Groovers & Makers 2025 – Program – Rhythmically Speaking

REMINDERS:

Prior to the show, please silence your devices, and be advised that taking photos and/ or videos of the show is not permitted.
While there will be no full intermission, there will be pauses between each piece: when the house lights come up between the second and third pieces, feel free to exit the theater quick to grab a drink or use the facilities.
There’s a talk-back after the Friday night show – stick around to hear more about the work!
Use your G&M ’25 ticket to get into our jazz-inspired dance film screening FOR FREE on 8/16 @ 4pm!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

We acknowledge that our work occurs on Dakhóta Oyáte lands, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. We also acknowledge that as a company built around jazz and American social dances, forms with African diasporic roots and branches, anti-racism and intersectional justice efforts must also be central in our work. We view bettering these efforts as an ongoing journey, and welcome you to read more about this at our Anti-Racism page.

ABOUT:

Hey folks! RS Artistic and Executive Director Erinn Liebhard here. Welcome to Rhythmically Speaking presents Groovers & Makers 25’: 4 Takes on Jazz Dance, our 17th annual and newly rebranded Summer show – we’re thrilled you’re here! Though the format and name of this annual Summer production has shifted throughout the years, it has always delivered fresh, vibrant takes on staged works inspired by jazz and American social dance ideas from exciting movers and shakers in the field. The production continues our tradition of commissioning the creation of new work by local choreographers while providing opportunities for visiting artists to show their work here, deepened dancer engagement and audiences to experience more substantial works.

As an art appreciator and jazz dance nerd, I get excited about how our annual Summer programs stretch the ways we connect people to themselves, one another, music, history and the moment through ‘jazz and American social dance ideas’ while showing a breadth of what that can mean, and this show is no exception! I’m particularly stoked about this year’s inclusion of a piece based in Lindy-Hop, a style of Swing Dance and one of the first forms of jazz dancing. I have wanted to program something like this for a LONG time, but we had to find someone with serious Swing chops and the ability to curate them into a concert dance work. Bonus if that person could be a local – ie would have more time working with us to teach us the basics of the form. That person was local gem Hannah MacKenzie-Margulies, a respected dancer and teacher in the national Swing Dance circuit as well as a prolific creator of contemporary dance. It was a joy to work with her, and her new piece All Skate certainly adds wonderful breadth to this program, and additional depth to the catalogue of ‘jazz and American social dance-inspired’ works we’ve commissioned and curated over the years.

I’m also thrilled to welcome back Brandi Coleman and Cynthia Gutierrez, both of whose works have been seen on previous RS shows – Brandi’s in 2018, and Cynthia’s in 2008 (our VERY FIRST show!), 2009, 2012 and 2016! They’re both what I call “the real jazz deal” – creator-educator-scholars who are deeply steeped in the roots of jazz while branching those understandings into their own impactful concert dance approaches. I’m also thrilled to once again be partnering with Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema (Boulder, CO) to bring you a slate of jazz dance films, running Saturday (8/16) at 4pm and virtually until August 24th (ticket holders for this show get access to this for free, so don’t miss it)! These artists, and all whom are involved with RS, are invested in jazz and American social dance ideas because they prioritize experiencing embodied rhythm together. We are all capable (and deserving) of feeling a beat together, becoming whole-heartedly connected in all our vibrancy, complexity and joy. Hardly superfluous, being in rhythm together is an essential expression of appreciating and celebrating our shared humanity – so we also thank YOU for being here, to experience JOY through jazz, TOGETHER!

I hope the works you experience speak to you, rhythmically 🙂 – Erinn

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SPECIAL THANKS:

To the Southern Theater, the RS Advisory Board for their enthusiastic and ongoing support, and to the artists on this show – without your dedication to this work, it wouldn’t exist!

PROGRAM:

Confronting Consonance (2024)

Choreographer: Erinn Liebhard (RS Artistic and Executive Director), with improvised and choreographed contributions from the dancers
Dancers: The Full Company (understudy: Jayde Grass)
Music: “Tension” by Mulatu Asatatke & the Hoodna Orchestra, “Rehearsal 24” by The Heliocentrics and “Sports” by Aaron Parks
Artist Note: Confronting Consonance explores how humans can get in our own way when it comes to relating to one another. Moving from tension into listening into mutual support, the piece enlivens the concept that we are often more alike than not, even when that can be hard to see, and that we owe it to one another to remember that. Keep your eye out: there are several improvised moments, so as to capture an in-the-momentness that jazz really asks for, and most of the duet moments have been choreographed by the dancers.
Special Thanks: Big thanks to the dancers for bringing our first full-company piece to life, my kiddos’ grandparents for the childcare early into the youngest’s life that allowed me back into the studio, and my dude for the artistic support and heavy-lifting on kiddo care during rehearsal and production weeks! I’d also like to thank Matthew Wagner and Rebecca Katz-Harwood at the University of Minnesota – Duluth for the opportunity to create this piece last Fall, and the original cast of dancers who brought it to life 🙂

All Skate (premiere)

Choreographer: Hannah MacKenzie-Margulies in collaboration with the cast
Dancers: Doug Hooker, Amy Jones, Sara Karimi, Jake Nehrbass, Kathleen Pender and Betsy Schaefer Roob
Music: “Irrational Blues” by Nirav Sanghani and the Pacific Six, “Explaining Places” by the Russell Welch Hot Quartet, “Someone to Watch Over Me” by Sean Krazit’s Juniper Jazz Band and “Gone So Long” by Naomi & Her Handsome Devils
Artist Note: In Lindy Hop – as in rollerskating and skateboarding – “all skate” means, more or less, everybody get out there. Similarly, All Skate is a meeting place: of forms and approaches, lineages and memories, tradition and experimentation. It’s an homage to my fifteen-plus years in the contemporary Lindy Hop community, and an exploration of how we all move with and around one another – through joy, loss, rupture, and return. All Skate is also a sonic homage: all of the music used in the piece was recorded (and in some cases written) by artists I know personally – friends, teachers, competition partners, confidantes. As a whole, All Skate asks what it means to keep moving together, even as the ground continuously shifts beneath us.
Special Thanks: To Nirav Sanghani, Russell Welch, Sean Krazit, and Naomi Uyama for generously granting me permission to use their work, to Erinn Liebhard for entrusting me with this project, and to the entire cast for their creativity, patience, and openness. Thanks also to Bryce Peterson, Ashley Wessel, Bryan Soto, Val Kochubei, and Maddie Rhode for their help with brainstorming, coaching, and moral support, and to the PACS students who gave me the opportunity to try out some of these ideas when they were still nascent. Finally, I’d like to acknowledge Rob Reich z”l, an unparalleled musical force in the Bay Area Lindy Hop scene and far beyond. You helped so many of us find our creative voices and accept our inner weirdos. Thank you.

ICE age (premiere)

Choreographer: Cynthia Gutierrez
Dancers: Nieya Amezquita, Malia Craft, Doug Hooker, Amy Jones, Sara Karimi and Kelli Miles
Audio: “Mictlán” (excerpt) by Timoneki, “Ay Mamá” by Timoneki, Interview Excerpt Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “NUEVAYoL” by Bad Bunny
Artist Note: ICE age is inspired by and dedicated to the marginalized Latinx communities that have been targeted and fractured during this moment of massive immigration raids. This piece explores cultural identity, resilience and empowerment through the lens of Latin Jazz dance, and hopes to serve as a reminder of the human vulnerability at the core of this divisive issue. While the individual performers may not identify as Latinx, this process has allowed us to center our hearts and minds around the need for care and protection of many endangered communities across the U.S. at this volatile time.
Special Thanks: To the artists of Rhythmically Speaking whose trust, dedication, and generosity helped bring this creative research to life. Thank you to Erinn Liebhard for this opportunity and for your great stewardship and support of rhythm driven dance forms in the Twin Cities and beyond.

Shakedown (2023)

Choreographer: Brandi Coleman
Dancers: Malia Craft, Jayde Grass, Doug Hooker, Sara Karimi, Erinn Liebhard, Kelli Miles, Kathleen Pender and Betsy Schaefer Roob
Music: “The Shakedown” by Tenderlonius and The 22archestra and “Feel Good” by Endea Owens
Artist Note: Shakedown uses jackets as a metaphor for imposed systems that feel constricting or force conformity. This, in contrast with how we feel and how we relate to others when we are most able to be our authentic selves, living freely and truly in our identities. The movement is rhythm-driven, prioritizing energy over shape, and centers the dancers in motion as percussive and musical instruments.
Special Thanks: To Erinn Liebhard for the opportunity to revisit and present this work on the program. And a big and boisterous huzzah to the cast for their unwavering dedication, curiosity, humor, and generous energy during the process!

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::Help us better our efforts by filling out this SHORT SURVEY!::

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PEOPLE:

Advisory Board: Tameka Davidson, Brian J. Evans, Rae Fox-Charles, Doug Hooker, Erinn Liebhard, Kristoffer Olson and Shannon Nemer (and Advisory Member Zoe Sealy, with Legal Advisor Reilly Liebhard)

Costumes: Choreographers, Erinn Liebhard, Joy Liebhard and Dancers

Nieya Amezquita (Dancer)

Nieya

Nieya Amezquita is a Minnesota-based artist currently working with Rhythmically Speaking, Arena Dances, eMartin Dance and Corpus Dance Works. She has also performed with Threads Dance Project, Elayna Waxse Movement Projects, Concerto Dance, Off-Leash Area, and Doma Dance Theater. In 2019, Nieya earned a Bachelors in Dance and Psychology from the University of Georgia, during which she performed nationally and internationally with CADE:NCE before studying in Portugal with the Addo Platform, where her passion for choreography was ignited. Now Nieya’s work has been presented in the Blackness Is Arts festival produced by the Guthrie Theater, the CandyBox festival produced by Arena Dances, commissioned by Threads Dance Project, Alternative Motion Project and Ballet Co’Laboratory. In 2023, Nieya furthered her professional development by founding and leading Amez Dance, a project-based dance company created to push the boundaries of art and how it can develop our community. She has been a Rhythmically Speaking company member since 2020. Website | @Ni_Amez

Brandi Coleman (Visiting Artist – Dallas TX)

Brandi Coleman is an assistant professor in the Division of Dance at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where she teaches Jump Rhythm® Technique – a jazz-rhythm-based movement approach that transforms the moving body into a rhythm-driven percussion instrument. Her choreography has been presented nationally and internationally, including a 2022 commission for Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and in 2024, a showing of her work at the historic Newport Jazz Festival. She was a performing member, rehearsal director, associate artistic director and Emmy Award winner with Jump Rhythm Jazz Project (JRJP), a Chicago-based dance company founded by Billy Siegenfeld. Her writing, “Performing Gender: Disrupting Performance Norms for Women in Jazz Dance Through Gender-Inclusive, Human Centric Choreography” is included in the book Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century (University Press of Florida, 2022). Photo by Kim Leeson. Website | @CaptainJazzHands

Malia Craft (Dancer)

Malia Craft is from Hartwell, Georgia and began her training at Hot Shots Dance Company, where she trained in ballet, modern, contemporary, hip hop, and jazz and found her love for performing, as well as teaching. Malia attended the University of Georgia, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Dance, with a minor in exercise and sports science, and a certificate in K-12 dance education. Malia was also a part of the Georgette’s Dance Team for three years. She is currently an artist with Threads Dance Project and Concerto Dance. Aside from training and performing, Malia has a love of working with dancers and has taught, as well as choreographed, for several studios and dance teams throughout Georgia and Minnesota. She has been a Rhythmically Speaking company member since 2025. | @MaliaDances_

Bill Cameron (Photographer)

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Bill Cameron is a Minneapolis photographer who loves photographing people. He specializes in working with local dance companies and their wonderful dancers. | @Bill.Cameron

Doug Hooker (Administrative & Artistic Associate | Dancer)

Doug graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Dance. He has had a variety of professional performing opportunities, including with the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum & Bugle Corps, the Broadway show Blast! and the Dancing People Company, and locally with ARENA DANCES, Collide Theatrical Dance Company, Concerto Dance, Shapiro and Smith Dance and Threads Dance Project. He has been in Rhythmically Speaking productions since 2017, and has been a company member since 2019. Website | @MisterHookerSir

Jayde Grass (Dancer)

Jayde Grass is a Minnesota-based multidisciplinary dance artist. She attended Winona State University where she first danced with RS AED Erinn. She graduated with a BS in Elementary Education and a Dance Minor, and has been training and performing ever since. Most recently, she danced in the Amez Dance, Analog Dance Works, and Ruby Josephine Dance Theatre collaboration show Converge. This is Jayde’s first show with Rhythmically Speaking. | @Jayde_Grass

Mike Grogan (Lighting Designer | Technical Director)

Mike has been designing lighting for dance, theater and music for more than twenty years. He started working on the technical side of theater while studying acting in the early 1990’s, and when he began designing lighting for dance productions, he realized he had found his career. In the years since he has had the privilege of designing for numerous groups spanning the disciplines of dance, theater and music. He has been privileged to work with many great artists during the course of his career, and notes “if my work looks good it is only because their work is good.” We’re lucky to have him on board again!

Cynthia Gutierrez (Visiting Artist – Spokane, WA)

Cynthia Gutierrez is a choreographer and dance educator invested in the legacies of rooted jazz dance and post-modern dance, who is committed to inclusion, representation and social consciousness in both pedagogy and creative practice. She has received guest artist residencies at numerous universities and professional companies across the country and has seen support from organizations such as the Jerome Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Walker Art Center, the Arizona Commission on the Arts and the Lane Arts Council. She is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Gonzaga University and the Artistic Director of Company Movimiento. | _CynthiaGutierrez

Amy Jones (Dancer)

Amy performs, teaches and generates concert, commercial, interdisciplinary and experimental work. She graduated from Luther College with a double-major in Theatre/Dance and Management and studied on scholarship with Jennifer Muller/The Works, Susan Marshall & Company, Eva Dean Dance and Broadway Dance Center. In NYC, she performed for Noemie LaFrance; a mindfulness, arts and activism group; and freelance. Locally, she has worked for The Mystic Dancers, Emily Johnson, St. Paul City Ballet, Stuart Pimsler, Morgan Thorsen, Alternative Motion Project, Laurie Van Wieren, Zhauna Franks and Enticing Entertainment. She loves sharing her joy of movement and community as a pilates instructor and bungee dance and Cirque-It Fitness teacher-trainer. She has been in Rhythmically Speaking productions since 2016, and has been a company member since 2020. | @dancerunspirit

Sara Karimi (Dancer)

Sara is a native of Wisconsin and a graduate of University of Iowa (BFA in Dance Performance, BA in English). She performed and toured with 10,000 Feet Dance Company, The Architects and Kayle + Co. before relocating to Minneapolis. She is a company member with Rhythmically Speaking, Threads Dance Project, Ruby Josephine Dance Theater (RJDT) and 43X94 Movement Research. Additional performance credits include Concerto Dance, Borealis Dance Theatre, Dance & Other Behaviors, Rogue & Rabble Dance, and MN Opera. Sara is a Mat Pilates instructor and a 500 E-RYT Yoga Instructor, leading classes and workshops locally and nationally. She has been in Rhythmically Speaking productions since 2016, and has been a company member since 2019. | @Karimi__Sara__

Erinn Liebhard (Artistic and Executive Director | Producer | Choreographer | Dancer)

Erinn is a dance artist (MFA University of Colorado Boulder, BFA University of Minnesota) making opportunities for people to experience the reflective and connective power of groove through performance and education. In performance (besides RS!), she freelances and performs as self-created character entertainer “Nerdette” for Saint Paul Saints Baseball. In education, she is an active residency artist, is on faculty at Carleton College, St. Olaf College and Winona State University, conducts educational outreach through RS and is an active writer and conference presenter. Photo by Galen Higgins. Website | @ErinnLiebhard.DanceArtist

Hannah MacKenzie-Margulies (2025 Local Artist)

Hannah MacKenzie-Margulies (she/her) is an accomplished multi-disciplinary dancer, choreographer, and movement educator based in the Twin Cities. She is the co-champion of the infamous 2013 Lindy Focus Al and Leon Partnered Solo Jazz contest and previously served as the education coordinator for the 9:20 Special, San Francisco’s longest running weekly lindy hop dance. Her work has been presented at the Walker Art Center, Manhattan Movement Arts, Park Square Theater, Ten Tiny Dances, Barnstorm Dance Fest, Studio Azul, and ODC’s Studio B. Website | @HannahTheZ

Ben McGinley (Videographer)

Kelli Miles (Dancer)

A Midwest native, Kelli is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Leadership. Kelli has trained and danced across the globe, from New York City and San Francisco to Barcelona and Israel. Locally, she has had the pleasure of dancing with several companies in addition to Rhythmically Speaking, including HoneyWorks, Hatch Dance, ARENA DANCES, Black Label Movement, and Threads Dance Project. She has held teaching positions at Zenon Dance School and Westmet Classical Training, further fueling her passion for this art form and love of connecting with people through movement. Beyond the studio, Kelli is a part of the Consulting team at Artspace – a national organization creating, fostering, and preserving affordable and sustainable space for artists and cultural organizations. She has been a Rhythmically Speaking company member since 2019. Website | @KelliBelliii

Julie Marie Muskat (Stage Manager)

Julie Marie Muskat is a freelance dancer, choreographer, teacher, and stage manager currently based in the Twin Cities and originally from Texas. She has worked across the US, Israel, and Italy, dancing with companies such as Threads Dance Project, Vox Medusa, Revolution Dance Theatre, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and Compagnia AiEP. She is the founder of Deeper Water Arts & Mind/Body Center, which provides dance, cross training, and health and wellness opportunities for young people and adults. She is honored to work with Rhythmically Speaking and help bring the show to life from behind the scenes!

Jake Nehrbass (Dancer)

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Jake has been studying and performing dance since the age of three and teaching since age 12. He received his BFA in Dance and Kinesiology from St. Olaf College, has an interest in physical therapy and yoga, and works as a performing artist, choreographer, and dance teacher (Prairie School of Dance and Ballare Teatro) in the Twin Cities area. Currently, Jake is a company member of ARENA Dances, Black Label Movement, RDJT and Rhythmically Speaking, and has guested with Contempo Physical Dance, Concerto Dance, Arena Dances, Mixtape, Threads Dance Project, Flying Foot Forum, Katha Dance Theatre, Eau Claire Dance, STRONGmovement and Hatch Dance/ Honey Works, and performed in Stephan Koplowitz’s Northfield Experience. He has been a Rhythmically Speaking company member since 2022. Website | @Jake_Nehrbass

Kathleen Pender (Dancer)

Kathleen Pender is a performer, dance educator, arts administrator, and massage therapist with a B.A. in Dance from St. Olaf College and an A.A.S. in Therapeutic Massage from Northwestern Health Sciences University. She has performed in works by choreographers Erinn Liebhard, Suzanne Costello, Gretchen Pick, Julie Warder, Taja Will, Kathleen Doherty, Laura Ann Smyth, and Pat Taylor/JazzAntiqua, among others. She teaches with Young Dance, where she also works as Program Manager, and practices massage with TC Fit at Motion St. Paul, a physical therapy clinic. Kathleen is passionate about community and relationships cultivated through movement exploration, education, and performance. She has performed in Rhythmically Speaking productions since 2013, and has been a company member since 2019. Photo by Bill Cameron. | @KatDewPen

Betsy Schaefer Roob (Dancer)

Betsy (she/they) was born and raised in Elm Grove, WI. Based in Minneapolis for fifteen years, she has worked with ARENA DANCES, Threads Dance Project, Dance & Other Behaviors, 43X94 Movement Research, and has performed works by over 25 choreographers (Sasha Kleinplatz- Montreal, Salia Sanou- Burkina Faso, Pat Taylor- LA among others). Betsy has been grooving with Rhythmically Speaking since 2019. Their own work with faux pas, a duo with Julie Marie Muskat, has been presented as part of CANDY BOX Dance Festival at the Southern Theater. Betsy holds a self-designed Bachelor of Individualized Studies in English, Dance, and Sustainability Studies from the University of Minnesota. Her career path has encompassed the arts, education, and healthcare, and she’s mama to one. She has been a Rhythmically Speaking company member since 2019. | @betsy_kae