Artist bio:
Paula Higa is a Brazilian-born American choreographer who has been dancing, teaching, and performing for over 35 years in both Brazil and the USA. She is currently an Assistant Professor and Resident Choreographer in the School of the Arts - Dance Program at the University of Vermont. She holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Brazil.
She has produced and directed dance films, created original choreographies, and performed nationally and internationally as a soloist and with her dance company, PH Dance.
She has received several grants, including the NEFA - New England Dance Fund Grant, UVM - Coor Collaborative Fellows Award, Vermont Arts Council, and Vermont Community Foundation Grant, to name a few. She has also won awards in Europe, and North and South America. Her recent film "The Migrant Body" won the Best Choreography award at the Canadian Experimental, Dance, & Music Film Festival, the Jury Special Mention at Spain’s Festival Girona en Moviment, and the Audience Award at ARFF Berlin in Germany.
Paula has collaborated with and performed for renowned artists in the U.S., Europe, and Brazil.
Artistic statement:
I am a dance maker who believes that choreography is a form of research. My artistic interest lies in exploring themes that emerge at the intersection of dance and visual arts. My works are rooted in feminism and aim to shed light on discriminatory issues that persist in our society. Through my art, I seek to amplify the voices of underrepresented groups and encourage my audience to reflect on the power inequalities, gender hierarchies, and patriarchal structures that shape our world. In my creative process, I investigate the relationship between body, movement, and narrative, and use this information to create sophisticated yet provocative dances. I am a firm believer in the transformative power of the arts.
Paula Higa
Paula Higa is a Brazilian-born American choreographer who has been dancing, teaching, and performing for over 35 years in both Brazil and the USA. She is currently an Assistant Professor and Resident Choreographer in the School of the Arts - Dance Program at the University of Vermont. She holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Brazil.
She has produced and directed dance films, created original choreographies, and performed nationally and internationally as a soloist and with her dance company, PH Dance.
She has received several grants, including the NEFA - New England Dance Fund Grant, UVM - Coor Collaborative Fellows Award, Vermont Arts Council, and Vermont Community Foundation Grant, to name a few. She has also won awards in Europe, and North and South America. Her recent film "The Migrant Body" won the Best Choreography award at the Canadian Experimental, Dance, & Music Film Festival, the Jury Special Mention at Spain’s Festival Girona en Moviment, and the Audience Award at ARFF Berlin in Germany.
Paula has collaborated with and performed for renowned artists in the U.S., Europe, and Brazil.
Artistic statement:
I am a dance maker who believes that choreography is a form of research. My artistic interest lies in exploring themes that emerge at the intersection of dance and visual arts. My works are rooted in feminism and aim to shed light on discriminatory issues that persist in our society. Through my art, I seek to amplify the voices of underrepresented groups and encourage my audience to reflect on the power inequalities, gender hierarchies, and patriarchal structures that shape our world. In my creative process, I investigate the relationship between body, movement, and narrative, and use this information to create sophisticated yet provocative dances. I am a firm believer in the transformative power of the arts.
Paula Higa
Collaborators
Owen Belton - Composer
Owen Belton lives in Vancouver, Canada and graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in Fine and Performing Art. His studies included acoustic, electroacoustic and computer music composition, film sound and dance. He has been writing music for dance for the last 25 years and been working with many different choreographers including Crystal Pite, Matjash Mrozewski, Goyo Montero and Edgar Zendejas. Dance companies he has created scores for include The Stuttgart Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Nederlands Dans Theatre, Ballet Nuremberg, The Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera and Kidd Pivot. Owen also creates sound design and composition for theatre and has scored several short films, tv movies and documentaries, as well as Uninterrupted, a large outdoor projection installation that was presented throughout the summer of 2017 in Vancouver. In 2009, Owen won a Dora Mavor Moore award for best original score for Emergence, which was created with Crystal Pite for the National Ballet of Canada.
Owen Belton lives in Vancouver, Canada and graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in Fine and Performing Art. His studies included acoustic, electroacoustic and computer music composition, film sound and dance. He has been writing music for dance for the last 25 years and been working with many different choreographers including Crystal Pite, Matjash Mrozewski, Goyo Montero and Edgar Zendejas. Dance companies he has created scores for include The Stuttgart Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Nederlands Dans Theatre, Ballet Nuremberg, The Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera and Kidd Pivot. Owen also creates sound design and composition for theatre and has scored several short films, tv movies and documentaries, as well as Uninterrupted, a large outdoor projection installation that was presented throughout the summer of 2017 in Vancouver. In 2009, Owen won a Dora Mavor Moore award for best original score for Emergence, which was created with Crystal Pite for the National Ballet of Canada.
Debra Weisberg - Sculptor/Installation Artist
Weisberg was recently awarded a Golden Foundation Residency award and a Denbo Fellowship at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center where she explored papermaking and printmaking. She has been the recipient of several Somerville Arts Council Artist Fellowships as well as a Mass Cultural Council award in Drawing. A 22’ long installation was commissioned by Facebook’s Cambridge Office. She has attended artist residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Blue Mountain Art Center and CanSerrat, outside Barcelona.
She has shown at Paper Biennial in the Netherlands; Art in General; East Hampton Center for Contemporary Art; Danforth Art Museum; DeCordova Museum; Gallery Kayafas; Westbeth Gallery; Mills Gallery; Five Points Gallery; Boston Center for the Arts; Rose Art Museum; VanDernoot Gallery; Catamount Arts. Her works have been collected by the Sonesta Hotel, General Hardware Manufacturing, Simmons College and Meditech Corporation.
Weisberg is presently on the faculty of Boston College. She has lectured internationally on the preservations of the senses in the digital age and its educational implications in the digital age. Iterations of her talk, Material Drawing:Exploration and Connectivity, was presented at MIT, Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, University College in London and the Broad Institute.
Weisberg was recently awarded a Golden Foundation Residency award and a Denbo Fellowship at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center where she explored papermaking and printmaking. She has been the recipient of several Somerville Arts Council Artist Fellowships as well as a Mass Cultural Council award in Drawing. A 22’ long installation was commissioned by Facebook’s Cambridge Office. She has attended artist residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Blue Mountain Art Center and CanSerrat, outside Barcelona.
She has shown at Paper Biennial in the Netherlands; Art in General; East Hampton Center for Contemporary Art; Danforth Art Museum; DeCordova Museum; Gallery Kayafas; Westbeth Gallery; Mills Gallery; Five Points Gallery; Boston Center for the Arts; Rose Art Museum; VanDernoot Gallery; Catamount Arts. Her works have been collected by the Sonesta Hotel, General Hardware Manufacturing, Simmons College and Meditech Corporation.
Weisberg is presently on the faculty of Boston College. She has lectured internationally on the preservations of the senses in the digital age and its educational implications in the digital age. Iterations of her talk, Material Drawing:Exploration and Connectivity, was presented at MIT, Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, University College in London and the Broad Institute.
Haley Bradstreet - Production Manager, Dancer
Haley began her dance training in her home state of New Jersey with a focus in ballet since age four. She continued her training attending summer intensives with The Rock School, Saratoga Summer Dance, and The Mercyhurst Dance Experience. Haley graduated from Mercyhurst University cum laude with a BA in Dance and a minor in Arts Administration. While at Mercyhurst she taught open ballet classes, performed with the Lake Erie Ballet Company, and played Carmen in Sweet Charity. A versatile artist, Haley has also performed as an actress at the Off-Broadstreet Theatre in Black Tie (Elsie) and The Fantasticks (The Mute).
In 2013, Haley moved to Philadelphia where she taught the members of Penn Ballet at the University of Pennsylvania, and within both the ballet and theatre departments at the Philadelphia Dance Academy. She has performed with Beyond Dance Company, Reverie Dance Theatre, and Rock en Pointe. Haley was the Programing Manager of the Koresh Dance Company from 2013-2016, after managing the inaugural Come Together Dance Festival that has since become a staple program for emerging and established dance companies in Philadelphia. She now takes her administrative skills to PH Dance as the Production Manager and company dancer, while teaching ballet at various studios throughout Vermont. She joined the company in 2016.
Haley began her dance training in her home state of New Jersey with a focus in ballet since age four. She continued her training attending summer intensives with The Rock School, Saratoga Summer Dance, and The Mercyhurst Dance Experience. Haley graduated from Mercyhurst University cum laude with a BA in Dance and a minor in Arts Administration. While at Mercyhurst she taught open ballet classes, performed with the Lake Erie Ballet Company, and played Carmen in Sweet Charity. A versatile artist, Haley has also performed as an actress at the Off-Broadstreet Theatre in Black Tie (Elsie) and The Fantasticks (The Mute).
In 2013, Haley moved to Philadelphia where she taught the members of Penn Ballet at the University of Pennsylvania, and within both the ballet and theatre departments at the Philadelphia Dance Academy. She has performed with Beyond Dance Company, Reverie Dance Theatre, and Rock en Pointe. Haley was the Programing Manager of the Koresh Dance Company from 2013-2016, after managing the inaugural Come Together Dance Festival that has since become a staple program for emerging and established dance companies in Philadelphia. She now takes her administrative skills to PH Dance as the Production Manager and company dancer, while teaching ballet at various studios throughout Vermont. She joined the company in 2016.
Cal Hopwood - Cinematography Director
Cal Hopwood is a life-long Vermont based Film/Video Director & Cinematographer. From television/online advertising & commercials, to feature and short films, documentary and event highlight/recap videos; He has experience on a wide range of projects in scope and subject matter. In addition to freelancing as a media professional for the past decade, he obtained a Masters in Fine Arts with a focus in entertainment education which helps inform the intention and design outcomes when producing media, as well as the curriculum for the classes he teaches as an adjunct faculty at Champlain College. When he isn't in the classroom or collaborating on a variety of media projects, you can find him meditating, practicing yoga, getting his hands dirty in the garden, playing with his dogs, herding chickens around the yard, and continuing to develop a homestead in Monkton, VT.
Cal Hopwood is a life-long Vermont based Film/Video Director & Cinematographer. From television/online advertising & commercials, to feature and short films, documentary and event highlight/recap videos; He has experience on a wide range of projects in scope and subject matter. In addition to freelancing as a media professional for the past decade, he obtained a Masters in Fine Arts with a focus in entertainment education which helps inform the intention and design outcomes when producing media, as well as the curriculum for the classes he teaches as an adjunct faculty at Champlain College. When he isn't in the classroom or collaborating on a variety of media projects, you can find him meditating, practicing yoga, getting his hands dirty in the garden, playing with his dogs, herding chickens around the yard, and continuing to develop a homestead in Monkton, VT.
Matthew Binginot - Visual Design Director
I am a designer, producer, and lover of all forms of media creativity. I am especially drawn towards photography, music, film, and graphic design, although I am always seeking new forms of creative expression and form. Even though I can't make up my mind about a specific path to pursue as an artist, every day I am filled with new inspirations, ideas, and creative energy that I devote myself to fulfilling. I'm learning more about my crafts of creativity every day, and will document some of my creations each step of the journey!
When I'm not producing my own media art, I'm teaching a program called Digital Media Arts program at the Central Vermont Career Center. It is one of the most rewarding jobs I could ever ask for; each day, I get to inspire young artists to be creative and show them new ways to practice their passions!
Visit Matt's Website
I am a designer, producer, and lover of all forms of media creativity. I am especially drawn towards photography, music, film, and graphic design, although I am always seeking new forms of creative expression and form. Even though I can't make up my mind about a specific path to pursue as an artist, every day I am filled with new inspirations, ideas, and creative energy that I devote myself to fulfilling. I'm learning more about my crafts of creativity every day, and will document some of my creations each step of the journey!
When I'm not producing my own media art, I'm teaching a program called Digital Media Arts program at the Central Vermont Career Center. It is one of the most rewarding jobs I could ever ask for; each day, I get to inspire young artists to be creative and show them new ways to practice their passions!
Visit Matt's Website
Er Raff - Dancer
Er has been dancing and performing since the age of 3. They are trained in various forms of dance, theater, and vocal training through Bedford Youth Performing Company and Southern New Hampshire Dance Theater. They also completed a dance minor at The University of Vermont (UVM) and performed in yearly performances and site specific work throughout their college career where they had the opportunity to work with various choreographers from throughout the country. Er has participated in and had work shown in the American College Dance Festival Association conferences. Through the UVM dance program they also performed and participated in a dance exchange in China. Er has performed with Bryce Dance Company, Spielpalast Cabaret, and Dream City Dance Company in the past, and is currently participating in a new dance troupe called merde!. Er also offers dance classes through their business Deep Dance, where they help people deconstruct and take a deeper look at pieces of life through guided improvisational movement.
Er has been dancing and performing since the age of 3. They are trained in various forms of dance, theater, and vocal training through Bedford Youth Performing Company and Southern New Hampshire Dance Theater. They also completed a dance minor at The University of Vermont (UVM) and performed in yearly performances and site specific work throughout their college career where they had the opportunity to work with various choreographers from throughout the country. Er has participated in and had work shown in the American College Dance Festival Association conferences. Through the UVM dance program they also performed and participated in a dance exchange in China. Er has performed with Bryce Dance Company, Spielpalast Cabaret, and Dream City Dance Company in the past, and is currently participating in a new dance troupe called merde!. Er also offers dance classes through their business Deep Dance, where they help people deconstruct and take a deeper look at pieces of life through guided improvisational movement.
Lily Brown - Dancer
Lily Brown began dancing at the age of 10 in Jericho VT, where she explored ballet, lyrical, jazz, and hip hop. In 2017 & 2018 Lily attended the Ailey School summer intensive. She was then accepted into their year round training program (18’-19’) with a full scholarship, and moved to NYC to continue her dance and high school education. After graduating high school in 2019, Lily was accepted into the Ailey School’s professional division and just recently graduated from the two year Scholarship program in May 2021. Currently Lily is back home in VT training, teaching, and choreographing.
Lily Brown began dancing at the age of 10 in Jericho VT, where she explored ballet, lyrical, jazz, and hip hop. In 2017 & 2018 Lily attended the Ailey School summer intensive. She was then accepted into their year round training program (18’-19’) with a full scholarship, and moved to NYC to continue her dance and high school education. After graduating high school in 2019, Lily was accepted into the Ailey School’s professional division and just recently graduated from the two year Scholarship program in May 2021. Currently Lily is back home in VT training, teaching, and choreographing.
Carolyn Connor - Dancer
Carolyn's love for dancing started at age five in Bethesda, Maryland and only grew when she moved up to Burlington, VT to attend school at the University of Vermont. She graduated in 2015 with a minor in Dance and proud accomplishments, such as presenting her choreography to the American College Dance Association festivals and UVM’s Dancing Uphill. She continues to dance in the Vermont area as a dance instructor at Studio 3 in Colchester, VT. Carolyn joined PH Dance in 2016.
Carolyn's love for dancing started at age five in Bethesda, Maryland and only grew when she moved up to Burlington, VT to attend school at the University of Vermont. She graduated in 2015 with a minor in Dance and proud accomplishments, such as presenting her choreography to the American College Dance Association festivals and UVM’s Dancing Uphill. She continues to dance in the Vermont area as a dance instructor at Studio 3 in Colchester, VT. Carolyn joined PH Dance in 2016.
Candace Fugazy - Dancer
Candace began dancing at the age of 3 in Philadelphia. She formed dance in VT in 1990 at Goddard College and then began dancing at CYFS in 1994. Since then she has danced with The VT Dance Collective under the direction of Maris Wolff and was a cast member of Dear Pina under the direction of Hannah Danison. Candace joined PH Dance in 2022
Candace began dancing at the age of 3 in Philadelphia. She formed dance in VT in 1990 at Goddard College and then began dancing at CYFS in 1994. Since then she has danced with The VT Dance Collective under the direction of Maris Wolff and was a cast member of Dear Pina under the direction of Hannah Danison. Candace joined PH Dance in 2022
Calvin Walker - Dancer
Calvin began dancing in his early teens under the guidance of Cheri Skurdall and the NCUHS dance program. Writer by day, breakdancer by night, he continues to train and compete in a balanced capacity with his crew/band of brothers, the Rhythm Riderz. In the past, he has performed with the Bryce Dance Company and as a variety act with the Green Mountain Cabaret. He has taught at studios all across Vermont and has a passion for all forms of movement.
Calvin began dancing in his early teens under the guidance of Cheri Skurdall and the NCUHS dance program. Writer by day, breakdancer by night, he continues to train and compete in a balanced capacity with his crew/band of brothers, the Rhythm Riderz. In the past, he has performed with the Bryce Dance Company and as a variety act with the Green Mountain Cabaret. He has taught at studios all across Vermont and has a passion for all forms of movement.
Charlotte Feinberg - Dancer
Charlotte trained as a ballet dancer for 15 years before venturing to Vermont. She got a degree from Sterling College and began teaching ballet around the northeast kingdom. She is currently flower farming, teaching dance and taking classes. She joined PH Dance in 2022 and is thrilled to be a part of this company.
Charlotte trained as a ballet dancer for 15 years before venturing to Vermont. She got a degree from Sterling College and began teaching ballet around the northeast kingdom. She is currently flower farming, teaching dance and taking classes. She joined PH Dance in 2022 and is thrilled to be a part of this company.
Former Dancers
Olivia Schrantz, Hanna Katz, Ally Nobile, Emily Brunick, Mollie Morgan, Chelsea Palin, Anna Martone, Ana Simpson, David Mercier, Olivia Schantz, and Zoey November.
Photographic images may not be used without express written permission.