Bios
Judy Bejarano, Artistic Director
began creating work under the name of IMPACT Dance in 1995. Since that time she has received many grants and awards for her work, including funding from the Colorado Council on the Arts in each of the last several years. Judy has received the Colorado Dance Alliance “Cutting Edge” Award (2006) and the Arts Alive Fellowship (2004), both for outstanding quality and innovation in the field. Her work has been described as “...existing in the poignant space where comedy and tragedy intersect.” She has taught and set work on companies and at festivals throughout the region, including Canyon Concert Ballet, CSU, UNC, the Colorado Dance Festival, Contemporary Dance Wyoming and at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival among many others. Judy’s work has been presented throughout the region including Vail, Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins, Alaska and Wyoming. The company has performed for the chairman of the NEA and many other regional art dignataries. She also continues a rich relationship with performances and workshops for Pathways Hospice that began in 2006.
Lisa Morgan, Assistant Director
is a founding member of IMPACT Dance. Her choreography was seen in the IMPACT Dance project, Finding Place: Life in Ritual, a collaborative work with visual art, dance and video. This project was presented in Wyoming at the Nicolaysen Art Museum where the company was able to perform for ???, director of the NEA at the time. She is a member of the CSU Dance Faculty, where her work focuses on integrating movement into the elementary classroom. She moved to Fort Collins from Wyoming where she directed a contemporary dance company, ran a children's dance school and toured with both adults and students around the region for ten years. She has participated on state grants panels in Idaho and Wyomng and is involved in several volunteer capacities that involve bringing the arts to our communities.
Adam Brandon, Technical Director
has been creating images with computers for the last 15 years. His interests include long exposure and time-lapse photography, video production, 2D and 3D computer animation, oil painting, wood turning, and playing music. His video and graphic work is utilized for many political and social causes. He became the Technical Director for IMPACT Dance in the spring of 2006 and most recently collaborated with Bejarano on the company’s premiere of BORDER/Lines a multimedia, evening length production that explored the concept of personal and political borders and boundaries in April of 2007.
Amber Mazurana, dancer
(on leave) graduated in 1999 with a B.A. in dance pedagogy from Butler University, and in 1995, graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts. Amber was a member of the Hannah Kahn Dance Company from 2001- 2004, and before that danced as a soloist with Peter Sparling Dance Company in Michigan. Amber has been dancing with IMPACT Dance since 2005. She is the School Director at Canyon Concert Ballet and Dance Center, and when she is not dancing or teaching she is busy chasing after her two year-old son Cole and gushing over her newborn Keira.
Lisa Dysleski, dancer
received a BS degree from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with a double major in Chemistry and Performing Arts. She moved to Colorado in the spring of 1997 and joined IMPACT Dance in 2000. She holds a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry and currently teaches general chemistry at Colorado State University. She has completed seven marathons and two Ironman triathlons - she now wonders about ultramarathons.
Susie Garifi, dancer
is a native of Colorado and has been studying dance for over 20 years. She received her BA with a major in dance from CSU in 1998 and then moved to New York City in 2000 where she studied professionally at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. In 2004 Susie moved on to her graduate work and received her MA in Dance Education from New York University. She has traveled nationally and internationally discovering many great dance opportunities and people from around the world. Presently she is a member of High Performance Dance Theatre and an instructor at Mountain Kids in Fort Collins, CO where she has also created a dance outreach program. Susie is ecstatic about performing with Impact Dance Theatre and wants to thank all of her family and friends for their support. In the future Susie looks forward to continuing to share her knowledge and love of dance with the community through education.
Jennifer Girtell, dancer
has been singing and dancing since she was five years old. Ms. Girtell attended the Denver School of Performing Arts graduating with a performing arts degree and has completed coursework toward a dance major at Colorado State University. She has worked with artists such as David Parsons, Kim Neal Nofsinger, Katie Elliot, David Kapps, Chung-Fu Chang, Jane Slusarski-Harris and Mellisa Corr. Jennifer has a strong passion for choreography and has staged many works at Colorado State University, the Denver School of Performing Arts and the Snowy Range Summer Dance Festival. Ms. Girtell teaches dance at the Studio West Dance Center.
Sharon K. Wilson, dancer
is a native of Fort Collins Colorado & a founding member of IMPACT Dance. She has worked as a dancer in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Japan, and has performed in numerous Dance, Theatre & Opera productions. Her work with OpenStage Theatre in Fort Collins Colorado earned her the best supporting actress award for her portrayal of The Fool in the company's production of King Lear, & best actress for playing Ariel in The Tempest. Sharon is currently employed at Colorado State University’s College of Business.
HELENE KELLY FRUCCI
(Stage Manager) Helene has worked in the dance field for a number of years as a performer, teacher and choreographer. She has danced for numerous companies and taught for a variety of organizations including the CSU Dance Program. As IMPACT Dance Company entered its busy 2006 season, Helene agreed to come on as stage manager and has since done everything from lighting design, running crew, seamstress and just generally keeping us on top of things when the dancers hit the stage.