Lauren

Lauren Bobo is a freelance dance artist, teacher, and choreographer in Metro Detroit, Michigan. Lauren began her dance training at the age of 14 at Atlanta Ballet’s Center for Dance Education and went on to receive her Bachelors of Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography and Biological Sciences from the University of South Carolina. Lauren’s passion for ballet and contemporary movement is expressed through her love for teaching and choreography. Lauren’s style is heavily influenced by working with and performing works by Maurya Kerr, Brian Arias, Ryley Watts, Alvin Ailey II, Joffrey Ballet School, Jillian Mitchell, Tanya Wydman-Davis and Thaddeus Davis of Wydman-Davis Dance, Madeline Jazz-Harvey, CompanyE, and Arnau Perez, among others. In 2017, Lauren’s choreography was awarded the Director’s Award for Outstanding Choreography. Since moving to Michigan in 2019, Lauren has danced professionally with ArtLab J, Contexture Dance Detroit, and Detroit Dance Collective. In her free time, Lauren enjoys cooking, reading, yoga, and spending time exploring the outdoors. Lauren is looking forward to her second season with DDCdances.

Emma

Emma Davis is working towards her PhD in Dance at Texas Woman’s University and is a dance lecturer at the University of Michigan-Flint, where she teaches a variety of technique, performance, and lecture-based courses. Ms. Davis trained with many dance intensives including Anna Halprin, Liz Lerman, the American Dance Festival, and is certified to teach through the advanced level of Giordano jazz technique. Emma has received awards for her work with dance and the community from the University of Michigan Arts Initiative, Michigan Arts and Culture Council, and the Mellon Foundation. Her choreography has appeared at regional dance festivals, theatre productions, and recently at Cranbrook Art Museum as part of singer Tunde Olaniran’s Made a Universe film and exhibition. She performs as a back-up dancer with Tunde, since 2011, performing national tours and internationally in England and France. Emma is excited to be performing in her fourth season with DDCdances!

Amy

Amy Hutchison received her early classical ballet training with the Saginaw Valley Dancers under the direction of Doris Marsh. She was a company member of the Farrell Ballet Theatre from 2006-2010 while earning her BA in Psychology from Kalamazoo College. A member and guest choreographer for People Dancing since 2010, she has danced in numerous works by Christina Sears and had the opportunity to perform in Queens, NY with the company in 2015. She has also been a guest performer with LaMarre and Dancers and Patty Solórzano Dance. Amy has attended intensives and studied with Paul Taylor Dance Company, Kista Tucker Dance Company, Sidra Bell Dance, Toronto Dance Theater, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, L-E-V dance company at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Bill Evans, and The Limón Dance Company. Since joining DDCdances, she has had the opportunity to perform at RADfest in Kalamazoo, Oakland Dance Festival, the Detroit Dance City Festival, and in 2018 and 2019 performed at the Bill Evans Somatic Dance Conference in Geneva, NY. She was featured with the company on Detroit Public TV PBS "Detroit Performs" in 2020. Amy's choreography has been presented at 555 Gallery (Detroit), Oakland Dance Festival, and on DDCdances. Amy is a certified GYROTONIC® and Pilates Instructor and also teaches ballet and modern. She is honored and excited to be in her 10th season with the company.

Jaiden

Jaiden Kruse began dancing competitive ballroom at the age of 18 with the Michigan State Ballroom Dance Team. After transferring to Eastern Michigan University and joining the Ann Arbor Ballet Theater, Jaiden found his calling in modern dance and ballet. Under the guidance of Molly Paberzs, Jaiden discovered a profound connection with choreography and improvisation. During his time at Eastern, Jaiden performed works by Carol Radovich, Molly Paberzs, Sherry Wilkinson, David Curwen and Barbara Selinger. Jaiden has most recently attended the Whim W’him Summer Workshop under the direction of Olivier Wevers. After graduating with a BA in Dance from Eastern, Jaiden acquired his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification from the NSCA and concentrates on training dancers for injury prevention and performance improvement. He is excited to join DDCdances for their 43rdseason and contribute to the city of Detroit through dance.

A special thank you to our Photographer  John Sobczak

for his many years of friendship, generosity, and love of dance!