Green Street Studios

AbOUt Us

Mission

Green Street Studios is a center for movement and dance that enables artists, students, and audiences to explore the boundless potential of physical movement and the expressive capacity ofthe human body. Through its support of both established and emerging professionals,Green Street Studios provides students of all levels, and the wider public, the opportunity to explore and establish connections of their own to the traditions and commitments of disciplined movement.

Vision

Green Street Studios is a dance and movement arts center that serves all ages and skill levels. GSS will develop dance audiences and serve its diverse community by expanding opportunities to experience the magic and wonder of dance and movement. We will be recognized for our artistic integrity, the quality of our dance education and our progressive programming. GSS will strive to identify and fill voids in the dance and movement community that are in harmony with our mission. The best professionals will be working for GSS. They will be experienced, dedicated to continually improving their teaching technique, recognized by the dance and movement community for their work, and committed to fostering and developing the Green Street Studios community.

As a center for developing emerging dance and movement artists, GSS will provide an environment where they can experiment, take artistic risks, perform and grow. GSS will collaborate with the Boston dance community and will bring artists, dancers and Boston’s audiences together to share the best and most challenging ideas, practices and practitioners by providing master’s classes and workshops with guest artists, offering artist residencies, and presenting performances of current and evolving trends.

GSS will transition from a cooperatively-run space to a dance and movement arts center managed by an active board of trustees, a professional staff and volunteers committed to implementing and sustaining the vision through a supportive atmosphere, sound organization and fiscal responsibility. Green Street Studios will provide affordable facilities for rehearsals, performances, and training that meet the specific needs of dancers and are affordable.

History

Green Street Studios (GSS) is a laboratory for dance in the Boston area. Founded in 1991 by five artists as a workspace, GSS now supports the performing, rehearsing and teaching needs of a diverse group of individuals and companies. With two studios and 125-seat black box studio/theatre, GSS is a purpose-built dance facility in a dynamic urban setting, one that offers dancers what they need to be successful.

Initially, the founders taught Modern Dance and Ballet to pay rent; their success made GSS a vital node in the Boston movement arts community. Over time, teachers of other dance forms joined them. GSS is now home to hundreds of dancers who rehearse and study, and over 20 teachers in a range of disciplines.

In 2001 the initial 10-year lease on the space expired. By that time, Central Square, Cambridge, had become a recognized destination, and rent for 2002 represented a 42% increase over the previous year. Renewing the lease and recognizing a new financial landscape pushed the organization to explore its potential and clarify its mission. GSS began evolving from an artist-run cooperative into a fully staffed center for the education and performance of dance and movement arts.

Much of the work of the past three years has focused on clarifying daily administration. The organization increased its budget 50% in the last 2 fiscal years through increased fundraising, improved financial management and growth in clientele served. Since 2005, programming revenues have increased by 38% and we employed our first full time Executive Director. GSS now serves a diverse community of over 5,500 from the Boston metropolitan area and beyond.

Board Members

George Anastaplo
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Mandy Manrique
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Tony Matsu
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David Nauss
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Nicole Pierce
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Birute Regine
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Marcus Schulkind
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Jody Weber
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George Anastaplo
George Anastaplo is an architect, practicing in Cambridge MA. Initally trained as a historian, he entered the design field through museum administration. As prelude to the smaller scaled architectural work he now does, George designed lighting for institutional clients. His projects included subway stations, libraries, schools, laboratories, museums, and a U.S. Embassy. Without setting out to do so, he has also developed a pro-bono practice of consulting to non-profit organizations.

Mandy Manrique
Mandy Manrique is proud to be the newest addition to the Green Street Board of Directors. Mandy is a 2002 Graduate of Emerson College with a BFA in dance. She continues to dance as a member of the Green Street community and has performed with Mosaic Dance Body, Josie Bray, and Anna Zamarripa. Aside from Dance Mandy enjoys being a member of the finance team at The Pohly Company in Boston, MA where she serves as the Accounts Recievable Staff Accountant. She looks forward to being a part of this great group of Board members here at GSS for many years to come!

Toni Matsu
Dancer, Gardener, Manager, Reader, Textile Artist. Toni suffers the odd combination of a strong artistic sensibility and an organized, button-down intelligence. Over the years it has led her to the management of a variety of arts and non-profit groups.

David Nauss
Since completing his degree in Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, David has spent 16 years developing his skills in design, carpentry and construction management in residential settings. He is a licensed builder, a partner and president of Highland Builders & Design Inc and a partner in several other businesses. David has trained Go Ju Ryu karate for 19 years and is a founding member of Kodokan Boston, which has been part of the Green St community for 10 years.

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Nicole Pierce
Nicole is a dancer, choreographer, teacher and musician. She moved to the Boston area from California in 1987 and has been active in the dance community since 1995. Nicole is trained in ballet and modern dance as well as classical piano. She is on the dance faculty of Emerson College and Green Street Studios. Nicole is the Artistic Director for EgoArt, Inc., her own multimedia performance company, which has been seen at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival as well as Boston venues. Nicole has also choreographed for Centastage Performance Boston and in collaboration with Commonwealth Civic Ballet. She teaches piano privately to children and adults. Nicole has danced in the companies of Marcus Schulkind, Jody Weber, Ruth Birnberg and Nicola Hawkins among others and has studied mime with Marcel Marceau. Nicole holds a B.A. in English from Tufts University and has done graduate work in music at Boston University.

Birute Regine
Birute Regine EdD, author of The Soul at Work and Paths of Iron Butterflies: How strong women are transforming themselves and the world, received her doctorate in developmental psychology from Harvard University, was a practicing psychotherapist for 25 years, and a visiting scholar at Wellesley College’s Research Center on Women. She is also a business consultant and public speaker. Married to Roger Lewin, she has a daughter Rasa, and a son Romas. Dance has been and continues to be her meditation, her passion, her sanity.

Marcus Schulkind
Marcus is a founding director of Green Street Studios and has been dancing, teaching, and performing for over thirty-three years. Originally trained in Graham Technique and Graham based variants (Norman Walker, May O’Donnell, Pearl Lang), he went on to study ballet with Antony Tudor and Maggie Black at Julliard, bodywork with Zena Rommett ( for whom he taught in New York), and Pilates Technique with Kathy Grant.
He has performed nationally and internationally with many major modern dance companies including Lar Lubovitch, Kathy Posin, and Batsheva Dance Company of Isreal. He has taught in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East. Mr. Schulkind is a nationally recognized dancer, teacher, and choreographer, having received grants from the N.E.A., N.Y.S.C.A., Affiliate Artists Inc., Bank Boston Celebrity Series, and First Night. He has choreographed for Dennis Wayne’s Company, Princeton Ballet, David Brown, Elisa Monte, 5 by 2 Plus, People Dancing, Pick of the Crop, Little Feet, Peanut Butter and Jelly Dance Company, and in Canada for Dance Partout and the National Ballet of Egypt. Since seriously injuring his knee twelve years ago, he has been integrating Physical therapies and his five year training of Pilates into his floor barre, modern, and ballet technique classes. Marcus is also a practicing acupuncturist.

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Jody Weber
Jody Weber received a BFA from SUNY Purchase in 1988. She was deeply influenced by teachers Sarah Stackhouse, Kevin Wynn, and Mel Wong. In 1992 she received an MA from American University focusing on dance history. At American University she was a recipient of a full teaching fellowship. In addition to teaching and graduate school studies, she continued to participate in the professional community through the works of Debra Riley and Beth Davis. Over the past seventeen years she has performed in New York City, Washington D.C., and Boston.

Her company, Weber Dance, has been presented through numerous local outlets including Green Street Studios, Mobius, Central Square World’s Fair, Cambridge Access TV, Somerville Artbeat, Boston First Night, Casco Bay Movers, Salem State College, The College of the Holy Cross and Boston University as well as venues in New York City and Washington D.C. In the 2001 and 2005 seasons, Ms Weber received an Artist Fellowship Grant from the Somerville Arts Council to support her choreography. In the fall of 2002, the Cambridge Arts Council and the Cambridge Public Library funded an audience development program proposed by Jody. Her work has received critical attention in the Globe, Herald, and The Phoenix.

In addition to performing and choreographing, Ms Weber has an avid interest in dance history. She presented her original research as a selected speaker at the Dance History Scholars Conference held at the New York Public Library in 1993. Her work as a dance historian and guest speaker was funded through the Hall of Black Achievement at Bridgewater State College. In June 0f 2001 she worked on the Boston Dance History Survey with Ruth Benson-Levin through the Boston Dance Alliance. This project established the foundation to build an archive on local dance history. In May of 2005 she completed her Ph.D. in Dance History through the University Professors Program at Boston University.

Ms Weber has worked as part time faculty at Stonehill College, Emerson College, Salem State College and The College of the Holy Cross. Currently, she teaches Modern Dance at Green Street Studios in Cambridge where she was the Co-Executive Director for five years, and is Assistant Professor of Dance at Bridgewater State College.

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Staff

Executive Director
Abbie Katz

Rental and Billing Coordinator
Catherine Murcek

Office Coordinator
Ellen Shea

Concert Coordinator
Ellen Philpott

Data Base Manager
Erin Pellecchia

Work/Study Coordinator
Julie Pike Edmond

Technical Director
Kristin Hayes

Webmaster
Ruth Bronwen and Peggy Crown

Ruth Bronwen found a home at Green Street Studios after dancing with the Boston Ballet. She is currently working with Jose Mateo Ballet Theater, Kinodance and Lorraine Chapman/The Company. Ruth received her BA in English and Dance from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Currently, she enjoys the challenge of balancing company work, her own solo and group choreography and graphic/website development.

Abbie H. Katz was Associate Producer for the Boston Early Music Festival from 2002-07; previous to that she was General Manager of The Market Theater in Cambridge. Ms. Katz was also Associate Producer for the Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven and General Manager for Anna Deveare Smith’s Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue at Harvard University. She toured extensively thoughout the US, Europe and Asia, and has worked with the Lucinda Childs Dance Company, Meredith Monk (The House), Robert Wilson and Yoshiko Chuma. She currently teaches stage management and arts administration at Suffolk University.

Kristin Hayes earned her BFA from Emerson College, receiving accolades and recognition for her designs of Undiscovered Country, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and the 25th Annual EVVY Awards. She currently works as a freelance designer and technician in Boston; recent design credits include A Christmas Carol for Fiddlehead Theatre Company, Hamlet for Shakespeare Now, and Simon Says for PSFilms.

Erin Pellecchia holds a BFA in Dance from Emerson College and a postgraduate degree in Cultural Management from City University, London. She returned to Boston in May 2005 to dance for Josie Bray, and has most recently worked with the Animus Ensemble, Audra Carabetta, Jimena Bermejo, Serena Hadsell and Linden Tree Dance Company. As a manager, Erin worked at the UK Foundation for Dance and The Place Artist Development in London and currently works in the office at Green Street Studios. She teaches creative movement classes for children at Peanut Butter & Jelly Dance in Brookline where she is also Administrator for the company.

Julie Pike Edmond began her academic pursuits in Dance Education and Performance at Columbia College in Chicago. There she studied under Shirley Mordine and Jan Eckert. After a back injury, she returned to her native New England where she graduated from Bradford College with a B.F.A. Since then, she has danced with Brian Crabtree, Exit Dance Theater, and Nicola Hawkins Dance Company. She currently performs with Caitlin Corbett Dance Company, Weber Dance, EgoArt, Inc., and Karen Murphy. Julie works as a Shiatsu, Craniosacral, and Reiki practitioner and will soon be certified in therapeutic pet massage. Julie develops her own choreography as The TurnPike Project.

Ellen Shea graduated from Boston University with a BA in English in 2006. She currently works at the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Ellen grew up dancing at a local dance studio. In college she joined Boston University's Dance Theater Group, through which she performed in many dances choreographed by BU students and teachers such as Margo Parsons and Micki Taylor-Pinney. Dance Theater Group also provided her opportunity to choreograph her own work.

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Directions

Green Street Studios is located at 185 Green St., Cambridge, MA.

By Car:

From Boston
Cross the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge into Cambridge. Half a mile from the bridge turn left on Sidney Street (a wide street just before a fire station on the left) and immediately turn right into Green Street. Drive one block to Brookline Street. Cross Brookline Street. Green Street Studio will be the 2nd building on the right. For parking look for 2 hour meters (free after 6:00 PM and on Sundays) on Brookline Street before crossing it or continue on Green Street to the Municipal parking lot on the left after the stop sign. Meters also available on Massachusetts Avenue (2 and 1 hour meters).

From Mass Turnpike, Brookline
Take Cambridge/Allston exit on to River Street Bridge into Cambridge, continue straight on River Street less than half a mile and make a right turn on Franklin Street. Take the 3rd left turn onto Brookline Street and the next left onto Green Street.

Parking garage
A reasonably priced parking garage is located on Green Street, the next block after Green Street Studios, on the left side of the street.

By Public Transportation:

To Central Square
By bus take #'s 1, CT1, 47, 64, 70, 70A to Central Square, Cambridge; by subway take Red Line T to Central Square Station.

From S.E. corner of Massachusetts Ave and Prospect St. / Western Ave. / Magazine St. :

Walk S.E. one block to Pearl St. . Turn Right (S.W.) .

Walk one block on Pearl St. to corner of Green St. and Pearl St.

Turn Left (S.E.) . Continue down Green St. .

Green Street Studios are located in a two story brick building between Pearl St. and Brookline St.

Thanks to Support from Sponsors:

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Green Street Studios . 185 Green St, Cambridge, MA 02139 . info@greenstreetstudios.org . tel: 01 (617) 864-3191