Dancers

Brenda Brown
Brenda grew up performing traditional Thai dance and later started practicing Ballet and Modern. She is a recent graduate with a BFA in Dance Performance from Western Washington University. Over her time at Western she has performed in several faculty and student run productions and had the opportunity to work closely with choreographers such as Brandy Shelton and Kraig Patterson. She was also involved in Western’s restaging of Lar Lubovitch’s “Marimba”, Susan Marshall’s “The Most Dangerous Room” and Trisha Brown’s “Glacial Decoy Redux”. When she’s not dancing, Brenda enjoys sewing, crafting, and pilates. This is her first year with BRD and she looks forward to a great season!

Alona Christman
Alona started dancing at the age of five. She graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle with a BFA in Dance. She has performed for such artists as Paige Barns, Bill Evans, Sonia Dawkins, Wade Madsen, Deborah Wolf, Mary Sheldon-Scott, and others. Alona is a long time member of Dance Gallery, as well as a founding member and dancer for Bellingham Repertory Dance. She manages the Firehouse Performing Arts Center that she and her husband Matt Christman started 6 years ago.

Brooke Evans
Brooke started dancing at the age of three in her hometown of Santa Fe. She has danced with The Santa Fe Aspen Ballet, Colleen Mulvihill, Tina Gerstler, The Elements Dance Company and others. This is her fourth season with BRD. She feels extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work with so many incredible choreographers and beautiful dancers through BRD. She is the mom of two very awesome boys.

Paige Fredlund
This is Paige’s first season with BRD. She will be a graduate of Western Washington University as of Summer 2009, receiving degrees in both Dance and French. She is grateful for her parents who let her play freely in the yard in Billings, Montana, and for an independant project in Senegal where she put together her own dance production in collaboration with local dancers. After that, she finally said, I would like to become a dancer.

Sylvia Graham
Sylvia Graham has studied dance at the University of Washington and the San Francisco Ballet and Boston Ballet schools. She recently moved to Bellingham to pursue a graduate degree in marine science. In addition to dancing, she loves traveling and exploring the outdoors. This is her third year with BRD and she is thrilled to be involved in the local dance community!

Angela Kiser
Angela is a senior at WWU pursuing a BFA in Performance/Choreography of Modern Dance, with minors in Theatre and Philosophy. Before coming to Bellingham, Angela pursued extensive training in modern and jazz. As a student at Western, she is an active leader in student-run productions, including New Music New Dance , Cabaret , and other independent projects within the community. While working closely with her mentor Pam Kuntz, she has developed an appetite for improvisation, teaching, dance science, and interdisciplinary collaboration. An acclaimed performance in the Trisha Brown reconstruction of Glacial Decoy, under the direction of Trina Warren, was one of her most influential experiences at Western. Angela has also presented some of her own choreographic works in Fall Into Dance , 12 Minutes Max , and BRD’s Phrasings . This is her first year as a member of BRD; she is overjoyed to be working with such a remarkable group of colleagues and artists.

Sarah Schermer
This is Sarah’s second season with BRD. She will graduate Summer 2009 with her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Western Washington University. She grew up studying jazz, ballet, and modern at the Port Angeles Dance Center and has been dancing since age 3. A certified Pilates instructor, she also teaches at various studios and gyms around town. Sarah has been an active dancer, choreographer, or costume designer in most WWU Dance Department productions for the last 4 years as well as multiple independent collaborations with Pam Kuntz. These productions include “The Parent Project”, “Reporting Live from Crazy”, and “Conversations”.

Shannon Tallman
Shannon took her first ballet class when she was five years old and from then on, her dancing has been pretty much non-stop. Shannon danced in her hometown of Everett, WA with Everett Dance Theatre from age 8-18, where she studied ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, hip-hop, and hawaiian and tahitian dancing. She also began Irish Step Dancing at age 9 and competed for five years, working her way up to the Preliminary Championship level. Over the years, she has also taught dance at studios in both Everett and Bellingham. Shannon is currently a student at Western Washington University, pursuing her BFA in dance.

Vanessa Wallen
Vanessa Wallen has recently graduated from Western Washington University, with a BFA in Dance Performance. Over the past four years she has performed in nearly all of WWU’s annual concerts including the restaging of works by Mark Morris and Susan Marshall. She was also honored to perform at the 2006 American College Dance Festival in Laramie, Wyoming. Vanessa has taught various styles of dance over the years and is currently teaching in Bellingham and Anacortes. She is thrilled to continue performing with Bellingham Repertory Dance and is grateful for the opportunity to work with the phenomenal artists in this community and beyond!

Diane Williams
Diane grew up dancing in Bellevue, WA and went on to study Dance at the University of Washington. She later transferred to WWU where she was the recipient of a full-tuition Monica Gutchow Dance Scholarship. While at WWU, she discovered a love for teaching dance. She is currently teaching Modern, Jazz and Lyrical at Northwest Ballet School. Diane is also employed full-time as a Graphic Designer. As a founding member of BRD, Diane is incredibly grateful she can continue to pursue her passion for dance while living in the great community of Bellingham.