Chris Law
Hip Hop
Chris Law has a foundation in various styles of hip hop dance through self-training and community involvement with Culture Shock D.C. & Dynamic hip hop dance team. He is a recent graduate from the University of Maryland's MFA dance program and continues to be present in the DMV community by teaching at Dance Place as well as working closely with the Dance and Theater departments at Howard Community College and Howard University in D.C. Law is co-director of Project ChArma, a collective of teaching artists who present works with the goal of inspiring change and creating space for progressive conversations. He most recently presented Full Circle: Bridging the Gap, an evening-length work at Dance Place in 2018 and was commissioned by the Kennedy Center to premier Rooted on Millennium Stage January 2019.
Ken Skrzesz
Limon Modern
Ken Skrzesz has served as the Executive Director of the Maryland State Arts Council since 2017, emphasizing procedural equity as the path toward quality arts experiences for all Maryland residents. From 2014-2017, Ken was the Coordinator of Fine Arts for the Maryland State Department of Education, where he shared his vision of creativity and collaboration as the driving forces of success for all students. Ken has designed and implemented arts education and professional development programs in numerous locations through standards development, curriculum writing, and assessment. His knowledge of all art forms, with a special emphasis of developing the creative and collaborative processes, has allowed him to build successful community partnerships, donor development campaigns, and student recruitment programs with a special emphasis on serving economically challenged and culturally underserved populations. Ken is an active master teacher of acting and dance throughout the United States. He has served as the Performing and Visual Arts Magnet Teacher Specialist for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, the Executive Director of the Clear Space Theatre Company and Kinetics Dance Theatre, and the Director of Student Life for the School of American Ballet. Long-term teaching posts include the Carver Center for Arts and Technology, Goucher College, Southwest Missouri State University, and the University of North Carolina. Ken’s former students have appeared on television (MAD MEN, SCANDAL, WILL AND GRACE), Broadway (MAMMA, MIA!, CHICAGO, THE WILD PARTY, SOUTH PACIFIC, THE LION KING, HAIRSPRAY, THE BOOK OF MORMON), and appear in numerous professional regional theatre and dance companies, movies, and national tours. Ken has danced, sung, acted, choreographed and directed both nationally and internationally. He earned his Master of Fine Arts in dance from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro where he performed with the dance, opera, and theatre departments. He is a native Baltimorean where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Towson State University. Ken’s recognitions include the Baltimore Mayor’s Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts, distinguished alumni awards from Towson State University and from the University of North Carolina, a choreography commission from the National Endowment of the Arts, and multiple choreography awards from the Maryland State Arts Council. Ken is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. In 2016, Ken received the National Dance Education Association’s Outstanding Advocate and Champion of Dance Education award and in 2017 Ken received the Performing Arts Advocate of the Year award from the Scarborough Foundation.
Bakaari Wilder
Tap
Baakari Wilder is internationally known for starring in the Broadway musical Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk. He received a Bessie Award for his performance, and later assumed the lead role for a year. He has also received the Pola Nirenska Award for achievement in dance.
Baakari's dancing has delighted audiences around the world in places such as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, France, Africa, Brazil, Germany, Japan, and Russia. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre from the University of Maryland at College Park. He shares his knowledge of tap dancing through his role as assistant artistic director of the Washington D.C. based company Capitol Tap. He is currently producing, directing, and starring in his new creation “Reform Live” at Dance Place in Washington, DC in November.
Adrienne Clancy
Improv
Adrienne Clancy has earned a reputation of working with conservatory students and dance enthusiasts alike. Prior to directing ClancyWorks Dance Company ( www.ClancyWorks.org ), Dr. Clancy
worked as a Company Member for the following dance companies: Bella Lewitzky, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Nora Reynolds-Daniel, and Bill Evans. Clancy’s work has been presented nationally
and
internationally in Australia, Colombia, England, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay and Poland.
Dr. Clancy, both an artist and a scholar, earned a PhD and a MFA in Dance from Texas Woman’s University (TWU), a MA in Dance from University of New Mexico. Dr. Clancy presented at the 2016 TEDx Midatlantic Conference on the power of arts integration. Awards for teaching include receiving the NDEO’s 2013 Outstanding Dance Educator of the Year Award and the 2017 MD Council for Dance Service to the MD Dance Community Award.
Hermione Rhones
Rhythm Tap
Hermione Rhones is a native Washingtonian with twenty-five years of experience as a teaching and performing artist. She currently teaches dance, drama, creative writing and spoken word poetry at Archbishop Carroll High School. She also currently works part-time at Dance Place, Joe’s Movement Emporium, One Common Unity, and BloomBars teaching and facilitating dance, yoga and youth empowerment classes.
Since childhood she has studied various forms of movement including: ballet, tap, various modern dance techniques, jazz, and West African dance. She has performed with Adrain Bolton, Tony
Powell Music & Movement, Images in Cultural Artistry (directed by Sherrill Berryman Johnson), Carla & Co. (Directed by Carla Perlo) and Coyaba Dance Theater (Directed by Sylvia
Soumah). Hermione’s solo works have combined her love of spoken word artistry with her passion for movement and she has enjoyed performing and/or teaching at various performance venues,
schools, community centers and churches throughout the area.
She has written a book of poetry entitled Naked, published in 2013. Hermione is also an advocate of the healing arts. She teaches yoga, meditation and water aerobics. Finally, she loves to
upcycle garments and create original crochet accessories and occasionally sells her creations under the alias Accents by H.
Hermione feels compelled to live and love artistically every day and strives to be a source that uplifts in her family, community and in the world at large.