CLOSE QUARTERS III
May 20, 2025
The Slipper Room
167 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002
Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
Choreography: Anna Sokolow
Guest Choreographer: Krista Jansen
Artistic Director: Samantha Géracht
Associate Artistic Directors: Eleanor Bunker, Lauren Naslund
Dancers: Margaret Mighty Oak Brackey, Ilana Ruth Cohen, Mikey Comito, Edu Hernandez, Krista Jansen, Brad Orego, Jamie Robinson, Margherita Tisato
Guest Performer: Clarence Brooks
— with special guests —
Smoke Ring
Becca Eckes, Tenor
Stephanie “Tags” Taglianetti, Lead
Alexander Ronneburg, Baritone
Gabriel Spector, Bass
Lighting: Edwin Lebron
PROGRAM
Life Of The Party
Andrew Lippa
Arr. by Dan Wessler
Smoke Ring
The Man I Love
George and Ira Gershwin
Arr. by Adam Bock
Smoke Ring
Suite from Rooms (1955)
Choreography: Anna Sokolow
Music: Kenyon Hopkins
Costumes: Eleanor Bunker
Escape
Ilana Ruth Cohen
Desire
(Adapted for three dancers)
Margaret Mighty Oak Brackey, Mikey Comito, Edu Hernandez
Going
Brad Orego
The End?
Margherita Tisato
Sunday Kind Of Love
Louis Prima, Anita Nye Leonard, Stanley Rhodes, Barbara Belle
Arr. by Patrick McAlexander
Smoke Ring
Off the Cuff (2025)
Choreography: Krista Jansen
Music: Walter Donaldson, lyrics by Gus Kahn, performed by Nina Simone
Dancer: Krista Jansen
INTERMISSION
Suite from Kurt Weill (1988)
Choreography: Anna Sokolow
Music: Kurt Weill
Costumes: Eleanor Bunker
Youkali
Margaret Mighty Oak Brackey, Ilana Ruth Cohen, Mikey Comito, Krista Jansen, Brad Orego, Jamie Robinson
Epitaph 1919
Ilana Ruth Cohen, Krista Jansen, Margherita Tisato
The Ballad of the Soldier’s Wife
The soldier’s wife: Margaret Mighty Oak Brackey
Soldiers: Mikey Comito, Edu Hernandez, Brad Orego
Civilians: Ilana Ruth Cohen, Krista Jansen
Bad Guy
Billie Eilish & Finneas O‘Connell
Arr. by Kevin Koehl
Smoke Ring
Smoke Dreams
Jo Stafford
Arr. by Gabriel Spector
Smoke Ring
The Threatened Assassin — from Magritte, Magritte (1970)
Choreography: Anna Sokolow
La Femme: Krista Jansen
L’Assassin: Clarence Brooks
Les Flics: Jamie Robinson and Brad Orego
Bios
Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
SOKOLOW THEATRE/DANCE ENSEMBLE is the living legacy company dedicated to presenting Anna Sokolow’s vast body of emotionally riveting work. Over a 70 year career, Ms. Sokolow continuously broke the boundaries of modern dance, focusing on the human experience and drawing upon whatever genre best served her artistic purpose. Her masterpieces remain relevant to our times and touch the hearts of all people as we struggle with the universal issues of living, regardless of differences in place and culture. The company’s projects include reconstruction, reimagination, deconstruction, historical performance, teaching, lectures, archiving, and partnering with contemporary choreographers—all modes through which we step inside Sokolow’s masterworks and draw from this perspective to better frame our future. ST/DE was founded by Sokolow protégé Jim May and is currently under the artistic direction of Samantha Geracht.
ANNA SOKOLOW (1910-2000) Known as one of the most dynamic and uncompromising of choreographers, Ms. Sokolow began her career as a dancer with Martha Graham. In the early thirties, she studied choreography with Louis Horst at the Neighborhood Playhouse and established her first dance company. The work of Ms. Sokolow has had and continues to have a profound effect on the course of contemporary dance throughout the world. She founded the first modern dance companies in Israel and Mexico and influenced such artists as Alvin Ailey, Pina Bausch, and Martha Clark. Ms. Sokolow also made important contributions to the theater. Her choreography for the Broadway stage included Street Scene (1947), Regina (1949), and Candide (with Leonard Bernstein, 1956); in 1967 she created the original dances for the off-Broadway production of Hair. She was a founding member of The Actors Studio, where she taught movement for actors. As a teacher of dance, Ms. Sokolow covered much ground, from the Juilliard School (prominently featured in a 2002 documentary) and the 92nd Street Y in New York City to the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. Anna Sokolow created a body of work that combines dance and music with theater, poetry and prose. Called the “Solzenitsyn of twentieth-century dance,” she consistently and uncompromisingly reflected the realities of society through her work.
SAMANTHA GÉRACHT, MFA (Artistic Director) performed with Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project for eleven years and is a founding member of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble. In 2017 Samantha was appointed the ensemble’s artistic director. She has toured and taught Sokolow’s repertory nationally and internationally, setting Ms. Sokolow’s works on professional companies, university dance programs, and solo dance artists, including the Centre de Danse Nationale de Paris, the Boston Conservatory, Williams College, The Ailey School/Fordham University, Loyola Chicago, Franklin and Marshall College, Barnard College, Clarence Brooks, Jennifer Conely, Sandra Kaufman, Kanopy Dance Company and Academy, Ellen Robbins Dance, and Christine Dakin.
Samantha studied technique and composition with Alwin Nikolais and Murry Louis, Humphrey/Limon with Jim May, Betty Jones, Fritz Luden, and Gail Corbin, and Weidman with Deborah Carr. She has taught in the Professional Studies program at the Limon Institute, the Herbert Berghoff (‘HB’) Studio, and is on the faculty of the Hoboken Charter School. Samantha performed the Humphrey/Weidman repertory with Deborah Carr Theater Dance Ensemble and Gail Corbin. She has appeared with Rae Ballard’s Thoughts in Motion, and as a guest artist with David Parker and The Bang Group. In 2016 she choreographed Shadowbox Theatre’s The Earth and Me, a critically acclaimed climate change puppet/dance opera created for NYC public schools and community centers. She served as a panelist for the Library of Congress opening of the “New Dance Group” archives. Samantha received a 2025 Finalist award from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She holds an MFA in dance from Montclair State University (NJ) and a BS in dance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ms. Géracht is committed to the preservation of early American Modern Dance, making the works of modern dance pioneers more accessible to dance education programs, young artists, and new audiences.
ELEANOR BUNKER (Associate Artistic Director) holds degrees from Hartford College for Women and SUNY Empire State College. She began her modern and ballet training at the Hartford Ballet where she studied with Enid Lynn, Lisa Bradley, and Michael Uthoff. She was a soloist and rehearsal director for eleven years with Rondo Dance Theater, a repertory company which featured masterworks of the American Modern Dance genre under the artistic direction of Elizabeth Rockwell. She continues to perform the repertory of Isadora Duncan, and is the dance faculty at Dominican Academy in NYC. Eleanor was a member of Anna Sololow’s Players’ Project for 14 years and has been a member of Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble since its founding. Eleanor reconstructs Anna Sokolow’s repertory and directs rehearsals for the company and for schools and professional dancers. She also oversees costuming for the company.
LAUREN NASLUND (Associate Artistic Director) began her modern dance studies in Chicago with Frances Allis. She holds degrees in biology from the University of Chicago and Harvard. Lauren danced in Cambridge, MA with the Performing Arts Ensemble and the Massachusetts Dance Ensemble, and in New York with the theater/dance company Plath/Taucher Productions, Alan Danielson, and Andrew Jannetti & Dancers. She has performed the works of Charles Weidman and Doris Humphrey with Deborah Carr’s Theatre Dance Ensemble, and of Doris Humphrey under the direction of Gail Corbin. She also performs with Rae Ballard’s Thoughts in Motion. She was a member of Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project for 15 years, and is a founding member of Sokolow Theatre/ Dance Ensemble. Lauren reconstructs and stages Anna Sokolow’s repertory for the company and for schools and professional dancers.
MARGARET MIGHTY OAK BRACKEY (dancer) is an NYC-based dancer/choreographer/artist. Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, she grew up studying Graham Technique, Ballet, and Dance Composition at Kanopy Dance Company. In 2022, Margaret graduated with a BFA in Dance from Adelphi University. Her Honors Thesis, “Birds Into Bodies: Synthesizing Research and Dance”, which mitigated bird/window collisions on campus, was awarded the Levermore Prize for Best Senior Thesis. Currently, Margaret is a performer with The Equus Projects, where her training in natural horsemanship and passion for improvisation come together. A collaborative choreographer, Margaret has shown works around NYC and Wisconsin, and holds open monthly Playdays to generate new ideas. Besides dancing, Margaret runs the ST/DE Instagram page. She was introduced to the work of Anna Sokolow in 2017 by Jim May and Samantha Géracht and joined Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble in 2022.
CLARENCE BROOKS (guest performer) has performed with 80 plus American companies and toured the US, Europe, and Asia. Clarence can be seen in the 5-part video documentary The World of Alwin Nikolais. Their essay “Dancing with the Issues” was published in One Teacher in 10: LGBT Educators Share Their Stories (Alyson Books). Clarence has lectured, choreographed, and taught ballet, modern, and repertory classes in schools and universities across the nation. A former associate professor, they founded the Repertory Dance Theatre Ensemble which performed in curated festivals from Miami to Boston. Awards and honors include induction into the OCU Performance Hall of Honor, two Associate Artist-in-Residences at the Atlantic Center for the Arts (with Douglas Dunn and Liz Lerman, respectively), Japan Foundation Fellowship (to study with Butoh master Yoshiko Ohno), and recipient of both the Clyde Fyfe Award and the Randolph A. Frank Prize for Performing Arts. The Library of Congress recorded Clarence’s interpretation of Talley Beatty’s masterpiece “Mourner’s Bench”(1947) for the national archive. A founding member and past president of the Florida Dance Education Organization, Clarence holds an advisory position with FDEO and sits on the boards of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, danceTactics performance group, Natural Movers Foundation, Miami Dance Futures, and Doris Humphrey Foundation for Dance. A high school dropout, he holds an MFA, a bachelor of performing arts, and a certification in Laban Movement Analysis. A 200-hour yoga teacher, they are also certified to teach the Bill Evans Method of Teaching Dance Technique. Clarence currently freelances with the Dance Exchange, Pioneer Winter Collective, Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble, danceTactics performance group, David Parker & The Bang Group, and Megan Williams Dance Projects. Follow them on Instagram: @clbdreadeddancer.
ILANA RUTH COHEN (dancer) is from Portland, Oregon, where she grew up dancing in the rain. She graduated from Pomona College with a BA in Modern Dance and Chemistry and is currently a PhD student at the City University of New York where she investigates how aquatic plants and microbes can help to clean our water resources. Ilana’s dance training included study at the Limón Institute and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. Ilana has performed in works by Anna Sokolow, Doris Humphrey, Jose Limón, Isadora Duncan, Matthew Nelson and John Pennington. Additionally, she has performed with New York Baroque Dance Co. and with Shadow Box Theater. In 2021, Ilana assisted in setting Anna Sokolow’s Rooms, working both virtually and in person, and has taught modern dance to children at Bay Ridge Ballet and through the Limon4Kids program. Ilana has been a member of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble since 2018.
MIKEY COMITO (dancer) is from Long Island, New York. He attended SUNY Brockport in the fall of 2021 with a dance scholarship and trained under James Hansen. He has worked with and is influenced by Kathryn Alter and Jim May. He is a current member of the second company of the Limón Dance Foundation. Mikey joined Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble in 2024.
EDU HERNANDEZ (dancer) is from Morelos, México. He graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a BFA in Dance. He has performed the works of José Limón, Kathryn Alter, Rebecca Lemme, Ohad Naharin, Omar Román De Jesús, Anouk Van Dijk, among others. As an artist, his work has been selected for the APAP New York City Center, 92Y Harkness Center, the Palm Springs Dance Festival, and recently the BAAD! By Arthur Avilés. He is a former guest artist of the Limón Dance Company. Edu first performed with Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble in February 2025.
KRISTA JANSEN (dancer and guest choreographer) is a dancer and choreographer born, raised and based in New York City. She is one half of the duet company Jansen & Holm, where she performs and choreographs alongside CJ Holm. Her own choreography has been performed at Dixon Place, Triskelion Arts, the Flea, STUFFED! at Movement Research, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the 92nd street Y, and for award-winning film with director Bat-Sheva Guez. She was an original cast member and Assistant Rehearsal director for the critically acclaimed “Doug Elkins & Friends’ Fraulein Maria”, and for seven years performed and toured with that production around the United States and Canada. Krista is also a teaching assistant with Ellen Robbins, and choreographs for the Theater program at Beacon high school. Krista joined Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble in 2022.
BRAD OREGO (dancer) hails from Buffalo, NY. He comes from a diverse background in sport, martial art, and dance. His formal dance training began at the University of Rochester, where he earned the University’s first Minor in Dance, along with degrees in Computer Science and Psychology. In 2011, he moved to Madison, WI, where he has danced with Kanopy Dance Company since 2013. Brad moved to NYC in 2017 and continues his training at the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance. He has performed classic works by Anna Sokolow, Charles Weidman, and Martha Graham as well as contemporary work by Lisa Thurrell, Robert Cleary, Corrine Soum & Steven Wasson, Pascal Rioult, Martin Lofsnes, Lonny Gordon, and Stanley Love among others. Brad joined Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble in 2017.
JAMIE ROBINSON (dancer) earned his BFA in Dance from the University of Arizona. Since moving to New York City in 2018 he has performed with Same as Sister performance collective, Hudson Ballet Theatre, and Jersey City Ballet, among others. Jamie first performed with Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble in February 2025.
MARGHERITA TISATO (dancer) started studying dance in Italy at the age of 8. Her background is in Humphrey-Limón, contemporary, and dance-therapy. She counts in her roster of practices a variety of movement techniques including dance and yoga, Butoh, somatic movement, and recently the exploration of body suspension. Margherita moved to New York in 2006, and also works with Dances We Dance, and others. Margherita was a principal dancer with the Vangeline Theater from 2008 until 2017, and has presented her own work in New York and abroad. She is a teacher for the New York Butoh Institute and teaches Butoh workshops internationally. Margherita lives in Brooklyn, teaching yoga and mindful movement in studios, jails, and substance abuse recovery facilities, and coaching individuals in finding embodiment and recovering from PTSD. Margherita has danced with Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble since 2008.
Smoke Ring
SMOKE RING is a mixed voice, queer barbershop and contemporary a cappella quartet based in New York City. Since their start in January 2023, they have taken the barbershop world by storm. They won the 2024 Mid-Atlantic District championship on their first go, becoming the first-ever mixed voice quartet to earn the championship title! And more recently, they placed 9th in the world at their debut at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International quartet contest. They’re currently the highest-ranked mixed voice quartet in the world. They’ve wowed audiences at venues such as the US Open and NYC’s Terminal 5, where they opened for Sammy Rae and the Friends. No matter the venue or the size of the audience, Smoke Ring always aims to inspire singers and othered voices within the barbershop community.
Stay in Touch
We hope you enjoyed Close Quarters III.
Follow Smoke Ring on Instagram/Facebook/YouTube: @smokeringquartet
Smoke Ring’s new album is available on Bandcamp: https://smokeringquartet.bandcamp.com/album/smoke-ring-vol-1
For more information about The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, please explore the rest of our website.
The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble relies on the support of donors. Your tax-deductible gift will make it possible for us to support our dancers and share Anna Sokolow’s work, which honors the human experience with composure, strength, intuitiveness, and compassion.
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