EXECUTIVE / ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
REBEKAH HAMPTON BARGER
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Rebekah Hampton Barger relocated to Nashville in 2010 from Oklahoma City, OK where she was a company member and choreographer with modern and aerial dance company Perpetual Motion Dance, and a guest performer and faculty instructor with the Oklahoma City Ballet. Upon arriving in Nashville, Rebekah founded FALL, Nashville’s first aerial and contemporary dance company.
Drawing on her multi-disciplinary background that ranges from classical ballet to Capoeira and rhythmic gymnastics, Rebekah’s work blends classical and contemporary dance with a mix of aerial fabric and invented structures, examining how the use of various apparatus’ can provide a broader range of movement possibilities, create opportunities to explore more dimensions in space, and challenge dancers to experience gravity and their own physicality in new ways. In addition to directing FALL, Rebekah is the Ballet Program Director at Ann Carroll School of Dance, and is a guest instructor for New Dialect’s Contemporary Cross-Training Series, the Governor's School, and the Tennessee Association of Dance. She was part of the inaugural class of Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training, and recently completed a 5 year residency with abrasiveMedia. |
COMPANY ARTISTS
DORSE BROWN
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At the age of 7, Dorse Brown began his dance career with Hip Hop in his hometown of Little Rock, AR. He graduated from the University of Memphis with a Bachelor's Degree in music, a concentration in recording technology, and a minor in dance. While training, Brown received a Young Artist Talent Scholarship to attend the American Dance Festival and also had the opportunity to appear and compete on the 5th season of the television show, "So You Think You Can Dance". He is honored to have trained and danced with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in Dayton, Ohio from 2011- 2015. After Dayton, Brown moved to Nashville where his traveling opportunities continued with guest artist residencies at various universities, and in January of 2016, he went back to his hip-hop roots with a Royal Caribbean Cruise Line contract. The time with Royal Caribbean gave him the chance to train and perform in areas he had never thought of, as an aerialist. He’s grateful to continue training and growing as an aerialist as well as a dancer in his third season with FALL. He gives all of the glory and honor to God and thanks to his wife, family, and friends for their continuous support.
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LAUREN COUGAN | Events & Production Assistant
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Lauren Cougan hails from Indianapolis, Indiana where she began dancing in high school. She then went on to receive her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in dance from Ball State University, studying contemporary dance and choreography. Shortly upon graduating, Lauren moved to Franklin, Tennessee where she engaged with the dance community in Nashville and encountered her first taste of aerial dance. Lauren has been working to perfect the art of hooping, spinning staff, and spinning poi for several years, and feels that aerial dance gracefully marries her love of flow arts with dance. This is Lauren's third season with FALL.
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MARY BETH HILL | Brand Manager; Teaching Artist
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Born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, Mary Beth studied ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and contemporary at North Alabama Dance Center. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance from Troy University, where she was the Student Dance Coordinator as a junior and senior. She was one of the first three students to receive a BFA in Dance from Troy University along with being in multiple honor societies. As a student, Mary Beth performed original works and studied under choreographers such as Nicki Loud, Dominque Angel, Ellie Lazar, Wes Chapman, Rion Towrey, Joy Spears, and Tracy Shillabeer. In past years, she was accepted to attend the American Dance Festival, auditioned for season 11 of So You Think You Can Dance making it to the choreography round, and worked as a YouTube creator making dance concept videos. Mary Beth also danced for Ad Deum II dance company under the direction of Randall Flinn and Shizu Yasuda in Houston, Texas. She joined FALL in 2018 & is the company's Brand Manager in addition to her work as a performer & Teaching Artist.
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LENA SERKIN MAZEL | Assistant Executive Director
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Lena Serkin Mazel grew up in Brattleboro, Vermont began her early training at the Brattleboro School of Dance and Deerfield Academy. In 2013 Lena danced with Nashville Ballet as part of their Professional Training Program. At Nashville Ballet, she studied contemporary and improvisational forms with Banning Bouldin and continued to train with New Dialect throughout college. Lena graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Kenyon College with High Honors degrees in English and American Studies. In 2016, she studied English Literature at Oxford University and danced with Yuka Kodama Ballet Group. At Kenyon, she performed in multiple projects including a full-scale contemporary production of The Bacchae and a study of Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faune. She has performed as the Sugarplum Fairy, Mouse King, Snow Queen in The Nutcracker; Queen of the Dryads from Don Quixote; the lead in Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux; and various contemporary roles. Lena first performed with FALL as a guest artist in Dear Apocalypse in 2016 and found a love for FALL’s choreographic process and aerial dance. This is her second season with the company.
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KYLENE VALORIS
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Kylene Valoris, born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, started her ballet training when she was 8 years old in the University of North Carolina School of the Arts' preparatory program. She was accepted into the UNCSA 8th grade program where she continued through high school with a concentration in ballet. While Kylene studied ballet, she performed in Swan Lake, Napoli, Giselle, Paquita, Le Corsaire, Ashton’s Birthday Offering, and Ethan Stiefel’s Nutcracker. Valoris remained at UNCSA for college and transferred to the contemporary dance department where she performed works by Merce Cunningham, Ton Simons, Brenda Daniels, Alexei Kremnev, Doug Varone, Robyn Mineko Williams, and Shen Wei. In addition, she has attended summer programs at American Ballet Theatre in NYC, Pittsburg Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, Sidra Bell's Modules, and the American Dance Festival. Valoris has also guest taught ballet and contemporary technique in NC. Kylene is passionate about this art form and continually immerses herself in this strenuous yet beautiful creative environment. After moving to Nashville in August 2018, she is lucky to have found her way into the thriving dance scene. Kylene initially worked with FALL as a guest artist before joining the company in 2019.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Board President - Jonah Eller-Isaacs (NATIVE Magazine; First Unitarian Universalist Church)
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Kate Abrams (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)
Angie Adams (PENCIL Foundation) Marc Adesso (Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP) |
Sundeep Podila (KraftCPAs)
Vince Walzberg (independent performing artist) Kathryn Wilkening (Metro Parks & Recreation Dance Division) |
PAST ARTISTS & COLLABORATORS
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COLLABORATORS
Audra Almond-Harvey (dancer/poet/consultant)
Herb Bailey (poet) Marsha Barsky (director/choreographer) Jessica Cavender (photographer/multi-media artist) Timbre Cierpke (harpist/vocalist/composer) Andrew Collins (composer) Robert Cortner (metal sculptor) Laurel Desmarais (choreographer) Wesley Duffee-Braun (photographer) Laura Fenwick (photographer/visual artist) Genuine Joy (Joshua Wolak) (musician/performance artist) Molly Graves (circus artist) Justin Harvey (martial artist/photographer) Robbie Lynn Hunsinger (multi-instrumentalist/multi-media artist/improvisor/composer) Kat Jones (musician/performance artist) Andrew Krichels (director) David Landry (visual artist) Kelly Landry (costume designer/lighting designer/dancer) Alex T. Leach (electronic musician/composer) Kristen Teffeteller Leophard (circus artist) Ryann Lievens (dancer/choreographer) Nichole Marie Lim (makeup artist/hair stylist) Michael Mallicote (videographer) Tavius Marshall (poet) Mitch Massaro (rigger/lighting designer Mary Mooney (visual artist) Bill Rios (photographer/multi-media artist) Kent Smith (composer) Jesse A. Strauss (percussionist/composer) Lizard Walker (circus artist) Roger Wiesmeyer (multi-instrumentalist) |
DANCERS
Clemence Aubier
Luke Davis Liz Eisenga Mersey Fulper-Smith Becca Hobart Mary Ruth Isbell Allison Little Kasey Lowry Ashley Marshall Bethany Miller Julia Mitchell Lindsay Ogle Rachel Rebottaro Shelby Ring Jenna Smith Athena Sweeten Michael West, Jr. |
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
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