Ann Sofie Clemmensen
Co-Artistic Director of BDP, Ann Sofie Clemmensen is originally from Denmark and has a BA in Dance Pedagogy from the Norwegian College of dance, a first-class honor postgraduate diploma from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, and an MFA in dance from Ohio State University. Her choreography has been presented at the Davison Theater - Riff Center and BalletMet Performance Space in Columbus OH, the Louis Armstrong Theatre in Allendale MI, American Dance Festival (ICR), Ullens Contemporary Dance Center in Beijing China, Movement Research at Judson Church, and other venues. Her creative research has received support from the US Embassy in Copenhagen, Columbus Dance Fellowship, and OhioDance. Most recently she was awarded the 2019 Local Dance Commission Program by the John F. Kennedy Center. Notable residencies include Dance All Year Long (Odense, Denmark), American Dance Festival (IRC), Grand Valley State University, and Old Dominion University (VA). She has performed original work by Wendy Houston, Henri Oguike, Darshan Shing Bhuller, Francesco Scavetta, Sølvi Edvardsen, Kari Hoaas, and Anne H. Ekenes. Ann Sofie is an Associate Professor at UMBC.
Elizabeth Johnson
Elizabeth Johnson (MFA, GL-CMA, M.AmSAT, RSME/T, RYT200) is a performer, choreographer, educator, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst, certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique (AmSAT & ATI), Registered Somatic Movement Therapist, and Registered Yoga Teacher. Her greatest professional joys are making dances and synthesizing and teaching dance/movement pedagogies and somatics that center developmental movement, prosocial/trauma-informed education, and critical perspectives. Her dances often explore the dynamics of intimacy, exhaustion, and transcendence through rigorous yet somatic physicality and straightforward, egalitarian partnering that challenge tropes regarding propriety and popular culture's obsession with objectifying, exaggerating, and disfiguring the (particularly female) body. Johnson directed her dance company, Your Mother Dances, for over a decade and has worked as university dance faculty at the University of Florida, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is thrilled to be at UMBC as the Chair of the Department of Dance.
For more info: https://dance.umbc.edu/faculty-and-staff/
Shaness Kemp
Co-Artistic Director Shaness Kemp is a native of Nassau, Bahamas and holds a Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degree from Temple University. She is a freelance dancer and choreographer, a certified Umfundalai teacher and is currently an Associate Professor at UMBC. Her training and professional affiliations include Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Kariamu & Company: Traditions, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, Eleone Dance Theatre, Philadanco and Urban Bush Women to name a few. She was the 2015-2016 recipient of the Ellen Forman Memorial Award, presented choreography at the 2019 International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference, taught and performed in the 2019 Women In Dance Leadership Conference and most recently presented her work in the 37th Annual Choreographers' Showcase where she received the audience choice award. She is excited to be a part of this years Baltimore Dance Project concert.
Sandra Lacy
Veteran performer with BDP, Sandra Lacy is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dancing in London. She has performed with the Maryland Ballet, Impetus Dance Company, Path Dance Company, Phoenix Repertory Dance Company, James Hansen's Assemblage Dance Company, and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane and Company. Currently, Ms. Lacy is Co-Artistic Director of Lacy & Shade, Solo Duet Dance Works. Recent performances of Lacy & Shade include the Maryland Showcase for Choreographers, the Yes Virginia Dance Festival in Richmnd, the Out of the Loop Theater Festival in Addison, Texas, The Toronto Fringe Festival and th Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Ms. Lacy is a six-time recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in solo dance performance. She is a member of the dance faculty at UMBC and the Baltimore School for the Arts.
