ABOUT THE COMPANY

Mission Statement

Treehouse Shakers is a dance-theater company committed to creating work that encourages people to experience their feelings and their connection to the greater community. Treehouse Shakers achieves this by creating humanistic stories, experimenting with narrative styles and exploring the story's elements through the abstractions of modern dance.

Our young audience programming is a natural outgrowth of these artistic goals and techniques. The company begins each performance with a workshop in which the performers teach the audience parts of the dance they will view. Treehouse Shakers is unique in its offering young audiences a guided look at modern dance through meaningful and fun storytelling.

Treehouse Shakers was named for the wonders of nature, the power of imagination and the excitement of dance. The treehouse, like the theater, is a sacred space where imagination is the most potent currency and stories are the roots of the world.

History

Treehouse Shakers, Inc. is a non-profit dance and theater company recently awarded ?Best of New York? by the New York Press. Co-founded in 1997 by collaborators Emily Bunning, choreographer/dancer and Mara McEwin, writer/actor, Treehouse Shakers has performed works for children and adults in many of New York City's established performance venues, as well as schools, theaters and community centers across the nation.

Treehouse Shakers has produced original dance-plays that include; Dance of My Daughter at the Ensemble Studio Theater, He, She and The Way You Kissed at the Producer's Club and Touching Illusions at Todo 45.

In 2002, they created Outside Of Kissing Rock, Bunning's and McEwin's autobiographical story of growing up wild in Wyoming. Excerpts have been presented at numerous dance venues around New York and premiered with a full length run on December 2002 at HERE Arts Center in Manhattan. Rebecca Longworth of On and Off Broadway Review wrote, "It is an emotionally intimate but accessible piece created by artists who clearly cherish the fullness of their hybrid medium as well as their own friendship and collaboration." Their fifth adult dance-play, Lost Arroyos, follows several characters as they explore class struggles, race boundaries and blurred identities woven within the American cultural tapestry. Lost Arroyos premiered at HERE Arts Center in NYC in June 2007.

In March 2004, Bunning choreographed Under Covers, which premiered at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange for which she was awarded a space grant. Using five dancers, Under Covers, is a carousel of movement that is corralled, manipulated and tangled into the material of a "larger than life" circular skirt. In the fall of 2004, Under Covers was presented in the Dancenow/NYC Festival at the Joyce SoHo and in July 2005 performed in the International Dance Festival at the Ailey Citigroup Theater.

In 1999, Treehouse Shakers created its first children's production, Flying Through Rainbows. This dance-play about the letter "O" in search of her true identity, premiered with a successful run at Nada 45 during the 1999 Nino Nada festival in New York City and has since been commissioned for art communities throughout the tri-state area. Flying Through Rainbows has also been a featured segment on Fox 5-TV's Good Day NY and received praise from The New York Times. The End of Winter, a play about saving the Earth from Peuwina Pollution, has been performed throughout Manhattan including; The Children's Museum of the Arts, Manhattan Treehouse, L.I.F.E. Homeless Shelter, and the Rye Arts Center in Rye, New York.

Animal Rhythms: Two African Tales premiered in February 2002 at the L.I.F.E homeless shelter and has toured across the United States ever since. Notable venues include: Jacob's Pillow, Tribeca Film Festival, World of Nations Festival in Florida, Battery Park City's Go Fish Festival, and Manhattan's Calliope Playhouse, to name a few. While performing Animal Rhythms in Brooklyn, New York Magazine exclaimed, "Even Manhattan chauvinists have to admit there's reason to cross the East River." Animal Rhythms introduces audiences to rhythm, modern dance and storytelling.

In 2004, Treehouse Shakers created Desert Travels: Tales from the Middle East which premiered in New York City and continues to be performed nationwide. Desert Travels gives young audiences a mesmerizing taste of life in the Middle East by portraying the sights, sounds and stories of this remarkable and distinguished culture. In 2004, Desert Travels received a Meet The Composer Fund Grant for the performance at DeBaun Auditorium in New Jersey as well as a BOCES and Wyoming Arts Council Grant for the 2004 tour to Wyoming. In 2005, Desert Travels was awarded grants from LMCC's MCAF and the Puffin Foundation, for performances at the Ailey Citigroup Theater in New York City.

In 2006, Treehouse Shakers presented Coyote's Dance: Tales of the American Indian on tour in Wyoming. In April 2006, Coyote's Dance had its New York City premiere at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. The performances received funding from LMCC's Fund for Creative Communities/NYSCA and LMCC's Manhattan Community Arts Fund/DCA. Coyote's Dance follows Coyote, who is both clown and teacher, on a humorous journey of deceit and adventure. Performed in native-influenced costumes, headdresses and a lively mixture of movement-styles, Coyote's Dance was praised by the New York Times and featured in New York Magazine, Time Out Kids, NY1's Parenting Report, Village Voice, and The Daily News. Bunning and McEwin were interviewed by New York Cool and Small World Productions both online for their collaboration. Coyote's Dance is currently touring in notable venues across the nation.

Let's Talk About IT! is a coming of age performance exploration, for teens which premiered on tour to Southwest Wyoming in April 2009 and held its New York City premiere at The Peter Jay Sharp Theater on 42nd St. in May 2009. Let's Talk About IT! incorporates the vocabulary of dance, ancient world folklore, real-life stories, and video interviews of everyday teens and pre-teens.

Hatched is Treehouse Shakers newest seedling drama for ages 0-6. Written and directed by Mara McEwin, Hatched is the original performance of a newborn chick who emerges from her shell at sunrise to a strange and busy world. Performed through movement, handcrafted puppets, and very little human dialogue, the story is set amidst an American family farm. The chick is met by a feisty old rooster, a newly born calf learning to walk, a baby lamb, and a noisy nest of baby birds. Part touch museum, farm, and a theatrical experience, Hatched is sure to please even the youngest of audience members. Hatched premieres at the Long Island Children's Museum April 20 & 21, 2012, and May 2012 at The Ailey Citigroup Theater in NYC.

Board of Directors

President: Geri Pell
Vice President: Mara McEwin
Treasurer: Emily Bunning
Secretary: Linda Novak
Other Directors:
Michael Walsh
John Anselmi
Emily Regas
Advisory Committee:
Julia Morris
Joseph Stecher
Malla Perry

Co-Founders' Bios

Emily Bunning (Artistic Coordinator, CO-Founder) graduated from Stephens College and is a Wyoming native. As a co-founder of Treehouse Shakers, she has choreographed, created and produced several dance-plays for children and adults. Her work has most recently been presented at the Aronoff Center, Alden Theater, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Jacob's Pillow, Westhampton Beach PAC, HERE Arts Center, BAX and Tribeca Film Festival, as well as in Wyoming, New Jersey, Arizona and Florida.

Emily performed with Aviva Geismar/Drastic Action Dance Company for 8 years. They toured to Germany in July 2006 and have also performed in Canada, Milwaukee, and at the West End Theater, WAX, Joyce SoHo, and Symphony Space in NYC, as well as attending Djerassi Artists Residency in CA. She received a scholarship to attend the Trisha Brown Repertory Workshop in 2001. Emily has also performed with Gotham Group Dance, Dura Mater and Valerie Green/Dance Entropy, which included a tour of Serbia in 2001. She was invited back to Serbia to teach, choreograph, and perform with the ERGstatus Dance Theatre.

Her teaching experience includes numerous guest artist appearances at Western Wyoming College, as well as conducting workshops while on tour and teaching dance to girls living at the Euphrasian Residency in New York City. Emily's approach to dance is based on finding the most organic and continuous ways of moving while exploring unpredictable patterns. The shapes of her abstract movement define the emotional, literal, and cultural map of each dance.

Mara McEwin (Artistic Director, CO-Founder) is originally from Wyoming and holds a B.F.A in Theatre from Stephens College in Missouri. Since living in NYC, she co-founded Treehouse Shakers with Emily Bunning, www.treehouseshakers.com. She has written, directed and sometimes acted in all of Treehouse Shakers eleven dance-plays. Treehouse Shakers currently has three original dance-plays on a rotating tour across the nation for young audiences and a new dance-play for teens, Let's Talk About IT! In 1999, Mara created Ni?opalooza, an all day rock concert for kids, and Ni?o Nada, a summer festival of children's theatrical work that was acclaimed by the New York Times.

Awarded "The Best Storyteller of New York" by the New York Press, Mara has performed throughout the country at schools, festivals, theaters and community events. She has been a featured teller for the Baby Gap Stores, The Tribeca Film Festival and Chocolate Sauce Publishing Company. Since 1999, she has also been a storyteller in residence for the Early Stages Program, working across New York City in numerous public schools and leading staff development workshops for teachers. In 2002 she helped develop Brooklyn Kindergarten Society's pre-school storytelling program for students ages two to five through the Early Stages Program. Mara was also the recent subject for the qualitative study for the inclusion the storytelling curriculum in the classroom by Dr. Barb O'Neill.

As an actor Mara's favorite credits include Bloomsday on Broadway XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV with Frank McCourt and Stephen Colbert, featured on National Public Radio as well as The Sandpiper at Symphony Space, NYC. She has also performed with such notable companies as Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Theater, Eugene O'Neill by-the-Sea-Festival, Todo Con Nada, Cypreco Theater, Cinasphere, Ridicu-Fest, Chekhov Vaudeville Festival, among others. She has worked in films, print ads, television and commercials. She is an adjunct faculty member for the English department at Dowling College, and an affiliate of New York Writers Coalition.

Performers Bios:


Malinda Crump (dancer)is a Missouri native and a graduate of Webster University, where she received her BFA in Dance and a BA in Psychology. While living in the Kansas City area, Malinda danced with aha! Dance Theatre, 940 Dance Company and Kacico Dance in addition to producing her own work. Since recently moving to New York, she has continued her training and danced with choreographers Stephanie Nelson, Eleanor Goudie-Averill and Maria Sessa. She is excited to be working with the Treehouse Shakers.


Amber Ford (actor) is thrilled to still be working with the Treehouse Shakers after performing on tour with them for the last three years with Coyote's Dance, Desert Travels and Animal Rhythms! She received her BFA in acting from Stephens College and is a Wyoming native. She would like to thank her friends and family for their love and support.


Roderick Jackson (Music Composition and Drummer) Originally from Ohio, Roderick relocated in 1990 and began to study the rhythms, dances, and instruments involved in the Afro Haitian, Afro Brazilian, West African, South African, Angolan, Korean, and Japanese cultures. Roderick is currently Music Director for Batoto Yetu Children?s African Dance Company. He has also collaborated with several dance companies, such as: Chet Walker?s (conceiver and co-choreographer of Broadway?s "FOSSE") Eight and Ah 1 Dance Ensemble, Omar Edwards? (Broadway?s " Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk") Jeremiah Funk Ensemble, David Pleasant?s Riddim Athon Percussion Ensemble (which deals with Black American music and the Gullah Culture) and Young Soon Kim's White Wave Rising Dance Company. He also assisted film director Jonathan Demme in developing scene music for the motion picture "Beloved", starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. Roderick was the understudy for the lead percussionist role of "Chaka", in the Broadway musical Marie Christine, starring Audra McDonald. He has recorded works for The Children?s Television Workshop, Sesame Street, Rabbit Ears Productions, and The Smithsonian Institute.

Roderick is a percussionist on staff at the Alvin Ailey School of American Dance and Broadway Dance Center. He was part of the cultural traditions faculty at Jacob?s Pillow for the years 2000 and 2003. He has been a faculty member of renowned dance teacher/choreographer Earl Mosley?s GreenHouse summer dance intensive since 2003. Roderick is the founder of Palms Down Inc. through which he creates afro-percussion based CD?s for dance and movement. www.palmsdown.com Roderick has been a collaborating with the Treehouse Shakers since 2001.


Larissa Laurel (actor) is originally from Texas and is proud to be part of Treehouse Shakers and Animal Rhythms. She is a graduate of both Brooklyn College and AMDA and also studied at Stephens College and Univ. of North Texas. Larissa performs throughout NYC doing theater and also works in commercial print. She most recently can be seen in the September 07 issue of Latina Magazine.


Sarah Milosevich (dancer) originally from Grain Valley, MO, Sarah studied dance at Stephens College, and graduated with her BFA in 2005. Throughout her dance career she has been privileged to perform in works by Charles Weidman, Doris Humphrey, Jose Limon, Gail Gilbert, and Daniel Gwirtzman. She has been a company member with Dimensions Repertory Dance Company, the Anglo-American Ballet Company, Open Floor Dance, The Movement Collective, and is now happy to be understudying with The Treehouse Shakers. Her choreography has been presented at various venues throughout the city as well as at the Silk City Arts Festival in New Jersey. She currently teaches dance through Young Dancers in Repertory, an arts-in-education program in Brooklyn.


Elise Smith (dancer) originally from Kentucky, received her BFA in dance from Fordham's Ailey program in 2006. She began dancing with the Treehouse Shakers after working as the intern beginning in 2005. She has performed in Animal Rhythms, Coyote?s Dance, Desert Travels, Lost Arroyos and now Let?s Talk About IT! Elise is a doula and is studying pre-med at Hunter College.


Mark Sopchak (Composer) is a composer, musician and chef. He studied music composition at the Evergreen State College and has performed and written numerous orchestral and electronic pieces. Since moving to NYC he has composed music for several Treehouse Shakers productions and Squatters by Alive Process Theater Company. When he?s not writing music, Mark works as a pastry chef in NYC restaurants and plays the ukulele. He also owns his own culinary arts business Whimsy and Spice.


Josh Tag (actor) is a native of Missouri and an alumnus of Stephens College where he received his BFA in acting. He is so excited to be working with The Treehouse Shakers! Some of his favorite roles include: Emcee from CABARET, Tulsa from GYPSY, and Tony from YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. While living in New York for the past few years he has modeled for clothing campaigns, danced in the Martha Graham intensive, and continued to be merry. He would like to thank his supportive family and Edna for their love.


Miranda Wilson (actor) is thrilled to have joined the Treehouse Shakers in September of 2010. Miranda, a Missouri native, is a trained actor, singer, dancer, and marionette puppeteer. Since living in New York, she has worked with a variety of theatre companies such as Primary Stages and has been on television shows such as "Rescue Me" and multiple soap operas. She is the lead in her first feature film, a psychological thriller, "The Eve." She holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from the Univeristy of Evansville.


Sarah Young (dancer) received her BFA in Dance with a minor in International Arts from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Through her studies, she received a Ford Foundation Fellowship and traveled to Zimbabwe to study indigenous dances and performed for Zimbabwe's Ministry of Culture. In 2002, Sarah founded Flying Art, an international exchange of art among children, creating links between children throughout the United States and worldwide, www.flyingart.net She has performed with Hilary Easton and Company, Steven Koplowitz's Grand Step Project, on board with Ann Robideau and Alexx Shilling, with RedShift Dance, and Stefanie Nelson Dance Group. She toured internationally with David Dorfman Dance's "Underground" and attended The Yard's Bessie Shonberg Residency as performer and choreographer in 2007. She recently returned to the US after serving in the Peace Corps in Morocco. She is thrilled to be back with the Treehouse Shakers after having been a member of the company from 2003-2008.


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If you would like to make a donation to Treehouse Shakers please contact Emily Bunning at (917) 749-2909, or email us at contactus@treehouseshakers.com

Become a leaf donor to our tree today!

Treehouse Shakers
Radio City Station
P.O. Box 186
New York, NY 10101-0186
(212) 715-1914
contactus@treehouseshakers.com

Emily Bunning, Artistic Coordinator "Mover"
Mara McEwin, Artistic Director "Shaker"

site design:
Wade Hampton
wade@transflux.com