About the Collaborators
of Preludes: Duncan, Sand & Chopin
Jeanne Bresciani, M.A., I.M.A, Ph.D., is Artistic Director and Director of Education for the Isadora Duncan International Institute, an arts and education organization founded in 1977 by Maria-Theresa Duncan and Kay Bardsley. She specializes in the dance of Isadora Duncan and in myth and movement studies. In New York City, she directs Isadora Duncan programs for the New York University School of Education and the Harkness Dance Center of the 92nd Street Y.
Maia DeSanti has been acting in the Washington region for nearly two decades. She appeared most recently at the Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, as Mrs. Webb in Our Town. Other regional credits include: Arena Stage, Folger Theatre, Happenstance Theatre, Kennedy Center, NY Clown Theatre Festival, NY State Theatre Institute, Olney Theatre Center, Rep Stage, Roundhouse Theatre, The Shakespeare Theater Co., Source Theatre, Taffety Punk Theatre Co., Theatre of the First Amendment, and Woolly Mammoth. Maia is a graduate of the National Shakespeare Conservatory and teaches acting and movement for several area theatre companies and training programs.
Carlos César Rodríguez is a musician of brilliance and versatility recognized as a virtuoso pianist who not only generates excitement in the Hispanic and Spanish repertoire, but also displays an extraordinary flair for Mozart, the romantics and the avant-garde scores. Currently, Mr. Rodríguez is a member of the piano faculty at the Levine School of Music in Washington, DC, and guest artist and coach for the Domingo/Cafritz Young Artist Program with the Washington National Opera.
Mary Hall Surface is an internationally recognized director and playwright. She specializes in theatre for families and in multi-disciplinary collaborations. She has been amember of the Washington, DC. theatre community since 1989, where she has had twelve productions at the Kennedy Center’s Theater for Young Audiences. She has been nominated for five Helen Hays Awards for Outstanding Direction, receiving the award in 2002 for Theatre of the First Amendment’s Perseus Bayou.
Cynthia Word, M.F.A. is the Founder and Director of Word Dance Theater. Born and raised in Abilene, TX, she began her Modern Dance training at the University of Illinois with choreographers Beverly Blossom, Chester Wolenski, Mary Anthony, and Sarah Rudner. She later received her Master in Fine Arts from The George Washington University, where she later served on the teaching faculty. Based in Washington, DC, Ms. Word has created six major dance/theater productions. In 2005, Dance/MetroDC Awards nominated her for “Best Emerging Choreographer” for States of Mind.
Ingrid Zimmer received a B.A. in Dance/Theatre from Pomona College where she was trained in the Limon Technique. Upon graduating, she moved to Europe where she toured, performed and studied dance at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany under the artistic direction of Pina Bausch. Ms. Zimmer has been dancing professionally, teaching and choreographing in the Washington, DC, area for the last 14 years. Ms. Zimmer has performed in national and international venues including the Kennedy Center, Jacobs Pillow, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France, and the Gran Festival Internacional de Danza Contemporanea in Monterey, Mexico. Ms. Zimmer is currently in the Certificate Program at the Isadora Duncan International Institute where she is learning Duncan’s original choreography and pedagogical techniques