About the Company
April Betty is a Massachusetts native who graduated from Bard College, NY in 2003 where she received a BA in Dance and Choreography as well as the Ana Itleman prize for Directing/Choreography. Her first dances were in circles around the coffee table to Kenny Rogers. Her first formal training was in ballet at age 3. While attending Philips Academy High School she found her heart in modern dance and has never turned back. She currently hops between schools and studios to teach what she loves to kids of all ages. She also dances with the Jane Franklin Dance Company in Arlington, VA.
Jennifer Rivers received her B.A. in communications and dance from James Madison University. She has danced in the DC Metro area with Sister's Trousers, Jane Franklin Dance and K2 Dance, as well as working with various local and regional choreographers. Recently, Jennifer returned from traveling around the world and she is currently dancing with Human Landscape Dance.
Alex Short has been dancing in the Washington area for 20 years. He has worked with many local choreographers including Paul Emerson, Tyrone Murray, Tara Tai Pierson, Michelle Ava, Lou Antonini, Nancy Newell, Miya Hasaka, Karen Studd, Kitty Clark, Barbara Belzer, and, most recently, Jane Franklin and Malcolm Shute. He has been a member of Jane Franklin Dance for the last 5 years. He has studied modern, tap and ballroom dancing. He received his certificate in Laban Movement Analysis from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in 2000.
Malcolm Shute is a dance artist. His performing career began in Washington DC with Nancy Havlik's Dance Performance Group and Jane Franklin Dance. In 2006, he completed his Master of Fine Arts in Dance with a concentration in choreography and founded Human Landscape Dance, http://www.hldance.org, to showcase his own artistic vision. Shute is fascinated by relationships between people and the environments we inhabit. The performers of Human Landscape Dance appear on a variety of alternative spaces, lawns, stairwells, and walls, as well as the stage. Shute extends his understanding of movement craft by teaching. He gives classes at schools and studios across the Baltimore-Washington region, including the Towson University BFA Dance Program. Also in 2006, Shute earned certification in movement analysis through the Laban/Bartenieff Insitutute of Movement Studies. This work has expanded his awareness of movement as a healing path. He conducts one-on-one movement therapy sessions. Shute is also a writer. He contributes articles in dance education and theory.