* MR. TAYLOR CHOOSES NEW DANCERS
Paul Taylor, shown above in rehearsal with Taylor Company members, chose two women and three men to fill openings in the Paul Taylor Dance Company and Taylor 2. Aileen Roehl and Michael Novak join the Paul Taylor Dance Company in August, succeeding retiring dancers Julie Tice and Orion Duckstein. In addition, Elizabeth Bragg will perform some roles this Autumn. Alana Allende, Hank Bamberger and Manuel Sanchez join Taylor 2.
Aileen Roehl grew up on the United States military base in Heidelberg, Germany. She is graduate of the Heidelberg School of the Arts and the Hartt School of the University of Hartford, where Taylor dancers Eran Bugge and Laura Halzack also trained. She attended the Taylor Winter Intensives in 2007 and 2009. Aileen has been a member of the Amy Marshall Dance Company since 2005. Michael Novak was raised in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. He graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in dance from Columbia University, where he performed excerpts of several Taylor dances including Aureole, in which he was coached by Taylor alumna Mary Cochran. He attended the Taylor Summer Intensive in 2008. Most recently Michael was a member of Gibney Dance and a soloist with the Daniel Gwirtman Dance Company. Elizabeth Bragg grew up in Denver, Colorado, where she began dancing at the age of three. She trained with Colorado Ballet and Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, receiving her B.F.A. in Dance and an award for outstanding achievement in dance. She then moved to New York and has studied at the Taylor School since 2005, attending several Taylor Intensives as well. Ms. Bragg has performed with RedWall Dance Theatre and Bardos Ballet. She will make her debut with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in Fall 2010.
Alana Allende grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey. A graduate of LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, she attended Long Island University – Brooklyn Campus. She was an Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Fellowship Recipient from 2003 to 2008. She has been a Company Member of CityDance Ensemble since 2009 and toured to Bahrain with that company. Hank Bamberger is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He received his B.F.A. degree in Dance in 2009 from Marymount Manhattan College, where his teachers included Taylor alumnus Joao Carvalho. Since 2009 he has danced with Celebrity Cruises. He has also performed with Taylor alumnus Takehiro Ueyama. Manuel Sanchez was born and raised in Miami, FL. He began his dance training with Diane Brownholtz at Miami Dade College, and later received his B.F.A. in Dance from the New World School of the Arts. While there he performed works of Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. He joined Taylor 2 in Summer 2010.
After making his selections, Mr. Taylor noted that he had just chosen the Paul Taylor Dance Company’s third Michael. To distinguish between them, he refers to Michael Trusnovec, who hails from Yaphank, New York, as “Hank,” and Michael Apuzzo as “Pooz.” Hank Bamberger is now known as "Bam."