Maxine Steinman & Dancers ~ Biographies

A native of Brooklyn, MAXINE STEINMAN has been presenting her choreography for the past ten years at various venues such as Joyce SoHo, Dance Space, the Dumbo Arts Festival, Teachers College, New Dance Group, Urban Artworks, Ballet Arts, The Limon Institute, The Field, Peridance, the American College Dance Festival, and The 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center, where she is a space grant recipient. She has also been commissioned to create works for Montclair State University, Hofstra University, students at the Limon Institute, and the Ailey School. Internationally, Maxine has been invited to Taiwan, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Japan and Cyprus to teach, choreograph, and perform her work. Maxine's performance credits include Eleo Pomare, Denishawn Repertory Dancers, Mafata Dance Company, Robin Becker, Regina Larkin, Sue Bernhard, Spiritdance, and lecture demonstrations with the Jose Limon Dance Company, among others. In 1994, with a sponsorship by the American Consulate in Seo Paulo, Brazil, Maxine performed a section of "Dances for Isadora" by Jose Limon under the direction of Carla Maxwell. Her extensive associations with the Limon Company and Limon Foundation have made it possible for her to teach the Limon Technique since 1992 at various institutions and in different countries. Maxine currently teaches at the Limon Institute, The Ailey School, Montclair State University, and Hofstra University and has taught previously at Marymount Manhattan College, New York University and Teachers College. For two years, Maxine was the director of LINKS, the Limon Initiative Nurturing Kids program, for the Limon Foundation, and has staged excerpts of A Choreographic Offering by Jose Limon for Alma College and Montclair State University.

Maxine holds a BFA in dance from Adelphi University and an MA degree in dance education from Teachers College Columbia University.

MAXINE STEINMAN & DANCERS was formed in 1996 by Artistic Director and choreographer, Maxine Steinman. Maxine Steinman's work is dedicated to expressing thoughts about the human experience though movement, depicting the inner strengths and weaknesses of people and their relationships to one another. Visually poetic with dreamlike quietness and tender sensuality, her choreography can often be described as evoking strong images, thoughts, and impressions through vulnerable, turbulent, and full bodied movements. Her movement style also reflects her long relationship with the Jose Limon technique.

The company is a mix of international artists coming from the Ukraine, Germany, Japan, and Brazil. In addition, Maxine Steinman & Dancers is inspired by collaborating with other artists (sculptors, musicians, and videographers).

RAYMUNDO COSTA (Dancer/Choreographer) was born in Brazil, where he began His dance training with the dance group Corpo and the Baleteatro Minas. He has danced for the Balo da Cidade de So Paulo, and as a soloist for the Schindowski Ballet in Germany. He performed works by Germaine Acogny, Johann Kresnik, Rodrigo Pederneiras, Oscar Ariaz, and Ohad Naharin among choreographers in Brazil, France, Germany, Israel, Portugal, and Switzerland. In 1995 he was awarded the "So Paulo Art Critics Association Prize" for best dancer, In the United States he participated in the "International Choreographers Residence Program" at the 1997 American Dance Festival in Durham, NC. He teaches and choreographs for the Balo da Cidade de So Paulo and throughout Brazil. Maxine and Raymundo worked together for two years in NY while on leave from the company.

ALFREDO CARDENAS, (Sculptor) born in Brooklyn, NY, holds a BFA degree in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, an MFA Degree in Fine Arts from Brooklyn College, and a certificate of four year study from The Arts Student League. His training also includes study at the School of Visual Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, and with master sculptor Jose de Creeft. Mr. Cardenas is Internationally known for his work, as he has exhibited in galleries in New York City, New Jersey, Newburgh, Yonkers, Rockport, Italy, and Portugal. He has won numerous awards and scholarships in sculpture and was a guest lecturer at Borough of Manhattan Community College and the School of Visual Arts in NY. Alfredo has judged on panels for the Philadelphia Council for the Arts and Audobon Artists. He works in a wide range of mediums from F/X in films to the restoration of monumental sculpture and has a permanent sight specific piece in the Yonkers Symposium Sculpture Park. He has taught at the Sculpture Center, Five Towns Music and Art Foundation, the Education Alliance, and Brooklyn College. Alfredo is currently on faculty at the New Jersey School of Visual Arts, JCC Long Beach, and Westchester Community College. His set design has been shown in collaboration with his wife Maxine Steinman at Montclair State University, Joyce SoHo, The 92nd Street Y, Pace Downtown Theater, and in Brazil and Japan.

TOMOMI IMAI (Dancer) came to New York from Tokyo, where she taught and was a resident member at the Yoshiki Hommma Modern Dance and Ballet Theater. She also performed as a soloist with the Kho Fujii Dance Company and the Dance Deux, which were sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Culture, and the Metropolitan Government of Tokyo. She was a dance member of Tokyo Disneyland and the Tsukuba Expo. Tomomi's choreography has been presented at several theaters in Tokyo and has won awards at the Itabashi National Modern Dance Competition, Akita Modern Dance Competition and grand prizes at both the Kita-Kyushu and Asia National Modern Dance and the Matsudo Art Society Competitions. She dances with the Pi Dance Theater the Dance Imprints (Choreographer Dagmar Spain), Maxine Steinman, and Regina Larkin. She has taught at Adelphi University and at Peridance in New York and currently teaches Pilates. Tomomi has been dancing with Maxine for one year.

VAL LOUKIANOVETS (Dancer) is from the Ukraine where he graduated with honors from the Zhitomir Dance Academy and was named Ukrainian National Ballroom Champion. After a two-year stint in the Army, where he was a leading performer in its Military Dance Ensemble, he continued his studies at the Moscow University of Art with advanced degrees in Performance and Choreography. In 1990, he won first place in the Beliya Sobaka International Jazz Festival. Val has toured Europe & Asia with folk troupes, variety revues, musical (the Russian version of CATS), and with ballets Semenyaka & Co. Since moving to NY he has appeared in cabaret revues staged by Yuri Pototsky and has danced with Christopher Caines Dance Company, Mereminne Dancers (Choreographer Lacy James), John Passafiume Dancers and Joanna Mendl Shaw`s The Equus Projekt / Dancing with Horses. He currently dances with Regina Nejman and Javier Dzul. Val has been dancing with Maxine for two years.

COLUMBINE MACHER (Dancer) has worked with several choreographers in New York, such as Zeeva Cohen, Amanda Miller, Maxine Steinman, Susan Hefner, and with Eleo Pomare (1987-1999). Currently on the faculty at the Ailey School, and Ballet Hispanico, she has also taught at the Limon Institute, at various universities in the United States, and in the Netherlands, Finland and South Korea. Before coming to New York in 1986, she received her dance training at the Folkwang Hochschule in Germany under the direction of Pina Bausch. She holds an M.F.A. from Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Columbine has been dancing with Maxine Steinman for nine years.

DRED SCOTT (Composer) grew up in St. Louis, went to college in Ohio, but it is the San Francisco bay area where he spent most of my life that he will always call home. There he gained a reputation as an innovative and eclectic pianist and multi-instrumentalist. Dred has recorded six self-produced CDs as a leader and have performed on over 20 others. Co-founder of the ground breaking hip-hop jazz group, alphabet soup, Dred also recorded with: Anthony Braxton, Cecil Mcbee, Andrew Cyrille, Joe Morello, Charlie Hunter, Bob Mintzer, Dave Samuels, Don Byron, Paul Mccandless, Marshall Crenshaw and have performed with Zigaboo Modeliste, Steve Smith, Mike Clark, the Paul Dresher Ensemble, Pete Seager, Arlo Guthrie, Norah Jones, Moby, Bob Weir, Joe Henderson, the Berkeley Symphony (Kent Nagano), Ricky Lee Jones, Dave Garibaldi, Larry Schneider, Nina Hagen and Peter Apfelbaum. Dred is now based in New York City and regularly perform with Richard Julian, Jay Collins, Rene Risque and the art lovers, Mudville, Carol Lipnik, Sasha Dobson and his own jazz trio.

MARK TAYLOR (Dancer) originally from Houston, began his career at the University of Texas, where he was a scholarship student of the theater department. While studying theatre, he also trained with Ballet Austin. Soon after, he was recruited for the Houston Ballet who he performed with for 3 yrs. From there, Mark moved to NYC where he has continued to dance with Full Force Dance Theater, Ted Thomas/Frances Ortiz Dance. Mark is a scholarship student at the Paul Taylor School and dances with Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company. He has been dancing with Maxine Steinman for two years.

TOM RUTH (Video Artist) is a Brooklyn based artist currently experimenting with digital video and photography. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Fine Arts in 2000. His work is heavily influenced from observing the oddities entangled in human behavior, performance art and experimental music/sound. He presently is covering a wide range of projects in different art fields with other performance artists, photographers, fashion designers/stylists, make up artists, choreographers, and experimental musicians--resulting in a uniquely specific yet on-going way of collaborating. Tom has exhibited in "Play," Jen Bekman Gallery, New York, Â Space 1026 Group Show- July 2005, Philadephia,Pa, SlideLuck Potshow III, Match artspace, New York, "That Summer Feeling," Wooster Projects, New York, Thesis, Meyerson Gallery, Philadelphia Pa. His video has been featured in The Silent Auction on Moovlab Satellite Dish Television Network, Oct.2005 and in video Stills: from Bloody Teeth video featured in The Urban Edge Show 2005, Space 1026 Catalog, The P4 Milan, Italy (in collab. w/ Liz Rywelski) March 2005. Contact: tom.ruth@mac.com.