Gregory Dawson
Artistic Director
Gregory P Dawson, former Lines Ballet dancer, received his BA from Saint Mary’s College. In 2007, he formed dawsondancesf (ddsf) as an outlet for his choreographic goals and vision. Shortly thereafter, he created “which light in the sky is us” for Company C Contemporary Ballet (nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award for choreography) and became the Assistant Director of the California State Summer School of the Arts’ Dance Department in Southern California. In the fall of 2011, Mr. Dawson became Artistic Director of Dawson Wallace Dance Project in Denver, Colorado (formerly David Taylor Dance), where the Denver Post named him “the best choreographer in Denver.” Soon after, Dawson received a CHIME grant, partnering him with choreographic mentor Elizabeth Streb for one year. In September 2013, dawsondancesf re-established its presence in San Francisco with the world premiere of “fabricca matterasso d’argento” at Zaccho Dance Theatre. Following this, Mr. Dawson created “birds eye view” (a collaboration with the Richard Howell Quintet) for the 2014 Black Choreographers Festival, which received an Isadora Duncan Award in 2015. Also, ddsf presented “MONOCHROME” at the BAN7 Festival 2014 in San Francisco. In the Fall of 2014, Dawson premiered “in this moment” with Richard Howell. The Zellerbach Foundation funded ddsf next premiered, “intrinsic motion project“, and this past summer 2015 ddsf completed 5th week residency at CSSSA’s summer intensive at Cal Arts where Dawson is assistant to the Chair. In spring of 2015, ddsf premiered Intima produced by Al’myra Communication which collaborated with Ali Kaf – visuals, and Ashraf kateb – music. dawsondancesf made its debut in New York City in the Fall of 2014, at Baurch College, with a return in September 25-27 of 2015. Dawson currently teaches and choreographs for all the LINES Ballet Educational Programs.
Our Mission
dawsondancesf breaks down the barriers placed on classical ballet, and brings to light the strength and beauty that artists possess within themselves, allowing them to explore their voices through choreography and vision. Through this process, artists transform themselves, audiences, and the world of dance that surrounds them.
Dancers
Elizabeth Pischel was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin where she studied ballet at Academie De La Danse. As a recipient of the Wisconsin Dance Council scholarship, she moved to North Carolina to continue her training at Charlotte Ballet under the instruction of Patricia McBride and Mark Diamond. As a trainee, she performed in several of the company’s ballets, including Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, and she was featured in award-winning choreographer Mark Diamond’s D’jembe. Soon after, Elizabeth joined LINES Ballet Training Program. During that time, she apprenticed with Sidra Bell Dance NY and performed in original works by Sidra Bell, Shannon Gillen, Arturo Fernandez, Uri Sands, Maurya Kerr, Erik Wagner, Carmen Rozestraten, Dwight Rhoden, and Gregory Dawson. Elizabeth spent summers with Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Charlotte Ballet, LINES Ballet, and Complexions Ballet. She also placed third in the contemporary division at Youth American Grand Prix Ballet Competition. After graduating from the LINES Ballet Training Program, she joined dawsondancesf. She is now entering her second season with the company.
Alesandra Harper began her formal training at the age of ten with Atlanta Ballet’s Centre for Dance Education, later moving into the Pre-Professional Division. Throughout high school and college, she has studied at Milwaukee Ballet, Salzburg Ballet, Northwest Dance Project, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and SpringboardX. She has had the privilege of working with world-class instructors including Maurya Kerr, Christian Burns, Joanna Berman, Brett Conway, Shannon Gillen, Desmond Richardson, Peter Chu, and Alexandra Wells. Alesandra currently studies at Alonzo King LINES Ballet and anticipates earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance in 2020. Alesandra performed in various U.S. cities as well as in Europe before beginning her professional career in the Bay Area in a performance of Rite2017 with dawsondancesf. She looks forward to continued opportunities to push the boundaries of dance with the company.
David Calhoun is a native of Omaha, Nebraska, where his dance training began at the age of 11. David graduated in 2017 with his BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography with an emphasis in Ballet and Modern on full scholarship from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. While in his undergrad, David had the opportunity to dance with The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Memoria and Storling Dance Theater. He has performed works by Gregory Dawson, Maurya Kerr, Ohad Naharin, Alvin Ailey, DeeAnna Hiett, and Gary Abbott. David has spent summers studying at Ballet West, Kansas City Ballet, Hubbard Street, The Graham Intensive, LINES Ballet, Springboard Danse Montreal, and NWDP’s LAUNCH. This is David’s second season dancing for Gregory and he is honored to be a part of the company.
Alejandro Perez is a first generation Mexican-American from Los Angeles. After being a street dancer for about 3 years, Alejandro began his dance training at Hamilton High School under the direction of Latreece Douglass, and Karen McDonald. In 2012, Alejandro received a full scholarship for the UCLA summer dance/theatre intensive where he found honest connection with his passion. After high school, he continued his dance training at Santa Monica College in LA under the direction of Jae Lee, and Mark Tomasic. During his last year in Los Angeles, he was asked to join Keybele dance theatre under the artistic direction of Seda AyBay. Soon after, Alejandro received a full scholarship to be a part of the Alonzo King LINES Ballet two year round Training program. After his first year at Lines, he was announced the full scholarship recipient for the Jacobs Pillow 2017 Ballet Summer Program where he was under the direction Anna-Marie Holmes.Alejandro has since studied and performed with various disciplines from Arturo Fernandez, Alonzo King, Carmen Rozenstraten, Alex Ketley, Greg Dawson, Angelo Dello Lacono, Andre Tyson, Desmond Richardson, Keelan Whitmore, Jermaine Spivey and more. Alejandro just graduated with the Alonzo King LINES Training program class of 2018 in San Francisco.
Taylor Jordan of Montgomery, Alabama began her dance training at Baldwin Arts and Academics Magnet School in the 6th grade. She spent her high school years studying at Alabama Dance Theatre. After graduating high school she moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to dance in the second company at Charlotte Ballet. Throughout her high school years Jordan also trained with Nederlands Dans Theater, Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Portland Festival Ballet and Alabama Ballet on full scholarships. Jordan recently graduated from LINES Ballet Training Program. She has worked with choreographers including Sol Leon, Patricia McBride, John Magnus, Mark Diamond, Maurya Kerr, Gioconda Barbuto, Carmen Rozenstraten, Juan Rodriguez and Gregory Dawson. Taylor was honored to become a company member with dawsondancesf in 2018.
Madison Otto was born in Seattle, Washington and began dancing when she was just three years old. She attended Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Summer Intensive where she was asked to stay year round at the school and studied there for two years. Upon graduation, Madison attended Alonzo King LINES two year Training Program and spent her summers at Los Angeles Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Jacobs Pillow ballet program, and NW Dance Project. Madison joined dawsondancesf in 2016.
Sade Barnwell, a native of Washington, DC, began her exploration of dance at the age of two at the Dance Institute of Washington under the direction of the late Fabian Barnes, former principal dancer with Dance Theater of Harlem. She went on to train at Maryland Youth Ballet with founder Hortensia Fonseca and later graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts lead by department chair, Norma Pera. She attended several summer intensives on scholarship including The Ailey School, Hubbard Street Dance, Dance Theater of Harlem and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. In 2018, Ms Barnwell graduated from the LINES Ballet Training Program.
Erik Debono began dancing at the age of six, and continued his studies at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SotA). Currently a BFA Dance undergraduate student at Adelphi University, New York, he trains with Frank Augustyn, Orion Duckstein, Adelheid B. Strelick, and Marni Thomas. He has performed guest works by Lar Lubovitch, Earl Mosley, Manuel Vignoulle, and Jessie Ryan. He has worked with Labayen Dance/SF, San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman’s Dizzy Feet Gala Show, AVA Ballet, The Anata Project, and Oakland Ballet. His solo work titled “Vulnus” was presented at the Northeastern Conference of the American College Dance Association (2017) and was selected to be presented at the Gala Concert.
Isaiah Bindel was born and raised on the coast of California. He began dancing at the age of four. After his training at University North Carolina School of the Arts as well as the San Francisco Ballet School, Isaiah began his first season with dawsondancesf in September of 2013. Works such as, fabbrica materasso d’argento, Birds Eye View, Monochorme, In This Moment, Intima, and DENT-BEND-DROP have been set on Isaiah since joining the company. He continues to work and support the vision that Gregory Dawson has created for dawsondancesf.
Lauren Worley is originally from San Diego, California, where she began training extensively in ballet, modern, and jazz at Southern California Ballet studying the Cecchetti Method under the direction of Sylvia Palmer. With her Cecchetti train- ing she attended both the 2011 and 2014 Cecchetti International Ballet Competition where she competed on team USA, and in 2014 she became a finalist. For her senior year of high school, she moved to Columbus, Ohio to join BalletMet Columbus’s Pre-Professional Program. In 2013 she started pursuing her BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance at The Boston Conservatory and graduated in 2017 with an emphasis in Ballet. At the Conservatory, she has performed various notable choreographer’s works, such as Dwight Rhoden, Robert Battle, Brian Brooks and Sidra Bell. Throughout her dance training, she has attended many intensives such as Alonzo King LINES Ballet, The Juilliard School, The Ailey School, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Axis Connect, and the Contemporary Program at Jacob’s Pillow. Immediately after graduating in 2017, she moved to San Francisco to begin dancing for dawsondancesf. She would like to thank her parents for all their support, encouragement, and love they have given, and a thank you to Gregory for creating a space of constant inspiration and creativity.
Gilbert Small was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and started his professional ballet training at the age of 10 at the Baltimore School for the Arts. He has studied at various sum- mer programs, including Dance Theater of Harlem, Nutmeg Conservatory, Miami City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Springboard Danse Montreal. After graduating from the Baltimore School for the Arts, he continued his studies at the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. While at Purchase, Gilbert was given the opportunity to study abroad at the Hogeschool voor Muziek en Dans in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He has also per- formed with Toronto-based ProArteDan- za. Prior to joining Ballet BC, Gilbert performed for New York-based Sidra Bell Dance New York. This is his 10th season with Ballet BC. Recently becoming a guest artist with the company, Gilbert also collaborates with Seattle based zoe | juniper. Gilbert is thankful for this opportunity to work with dawsondancesf.
Rachel Schmidt was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California. She began her dance training at The Studio and joined Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre, under directors Robert Kelley and Diane Cypher. She went on to attend Butler University, where she received a BFA in Dance. Upon graduating, she moved to San Francisco to attend the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program, where she performed works by Sidra Bell, David Harvey, Maurya Kerr, Gregory Dawson, and Arturo Fernandez. Rachel has spent her summers attending Ballet West, LINES Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance.
