DeAnnaPellecchia.com

DEANNA PELLECCHIA is a dancer, choreographer, educator, equestrian, trainer, athlete, aerialist, actress and artist. She is committed to creating multi-sensory, multi-disciplinary works of live art. DeAnna crafts performance pieces both site-specific and for the stage that seamlessly integrate the disciplines of dance, theater, music, visual art and digital technology. She uses rich visual imagery to create dance-theater pieces that communicate emotionally powerful physical landscapes. The Boston Herald calls her “stunning…one of the area’s finest artists”. The Boston Globe describes her as “a committed and daring performer”. Bay Windows defines her as "...muscular, mesmerizing, unforgettable..."

As a dance-artist/educator, DeAnna's mission is to bring dance, in the form of high-art, to the masses. In the process of achieving this goal she has danced with horses, in trees, on stilts, under water and through air; has been featured in rodeos, operas, plays, fashion shows, magazines, movies and music videos; and has performed in unconventional landscapes as well as theaters of all shapes and sizes across the United States from the Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington D.C. to the Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert. DeAnna has toured throughout India, performing and teaching in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kerala and Bangalore for organizations such as the National School of Drama, Pondicherry University, Alliance Francaise and the University of Calicut.

Over the past decade DeAnna has performed venues including horse arenas, art installations, convention centers, office buildings, board rooms, playgrounds, shopping malls, churches, museums, sidewalks, parking lots, living rooms, lounges, night clubs and theaters. She has danced, climbed, hurdled, hydroplaned, hovered, and flown in the most unlikely places and spaces imaginable: inside the 3-story "New Balance" jungle gym in the lobby of Boston’s Children’s Museum; on a rope ladder suspended 16-feet above Somerville's Davis Square train-station; on a floating bridge in the middle Lake Hibiscus at Forest Hills Cemetery; on a wrought-iron fence surrounding a downtown flower garden; and in an open field in Middletown, Connecticut with real live dairy cows. She has performed on ropes suspended 40-feet in the air over the Nevada desert at the Burning Man Festival; on 4-foot stilts, that made her 9-feet tall, in Boston's Historic Cyclorama Theater; and amongst butterflies and frogs inside a condemned, open-air theater in the tropical jungles of Kerala, India. She has run, leaped and laid down with horses. She has floated, skittered and soared down from trees, across monkey-bars, over pools of clay and under water fountains for audiences numbering from ten to four-thousand. She has danced with Chinese fans, Wushu spears, platform shoes, plants, buckets, bathtubs, batiks and an array of exceptional, incredibly brilliant artists.

DeAnna has been dancing her whole life; she has been dancing professionally for over a decade. "A dancer of...sinewy athleticism" (Big, Red & Shiny), her "no-holds-barred physicality" (Nine Dots Boston) is influenced by traditional dance technique, Hip-Hop, Performance Theater, aerial dance and various forms of martial arts including Tae Kwon Do, Kalaripayattu, Wushu and Capoeira. As a kid, DeAnna spent her weekends attending ballet classes and playing tackle football with her brothers. Her dancing is an articulate marriage of the two – a convergence of sheer athleticism and refined technique. "DeAnna moves through vertical space with the strength of a gymnast, the ease of an acrobat and the grace of a dancer..." (The Boston Globe). Critics have also called DeAnna "compelling...intense...mysterious...striking...a captivating creature", and described her as having "...lines so long and elegant, they bend into curves..." (The Boston Globe). BACKSTAGE critiques her performance with ANIKAI dance as "exciting...intriguing...spunky...and gorgeous". Her dancing has also been declared "adventurous" by Dance Magazine and "electric" by BIG, RED AND SHINY. Boston University's on-line magazine calls her "fierce...a frighteningly powerful force on-stage". STUFF@NIGHT magazine crowned DeAnna one of "Boston's Best Bodies" featuring her "most well-sculpted physique" alongside professional athletes from Beantown's own Bruins, Celtics and Patriots teams.

CHOREOGRAPHER…
DeAnna’s choreographic style, movement that blends free-wheeling turns and leaps with sudden inversions, quirky gestures and intricate footwork, is both emotionally rich and starkly beautiful. Her high-energy choreography is very grounded in nature, influenced by her extensive studies in martial arts, and punctuated with quick, explosive accents, characteristic of jazz and hip-hop. Her choreography has been described as "dramatic...effective... blistering...and sensuous" (The Boston Globe).

DeAnna is Co-Artistic Director/Co-Choreographer of KAIROS Dance Theater, an eclectic performance company committed to creating emotionally powerful, viscerally charged dance theater. DeAnna and Co-founder Ingrid Schatz use rich visual imagery to create compelling movement pictures that engage performers and audience alike mentally, physically and emotionally. Through the generation of non-linear story mosaics using contemporary dance, light, myth, visual art, memory and text, KAIROS Dance Theater aims to transcend time, defy conventional perceptions and challenge complacency. Theodore Bale of the Boston Herald has called DeAnna and Ingrid "the sexiest and most ironic duo on the local scene", and declared, "they represent a new wave in contemporary dance". Their project "THAT GIRL AND THE OTHER ONE", which explores the intense dynamics cultivated in relationships between women, has been called "violently compelling", "unnerving and intimate", "a beautifully eerie duet" that "lingered after the curtain closed".

DeAnna also collaboratively founded Savage Amusements with musician Ed Broms, formerly of grammy-nominated BLUE MAN GROUP. Ed has been dubbed "a true Renaissance Man" by The Boston Globe, and has been a mainstay of the Boston and NYC music scenes for the past 25 years. He has performed and recorded with a veritable 'who's who' list of the world's leading rock, jazz, classical and world-music musicians on bass, organ and voice. Together DeAnna and Ed create site-specific performance installations for both clubs and traditional performance spaces. Their artistic convergence is equal parts live music, dance, performance art, theater, spoken word, improvisational spontaneity, provocative costuming, original set design, and vocalization. Their performance installation "RED CHARLIE" was produced at The Charles Playhouse by Broadway Across America. Thier collaboration inspired Broms to write and record the song, "DEANNA FLIES" which will appear on his newest album, currently in production.

DeAnna was the inspiration for writer/director Gary Shore's award-winning, feature-length film "Children of Providence". Shore invited DeAnna to act the lead role of "Roxie", as well as choreograph the movement sequences for the film. "Children of Providence" was awarded "BEST FEATURE FILM" both nationally and internationally in 2010 at both the SENE Film Festival in Rhode Island and the ROB KNOX Film Festival in London.

In 2008 DeAnna choreographed and staged the Boston premiere of NYC music-icon, Johnny Reinhard's theatrical opera "ODYSSEUS", presented by the American Festival of Microtonal Music. Also dancing in the production as a soloist, DeAnna performed the roles of "Circe the sorcerer" and "the lead Siren", opposite Grammy-nominated cellist Dave Eggar, who performed the lead role of "Odysseus". DeAnna coordinated the staging of the 50 plus musicians and singers in the performance, which also included Grammy-nominated pianist Joshua Pierce and singer/songwriter/recording artist Dina Fanai.

DeAnna has been commissioned to create numerous solo performances as well as ensemble pieces by universities, instituions and organizations. Her work has been presented by the American Festival of Microtonal Music, The Charles Playhouse, Broadway Across America, Critical Moves Performance Series, Outside Art Collective, Braver, P.C., Betty Riaz/STIL, The Huntington Theater, Boston University, Roger Williams University, The Boston Center for the Arts, Mobius, The Order of The Artists, The Cloud Foundation, URBANO Project, The Dance Complex, and Green Street Studios.

PERFORMER…
DeAnna dances with companies and choreographers who make work via collaboration, including dancers as an integral part of the creative process. Ms. Pellecchia is currently a principal dancer with internationally acclaimed New York-based Paula Josa-Jones/Performance Works. She is an original cast member of RIDE, PJJ/PW's Equestrian Dance Theater Performance. Descendant from a family of cowboys, DeAnna grew up handling horses and has been riding since she could walk. Since 2000 she has been dancing with horses and considers it one her life's greatest gifts. She has created and performed dozens of dances with equine dance partners who have taught her countless lessons about being a human in the world.

DeAnna is a principal dancer with ANIKAI Dance Company (since 2005), of which she is a founding member and for which she is Rehearsal Director. She also dances as a soloist with Kinodance Company (named one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch” in 2008), an interdisciplinary artist collective which marries film projection with live performance.

DeAnna has had the pleasure of working with legendary choreographer Elaine Summers, original member of New York's Judson Dance Theater, whose historic intermedia performance installation "Crow's Nest/Solitary Geography" has featured DeAnna in its revolving cast of performers. She has collaborated with award-winning choreographer Ann Carlson, creating the site-specific performance piece, "Green Movement", in which DeAnna dances with real live dairy cows. She made her premeire as a soloist with Anna Myer & Dancers in 2010 in the evening-length rap opera "Street Talk. Suite Talk". DeAnna has also worked with choreographers Janet Taisey Craft (Ipswich Moving Company), Michael Jahoda (White Box Project), Nicola Hawkins (Nicola Hawkins Dance Company), Jamie Jewett (Lostwax), Kelly Peters, Leda Elliott, and Dillon Paul. Ms. Pellecchia was a principal dancer with Bennett Dance Company, directed by choreographer Christine Bennett, from 1999-2007; in addition to being a founding member of BDC, she was also Rehearsal Director and Assistant Choreographer.

DeAnna has performed onstage with musicians Roger Miller (Mission of Burma, Alloy Orchestra), Mike Rivard (Club d'Elf), Dan Auerbach, Skip La Plante, Matt Samolis, Sam Ou, Hibiki Toen, Atsuko Kida, Kentaro Uchida, Takashi Sakai, Norihiko Akagi, Bruce Ferarra, Blake Newman, Haggai Cohen-Milo, Mateo Lugo, Matan Chapnizka, Daniel Wright, Phil Grenadier, Renato Malavasi, and Nat Mugavero; singers Stephen Salters, Patrice Williamson, Eleonora Bianchini, Stephen Marc Beaudoin, Alison Buchanan, Ramone Diggs, and William Hite; and music ensembles Dinnosaur Annex, and Boston Modern Orchestra Project. She has created work collectively with composers Evan Ziporyn, Elena Ruehr, Nandlal Nayak, Hugh Hinton, and Grayson Hugh; visual artists Michael Dowling, Dedalus Wainwright, Mary Edna Fraser, and Beth Galston; filmmakers Alla Kovgan, Christian De Rezendes, and Gary Shore; and photographers Liz Linder, Tim Gray, Jeff Anderson, Arthur Fink, and Kevin Bullis. DeAnna has appeared on MTV in the music videos of Public Enemy, among others. Modeling credits include the Vintage Fashion Museum (runway), Tintagel Enterprises, Ltd. (advertisement), MorenaWear (advertisement), Eighth Generation Photography (art/print), and Liz Linder Photography (art/print).

TEACHER…
Most rewardingly, DeAnna has taught and been taught by movers of all kinds. She has worked with doctors, musicians, quadriplegics, underprivileged youth, the elderly, professional dancers and corporate business managers, proudly helping to reveal the dancer in each of them. She has taught dance and movement at schools, universities and institutions throughout the United States and India. Specifically DeAnna specializes in working with inner-city teenagers, both ‘arts-identified’ and ‘non-arts identified’. She has taught for The Yard on Martha's Vineyard, The Huntington Theater, Vine Street Community Center in Roxbury, "Act 2" in conjunction with Celebrity Series of Boston and "Taking Steps" at Boston Ballet. From 2002-2004 DeAnna co-directed the performing arts component of Medicine Wheel Production's "No Man's Land" Youth Outreach Program, involving art-based work with at-risk teens in South Boston. The site-specific outdoor performance "TURF", created by DeAnna and Ingrid Schatz in collaboration with the youth, was awarded the "Boston Peace Party Community Star Award" from the City of Boston for outstanding work in fostering peaceful neighborhoods. DeAnna resided on dance faculty at The Cambridge School of Weston, a progressive, coeducational, day and boarding school for grades 9 through 12, from 2005-2007. She was an 'artist mentor in residence' at The Cloud Foundation from 2007-2009, teaching dance & composition workshops to urban youth. Those workshops were relocated to Urbano Project in 2009, where DeAnna currently resides as a staff artist and continues to provide much needed mentorship to young people across the city of Boston. She has also taught movement workshops for impoverished children throughout India. DeAnna greatly enjoys teaching inquisitive, courageous teenagers how to express themselves through the medium of dance, and in the process beautify the world.

DeAnna resides on dance faculty at Boston University (since 2002) where she teaches Body Conditioning for Dancers, Repertory & Performance, and Jazz technique at the beginner, intermediate and advanced level. She has also taught dance and/or been a guest artist at Boston Conservatory, Boston Ballet, Boston Center for the Arts, Colby College, St. Joseph College, Newport High School, Northern Essex Community College, Roger Williams University, Salem State College, The Dance Complex, Green Street Studios, American College Dance Festival Conferences and VHA Inc. Science Complexity Conferences, among others. DeAnna instructed a seminar for people with severe handicaps at the 2002 TASH Conference. TASH is the international association of people with disabilities, their family members, other advocates, and professionals fighting for a society in which inclusion of all people in all aspects of society, is the norm. DeAnna, and collaborator Ingrid Schatz, with the Herb Lovett Memorial Fund, worked to celebrate citizens of all abilities by abandoning the idea that individuals exist as either "able" or "disabled". Workshops encouraged participants to create their own movement through guided tasks and culminated in a performance uniting movers of all abilities.

EDUCATION & TRAINING…
DeAnna received a BA in Dance/Performance with a dual minor in Business Management & Latin from Roger Williams University. During her four years at RWU she performed and choreographed for The Dance Theater, was a recipient of The Dance Theater Performance Scholarship Award and traveled to Washington DC to perform in the National College Dance Festival Gala at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center. As a student DeAnna studied with / performed in the works of Sean Curran, Kelli Wicke Davis, Doug Elkins, Carl Flink, Emilie Plauche Flink, Heidi Henderson, Heidi Latsky, Kathy Gordon Smith and Gary Shore. She extensively studied several contemporary dance styles including Graham, Humphrey, Horton and Release technique, along with jazz, hip-hop, ballet, tap, mime, butoh, improvisation, acting, performance theater and Tae Kwon Do. In her professional career she has come to study stilt-walking, tree-climbing, house-scaling, Authentic Movement, Deep Listening, One Thousand Voices, Action Theater and various forms of aerial dance including low-flying trapeze, static trapeze, fabric sling, ropes and silks. She has done harness work with Flying by Foy, well known masters of theatrical flight using the patented Track On Track system, which allows two operators to independently control lift and travel of the aerial performer. DeAnna has intensively trained and competed in the Korean martial art Tae Kwon Do under Master Young Ho Jin, former trainer of the U.S. Olympic team. She has also studied martial art forms including Capoeria (Brazilian), Wushu spear / T'ai Chi (Chinese) and Kalaripayattu (South Indian). She has taken master classes in vocal work with Janis Brenner of Meredith Monk's Vocal Ensemble, aerial dance with Cypher Zero of FireFlyDance, hip-hop with Rennie Harris of Rennie Harris Puremovement, butoh with Jennifer Hicks of CHIMAERAlab, composition with Goran Bogdanovski & Dejan Srhoj of Fićo Balet, Capoeria Angola with Mestre Deraldo Ferreira, and modern technique with Mia McSwain of The Parsons Dance Company, Kristin Hollinsworth of The Susan Marshall Company and members of Doug Varone & Dancers including Daniel Charon, Natalie Desch and Stephanie Liapis.