Jo Kreiter (Director/Choreographer), described by the New York Times as "a wonder of equilibrium," is a San Francisco-based dancer/choreographer with a background in political science. Through dance she is seeking to engage imagination, physical innovation and the political conflicts we live within. Kreiter is a recipient of a 2002 Yerba Buena Wattis Residency, 2001 CA Dancemakers Fellowship, a 2000 Gerbode Foundation Award for Choreography, a San Francisco Bay Guardian 2000 GOLDIE (outstanding local discovery) Award and has been nominated for Isadora Duncan Dance Awards in Choreography (2000) and Performance (1999). She has been recognized with six California Arts Council Artist-in-Communities Residency Awards and has received grant awards from the San Francisco Arts Commission and CASH/Theater Bay Area. She has enjoyed a long-term company membership in Joanna Haigood's ZACCHO Dance Theatre and five years of training with master Lu Yi of the San Francisco School of Circus Arts.

Performers

Damara Vita Ganley (Dancer) graduated from UCSC with degrees in Anthropology, Women's Studies and Theater Arts. She has had the honor of working with artists such as Mel Wong, Nancy Karp, Carol Kueffer, Erin Mei-Ling Stuart and Rachel Whiting. This is her second season with the company.

Aimee Lam (Dancer) studied dance for many years under the direction of Gary Masters & Fred Mathews at San Jose State University. During her years of study she has had the opportunity to work with many choreographers including Robert Henry Johnson, Robert Moses & Mary Carbonara, Sue Roginski & Stephanie Schaaf and Christy Funcsh, to name a few. She is also a member of Shift Physical Theater and balances her dance career with a career in Real Estate. This is her third season with Flyaway Productions.

Anje Marshall (Dancer), originally from Juneau Alaska, holds a BA in dance from UC Irvine. She trained in dance & Pilates in Seattle & NYC, learned to fly in Montreal, QC & Oakland, CA & has a big love of climbing and the great outdoors. Along with her wonderful husband and dog, Anje enjoys all the Bay Area has to offer. She teaches Pilates at SF Ballet & Golden Gate Pilates while continuing to "soar" with the ladies of Flyaway.

Courtney Moreno (Dancer), moved to San Francisco in 2002 to study modern and aerial dance, as well as acrobatics, after UC Berkeley beat all interest in biology out of her. This is her third season with Flyaway.

Kim Reis (Dancer) was raised in Vancouver, WA where she competed in gymnastics for eight years before leaving the sport to pursue dance at a performing arts high school. She earned her BFA at the University of Utah and graduated Magna Cum Laude. She spent ten years in New York dancing professionally with companies such as the Mark Morris Dance Group and Randy James Dance Works. One highlight was dancing for Baryshnikov at the Kennedy Center Awards when he was honored in 2000. While in NY, she was also certified in the original Pilates method under Romana Kryzanowska, and remains dedicated to preserving the classic style of this form. This is her third seasonwith Flyaway Productions and is thrilled for the opportunity. Many thanks to her ever supportive family and friends.

Tam Welch (Dancer) originally from Miami, Florida, lives in Santa Cruz, where she recently relocated from Columbus, Ohio. She received her MFA in dance performance at the Ohio State University, and she worked as the OSU Asian American Student Services Coordinator. She remains intrigued by the dance process as it is informed by political aspirations and looks forward to future work in the Bay area. Her dance and life interests include Asian American identity, lesbian iconography, and social justice/racial awareness. This is Tam's third season with Flyaway.

Musicians/Composers

Pamela Z

Designers

Josef Norris (muralist for Flyaway's "Mission Wall Dances") is an illustrator and muralist. A self-taught artist, his work has been influenced by American Folk Art and primitive artists like Henri Rousseau and Faith Ringold. His achievements include commissioned murals for Starbucks Coffee, The San Francisco Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Beautification, The City of Oakland, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and the California Department of Fairs and Exhibitions. He is a recipient of the California Arts Council Artist in Schools Residencies Grant for the 2000-2002 School Year.

Norris has done large murals in San Francisco at the corner of Webster and McAllister Streets, Castro Street, Bernal Heights and the Portola District in San Francisco. He is fascinated with how a public art project affects the community around it, and he strives to create art that can make a personal connection with the people in the vicinity of the work. On a successful mural project, the mural becomes a sacred place that a neighborhood can claim as its own. In this way he shares Jo Kreiter's mission that art is a means to give voice and power to those without.

Norris has supervised 12 mural workshops for the San Francisco Unified School District, guiding students grades 3 -11 through the creation of public art projects.  The children he works with are a constant source of artistic rejuvenation, and their unboxed imagination is his constant teacher. He is inspired by self-taught artists because they display a child-like freedom of expression.

"Mission Wall Dances" captures his imagination because it blends together two rich artistic traditions which he loves - those of street performance and public art.  He looks forward to working with a choreographer to bring both the fantastic and ordinary characters of his paintings to life.  This project offers him a chance to work on a large scale and to blend his art in service of live music and dance.  He looks forward to both formal and creative challenges of representing the diaspora of the current moment in his home city, and he hopes to bring color, honesty, vibrancy, and courage to this performance project.

Michael Erlich (rigging design) works as a rigger for arts productions and installations. He has a background in dance, sculpture, and trades work.