Performers

A native of Chile who grew up in the Bay Area, Felipe received a degree in Mathematics from Cornell University in 1994. Felipe has been with the Joe Goode Performance Group since 1996.

Melecio comes from Northern California. He has enjoyed working with the Joe Goode Performance Group since 2004. Melecio also performs and teaches aerial dance with Project Bandaloop, as well as creating his own choreographic work in collaboration with Andrew Ward. Melecio believes in the power of live art to enliven and connect individuals and communities.

Damara graduated from UC Santa Cruz with degrees in anthropology, women's studies, and theater arts. After graduating Damara was honored to dance with Mel Wong. She has enjoyed working with Bay Area companies and artists such as EmSpace Dance, Jo Kreiter/FlyAway Productions, Lisa Townsend, Nancy Karp, Shift Physical Theatre and RJ Muna. She loves sharing movement with others and is especially committed to teaching dance for people with Parkinson's. She currently performs with Joe Goode Performance Group and Project Bandaloop.

Jessica received her B.F.A. in dance performance from SUNY Purchase in 1998. She has performed with Faye Driscoll and Doug Varone and Dancers in New York and Doug Elkins in Rotterdam. In the Bay Area she has worked with Capacitor, Cielo Vertical Arts, Flyaway Productions, Motion Lab and Project Bandaloop. Jessica has been a member of Joe Goode Performance Group since 2006. Ms. Swanson has taught workshops and classes throughout the Bay Area including Shawl Anderson Dance Center and UC Berkeley, and will be teaching at the new JGPG Annex in fall 2011. She currently co-directs Zooz Dance Company

Andrew has been dancing with Joe Goode Performance Group for four years. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies. In his youth, Andrew left the world of competitive gymnastics to find joy and satisfaction in the modern dance program at Berkeley High School. Along with dancing, he now teaches and choreographs in the greater Bay Area.

Patricia is an Oakland based dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She earned a B.A. in English, Dance, and Education at U.C. Berkeley and an M.A. in Education at San Jose State University. Patricia has worked and performed with Bay Area Repertory Dance, Capacitor, LevyDance, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, and Robert Moses' KIN. In addition to Joe Goode Performance Group, she currently works with Alayo Dance Company and Zaccho Dance Theater. This is Patricia's fifth year with Joe Goode Performance Group.

Alexander Zendzian started dancing while growing up in the Penobscot Valley in central Maine. Since relocating to the Bay Area he has performed with Anna Halprin, Sara Shelton Mann, Project Bandaloop, Motion Lab and Capacitor. Zendzian also plays baritone horn in the Brass Menazeri and is a partner in the Awaken Café in downtown Oakland. He received a BA in Cultural Performance Studies from The Evergreen State College in 2001.

Liz is an original member of the Joe Goode Performance Group established in 1986. She has been an instrumental collaborator in the making of over 30 original works, and has been featured in many pieces including The Ascension of Big Linda into the Skies of Montana, Disaster Series, Take Place, Maverick Strain, What the Body Knows and Folk. In 2000 she was awarded an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Individual Performance. In addition to the wonderful experience of creating and performing with the Company, Liz teaches technique, voice, partnering and performance workshops for dancers and actors around the country. She has taught in many Colleges and Universities, including University of California at Berkeley, Mills College, University of California at Davis, Howard University, University of Maryland at College Park, Northeastern University in Boston and Columbia College in Chicago. She is expanding this work to include classes for actors and theatre companies, such as Fools' Fury Theater Company and The Shotgun Players in the San Francisco Bay Area. Liz has also worked assisting Joe in developing and setting new work on other companies including Dance Alloy in Pittsburgh, PA and Zenon in Minneapolis MN. She most recently assisted in the direction of the opera Transformations (libretto by Anne Sexton and score by Conrad Susa) for the Merola Program at the San Francisco Opera. Her administrative experience includes tour coordination for the Performance Group, creating itineraries and working with Presenters to create and schedule residency activities tailored for each specific community. Liz has a growing interest in video and film and has appeared in a number of short films and one feature length film for which she earned SAG eligibility. She also maintains a massage and body work practice in San Francisco.

Marit is a California native, joined the Joe Goode Performance Group in 1990 and for the last seventeen years has performed, taught and traveled extensively worldwide. She is currently an adjunct faculty member in the dance department at UC Berkeley and has been recently nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for her role in Joe Goode's Hometown. She has also worked with Tandy Beal & Company and Kathleen Hermesdorf/motionlab and collaborated musically with composers Erik Ian Walker (I Have Never Told You), Beth Custer (In the Broken Fields Where I Lie, Maverick Strain and Other Stories), Sonny Smith (One Act Plays) and Mikel Rouse (Love At Twenty/ Songs From Grace, International Cloud Atlas - Music for Merce Cunningham Dance Company). All CD's can be found on iTunes. Look for her upcoming video collaborations with musical group Closer to Carbon and renowned dance photographer/filmmaker RJ Muna.