 Darryl Thomas toured throughout the world as dancer and artistic collaborator in the world-renowned Pilobolus Dance Theatre, receiving an Emmy for his 1996 Kennedy Centerperformance of the Pilobolus work "Untitled", starring annually in the Company's sold-out New Yorkperformances, and performing in the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, Thomas has collaborated with Pilobolus on commercial television projects such as the 2006 award-winning Hyundai television commercial which featured dancers in silhouette creating a series of images including a Hyundai car. Demonstrations from the commercial were featured television on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Conan O'Brien Show, and the 2007 Academy Awards (Oscars). Previous to his work with Pilobolus, Thomas danced in Washington, D. C. with Assane Kante's Kankouran West African Dance Company. He received his Master of Fine Arts in performance and choreography from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has received grants and awards for choreography from the Hawaii State Dance Council, Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Oregon Commission for the Arts, Persis Foundation, and MJI Broadcasting. Thomas has collaborated on programs in dance for at-risk youth in Florida, Ohio, Connecticut and Oregon in conjunction with local police departments, school districts, churches and high schools for the performing arts. One such program, "Youth At Risk Dancing" (YARD) based in Cleveland, Ohio was awarded the 1999 United States President's "Coming up Taller" Award given by Hillary Rodman Clinton. In 2001, Mr. Thomas represented Rainbow Dance Theatre at the National Ballet of Senegal in Dakar where he researched indigenous dances and collaborated with National Ballet Costume Designer Djibril Sane on costumes for Act Three of RDT'sCamouflage Trilogy. His choreography has been featured in the repertory of dance companies spanning the globe, including Singapore, Mexico City, D.F., Pusan, South Korea, Honolulu, Hawaii, and many regional companies in the United States. Mr. Thomas has taught as a visiting professor at theUniversity of Florida of Gainesville, Florida, the Centro Nacional De Las Artes of Mexico City, D.F., Studio Dance Tanz of Osaka, Japan and Pusan National University of Pusan, South Korea. Currently Mr. Thomas is Professor of Dance at Western Oregon University where he teaches composition, partnering, Hip Hop, Hawaiian, Salsa, West African and Modern Dance.
 RAINBOW DANCE THEATRE
Darryl Thomas and Valerie Bergman are the Artistic Directors of the Rainbow Dance Theatre which tours throughout the world, performing in Europe, Asia, the United States, Canada, and Mexico to widespread critical and popular acclaim. At the invitation of the United States Pavilion, the Company presented four performances at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China. Other international festival performances include the Second International Dance Festivals in Taegu and Pusan, South Korea, the 2005 World Expo in Nagoya, Japan, the 5th and 9th Concurso Continental de Danza Contemporanea in Mexico City, D.F., Dance Tanz in Osaka, Japan, IAS Festival in Bangkok, Thailand, Men Dancing and Cultural Slam in Honolulu, Hawaii, the World Expo in Seville, Spain, and the 2006 National ACD Festival and the 2004 International VSAarts Festival both held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
In addition, Rainbow Dance Theatre tours throughout the continental United States as a member company with Arts Northwest on Tour. As a roster company with Young Audiences, RDT performs for over 15,000 Oregonand Washington school children per year. In 2005, RDT began an international residency program which has included residencies in Singapore, Thailand, Mexico City, DF, the Philippines, Taiwan, El Salvador and Costa Rica. The Company and its Artistic Directors have received numerous grants and awards including those from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Oregon Arts Commission, the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Atherton Family Foundation, Fred Meyer Foundation, Persis Corporation, and MJI Broadcasting.
 Valerie Bergman
danced professionally in New York with many internationally recognized post-modern choreographers including Nina Wiener, Mel Wong, Douglas Neilsen, and Marta Renzi. While with the Nina Wiener Dance Company, she served as principal dancer and ballet mistress, starred in several world premieres at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Dance Festival, and appeared on PBS and Dutch National Television. Bergman has danced as well with The National Ballet of the Netherlands and the Hawaii Opera Theatre Ballet. In 1991 she founded the Rainbow Dance Theatre (formerly Valerie Bergman Dance Company) in Honolulu, Hawaii where she collaborated with Hawaii's premiere world-beat band, Cabaseke, and internationally acclaimed Taiko drum master, Kenny Endo. As dancer and choreographer, Bergman has toured throughout Asia,Europe, Canada, Mexico, the mainland United States and the Hawaiian Islands. She has won awards and grants from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D. C., Oregon Arts Commission, Hawaii State Dance Council, Hawaii State Foundation for Culture and the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Atherton Family Foundation, MJI Broadcasting and the American College Dance Festival. Her background in dance bridges many cultural styles including training in Hula with Kumu Hula Noenoelani Zuttermeister, West African Dance with Djoniba Mouflet of The National Ballet of Senegal, and Afro-Haitian Dance with Julio Jean of Haiti. In New York, Bergman taught ballet and modern dance at the Finis Jhung Ballet Studio, Viola Farber Dance Studio and the State University of New York at Purchase. Other teaching credits include the University of Hawaii at Manoa, University ofIowa, Studio Dance Tanz of Osaka, Japan, Florida School of the Arts and Western Oregon University, where she has taught ballet and modern technique as well as body conditioning for dancers, Hip Hop, improvisation and composition. Since 2008, she has directed the dance program at the Salem Family YMCA.
 Indah M. Walsh
grew up living overseas and has danced in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the US. She has a B.F.A. in Dance from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College. As an emerging choreographer in New York City, Indah has showcased her work at Dance New Amsterdam, The American Dance Guild Festival, Movement Research at Dance Theater Workshop, Dixon Place, and other venues. Her work has also been featured at venues in California and Taiwan. She has taught Ballet and Modern at studios in New York and Connecticut and has been a guest artist at international dance conventions in Southeast Asia. In September 2012, Indah will begin pursuing graduate studies in dance at NYU Tisch School of the arts.
 Kyleigh Sackandy
is from Ellicott City, Maryland and now resides in Brooklyn, New York as a performer, choreographer, and dance teacher. She's a graduate of SUNY Purchase College- Conservatory of Dance with a concentration in performance where she had the pleasure of working with many student choreographers as well as Natalie Desch and Sidra Bell. In New York, she has performed with SYREN Modern Dance, Nu Dance Theater, and Indah Boyle, and has presented her own choreography in local venues. Performances abroad include Taiwan, Japan, Spain, and Canada. This past spring she had the pleasure of choreographing for Howard Community College's Dance Company's for their Spring concert.
 Carl Massey
has danced with the Rainbow Dance Theatre since 2007, collaborating with the directors on five world premieres, including creating the central aerial duet with Samantha Buckmier for the Company's 2011 premiere of Fantasy for Strings. With RDT Carl has also toured throughout the northwestern and southeastern United States and in 2010 performed at the World Expo in Shanghai, China. Carl teaches tap, Broadway jazz, and Hip Hop at Western Oregon University and at the Salem Family YMCA. He is also in demand as a residency artist in schools throughout Oregon. In addition to his work with RDT, Carl is a principal tap dancer with the Hot Shot Tap Dancers of Salem, Oregon, performing with this dynamic quartet throughout Oregon and Washington. In 2010, the Hot Shots were featured on America's Got Talent, one of only 12 acts to reach the semi-final round. Carl received his BFA in Dance from the Cornish Institute of the Arts in Seattle, WA. After graduation, he danced in Seattle with the Olympic Ballet Theatre, the Seattle Opera, and in the work of New York chorographer Donald Byrd.
|
