SATURDAY November 8TH
Show 3 - 5:00 pm
Meet the Artists
SPACE STATION DANCE RESIDENCY
JACOB HENSS (he/him) is a dancer, producer, choreographer, and teacher primarily based in the Midwest. He currently works at the University of Illinois (UIUC) as a Teaching Assistant Professor. In the past, he has been an Instructional Professor at Illinois State University, adjunct faculty member at Millikin University since 2020, where he was awarded outstanding adjunct faculty in 2023. He holds an MFA in Dance from UIUC (2019-22) where he was awarded the Vannie L. Sherry Memorial Award for best graduate performer in 2021 & 2022. He is also a graduate of Webster University (2013–17) with a BA in Dance and Music, where he was awarded dance honors and the emerging choreographer award. Henss has performed with the Modern American Dance Company (MADCO), located in St. Louis, MO, where he was a MADCO2 founding member (2017–18) and later an apprentice for the leading company (2018–19). Work post-undergraduate graduation includes becoming the producer and Artistic Director for Space Station Dance Residency, an organization dedicated to presenting experimental dance work in the greater St. Louis area.
PAIGE CUNNINGHAM CALDARELLA joined the Dance at Illinois faculty in 2022 after fifteen years at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. A former member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, she performed internationally at venues including the Joyce Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Barbican Centre, Tate Modern, and Théâtre de la Ville. Following her time with MCDC, Paige performed with Chicago-based company The Seldoms, touring in New York and Russia, and appearing at the Harris Theater and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. She has collaborated with numerous artists, including Onye Ozuzu, Darrell Jones, Emily Stein, Alfonso Cervera, and Timothy Buckley. Her choreography blends contemporary ballet and modern dance forms, challenging binaries and embracing risk, discomfort, and conflict as tools for growth. Her works have been recognized by City Beat Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, and were named among the Dance Top 10 for early 2017. She has received grants from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago Dancemakers Forum, and Illinois Arts Council, and in 2023 was named a Merce Cunningham Trust Fellow and Bearnstow Artist Retreat recipient. Paige has restaged Cunningham’s work for universities and the Cunningham Centennial celebration, Night of 100 Solos. Her teaching has been featured in Dance Teacher Magazine, and she has taught for the Joffrey Ballet Academy and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She is currently performing in Cynthia Oliver / COCo Dance Theater’s Turn, Turning, Turnt. Paige holds a B.F.A. from Juilliard and an M.F.A. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
JOEL K. LINEBACH is an emerging artist and graduate student at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio working on his PhD in macromolecular science & engineering. He graduated in May 2024 with his MFA in contemporary dance and holds a BA in dance and a BS and MS in polymer engineering. He received the 2021 Lily Dreyfuss Memorial Award for Excellence in Dance, the 2022 and 2023 Kathryn Karipedes Scholarship for Modern Dance, the 2024 Naomi Wolin Award for Excellence in New Directions in Dance, and a 2023 Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities Graduate Research Grant. As a performer, he’ danced works by prominent choreographers Larry Keigwin, Janice Rosario, Pam Tanowitz, Bill Wade, and Pascal Rioult including excerpts choreographed by Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Yin Yue, Ronald K. Brown, John Lehrer, and Mark Morris. As a choreographer, Linebach loves combining visceral artistry with technical complexity, creating work that resonates with audience and promotes dialogue on everyday topics. He is heavily inspired by his polymer science background and continues working on finding ways both contemporary dance and polymer science can interweave and bridge together. This past summer, he and Bird Thurman and choreographed "Cairn", a duet which premiered in Cleveland at the Near West Theatre in June and was promptly invited to be performed again at Cain Park Evans Amphitheatre and Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival alongside Inlet Dance Theatre. Most recently, Linebach was promoted to company member for the 2025-2026 season with Inlet Dance Theatre.
MONALI NANDYMAZUMDAR, a research scientist with a doctorate in Microbiology, continues her scientific career in the USA while nurturing a deep passion for Odissi dance, cultivated under the guidance of Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar. She has showcased her artistry in numerous dance festivals across the USA, performing both as a soloist and in ensemble choreographies with her Guru. Committed to continuous growth, Monali refines her skills through regular workshops and training from world-renowned artists. She has also established online practice groups to build a global community of Odissi practitioners, encouraging daily 'sadhana' (spiritual practice). Her academic curiosity about the meaning of dance drives her to engage in theoretical and scholarly dialogues surrounding Odissi. Looking ahead, Monali plans to explore collaborative expressions of Odissi through different dance styles, music, poetry, and painting. With a deep desire to share the beauty of Odissi with a global audience, she is dedicated to empowering herself and others through the transformative power of dance.
JOSIAH GUNDERSEN (he/him) began his dance training at Studio West Dance Academy in Olympia, Washington when he was 15, though he's been dancing his entire life. In 2015 he relocated to St. Louis to attend Webster University where he graduated with a BFA in Modern Dance (2019). Since graduating, Josiah became a founding member of Resilience Dance Company and has collaborated extensively with independent choreographers Emily Duggins and Jacob Henss. He is also a contributing dance writer for St. Louis Dance HQ. When he is not dancing, you can find Josiah exploring different neighborhoods of St. Louis and giving walking history tours for the Missouri History Museum.
CDF 2025 Show 3 Artist - Take Root (Photo Credit: Minty Photography)
TAKE ROOT has performed at the New Dance for Asia International Festival/Seoul, South Korea, Incheon Yeonsu International Dance Festival/Incheon, Korea, Uferstudios/Berlin, Solo/Dueo Festival/NYC, Austin Dance Festival, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Detroit Institute of Arts, National Theater of Costa Rica, Red Bull House of Art/Detroit, TEDx, Detroit Dance City Festival, RADfest, Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, The Music Hall Center for Performing Arts Detroit, Hamlin Field House Theater/Chicago, Northwestern University, Ohio University and at The University of Costa Rica. Ali Woerner (She/Her), Founder/Artistic Director, is Associate Professor of Dance at Oakland University. She received her MFA from the University of Michigan and BFA from Oklahoma City University. Woerner has performed, choreographed and taught all over the world; including Colombia, Costa Rica, Japan, Berlin and Korea. Woerner created two outreach programs Take Root offers in the community; Dance for Parkinson’s Disease Program (DPD) and Arts Education Impact. The company offers weekly DPD classes in five locations, guest lectures for the Graduate Neuro Interventions course at Oakland University. Woerner was a guest host for the National Parkinson’s Movement Disorder webinar, speaker for the Parkinson’s Disease Symposium, Michigan Parkinson’s Facilitator’s Conference, Women in Dance Conference and the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. The Arts Education Impact program works with k-5 children in partnership with Center for Success on the discovery of non-codified movement/music, providing problem solving, confidence and focus.
ALI WOERNER (She/Her) is Associate Professor of Dance at Oakland University and the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the professional dance company, Take Root. She received her MFA from the University of Michigan and BFA from Oklahoma City University. Woerner has performed, choreographed and taught all over the world; including Colombia, Costa Rica, Japan, Berlin and Korea. Take Root has been in residency at the Tanz Tangente in Berlin, Germany; teaching, creating work and performing. The company has performed at the New Dance for Asia International Festival/Seoul, South Korea, Incheon Yeonsu International Dance Festival/Incheon, Korea, Uferstudios/Berlin, Cleveland Dance Fest, White Wave Dance Festival/NYC, Austin Dance Festival, the Detroit Institute of Arts, National Theater of Costa Rica, Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, The Music Hall Center for Performing Arts Detroit. Woerner is the Founder/Director of Take Root’s Dance for Parkinson’s Program, offering daily classes throughout South East Michigan, guest lectures for the Graduate Neuro Interventions course, leads in-services for physical therapists throughout southeast MI., was a guest host for the national Parkinson’s Movement Disorder webinar, speaker for the Parkinson’s Disease Symposium, Michigan Parkinson’s Facilitator’s Conference, Women in Dance Conference and the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Woerner directs Take Root’s Arts Education Impact Outreach program which is in partnership with Center for Success/Pontiac and Detroit and the Detroit Opera House. She created Soulful Steps with Take Root, a monthly class in partnership with Gilda’s Club Detroit, offering space for those to move and connect with others on their cancer journey.