Amelia Rudolph

Founder / Artistic Director / Dancer

Amelia is a choreographer and dancer/athlete. Her work is informed by aesthetics, non-traditional relationships with gravity, ecology, natural and built spaces, community and human relationships. She founded Project Bandaloop in 1991, bringing together dance, climbing and varied off-the-ground movement through site-specific work on cliffs, buildings and in theaters. She teaches youth in Oakland through Destiny Art Center, lectures as a public speaker and is involved in Creative Capital's Artist Development Program.

Amelia holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in comparative religion from Swarthmore College and the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. Her intellectual and artistic sensibilities inform her work inspiring practical, spiritual, theoretical and political creativity. Living in India for five years, especially the years she spent in the central Himalaya, have influenced her as a global citizen, and an artist. Her work has explored site-specific dance on buildings and cliffs in Africa, Argentina, and Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Italy, Lithuania, Oman, twelve states in North America and Portugal.

Since 2000 she has been named an Irvine Fellow in Dance and awarded funding and commissions for new work from the National Dance Project, Creative Capital, National Performance Network, the NEA, The Creative Work Fund, The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, San Francisco Foundation, City of Oakland, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, and the Paul Allan Foundation among others. Project Bandaloop is a 2004 multi-year grant recipient for organizational support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Amelia is an artist/athlete who has been a student of movement since beginning ballet lessons at six. Developing first as a dancer/gymnast, her early training was with the Ellis Duboulet and Lou Conte studios in Chicago. She spent seven years at the school of the Hubbard Street Dance Company where she became a company apprentice at 17. She has performed with Mark Morris, Dance Brigade, Clay Taliaferro and Sarah Elgart among others. She competed as a gymnast for eight years and was captain of the women's cross-country team in college. She began climbing in 1989 in California's Sierra Nevada range and her experiences have ranged from back-country peaks and big walls to sport climbing and three seasons as a national competitor. In 2005 she began to surf. Amelia is continually challenged and educated by her experiences in nature. Those experiences unearth and clarify her values, identity and art.

Heather Baer

Dancer

Heather Baer, obtained her Bachelor of Arts in dance from Mills College in Oakland. She has danced with the Motivity Company, Dance Brigade, Zaruwcha & Company and Zaccho Dance Theatre. She has been with Project Bandaloop since their premiere show in 1991. Heather is the director of Fitness in Transit, a mobile gymnastics, dance and climbing program. With her husband Steve Schneider, she has ascended El Capitan twenty times, climbed the limestone of Germany, and Australia, granite towers in Chile, and most recently, they completed a first ascent in Pakistan. She is a certified Pilates, Gyrotonics and Yamuna instructor. Heather was recently chosen to be a Headstart movement educator.

Melecio Estrella

Dancer

Melecio Estrella was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of his youth was spent in the rigors of competitive gymnastics. He found his way into the worlds of dance and performance through his love of contact improvisation. Melecio has performed in the bay area with Scott Wells, Liz Roman, Rachael Lincoln, Faye Driscoll and Taproot. He is currently a member of the Joe Goode Performance Group. Melecio has gratefully adventured with Project Bandaloop for the last four years.

Damara Vita Ganley

Dancer

Damara Vita Ganley cultivated her love for both dance and nature growing up in rural Mendocino County. She graduated from UC Santa Cruz with degrees in Anthropology, Women's Studies and Theater Arts. After graduating, Damara was honored to dance for her mentor in The Mel Wong Dance Company. She has also enjoyed performing with Bay Area companies and artists such as EmSpace Dance, Ellen Webb, Jo Kreiter/FlyAway Productions, Kate Mitchell, Lisa Townsend, Nancy Karp, Nina Haft, RAW dance and Shift Physical Theatre.

Damara is enthusiastic about gardening, ecology and spending time with family and friends. She is very excited to be dancing with Project Bandaloop.

Rachael Lincoln

Dancer

Rachael Lincoln studied dance and fiction writing at the University of Arizona, moved to San Francisco in 1996, and received an MFA in dance from UCLA in 2009. She has performed with Jo Kreiter Flyaway Productions, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Kim Epifano and The Joe Goode Performance Group in the United States and with wee dance company, Sommer Ulrickson, and Jess Curtis in Berlin. As a director and choreographer, Rachael is interested in staging the indeterminate relationships between movement, sound, words, and images with specific attention to the intersections of grief and humor, patience and surprise, memory and imagination. Her work has been presented in venues including the Sophiensaele Theater in Berlin, Theater Artaud in San Francisco, The University of Arizona, Middlebury College, UCLA, Stanford University, The San Francisco International Dance Festival, The Dublin Fringe Festival, The Bytom Dance Festival in Poland, and The Indonesian Dance Festival in Jakarta. Her work has been nominated for two Isadora Duncan Awards; Best Ensemble Performance in 2006 and Best Choreography in 2009. Rachael is a recipient of the 2009 Bessie Schönberg Choreographers Residency at The Yard. Currently she is the co-director of lean to productions with long-time collaborator Leslie Seiters. Past collaborators include Mark Stuver, Brenton Cheng, Sommer Ulrickson, and Cari Ann Shim Sham. Rachael has had the pleasure of being a member of Project Bandaloop since 1999.

Visit Rachael's website: rachaellincoln.com

Anje Lockhart

Dancer

Anje has a BA in Dance from UC Irvine and received her Pilates Certification from Romana Kryzanowska under the tutelage of Dorothee Van de Walle. Anje has taught in various studios including San Francisco Ballet, Golden Gate Pilates, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Pilates & Physical Therapy Center of Seattle & Dragos Gym-NYC. Prior to joining Bandaloop in 2005, Anje danced with Jo Kreiter's Flyaway Productions, Carla Barragan's Birlibirloque, Cherrie Collmar's Red Cloud and trained on the low flying trapeze with Terry Sendgraff and with Richie Gaona & Stephan Gaudreau on the high flying trapeze. Originally from Juneau Alaska, she enjoys fresh air and a strong sense of family. Celebrating nature, honoring community and sharing with friends and audiences around the world has been a privilege she is truly grateful for.

Mark Stuver

Dancer

From Rifle, Colorado, Mark Stuver began his career in performance at Middlebury College (B.A. Theater-Dance, 1998). In San Francisco, Mark performed with Kathleen Hermesdorf, Leslie Seiters, Sara Shelton Mann, Lizz Roman, Joe Goode Performance Group and Jess Curtis/Gravity in San Francisco and Berlin. In New York he performed with Lisa Race, Ezra Caldwell/Vermont House Productions, and in his early days with Paul Matteson. With collaborator Rachael Lincoln, Mark has created and performed original dance-theater work in San Francisco, at the Dublin Fringe Festival, at Dancers' Workshop in Jackson, Wyoming and at Middlebury College. He also appeared in a new work by Lincoln at UCLA.  Mark joined Project Bandaloop in 2000; since then performances have taken him from The David Letterman Show, NYC to Soweto, South Africa, Singapore, Macau, China, South Korea, Oman, Italy, Norway, Poland, Turkey, Brazil, San Francisco's Mission District, The Kennedy Center ( a return after performing a duet of his own at ACDFA ) and cliffs, buildings and theaters across the US. Mark appears in the short films 'Mark as Himself' by Caldwell, 'This Bird Has Flown' by Carrie Noel, 'Just Under a Million' directed by Hester Schell, 'Wild Salmon' directed by Jordan Goldman and the forthcoming 'Hillbelly' directed by Daren Rabinovitch.  He also has written an adaptation for the screen of Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick' - please inquire.

For more, visit markstuver.net

Roel Seeber

Dancer

Roel Seeber started dancing in New York City, at age 10, break dancing with the 560 Breakers. Years later after pursuing a career as a down hill skier, he started formal dance training at the University of Utah. From there he transferred to the conservatory of dance at Purchase College, State University of New york, where he graduated cum Laude with a BFA in dance. In 2001, he joined the Limon Dance Company where he danced until joining Project Bandaloop in March of 2008. Additionally Roel has studied martial arts, flying trapeze, loves to rock climb, and make art, and has taught Limon based dance around the US and in Europe.

Thomas Cavanagh

Director of Operations, Rigger

Thomas is a project manager, a theatrical rigger, a climber and mountain enthusiast. He has supervised the installation of national tours and projects through his work with Stage Craft; a production company, and has been head rigger and concert manager for the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, MA, as well as a safety manager and rigger for the High Altitude Bungee at Squaw Valley. He has studied outdoor leadership through NOLS and wilderness medicine / EMT training with SOLO in North Conway, NH. He is currently certified as a wilderness first responder with WMI , as well as a certified pyro-technician and special effects supervisor. Thomas is also operations manager for Amazon Watch, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the environment and indigenous people of the Amazon Basin.

Steve Schneider

Head Rigger

Steve is a climber and a rigger. As a career climber he has put up over one hundred first ascents in California, redpointed 5.14, climbed the 3,300 foot El Capitan three times in a day and once in 4 hours and 48 minutes in total he has climbed EL Cap over one hndred times. He has competed nationally ranking in the top ten finishes numerous times and set courses for national and international climbing competitions. He has made record speed ascents of many routes on that massif as well as the rock towers of Patagonia. He served on the Yosemite rescue team for nine years and is a certified Wilderness First Responder. Steve is a certified rock guidewith AMGA, American Mountain Guides Association and is the owner and operator of Blonds Ambition Guiding. Steve has performed and rigged with Project Bandaloop since it's inception in 1991.

Check out his website at www.blondeambitionguiding.com

Amanda Moran

Managing Director

Amanda has been managing artists and performing groups since 1989. She worked at the Climate Theater and Life on the Water in San Francisco, for International Production Associates in New York, and was personal manager for writer/performer Eric Bogosian. She recently produced the cd-rom "Critical Mass: The Desktop Showcase", a marketing tool for artists, with Circuit Network in San Francisco.

Zachary Isaac Carrettin

Composer / Musician In Residence

Zachary Carrettin is a violinist, violist, conductor, composer and dedicated educator. In the realm of early music he has performed with such ensembles as Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire, Magnificat, La Monica, Ars Lyrica, and the Houston Grand Opera in their period instrument performances of Monteverdi’s Orfeo. He has been featured numerous times as soloist with the American Bach Soloists and Camerata Pacifica, has served as guest concertmaster with New York’s Bach Vespers Group, and has recorded with El Mundo, Camerata Capuzzi and Chanticleer.

In 2009 he joined Musica Angelica and Long Beach Opera as concertmaster of their production of Vivaldi’s recently discovered opera, Montezuma. He is the former concertmaster of Houston’s OrchestraX, with whom he gave the Texas premiere performances of works for violin solo and orchestra by John Corigliano and Astor Piazzolla (arr. John Adams). He is a former first violinist of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Norway. Mr. Carrettin’s compositions have been performed at the Kennedy Center, the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, and the Museum of Art at Rovereto-Trentino, Italy.

In collaboration with aerial dance company Project Bandaloop and IBM, the Bachiana Chamber Orchestra commissioned him to write new works, which were premiered by the ensemble in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2007. He has toured four continents as solo violinist with Project Bandaloop and an additional one hundred cities as violinist with Yanni. Additionally, Mr. Carrettin has been featured on numerous television programs, including CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes; his Tango Nuevo recording was played on Late Night With David Letterman, accompanying Bandaloop's dance performance.

He has performed for two US presidents and for the Sultan and Royal Family of Oman. Carrettin has conducted orchestras in Germany, Moldavia, Romania, the Czech Republic and the United States, including the world premiere performance of the Granlund-Lolea Interludes and the first known performance of Antonio Capuzzi’s l'Impostore punito ballet music. He holds a certificate of orchestral conducting studies from the National University of Music, Bucharest, and a Master of Music degree from Rice University Shepherd School of Music, where he was teaching assistant to violinist Kenneth Goldsmith.

Mr. Carrettin is currently Music Director of the Illini Orchestra at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also Music Director at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, Champaign. Zachary Carrettin has held teaching posts in violin, viola, and chamber music at Rice University Shepherd School of Music Preparatory Program, the Crowden School of Music, Berkeley, and the Community Music Center, Portland. While research assistant to Professor Kenneth Goldsmith, he collaborated in the rediscovery of seventy-seven manuscripts and related documents by Venetian composer, Antonio Capuzzi (1755-1818), located in northern Italian archives. The first audio CD recording of these findings has been released on Cinnabar Records, performed by Camerata Capuzzi. Mr. Carrettin has been a guest lecturer at several universities and is currently working on a book and accompanying DVD aimed at instructing school orchestra directors in the art of baroque period string instrument techniques.

Visit his website: www.zacharycarrettin.com

Jack Carpenter

Lighting Designer

Mr. Carpenter has designed lighting and scenery for Dance, Music, Theater, Museum Exhibits and Opera. His work can be seen with such varied companies as Bishop Museum, SF Ballet, SF Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Chanticleer, Women's Philharmonic, Kronos Quartet, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Center Rep, Oakland Ballet, Joe Goode Performance Group, Nancy Karp +Dancers, ODC/SF, Zaccho Dance Theatre, Lili Cai Chinese Dance, Project Bandaloop, Eureka Theatre, as well as nine years as resident designer for Diablo Ballet.

His work has been seen at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, NY Metropolitan Museum, Davies Symphony Hall, Macau, Honolulu, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Detroit Opera House, Walker Arts Center and in most major metropolitan areas of this country. Notable productions for Mr.Carpenter include Crossing for Project Bandaloop, Curlew River for Chanticleer, the world premiere of Angels In America, for the Eureka Theater Company, Walk Before Talk, and Lost Their Footing for Diablo Ballet, Picture: Powderhorn/Redhook and Ghost Architecture and Arrival and Departure for Zaccho Dance Theatre, Beauty Queen of Leenane for Berkeley Repertory Theater, Thirsting for Oakland Ballet with a live musical performance by Zap Mama, Humansville, Transparent Body, and Grace for Joe Goode Performance Group, The Water Project for ODC, Concerto Romantique for San Francisco Ballet, and MLADA for SF Symphony. Mr. Carpenter has received four Bay Area Critics Circle Awards, and four Isadora Duncan Awards for lighting design.

Atossa Soltani

Photographer

Atossa has been a media coordinator/liaison and visual artist with Project Bandaloop since 1998 on both domestic and international performances. She has documented the work of the company in Buenos Aires, Italy, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Salt Lake City and Yosemite, among other locations. Her eye for composition has yielded Project Bandaloop a plethora of press photos and video footage, many of which can be found on this website. Atossa Soltani is the founder and executive director of Amazon Watch, a non-profit organization dedicated to defending the environment, territories and the rights of the region's indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin. For the past 13 years, Mrs. Soltani has been closely tracking extractive industries and mega-projects in the Amazon Basin.

She has produced a number of short video documentaries on the subject.

Visit her website: amazonwatch.org

Todd Laby

Set Designer

Todd Laby is a furniture designer, sculptor, artist and athlete. He has brought innovative design to his work in 2-d advertising, 3-d computer environments, furniture, comics, painting and sculpture since 1989. His sculptural work is often characterized by a physically interactive component. After receiving a B.S. in Business Economics he changed direction completing two MFA's from the Art Center College of Design and the California Collage of Art and Crafts. He worked as an Art Director in advertising and product design for eight years, doing concept development and design in print, 3-d computer graphics and television before focusing on furniture design and sculpture. In 2003 he founded Rhubarb Décor, a Furniture Design Company deeply rooted in maximizing aesthetic and functional impact, while minimizing the impact on the environment. Since 2004 he has also worked as a freelance designer collaborating on in-house and commissioned furniture lines. In his most recent work with Project Bandaloop, Todd is expanding his creative reach by using his athletic knowledge to inform the creation of innovative interactive sculptural set pieces to inspire highly physical dance.

Visit Todd's website: toddlaby.com

Jim Surette

Rigger / Camera Operator

Jim Surette's 14-year career as an adventure cameraman includes filming feature-length programs for the major television networks: ESPN, NBC, CBS, MTV, FOX, Discovery Channel, UPN, OLN and USA Network. He has filmed documentaries for National Geographic Explorer, IMAX, Rush HD, The North Face, Peter Jennings Productions and others.

From Mount Everest to Borneo, Jim has operated cameras in the world's most extreme environments, keeping up with world-class athletes and adventurers to get his shot. Jim's experience as an expert climber and skier allow him an inside perspective on the places and personalities he captures on film. Jim's mountain skills enable him to single-handedly rig his own shots without the need of a large crew. He has worked as a camera operator for Discovery Channel's hit show, The Deadliest Catch; National Geographic Explorer's Surviving Everest; and NBC's Great Trango: A Mile High in Pakistan.

Visit his website: granitefilms.com

Greg Bernstein

Multimedia Producer / Webmaster

Greg is a climber, cinematographer and an editor. As a passionate outdoorsman, Greg has successfully bridged a life in the outdoors with a life in the urban environment from his home base in Los Angeles. His long list of television credits include productions for David Letterman, ESPN2, OLN, ABC, CBS, The Oxygen Channel, 20/20 as well productions for groups dedicated to the preservation of the Earth and her peoples such as Greenpeace and Amazonwatch. His passion for the natural world empowers his cinematography.

In 1994 he contacted Amelia and has been working with Project Bandaloop ever since. In addition to cinematography, editing and projection work, Greg built and maintains this website. Visit Greg's website: chromadynamics.com

Kimm E. Ward

Dancer

Kimm has had a rich and varied career as a multi-dimensional dancer and has performed with Project Bandaloop since 1992. Kimm received her BA in modern dance from UCLA. While in Los Angeles she performed with the Sarah Elgart Dance Company as well as working in a variety of film and video productions. In 1987 she was an invited dancer at Sundance Institute's Choreographers / Videographers Symposium. Over the years she has had the good fortune of working with Zaccho Dance Theatre, Fellow Travelers Performance Group, Dance Brigade, Terry Sendgraff, Anna Halprin, Contraband and Lauren Elder.

Suzanne Gallo

Dancer

Suzanne Gallo-Suzanne is a local dancer, aerialist and choreographer. She grew up in the Bay Area and went on to dance with the Atlanta Ballet, Ballet West, SF Opera, Lines, Della Davidson, and ODC. She has had the pleasure of working with Ben Carter, Sonja Delwaide, Joanna Haigood/Zaccho and has been a member of Project Bandaloop since its inception in 1991. Suzanne has presented her work at The Aspen International Design Conference, Brady Street Dance Center, Theater Artaud, Laney College, Dance Mission Theater, Cowell Theater, Yerba Buena Forum, and the Flying Women's Festival. In April 2001 Suzanne presented a full evening of Dance, Vertical Dance, Music and Multimedia Imagery, entitled Light Sound and Space.

Raymond Granlund

Singer, Pianist, Composer

Raymond Granlund completed his bachelor and master of music degrees at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. As a baritone he has sung leading operatic roles at the Tanglewood Music Center, with Houston's Orchestra X, and was a member of the apprentice artist program for singers at the Santa Fe Opera. Ray composed the score to the Project Bandaloop piece TriTangoMetro. He is composer in residence with Portland, Oregon's Magnolia and is pianist and composer in the modern tango group "Los Peregrinos".

To hear Ray's work visit: RepokerMusic.com

Peter Mayfield

Risk Manager, Rigger, Dancer

Peter is a climber, entrepreneur, dancer and rigger. As a career climber in Yosemite he pioneered routes on El Capitan and Half dome in the '80's, as well as climbs in Peru and Alaska. He competed on a national level in climbing and was an alternate on the US climbing team for two years. He began dancing 11 years ago when he met Project Bandaloop at CityRock, an indoor climbing gym that he founded in 1990. CityRock set a new standard for indoor climbing gyms in America. He has rigged for the company since 1992 on cliff faces and buildings and is a certified Wilderness First Responder. He currently runs Yosemite Guides, a natural history guiding service that facilitates mountain experiences for outdoor enthusiasts. He has performed with Project Bandaloop since 1991.

Alexander Zendzian

Dancer

Alexander's exploration of movement has led him on a broad survey, ranging from classical ballet to improvisation, into vertical spaces and onto the streets. Alexander moved to San Francisco in 2001 after completing a BA in Cultural Performance Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington. He has since performed with Capacitor, Anna Halprin, Motion Lab, at the Half-Machine Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark and is a participant in the Sea Ranch Collective. Alex was very excited to be a part of the dancing adventure of Project Bandaloop. Alex is currently a member of the Joe Goode performance group and the Brass Menazeri.