July 31: National Dance Day / Come Celebrate with Us!
Inner Peaks
11:00am - Noon: Free Aerial Dance Class
Carolina Stars
9:00am - 10:00am: Free Dance Class for Children ages 4 - 9
11:00am- Noon: Free Aerial Dance Class
History
Founded in 2005, Caroline Calouche & Co. evolved from years of independent choreography and performance in the U.S. and Europe . Caroline Calouche gathered a small group of 3 dancers to debut the contemporary dance company with Risk in her hometown of Gastonia, North Carolina . Since the initial performance, CC&Co. has performed in North Carolina, Charleston, Chattanooga and Fort Worth .
In 2006, Caroline Calouche began her explorations of blending contemporary dance with aerial dance in harness and fabric. The company's reputation for providing innovative, entertaining and edgy work was pushed to another level with the aerial work. With the increase of performances and touring, CC&Co. continues to connect to their home community along with the communities that they visit with their outreach programs in all age, ethnic and social groups.
Caroline Calouche & Co. was formed with the mission of creating an arts organization dedicated to producing and promoting contemporary dance choreography in conjunction with multi-disciplinary artistic collaborations. The goal is to build cross-cultural dialogs with dance as a means to unite and educate the global community through an exchange of philosophies and methods. The company is a non-profit organization recognized under the IRS tax law of 501(c)(3). All donations are tax-deductible.
The Company
All photography is by Michael Church and is copyrighted by Caroline Calouche & Co.
Caroline Calouche, Artistic and Executive Director
Caroline Calouche began her training under Pat Wall at Gaston Dance Theatre in Gastonia , North Carolina . She furthered her dance education at Texas Christian University where she graduated with two B.F.A. degrees in Ballet and Modern Dance. In 2004 she received a North Carolina Regional Artist Grant to further her dance and choreographic studies in New York City and Brussels, Belgium. From these experiences, she was accepted into the International Choreographic Exchange Program at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of dance for post-graduate work in choreography. After her studies and work in the U.S. and Europe, Caroline established her contemporary and aerial dance company in her hometown of Gastonia, North Carolina.
Along with creating new works for Caroline Calouche & Co., she has choreographed for the Dance Department in the University of North Carolina at Charlotte , Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, Contemporary Ballet Dallas and Florida Community College at Jacksonville, The School of North Carolina Dance Theatre. Her work has been performed in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Austria and Germany .
She has performed with Martha Connerton /Kinetic Works (Charlotte, North Carolina), Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth (Fort Worth, Texas) and Contemporary Ballet Dallas (Dallas, Texas) as well as her choreography in festivals. She has taught dance, GYROKINESIS®, and Pilates at The School of North Carolina Dance Theatre and The Belmont School of Ballet. She currently is an adjunct professor of dance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and will be at Winthrop University in the Fall 2008. For the past three years, Caroline has been a Teaching Artist for the Education/Outreach Department of North Carolina Dance Theatre. She is on the board of the NC Dance Alliance. Caroline is also the creator and director of the Charlotte Dance Festival.
Dominique Anderson, 1st Season, is from Bermuda where she trained and performed with the In Motion School of Dance and Company until coming to the U.S. for college. She received a B.A. degree in Dance and an Associate of Science in Business Administration at Dean College in Franklin, MA. She has received many scholarships and awards from The Bermuda Ballet Association, National Dance Foundation, DanceBermuda, Ross Blackie Talbot Foundation, The Peter Leitner Arts Scholarship, The Bank of Bermuda Foundation and Dean College . Dominique has worked directly with choreographers such as hip-hop phenomenon's Kelly Peters and the dynamic duo Nu-Styles, as well as modern dance legends SLAM and David Parsons. Dominique moved to North Carolina in January 2010 with her family to perform with Martha Connerton/Kinetic Works and joined Caroline Calouche and Co. in the Summer 2010. Dominique is very excited to be working with CC&Co.
Amanda Rentschler, 3rd Season
Amanda Rentschler is a Charlotte native and began her dance training at a young age with North Carolina Dance Theater. She attended University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she received her high school diploma in 2004 and her BFA in 2007, and was a recipient of the Dean's Merit Scholarship two years in a row. While at UNCSA, Amanda had the privilege of working with Clay Taliaferro and the Limon Company, Alex Ketley and Hubbard Street II, Bill Young, Daniel Gwirtzman, Craig Patterson, Camille Brown, Tatiana Bagonova, and many other innovative choreographers.
Recently Amanda has worked with the Open Dream Ensemble, a company dedicated to teaching children all over North Carolina about the benefits of the performing arts, and collaborating with elementary schools to tie in the arts and the state curriculum. She had the pleasure of working with Chimera Physical Theater company to take original work to Baltimore and performed with Fayth Caruso at Lincoln Center in New York City in January2008. Her original choreography has been seen in Charlotte , Winston Salem, Southern Pines, and New York City.
Elizabeth Sturgis, 2nd Season
Elizabeth Sturgis is originally from Minnesota and began dancing at the age of 6 in the Minneapolis area. After graduating in 2001 from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a B.A. in Dance, she moved to southern California to perform as Trixie in Can-Can at the Lawrence Welk Resort Theater. Elizabeth returned to Minnesota to get her Stott Pilates Instructor training. While there, she received a grant to co-produce Permission Slip , a dance concert created for the Rose of Many Colors Cultural Arts Series, which was designed promote the creative arts in suburban Minneapolis . She has performed with At Marah Dance Theatre ( Philadelphia , PA ), Inlet Dance Theatre ( Cleveland , OH ) and Timothy Martin Choreographies ( New York City , New York ). In 2008, she worked with Kristin Scott of American Repertory Ballet on a dance concert for Come Unity , an organization that strives to bring clean water to African nations. Elizabeth feels called to use dance as a means of outreach to people in post war-torn nations in Africa . In 2007, she traveled with Compassion Corps to Tunisia , Africa to begin connecting with people there for this purpose.
Elizabeth is trained in Stott Pilates and Lithe Method of Philadelphia, where she has had the privilege of training a broad spectrum of people ranging from business professionals to world-class and Olympic rowers. Elizabeth currently teaches Pilates and Pure Barre in the Charlotte area.
Brian Winn, 2nd Season,is a native of Rock Hill, SC. He received a B.A. in Dance Education from Winthrop University and was awarded a South Carolina Teaching Fellow. While at Winthrop, he had the opportunity to work with artists such as Caroline Calouche, Meg Griffin, Stephanie Milling, Stacy McConnell, Mary Beth Young, Bethany Tuffy and Sandra Neels. Brian was first introduced to dance through color guard where he performed with many competitive groups around the country and worked with choreographers Jennifer House Hinshaw and Michael L. James. As an educator, Brian has taught dance in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Fort Mill School District, and ST-ARTS summer camp. He has choreographed for Winthrop's traveling dance ensemble, The Edge Theatre Company, and South Pointe High School. Brian recently joined the South Carolina Dance Association and holds a position as a Regional Coordinator. He is very excited to be working within CC& Co. and looks forward to the performance opportunities that lie ahead!
CC&Co. II
Jim Reynolds, 1st Season, was born in Raleigh , North Carolina where he began studying under Cindy Hoban. Jim soon found a deep interest in Ballroom Dance, especially Latin technique. He continued his studies in high school in the ISTD Syllabus under Melanie A. Dale, Daniel Santiago, Katy Massengill, and Adrienne McDaniel. Jim recently graduated from Elon University with a BFA Dance Performance and Choreography degree in May 2010. NC Dance Alliance awarded him a scholarship to study at the American Dance Festival in the summer of 2008 and he also was an intern for the Mark Morris Dance Group in the summer of 2009. He has presented his own choreography for adjudication at the American College Dance Festival's Mid Atlantic Conference. Jim is excited to be an Apprentice for Caroline Calouche and Co.!
Adjunct Artists
Jamie Drye
Meg Griffin
Nkosinathi 'Natty' Mncube
Charles Thompson
Youth Ensemble
Kelsey Gallant (1st season) is in the 8th grade at Gaston Day School . She has recently moved from Winston-Salem and now takes dance at The Perfect Step. Her favorite things to do are dance, hang-out with friends and draw.
Brittany Skaggs (2nd Season) is a Freshman at Forestview High School . She studies dance at The Perfect Step in Gastonia where she received Dancer of the Year Award. Her first performance with CC&Co. was in Misterioso in the Fall 2008 followed by a performance at the North Carolina School of the Arts Festival in February 2009. When she is not dancing, she likes to be outside walking trails.
Ellina Veres (1st Season) is originally from Stavropol City , Russia where she trained in dance and choreography before coming to the U.S. in 2006. She recently graduated from Hunter Huss High School and loves all arts.
Claire Webb (1st Season) is in the 8 th grade at Southwest Middle School where she is Treasurer of the Beta Club. She dances at Gaston Dance Theatre and likes to relax at home.
Bethany Williamson (2nd Season) attends Northwest School of the Arts as a Sophomore. She continues her dance studies at the Charlotte Youth Ballet and Belmont School of Ballet. Bethany 's first performance with CC&Co. was in The Taming of the Shrew in the Fall 2007. Beyond dancing, she is passionate about improving the environment and loves music.