical direction for Dissonance Dance Theatre in Washington, DC and is a regional show respondent for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), giving college and university students feedback on their performances to help improve their workmanship as well as making recommendations to the KCACTF about nominating shows for their national festival. Chris is also an associate member of the American Society of Theatre Consultants.
Fran Twyman email - Registrar - A retired-volunteer, finance professional with over 35 years of finance, Mrs. Fran brings a vast knowledge to Ngoma Center for Dance. A retiree from government and private sectors, Mrs. Fran advises and assists Ngoma with fiscal sustainability and responsibility, and bookkeeping. With her assistance and consultation, Ngoma was successful in launching our education programs at University of Maryland College Park's Clarice Smith Performance Arts Center.
Jeremiah Welch, BM - Marketing/Administrative Associate - Jeremiah is in his first year with Ngoma Center of Dance. He has studied African Dance under Malaika Guthrie and Obayana Ajanaku of Knoxville, TN. Jeremiah is also a graduate from The University of Tennessee Knoxville with a B.M. in String Performance and is a registered Suzuki Cello instructor. He began his study of dance and music at the Vine Middle Magnet School of Performing Arts. By high school, Jeremiah was performing throughout Tennessee with the Austin-East West African Performance Ensemble, Knoxville Youth Symphony Orchestra, and AE chamber ensemble. Community organizing, social justice, arts advocacy, and education are Jeremiah's passions when he's not performing street theater with fellow musicians.
Kareem B. Goodwin, a native of Philadelphia, PA began his dance training at the Point Breeze Performing Arts Center in 1998, where he formally began his dance training under Charon Mapp, Wayne St. David, Anthony Burrell and Faye Snow. He attended The University of the Arts where he studied Jazz Dance with an emphasis in Choreography studying under instructors Molly Misgalla, Donald Lusnford, Andrew Pap, Scott Jovovich, Karen Brown and Kim Bears-Bailey. Kareem was awarded the 2011 Choreography prize from the University of the Arts School of Dance for his two works "Lovin' U In & Out of Time" and "Fragmented Ideas". Kareem is a NAACP ACT-SO Local and Regional Gold Medalist, as well as a National Finalist. As a performing artist, he has had the pleasure of being in the presence of and working with such choreographers as Christopher L. Huggins, Louis Johnson, Ronen Koresh, Gary W. Jeter II, Zane Booker and Arthur Mitchell. Kareem also has been a member of Eleone Connection, the Pre-Professional Company of Eleone Dance Theatre. Kareem is currently on faculty at Eleone Dance Unlimited, Dance Institute of Philadelphia as well serves as guest faculty at the Rock School of Dance Education. In the summer of 2015, Kareem received the Eleone Dance Theatre "E" Award for Excellence for his contributions to Dance Education and Mentorship.
In 2014, Mr. Goodwin produced and presented his first evening work entitled "MOMENTS" which lead to Mr. Goodwin's work being selected to be apart of the Koresh Dance Company's Come Together Festival in the summer of 2015. Mr. Goodwin is also the Co-Founder and Director of the Expressions Summer Dance Intensive. Kareem has choreographed for dance companies throughout the Tri-State Area including Eleone Connection, Orcheo Dance Ministry, Straight to the Pointe! Dance Company and En Lair Dance Company, DanceInPhinity, Sterling Dance Companies. Kareem has also served as the Associate Director for the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts Dance Department under the mentorship and tutelage of LaDeva M. Davis where he choreographed closed to 100 original works which received rave reviews. Kareem is the founding Rehearsal Director of Eleone Dance Incorporated, the Studio Company of Eleone Dance Unlimited. He is also Rehearsal Director of Grace Dance Theater 2 and Principal Dancer for Grace Dance Theater.
Job Titles:
- Founding Director
- Principal
- Business - Director
- Founder and Director of Ngoma Center for Dance
Southern roots with DC-area rearing, Shawn has studied with nationally and internationally acclaimed artists including faculty and dancers from Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Lines Ballet, Washington Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dance Institute of Washington, Dance Alloy, Philadanco, Towson University, Baltimore and Duke Ellington School of Performing Arts. As a student of ballet pedagogy, Shawn studied with John White, Margarita De Saa and the Washington School of Ballet Director Kee Juan Han. His performance credits include work with K2 Dance, Adrian Bolton Dance, El Teatro de Danza Contemporanea El Salvador, and Bolton/Smith. He has also served as a guest artist with Dance Alloy in Pennsylvania. Mr. Short is a Founding Faculty member of the Washington Ballet@THEARC school.
Leadership
In addition to his role as Founding Producing Artistic Director in 2007, Shawn is the Founder and Director of Ngoma Center for Dance (Ngoma). For Black Enterprise (BE)"Modern Man 100 List of Extraordinary Men" awardee (2016) Shawn Short, Ngoma is central to the life and development of Dissonance Dance Theatre. Just as he expects the finest dancing and most meticulous attention to detail from his dancers, he demands the highest standards for training at Ngoma.
Under Mr. Short, Dissonance has evolved from a project-based entity into an exciting dance entertainment venture in the Washington, D.C. area. As a choreographer, teacher, and coach, Short has fostered a love of the classical and contemporary ballet lexicon that has become the bedrock of the Company's training. The dancers are energized and inspired by this rigorous training and continue to rise to new heights with each passing year. Through Ngoma's programs, dance artists have grace stages locally, nationally and internationally. Furthermore, many students have gained scholarships in NYC institutions, acceptance into college/university dance programs.
Shawn is a Pointe Magazine's Video of the Month Editors' Choice award recipient for his contemporary ballet work, Caught in 2013. A 2014 Princess Grace Award (NYC) in Choreography nominee, Shawn holds a BFA in Musical Theatre with a minor in Theatre Management from Howard University and an MFA in Dance at University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a focus on dance history, arts administration and somatic.
Mr. Short is the Principal Choreographer of DDT. Shawn was the only fiscally-sponsored artist through the New York Foundation for the Arts from 2009-2013. In 2017, Shawn produced his 100th work for Dissonance Dance Theatre. Shawn has choreographed for The Dance Institute of Washington, The Washington Ballet School of Ballet @THEARC. His work has been presented at the Capital Fringe Festival, Greater Washington Urban League National Conference, Southeastern University, Artists' Bloc 12X6 Series, Harke Theatre, Jack Guidone Theatre Space, Atlas Performing Arts Center, THEARC Theatre, Joe's Movement Emporium, DC Parks and Recreation, Sidney Harman Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, PBS Broadcasting, VelocityDC, and Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Alliance for New Music-Theatre and Fox 5 television.