Lover’s Graveyard
Choreographer: Maraya Fisher
Visual Artist: Paul Noot
About the Collaborators
Maraya Fisher
Maraya Fisher began her dance training at a young age in upstate New York where she performed in multiple dance productions and plays while participating in competitive dance. Shortly after high school, she continued her training at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NY and Los Angeles in the dance theatre program. Upon graduation, Maraya joined IMAAbreathe Contemporary Company and Geometry Dance Company. While in LA she was part of several music videos, productions, and concerts. Two years in a row, Maraya represented her dance company in the World Congress of Dance in Greece and Italy. Maraya has choreographed for countless dance productions, musicals, and competition pieces. Outside of the dance industry she has been a part of the creative team of IAMFORCE as was as run social media for numerous companies and brands.
Paul Noot
Paul Noot received his BFA from UND and his MFA from Brooklyn College in New York. Paul has worked with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, and North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks and is currently the head of the Visual Arts department at Bismarck High School. He also has taught classes for Sleepy Hollow Summer Arts, International Music Camp, Theo Art School, Bismarck Downtown Artist Cooperative and Continuing Education courses for UND. Noot is a founding member of Bismarck Downtown Artist Cooperative where you can find his art and at Gallery 4 in Fargo. In 2002 he was awarded the Citation Award from Bismarck Art & Galleries Association, in 2004 the KXMB Spirit Award, 2005-06 the Golden Apple Award, and in 2009 the BAGA Volunteer Award. Recently he was awarded the 2017 ND Governor’s Award for the Arts in Art Education. His work is currently in a touring exhibit with his son, who is an artist in the Los Angeles area. This past summer Noot completed two interactive murals near downtown Bismarck.
Oneiro
Choreographer: David Ingram
Visual Artist: Kim Konikow
About the Collaborators
David Ingram
David Ingram began his training in Kingsport, Tennessee under Karen Gibbons- Brown. After graduating with honors from Butler University, Mr. Ingram performed with Louisville Ballet under Bruce Simpson and North Carolina Dance Theatre under Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. He has performed the works of such choreographers as George Balanchine, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Val Caniparoli, Sean Curran, Nacho Duato, Nicolo Fonte, William Forsythe, Adam Hougland, Alonzo King, Domy Reiter-Sofer, Dwight Rhoden, Uri Sands, Ben Stevenson, and Twyla Tharp. David’s choreography has been performed at Charlotte Ballet, Fort Wayne Ballet, Chautauqua Institute, and Louisville Ballet. Mr. Ingram also holds an MFA in dance from Hollins University. He is currently an Assistant Professor with Butler University.
Kim Konikow
As Executive Director of the North Dakota Council on the Arts, Kim Konikow brings to the Agency her unique skills and abilities as a passionate facilitator of opportunity. In this position for the last four years, Konikow works to promote creative growth and strengthen communities across ND through the arts. She dabbles in photos, and likes to make pretty things.
Where Light Gets In
Choreographer: Katherine Hardy
Visual Artist: Alicia Leingang
About the Collaborators
Katherine Hardy
Katherine Hardy began her dance training under the direction of former Radio City Ballet performer, Beverly Mozzetti. She attended the University of Wyoming where she received her BFA in Dance Performance with a Minor in Business. During college, she performed in numerous pieces including D-Man in the Waters set by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Ride the Culture Loop and The Nutcracker. Ms. Hardy is in her 9th year at Northern Plains Dance where she has developed a teaching artist residency program and lead several adaptive classes for the Bismarck-Mandan community. Recently, Ms. Hardy participated in the Kennedy Center Arts Integration conference in Washington, DC, and received a 200-hour yoga certification through Yoga Center in Minneapolis, MN.
Alicia Leingang
Alicia Leingang was born and raised in central North Dakota, where she spent the first half of her life before moving to Bismarck. She has worked many jobs from restaurant service, to surgical tech, to daycare provider before she took on her recent adventure as co owner of Carden Custom Framing. It’s there, through working with other local artists that she found her passion for the arts. Her preferred medium is watercolor and she loves exploring the ways colors dance and move on the paper. She also loves spending time with her family, gardening, camping, fishing and almost anything outdoors.
Lessons
Choreographer: Nadine DeLoughy
Visual Artist: Mary Kay Reitmeyer
About the Collaborators
Nadine DeLoughy
Nadine DeLoughy has trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern, hip hop, acrobatics, pointe and musical theater dance. After high school, Nadine continued her dance education with Pushing Progress, a contemporary dance company based in New York City under the direction of Calen J. Kurka and Chris Hale. After her training and performing with the company, Nadine attended Southern Connecticut State University and graduated with a BS in Athletic Training and is a licensed practitioner in Connecticut. Nadine teaches and choreographs multiple genres of dance. Her choreography has won numerous awards, placed in the top 12 at YAGP Regionals, and was invited to compete at the Dance Prix de New York. Nadine continues her education through training programs such as ABT’s National Training Curriculum and Acrobatic Arts. She has recently started adjudicating competitions in her region. Nadine takes an anatomical approach to teaching by educating dancers on how to move their bodies safely and biomechanically while instilling their love of dance and movement.
Mary Kay Reitmeyer
Mary Kay Reitmeyer graduated with a BFA in oil painting from UW Stevens Point in 2014 where she was introduced to oils and fell in love. Timid at first and unfamiliar with the medium her professors had to constantly remind her to “just paint.” Her work is abstract and impressionist in style. Taking the opportunity to join the art community in Minot led to a show at the Taube Museum and Art Gallery in 2018. In 2019 she won the Regional Mayor’s Choice Art Award in Grand Forks which gave her a chance to showcase my work in the halls and lobby of his office. She now resides in her hometown of Manitowoc, WI where she cares for my father and paints.
Quantum
Choreographer: Noëlle Davé
Visual Artist: Medora Frei
About the Collaborators
Noëlle Davé
Noëlle Davé, a South Carolina native, graduated from East Carolina University with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. She is a freelance movement artist, choreographer, and educator currently based in New York City. During her time at ECU, she had the opportunity to perform in the repertory piece, Standing in Tears, staged by Koresh Dance company members, as well as pieces by David Ingram, Danielle Sheather, Michel Kouakou, John Dixon, Tommi Galaska, Teal Darkenwald, Micah Geyer, and Joe Cotler. Upon graduation, she was a featured soloist in BalaSole Dance Company’s 2018 NYC season where she performed her work, Time, at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre in New York. She then joined gloATL at the end of 2018 in Atlanta, GA as a moving artist under Lauri Stallings. She was a part of Stallings’ work, Supple Means of Connection, in a six-week residency at the High Museum of Art as well as the Florence Biennale in Florence, Italy. She has also done local activations with glo throughout Atlanta. Noëlle is currently a dancer with Britt Fishel & Artists through which she got to perform REDACT at the Florence Biennale for a round two. She was also featured in film, allowed|aloud, that was part of MashUp Contemporary Dance Company’s IWD Festival. Noëlle has also had the opportunity to complete a residency under David Ingram with Fort Wayne Ballet where she performed in Fort Wayne Ballet, Too! She has been able to travel across the US teaching and setting choreography. Noëlle loves to take on innovative learning opportunities to grow in her artistry and explore new ways of thinking and moving.
Medora Frei
Medora Frei is a contemporary abstract artist and sporadic illustrator based in the midwest. Art has always been her way of composting pain so that something new can thrive from it. Experiences, in all their diversity of intensity and meaning, are what she most portrays with paint. She started creating abstract work in 2018 after a traumatic event. Her passion is to help others heal using art. Medora’s work consists mostly of acrylics, often combined with water, allowing each piece to take shape in a natural and free-spirited way— including the occasional use of pastels and pencils. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN in 2017.
Crosswalk
Choreographer: Hollis Mackintosh Heid
Visual Artist: Aaron Anderson
About the Collaborators
Hollis Mackintosh Heid
Hollis Mackintosh Heid began her training with Delia Foley, A.R.A.D. at Ballet Arts in Clarks Mills, NY. She attended Butler University, graduating in 2002 with a BFA in Dance Performance and Arts Administration. She danced professionally with The Chamber Dance Project, Louisville Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Augusta Ballet and Northern Plains Ballet, dancing roles in works by Fredrick Franklin, Lars Lubovitch, Peter Powlus, Merce Cunningham, Andre Prokovsky, Val Caniparoli, Ron Cunningham, and George Balanchine. As Director of Northern Plains Dance, she has choreographed 8 original pieces for Choreographers’ Showcase and Dance+, restaged Act II of Paquita, Swan Lake, and Giselle, and directed 13 performances of The Nutcracker and 11 original full-length fairy tale productions. Her focus as Director has been expanding the organization’s reach into the community through the development of various outreach programs, partnering with local arts and service organizations, and through her artistic contributions, bringing NPD to the forefront of the state for innovative arts programming.
Aaron Anderson
Aaron Anderson hails from Hebron. He is self taught and specializes in exploratory mixed media pieces, using a variety of materials, including hand cut stencils and spray paint. Aaron’s creative philosophy is simple: Do not exert too much control over the creative process, rather let it unfold naturally. Instead of waiting for inspiration, simply create. Many of Aaron’s pieces are created with the intention that the viewer play an active role rather than a passive one. Through movement, touch, 3D glasses, black-lights, etc. the viewer can unlock more of the painting than what initially meets the eye. As a fan of artistic collaboration, Aaron is excited and honored to have a share with Northern Plains Dance in the production of Dance+ this year.
