Bios

Laurie Eisenhower, Founder and Artistic Director, received her BAE and MFA degrees in dance from Arizona State University where she received the Wanda Turk Choreography Award and the Faculty Excellence Award. In the early years of her career, she danced professionally in both California and New York City with various dance companies and choreographers, most notably, Pilobolus Dance Theatre, David Parsons, Chen and Dancers, Harry Streep III, and Mel Wong.

Ms. Eisenhower began setting her work on professional dancers in 1981 when she was invited to set a work on Baker's Half Dozen in New York as part of the Prospect Park Dance Festival in Brooklyn. Since then, she has set her works on numerous professional and university dance companies and was artistic director of Detroit's Harbinger Dance Company.

In 1991, she formed the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, which, with the help of committed and talented dancers, has become the premiere dance company in the state of Michigan. Since the founding of EDE, the company has grown from a small ensemble of four dancers on a pay-per-performance basis to the current company with an extensive schedule of rehearsals, performances and touring. The company has traveled as far as St. Petersburg, Russia, made a very successful New York City debut, tours nationally, and is now in the midst of its 18th season.

Ms. Eisenhower has received frequent grants and honors for her choreography. Her work was presented twice at the Morningside Dance Festival at the Theatre of the Riverside Church in New York City and she has received three Creative Artists grants from state arts foundations, the Michigan Dance Association Choreographers Festival Award, and the Women in Art Award for Choreography. In addition, Ms. Eisenhower was presented with the Outstanding Michigan Artist Award by Governor Jennifer Granholm at the 2003 Governor's Arts Awards ceremony.

Ms. Eisenhower is also well known for her teaching and is a Full Professor of Dance at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. AT OU, she has been honored twice by the OU Board of Trustees, was awarded a Travis Professorship, has received 16 faculty research grants in support of her work, and has received the Faculty Recognition Award for her outstanding contributions in the field of dance.

Stephanie Pizzo, Associate Artistic Director, is a native of Clinton Township, Michigan where she began her training with Orchid Diane and Denise Boucke and continued with Evelyn Kreason. She danced with the Michigan Ballet Theatre as a corps and principal dancer, Oakland Dance Theater and Harbinger Dance Company. She has a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in Dance from Oakland University. As a student, she received the Jacob S. Decker Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance and a scholarship from the American College Dance Festival to study with the Ririe Woodbury Dance Company in Utah. In 1995 she received the Distinguished Alumni award from Oakland University. As a founding member of EDE, Ms. Pizzo currently teaches company class, rehearses the company, and choreographs. She has staged works by Laurie Eisenhower on numerous companies including Desert Dance Theatre, Scottsdale Community College, Collin County Community College and Alma College. Ms. Pizzo is also the Director of the EDE Center for Dance.

 

Dancers

Mary Bischoff, from Sterling Heights, Michigan, began her training with EDE as a high school student where she had her first opportunity to perform with the company. Mary. continued her training on scholarship at Oakland University where she earned her BA in Dance. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and was the recipient of the Jacob S. Decker Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance. She also trained at the Limon Institute in NYC as a Maggie Allesee Summer Study Scholarship recipient. Mary has performed with Oakland Dance Theatre and OU Repertory Dance Company and has appeared as a guest dancer and apprentice with the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. She has performed works by choreographers including Bill DeYoung, Joel Hall and Michael Foley, among others. Mary is also the Assistant Director of the EDE Center for Dance where she is beginning her seventh season as an instructor.

Alicia Cutaia, originally from Rochester, NY, earned her BFA with honors from Point Park University with a double major in Ballet and Jazz. Her previous training includes Lou Conte Dance Studio’s scholarship program, North Carolina Dance Theater, and River North Dance Company. She has worked with and performed pieces by many renowned choreographers, including Lou Conte, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Daniel Ezralow, Choo-San Goh, Alan Hineline, Harrison McEldowney, Kevin O’Day, Frances Patrelle, David Storey, Margo Sappington, and Christian Holder. Alicia previously danced with Hubbard Street 2 Chicago and Giordano 2 Jazz Dance Chicago. She has also choreographed for Revolve Dance Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and for Oakland University. Her choreography was selected to be presented at Karen Peterson's 5th Emerging Choreographers Showcase in Miami. Alicia teaches many dance forms and has taught at the Lou Conte Dance Studio, Oakland University and the EDE Center for Dance, as well as conducted master classes in Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania. She has also designed costumes for Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, Thodos Dance Chicago and the EDE Center for Dance.

Jessica Reimer received her BFA in Dance from the University of Central Oklahoma. While attending, she was a member of the Kaleidoscope Dancers Company and served as student rehearsal director. In 2002 her choreography was selected by the American College Dance Festival to be performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Other training credits include Tisch School of the Arts, The Edge, Ballet Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Arts Institute. Her earliest training began under Yvonne Chouteau, one of the five Native American ballerinas from Oklahoma who danced with the Ballets Russes. Jessica has had the privilege of performing original works by Bill Evans, Loretta Livingston and Sean Curran. Her teaching experience includes the University of Central Oklahoma, Classen School of Advanced Studies, the Academy of Dance Arts, and Range of Motion. She was also a guest artist at Norman North High School. Before joining EDE, Jessica was a performer and choreographer for Perpetual Motion Dance Company.

Bethany Blanchard is a native of White Lake, MI, where she began her dance training at the age of 4. Receiving her BA in Dance, Bethany attended Marymount Manhattan College (NY) and Western Michigan University with scholarships in dance and academics. College is where Bethany found her love and passion for modern dance and the stage, performing in works by modern dance legends Martha Graham and Denise Vale, among others. She has also had the honor of dancing the principle role in Helen Tamaris' How Long Brethren?. Bethany's professional performance credits include Legends in Concert, Las Vegas's longest running tribute show, commercial industrial productions throughout the U.S., and guest performances with local area ballets. She has also choreographed for Oakland University's student organization and designed and constructed costumes for the WMU student organization.

Gerald Barrett began his dance career with The Company at age ten under the direction of Joanna Paraschos, Tony B. White and Alde Lewis. During his years of training, he studied ballet, jazz and modern dance. After graduation from high school, he attended New York's Julliard School and the Boston Conservatory in Massachusetts. He also attended the Alvin Ailey American Dance School's Independent Study program where he focused on Horton and Graham techniques. Throughout his career, Gerald has taken many opportunities to choreograph and perform. He has used his talents in the world of hip hop dance and has created dances and performed for numerous independent artists and performing arts schools in the areas of dance, music and drama.

Demetrius Tabron is a native of Washington, D.C. He trained classically in ballet under the instruction of Fabian Barnes and the Dance Theatre of Harlem residency program and continued his dance training in ballet, modern and jazz at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts under the tutelage of Sandra Fortune-Green and Charles Augins. A scholarship recipient at the Dance Theatre of Harlem School and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre's summer programs, he graduated with a BFA from North Carolina School of the Arts in May 2008. While at NCSA, he performed works by many notable choreographers, including Merce Cunningham, Alonzo King, Camille Brown, David Parsons, Brenda Daniels, Murray Lewis, George Balanchine and Daniel Clifton.

 

Apprentices

Laurena Deak, of Ann Arbor, began her dance training with Camella Chiapurus and continued with Pamela Rutledge, Anthony Randazzo, Wendy Dubois, Nikola Conraths-Lange, and her mentor, Julianne O'Brien Pederson. She has studied and performed with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Peter Sparling Dance Company, Pilobolus, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Daniel Gwirtzman, People Dancing, and Terpsichore's Kitchen. Laurena is finishing her B.F.A. degree this year at Oakland University with a major in Dance and minors in Business and Construction Management.

Kearsha Saxon was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She began dancing at the age of 12 in the TWIGS Program. In 2002, she graduated from The Baltimore School for the Arts with Honors and in 2006 graduated Summa Cum Laude from The University of South Florida. One of her greatest achievements was performing in Castano Primo, Italy in June 2006. She has danced principal roles in the City Nutcracker, Paquita, Raymonda, and Missa Brevis, to name a few. Before joining EDE, Kearsha worked with The Stephanie Powell Ensemble in Baltimore, Maryland and Premiere Dance Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey.

Nia Silao graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Dance from Wayne State University in 2008. She toured with CompanyONE while working for the Music Hall.s Department of Dance, and she has performed at the Music Hall, the Maggie Allesee Studio Theatre, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. She has also received scholarships from Wayne State University and Dance Masters of Michigan. Nia's teaching experience includes American Dance Academy, Causing a Scene Productions, and Gotta Dance.