The Modern Atlanta Dance Festival
The 2012 MAD Adjudication Panel
Minerva Tapia
Minerva Tapia is a Mexican-American choreographer, educator and company director of the Minerva Tapia Dance Group. She is a second year Ph.D. student in Critical Dance Studies at the University of California, Riverside. Tapia received a Master of Fine Arts in Dance at the University of California, Irvine in 2006, and in 1986 she received her B.A. at the Escuela de Danza Gloria Campobello in Tijuana, Mexico. She has honed her art at dance studios in Mexico, New York, Los Angeles, Brazil, Canada, Turkey, and in Cuba, where she studied for seven years.
In 1995 she formed the Minerva Tapia Dance Group, which has established important cross-border artistic
collaborations and linkages. Her work has been performed in Spain, Panama, Mexico, and the United States. Among
its most notable choreographies are Borderline Bodies, Juana's Little Machine, Flaquita, and Ellas danza solas/ Illegal
Border. Minerva is also the co-founder of the U.S.-Mexico Binational Choreographic Showcase, The San
Diego/Tijuana Dance on Film Festival and "La Medalla al Arte Dancístico," an award bestowed upon notables from the
dance world. Her research interest focuses on the production of contemporary dance at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Korhan Basaran
Korhan Basaran is a NY-based dance artist and the artistic director of "Korhan Basaran and Dancers". He has been in the city dancing, making and teaching dance for the last two years. His works have been performed in various dance venues such as the Cunningham Studio, Baryshnikov Center, Beacon Theater, Baruch Performing Arts Center, The Town Hall, Julliard School, STEPS on Broadway and Peridance, etc. His last gala performance "I am Korhan, this is my dance" was premiered at the Ailey Citigroup Theater by the end of June where he has received favorable review from the NY Times and other sources.
Korhan Basaran is a NY-based dance artist and the artistic director of "Korhan Basaran and Dancers". He has been in the city dancing, making and teaching dance for the last two years. His works have been performed in various dance venues such as the Cunningham Studio, Baryshnikov Center, Beacon Theater, Baruch Performing Arts Center, The Town Hall, Julliard School, STEPS on Broadway and Peridance, etc. His last gala performance "I am Korhan, this is my dance" was premiered at the Ailey Citigroup Theater by the end of June where he has received favorable review from the NY Times and other sources.
Ben Munisteri
Ben was a founding member of the Doug Elkins Dance Company, where his fascination with combining disparate movements and styles was nurtured by Elkins, David Neumann, Lisa Nicks, and Jane Weiner. He began creating and performing solos in 1992 in tiny venues in downtown Manhattan. Today, he has had the great pleasure of touring his company to many venues around the U.S. Ben graduated from Oberlin College with a major in English and a minor in Dance. He has a Masters degree in Teaching Dance in Higher Education from NYU's Steinhardt School of Education. Ben taught at Hofstra University; the Florida Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow; Adelphi University; and was part-time lecturer at Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, where he taught Choreography 2, Performance and Digital Technology, Writing About the Performing Arts, Advanced Repertory, and Seeing Performance.
Ben was a founding member of the Doug Elkins Dance Company, where his fascination with combining disparate movements and styles was nurtured by Elkins, David Neumann, Lisa Nicks, and Jane Weiner. He began creating and performing solos in 1992 in tiny venues in downtown Manhattan. Today, he has had the great pleasure of touring his company to many venues around the U.S. Ben graduated from Oberlin College with a major in English and a minor in Dance. He has a Masters degree in Teaching Dance in Higher Education from NYU's Steinhardt School of Education. Ben taught at Hofstra University; the Florida Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow; Adelphi University; and was part-time lecturer at Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, where he taught Choreography 2, Performance and Digital Technology, Writing About the Performing Arts, Advanced Repertory, and Seeing Performance.
photo: Todd Carroll
Photo: Stephen Duarte