JERRY OPDENAKER comes from Philadelphia Pa. and is a graduate from the University of the Arts.  During his 22-year dancing career, he worked as a principal company member for ballet companies such as Pennsylvania Ballet, Kansas City Ballet and Ballet Florida.  During the years spent in these companies, he worked with some of the world’s greatest choreographers working in the field of dance.  At Ballet Florida he was instrumental in the development, creativity and educational components of STEP Ahead, Ballet Florida’s choreographic workshop.  Serving as the Director, he propelled the program into the eyes of the National Endowment for the Arts, which awarded the Access to Artistic Excellence Grant twice and was declared a “Jewel of the Palm Beaches” in 2004.  That workshop afforded him the opportunity to express and discover his true passion, choreography.  His awarding winning “Coeur de Basque” began its life there. Since then he had been commissioned for new works such as, “Idyllic Realm” and “Bliss” for Ballet Florida and “From a Distant Wind” and “Bailame” for Ballet Gamonet.  Jerry had the incredible privilege to participate in the Ballet builders 2003, New York City Ballet’s 2005 Choreographic Institute and the National Choreographic Initiative 2007, in California. He has also choreographed for the Milwaukee Ballet, McKnight Foundation in Minnesota, Seanik Arts in Miami, Infinite Movement Ever Evolving in California, and the Florida Grand Opera’s production of Lakme. He is very proud to be the Discipline Coordinator of Dance for the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, YoungArts program. He has also developed a new company in Palm Beach County called O Dance, which had its inaugural first performance at the Duncan Theatre in February 2010.

MAURICE CAUSEY is an American-born European-based artist. His first professional contract with the Cleveland Ballet in Ohio directed by Dennis Nahat. In 1985 he moved to Philadelphia to join the Pennsylvania Ballet directed by Ricky Weiss, where he stayed three years, his last year being a joint venture with the Milwaukee Ballet from 1987-88. From 1988-1991 Maurice moved on to Toronto, Canada, joining the ranks of the National Ballet of Canada.

During his time with Cleveland Ballet and Pennsylvania/Milwaukee Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, Maurice performed leading roles in both the contemporary and classical repertoire, while dancing with National Ballet of Canada in 1990 Maurice won the Silver Medal Award by the New York Film Festival for best actor in the dance film “Lights Edge” by Donald Dawson.

From 1991-1999 Maurice was a Principal Dancer with Ballet Frankfurt dancing almost the entire Forsythe repertoire. During his eight-year stay with the company he developed knowledge working with improvisational skills developed by Forsythe and the dancers of Ballet Frankfurt, co-choreographing such works as Eidos Telos, Sleepers guts, As a Garden in this setting and Alien Action.

After leaving Ballet Frankfurt in 1999, he moved north to Scandinavia. From 1999-2002 he was a Principal Dancer with the Gothenburg Ballet in Sweden, dancing new and innovative work by choreographers such as Wayne McGregor, Jacopo Godani and Tero Saarinen. After three years in Gothenburg, Maurice, at the age of 36, decided to make the decision to retire as a full-time dancer and was offered the position of Ballet Master for the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm.

From 2002-2003 he was Ballet Master with the Royal Swedish Ballet, training the dancers and assisting such choreographers as Natalia Markova for Giselle, Beryl Grey for Sleeping Beauty, and Alexei Ratmansky for his creation of Firebird. He was also responsible for William Forsythe's Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Sir Frederick Ashton’s Scene de Ballet and Kristof Pastor’s In light and Shadow.

From 2004 to the present, he is Ballet Master for one of the world's leading dance companies, the Netherlands Dance Theatre 1. He has assisted choreographers for original works by Jorma Elo, Alexander Ekman, Jacopo Godani, Crystal Pite, Tero Saarinen, Wayne McGregor, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon. He had his premiere with NDT as a choreographer in May of 2008, for which he was nominated for the best Dutch Dance Production for 2008 for his work “Mood Swings.”

Throughout his dance career Maurice has choreographed for schools and various workshops in the companies he danced and for Galas in Prague, Korea, Sweden and Germany. He was commissioned in 2003 to make an original work for the company Stockholm 59 North which was entitled “My Fleeting Visions” to critical success. He has also choreographed and danced for Sony music in Germany for the pop group Da Boogie and various American and German television projects including Thomas Gottschalk’s "Wetten, dass…?"

Maurice is also a freelance teacher for schools and various companies in Europe such as Ballet Frankfurt, Cullberg Ballet, Netherlands Dance Theatre 1 and 2, Hanover Ballet, Random Dance Company, Carte Blanche, Wiesbaden Ballet and the Royal Swedish Ballet. 

LINDSEY MCGILL, born in Houston, Texas, began her dance training under Elizabeth and Rosemary Molak in Orange County, California, and continued at the Houston Ballet Academy under the direction of Ben Stevenson, Clara Cravey and Priscilla Nathan Murphy.  Since graduating from the Houston Ballet Academy in 2001, Lindsey has danced with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company 2, Hope Stone Dance, Infinite Movement Ever Evolving, and Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble.  Lindsey was also a founding member of Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, where she served as Assistant to the Artistic Director for the 2007-2008 season.  She has also had many unique opportunities to work with a spectrum of companies, individual artists, musicians, and visual artists, including Two Star Symphony, Jhon R. Stronks, Leslie Scates, Freneticore, Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theater, Atton Paul and Core Trio’s Thomas Helton and Seth Paynter. Lindsey was voted Reader’s Choice Best Dancer in 2006 for the Houston Press’ annual “Best of Houston…” series.  In addition, artistic directors and dancers awarded her the 2007 Buffy Award for Best Performing Artist in Houston 2005-2007.  Lindsey began her choreographic endeavors in 2004 and since then has created works for the Big Range Dance Festival, the multimedia company Freneticore, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater’s E_merging, DiverseWorks' 12 Minutes Max series, and the first Annual Fringe Festival.  This is Lindsey’s sixth season dancing with Hope Stone Dance, where she also works as studio manager, and ballet instructor for Hope Stone, Inc.

Choreographers of O Dance April 2, 2011

JERRY OPDENAKER, MAURICE CAUSEY, SPENCER GAVIN HERING,

              ANDREA DAWN SHELLEY, LINDSEY MCGILL, 

                                  KASSI ABREU (winner of the National Society of Arts and Letters choreography competition) 

                                 JEREMY COACHMAN (winner of The Next O Wave Choreography Competition)

Dancers of O Dance April 2, 2011

Tina Martin, Paul Thrussell,  Hiroko Sakakibara, Simon Silva,

                Cristian Laverdé, Lindsey McGill, Spencer Gavin Hering, Andrea Dawn Shelley,

                                          Shannon Smith, Trina Jennings, Mauricio Canete, Viky Smith, Alex Dutko, Kassi Abreu

Production Manager for O Dance April 2, 2011

Tracie Woods, Albert Mathers

Lighting Designers for O Dance April 2, 2011

Heidi Fleming, Brittany Shearin, Chris Esterline, Tracie Woods

Jo Anna Zolano