Program Directors

Igal Perry - Artistic Director

Igal Perry, Founder and Artistic Director of Peridance Contemporary Dance Company and Peridance Capezio Center, is a world-renowned choreographer, ballet master, and dance educator. Mr. Perry's elegant choreography, often in collaboration with contemporary composers, has been described as "blessedly inventive" (Jennifer Dunning, NYTimes). His works have been set on prestigious companies and performed at renowned festivals including Florence Dance Festival and Invito Alla Danza (Italy), Batsheva and Bat-Dor Dance Companies and the Karmiel Dance Festival (Israel), Ailey II and Complexions Contemporary Ballet (NYC), Companhia de Danca de Lisboa (Portugal), and Alberta Ballet (Canada). This year his new work Infinity will be set on the San Jose Ballet.

Nikki Holck - Program Coordinator

Nikki Holck is from Honolulu, Hawaii where she began her dance training at Queen Emma Ballet. She continued her studies on scholarship at North Carolina School of the Arts. Nikki graduated from Canada's National Ballet School, where she also completed her post secondary studies. Upon graduation, she joined the National Ballet of Canada. She moved to New York to join Peridance Contemporary Dance Company under the direction of Igal Perry. Nikki has had the opportunity to perform in a variety of contemporary and classical works, including pieces by Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, Korhan Basaran, Bryan Arias, and Igal Perry. She is currently a freelance artist in New York working in collaboration with artists of different fields in addition to performing and teaching abroad with Korhan Basaran and Artists. Nikki is the Student Advisor for the Intensive Semester program at Peridance Capezio Center.

Faculty

All Peridance faculty and guest teachers found in this Faculty Index are part-time employed instructors. We aspire to provide our students with dance education of the highest caliber. Our faculty is made up of a unique blend of leading professionals in the field. This multi-faceted group has been carefully selected to include classical, contemporary, and current commercial dance techniques. Our faculty members come from leading dance institutions and entities such as The Juilliard School, New York University, Yale University, New York City Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Nederlands Dans Theater, Batsheva Dance Company, and New York City's Broadway.

Core Faculty

Kevin Bernard - Acting for Dancers

On Broadway, Kevin has performed in Billy Elliot, Oklahoma! and Thoroughly Modern Millie. He studied at the University of Texas on an acting scholarship. He finished his studies at University of Houston with such tehatre luminaries as Edward Albee and Jose Quintero where he received a BA in Drama. He taught extensively throughout the Houston School system as an adjunct teacher. In New York City, he is a regular speaker for Manhattan Tour and Travel, offering insight to aspiring actors.

Pat Catterson - Composition

Pat's parents were a ballroom dancing team, and her paternal grandfather was a vaudevillian tap dancer. A NYC-based artist, she has choreographed 108 works, receiving many accolades including a 2011 Solomon R. Giggenheim Choreography Fellowship and multiple Choreography Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the CAPS Grants and the Harkness Foundation, as well as the Fulbright Commission. A dedicated educator, she has been on the faculties at Sarah Lawrence College, UCLA, the Juilliard School, and the Merce Cunningham Studio, among many others. For twenty years she taught her own tap classes in NYC and has been a guest artist all over the US and Europe, most recently in the Kalamata International Dance Festival in Greece. Her writing has been published in Ballet Review, JOPERD, Attitude Magazine, Dance Magazine Online, the Getty Iris, and the Dance Research Journal. She first performed Yvonne Rainer's work in 1969 and since 1999 has worked as her dancer, rehearsal assistant, and custodian of Rainer's early works, touring nationally and internationally. She earned her BA in Psychology and Philosophy from Northwestern University and her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College. Her latest work,"NOW" is an installation/performance/event paired her eight NYC dancers with those in nine other countries via Skype projection.

Richard Chen See - Taylor-Style Modern

Richard Chen See danced for the Paul Taylor Dance Company for fifteen years, originating and assuming roles from the repertory spanning more than fifty years. Mr. Chen See has been authorized by Paul Taylor to stage/rehearse Mr. Taylor's dances on companies and educational institutions around the USA and the world, including Taylor 2, the New Zealand School of Dance, Rambert Dance Company (UK) and American Ballet Theater. He has also taught technique classes and Paul Taylor based projects at the Taylor School (1994-Present) and for the American Dance Festival, New Orleans Ballet Association summer intensive.

Janelle Cambridge - Jazz

Janelle can be seen in movies such as American Gangster, Step Up 2 The Streets, and Step Up 3D. She has danced for Bette Midler in her hit Las Vegas show, "The Showgirl Must Go On", and has worked on awards shows including MTV, the AMA's, and the Hip Hop Honors. Nellie has had the honor of working with artists like Beyonce, Rihanna, New Kids on the Block, Kelis, Musiq, Soulchild, Ginuwine, and Mary J. Blige. She has had the privilege of working with choreographers such as the amazing Luther Brown, Kevin Maher, Fatima Robinson, Laurie Ann Gibson, Dave Scott, Hi Hat, Rich and Tone, and the amazing Ms. Toni Basil. Janelle was last seen dancing in a charity event performed by Rihanna and in the 2013 Super Bowl as a backup dancer for Beyonce's Halftime Show.

Andy Gale - Singing and Song

Director/ Audra McDonald with the Boston Pops, I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE in Melbourne, Bethesda, and Allentown, THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG for Regent Cruise Line; LOST AND FOUND in Sacramento; Broadway Credits, Actor/SIDE SHOW, JANE EYRE, RAGS, THE WORLD OF SHOLEM ALEICHEM; National Tours, Actor/ LES MISERABLES, CATS, THE SECRET GARDEN; Master Teacher/ Buck Hill Skytop Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute; Adjunct Professor/Vassar College, Barnard College; Vocal Instructor/Musical Theatre and Jazz Dance Program-Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival; Guest Teacher for Mark Moorman (The Juilliard School), Loyola University New Orleans, Wayne State University, Baltimore School for the Arts, Discover Opera (Manhattan School of Music); Recent Coaching/Kathleen Turner, Will Swenson, Lou Taylor Pucci, Ashley Bouder; Chautauqua Opera/Music Theatre Revue Director 2009, 2011- 2016, Family-Friendly Opera Revue Co-Director/Writer - 2014 & 2015.

Patrick Gallagher - Music for Dancers

Patrick Gallagher grew up immersed in music and dance. From an early age he studied piano with Andre Gribou and took dance classes at Factory Street Studio, in Athens, Ohio. At age 16, Patrick won the Buckeye Piano Auditions, a state piano competition. After high school, he moved to New York to attend Sarah Lawrence College, where he concentrated in Music and Dance, and spent a semester studying in Havana, Cuba. Since moving to Brooklyn in 2012, Patrick has been active as a dancer in re-stagings of works by Judson-era choreographers including Lucinda Childs, Yvonne Rainer, and Andy de Groat. He has performed their works at Sarah Lawrence, Dia: Beacon, Danspace Project, and the 92nd Street Y. The evening 'get dancing,' which included works by Andy de Groat and Catherine Galasso, was presented by Danspace and nominated for a 2016 Bessie Award for Outstanding Revival. He has also performed in works by Kathy Westwater, Jon Kinzel, Steven Reker, Kim Brandt, Ryan McNamara, Cathy Weis, and Jennifer Rubell. Patrick has worked as an assistant to dancer David Hallberg and dance/video artist Cathy Weis. He has also been an active dance musician throughout New York City, with accompanying experience at Ballet Tech School, Tisch, Juilliard, Mark Morris Dance Group/Dance Center, ABT, Brooklyn Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Ballet Hispanico. His CD of music for ballet class was produced by teacher Matthew Powell, and is titled 'Find Your Fifth'. In January 2016 Patrick was featured in Dance Teacher Magazine, discussing the working relationship between teachers and dance musicians.

Mark Janas - Singing and Song

Mark is a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and founder of the Bistro and MAC Award winning Salon. He began his musical studies at the age of 3, had composed a sonatina by age 5, and by high school was conducting the area youth orchestra. A protege of Leonard Bernstein, he conducted his music in two International Bernstein Festivals. After receiving a Bachelors Degree from Indiana University and a Masters Degree from Rice University, he conducted for the 1 st & 3 rd National Tours of Les Miserables, for Texas Opera Theatre, for the Houston Symphony, and was assistant to Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony. Mark is currently on faculty at Manhattan School of Music, is a member of the Advanced BMI Music Theatre Workshop, and his original song written with lyricist Peter Napolitano, Come Home, won the 2009 MAC Award for Song of the Year. He received the 2002 Bistro Award for Musical Direction and has accompanied Len Cariou, Kathleen Turner, Julie Reyburn, Bryn Terfel, Marilyn Maye, Betty Buckley, Liza Minnelli, Judy Kaye, David Green, Sandy Duncan, Neil Patrick Harris, Cheyenne Jackson, Karen Mason, Sylvia McNair, Anthony Rapp, Penny Fuller, Lee Roy Reams, Liz Callaway, Raissa Katona Bennett, and Julie Wilson, to name a few.

Raja Feather Kelly - Improvisation, Solo Performance Studies II

Recipient of the 2016 Solange MacArthur Award for New Choreography, Raja Feather Kelly was born in Fort Hood, Texas and is the first and only choreographer to dedicate the entirety of his company's work to Andy Warhol. He is the creator of ANDY WARHOL'S 25 CATS NAME SAM; ANDY WARHOH'S DRELLA (I LOVE YOU FAYE DRISCOLL); ANDY WARHOL'S 15: COLOR ME, WARHOL; ANOTHER 37 REASONS TO CRY (ANOTHER WARHOLIAN PRODUCTION); ANDY WARHOL'S TROPICO; and many short works, all of which have been created and performed throughout various theatres in New York City. For over a decade, Kelly has worked throughout the United States and abroad (Austria, Germany, Australia, United Kingdom, and France) in search of the connections between popular culture and humanity and their integration into experiential dance-theatre. Kelly currently choreographs, writes, and directs his own work as Artistic Director of the feath3r theory, a culture-driven dance-theatre company. He is a two-time recipient of Jerome Foundation commissioning funds for emerging artists (Dixon Place 2015, Danspace Project 2016), Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant recipient (2013-2015 Paris + Lyon, France), 2016 Dancemapolitan Commissioned Choreographer, 2015 Dixon Place Dance Artist in Residence, LMCC Workspace Resident Recipient, and an Emerging Choreographer residency at Bates Dance Festival. He has been the Guest Choreographer in Residence at Princeton University, University of Maryland College Park, University of Florida, University of Utah, and Middlebury College; the Harkness Choreographer in Residence at Hunter College; 2009 and 2011 Dance Web Scholar (Vienna, Austria); and has received a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant. Kelly is a 2016 Gelsey Kirkland Academy Artist in Residence. Kelly can be seen in the work of Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group, Rebecca Lazier, and Christopher Williams. He has formerly been a company member with David Dorfman Dance, Zoe | Juniper, Racedance, and PearsonWidrig DanceTheater. Kelly collaborates with Tzveta Kassabova and Paul Matteson. He has had the pleasure of performing in the work of Colleen Thomas and Dancers, and Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion. He received his BA in both Dance (with honors, concentration in Choreography and Performance) and English (with honors, concentration in Poetry) from Connecticut College.

Open Class Faculty

Peridance Capezio Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment is based upon personal capabilities and qualifications without discrimination based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, citizenship status, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.