|
About Us
The Peanut Butter & Jelly Dance Company was founded in 1980
to present performances and programs by adult professional
dancer/teachers for elementary and pre -school-age audiences,
to sponsor concerts directed to the public, and to teach classes
for children and teachers.
The PB&J Dance Company has performed all over the state. They
have presented assembly programs, workshops and residencies
to over 70,000 children in 300 sites around Massachusetts
since 1980. In 1997, the company presented their work at the
'dance and the Child international' conference in Finland,
where they were well received by young dancers and teachers
from around the world. The SMALL FEETS dance company has presented
an annual concert and 30 programs in schools since 1987.
PB&J is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is supported in part
by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. We
have also received grants from the Brookline Council for the
Arts and Humanities. We are also a City of Boston approved
contractor. We can also be found at
matchbook.org. Who's Who In the Company
Jim Banta, a tenth season member of PB&J, has danced locally
for Ballet
Theatre of Boston, Impulse Dance Company, Boston Liturgical
Dance Ensemble,
and most recently with Marjorie Morgan and In Vivo
Productions, Cambridge
Chamber Ballet, Annikai Dance Company, and Ballet Arts
Winchester. Jim thinks
Spiderman is really cool.
Paul Kafka-Gibbons has danced with PB&J since a lively
audition in September
‘97, when both Paul and Jim were taken into the company. In
the ten years
since, they have merged their identities until they are one
man -part
tortoise, part hare -and nary a head of hair between them.
Paul’s favorite
color is blue. He dances in his living room with his family.
He also dances
with Joe Burgio in an improvisational duo É/Emu, with the
Dadallamas, a
multimedia performance group, and with fellow Peanut, Lynn
Frederickson. Paul
also writes novels and book reviews. His work can be found
and downloaded for
free at www.kafka-gibbons.net.
Lynn Frederiksen is West Indian, from St. Croix, USVI. She
grew up on a small
farm, dodging thorn bushes and shepherdess duties to dance
in the pastures.
For reasons unknown, she sought a change of climate and
attended college in
Massachusetts, obtaining a BA in Biology and an MA in
Environmental Studies
from Clark University. She worked for the Mass. Dept. of
Water Resources, but
dance kept nagging her, so she abandoned the rivers for an
MFA from Smith
College, and embarked on a life in the arts. She is married
to a playwright and
teacher, with whom she artistically collaborates on school
musicals. She also
collaborates with other local artists, and researches how
dance illuminates the
role of bipedalism in the evolution of human learning. She
has given presentations
based on this "Brain on Legs" topic at national conferences.
She is delighted to
be part of the sandwich.
Danielle Houck-Nino was born and raised in Miami, FL and
began dancing as a
toddler. She studied at Alvin Ailey and graduated from Tisch
School of the
Arts at NYU. She recently moved from NY to Boston after
finishing a contract
with Norwegian Cruise Lines. She has performed with
choreographers Mark Dendy,
Doug Varone, and Perry Farrel from Jane’s Addiction, and
toured with “Sesame
Street Live.” Danielle has worked off-Broadway and in
TV/film in “American
Gangster”, “Rescue Me”, and “The Enchanted”. She also does
commercial
work—most recently a photo shoot for the new cover of the
board game “Clue.”
(She is the new Mrs. White!) Danielle is certified in
Pilates, Yoga and
personal training. She looks forward to her adventures in
Boston.
Erin Pellecchia, Administrator & Assistant Teacher, has
transplanted herself
to Boston from New Jersey, after completing a postgraduate
degree in Cultural
Management in London. She dances for several choreographers
in the Boston
area, and works as an Administrator for “e”inc., an
environmental nonprofit.
She is expert at keeping Jeanne organized and all the kids
want to sit next to
her in the warm-up circle in the PB&J Dance Classes for
Kids.
Jeanne Traxler, Director, was an original founder of the PB&J
Dance Company in
Cincinnati, Ohio in 1976 and in Massachusetts in 1980. She
teaches PB&J Dance
Classes for Kids and co-directs the SMALL FEETS dance
company. Jeanne is also
involved in dance and the Child international, an
organization whose mission
is to increase and develop opportunities for young people to
experience dance
as creators, performers, and spectators throughout the
world. She is the USA
Chapter National Treasurer and has taught for daCi at the
international
meeting in Finland in 1997 and at two National Dance
Education Organization
(NDEO) conferences. She is also a founding member and on the
organizing
committee of the Children’s Dance Festival, an annual day of
dance workshops
and performances for and by children. Jeanne has taught
workshops for all of
the Dance Across the City days and at the Wang Theater’s
Artropolis program.
She has also choreographed six elementary school musicals in
Brookline, for
one of which, she collaborated on lyrics for the original
music. While growing
up, Jeanne ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch
every day for 14
years!
|
