Company

Company.

Founder/Artistic Director

Rose Hutchins

Karielle Silk Photography

Rose Hutchins holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where she led an academic study to develop and test a somatic-based contemporary ballet technique curriculum designed to prepare today's ballet dancers more fully for the demands of contemporary ballet choreography. This research culminated with a choreographic work titled Essence which Hutchins completed remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. NEW STAGE, a documentary about dance artists in lockdown, featured excerpts of this piece along with Hutchins' reflections on the experience. Other notable achievements include Hutchins' work Embark, which was performed at Regional Dance America/Pacific, and her award-winning choreography Degas. Hutchins also published "Sociopolitical Influences on the Creation of the Ballet Giselle" in The Journal of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, receiving the distinction of "best paper" in the arts division.

Dance Artists 2023

Jacqui DeFrança

Bekah Robertson Photography

Jacqui DeFrança is a Maine based dance artist originally from Massachusetts. She is a graduate from Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles where she received a B.A. in Dance. She has had the pleasure of performing at venues such as: Ailey Citigroup Theater, St. Mark's Church, Joe's Pub, Milk Studios, Dixon Place, Lightbox, Engine and SPACE Gallery. Jacqui has also danced at various showcases including: ACDF, Western Arts Alliance Annual Conference, Reverb Dance Festival, APAP, and CFDA/Vogue presentation. As well as stage, she has experience with TV and Film, dancing in Video Music Awards performance with Rihanna, Oh Land's music video Renaissance Girls and acting and dancing in the short films Out of Zinc and Big Breakin'. Learning under artistic director Mike Esperanza, Jacqui was a member of Bare Dance Company from 2008-2015. She also has worked with New York City based, Flying Under The Radar (FUTR) with artistic director Marlon Taylor-Wiles since 2014. Alongside performing, Jacqui enjoys choreographing and has had the delight in creating movement for Illesteva’s fashion week presentation 2012, KOPPS’s music video Hott in 2018, The Bones of J.R.Jones' music video Stay Wild in 2020 and continuously developing solo improvisation work. While dancing in Maine, Jacqui has had the honor of working with Subcircle, Michael Figueroa, Scott McPheeters, Liz Mulkey, Rose Hutchins, Kelsie Steil, Hannah Haines and Alison Chase. She has been performing and training with contemporary ballet company Ballet Bloom Project since 2020. Jacqui also curated and performed in En Route, a two month curbside performance series at Engine in 2021 and co-curated the series second show in 2022. She is currently involved in project based work both in film and live performance.

Rachel Epling

Alexander Watson

Rachel completed her BFA in Dance and BA in Biological Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2017— discovering an enriching, complementary interplay between the two. While attending UCSB, she had the opportunity to perform works by Anna Halprin, Yvonne Rainer, José Limón, Andrea Miller, and Jacqulyn Buglisi, along with many other wonderful choreographers. Rachel was a member of the UCSB touring dance company, and has performed in England, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and NYC. Following graduation Rachel had the pleasure of teaching and performing professionally in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rachel performed her own work at SF Movement Arts Festival 2019, with Caroline Liviakis Dance Company, and with Mogli's Movers Artist Collective. She appeared as a soloist in the CLDC film "Better Than You Doin You" which has been shown in film festivals world-wide. She moved to Maine in the summer of 2020, by way of Brooklyn, New York, where she is enjoying teaching at Dance Moves Maine, and exploring with her dogs.

Hannah Haines

Baylee Call

Hannah Haines is a dancer, choreographer and educator based in Southern Maine. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Anthropology, and Dance with a concentration in performance and choreography from Skidmore College in May 2019. While at Skidmore Hannah had the opportunity to perform works by Skidmore faculty Denise Warner Limoli, Erika Pujic, Mary Harney, Jason Ohlberg, and works by Earl Mosley, Ohad Naharin, Paul Taylor, Danny Grossman, and Isadora Duncan. She has studied as an Apprentice with Lori Belilove and the Isadora Duncan Dance Company, and performed as a freelance dancer with Ballet Bloom Project under the direction of Rose Hutchons, and Natural Opposite Contemporary Ballet under the direction of Holly Stone. Hannah has presented her own choreography in film and live performances at Engine Gallery, The Frances Tang Teaching Museum, and the American Dance Festival's Movies by Movers film festival. She was selected to participate in the panel “How to be an Ethically Engaged Anthropologist: Activism and Advocacy through Partnership and Collaboration” at the Northeast Anthropological Association Conference 2019, and to present at NYU’s 2020 Mapping Cultures conference for her theoretical research investigating using dance film as an ethnographic method. Hannah teaches ballet, contemporary, and modern dance to students ages 8 through adults throughout Southern Maine and is a 200 hr Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 200). She is currently the director of Biddeford Movement Map—a collection of virtual and live movement based events and offerings that explore the history and development of Biddeford, ME.

Kelsie Steil

Dustin Newhouse

Kelsie Steil graduated from Plymouth State University with a Bachelors in Adventure Education and a Minor in Dance in May, 2018. There she received the 2018 Contemporary Dance Ensemble award for her achievements in choreography. Her latest work is an ongoing duet danced between herself and dancer Max Auger called IMMORTAL!. The work had its most recent showing in FAB15 in February, 2020 and is funded in part by New England Foundation for the Arts’ New England Dance Fund, with generous support from the Aliad Fund at the Boston Foundation. In November 2019 she presented her piece Cast in Maine Moves IV. Kelsie has had the joy of living, dancing and teaching locally and internationally. One of her most major projects was a three-part film series based in Lithuania, which can be viewed on her website. In the midst of making dance works, she works as a Pilates and Dance instructor while spending as much time in nature as possible.

Artistic Collaborators

Evan Hart Marsh

Angie Seacliff

Evan Hart Marsh is a composer, dance artist, and educator currently based in California. His exploration in music evolved alongside his career in dance where he has collaborated with choreographers, filmmakers, and performance artists creating original scores and songs.

He studied composition and film scoring at the New England Conservatory of Music and participates in ongoing education in mixing and sound design. Evan's creations have been featured in live performances, films, media, podcasts, and more.

For him music is a way of sonic storytelling. His soundscapes experiment with elements of electronic, global, jazz, and new age. His work aims to evoke worlds and environments that transcend our current experience.

To listen to Evan's music vist evanhartmarsh.com

Portland Bach Experience

Christina Wnek

Portland Bach Experience tears down barriers and challenges preconceived notions about classical music by offering immersive events, interactive educational programs, and intimate concerts at our annual June festival. Committed to creating programs that are distinct, deep, and connective experiences, we bring award-winning artists to Maine to share musical productions that cultivate resilience, nurture individual growth, and feed our collective hunger for connection.

Allen Russell

Christal Wagner

Allen Russell is a violinist, composer and instructor based in Milwaukee, WI. He began his musical studies on the violin at age 5, and studied at the String Academy of Wisconsin with Mimi Zweig and David Becker before later going on to study with Jerome Franke and Dr. Bernard Zinck. Allen has performed with his Hot Swing quartet Swing Chevron at festivals such as the Midwest Gypsy Swingfest, as well as historic venues such as the Green Mill. With the string quartet Tontine Ensemble, Allen has participated in premiering the new works of modern composers and has had his own compositions performed in collaboration with Milwaukee Ballet, UWM Dance, Danceworks Inc., Water St. Dance, Danceteria, and Hyperlocal. Allen is a registered Suzuki Violin instructor and holds a Master of Fine Arts in String Performance and Pedagogy from UW Milwaukee.