‘SPEAKING DANCE WISE’ #3 is part of a series of roundtable discussions providing opportunities for seasoned Tompkins County movement artists, ‘elders’, to share their knowledge and experience through conversations and presentations rooted in 20th and 21st century practices, expressions, and aesthetic shifts over multiple decades. The third ‘roundtable’ focuses on the work of featured guests; dancer/activist Gladys Brangman, dancer/teacher Janice Kovar, and teacher /choreographer Amanda Moretti.
Gladys Brangman has been teaching Hip Hop for the last 20 plus years having worked at the Trumansburg Dance Studio (with the amazing Lucille McGill), Jill Reeners School of Dance and Performing Arts and most recently at Jen X Academy of Dance. She has had award winning dance teams that made it to national competitions. Gladys has taken a break from dance since the pandemic but is looking forward to getting back in the studio and becoming active in the local dance scene again.

Janice Kovar, a long time Ithaca resident, has been fortunate to pursue her passion for dance within the upstate community. She has had a rewarding career studying, observing, choreographing, teaching, and performing modern dance. Over a lifetime, she has literally exposed well over 3,500 students to the joy of movement.

Amanda Moretti is a choreographer and dance teacher living in Ithaca for the past 18 years. She studied at Naropa Institute and York University. Her latest choreography, “Tundra,” was performed at Winterdance 2023 by the Ithaca Ballet Company.

Guests will be addressing questions about their beginnings, middle careers, and where they are now, as well as thoughts about the current “state of the art,” and what to look for in the future. Dancer/choreographers Kathy Lucas and Jim Self will be moderating.

Kathy Lucas is a dancer, choreographer, and unconventional fitness trainer with over 30 years’ experience in movement arts. She is a co-founder and collaborator of 5 Sisters Performing Arts, Ithaca NY where she teaches several fusion-style dance classes and facilitates monthly meetups of movement and storytelling through grief and loss. She graduated with a theatre and dance focus from SUNY Brockport, and locally, Kathy has produced, choreographed, and performed in several music and dance projects.

Jim Self, described as a “post-modern bad boy” and a “uniquely eccentric artist,” by the Village Voice works in dance, painting, performance, writing, and installation. A New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) winner, and Cornell dance faculty from 1989- 2014, he has been a member of the New York State DanceForce since 2007 and created June Dance at the Cherry.

“SPEAKING DANCE WISE: roundtable reflections with Tompkins County long term dancers, movers and shakers” is made possible with funds from the NYS DanceForce, a partnership program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.