BDC Summer Faculty

In addition to our incredible BDC Faculty, we have some lovely teachers joining us from all over the country for our summer programming.

ELISE KNUDSON

Elise Knudson (eliseknudson.org) is a New York City based dance artist. She teaches Contact Improvisation for Movement Research and facilitates CI at festivals and studios such as Touch Festival (China), Leviathan Studio (Canada) WCCI Jam (Berkeley, USA) and Moab Jam (Utah). Elise has taught repertory and CI at Manhattanville College and Theory and Practice of Dance Improvisation at Yale University. She created NEXToNow, modeled after The Impermanent Society of Philadelphia to provide a platform for the practice of performing interdisciplinary free improvisation. Honored by the opportunity to perform improvised dance with Nancy Stark Smith, David Appel, Chris Aiken&Angie Hauser, Alicia Greyson and others, Elise has also enjoyed the opportunity to perform choreography with various Artists, including Christopher Williams, Jenni Hong Dance, Kiori Kawai/Purring Tiger, Risa Jaroslow, Jody Oberfelder and Koosil-ja/DANCE KUMIKO.  Over the years Elise has choreographed aerial dances, experimental installations and concert dances for stages large and small. She is currently interested in developing fluidity between instantaneous and premeditated choreography.

 

EMMA LAWES

Emma Lawes (she/her) is a dance artist based between LA and Seattle, originally from CT. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and has trained and performed in New York, San Francisco, Israel and Europe. Most recently, she has collaborated with Babette DeLafayette, Liz Houlton, Markeith Wiley, Kate Wallich's YC2, Mary Grace McNally + Artists, Lauren Hlubny, former YC2 dancers to create PILOT, and Undercurrent. She founded and produced One on Ones, a residency and mentorship program that centers performing artists, in collaboration with Velocity Dance Center and Nia-Amina Minor. Currently, Emma is producing a performance & party series with Maya Tacon in Seattle, beginning to research her own solo work, and focusing on expanding her teaching practice on faculty at Orange County School of the Arts.

 

ETIENNE CAKPO

Originally from Benin, Etienne is the Artistic Director and lead choreographer/dancer of Gansango Music and Dance. Etienne has been building his repertoire of traditional and modern dance for over thirty years. As director of Gansango Music & Dance, Etienne leads the company’s work with dozens of public libraries, schools and independent arts agencies locally and nationally to make performance of dance and music from Africa available to a wide range of audiences, including young children.

 

John Paul Bishop

Dancer, choreographer and director, John Paul Bishop has long been associated with prominent dance companies and schools in the US and abroad and has worked with some of the most notable artists in the world of dance. He began studying classical ballet and piano at the age of 8 and began his professional career at 16 with the Milwaukee Ballet Company.  He has since performed with over twenty professional companies from New York to Japan. He has worked with such dance luminaries as George Balanchine, Mikhail Barishnikov, Andre Eglevsky and many others. As a principal dancer he has performed an array of roles in both classical and contemporary repertoire including Albrecht in Giselle, Prince Ziegfried in Swan Lake, Basil in Don Quixote, Franz in Coppelia, Prince Florimund in Sleeping Beauty, Jean Brienne in 'Raymonda', Oberon in A Midsummer Nights Dream and Bryaxis in Daphnis et Chloe. After a long professional career as a dancer, Mr. Bishop transitioned into a well-respected choreographer creating over fifty original ballets. After his 20 year tenure as the Artistic Director of Northwest Ballet Theater in Bellingham, he moved to Port Townsend and is the current Artistic Director of Port Townsend Ballet.

 

Kaitlyn Nguyen

Kaitlyn Nguyen began dancing in Diamond Bar, CA under Janaina Watkins. She trained at The Ailey School and received a BFA in Dance Performance and minor in Business Management at the University of California, Irvine, where she worked with the late Donald McKayle. She danced with NYC-area companies Nimbus Dance Works, iKada Contemporary Dance, Armitage Gone! Dance, and Southern California companies Re:borN Dance Interactive and Nouveau Chamber Ballet. Kaitlyn became a mother to Lucile in 2018, and moved to Seattle to dance with Spectrum Dance Theater and Seattle Opera under Donald Byrd. Kaitlyn is currently touring worldwide with Khambatta Dance Company and also teaching dance at Seattle Public Schools.