Voices 2022 Program

ARTISTS
Melissa Rummel (Dancer/Associate Director
of SCDE) was raised in Dryden, Michigan where she
started dancing at the age of seven. She graduated
from Belhaven University with a BFA in dance, emphasis
on modern dance and choreography. She has trained
with companies such as Eisenhower Dance Ensemble,
RiverNorth Chicago, Ad Deum Dance Company, and
Sarasota Contemporary Dance. This is Melissa’s eighth
season with Sarasota Contemporary Dance and fourth
as Studio Coordinator. Melissa is the Associate Director
for Sarasota Dance Ensemble (Training Company) and the SCD Summer Intensive
Administrative Director. She also enjoys fitness and the positive effect it can bring
to others, and she strives to find new ways to combine her love of dance and
fitness. She strives to never stop stretching herself as a performer, choreographer,
and teacher.
Jessica Obiedzinski (Dancer/Rehearsal Assistant)
holds a Bachelor’s degree in Dance and a Master’s
Degree in Science in Tourism and Hospitality
Management from the University of Florida. She has
performed professionally in works of New York City
based artists, Elizabeth Streb, Laurie Devito, Vencl
Dance and Beth Soll and has been most recently dancing
with the Sarasota Contemporary Dance Company for
three seasons. Jessica has presented works for the New Grounds Festival, Creative
Pinellas, and Sarasota Contemporary Dance. Jessica has a love for choreographing
and teaching Yoga, Pilates, and Simonson dance technique, and has most recently
been appointed the Rehearsal Assistant position at SCD.
Juliana Cristina (Dancer/Development Associate)
was born in West Palm Beach, FL. A graduate of the
University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA).
She received her B.F.A Degree in Dance under the
direction of Dean Susan Jaffe and Associate Dean
Brenda Daniels. Juliana has studied in Trainee Programs
with Nashville Ballet and Ballet Palm Beach. Juliana
has performed works by Azure Barton, Kira Blazek,
Helen Simoneau, Ming Lung-Yang, Juel D. Lane, Orange
Grove, and Doug Giseppi. This is her fourth season with the Sarasota Contemporary
Dance Company.
Xiao-Xuan Yang Dancigers (Founding
Company Member/Associate Director of SCDE) was
nominated for Best Female Dancer in Australia in 2009,
has performed throughout Asia, Europe, Australia, and
the United States with Australian Dance Theater and
Cloudgate 2. Previously Assistant Professor at the Taipei
National University of Arts, she has danced with and
choreographed for Sarasota Contemporary Dance since
2012. In 2013, Xiao-Xuan co-choreographed Dreamfall featuring music by NOW
Ensemble with Leymis Bolaños Wilmott. She has also danced as a soloist in Leymis’
Summer Days, of which the Sarasota Herald-Tribune wrote, “With…Dancigers’
total ownership of the characterization, it was stunning.” She was also a soloist in
Gerri Houlihan’s Every Little Movement, of which the Bradenton Herald wrote,
“A highlight on opening night was the long and unspeakably gorgeous solo
by Xiao-Xuan Yang Dancigers. If you appreciate dance at all, you find yourself
wishing the solo would never end.” In 2017, she choreographed and performed
the solo Signal for New Music New College to music by Luciano Berio, with the
Herald-Tribune calling the performance “stunning...precise”. Xuan is also the
dance instructor at Parkinson’s Place in Sarasota, and Associate Director of Sarasota
Contemporary Dance Ensemble.
Monessa Salley (Dancer/Production Lead) South
Carolina native, Monessa Salley, is in her 4th season
dancing, teaching professionally, and currently serving
as Production Lead with Sarasota Contemporary Dance
Company. She is also an adjunct dance educator for
the Booker High School Dance Dept. and serves as a
teaching artist for several arts organizations including,
The Van Wezel Performing Art Center (Artworks
Anywhere), Wholehearted Education, Suncoast Black
Arts Collaborative, and assistant choreographer for West Coast Black Theater
Troupe. She holds a B.A. in Dance Performance from Winthrop University and an
M.Ed. in Divergent Learning from Columbia College. After continued education and
serving as a certified dance educator for 12 years in SC, she went on to pursue her
MFA in Dance Performance and New Media at New York University’s Tisch School of
Arts. She has previously toured and performed professionally with Sapphire Moon
Dance Company, Vibrations Dance Company, T.O. Dance Inc., The Power Company
Collaborative, and NYU’s Second Avenue Dance Company. Salley enjoys sharing
the joy and passion of dance with all ages. She has a mind, body, spirit approach
to dance and relishes in refining her craft as a performer and teacher, generating
health, healing, and happiness through dance, and enhancing community relations.
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