ARTISTS
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Annie Arnoult (Executive Artistic Director) is the founding artistic director of Open Dance Project where she directs the company’s professional performance season and oversees the company’s extensive dance education work. Arnoult returned to her native Houston from Chicago where she was the artistic director of Chicago’s Striding Lion Performance Group, garnering acclaim for the company as a “new center of gravity for indie dance in Chicago.” Arnoult was named one of “25 to Watch 2018” by Dance Magazine and was a 2017 recipient of Houston Arts Alliance Individual Artist Grant for the development of the critically acclaimed ‘Bout a Stranger, deemed one of the “most fully realized pieces to come out of Houston in decades,” by Nancy Wozny in Dance Magazine.
Arnoult’s creative work is deeply informed and influenced by her 25 years as an artist teacher and integrated arts education advocate in Chicago Public Schools, HISD, and surrounding districts. Arnoult is the director of Hunter Dance Center in the Heights and has been a guest artist/teacher at universities, festivals, conferences, and institutes throughout the U.S. Arnoult is a Certified Cecchetti Ballet teacher and a member of the National Dance Education Organization. Her research and choreography has been presented regionally and internationally. She has served on the dance faculty of Northwestern University and The School of Theatre and Dance at University of Houston.
In addition to performing in her own work, Arnoult is a member of Houston’s Transitory Sound and Movement Collective, under the direction of Lynn Lane, and has danced for Meghan Durham, Ashley Thorndike-Youssef, XSIGHT! Performance Group, Lucky Plush Productions, Peter Carpenter, Asimina Chremos, and Billy Siegenfeld’s Jump Rhythm Jazz Project.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Joshua de Alba has been dancing and choreographing in Houston, Texas for nearly 7 years. Originally a native of Central Florida, Joshua received his Bachelor of Science in Theatre from Northwestern State University in 2016. While his training focused largely on classical modern, ballet, and jazz. Joshua has also worked as a choreographer, actor, singer, musician, aerialist, stage combatant, and even as an event coordinator. Joshua’s choreography has received awards at the American Dance Festival, and he has had the distinct pleasure of teaching 8 different nationally competitive programs across the country. Recent professional credits include Houston Grand Opera, Cirque la Vie, The Theatre Under the Stars, Hope Stone Inc., and NobleMotion Dance. Joshua is thrilled to be back for his sixth season with Open Dance Project!
Sonia Engman is a choreographer, performer, educator and certified personal trainer. Modern dance, ballet, and street and styles are the basis of her movement knowledge. Sonia received her B. A. in Dance and Arts Management in 2016 from the University of New Mexico. She has performed in productions like the Young Choreographer’s Showcase in NYC, in principle roles in productions like Shira Greenberg’s Nutcracker on the Rocks, Amazon Prime’s Nutcracker Party and ensemble work including a multidisciplinary work in the Alps of Austria. Sonia has taught dance in KC, TX, NM, MT, AZ, and MO. She has choreographed for the University of New Mexico and e2 Dance Company in Kansas City. Sonia relocated to Houston in 2019 to begin an adventure in search of opportunity and growth. Sonia is in her third season with Open Dance Project and Hip Hop and House dance crews, Assorted Flavas and The Lockin’ Keez.
Atticus Griffin started dancing at age 18 in his hometown of Burleson, Texas at Studio C Dance. He continued his training at Texas State University, and later the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography. While he was in college he began working as a freelance dancer, performing with multiple dance companies such as Ballet Concerto, Chamacos Dance Company, Dance Theatre X, NobleMotion Dance, and other guest performances. His most notable appearance was in the inaugural cast of Ventana Ballet in Austin, Texas as the Nutcracker in The Watchmakers Song. He is a rehearsal director and choreographer for Open Dance Project 2 (ODP2), which was featured in Wonka! and Peter and Wendy. He was also a featured choreographer for recent ODP production Shortcuts. This is his third season as an artist with Open Dance Project.
Madelyn Manlove is a San Antonio native who began her dance training at the age of three and trained with Collective Dance Artistry since its opening under the direction of Ashley Lopez. After high school, she attended The University of Texas at Austin where she received a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Kinesiology. While completing her undergrad, she studied with Charles O. Anderson, Erica Gionfriddo, Gesel Mason, Andrea Beckham, Tina Curren, among others. This is her third season with Open Dance Project and Hunter Dance Center. In addition, she is also an Advanced Lagree Fitness trainer and teaches at FORM Lagree.
Cameo Reneé, born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, received her BFA in Dance and Performance at the University of Missouri – Kansas City graduating with a double emphasis in ballet and modern. While there she was given the opportunity to work with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Störling Dance Theater, and many more guest artists. Since relocating to Houston, Cameo has performed with Urban Souls Dance Company, been a Black Angel for Tobe Nwigwe, as well as co-directing for The Lockin Keez Dance Company. She is now entering her 5th season with Open Dance Project.
Jaime Garcia Vergara is a dancer from Cali, Colombia. Jaime began his dance journey with a Colombian folkloric company in 2010 where he studied various dance styles such as Salsa, Paso Doble, and Rumba. From 2013-2015 Jaime became a member of FrenetiCore Dance Company where he began to receive his introduction to Ballet and Modern dance techniques. During this time Jaime was also able to work with many incredibly talented choreographers including Jane Weiner, Jennifer Salter, Rebecca French, Laura Harrell, Ashley Horn, and Annie Arnoult. While at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) Jaime had the opportunity to work with Erin Reck, Jennifer Mabus, Dionne Noble and Joshua Peugh amongst other great choreographers. Jaime has a BFA in Dance and a Pilates Certification, teaches Latin, Modern, and Aerial at Hunter Dance Center and is in his sixth season with Open Dance Project.
Brenden Winkfield began his career on Long Island, New York. He began formal training of Tap, Jazz and Ballet at local studios before settling into the well known competitive studio, David Sanders Dance Dynamics. There he broadened his studies into modern, lyrical, hip hop and contemporary. He also gained the opportunity to perform in multiple large-scale shows like The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. After eight years of intense competition in New York, he moved to Houston, Texas where he now resides. Brenden was then hired by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Princess Cruise Lines as a dancer and performer on their entertainment fleets. He went on to perform as a tap soloist in Tokyo Disney’s Big Band Beat in Japan, and was a top Academy finalist on season 14 of SYTYCD before settling down back here in Houston to direct The Lockin Keez Dance Company. He is in his 3rd season with Open Dance Project.
GUEST ARTISTS
Taylor McAnulty is a choreographer/performer/teacher in her hometown of Houston, TX. Taylor has had the pleasure to perform with Open Dance Project, under the artistic direction of Annie Arnoult since 2014. Previously she performed with Psophonia Dance Company under the direction of Sophia Torres, along with performing in many festivals across Texas including “Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival” and “254 Dance Festival”. In 2014 she was a featured soloist in the original score of Robert Paterson “The Book of Goddesses.”
Sarah Lyman is an aerial artist and alumna of the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. She joined the Hunter Dance Center family in 2015 and has since served in a variety of capacities around the studio. Sarah enjoyed notable careers in aerial arts and contemporary dance, appearing in performances with Houston Grand Opera, Open Dance Project, and various musical artists, including Diplo and Major Lazer. After five years dedicated to training, performing, and teaching aerial arts, Sarah has come full circle as Aerial Program Director. Her comprehensive understanding of HDC’s aerial curriculum was achieved through working directly with creators Abby Flowers and Sunny Negless: beginning as a student, followed by their teacher trainings, and before long, side-by-side as an assistant. Flowers was instrumental in Sarah’s preparation for the role of Tinkerbell in Open Dance Project’s Peter and Wendy. She completed Paper Doll Militia’s Lyra Level 1 teacher training with Rain Anya, an industry leader in contemporary aerial dance education. Guided by Annie Arnoult’s masterful approach to pedagogy, Sarah has cultivated an integrative style of teaching that uses her classic dance background as a tool rather than an aesthetic.
Davis Stumberg graduated from the University of North Texas with his B.A. in Dance in 2014. His areas of specialty include modern, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, aerial arts, and acrobatics. Davis’ teaching style is one of a kind, energetic, and uplifting, and he often incorporates elements of balance, strength, and flexibility into his teaching method. Aside from his dance training, he was a collegiate and competitive cheerleader and has taught gymnastics and cheerleading for many years. He performed professionally with Open Dance Project as a company member for five years. He has been a guest artist for Noble Motion and performed in the Houston Grand Opera’s productions “Rusalka” and “Faust.” He has performed with FRAME Dance, Frenetic Dance, 6 Degrees, Chapman Dance, John Beasant III, and also works for J&D entertainment. He performs frequently at various venues locally and nationally. He is thrilled to be performing with Open Dance Project once again.
Steve Rashid is an Emmy winning composer, a performer, producer and recording engineer. He holds a B.A. in Music and Philosophy from Ripon College and a Masters Degree in Music Composition from Northwestern University. He has composed and performed in many musical contexts and in many styles throughout his career. In 1991 Rashid founded his studio, Woodside Avenue Music Productions, through which he has produced and recorded his own music as well as projects for hundreds of other artists and labels, spanning jazz, folk, classical, bluegrass, gospel, country and pop music.