Rosy Simas (choreographer/director) click here

Jon Davis (collaborator) ... "with samples and loops, Davis crouches over his orchestrations, twiddling at the teetering point of dissolution, fracture, and eruption …the sonic package is created through live self-sampling, looping, and effects manipulation . . . Elements of noise, ambient, IDM, drone, and free jazz are all present, but their live manipulation creates something entirely new. The skittering beats and breaks are all improvised. Nothing is programmed.” - Christopher Matthew Jensen, City Pages, July 18th, 2007. Click Here to read the article.
Jon is a musician/producer living in Minneapolis, MN. Primarily a bassist, he has been playing music in rock, improvised and electronic essembles for 17 years. For the last 3 years, Davis has been exploring the possibilities of sampler and looped based improvisation in his project Ghostband. Pairing samples with a variety of instruments, including electric bass, bass clarinet and keyboards, he creates electronic music strongly rooted in improvisation. This approach is unique in regard to the standard programming oriented, overproduced approach of much contemporary electronica. The improvising ethic of Ghostband also encourages collaboration with other musicians and, in this instance, a dancer. Minneapolis label Insides Music released his album “Skulls For Symphony” in 2007.

Jennifer Mack (performer) is a company member of Continental Ballet and Ray Terrill & Dancers. She' has had the pleasure of working with: Melissa Brown, Vanessa Voskuil, Anna Resele & Sharon Varosh. After receiving her B.A. in Arts Management & Dance from Stevens Point, WI, she spent time dancing in Szeged, Hungary and working for the Rochester Dance Company. Her own choreography/collaborations with musicians (The Willie August Prj & Ada Jane) have appeared at the Southern Theater, Bloomington Civic Center and other venues. She would like to thank Rosy and the HGWS cast for this journey.

Patrick Maun (visuals - 1998 to 2007) is a visual artist and designer. He has collaborated with Rosy Simas on numerous productions over the past decade. Patrick's video and installation work has been exhibited throughout the world and he has recently received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Minnesota State Arts Board, the Canada Council and the Jerome Foundation. In addition to his solo efforts, he has scored and created visual environments in collaboration with several choreographers including: Heidi Geier, David Wick and Barbara Mahler. Patrick received his M.A. in visual media art in 1993 from the University of Applied Art in Vienna, Austria. www.patrickmaun.com

Mark Ruark (sound - 2007) has been working in the Twin Cities as a designer/technician/stage manager/musician for seven years now. He has worked with Live Action Set, Jon Ferguson, Wicked Sister Dance Theater, JAZZDANCE!, Arena Dances, Deborah Jinza Thayer's Movement Architecture and Catalyst Dances as well as local artists Christopher Hauseman and Britta Hallin.  In his “spare” time, he is spearheading a sound collaboration project called Liars' Conspiracy. He is also the resident lighting designer/stage manger for XELIAS Aerial Performance Company and a member of the Monday Night Band Club.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1953, Matthew S. Smith (composer) attended Oberlin College where he studied music and painting. For 27 years he was a painter until he rather suddenly realized that music was the medium in which to express himself most fully. Since 1998 he has received a McKnight, a Meet the Composers grant, an American Composers Forum subito grant, and most recently, the 2007 Bush Fellowship grant.  In the last two years he has been composing exclusively for choreographers.

Deborah Jinza Thayer (rehearsal director/performer) has been performing and choreographing for over fifteen years in New York City, Washington DC metro region, and Minneapolis. A native New Yorker, she graduated from Johns Hopkins University and received an MFA in Dance at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She has created 50 original works and presents her work as Movement Architecture - a blend of dance and theater in structured environments. Deborah is a recipient of a 2004 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Choreographers. She currently teaches technique and composition at Zenon Dance Company and School.

Past Performers & Collaborators (1993-2006)
If you see the color orange... that means there is a link to this person... check them out!

Kerry Ackeret (performer) 1998
Ron Albert (lighting design) 2001, 2003 & 2006
Audrey Anderson (performer) 2004
Jane Anfinson (musician) 2003 & 2004
Josie Arrowsmith (performer) 2006-2007
Margot Bassett (performer) 2006-2007
Del Bey (performer) 2003
Olive Bieringa (performer) 2000
Vivian Big Eagle (performer) 2004
Brandi Bourgon (performer) 1998
Shani Britt McKenzie (performer) 2002
Kellie Brandt (performer) 2003-2006
Lelis Brito (dancer) 2004
Zack Callahan Brito (performer) 2004
Maija Brown (performer) 2003
Nathan Carlton (sound engineer) 2000-2001
Kathryn Cichello (performer) 1998
Miriam Colvin (performer) 1998-2001
Jodi Collova (performer) 2004
Olivia Detamore (performer) 2003
Danelle Dever (performer) 1998-2000
Baraka de Soliel (performer/collaborator) 1994-1996 & 2000
Jeffrey Duval (performer) 1992-1995
Jason Eastman (performer) 1998
Brianna Zahasky Kauer (performer) 2006
Jackson Knowles (performer) 1998-2003
Christopher Fleming (lighting/set design) 1994, 2004 & 2006
Gabriela Flores Martinez (performer) 2001-2003
Rene Ford (musician/collaborator) 2000-2001
Karl Frost (collaborator) 1996-1998
Britta Hallin (performer) 2004
Susan Herold (performer) 1998
Mandy Herrick (performer) 2006-2007
Katja Irvin (performer) 1998
Deborah Jinza Thayer (performer) 2004-2007
Jackson Knowles (performer) 1998-2003
Jessica Peyla (performer) 1998
Patrick Maun (visuals) 1994 & 1998 - 2006
Layla Moering (performer) 2004
Mankwe Monika Nkatuati Ndosi (performer) 2003
Leah Nelson (performer) 1994 & 2003
Leslie O'Neill (dancer) 2005-2006
j. otis powell! (poet/collaborator) 1996, 2000
Ben Reisman (composer) 2000-2001
Anna Resele (performer) 2005-2006
Isadora Rose (performer) 2004
Mark Rurak (sound engineer/props/costumes) 2004-2006
Colin Rusch (performer/collaborator) 2001 & 2004
Savage Aural Hotbed (collaborator) 1991-1993
Kristina Seeley Graber (performer) 1991-1996 & 1998-2006
Jane Shockley (performer) 2004
Katie Sopoci (performer) 2001-2005
Dawn Strom (performer) 2004-2006
Jeanette Simmonds (performer) 1998
Lalu Simcik (performer) 1998
Nicole Stanton (performer) 1994
Deborah Jinza Thayer (performer) 2004-2007
Carey Thompson Valenchinko (performer) 1991-1996
Michael Thomsen (composer) 1998-2001
Morgan Thorson (performer) 1994
Maria Gomez Tierney (performer) 1994
Galen Treuer (performer) 2005-2006
Alice Waterman McBride (performer) 2004
Allysa Vollmar (performer) 1994
Laura Wade (performer) 1998
Heike Werde (performer) 2000
David Wick (performer) 2003-2004
Leralee Whittle (performer) 1998