Artistic Director
Julia Rhoads is a choreographer who has been described as “Chicago’s resident surrealist” in the Chicago Sun Times, and “adept at both provocative and humorous material” in PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art. In 1999, she founded the dance theater company Lucky Plush Productions, and has since created 30 original works with the company including performance installations, 2 dance films and 6 evening-length interdisciplinary productions.
As an independent artist, Julia’s work has been presented in venues and universities across the U.S including commissions for Alaska Dance Theater, Mordine and Company Dance Theater, and twice for River North Chicago Dance Company. She has also directed and choreographed for theater, performance and film companies including Redmoon Theater, Walkabout Theater, Hyperdelic, and the interdisciplinary collective M5. Julia is formerly a company member of the San Francisco Ballet, a collaborating ensemble member of XSIGHT! Performance Group, and she has been a guest artist with Beppie Blankert Danceworks, the Itinerant Theater Guild, and Baubo Performance Project.
Julia has received a Cliff Dwellers Foundation Award for Choreography, two Illinois Arts Council Fellowships for Choreography, a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Award, a fellowship from the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, and has been selected as one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch in 2010. Julia earned a BA in History from Northwestern University and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute Chicago, and she currently teaches part-time in the theater department at Columbia College Chicago.
Performer
Jeremy Blair began training as a gymnast at age three and he discovered dance while at Milikin University where he graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Theatre and a minor in Dance. Before finishing school, he had the opportunity to spend a summer in Paris training and performing with Friches Theatre Urbaine where he learned stilts, trapeze, and other circus arts. Since moving to Chicago he has performed with AMEBA Acrobatic and Aerial Dance, Chicago Moving Company, Khecari Dance Theatre and is currently in his third season with Thodos Dance Chicago. In addition to dancing and choreographing, he is a registered Hatha Yoga instructor. This is Jeremy’s first season with Lucky Plush Productions.
Performer
Lia Bonfilio is from Minnesota. She has an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts from New York University and a BA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago. Lia has danced with Mordine and Company Dance Theater and numerous independent choreographers, and she joined Lucky Plush Productions during her senior year at Columbia College. Lia is now in her 4th season with the company.
Performer
Asimina Chremos began her professional career at age 17 with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and later earned a BFA in Dance, summa cum laude, from Temple University. She continues to be an avid student of new approaches to work with the dancing body including yoga, continuum movement, butoh, contemporary release techniques, meditation and contact improvisation. She has worked in various guises with Links Hall, Lou Conte Dance Studio, Movement Research, the Chicago Dancemakers Forum and dozens of choreographers, musicians, arts organizations and creative projects. Asimina currently maintains a live/work studio, writes for Time Out Chicago magazine, dances with Ayako Kato/Art Union Humanscape and Lucky Plush Productions, and maintains duo projects microgig (with cellist Fred-Lonberg Holm) and Echo Den (with vocalist Carol Genetti).
Performer
David Gerber is originally from Minneapolis, MN. David is a recent graduate of Columbia College Chicago, receiving his BA in Dance where he performed in works by Paige Cunningham, Lisa Gonzales, Kirby Reed, Matthew Hollis, and Twyla Tharp. David has danced with The Seldoms and Same Planet Different World Dance and is currently a company member of Mordine and Company Dance Theater. This is David’s first season with Lucky Plush Productions.
Performer
Kim Goldman has danced for Mordine and Company Dance Theater, Hedwig Dances, and numerous independent choreographers in both Chicago and New York. Her independent choreography has been presented at Dance Theater Workshop, St. Mark’s Church, Danspace Center, Williamsburg Art neXus, and The College of William & Mary (VA). Kim holds a BFA in Dance and a BS in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and an MFA from New York University. She has been adjunct dance faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University, and is currently adjunct faculty at The Dance Center of Columbia College. Kim currently collaborates with QUAD, and this is her 3rd season with Lucky Plush Productions.
Performer
Hogan McLaughlin began his dance training at the Academy of Movement and Music in Oak Park, IL. He continued his studies, on scholarship, at the Lou Conte Dance Studio, the school of the Boston Ballet, and under Larry Long at the Ruth Page Foundation. Hogan performed throughout Chicago with the Lyric Opera Ballet and Momenta before joining Hubbard Street 2 in 2007. He was promoted to an apprentice with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2008, performing works by Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, Marguerite Donlon, Daniel Ezralow, and Toru Shimazaki, among others. This is Hogan’s first season with Lucky Plush Productions.
Performer
Jon Sherman is a performer, director and teacher who has worked in Washington DC, New York, Chicago, and Switzerland. He is the Artistic Director of Sprung Movement Theatre in Chicago and was one of Jacques Lecoq’s last students. He is currently a PhD Candidate in Northwestern University’s Interdisciplinary PhD in Theatre and Drama where he is writing his dissertation on the experience and ethics of stage presence in contemporary performance.
Performer
Nefertiti Thomas received her B.F.A in dance at Marymount Manhattan College under the direction of Katie Langan-Santee. She has performed work by renowned choreographers such as Hans van Manen, Robert Battle, Denise Vale, Twyla Tharp, Doug Varone, Jaquline Buglisi and others. Nefertiti began her professional career at Hubbard Street 2 in 2007. This is Nefertiti’s first season with Lucky Plush Productions.
Performer
Meghann Wilkinson is a graduate of Northwestern University and is in her sixth year as a performer with Lucky Plush Productions. In addition to LPP, she performs with Mordine and Company Dance Theater and has appeared in Chicago with Smith/Wymore Disappearing Acts, Cie Felix Ruckert, and Raizel Performances. Meghann is on faculty at Northwestern University, Columbia College Chicago, and Dance Center Evanston. She has been a guest teacher and choreographer for the Cecchetti Council of America and the Evanston Dance Ensemble and has organized for the Chicago Seminar on Dance and Performance and the Society of Dance History Scholars.
Media Designer
Julie Ballard is a media artist and lighting designer whose favorite dance designs include 5 Characteristics of Brother (Marquez Dance), Rhapsody (Shapiro & Smith) and Falling on Lobsters in the Dark (Stephanie Carter). She has worked for Hedwig Dance, Mordine and Company Dance Theater, Dance COLEctive, The Seldoms and Same Planet Different World Dance Theater. Julie has been a part of numerous festivals as well as American Dance Festival, and has toured nationally and internationally with David Dorfman Dance. Julie is full time staff and adjunct faculty at the Dance Center of Columbia College.
Julie is no stranger to theatre either, working with Signal Ensemble as an Artistic Associate designing both lights and media. She has also worked with Irish Rep Theatre, Grey Zelda and Whitehorse Theatre Company. Some of her favorite theatre designs include Cabaret (University of Florida), 1776 (Signal Ensemble Theatre) and I Sing (Whitehorse Theatre). Julie earned her MFA from the University of Florida. www.overlaplighting.com.
Video Designer
John Boesche has created scenic and projection designs for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre, Royal George Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and others. Broadway credits include The Glass Menagerie at Roundabout Theatre, directed by Frank Galati. Regionally his work has been seen at Arizona Theatre Company, Asolo Theatre (Sarasota), Denver Center Theatre Company, Geffen Playhouse (Los Angeles), McCarter Theatre (Princeton), Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival (NYC), Seattle Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare at the Folger (Washington DC), South Coast Repertory (Costa Mesa), Theater On The Square (San Francisco), Victory Gardens Theatre among others. John received a Joseph Jefferson Special Award for projection design in 2005.
His designs for opera have been seen at Austin Lyric Opera, Barbican Theatre Centre (London), Brooklyn Academy of Music, Canadian Opera Company (Toronto), Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Lyon, Opera Pacifica, Portland Opera, Salt Lake Opera, San Francisco Opera, Theatre de la Monnaie (Brussels), Washington Opera (DC), and Vancouver Opera, among others. John’s projection designs for dance include Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Mordine and Company, and this is his 3rd project with Lucky Plush Productions.
Choreographer
Peter Carpenter is an independent choreographer whose physical theater performances have often intersected with
political activism and critical theory. Often acclaimed for his choreographic staging of queer theatricality,
Carpenter has dedicated the majority of his career to tracking the complex ways in which identity has been
shaped in subaltern communities by HIV/AIDS. His independent work has resulted in numerous repertory pieces
and four evening-length works including Bareback Into the Sunset (2003), which, since its premier performance
at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, Calif., has been seen in excerpted versions at numerous
conferences and performance events commemorating World AIDS Day. The full-version of Bareback Into the Sunset
was recently presented by the Dance Center of Columbia College. Carpenter’s work as an independent artist
has been presented by numerous galleries, museums and theaters including the 29th Street Repertory Theater
in New York, the Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago’s Links Hall, and the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Carpenter has also received funding to create new work from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
and the Illinois Arts Council and has received a Joseph Jefferson Citation for Outstanding Theater
Choreography. Carpenter’s independent work has been supplemented by affiliations with Chicago’s XSIGHT!
Performance Group where he served as an artistic associate (1993-2001) and the StreetSigns Center for
Literature and Performance in Chicago and Chapel Hill, N.C. where he served as the resident choreographer
(1992-2001). As a member of XSIGHT! Carpenter presented worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago,
Northwestern University, Wesleyan College, University of Alaska in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Dance Works
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the MEX experimental theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. Carpenter received his
M.F.A. in Dance from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures in 2003 and is currently writing his
dissertation for a Ph.D. in Culture and Performance Studies (also from UCLA). He received his B.S. from
Northwestern University’s Theater Department in 1992. Carpenter is currently a full-time faculty member
at the Dance Center of Columbia College in Chicago.
Web Technologist
Noé Cuéllar is an artist and curator originally from Laredo, TX. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A variety of his audiovisual work has been performed or exhibited at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, Third Coast International Audio Festival, New Music at the Green Mill, Looptopia (Chicago); MEXIC-Arte Museum (Austin); Neighborhood Public Radio/Whitney Biennial (NYC); Megapolis Audio Art and Documentary Festival (Boston); Sound Art Space (Laredo, TX); among others. Recent commissions include National Headquarters, Standing Point Films, and Antibody Dance.
Costume Designer
Jeff Hancock was a founding member of River North Dance Chicago, has danced for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Jan Erkert & Dancers, Dance Kaleidoscope, WatsOn Dance, and Same Planet Different World Dance Theater, where he was Co-Artistic Director for several years. He has appeared in many productions with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, most recently working with Wayne McGregor of Random Dance, and Sir Peter Hall. West Side Story, Song and Dance, Oklahoma, Romeo and Juliet, and Disney are some of the tours he has been a part of, nationally and internationally. His independent choreography has been created for River North Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street 2, Columbia College, Northwestern University, the Edinburgh Festival, Ruth Mitchell Dance Theater, Dance Chicago, Same Planet Different World, The Next Dance Festival, and Ohio Northern University among others. He has been teaching since 1990, at a variety of dance schools, festivals, and universities, including Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Arizona Tucson, Butler College, Lou Conte Dance Studio, Chicago National Association of Dance Masters and others. Jeff has been nominated for Ruth Page Awards for his dancing and choreography, and is an Illinois Arts Council grant recipient.
Jeff has been designing and constructing costumes for over 20 years. He has created costumes for numerous choreographers and companies including River North Chicago Dance Company, Gus Giordano Dance Chicago, Same Planet Different World, Shirley Mordine, Columbia College, The Dance COLEctive, among many others. His design company, -ish, was formed in 2007. Recent designs include the world premiere of Train by Robert Battle for River North Chicago, Robert Battle's Takademe and Etude for Danceworks Chicago, Mordine & Co.'s Illuminations, the critically acclaimed world premiere of Lucky Plush's Cinderbox 18 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and Peter Carpenter's The Sky Hangs Down Too Close.
Web Technologist
Ian Hatcher is a digital media writer, programmer, and musician. His work has been presented at the 2008 Electronic Literature Organization and Electronic Literature in Europe conferences and published by Counterpath Press and the New Yinzer. He composes for the Moving Architects dance company and performs live from time to time. He is currently a graduate student at Brown University.
Video Artist
Jocelyn Kelvin is a filmmaker, actress, and yoga teacher. After graduating from Northwestern University in 2007 in Theatre and Creative Writing (Poetry), she immersed herself in learning how to create film. Her interest in expressive movement and music in cinematic storytelling led her to Lucky Plush, and she has been thrilled to work with the company on Punk Yankees this past year. Her narrative dance film This Sandy Cube, choreographed by Erin Carlisle Norton, will be premiering in October at Links Hall as part of the Moving Architects' concert, The Tasting Room.
Performer
Marc Macaranas is originally from Delano, CA. He graduated Cum Laude from the
University of California, Irvine and was a student at the School at Jacob's Pillow.
In addition to Lucky Plush Productions, he performs with Mordine & Co. Dance Theater,
teaches at Dance Center Evanston, and has appeared in Thodos Dance
Chicago's New Dances concert.
Lighting Designer
Kevin Rechner is excited to again be working with Lucky Plush Productions. He has recently designed lights and Stage Managed for Peter Carpenter’s Bareback into the Sunset, Lucky Plush’s Cinderbox 18 and The Sky Hangs Down Too Close, Natya Dance Theatre’s Alakshaya, and Mordine and Company’s 40th Anniversary. He also designed the set and lights for Trisha Brown’s Set and Reset/Reset at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. He has been the Production Manager, Technical Director, and Lighting Designer for the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago since 1996. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre from Illinois State University and spent 3 years in Paris, France studying Movement Theatre with Jacques Lecoq and Daniel Stein. He has created 4 solo performance works including, I AM HUGO. Technically, he has worn many hats for many people and served as the LD / TD for the Dance Division of the National High School Institute for 5 years, and can still say “STOP” and “NO” in many languages.
Composer
Stefen Robinson makes music under the moniker Yea Big, which is most commonly associated with the post-punk-glitch-hop group Yea Big + Kid Static. Stefen's interests and musical explorations are heavily influenced by questions regarding private and intellectual property, the concept of fair use, and the principles of Social Anarchis.
Performer
Julia Wollrab studied at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto and
entered the National Ballet of Canada in 1987, later becoming a soloist. In 1995 she
joined the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève in Switzerland, and performed the works
of Amanda Miller, Ohad Naharin, Michel Kelemenis, Nacho Duato, William Forsythe and
Maguy Marin, among others. After working with Galili Dance in The Netherlands,
and Ballet British Columbia, Wollrab danced with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago from
2002-2006. She is now studying full-time at the University of Chicago.
