Copious-Dance-Theater---Dancers

Meet The Dancers Of Copious Dance Theater

Photography by Afshin Odabaee

JOSIE GARTHWAITE, Dancer

Born in Oakland and raised in West Marin, Josie trained in classical ballet and Graham technique at Marin Ballet in San Rafael. She holds a bachelor's in dance and journalism from New York University and a master's in communication from Stanford University. Josie enjoyed performing works by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane, William Forsythe and Deborah Jowitt while training with Andrea E. Woods, Gus Solomons Jr. and others at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and Austria's Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. She then performed throughout New England with companies including BoSoma and Influx Dance. Josie returned to California in 2007 and has happily joined the Printz Dance Project (2008), VaBang (2009) and Copious Dance Theater (2009). When not dancing, Josie works as a writer.

JENNIFER MELLOR, Dancer

Jennifer is from Tulsa, Oklahoma and performed with Tulsa Dance Theater and modern dance troupe Dance On Tulsa, where she was featured in works by guest choreographers Johnson/Long & Co, Dina McDermott, Mimi Chen, and Kathy Dunn Hamrick. She also performed with rhythm tap duo FootSong and A Call to Feet Tap Dance Ensemble. Jennifer came to the Bay Area to complete her B.S. in Mathematical and Computational Science at Stanford University, where she continued to study and perform modern dance with Diane Frank and others. Jennifer has danced and choreographed for High Release Dance Company. She serves on the Board of Directors for Stepology, a nonprofit promoting tap dance. In addition to dancing with Copious Dance Theater, she dances with Double Vision, as well as working on her own dance projects and collaborations.

BRENDAN BARTHEL, Dancer

Brendan is a student of movement. He studies Japanese martial arts, healing arts and dance. Brendan has worked and performed with choreographers throughout the Greater Bay Area, including Tandy Beal, Mary Carbonara, Todd Courage, Todd Eckert, Janice Garrett, Richard Gibson, Paco Gomes, Joanna Haigood, Fran Spector-Atkins, Margaret Wingrove, and is a member of Robert Moses' Kin, which he joined in Fall of 2007. Brendan is honored and delighted to join Copious Dance Theater for this season.

DWAYNE WORTHINGTON, Production Manager, Dancer

Dwayne, a Paterson New Jersey native, hails from Durham, North Carolina. He received his MFA in dance from California State University Long Beach and his BFA from North Carolina School of the Arts. He is dancing with Zaccho Dance Theatre and has worked with Robert Moses’ Kin and Kunst-Stoff. He was also a company member of Nicholas Leichter Dance. Dwayne has had the great pleasure of working with such choreographers as Betty Jones, Sherone Price, Lynn Jackson, Mark Dendy, and Dominique Boivin. Dwayne also does lighting design, production and stage management for theaters throughout the Bay Area.

JEFFREY VAN SCIVER, Dancer

Jeffrey began his training in 2001 at the Los Angeles Academy of Fine Arts (LAAFA). Following his high school graduation in 2008, he attended LINES Summer Intensive Program and moved to New York to attend the Juilliard School. He returned to the San Francisco Bay Area to study in the BFA program at Dominican/LINES Ballet. This is Jeffrey's first season with the Copious Dance Theater.

LAURA SHARP, Dancer

Laura started her training with gymnastics and caught the dance bug at the age of 8. A few years later, she became an apprentice with the Premiere Dance Theater Company and performed throughout the Tri-State are. In college, Laura studied with and or performed works by Dan Wagnor, Jeremy Nelson, David Dorfman and Sean Curran. She graduated from Connecticut College with a BA in Zoology and loves her job as a veterinary dental hygienist. She has worked with Strong Current Dance Company, currently dances with RAWdance, Mary Carbonara Dances and the Printz Dance Project.

ERIN HUESTIS, Dancer

A native of New York, Erin has been dancing since the age of five. From 2000-2003 she was a Fellowship student with the Ailey School where she had the opportunity to perform works by Earl Mosely, Troy Powell, Fred Benjamin, and Robert Garland, among others. Erin spent her summers training with Parsons Dance, Aspen Ballet, The Kirov Academy, Ballet Met, Joffrey, and NYSSSA. In 2007 she graduated from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. There, she performed works by Bill T. Jones, Bettijane Sills, Megan Williams, and David Parsons. Before relocating to San Francisco in late 2009, Erin was a member of Dina Denis’s New York based company Dancing Into Light.