About Us

ABOUT US

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Mary Lynn Babcock Founder, Artistic Director

Kihyoung Choi Performer, Choreographer

Ellie Leonhardt             Poet, Performer, Choreographer
Jessica Thomas            Performer
Taryn Thompkins         Performer

Mary Lynn Babcock is choreographer, teacher and movement analyst who holds an MFA in dance and Ph.D in Amerian Studies from Case Western Reserve University. Her work has been presented across the U.S and in Portugal, Jamaica, The Netherlands, and Egypt. Dance professor at the University of North Texas, in Denton, Texas, she teaches Laban Studies, modern dance, improvisation and introduction to composition, and dance and technology where her research has taken her into interactive media and performance. She is founder and artistic director of Satellite-Dance, an interdisciplinary, interarts/intermedia dance collective.

Kihyoung Choi is from Seoul, Korea. She holds a Ph.D. in dance from Texas Woman’s University where she was a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society. Dr. Choi began her professional dance training in Yewon Art Middle School in Seoul, Korea where she rigorously studied ballet, Korean dance, and modern dance. She has performed as a professional dancer since the age of 12 and performed with the Korean National Ballet Company and Sangmook Chae Traditional Korean Dance Company.

Ellie Leonhardt received an MFA degree from Mills College (Oakland, CA) in Dance Performance and Choreography. Her passions and specialties include Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, Yoga, and The Erick Hawkins Modern Dance Technique. Her choreography has been performed throughout the United States including the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. Ellie has taught movement in a variety of settings to diverse populations, from creative movement for preschool students to yoga-in-chairs for senior citizens. In 2009 she completed level two certification in the somatic psychology form, Hakomi. In the fall of 2009 she completed her Pilates Mat Certification from the The PhysicalMind Institute.

Taryn Thompkins recently graduated with a B.A. in dance from the University of North Texas. While attending school her student choreography was selected to be performed at the American College Dance Festival. She has performed in the reconstructed works of Edmund Giles “No More Dry Tears” and Bebe Miller’s “Blessed”. Taryn is also currently moving with Muscle Memory Dance Theater.

Jessica Thomas graduated from the University of North Texas with a B.F.A in Dance. She was recipient of the Lucille Murchison Dance Scholarship. While at UNT she performed a reconstruction of José Limón's, "Psalm," which then led her to travel between California and New York studying with the José Limón Company. The humble, transcendent beauty of this technique combined with its organic, technical rigor continues to significantly shape her own movement aesthetic...drawing her deeper to her own sense of being. Jessica is also moving with Contemporary Dance Fort Worth and Muscle Memory Dance Theatre, as well as teaching at TCD Studios.