Biographies

Jim May (Artistic Director) has been a dancer on the New York scene for over 40 years. His aim as artistic director of the Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble is to expand the art of dance to include the other arts (music, theater, painting, literature), working toward a progressive new style of Theater/Dance.

Mr. May was a devoted disciple of Anna Sokolow for 35 years and co-artistic director of her dance company, Players' Project, since 1980. He is the recipient of a 1999 Bessie Award for lifetime achievement, “for a sustained achievement over decades as dance’s premiere leading man, an actor-dancer of extraordinary range and scope of character, in the living theater of Anna Sokolow.” His autobiography Dance From the Inside will be published in 2006.

Mr. May recently restaged Anna Sokolow’s “Magritte, Magritte” for his alma mater, the Boston Conservatory of Music, “Rooms” for Echoes of American Modern Dance (Libby Nye, artistic director) in Germany, “Steps of Silence” at Stephens College in Missouri, and will set “Session for Six” at Mills College. He continues to stage Ms. Sokolow’s repertory on the Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble.

In 1966, Mr. May joined the Limón Company under Jose Limón’s direction. Since then he has studied with Betty Jones, Sarah Stackhouse, was a member of the Ruth Currier Company, and was a principle dancer with the Danny Lewis company for many years. Mr. May was also a Limón Company soloist under the direction of Carla Maxwell. He received intensive training from Ernestine Stodell, an original member of Doris Humphrey’s company and exponent of the Humphrey style. It is remarkable that he has performed most of Ms. Humphrey’s works, considering the fact that they are rarely presented. He toured her “Day on Earth” under the auspices of Lincoln Center from 1978-88, exposing thousands of students to the artistry of this great American choreographer. Mr. May continues to embrace the distinct dance styles of Ms. Sokolow and Mr. Limón. He won a 1996 Fulbright Scholarship to Mexico City to extend his studies of his two mentors, concentrating on the ‘across the border’ relationship of Modern dance between these two countries as well.

Mr. May has taught on the faculties of SUNY Purchase, Juilliard School of Music, and Princeton University. In 1992 he received the Marcus Award for Teaching Excellence from Washington University. Jim has taught extensively in Taiwan, where he founded the company Dance Forum Taipei. He returns to Mexico every year to teach at Central de Investigacion Corografica. He has taught at many Universities and schools in Italy, France, Germany, Korea, Canada, South America, Switzerland and the United States. Mr. May was given the Marcus award for teaching excellence and was recently granted another Fulbright award to teach in Chile. Mr. May has been on the faculty of the Limón Institute for many years and currently teaches at Peridance in NYC.

His choreography has been in the repertories of Dance Conduit, Dance Forum Taipei, and Thoughts in Motion, and he is currently resident choreographer of the Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble. Besides dancing in several shows on Broadway he also was a member of the Eliot Feld Ballet Company. As a guest artist, he has performed works by Donald McKayle, Don Redlich, Murrey Louis, Pauline Koner, and Kurt Joos, to name a few of the great choreographers of the 20th Century.

Melissa Birnbaum (dancer) is from New York City and has her BFA from The Boston Conservatory. She was also a scholarship student at The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. Melissa has performed works by choreographers
such as Martha Graham, Jose Limón, Judith Jamison, Murray Louis, Earl Mosley, Max Luna III, Kurt Douglas and others. She has worked with Dance Theatre Be and MTV Productions and has also appeared at Lincoln Center with the Bolshoi Ballet and Universal Ballet. In addition to her dance career, she is also co-founder and photographer of Robin Meems Images.

Eleanor Bunker (dancer) holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies/Dance Pedagogy and Aesthetics, and was a member of Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project for 14 years. She was a soloist and rehearsal director with Rondo Dance Theater for eleven years and also worked with Daniel Lewis Dance, Tandance, Dan Wagoner and Dancers, Martita Goshen's Earthworks, Ernestine Stodelle and Catherine Gallant. Currenly, Eleanor is the costumer for the Sokolow Theater/Dance Ensemble, teaches dance at the Dominican Academy in New York City.

Alan Forbes (dancer) is a performing artist born and educated in the U.K. After spending many years working as an engineer in Germany, he left for New York in September of 2000 to study modern dance, in particular Limon Technique. He is a faculty member of the Susan Klein School of Movement and Dance, and is participating in the Klein teacher certification program. He is currently also working with Anabella Lenzu and Mare Nostrum Elements.

Samantha Geracht (dancer) holds a BS in dance from the University of Wisconsin. She was a member of Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project for eleven years, and has also danced with Jim May, Richard Biles, Claudia Gitelman, Deborah Carr's Theatre Dance Ensemble, and in her own choreography. Recently she has been a guest artist with David Parker and the Bang Group. She currently assists Jim May with teaching and the reconstruction of Sokolow repertory, and is on the faculty at the Limón Institute.

Lauren Naslund (dancer) began her modern dance studies in Chicago with Frances Allis. She holds degrees in Biology from the University of Chicago and Harvard. While pursuing her studies, she danced in Chicago with A Dance Ensemble and in the Boston area with the Performing Arts Ensemble and the Massachusetts Dance Ensemble. Lauren moved to New York in 1984 to work with the theater/dance company Plath/Taucher Productions. She was a member of Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project for 15 years, and has also performed with Andrew Jannetti & Dancers, Rae Ballard’s Thoughts in Motion, Deborah Carr’s Theatre Dance Ensemble, Jim May, and Alan Danielson.

Joshua Schulteis (dancer) is originally from Washington D.C. He received his training at Interlochen Arts Academy, and is a Bachelor of Fine Arts Graduate from the Boston Conservatory. Joshua’s diverse repertoire spans from works by Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, Murray Louis and Sean Curran to such classical ballets as Napoli, Coppelia, and The Firebird. Joshua has performed with Rebecca Rice Dance, The Amherst Ballet, the National Tour of the King and I, and in the Touchstone Pictures Film “Step Up.”

Francesca Todesco (dancer) is of Swiss Italian origin and studied dance in Switzerland, Germany, and the US. She is a dancer with Catherine Gallant/DANCE and a member of Dances by Isadora since 2000. She has performed in repertoire by Isadora Duncan, Jose Limón, Charles Weidman and Anna Sokolow, among others. Francesca teaches adults and children’s dance classes in Europe and the US. She joined Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble in 2003.

Luis Gabriel Zaragoza (dancer) was born in Mexico City. He got his BFA, Cum Laude, from the National School of Dance of Mexico (NSDM). He also has a BA in Philosophy, an MFA in Dance Education, and has specialized in Dance Philosophy. He has studied with Anna Sokolow, Jeff Duncan, Tim Wengerd, Jim May and Betty Jones, among others, and attended the Merce Cunningham Studio as a scholarship student. Gabriel was a teacher at the NSDM for eight years. He received the award of Best Dancer of the Year in 1990 Best Choreographed Solo (for Nijinsky, El Ojo de Dios) in 1999 from Asociación Danza Mexicana. In 1991, La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico granted him the Artistic Creative Award. As a choreographer he has created over 64 works, which have been performed worldwide. He has danced with several companies in France and Mexico. He was a member of the Martha Graham Ensemble and was a member of Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project for four years.