Dancers
Ty Alexander Cheng (Principal Artist), a Seattle native, began his professional dance training at the Alvin Ailey School of Dance and has participated in three annual summer dance intensives (The Professional Dance Project) in Portland, OR. He danced with MOMIX Dance Theater for two seasons under the direction of Moses Pendleton, with whom he had the opportunity to perform around the globe. He has danced with Balance Dance Theater under the direction of Obediah Wright, and frequently guests with Olivier Wevers’ Whim W’Him. He has appeared in The 5th Avenue Theater’s productions of West Side Story and On the Town, as well as Seattle Opera’s productions of Aida and Julius Caesar. Ty is in his sixth season with Spectrum Dance Theater.
Vincent Michael Lopez (Principal Artist) began his ballet training at The School of Ballet Arizona under the direction of Kee Juan Han and Truman Finney. He received The Oprah Winfrey Scholarship to study at The Ailey School in New York City, where he was privileged enough to perform choreography by Alvin Ailey, Dwight Rhoden, and David Parsons. Shortly thereafter, he joined Ballet Austin II performing works by Stephen Mills, Gina Patterson, Thang Dao, and Thaddeus Davis who invited Lopez into Wideman/Davis Dance performing projects that would take him around the world. Vincent continues to perform with Wideman/Davis Dance and has since guested with Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, and more recently with Olivier Wevers’ Whim W’Him. Vincent is in his fourth season with Spectrum Dance Theater.
Jeroboam Bozeman began his training with Jamel Gaines at Creative Outlet Dance Theatre (CODT) of Brooklyn, and studied at The Joffrey Ballet School and Dance Theatre of Harlem. He was a member of the Philadelphia Dance Company “Philadanco,” danced in “Step Up 3-D,” and placed in the top 36 on Fox’s show “So You Think You Can Dance.” This is his first season with SDT.
Derek Crescenti is originally from Shelby Township, MI, where he began his training under Suzette Maniaci. He is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan with a BFA in Dance and received the 2011 Earl V. Moore Award in Dance. At UM, he performed the works of Rennie Harris, Laura Dean, Paul Taylor and Merce Cunningham. While attending the National Society of Arts and Letters 2011 Competition in Dance, he received The Svetlova Second Place Award at the National Career Awards in Birmingham, AL. He has worked with Daniel Gwirtzman and Nejla Yatkin in New York City, Tatiana Baganova at the ADF, and is excited to be a new resident of Seattle. This is his first season with Spectrum Dance Theater.
Jade Solomon Curtis began her training in Jacksonville, FL under the direction of Dr. Phyllis A. Penney. After receiving a scholarship, Jade attended and soon graduated in 2008 from Southern Methodist University where she performed works by Agnes de Mille, Martha Graham, William Forsythe, Jose Limon and Danny Buraczeski. Under the direction of Leonard Meek and James “Buster” Grant she performed with Opus Dance Theater as well as Alison Chase Performance. She has also had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Christopher Huggins, Pedro Ruiz, and Jeffery Paige. This is her first season with Spectrum Dance Theater.
Donald Jones, Jr. is a New Orleans native and a graduate of Northwestern State University in Louisiana; he earned a Bachelor of Science in Theater with double concentrations in Musical Theater and Dance and has studied at The American Dance Festival, The Benjamin’s Center for Dance and The New Orleans Ballet Academy. He has enjoyed being a member of the 2010-11 national tour of The Color Purple choreographed by Donald Byrd and is thrilled to make his concert dance debut with Spectrum.
Amber Nicole Mayberry of Washington, DC trained at the Washington School of Ballet, the Dance Theatre of Harlem Residency Program and with Fabian Barnes at the Dance Institute of Washington. In 2005 she graduated cum laude from SUNY-Purchase College where she performed works by Richard Cook, Michael Blake and Sean Curran with ABT’s Studio Company. She has performed with Washington Reflections Dance Company, This Woman’s Work, Elisa Monte Dance and Wideman/Davis Dance. In addition, Ms. Mayberry has performed with the Washington National Opera and the Baltimore Opera Company. Amber performed in The Intiman’s production of Black Nativity in 2010. Amber is currently in her third season with Spectrum Dance Theater.
Shadou Mintrone, originally from Southwest Florida, is a recent graduate from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA and a new resident to Seattle. Throughout college she has worked under the direction and guidance of many choreographers such as Christopher Huggins and Gary Jeter. Special development of her training came though the wisdom and refinement from Ronen Koresh and Scott Jovovich. Company credits go to Brian Sanders, JUNK and Zane Booker, SLJ Arts Initiative. In 2009, Shadou was selected, one of three females, to perform in Santiago, Chile for “Danza en el Metro” under the direction of Wayne St. David and Maria Urrutia . Now with a BFA in Jazz Performance Dance Shadou is thrilled to add Donald Byrd and Spectrum Dance Theater to her biography.
Kate Monthy is a born and raised Tacoman, and has traveled nationally and internationally with her dance. From a young age she studied at Tacoma City Ballet, under Jan Collum and Erin Ceragioli. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Pacific Lutheran University, while also dancing in the professional division of Tacoma City Ballet. While at PLU, she studied abroad in Cannes France where she trained at Rosella Hightower’s Ecole Superior de Danse. Recently she returned from dancing with Eryc Taylor Dance Company in New York City. She is the founder of MLKBallet, a tuition-free dance school in downtown Tacoma for children and adults, and Artistic Director of The MOVE!NG Company. Kate is honored and excited to be dancing with Spectrum this season.
