Jazzworks
Long Beach
Andrew Vaca, Artistic Director
June 20, 2014 - The Ford Amphitheater
Upcoming Events: The LA So Cal Dance Invitational
Ticket info - use the code jwlb for a 10% discount!
Originally from Fresno, CA, Courtney Abrams began her training with the Central California Ballet Company. Eventually outgrowing the dance scene in Fresno, she moved to Long Beach to pursue a B.A. in dance, completed in Spring 2011. Post-graduation, she was awarded a scholarship to attend the prestigious American Dance Festival (ADF) at Duke University where she performed for and assisted Martha Clarke in the creation of her ADF-commissioned world premiere: Etudes for Italy, later adapted into an evening length piece featured at La Scala Opera House in Milan. Courtney is a soloist for Monat Dance, artistic director Sophie Monat, and also dances for Lorin Johnson’s Body Current Dance. This is
Courtney’s first performance with Andy Vaca’s Jazzworks and she is thrilled to be taking part!
Mark Brown is a native southern Californian, born in Bellflower, raised in Fountain Valley, and a recent
graduate of California State University, Long Beach. While earning a B.A. in Dance, Option in Dance Science Mark
has studied with Heather Ahern, Summer Brown, Gerald Casel, Nick Duran, Maria Gillespie, Keith Johnson, Lisa
Johnson, Lorin Johnson, Sophie Monat, and Jeff Slayton. Additionally, Mark has been fortunate to perform in
pieces by Jay Carlon, Gerald Casel, Jeremy Hahn, Kathleen Helm, Keith Johnson, Alex Ketley, Andrew Vaca, and
fellow students. Mark has also performed internationally, dancing in Edinburgh and Prague; in July he will dance
in the One Body, One Career Intensive in Melbourne, Australia. In the meantime, Mark has taken up knitting and
jazz dancing.
Nathaniel Gonzaga started dancing at the age of 15 on his varsity dance team at Temecula Valley High School. Shortly after, he trained in ballet, jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop at Murrieta Dance Project. He currently attends California State University, Long Beach and is working toward a Bachelor's degree in dance. In his spare time, Nathaniel enjoys painting, drawing and sculpting. Nathaniel hopes to eventually open his own studio and create artwork for a living. This is his first professional performance and he is excited to be working with Jazzworks-Long Beach.
Kristin Drumheller began dancing at a very young age, and trained in the Commercial Dance Department of the Orange County High School of the Arts for two years. She also trained at Center Stage Dance Academy in Long Beach, the Kirov Ballet summer intensive, and was a member of Generation Next Dance Company, directed by famed choreographer Marguerite Derricks. While a student at CSULB, Kristin earned a BA in Psychology and an MA in Psychological Research with an emphasis in behavioral neuroscience, all while finding time to be a part of CSULB’s championship dance team for three years (one while in graduate school). Kristin worked as a research coordinator at the Long Beach VA hospital for two years, where her research involved looking at the effects of low doses of anesthesia on cognitive processing and visualizing subsequent brain activity via fMRI, while trying to develop a novel treatment program for sufferers of PTSD. She recently left the VA Hospital in order to return to school as she plans to apply to medical school in the spring. Upon finishing her program, Kristin hopes to work as a neuropathologist in both a clinical and research setting. She is currently teaching in the CSULB Psychology Department, where she has worked for five years, and bartending on weekends. Despite such a busy professional and academic life, Kristin is thrilled to be dancing in her second concert with Jazzworks-Long Beach, making time for the thing she loves most—dancing!
Nathan
Gonzaga
Jazzworks-Long Beach Dancers
Martha Hamilton was born and raised in Southern California, and began dancing at the age of three, studying tap, jazz and ballet at Freddie Finn Dance Studios located in Riverside. After just a few years, she became a competitive dancer participating in regional and national competitions across California and Nevada until she joined the California State University Long Beach Dance Team in 2007. She worked with choreographer and coach Rey Lozano over the course of four years, and with the help of her
team earned the National Titles for UDA and USA collegiate dance team competitions in 2009. After graduating CSULB in 2012 with a Bachelor's of Science in Kinesiology and Sports Psychology, Martha joined the cast of the Ms. Eurodam on Holland America Cruise Lines. For the past year she has been
dancing on ships throughout Europe, Canada and the Caribbean. She was able to work as an inaugural cast member for Holland America's new show "Dancing with the Stars at SEA" during her last few months on the ship. This is Martha's first year dancing as a member of Jazzworks but has been a student of Andy Vaca's Jazz for several years. She hopes to continue pursuing her passion for dance for many years to come!
A recent graduate of California State University, Long Beach, Katie Marshall has trained in tap, jazz, ballet, modern, improvisation, and composition. While at CSULB, Katie performed works choreographed by Kate Andrews, Andrew Vaca, Heather Ahern, Jiří Kylián, Bill T. Jones, Gerald Casel, Keith Johnson, and Colleen Dunagan, and gained valuable experience as a rehearsal assistant to Leah Cox, Keith Johnson, and Andrew Vaca. Katie is now pursuing a professional dance career, and hopes to serve in various production roles; whether as performer, choreographer, or assistant, Katie is interested in furthering her knowledge and skillset applicable to all aspects of dance, in order to become a better-rounded, contributing artist in the performing arts world. This is her first performance with Jazzworks – Long Beach, and she is thrilled to be working with Andy and the company!
Danae McWatt, a Minnesota native, has trained in modern, ballet, jazz, and hip hop starting at an early age. She graduated with her BA in Dance Science from Cal State University, Long Beach and has had the pleasure of working with Lorin Johnson, Susan McLain, John Pennington, and Andy Vaca. Her experience and love for dance has inspired her to start her journey in teaching Pilates and getting her BASI certification in 2012. Aside from Jazzworks-Long Beach, McWatt has danced for Regina Klenjoski Dance Company and is currently in her fourth season with Pennington Dance Group.
A native of Danville, CA, Alisha Mullally is currently a student at California State University, Long Beach where she studies Communication studies and Dance. Alisha has studied at San Francisco Dance Company, Teen Dance Company and assists for LA Dance Magic convention. She also assists alongside Matthew Tseng from Sonya Tayeh’s Dance Company. She has been studying dance since the age of three and has worked professionally as a dancer since she was ten. Most recently, she returned from Disney Live! Mickeys Music Festival Tour, which toured through the states and South America. Alisha has danced for the Warriors, Disney, Nickelodeon, Mervyns and more. She has starred in five feature films, both acting and dancing and has received awards nationwide for her choreography and dancing. She is trained fluently in ballet, contemporary, modern, hip hop and jazz. Alisha has a vivacious personality and a natural ability in dance. Her experiences are only growing, as she continues to develop her dancing career.
Rhetta Nelson started dancing at the age of four in Orange County. She explored many activities in her youth including figure skating, piano, and violin, but dance is always where her passion lied. When her family relocated to Oklahoma, she chose dance as her first focus, and continued her training in ballet at the School of Ballet, Oklahoma. While she was still in Oklahoma, she attended Long Beach Ballet Arts Center six-week summer program in 2003-2004. She also attended the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute for ballet with teacher and choreographer Deana McBrearty of New York City Ballet as director. Upon returning to California, Rhetta earned
her A.A Degree from Orange Coast College with a focus in Dance. She then auditioned and was accepted into the CSU Long Beach Department of Dance in 2008, and in 2010 she graduated with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Dance. Following graduation she was so happy to be a founding member of Andrew Vaca’s Jazzworks—Long Beach. She is so excited to be performing again with Jazzworks at the So-Cal Dance Invitational, and can’t wait for more shows to come!
Alvaro Nuñez began dancing at the age of 15 while attending Renaissance High School For the Arts in Long Beach. Alvaro is currently attending California State University, Long Beach where he is pursuing a BA Dance degree. While in California State University, Long Beach, Alvaro has studied with Summer Brown, Gerald Casel, Keith Johnson, John Beasant III, Lorin Johnson, and Sophie Monat. Additionally, Alvaro has been privileged to perform in pieces by Gerald Casel, Andrew Vaca, Liz Curtis, and in summer programs with Nannette Brodie Dance Theater. This is Alvaro’s first performance with Andy Vaca’s Jazzworks-Long Beach.
Sophia Sosa began dancing at age 6. She has studied ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, hip hop and modern. She competed regionally and nationally for 8 years. In 2003 she graduated from Orange County High School of the Arts where she studied with top dance industry professionals such as: Liz Imperio, Dee Caspery, Cory Finn, Ron Brown, and more. She was also involved in OCHSA's Community Dance Company that performed for charity and educational events.
After High School she attended Orange Coast College and was highly involved in the dance department. She participated in the annual Student Dance Concert and received the Karen Shanley Scholarship for her solo performance in 2005. After auditioning and being accepted into the dance department at California State University, Long Beach she graduated with a BFA in Dance in 2010. While in college she performed in several department concerts as well as participating in the 2009 American College Dance Festival in Utah. After college, she was involved in a promo video for the 2010 FIFA world cup as well as a music video for Shinedown’s “The Crow & The Butterfly.”
She is a Body Arts and Science International certified pilates instructor. In addition to teaching pilates, she has been teaching dance for 7 years in various styles such as ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical and modern. She is also a Pure Barre instructor at the Huntington Beach and Irvine Studios.
Brittany
Ullestad
Originally from Champaign, Illinois, Brittany Ullestad began dancing at the age of nine where she won numerous regional and national dance competitions. Intent on continuing her passion for dance in a higher education setting, Brittany received a scholarship to continue her training at the University of Illinois dance department while still attending high school. Upon high school graduation, she attended California State University Long Beach on academic and dance scholarships, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.F.A. degree in Dance. She was selected to dance in over 18 concert pieces at CSULB, working with the likes of Andrew Vaca, Cyrus Parker-Jeannette, and Susan McLain, as well as guest artists Mike Esperanza, Frank Chaves, and Holly Johnston. Additionally, she appeared as a featured dancer in the Pro Bowl Halftime show broadcast on NBC, dancing with recording artists Enrique Iglesias and Ciara.
Currently, Brittany is a dancer for Jessica Kondrath|the movement, a contemporary ballet/modern company, and Andy Vaca’s Jazzworks, a modern/jazz company of which she is a founding member. In addition to dancing professionally, Brittany is the Director of Strong Dance Studios where she is also head of the jazz department and competition team. She loves getting to share her passion for dance with her students, using it as a vehicle to promote confidence and a healthy self-esteem in addition to cultivating strong, talented dancers.
Courtney
Abrams
Mark
Brown
Kristin
Drumheller
Martha
Hamilton
Katie
Marshall
Danae
McWatt
Alisha
Mullally
Rhetta
Nelson
Alvaro
Nunez
