Katie Burks
Katie is a proud native of Dallas, Texas, and graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Point Park University, from where she graduated cum laude. Katie has been fortunate to perform for Attack Theatre, Shen Wei Dance Arts, and New York's former The Jekyll and Hyde Club, to name a few. A recent transplant to the Pacific Northwest, Katie is thrilled to rock the stage with Eliza Larson and her fellow dancers. Katie owes the world to her family and friends for their constant love and encouragement, and would like to thank both them and you for supporting the arts through dance.
Taylor Eggan
Taylor began dancing at Carleton College in Minnesota. In 2008 he moved to Portland, where he has performed in new work by such local luminaries as Gregg Bielemeier and Mary Oslund. He has also worked closely with the Portland-based architectural dance company, POV Dance, performing in The Ford Building Project (2010), 3x3 (2014), and In My Own Space (2016). During his time in the Pacific Northwest, Taylor has also presented original work, including an evening-length performance, Tinnitus, developed in collaboration with Sara Naegelin and Leah Wilmoth. He is currently collaborating with Daniel Addy on a new dance–theater performance set to premiere in fall 2017. In addition to his artistic practice, Taylor is also a scholar. Since 2010 he has divided his time between Oregon and New Jersey, where he is pursuing a PhD in literature at Princeton University. He specializes in African literatures, global modernisms, and environmental philosophy. Maintaining the body–mind balance of a dancer–scholar proves challenging, stimulating, and, ultimately, vital.
Sara Himmelman
Growing up in a creative dance school in Cleveland, OH fed Sara’s curiosity for movement from a young age. She presented work regularly while earning her BFA at the University of Akron and spent summers studying at the American Dance Festival and most recently at MELT. While traveling the country and gathering inspiration she has had the opportunity to perform with Emily Power Dance in Denver, CO and Poor Richard Dance for the Boulder Fringe Festival. In Portland her work has been presented by Amerging and she performs with AUTOMAL.
Erin Kraemer
Erin Kraemer began her professional dance career in San Francisco through Alonzo King's LINES Ballet Training Program from 2005-2007. Soon after, she performed with the San Francisco Opera, Yannis Adoniou's Kunst-Stoff, and Kara Davis' Project Agora. In 2008, Erin became a founding company member of Charles Slender's FACT/SF involving a wide range of original works and a grand tour across Russia in 2012, performing in over nine cities and also teaching jazz master classes to Russian dance students. Erin's love for jazz dance was rekindled in 2009 by a dynamic friendship that gave birth to an inspired Bob Fosse tribute ensemble The Fossettes which continues to perform for events & festivals throughout the western United States today. Erin is now a freelance artist based in Portland, OR dancing for both Muddy Feet Contemporary Dance and Eliza Larson’s Fault Line Dance while also working in the fields of graphic design and visual merchandising. (erinlk.myportfolio.com)
Ella Matweyou
Ella Matweyou began studying classical ballet at the age of eight, and transitioned to modern and contemporary dance during college. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with Distinction from The Ohio State University in May 2014, attaining her BFA in Dance with a minor in English. During her time in Columbus, Ella also completed her 200 Hour Certification in Hatha Yoga from Yoga on High. She has had the opportunity to perform choreography by Ohad Naharin, Bebe Miller, Susan Hadley, Abby Zbikowski, Melanie Bales, and other distinguished professionals. At present, Ella is living in Portland, OR, where she teaches ballet, contemporary dance, and yoga through The Aspire Project, as well as barre fitness classes at Pure Barre Portland-Lloyd District and yoga classes through Yoga Shala of Portland and Living Yoga.
Ruth Nelson
A native to Portland, Ruth Nelson is a dancer, improviser, and choreographer. She holds a B.A. in Dance from Bennington College where she studied under Susan Sgorbati and Dana Reitz. In Portland, Ruth has danced for Muffie Connelly and Danielle Ross. This past spring, she had the honor of participating in New Expressive Works' residency program where she, along with three dancers and a musician, studied compositional improvisation as a performance method. Ruth is the founder of Book Club, an inclusive monthly meet up for dance makers to get ideas, share work, and hone their skills on giving and receiving constructive feedback. They meet every third Sunday of the month at New Expressive Works. This is Ruth's first time working with Eliza. She is both grateful and excited to be a part of her new work.