Michelle Dexter
(Director)
Michelle is a co-founder of Perpetual Motion/Modern Dance
Oklahoma, Inc and is adjunct faculty at the University of
Central Oklahoma. She completed her Master of Fine
Arts in Dance at Texas Woman's University in May 2005 and
her BA in Dance at the University of Central Oklahoma in
2001. Michelle has studied professionally at various
institutions such as the Bill Evans summer intensives, the
Lou Conte Dance Studio in Chicago and Dance New Amsterdam
in New York City.
During her tenure at TWU, Michelle was
awarded the Excellence in Choreography scholarship.
Michelle has choreographed and performed for numerous
concerts and festivals, including four American College
Dance Festivals, where her piece “Echoes” was selected for
the 2007 ACDFA Gala concert and as well as her piece "In
the Wake" in 2004. She was also commissioned to
choreograph a work that was performed at the National
Mental Health Association's Annual Conference in Washington
D.C. in 2000.
As Artistic Director of Perpetual Motion,
Michelle has produced several concerts including the first
annual Oklahoma Contemporary Dance Festival that took place
on August 11 and 12, 2006. She has participated in
several public school residencies and after school programs
and most recently served as a coordinator and teaching
artist for the “Dancewise” project, a pilot dance education
program for the Putnam City School District in Oklahoma
City. Michelle has been commissoned to set
choreography at Texas Christian University, Texas Tech
University, and Muscle Memory Dance Theatre.
Becca Carter
Becca recieved her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance
Performance from the University of Oklahoma. She
recieved her Masters of Physician Assistant Studies from
University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and is
currently working in Oklahoma City as a physician assistant
specializing in general pediatrics. She is also
currently pursuing a degree in viticulture and enology and
hopes to one day open a small Oklahoma winery. Becca
was raised in Houston, TX where she started training in
dance and gymnastics at an early age. She attended
the Houston Ballet Academy and the High School for the
Performing and Visual Arts. While attending OU, she
recieved the Mary Kay Harrison dance scholarship, the
Scott Solmon modern dance choreography scholarship, the
Bufflalo Mask Award, and the Outstanting Senior Award in
Dance. She has attended the American Dance Festival's
summer program in North Carolina twice and
the Kansas Dance Festival. While performing with OU's
Modern Repertory Dance Theater, she toured in Paraguay
where her piece "A Different Look" was showcased. She
has also recently danced with the Hartel Dance Group.
Becca is extremely excited to be dancing again and would
like to thank her family and Michael Schmedt for their
unwavering love and support.
Rebekah
Hampton
Rebekah is currently a staff instructor for the School of
Ballet Oklahoma, Dance Unlimited, and Academy of Ballet and
Theatre Arts in Edmond, OK. She was recently on staff
at Bellevue Dance Center and Charles Harding School of the
Arts in Nashville, TN and performed for 2 seasons with the
Nashville-based, modern dance company, Epiphany.
While her principle forms are classical ballet and modern
dance, Rebekah's multi-disciplinary training includes jazz,
tap, hip-hop, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, martial
arts, weaponry, stage combat, physical conditioning, drama
& mime.
Growing up in Edmond, OK, she trained with
A.R.T.S., Metro School of Fine Arts, the Oklahoma Arts
Institute and Ballet Oklahoma before moving to
Jacksonville, FL to tour nationally & internationally
for 3 years with Renascent Productions where, in addition
to being a principle performer & choreographer, she was
also the creator & director of Renascent School of the
Arts. Rebekah has over 13 years experience teaching
all ages and all levels in ballet, jazz, modern dance &
body conditioning, and has been brought in as a guest
instructor for various studios and workshops in Oklahoma,
Florida, Tennessee & Kentucky.
Kayla Jenkins
recently received her BFA in Dance Performance from the
University of Central Oklahoma where she was also a member
of the Kaleidoscope Dance Company. She has also danced for
the OKC Yard Dawgz arena football dance team for the past
four years. Her teaching experience includes Victory School
of the Arts, Legacy Ministries, and National Dance Alliance
along with choreography for Unfold, Resonation, and Wait
Praise and Worship DVD's affliated with Victory Church.
Kayla's solo work "Inside" was selected for the 2007
American College Dance Festival at Texas Christian
University. She is currently serving as a teaching artist
for the 2007 Dancewise project through the Putnam City
School District. This is her first season with Perpetual
Motion.
Kimberly
Kieffer-Williams (Aerial Arts Director)
is a graduate of the University of South Florida where she
studied Middle Eastern Humanities and Dance. She
started dancing in college to improve her posture and was
hooked for life. Kimberly has danced with many companies
prior to moving to Oklahoma including Commotion Dance
Theater in Florida, and Zuzi Move It, O-T-O Dance and New
Articulations Dance Theater in Arizona. Before setting
forth from Florida Kimberly discovered aerial
dance. Combining aerial movement and apparatus
with traditional modern dance has become Kimberly's
passion. Kimberly is incredibly grateful to
have been given the opportunity to bring aerial dance
to Oklahoma City.
Amy Nevius
(Founding Member)
Amy is currently the co-director of Dance Dimensions, a new
dance studio in southwest OKC. Dance Dimensions is an
expansion of a community outreach dance program through OKC
Parks and Recreation. She completed her B.A. in Dance
in 2001 at the University of Central Oklahoma. Amy is
a teaching artist through the OKC Arts Council and has
participated in many projects including Play in the Park,
Special Populations, and a partnership with A Chance to
Change. She has been the Director of Dance at
multiple locations including Sellers Community Center and
Oklahoma Gold Gymnastics as well as teaching at Victory
School of the Arts and Academy of Dance Arts. Her
choreography has been performed at The University of
Central Oklahoma, Northeastern State University, New Mexico
State University, and more.
Nichelle Reed (Board
President)
Nichelle is the new Director of Dance at Centennial High
School in Oklahoma City. She received her BFA in Dance
Education from the University of Central Oklahoma in
2000. She was the F. Ann Shanks Performing Dance
Award Recipient while at UCO and has received scholarship
to study with Bill Evans Summer Dance Workshops. She
has taught at Classen School of Advanced Studies, Emerson
Outreach Program and has been the Director and Founder of
Yukon High School Dance and Yukon Community Education Dance
Program. Nichelle was also a roster member of
Oklahoma Arts Council and Oklahoma City Arts Council and
her choreography has been performed at The University of
Central Oklahoma, New Mexico State University and North
Eastern State University.
Jessica Taylor
Jessica is completing her Master of Arts in Dance
Education, K-12 certification, from the State University of
New York at Brockport. Jessica resides in Oklahoma and
teaches at Modern Dance Arts in Norman. She recently taught
at Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts in
Buffalo, NY. Since 1995, Jessica has been teaching and
choreographing workshops and musicals in public schools,
dance studios and churches in Chicago, Utah and Upstate New
York areas. While at SUNY Brockport, she held the position
of Graduate Teaching Assistant. Jessica has worked
intensively with the Chicago Festival Ballet and Bill
Evans. Jessica founded the contemporary dance company,
Rhema, and the children’s performing dance company, Rhema
Youth. This is her first season with Perpetual Motion.
Rebecca vonBargen
(Rehearsal Director)
Rebecca began
singing and making dances with her sister and any/all pop
singers of the 80's. She is a native of California and a
graduate of Arizona State University, where she received a
B.A. in Spanish. She completed her post-Baccalaureate
studies at the University of Houston and currently holds
certificates in Secondary Spanish education in Texas and
Oklahoma. She currently resides in Norman where she teaches
Spanish at Norman High School. As a dancer and
choreographer, Rebecca has performed for many years from
California, to Houston and Austin, with such companies as
Suchu Dance, Psophonia, Planet Funk, Leslie Scates, and
Ariel Dance Theatre. In Houston, while performing with
Planet Funk, her Latin Ballroom choreography was featured
nationally as part of the Kohler Company trade show tour.
She has also performed at the Texas Contemporary Dance
Festival and the Houston Pink Ribbons Project at the
Blackwood Institute. Her dance style is influenced by her
study of various concentrations, including Modern, Jazz,
Hip-hop, Latin Ballroom dance, and gymnastics. Rebecca is
in her third season with Perpetual Motion, and wants to
thank her second family (the vonBargens) for lending their
support in every way to her dance career in Oklahoma.
Leah Watson
Leah received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Modern Dance
Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. While
attending OU, she performed with the Modern Dance
Repertoire and was the recipient of the Mary Clark Miley
Scholarship and the Choctaw Nation Scholarship. Leah
was raised in Altus, Oklahoma where her interest in dance
was nourished by her mother Jackie Watson. In Altus,
Leah studied ballet, jazz and tap from Leah Wall at Off the
Wall Productions. In high school, Leah attended the
Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute where she studied with Clay
Taliaferro and Kevin Mentor. Leah also studied on
scholarship at the Urban Bush Women Summer Dance Institute
in Tallahassee, Florida where she studied West African,
contact improvisation and community building through the
arts. Leah has performed in Florida, California, and
Hawaii as well as numerous cities throughout the
Midwest. Leah is in her third performance season with
Perpetual Motion.
