The Company

Joanna Brooks, , founder and director, created Brooks & Company Dance in 2005. As a teenager, Joanna's choreography was been seen on local television in coastal southern Georgia and at Disney's Pleasure Island in Orlando, Florida. In 2006 she choreographed the video for Citi Financial's 2007 Chairman's Forum in Las Vegas.

Brooks & Company Dance's most recent mainstage ballet Composed, which included Brooks' abstract ballet 4.3.5, was recognized by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as one of the "Top 5 Dance Events of 2009." From the company's inception in 2005 through 2009 Joanna's work was recognized locally by Creative Loafing's "Best of Atlanta." In addition to the modern ballets she has created for Brooks & Company Dance, she has made dance for Athens Ballet Theater, Griffin Ballet Theatre, The Georgia Ballet and a site-specific work for Arts in the Park at Atlanta's Historic Oakland Cemetery. Most recently, Joanna was commissioned to create a site-specific work for Art on the BeltLine, a series of new art pieces along the corridor neighborhoods of Atlanta's proposed BeltLine project. Her narrative ballets are often inspired by literary works and societal ills such as 2006's The Lottery, based on Shirley Jackson's short story, and 2009's CRUX, based on Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

Joanna holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Florida State University. At FSU, Joanna fell in love with many contemporary techniques including Cunningham, Lewitsky, Limón and Graham. After graduation she apprenticed with Randy James Dance Works in New York City. Her movement style and vocabulary has evolved predominantly from Martha Graham technique, and has been described as "(placing) a premium on technique and abstract dance." (Pierre Rhue, for Access Atlanta)

Joanna also creates movement for the dance phenomenon known as Flash Mobs, choreographing viral dance for large groups of people. This fall, Joanna will begin work on her Master's of Fine Arts in Film and Television at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Photo by: Eddie Hatchett

Kristyn McGeehan (Founding Company Member/Assistant Director) is proud to have been with Brooks & Company Dance since its debut performance at Arts in the Park in Historic Oakland Cemetery. Since joining the company she has had the opportunity to serve as the dancer liaison to the board of directors, take on an array of challenging roles including Swanhilda in Coppelia...the real story, and present her own choreography through the Shorts presentations. In 2009 Kristyn had the honor of presenting her first full length work for BCD, Chiaroscuro, in the company's production of Composed.

In addition to dancing, Kristyn is the mother of precocious twin sons, a writer, a certified neuromuscular therapist, and teacher for the Good Moves Dance Consort.

Photo by: Will Day

Jena Michele Kovash (Founding Company Member) has been with Brooks & Company Dance since its debut performance at Arts in the Park at Historic Oakland Cemetery. Jena is thankful for the solid foundation provided by her early training at Janet Herbez Dance Studio in Gretna, Louisiana as well as Highland School of Dance and Harrison Arts Center at Lakeland High School in Lakeland, Florida. She later graduated cum laude from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. At FSU she focused on the diversity of her performance, appearing in classical works such as Giselle and Swan Lake, modern works by Garth Fagan and Sean Curran, and many contemporary ballets. Jena has also studied at the Florida Dance Festival, Dance Theatre of Harlem and the New Arts Festival with David Parsons.

Professionally, Jena spent three seasons with Ballethnic Dance Company and continues to perform with Griffin Ballet Theatre. Believing that classical ballet establishes the technical foundation for the next generation of dancers, Jena is proud to teach ballet technique to all age groups throughout the Atlanta area.

Photo by: Will Day

Sarah Kelly Kerr is an Atlanta native who began dancing at the age of three. When she decided to become more serious about dance she began lessons at the Lilburn School of Ballet and joined the pre-professional company where she quickly moved up to Senior Company and danced numerous lead roles in ballets such as the Nutcracker, Cinderella and Swan Lake. She went on to attend the University of South Florida where she received several talent grants and scholarships. It was there that she learned to love modern dance.

After graduating with a B.F.A. in Dance Performance, Sarah then returned to Atlanta and was invited to join Full Radius Dance, and danced with them from 2006 to December 2009. While with Full Radius Dance, Sarah was not only able to dance in their two yearly concerts but also be a part of the MAD Festival, The Inman Park Festival, and in May of 2009, The International Festival of Abilities in Italy. Throughout her career, she has had the privilege of working with such artists and choreographers as Gretchen Ward Warren, Gabriella Darvash, Sandra Robinson, Lynne Wimmer, Michael Foley, John Parks, Charles Flachs, Gerry Houlihan, Sasha Yapparov, Nina Watt and Douglas Scott. Sarah also teaches ballet, tap, jazz, and modern at several studios in the area.

She would like to thank her husband Sam and her family for all of their support.

Photo by: Ken Mucke

Rose Shields graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2007 with her BFA in Dance. While there, she had the privilege to study under and perform works by Dianne Markham, Sean Sullivan, Brenda Daniels, Sara Skaggs, Limón Dance Company, and Camille Brown. Through UNCSA, Rose choreographed two works, one of which was a solo performed at the Cunningham Studios in NYC in 2007. She performed with the Open Dream Ensemble for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons and has recently worked with and performed works by Bubba Carr and T. Lang in Atlanta. Rose's favorite color is purple and she loves to be outside climbing trees and going on adventures.

Rose also works in the Gwinnett County Public School system in GA as a substitute teacher for grades K-12, where she enjoys helping students to be active learners through the use of arts and academic integration. She is a closet breakdancer and loves all styles of dance and physical expression.

Photo by: Nathan Bolster

Sally O'Grady began her movement training at Foothills Dance Conservatory, SC. Sally finished her high school dance training in Athens, GA, with the Dance Department at the University of Georgia. While in Athens, she became the youngest dancer to apprentice with CORE Concert Dance Company, as well as Athens' DanceFx Jazz Company. Sally has also trained at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, ABT Detroit, CORE aerial, Point Park University, Canopy, and the Zen Monkey Project. Sally is a certified massage therapist; she received her certification in June of 2009 from the Academy of Somatic Healing Arts. She works and dances collaboratively with Notchyomamas Modern Dance Project, and is thrilled to be performing tonight.

Stephen Loch is very excited to be working with Brooks & Company Dance. He received his training from Western Kentucky University where he was a member of the dance company for five years. After receiving his BFA Performing Arts/Dance Concentration, Stephen worked with ZfX Flying Effects on an aerial show at the MGM Las Vegas, as well as a promotional video for Angels: The Musical. Stephen recently moved to Atlanta, where he hopes to make his mark and continue to work to improve his, as well as, the lives of others through movement. Stephen would like to thank his family for their never ending support through all his adventures.

Photo by: Kate Manfre

Cara O'Grady is incredible blessed to have found and be working with such a talented and supportive group at Brooks & Company Dance. She holds a BFA in Dance (2008) from the University of Georgia via Point Park University. While attending UGA she performed with CORE Concert Dance Co., Dance Repertory Project, PACES (Performing Artists Creating Educational Services), and Atlanta's SIDEWAYS Contemporary Dance Company. With those companies, she had the opportunity to work with artists from Pilobolus II, Cirque de Soleil, Philadanco, Fosse, Keigwin & Co., and Garth Fagan. Currently, in addition to teaching throughout North Atlanta, and working with the brilliantly talented Joanna Brooks, Cara also dances with the fabulousness of Blake Dalton's Cross-Over Movement Arts, and is Co-Director of Notchyomamas Dance Project.

Alix Miller is currently Lecturer of Dance at the University of Georgia. Dr. Miller was previously Assistant Professor of Dance and the Director of the Dance Program at the University of Tennessee at Martin, where she started the first Dance Education degree in the state of Tennessee. She has served as Master Teacher and/or Choreographer for University of Akron/Ohio Ballet, Southeast Alabama Dance Company, Murray State University, Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music and the Chattanooga Ballet. Her work on expressive conducting techniques has been published internationally and she works regularly with the Hugh Hodgson School of Music conducting students at UGA.

Dr. Miller received her undergraduate degree from Tulane University, her Master of Fine Arts in Dance and a Ph.D. in Humanities: Performance and Gender studies at Florida State University