ROBERT SWINSTON, Director of Choreography, was born in Pittsburgh, PA, and attended Middlebury College and The Juilliard School, where he received a BFA in Dance. He danced with the Martha Graham Apprentice Company, the José Limón Dance Company, and with Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theatre. He joined MCDC in August 1980 and became Assistant to the Choreographer in July 1992. Since Merce Cunningham's death in July 2009, Swinston has been the Director of Choreography, overseeing the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the CDF Repertory Understudy Group and its work with the Cunningham Educational Outreach Program. Since 1998, Swinston has assisted in various Cunningham archival reconstructions including Suite for Five (1956–58); Summerspace (1958); How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run (1965); RainForest (1968); CRWDSPCR (1993); Ocean (1994); and the recent revivals of Squaregame (1976), Duets (1980), and Roaratorio (1983) for the Legacy Tour. He has assisted in the staging of Cunningham works on other companies, including Boston Ballet, White Oak Dance Project, Rambert Dance Company, and New York City Ballet. In 2003, Swinston received a “Bessie” Award for his performance in the revival of Cunningham’s How to Pass, Kick, Fall, and Run. In 2009, Swinston was named a Trustee for the Merce Cunningham Trust.

BRANDON COLLWES received his early dance training at the Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, and the Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh, PA. He attended The Juilliard School and SUNY Purchase. Collwes studied as a scholarship student at the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance and twice at American Dance Festival. He became a member of the CDF Repertory Understudy Group in October 2003 and joined MCDC in January 2006.

DYLAN CROSSMAN grew up in the south of France where he started training at the Conservatory of Montpellier in contemporary dance. Crossman has trained at Epsedanse in Montpellier France, and Burklyn Ballet Theatre in Vermont, and graduated from the Laban Center in London. In New York, he has worked with Sean Curran, Peter Kyle, Pam Tanowitz and Christopher Williams. Dylan joined the CDF Repertory Understudy Group in June 2007.  Crossman joined MCDC in June 2009.  He would like to thank everyone who helped and supported him along the way.

JULIE CUNNINGHAM is from Liverpool, England and trained with Elizabeth Hill and at Rambert School. Cunningham has worked with Ballet der Stadt Theater Koblenz, Germany. In March 2003 Cunningham became a member of the CDF Repertory Understudy Group.  Cunningham has worked and performed with Chantal Ysermans, Abi Sebaly, and Anne Carson in New York.  Cunningham joined MCDC in July 2004.

EMMA DESJARDINS grew up and began her dance training in Providence, RI. She graduated from Barnard College/Columbia University in 2003 where she trained and performed with its Dance Department.  Desjardins began dancing at the Merce Cunningham Studio in 2002, became a member of the CDF Repertory Understudy Group in 2004, and joined MCDC in January 2006, and is currently on faculty at the Merce Cunningham Studio.

JENNIFER GOGGANS began dancing in her hometown of Owensboro, KY, and continued her studies at the Nutmeg Ballet in Connecticut. She received her BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase in 2000, and joined MCDC that same year. Goggans has been a faculty member of the Merce Cunningham Studio since 2005 and has taught master classes in the United States and across Europe.  In addition, she has staged Cunningham’s Cross Currents for both the Augusta Ballet and the Verb Ballet. Goggans has performed with the Louisville Ballet, MOMIX, Chantal Yzermans, Christopher Williams, and has created costumes for Daniel Squire’s [sic], RoseAnne Spradlin’s Survive Cycle, and Tere O'Connor's Wrought Iron Fog.

JOHN HINRICHS was raised in Rochester, Illinois. He graduated with a BS in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also studied dance. He has danced for Randy James Dance Works and Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theatre.  He joined the CDF Repertory Understudy Group in September 2007 and MCDC in October 2009.  

DANIEL MADOFF received his BFA in Dance from Purchase College in June 2006. He has danced for Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theatre, Nelly van Bommel, and Pam Tanowitz. He became a member of the Cunningham Repertory Understudy Group in November 2005 and joined MCDC in August 2007.

RASHAUN MITCHELL was born in Stamford, Connecticut, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He started dancing at Concord Academy in Massachusetts and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2000. He received the Viola Farber-Slayton Memorial Grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts in 2000. Since then he has danced with Pam Tanowitz, Chantal Yzermans, Donna Uchizono, Risa Jaroslow, Sara Rudner, and Richard Colton. He joined MCDC in January 2004 and is currently on faculty at the Cunningham Studio. In 2007 he was the recipient of a Princess Grace Award: Dance Fellowship. His own choreography has been presented in New York at the Skirball Center, the La Mama Theater, Mt. Tremper Arts and The Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston.

MARCIE MUNNERLYN is from Portland, Oregon. She trained at Jefferson High School, Oregon Ballet Theater, and the Cornish College of the Arts. She became a member of CDF Repertory Understudy Group in June 2002 and joined MCDC in January 2004.

KRISTA NELSON is from Champaign, Illinois. She received a BFA in Dance with high honors from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2005. She joined the CDF Repertory Understudy Group in May 2008, and MCDC in 2010. Before joining the company, Krista completed the 92nd St Y's Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) program and was on the dance faculty there. She also worked at the 92nd St. Y as production manager and co-curator of Fridays at Noon.  She has danced with Catherine Tharin since 2006.

SILAS RIENER grew up in Washington DC. He graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Comparative Literature and Creative Writing. He has worked with Chantal Yzermans, Takehiro Ueyama, Christopher Williams, Jonah Bokaer, and Rebecca Lazier's TERRAIN. He premiered NOX, a collaboration with poet Anne Carson and choreographer Rashaun Mitchell in 2010, with whom he continues to develop new projects. He joined the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in November 2007. While performing with MCDC, Riener completed his MFA  in Dance at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

JAMIE SCOTT began studying dance in her hometown of Great Falls, Virginia. She continued training in the pre-professional division of the Washington School of Ballet and moved to New York in 2001 to attend Barnard College.  After graduating cum laude from Barnard in May of 2005, she began her studies at the Merce Cunningham Studio. She joined the CDF Repertory Understudy Group in January 2007 and MCDC in July 2009.  Jamie is currently on faculty at the Merce Cunnigham Dance Studio.  She also dances with the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company.

MELISSA TOOGOOD earned a BFA in Dance Performance from New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL under Dean Daniel Lewis.  She began working with Cunningham as a member of the CDF Repertory Understudy Group in November 2005.  Melissa joined MCDC in June 2008.  A faculty member at the Merce Cunningham Studio since 2007, she has taught repertory workshops in her native city of Sydney, Australia. Melissa worked with Pam Tanowitz Dance, Miro Dance Theatre, was a founding member of the Michael Uthoff Dance Theatre and performed with writer Anne Carson.

ANDREA WEBER graduated with a BFA from The Juilliard School, under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy. Andrea has danced and taught for Canadian based Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie, participating in the Manitoba Project in August 2007 and in the Gros Mourne Project.  She has assisted and staged Lila York's works on ballet companies throughout the United States and in Denmark. She was a collaborator in Annie Carson's Possesive Used as Drink (Me) and has also worked with Jessica Lang, Jonah Bokaer, Charlotte Griffin, Sue Bernhard and Ellen Comfield. Andrea appears as the Dancer in THE DANCER FILMS, a series of very short films based on the cartoons fo Jules Feiffer, directed by Judy Dennis and produced by Ellen Dennis, with choreography by Susan Marshall and Larry Keigwin. Andrea joined MCDC in January 2004 and is currently a faculty member of the Merce Cunningham Studio.

DAVID RAFAEL BOTANA  was raised in Miami, Florida where he attended New World School of the Arts for Dance Performance, under the direction of Daniel Lewis. While at NWSA he performed works by Jose Limon, Robert Battle & John McFall. Joining the CDF Repetory Understudy Group in Janurary of 2010, he also works with Leslie Satin, and various improv groups.

CORI KRESGE graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2007 with a BFA in dance and the Dean’s Award. In 2005 she received the Darmasiswa International Scholarship to travel to Indonesia and study traditional Balinese dance. Cori has been a member of the Merce Cunningham Repertory Understudy Group since January 2010. She is also a member of the Wendy Osserman Dance Company since 2004, and a founding member of Danscores by Ofelia Loret de Mola. She enjoys choreographing new dances, collaborating with artists of different medias, and teaching dance to all ages.

STACY MARTORANA grew up in Cockeysville, Maryland and began her dance training at The Peabody Preparatory in Baltimore City. In 2006, Stacy graduated from The North Carolina School of the Arts with a BFA in Contemporary Dance. She began training at the Merce Cunningham Studio in January 2008 and joined the CDF Repertory Understudy Group in June 2009. Stacy also dances with the Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theatre, dances with the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, and teaches Antigravity Yoga "Wings" at Crunch.

TIMOTHY EMMETT LEE WARD hails from Abita Springs, Louisiana. He started dancing at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts/Riverfront, where he; subsequently, graduated from high school in2004. Upon graduation he moved to New York City where he received a BFA in dance from The Juilliard School. He has performed with Gallim Dance, Douglas Dunn and Dancers, and the Astoria Fine Arts Center. He started taking class at the Cunningham studio in 2003 and joined the CDF Repertory Understudy Group in July 2009.