Gina B. Darlington is the executive director of Canyon Movement Company and Canyon Dance Academy. Gina has traveled to Ireland, Italy, and the Southwest where she and the company performed for and taught hundreds of people. She has performed in dance companies in Utah, Missouri, Nebraska, and Arizona. She has been an Artist-in Residence for Arizona where she conducted numerous residencies. Gina is on faculty at Coconino Community College and has been a guest teacher at the American College Dance Festival. She recently choreographed for NAU Theater including “Rivals” and “The Grapes of Wrath.” She received her dance degree from BYU. Gina served on the Arizona Department of Education (DOE) Committee to re-write the Arts Standards in 2005-06, and is currently on the Arizona DOE National Content Review Committee for Arts Assessments. Gina keeps busy with family including her grand-daughter and brand new grand-son.

Cynthia Dewell Ahlers’ professional career in New York City led her to dance in the companies of the contemporary choreographers Jennifer Muller/The Works, Ralph Lemon, Hannah Kahn, Zvi Gotheiner, Neta Pulvermacher, Anthony Morgan, Judith Garay, and Jody Oberfelder, with whom she was invited to perform at Paul Newman’s “Hole in the Wall Gang” camp. She was active in the non-profit organization, Dancers Responding to AIDS, and performed and choreographed for their fundraisers, including “The Remember Project” at Dance Space. Ms. Ahlers made her Broadway debut at the Shubert Theater in “Nothing Like a Dame” (‘98 & ’99), a benefit for the Actor’s Fund of America. Her work has been commissioned, and she has received space grants and awards for her teaching and choreography. Ms. Ahlers and her four children (Jake, Hannah, Brita & Luke) moved from NYC to Flagstaff on December 31, 2001. In Flagstaff, Ms. Ahlers has taught at Northern Arizona University, Coconino Community College, Canyon Dance Academy, Flagstaff Athletic Club, Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy, and more. Ms. Ahlers also teaches Pilates and dance at her private studio.

Amanda Kapp has enjoyed dancing with Canyon Movement Company since 1995 and became a member of the Company in 2000. She has performed in many productions including The Quiltings, Hanging in the Balance, Ephemeral Architecture, and the Vertical Relief performance Paradigm Shift. Thus far, her two choreographic efforts, including Falling Water Too, have involved copious amounts of water and extensive stage cleanup. She looks forward to dancing more with Canyon Movement and future choreographic projects.




Barbara Klimowski earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Theatre and Dance, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama and English Education from the University of Wyoming. She then earned a Master of Science degree in Counseling with a major area of study in the unique needs of dance majors. Post college, Barbara has enjoyed choreographing and performing with several regional dance groups and has taught master classes in dance as it relates to worship arts. She was owner/director of the Prima School of Dancing, in Rapid City, South Dakota, where she taught ballet, modern, jazz, tap, and musical theatre to kids from 2 to 92 years of age. Barbara relocated to Flagstaff four years ago. This is her fifth season with CMC. She is an associate faculty member at Coconino Community College. She has three great kids and a really groovy husband.

Jayne Lee has choreographed more than 100 dances for companies worldwide. Trained as a dancer in London and at Julliard, she danced and choreographed for London Contemporary Dance Theatre for 10 years and toured internationally. Jayne co-founded and co-directs both Human Nature Dance Theatre and Canyon Movement Company. Jayne is an associate faculty member at Coconino Community College and she choreographs regularly for NAU’s theatre department. Jayne is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner® with a private practice in Flagstaff. She has served on the board of Grand Canyon River Guides and still works on the river in the summers.

Amanda Moore has enjoyed choreographing and dancing with Canyon Movement Company for eight years. She danced through high school, increasing her interest and technique while receiving her Bachelor's in Psychology at the University of New Mexico. When she moved to Flagstaff in 1997, she created "Tippy Toes" Children's Creative Dance program, which still continues to fill her weeks with incredible classes full of imaginative dancers. She hopes to bring a new flavor to her movement with Canyon Movement Company as she is now a proud mama of a beautiful little girl.

Kristi Long currently teaches drama, dance, and Pilates at CHS and Full Circle Pilates. She is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys spending time with her dogs and her incredibly supportive partner Wade. This is her second year dancing in "Nutcracker". She is one of the newest members of Canyon Movement Company. When not in the dance studio, Kristi enjoys being outside with her four dogs and her incredibly supportive partner, Wade.

Melissa McMaster began dancing at a very young age and found her passion for modern dance while attending Utah State University where she danced and taught for several years. While taking a break from Utah, she danced in Albuquerque with the Keshet Dance Company and performed at the University of New Mexico. After college she spent some time in Bozeman, Montana where she and six other women formed a dance collective performing at local venues. Currently she is working on her master's in forestry at NAU and enjoying the time spent dancing; thinking less linearly and more creatively.

Samantha Lyn began dancing when she was four and was instantly in love. She trained and became an instructor by the time she was 17. Samantha studied Theatre Arts at Brock University (St. Catharines, Ontario). While there, she co-founded a company, Seven Foot Women, and co-created a physical theatre/performance art piece called Peel My Skin, which toured the Fringe circuit in Canada. She ended up in Vancouver where she studied dance at MainDance Projects Society as well as theatre arts at the renowned Studio 58. Before giving birth to her beautiful son, Noah, Samantha began creating original works of her own which were produced throughout Vancouver. Samantha received and took part in a small residency in the summer of 2003 at Studio 303 in Montreal to begin creation of a new piece to be titled For Lori. She is so grateful and appreciative for this opportunity to dance with CMC and the beautiful women here.

Kristen McBride (emeritus) is a founding member of Canyon Movement Company. She has danced with several modern dance companies and choreographers: Funhouse Movement Theater, Semaphor, ZUZI! Move IT!, and Liz Casebolt and Carly Condor. She was a guest choreographer for "Poetry in Motion" in Wexford, Ireland in 1997. Kristen received a Masters in Range Science and Management from the U of A in 2001 and now works with her husband Scotty for the Tonto National Forest. Kristen has taken the last year off from dancing to focus on her 3 year old son Liam Scott.

History of Canyon Movement Company (CMC):

CMC was established in April of 1993, and was incorporated in July of 1995. CMC has produced and performed in numerous venues in the past 15 years. We have an annual Spring Concert, we work in the schools through lecture/demonstrations and residencies, and travel throughout the region. Our project, "The Quiltings", a dance interpreting women and quilts of the pioneer migrations" (2000) has been toured throughout the region. CMC traveled to Cesena, Italy to perform in a festival in June 2004.

CMC completed a residency in Wexford, Ireland in October 1996. The company conducted lecture/demonstrations, performances, and community classes during a 16 day tour. They concluded with a fringe event performance at the Wexford Festival Opera. CMC worked again in Wexford Ireland in 2006. Myriad Dance of Ireland were guests at DanCelebration in June 2005, and June 2006, and CMC traveled to perform again in Ireland in April 2006.

CMC is listed as a company on the Arizona Commission on the Arts roster for community and school based residencies through 2008. http://www.azarts.gov/roster_display.asp?namekey=80&Submit=Go
Director Gina Darlington is an instructor of modern dance at Coconino Community College.

Prior to incorporation, the company traveled to Aspen, Colorado in March of 1994 to participate in a residency and performance. They taught 300 students in public and private schools. They have also performed for residencies and lecture demonstrations in Flagstaff Unified Public Schools, charter schools, Tuba City schools, and Grand Canyon Schools. The company was commissioned by international conductor Maestro Irwin Hoffman to perform with the Flagstaff Festival of the Arts Orchestra in 1994, and was asked back in 1995 and 1996. CMC and it's director have received grants from the City of Flagstaff since 1992. CMC also received funding from the Arizona Commission on the Arts. CMC frequently collaborates with other artists including choreographers, musicians, sculptors, visual artists and writers/poets. The company has performed in numerous venues including Wheeler Park in Flagstaff, NAU, outdoors at Lowell Observatory, Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Coconino Center for the Arts, Las Vegas, the Kerr Center at ASU in Scottsdale, The Herberger Theater in Phoenix, Pima Community College in Tucson, and Tuacahn Center for the Arts in St. George, Utah. The company has performed with Arizona Contemporary Dance Festival from 1996- 2003, 2006.

© 2006 Canyon Movement Company