Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble

Ensemble

Ellyzabeth Adler received most of her dance training at William Reilly Academy of Ballet and at the School of Milwaukee Ballet, where she studied extensively ballet, pointe, character, and jazz with Van Collins until leaving for an internship with the Springfield Ballet Company. From 1994-1997 she attend Roosevelt University where she earned a BFA in Performing Arts studying theatre. In 1997, she continued her academic education at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she became interested in movement-based theatre and began studying such artists and groups as Pina Bausch, Anne Bogart, Martha Clarke, The Wooster Group, and Goat Island. After finishing academic classes at UIC, she moved to San Diego California where she performed in workshop with Isaacs/McCaleb & Dancers. While in San Diego, Adler ran the Children’s Performing Arts Camp for the Lawrence Family JCC in La Jolla, choreographing and directing Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland. In 2000 she graduated with a Masters of Arts in Directing and Movement from UIC. For three years she choreographed for Motivity: A Choreographer’s Festival, including When Raindrops Fall (1998) An Elegy for Ophelia (1999), and Waves Against the Sand (2000). In addition to choreographing original work, she also directed Memory of Summer by William Inge, for Equity Library Theatre (2000). In 2001, she founded Project Danztheatre Company and work-shopped the company's first full length work, T.S Eliot’s The Wasteland. That same year Adler was accepting into Moving Arts, (Koln, Germany) summer intensive workshop studying with Guy Dartnell. In addition to her work with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, Adler has worked with The Chicago International Children’s Film Festival for two years as Film Registrar and currently as a Media Educator. Adler has worked with Eclipse Theatre creating movement for Woman and Water, Rhymers of Eldridge and Woman without a Name.

While completing her master’s degree in Directing and Movement at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Ellyzabeth Adler became fascinated with dance theater artists Pina Bausch and Martha Clarke and physical theatre directors such as Anne Bogart and Robert La Page, and began seeking opportunities to collaborate with artists and performers whose work defied traditional artistic boundaries. Unable to find a company in Chicago that equally incorporated dance and theater, Adler founded her own company in 2001 as Project Danztheatre Company, creating a resource for dancers and actors whose interests extend beyond their primary artistic discipline. Danztheatre comes from the German Expressionist movement, tanztheater founded byRudolf von Laban, who "through dance hoped to unite all art media and achieve an all-embracing, radical change in humankind." Adler hoped to foster a sense of true artistic collaboration within Project Danztheatre Company, drawing on the many artistic media to create multi-sensory dance/theatre performances.

Morgan Christiansen Coming from Columbus, Ohio Morgan came to Chicago to study acting at Columbia College Chicago. During her second year there she auditioned for Adler Danztheatre Project and developed a relationship which grew into Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble. Now the managing director of the company Morgan has the opportunity to help create powerful pieces through directing and performing. Morgan has performed in The Yellow Wallpaper as Jeannie, Chicago Stories as the Trolley Guide, This is Not a Pipe, Unraveling Bill and the companies Full Circle Festivals and Voices Projects. It truly has been an experience that has pushed her out of the box challenging her mentally and physically. After graduating from Columbia in December of 2006 with a BFA in acting Morgan continued to develop relationships with other theater companies. She has performed with the Easy Street Players as Donna in Debbie Does Dallas The Musical, as Helen in SIN, and as La Condessa in Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. Other works include Lost Girl in The Skriker with The Gray Zelda Theater Company and Kitten in Gladiators Live with the Bailiwick Theater.

Beth Czechanski grew up dancing. She graduated from Northwestern University with her BS in Dance and English. Upon graduation, she worked with Reading in Motion, teaching reading through the arts in the Chicago Public Schools, creating arts/literacy programming, and training teachers in integrated arts curricula. In 2002, Beth moved to Los Angeles and focused primarily on the study of Yoga. Beth returned home to Chicago in 2004. She works with 2nd-6th grade students at Fulton School in Englewood with the Discovery Program through Chicago Cares. She's been performing with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble since 2006 and currently serves as a core ensemble member and the Communications Director.

Joe Griffin's involvement with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble goes back to 2003’s The Yellow Wallpaper and Ever Your Own, Edgar. He also provided sound design and music for 2006’s This is Not a Pipe. Other recent sound design credits include Steep Theatre Company’s Coronado, House Theatre’s Ellen Under Glass, Speaking Ring Theatre’s The Diviners and The Past’s Present, and Buried Child and The Comedy of Errors with Moraine Valley Community College. Joe released his full-length CD, "Rough Cut Love” in 2006 and is currently working on a new CD with experimental music duo Donny Who Loved Bowling.

Denise Parkhurst is thrilled to be a new member of Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble. She has been acting in Chicago for the past five years and some of her favorite performances have been in Boat at Sea, part of Collaboraction’s Sketchbook festival, Bush’s Letters by M.S. Garvey, directed by Michael Pieper at Second City and Subtle Twist of the Dog a n.u.f.a.n. production. Denise has also worked with Traci Weathers, Inc. in Invisible Danger and F.A.I.T.H. Productions in Abused Authority. Denise thanks her family for their love and support.

Kate McIlvain graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2007 with a BFA in Dance and a minor in English. In addition to performing with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, since her graduation, Kate has also performed with Chicago based companies, Matter of Reaction Movement Project and LIVE ANIMALS performance collective. Kate also recently premiered three men in two parts, a dance for the camera created in collaboration with Chicago musician Dan Smart.