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 the Arizona DOE National Content Review Committee for Arts Assessments.

Erin Glockner was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. She began dancing at age twelve studying dance at the Flagstaff School of Ballet and NAU Preparatory Academy and graduated from Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy. She is currently working toward her dance degree at Coconino Community College.  Aside from Canyon Movement Company, she has also belonged to the West African dance troupe Kuma Tunyale and the Isolated Incident performance group. Outside of dancing, she has two beautiful young children and a wonderful and supportive husband.

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, two of her 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.

 

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 third 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.

Amanda Moore has enjoyed choreographing and dancing with Canyon Movement Company for nine 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.

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.

Originally from New Hampshire, Sarah Thomas has been dancing in Flagstaff since the age of 3. She is a graduate of NAU and CCC but is still a student of life. She has studied and recieved honors from the Royal Academy of Ballet through NAU's Prep School, and studied and performed at several American College Dance festivals.She has had the honor and pleasure of dancing with CCC's Encore for 3 years, and is new to Canyon Movement Company. She is currently in love with Flagstaff and the people in it even though she grew up here.

RACHEL THURSTON began dancing at age three at the NAU prep-school, where she trained in the Royal Academy of Dance method. She completed the RAD program through Advanced II with Distinction, which qualified her for the Genee International Ballet Competition. Rachel also has jazz, tap, and modern dance training. She danced at CCC for four years, and was a member of Encore Dance Company, with whom she traveled to Italy to perform in an international dance festival. She is currently a Senior at NAU with a major in Biomedical Science and a minor in Chemistry, and hopes to attend medical school. She joined Canyon Movement Company in 2011, and is loving the opportunity to dance with this amazing group!

 

Cori Wall has been enjoying the art of dance since age two, and been lighting up the stage since age three. She grew up dancing at Darlene Nosworthy's Academy of Dance in Paradise, CA with the D-Nosworthy Dancers, a competing and touring company. At the age of 19, Cori moved to Flagstaff to pursue her AAS degree in dance at Coconino Community College as well as a BBA at Northern Arizona University. Since graduating, she has been busy working, dancing and teaching for Canyon Dance Academy/Canyon Movement Company, Coconino Community College/ENCORE Dance Company, Tippy Toes and Flagstaff High School; Cori is also Founder and Director of Canyon Dance Academy's youth company, Velocity Dance Company.

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, MAD BAD festival in the Bay area, 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, 2008, 2009.

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.

        © 2011 Canyon Movement Company