History

Dance/USA Philadelphia was founded in 2007 to provide resources, promotion, and collaborative opportunities for the dance community in the greater Philadelphia area. It is a branch office of the non-profit Dance/USA, a member-based national service organization for professional dance.

The William Penn Foundation provided the initial support for the creation of the Philadelphia branch. The goals of the new office include establishing leadership within the community, advocating for dance, creating a virtual and physical information hub and supporting capacity and audience building initiatives.

The decision to create a Philadelphia branch was made by a group of committed professionals in the community who formed the Dance Services Steering Committee in conjunction with representatives from Dance/USA. The eight members of the Philadelphia Steering Committee began meeting in 2003 to plan and research the possibilities for a dance service organization. Over the course of the following two years, the Committee met monthly and held a series of four "best practices" forums, to which people were invited from other dance communities, such as New York, Chicago and Washington, DC, to talk about what worked and didn't work with their service providers. After many conversations and a daylong retreat to hammer out the issues and prioritize their needs as a community, the Dance Services Steering Committee made the decision to partner with Dance/USA to create the branch, Dance/Philadelphia.

Dance/USA Philadelphia is located at 1427 Spruce St., Suite 1F, Philadelphia PA 19102 where it shares office space with Philadelphia Dance Projects, Melanie Stewart Dance Theatre, and Smoke, Lilies and Jade Arts Initiative.

Volunteer Program

Dance/USA Philadelphia relies on dedicated dance-loving individuals who volunteer to staff the office and resource center on evenings and weekends. Contact admin@danceusaphiladelphia.org for details.

Dance/USA Philadelphia, a branch office of Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance, is made possible through funding from the William Penn Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts administered by Dance/USA and by contributions from individuals who care about the dance artists and organizations of Philadelphia.

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Lois Welk
Director Dance/USA Philadelphia

A dance performance by Daniel Nagrin (The Peloponnesian War) inspired Lois Welk to pursue a career in dance. She earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Dance and American History at State University College at Brockport NY, where Richard Bull became her mentor. In 1972, she founded the American Dance Asylum Inc. (ADA), a producing and service organization for the performing arts.

From 1973-1979, she co-directed the ADA (then based in Binghamton, NY) with Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane. For more than 25 years the ADA has produced Welk’s artistic projects among them The Parking Ramp Dances, The Train Station Dance, The Carousel Dance, The Hiawatha Island Dance and most recently Moving the Music.

She been a member of the dance faculty at 171 Cedar Arts Center (Corning, NY), Alfred University (Alfred, NY) and has taught for various arts-in-education programs across New York State. Her work as Executive Director of 171 Cedar Arts Center in Corning, NY (1988-2002) earned her a New York State Governor’s Arts Award in 1998. At 171 Cedar Arts Center, Welk developed a nationally recognized presenting program that included concert dance, artists’ residencies, a jazz series, family programming and a world folk music festival. Program growth warranted a capital campaign and expansion project that more than doubled program space adding a 170-seat black box performance space, exhibition space and two additional dance studios.

From 2003-2006, Ms. Welk served as Artistic Director of The Yard Inc., a performing artists’ colony on Martha’s Vineyard. In January 2005, Ms. Welk was appointed the Director of the New York State DanceForce, a network of organizations and individuals working to increase the quality and quantity of dance in New York. As Director, Ms. Welk brought leadership to the re-structuring of the organization and expanded the reach of the programs.

Janelle Ardrey
Program Associate

Philadelphia based dancer Janelle Ardrey, began her dance training in her hometown of Princess Anne, MD studying ballet and jazz. In 1997 Janelle moved to Seattle, WA where she toured the pacific northwest with Diversity Dance Workshop. After relocating to Philadelphia and enrolling in the University of the Arts, where she earned her BFA in Modern Dance, Janelle became active in Philadelphia's dance community. She has performed with companies such as AWE, Monarch Dance Company, Brian Sanders' Junk, Gen2Rev Productions, Connections Modern Dance Ensemble and her own duet company, "Milk 'N Honey". Janelle has also expressed her talents as an actress and choreographer with Headline Theater Company. Currently, she serves as a dancer with Nzinga Arts Collective. Additionally, Janelle is anticipating her upcoming graduation in the Spring of 2008 where she will receive her MS in Arts Administration from Drexel University and is thrilled to be a part of Dance/USA Philadelphia.

Erin Foreman-Murray
Program Associate

Erin Foreman-Murray is a dancer and independent choreographer, based in Philadelphia since receiving a BFA in modern dance from Temple University. Erin currently dances for Michelle Stortz/Ring Dance Theater, Meg Foley/Moving Research, and Roko Kawai. Recently, Erin has had the pleasure of showing her choreography as part of Fresh Juice in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, as well as at the Movement Research Open Performance Series (NYC), the FAR Space with Limina Projects (NYC), the Glue Performance Series, In Flux, and Current. Erin is the coordinator of Philly Dance COSMOS, a new community-supported dance class series that provides professional development opportunities to contemporary dancers and helps to make teaching dance a more viable employment option for dance artists. She is also a member artist of the Mascher Space Cooperative, a collectively run studio and performance space for independent dance artists and a home for new dance in Philadelphia.

Jaamil Kosoko
Program Associate

Interdisciplinary movement based artist, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko creates performances that draw from both visual and literary aesthetics. Poetry and video-art heavily contribute to how Kosoko renders his ideas and concepts into dance. Kosoko has performed in the choreographic works of various artists and companies including Ann Carlson, Yoshiko Chuma, Terry Creach, Lisa Kraus, Helen Lesterlin, Richard Siegal, Kate Watson-Wallace, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Headlong Dance Theater, Leah Stein Dance Company, Emergent Improvisation Ensemble, and, Faustin Linyekula and Les Studios Kabako (The Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa). While Kosoko has shown his own dances and dance-films at Bennington College, Dance Theater Workshop, American Dance Festival, Danspace at St. Mark's Church, and Joyce SoHo among other venues, he has also been a resident artist at The Hudson School, Hoboken, NJ; Community Education Center Meeting House Theater, Philadelphia, PA; Earthdance, Plainsfield, MA. Currently, Kosoko is in partnership with Melanie Stewart Dance and the 2008-2009 nEW Festival as a resident artist and is a member of Artists U, a non-profit organization focusing on professional development for Philadelphia based artists.

Gabrielle Revlock
Program Associate

Gabrielle Revlock is a native Philadelphian and local dancer/choreographer. After earning a BA in Art History from Vassar College she returned to her hometown to be a part of its vibrant dance community. Currently she dances for Jeanne Ruddy Dance, Lisa Kraus, and Anne-Marie Mulgrew. She also creates interdisciplinary works for her company, Mano/Damno (www.manodamno.com) responsible for the annual holiday, Wear Your Wig to Work Day. Before joining the Dance/USA team, Gabrielle was the administrative assistant for the Dance Coalition of Philadelphia.