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 of the 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 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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Jimena Bermejo-Black
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Lissa Florman

Abbie Katz
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Tony Matsu
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Nicole Pierce
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Birute Regine
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Marcus Schulkind
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George Anastaplo
George Anastaplo is an architect, practicing in Cambridge MA. Initially 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.

Jimena Bermejo-Black
Jimena Bermejo-Black was born in Mexico City. She holds a BFA in Dance from The Boston Conservatory and will be graduating with an MFA from The Massachusetts College of Art and Design in May 2009. Jimena has performed with Spencer/Colton, Marcus Schulkind, Kate Digby, Ego Art Inc., Kelli Edwards, Lorraine Chapman The Company, Caitlin Corbett Dance Company and as a guest dancer with David Parker and The Bang Group. Along with performing Jimena continues to teach, choreograph and create video/performance pieces. She serves on the dance faculty of The College of The Holy Cross and has been awarded with the Performance Works Project (2005) and the Emerging Artists (2008) grants for her choreography.

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 throughout 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.

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.

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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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Staff

Treasurer
Donna Wabrek

Scheduling Coordinator
Courtney Romanowski

Billing Coordinator
Toni Matsu

Administrative Coordinator
Kathryn Dunkel

Concert Coordinator

Data Base Manager

Technical Director
Kristin Hayes

Webmaster
Peggy Crown

Deanna Beattie graduated magna cum laude from Plymouth State College with a Bachelor’s of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies: Dance and Philosophy. During her time at Plymouth State, she was the president of the Contemporary Dance Ensemble and actively participated in their bi-annual concerts with her performance and choreography. She currently studies at Green Street Studios with Jody Weber and Marcus Schulkind. Deanna has recently worked with Jody Weber, Kee Chin, and has also submitted her own choreography in the Cambridge dance scene. She currently is a wine and gourmet food manager and teaches dance part-time at North Shore Community College.

Andrea Blesso Albuquerque has many careers - as a dance instructor at Green Street Studios and Partners for Youth with Disabilities, as a performer with EgoArt, Inc. and Falling Flight Project, as a model for artist Judith Larsen, and as Office Manager at the Boston Center for the Arts. Throughout her dance life, Andrea has performed with Snappy Dance Theater, Bennett Dance Company, and Turnpike Project, among others. She has danced underwater, 18ft in the air, on wheels of many kinds, on various land surfaces, and is currently studying fire dancing. Andrea's latest collaboration has her dancing on the streets and mountains of Portugal.

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.

Kathryn Dunkel received her BA in Dance from Hamilton College with a Minor in Anthropology. While at Hamilton, she studied with Elaine Heekin, Leslie Norton, and Bruce Walczyk. Kathryn is a graduate of the Trinity/La Mama program out of New York City, where she studied with Maureen Fleming, Tiffany Mills, and Lisa Race, among others. Since moving to Boston, she has had the pleasure of performing work by choreographers and companies including: Bryce Dance, Kee Chin, EgoArt, Inc., Cat Murcek, Cheri Opperman, Mariah Steele, Danny Swain Dance Company, and WeberDance. Kathryn has presented her own work in Cambridge at The Dance Complex and Green Street Studios, the Triskelion Arts Center in Brooklyn, and The Annex at La MaMa E.T.C. in New York City.

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.

Courtney Romanowski Courtney Romanowski graduated from Emerson College in 2006 with a B.F.A. in Dance/Theatre. She has studied with master artists as Keith Sabado, Milton Myers, Deborah Leamy and Julia Boynton, among others. Along with Green Street, Courtney works at Central Square Theater. She also teaches dance throughout the Metrowest; she has performed with Moving West Repertory Dance Theatre, Kee Chin and Heather Bryce Dance. Courtney can be reached at scheduling@greenstreetstudios.org

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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:

Member of

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