Dancers

Kai Berkedal
Kai grew up in Seattle, Washington where he studied ballet at Pacific Northwest Ballet School on scholarship from third to tenth grade. While in high school he also participated in wrestling and track. In 2007 Kai moved to Bellingham to attend Western Washington University where he achieved a BFA in Dance and Choreography. He’s worked with choreographers such as Wade Madsen, Betsy Cooper, Kraig Patterson, and Penny Hutchinson. Kai has also attended Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet for a summer intensive. He’s overjoyed to be dancing with BRD.

Alona Christman
Alona started dancing at the age of five. She graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle with a BFA in Dance. She has performed for such artists as KT Niehoff, Kuntz and Company, Paige Barns, Bill Evans, Sonia Dawkins, Wade Madsen, Deborah Wolf, Mary Sheldon-Scott, and others. Alona is a long time member of Dance Gallery, as well as a founding member and dancer for Bellingham Repertory Dance. She manages the Firehouse Performing Arts Center that she started with her husband Matt Christman. Outside of dance Alona enjoys sailing and motorcycle getaway adventures with her husband, as well as yoga, running and a good novel. She is thrilled to take on Season 6 with such an amazing group of artists.

Brooke Evans
Brooke started studying ballet at the age of three in her hometown of Santa Fe, NM. While always centered around ballet, she studied a variety of dance growing up including flamenco, hip-hop, jazz, tap, and modern. She has danced with The Santa Fe Aspen Ballet, The Elements Dance Company, Cathy Roe, Colleen Mulvihill, Daniel Catanach, Dance Gallery and others. She has been an active member of BRD since it’s creation. Brooke is extremely grateful to have the opportunity to dance again with BRD, after a knee injury prevented her from dancing with the company last season. She is the mom of two very awesome boys and the “Mama B” of the BRD family.

Angela Kiser
Angela graduated magna cum laude from WWU with a BFA in Dance. Angela’s choreography has been presented in several venues including the Firehouse PAC, iDiOM Theatre, On the Boards, and the University of Wisconsin. She has recently choreographed and performed with Ian Bivins, a faculty and ensemble member of the Margolis/Brown Adaptors physical theatre company in New York. Angela’s additional training as an actor has influenced her choreography and interest in combining dance and theatre. While working closely with her mentor Pam Kuntz, she has also developed an appetite for performance theory, lighting design, and interdisciplinary collaboration. This is her third year as a member of BRD; she is overjoyed to be working with such a remarkable group of colleagues and artists.

Pam Kuntz
Pam is a teacher, choreographer, and dancer living and working in Bellingham. She has been a member of the dance faculty at Western for 11 years. Along with teaching Pam also enjoys performing and choreographing. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Kuntz and Company, a professional dance company that produces original dance/theatre pieces, using community members and addressing community interests. Her choreography was honored by the American College Dance Festival and she is proud to be a 2007 Bellingham Mayor’s Arts Award recipient. She has both performed at and presented her choreography at On The Boards in Seattle and her work has been funded by the City of Bellingham, The Bossak Heilbron Charitable Foundation, and Western Washington University. The only people she loves more than Neil Diamond are her husband and two sons. She was a founding member of BRD and is glad to be back!

Ella Mahler
This is Ella’s second season with BRD. She is recent graduate of Western Washington University, with a BFA in Dance Performance/Choreography. As an active collaborator, she co-directed the WWU New Music New Dance Concert, was a member of DanceMakers K-5 outreach program, and has participated in theatre, dance, and visual art interdisciplinary projects. She has performed and presented work at On the Boards, iDiOM Theater, the Firehouse PAC, University of Wisconsin, and the Viking Union Gallery. Ella most recently worked with Catherine Cabeen and Company on its evening length production, Into The Void. She is also a current collaborator for Kuntz & Company, was a leader in the Allied Arts Mentorship Program, and was the development intern for On the Boards. Through these experiences, Ella explores the many avenues in which dance can connect with different mediums, environments and communities. Whether a leader, mentor, dancer, or choreographer, Ella continues to seek the relationships between each of these roles and the impact she can make on the community.

Gabrielle Nomura
Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura received her training from the Dance Fremont! studio in Seattle with teachers from Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Cornish College of the Arts, University of Washington and The José Limón Company. She was honored to study under Limón Artistic Director, Carla Maxwell, in New York. Highlights of Gabrielle’s performing career include solos in Maxwell’s “Etude,” and Donald McKayle’s “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder” in Seattle, and a part in Mark Morris’ “New Love Song Waltzes” during her college years at WWU. Gabrielle merges her interests, such as her Japanese heritage and performing background in taiko drumming classes, her love of theatrics and adventure as a tour guide in Alaska (which she did last summer) and her journalism degree with her arts passion as assistant editor of The Bellevue Scene magazine in East King County.

Kate Stevenson
Kate has been dancing her entire life, starting with ballet at a young age and continuing onto modern dance as an adult. She has performed in many student and faculty productions at Western, Pam Kuntz community dance projects such as “The Mom Project” and “Reporting Live from Crazy”. Kate graduated from WWU with a BS in Fitness and Exercise Science and was very active in WWU’s dance program. For 3 years Kate taught for Western’s dance program, teaching open modern and ballet and was actively involved with DanceMakers, an elementary school tour program. Outside of dance Kate works at WWU and teaches fitness classes at the Bellingham Athletic Club. Kate enjoys running, biking, mowing the lawn, and playing around Bellingham with her husband Trent and baby Clyde.

Diane Williams
Diane grew up dancing in Bellevue, WA and went on to study Dance at the University of Washington. She later transferred to WWU where she was the recipient of a full-tuition Monica Gutchow Dance Scholarship. She has taught dance for over ten years, both at WWU and Northwest Ballet School, specializing in modern and lyrical. Diane also works full-time as a Graphic Designer. As a founding member of BRD, Diane is incredibly grateful she can continue to pursue her passion for dance while living in the great community of Bellingham.