Dancers

Laura Aschoff
Laura has been dancing since she was three years old. She began her dance training primarily in ballet, tap and jazz, then started exploring modern dance in high school, at the Vancouver School of Arts & Academics in Vancouver, WA. She went on to study modern and ballet at Chapman University and Western Washington University, where she is currently a student and is pursuing a BFA in dance performance and choreography. Laura has had the exciting opportunity to work with wonderful choreographers such as Kathleen Keogh, Tahni Holt, Wade Madsen, as well as various dance faculty at Western, including Rick Merrill and Penny Hutchinson. Laura is new to Bellingham Repertory Dance, and is thrilled to be part of such a strong, talented group of dancers! She looks forward to contributing her love of dance to a beautiful season with BRD.

Jenna Buska
Jenna grew up dancing in Helena, Montana. She trained and performed in ballet throughout high school with the Premiere Dance Company. In 2003 she made the move to Bellingham and began taking modern classes at Western Washington University. She was a member of Dance Makers in 2004 and has performed in WWU’s dance department productions with instructors Andy Noble, Pam Kuntz, Brandy Shelton, and Kraig Patterson. She graduated in 2007 with a degree in Human Geography. This is her second season with BRD after taking a year off to have her beautiful baby girl, and she is thrilled to be back!

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.

Vanessa Daines
Vanessa graduated in 2008 with her BFA in dance performance from Western Washington University and is thrilled to be dancing her fourth season with BRD! She considers herself lucky to call beautiful Bellingham her home and is continually grateful for the opportunity to work with the phenomenal dancers in this community. When not rehearsing and performing with BRD, Vanessa uncontrollably fills her calendar with other dance related projects. She currently teaches open ballet at WWU and has recently worked with WWU’s 2009 Dance Academy for Youth, Bellingham’s Neighborhood Playhouse, META and performed in “Conversations”, a dance theatre production by Pam Kuntz. Vanessa thanks her family, friends and especially Nathan - for their unconditional love and support!

Maia Erickson
Maia began her dance training at Northwest Dance Center in Pullman, WA with Crystal Fullmer. She continued her studies at the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID with Greg Halloran and Mary Heller. Maia received her BFA in Dance in 2010 from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. While at Cornish she was influenced by many faculty including Deb Wolf, Wade Madsen, Michele Miller, and Jason Ohlberg. When she’s not dancing Maia is a nanny for a wonderful family in Seattle. This is her first season with the BRD and she is honored to work with such an amazing company.

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 fifth 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.

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 graduated magna cum laude from WWU with a BFA in Dance. Angela's choreography has been presented in several venues including the Firehouse PAC, iDiOM Theatre, On the Boards, and the University of Wisconsin. She has recently choreographed and performed with Ian Bivins, a current faculty and ensemble member of the Margolis/Brown Adaptors physical theatre company in New York. Angela’s additional training as an actor has influenced her choreography and interest in combining dance and theatre. While working closely with her mentor Pam Kuntz, she has also developed an appetite for performance theory, lighting design, and interdisciplinary collaboration. This is her second year as a member of BRD; she is overjoyed to be working with such a remarkable group of colleagues and artists.

Pam Kuntz
Pam is a teacher, choreographer, and dancer living and working in Bellingham. She has been a member of the dance faculty at Western for 10 years now. Along with teaching Pam also enjoys performing and choreographing. She recently completed her 6th community based collaborative dance piece titled "Wrinkles...Grace in Time", a piece about aging that included community participants over the age of 70. Her other community based pieces have covered topics such as motherhood, body image and intergenerational conversation. Her choreography was honored by the American College Dance Festival and she is a 2007 Bellingham Mayor’s Arts Award recipient. She has both performed at and presented her choreography at On The Boards in Seattle and her work has been funded by the City of Bellingham, The Bossak Heilbron Charitable Foundation, and Western Washington University. She was a founding member of BRD and is glad to be back!

Ella Mahler
This is Ella’s first season with BRD. She is a 2010 graduate of Western Washington University, with a BFA in Dance Performance/Choreography. While at WWU, she performed in several student and faculty productions, including reconstructions of Trisha Brown’s Glacial Decoy and Susan Marshall’s Most Dangerous Room in the House. Ella recently worked with Seattle choreographer Catherine Cabeen, performing her work in Form and Fluidity and collaborating on a short dance film. An active participant on campus, Ella co-directed the New Music New Dance Annual Concert, submitted visual work to WWU Gallery's Labyrinth Exhibit, and participated in theatre, dance, and visual art interdisciplinary projects. Through these experiences, Ella has developed a thirst for the ways movement and performance can investigate sociopolitical issues.

Kate Stevenson
Kate has been dancing her entire life, starting with ballet at a young age and continuing onto modern dance as an adult. Kate graduated from WWU with a BS in Fitness and Exercise Science and was very active in WWU’s dance program. For 3 years Kate taught for Western’s dance program, teaching open modern and ballet and was actively involved with DanceMakers, an elementary school tour program. She has performed in many student and faculty productions at Western, including summer productions led by Montreal Dance. In addition, Kate has danced in community dance projects such as “The Mom Project” and “Reporting Live from Crazy” and was part of the 08/09 Bellingham Repertory Dance Company. Outside of dance Kate teaches many fitness and Pilates classes at WWU and the Bellingham Athletic Club. Kate enjoys running, biking, mowing the lawn, and playing around Bellingham with her husband Trent and looks forward to being a new mommy and dancing with the company again!

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 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.