Chris
McCallister was
born in Sacramento, California. There, at age seven, he began
his training in tap dance with
a desire to “dance like the man in the rain.” After
teaching children at local dance studios and church organizations,
in 2003, Chris
moved to Seattle to attend Cornish College of the Arts, where
he studied for two years. During his stay at CCA, he danced
for choreographers Deborah Wolf and KT Niehoff, and since coming
to Seattle, he has performed with several choreographers in
various festivals and shows. Chris has been performing and
traveling with the Phffft! Company since February of 2006.
His choreography has been performed through CCA, and he is
planning to produce more of his own work in the future.
Morgan
Nutt moved to Seattle in pursuit
of dance and has happily found it. Since moving here last summer,
she has danced with the Weaving Dance Company, invaded many
private homes with the oh-so-infamous Stimulate Dance Collective,
has performed the works of Rachel Barker and Sarah Parton,
has done two stints at 12 Minutes Max, and is now preparing
for Danny Herter's presentation at Northwest New Works. All
of this leading up to the opportunity to dance with Cyrus Khambatta
and the wonderful dancers of Phffft! Her life before Seattle
included working as the dance director for a performing arts
academy in Arizona, performing with multiple dance companies
in New York CIty, Philadelphia, Texas and Arizona, and earning
a BFA in dance from The Ohio State University. She is a heart
and soul Montanan, and her ultimate goal is to someday return
and open an arts center for youth in her rural home county.
Rachel
Randall recently graduated from the University of
Washington with a degree in dance and anthropology. There she
danced with the Chamber Dance Company and choreograped Living
Shadows for the Dance Majors Concert receiving the 2007
award for outstanding achievement in choreography. She holds
a Professional Diploma in Dance Studies from Laban in London,
and an Associate of Arts from Yakima Valley Community College.
While attending YVCC, Rachel collaborated with composer Dr.
Isidore Rudnick, in “Collages,” choreographing
her first full length performance, in just six weeks, with
a cast of eleven dancers to original live music that inspired
seven canvas paintings by artist Candice Kite. Before college
Rachel spent many years as a competitive gymnast, figure skater,
and quite a few summers doing circus training and performing
with Professor Bud’s Mini Circus in Yakima. To date,
Rachel has danced professionally in Yakima and Seattle, WA,
and as a guest artist with NOYAM and the National Theatre of
Ghana Dance Ensemble in Ghana, West Africa. Rachel loves living
in Seattle, teaching dance, circus and gymnastics classes,
and is excited to be dancing with Phiffft!
Aliza
Rudavsky was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA where
she studied dance at the High School for Creative and Performing
Arts. She later attended the George Washington University in
DC and graduated with a degree in modern dance and a concentration
in pre-physical therapy. At GWU she worked with choreographers
Maida Withers, Juliette Mapp, and Jenn Clark-Stone. After college
she worked as an internship for the Vertigo Dance Company in
Jerusalem, Israel. She recently moved out to the Seattle area
where she enjoys dancing with Cyrus and the Phffft! Dance Theater
Company. She plans on attending graduate school for physical
therapy in the next few years.
Graham
Stockdale is
a 26-year-old, multitalented performer. He holds
a BFA degree in dance from Cornish College of
the Arts but is also versed in fire performance,
acrobatics, singing and teaching. Graham teaches
tap, modern and ballet at the Woodinville Dance
Academy. Now in his 7th year in Seattle Graham
is happy to be working with numerous groups around
the community and is curently working with 3
Dance Companies. Dance Contemporary with Tesse
George, Open Flame Dance Theater with Rachel
Narhi and most a recent addition to (and glad
to part of) Phffft! Dance Theatre with Cyrus
Kambatta. Grahams skills as a tap dancer also
enabled him to work with Savion Glover
Abigail Wallace (apprentice) hails from the great Midwest, where she grew up dancing. She earned a degree in biology and dance from Oberlin College, where she split her time between research and dancing. During this time, she began dancing contact improvisation and practicing Pilates. After graduating, she danced with local Ohio companies before heading to Boulder, CO, to complete her MFA in Dance at the University of Colorado. In Colorado, she had the opportunity to study with and occasionally appear in works by Gabriel Masson, Rennie Harris, Nada Diachenko, Michelle Ellsworth and Erika Randall. Over her short career so far she has produced her own work and taught modern, ballet, composition, and improvisation in several states. Currently, when not dancing with the amazing ensemble that is Phffft!, she teaches Pilates and dance in the greater Seattle area.
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