Maira Duarte
is a Mexican dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Communication by the Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico. In 2010, she received support by the National Fund for the Arts and Culture (FONCA, Mexico) to complete a Masters in Arts degree in Dance Education by Steinhardt, NYU. Her choreographies have been presented in several venues and festivals in Mexico, Spain, Uganda, and the United States. She has performed in several works by Douglas Dunn & Dancers in New York City, and, since April 2014, she has performed with TanzTheater André Koslowski. Duarte has taught in more than twenty schools in the New York City area and New Jersey with the non-profit organizations Education in Dance and the Related Arts, the Dance Theater of Harlem outreach program Dancing Through Barriers and with the New Victory Theatre. In 2011, she taught East African dances at NYU and most recently, she completed an appointment as a visiting dance full time professor at the University of the Americas in Puebla, Mexico. Duarte is also an independent dance-film and documentary director and producer. She is currently working in a dance-film documentary about dancers in New York City, titled Being There, and a documentary on naturalists’ work in the Amazon, titled A Scientist Search.

Jennifer Keller
Jennifer Keller’s work as a choreographer, teacher, and performer draws on the confluence of technology, improvisation, contact improvisation, and her experiences as a repertory dancer. She has received awards from the Pittsburgh Foundation and Pittsburgh Magazine (the Harry Schwalb Excellence in the Arts Award), along with the 2003 SRU President’s Award for Creative Achievement, and the 2002 Zuzak Teaching Artist/Scholar Award from the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts. Her 2002 solo-duet concert was listed as one of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s 2002 top ten dance events. Her choreography has been commissioned by professional companies including Pennsylvania Dance Theatre, Labco Dance, Dance Alloy, and Cleveland’s Dance Theater Collective, as well as by numerous university dance programs. Keller has studied extensively with Nina Martin and Martin’s training systems for solo and ensemble improvisation. Since 2008, she has performed as a guest artist with Pennsylvania Dance Theater. From 1988 until 1996, Keller worked with choreographer Mark Taylor, dancing in his companies in New York City (Mark Taylor & Friends) and Pittsburgh (The Dance Alloy). During that time, she originated roles in 12 of Taylor’s pieces, and worked with commissioned guest artists Elizabeth Streb, Eiko and Koma, Doug Elkins, Myriam Hervé-Gil, and Ann Carlson. Keller received a Master of Fine Arts from Arizona State University, a Bachelor of Arts from Connecticut College, and is a certified Core Dynamics Pilates instructor. She is a faculty member in the Slippery Rock University Department of Dance, and serves as Assistant to the Dean for the SRU College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts.

Tina Konrath
has been dancing with the Central Pennsylvania Dance Workshop and Pennsylvania Dance Theatre for nearly 20 years. She was a member of various student ensemble performances and has danced with PDT since the 2001 season. Konrath, a former gymnast, has extensively studied and practiced Pilates and various forms of yoga for many years. In her role as PDT Board President, she was instrumental in reviving the company from near bankruptcy. She continues as the PDT Board President and works locally for Minitab Inc. as a Group Executive for Sales, Technical Support, and Training.

Sheila McKenna
works regularly as an actress and a director. She has played a broad variety of roles, including classical (“Fool” in King Lear, The Rep), modern (“May” in Footfalls, PICT), and contemporary (“Vermandero” in Dog Face, Quantum/Festival D’otono in Madrid). She has been involved in a number of new plays as a writer, actress, or director in her career; world premieres include acting in Michele Lowe’s Mezzulah, 1946 for City Theatre and directing Tammy Ryan’s The Gift of the Pirate Queen for Playhouse Jr., and FBI Girl for The Rep. Her collaborations with André Koslowski include The Selfish Giant and The Happy Prince (PICT), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Conservatory Theatre Company), and The Queens (The REP). McKenna chairs the Department of Theatre at Point Park University.

Jil Stifel
has performed extensively both nationally and internationally with Pittsburgh’s Attack Theatre and Philadelphia’s Miro Dance Theatre. She worked for several years with Kyle Abraham and with Labco Dance. Stifel has been dancing in André Koslowski’s works since 2001. She is currently creating a new work, imaginary is also real, with the internationally based company, perpetual mvmnt <> sound, with whom she has performed since 2007. She is an ensemble member of the improvisation company Gia T presents, with whom she participated in the critically acclaimed Blink in 2012. Her choreography and multi-media projects have been presented in the United States and Japan. She collaborates with sculptor Blaine Siegel; their work progenitor will be performed in various venues throughout Pittsburgh, PA, this summer. They also happen to be raising five chickens, two cats, and one daughter together. Stifel is a yoga teacher and leukemia survivor. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Highest Honors in Dance from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Zachary Bergfelt
of Pittsburgh, PA, holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance from Slippery Rock University. Throughout his career at Slippery Rock, he has had the opportunity to work with many artists including Jennifer Keller, Melissa Teodoro, Teena Custer, Nola Nollen Holland, and Thom Cobb. He has performed and choreographed on the Slippery Rock University Faculty Concert, Jazz/Tap Ensemble, SRUDT Fall and Winter Concerts, and the Senior Synthesis Concert. Bergfelt is also a member of the Rock Dance Company at Slippery Rock University, which teaches dance education and performance to children in the area schools. He has attended many workshops including Evolve Summer Dance Intensive, Jones Summer Dance Intensive, and the PULSE. He is currently a company member of Continuum Dance Theater in Pittsburgh under the direction of Sarah Parker.

Jill A. Brighton
has performed professionally with the Pennsylvania Dance Theatre in State College for eleven years, as well as with Happendance in Lansing, MI, and in New York with the Great Wave Dance Ensemble. She has been directing the Central Pennsylvania Dance Workshop since 1994 and is the Artistic Director of the Fraser Street Dancers. A native of State College, Brighton has been dancing since she was four. She graduated with Highest Honors from Penn State University, and has since served frequently on the dance faculty there. At Penn State, she performed with the Contemporary Dance Company and toured Israel with the Dance Collective. At the Central Pennsylvania Dance Workshop, Brighton has been active in teaching all styles of dance to both children and adults.

See Cha
is originally from Fresno, CA, where he began his dance training primarily in improvised street dancing. He moved to Pennsylvania in 2007 to study dance and, in 2011, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Slippery Rock University. He has over fifteen years of dance experience including a short stint with Miller Dance of Pittsburgh. This is his first season with Pennsylvania Dance Theatre.

Tiffany Finamore
is the daughter of Colleen and Duane Ehredt Sr., and is currently residing in Altoona, PA. In 2008, Finamore graduated with her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance from Slippery Rock University. During her time there, she participated in the Slippery Rock University Dance Theatre for two years as a dancer and choreographer. Her choreography for the solo Warrioress has been performed for e.da.co’s debut concerts in Pittsburgh, PA, and Buffalo, NY, and for LABCO’s Blackbox Concert Series in Pittsburgh.

Julie Snyder
has been a student and lover of dance all her life and is thrilled to be dancing with PDT. She trained from age three at Pauline Baker-Rodgers School of Dance in Altoona, PA. During her college years and after, she has been a part of the Centre region dance scene, choreographing and teaching for groups such as the PSU Thespians, Dance Fusion, and Joshua House in Tyrone, PA. She is also a current member on the Board of the Central PA Dance Workshop. In 2003, Snyder founded the Keystone Church Dance Team, which has performed locally as well as in Baltimore, MD. Snyder currently lives in State College where she works from home as an administrative assistant to her husband Will, a part-time seamstress, and a full time mom to her son, Liam.