Jennifer Archibald
Jennifer Archibald is the founder and Artistic Director of the Arch Dance Company and Program Director of ArchCore40 Dance Intensives. Archibald has choreographed for the Atlanta Ballet, Ailey II, Ballet Memphis, Kansas City Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, and worked commercially for Tommy Hilfiger, NIKE and MAC Cosmetics as well as chart-listed singers and actors. She was appointed as the first female Resident Choreographer in Cincinnati Ballet’s 40-year history. This season she has created works for Cincinnati Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Amy Seiwert's Imagery, Ballet West, Sacramento Ballet and Stockholm's Balletakademien and will create new works for Oregon Ballet Theatre, Richmond Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, BalletX and National Ballet of Canada in 2021. She was the acting Movement Director for Michael Kahn's The Oresteia at the Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Archibald’s works have been performed at venues including New York's City Center, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Aaron Davis Hall, Jacob's Pillow Inside|Out Stage and Central Park's Summerstage Mainstage. Jennifer was awarded a Choreographic Fellow for Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab under the direction of Robert Battle. She is a Choreographic Winnings recipient by the Joffrey Ballet. Jennifer choreographed “Seven”, a biographical work about Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee, which was commissioned by St. Louis based MADCO Dance Company. Arch Dance Company's "Chasing Shadows" was remounted for Dallas Black Dance Theater for their 2018/19 season. She was also the 2018-19 recipient's for the CUNY Dance Initiative Residency.
Jennifer is currently an Acting Lecturer at the Yale School of Drama and was appointed as Guest Faculty Lecturer to develop the Hip Hop dance curriculum at Columbia/Barnard College. Jennifer is also a guest artist at several universities including Fordham/Ailey, Purchase College, Princeton, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of South Florida, Goucher College, Columbia College Chicago, Miami New World School of the Arts, South Carolina's Governor's School of the Arts, Ailey Fordham, Boston Conservatory, and Point Park.
Lucas Crandall
Lucas Crandall joined the Milwaukee Ballet in 1979 and the Ballet du Grand-Theatre de Geneve in 1980. From 1985-1987, Crandall danced with Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). He has performed in works by Oscar Araiz, Christopher Bruce, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Rui Horta, Kylián, Amanda Miller, and Ohad Naharin. In 2000, Crandall joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as Associate Artistic Director and taught at the Lou Conte Dance Studio. He has also worked as a guest teacher for Ballet du Grand-Theatre de Geneve, guest Ballet Master for Ballet Jazz de Montréal, Rehearsal Director for NW Dance Project, and Ballet Master for Hubbard Street. Crandall currently serves as the Coordinator and Repetitor for NDT. Crandall has choreographed for Hubbard Street, NW Dance Project, Thodos Dance Chicago, Ballet Junior de Geneve, and for various universities in the United States. He has led masterclasses and repertory workshops internationally.
Stephanie Martinez
Over eleven years of award-winning works, Chicago-based choreographer Stephanie Martinez moves her audiences along a journey guided by the physicality of her movement and honest storytelling. With original creations for Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Charlotte Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Eugene Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Kansas City Ballet, and National Choreographers Initiative among others, Martinez’s versatility expands the boundaries of contemporary ballet movement through her passion for marrying dance and theater as a means to construct intricate visual experiences. Martinez has created over 60 ballets on companies and collegiate programs across the country. In 2010, Martinez assisted Broadway legend Ann Reinking in setting the Fosse Trilogy, and in 2015 was awarded Joffrey Ballet’s “Winning Works: Choreographers of Color” commission and the Chicago 3Arts Award in recognition for her work as a female artist of color. More recently, Martinez was awarded an NEA grant for her premiere Bliss! at Joffrey Ballet. Designated “a chameleon” of choreography by the Chicago Tribune, Martinez’s psychologically revelatory works challenge the viewer’s notion of what’s possible.
