Movement Matters: Amanda Saucedo at Guild Row Oct. 18, 2022. Saucedo presented a solo, Untitled, with music: Si Tu Supieras Companero - Rosalia

ARTISTIC STATEMENT
This piece explores the multitude of emotions that can arise during a challenging experience. Saucedo began this work during the first Covid quarantine. Initially it was a depiction of the struggle between wanting to dance and being restricted (at home). However, it began to morph into a piece of work that played on an internal struggle of the artist- battling between two different worlds. Two dance styles are fused together: Modern and Flamenco.

CHOREOGRAPHER BIO
Amanda Saucedo, of Mexican-Ukrainian descent, is a native of Chicago. She began her dance training with a Mexican Folkloric company while later studying Ballet, Modern and other styles. She continued on with Spanish dance, serving as a Company Dancer and Teaching Artist with Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater for nearly 15 years performing nationwide as well as internationally in Spain. Amanda has performed alongside local Chicago artists, dance companies, and arts organizations at renowned venues such as The Auditorium Theater, Harris Theater, and participated in festivals such as Jacob's Pillow, Dance St. Louis and Chicago's Dance for Life. She continues to dance and teach in the community while partaking in collaborative work in hopes to inspire and share her art with others.

Movement Matters: JOANNA MECCIA at Guild Row Oct. 18, 2022. Meccia presented an excerpt from her choreography, Imaginary Futures. Image: courtesy Alex Rathbone.

PERFORMERS
Colleen Bass
Kimberly Galloway
Joanna Meccia
Heather Zimny

CHOREOGRAPHER BIO
Joanna Meccia is a dance artist, choreographer, and director, with an interest in exploring the human experience through multi-disciplinary dance experiences. Her choreography has been supported by grants from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (2018), and Activate! Chicago (2018), and performed in theaters such as the Athenaeum Main Stage, Stage773, Links Hall, as well as Chicago Public Schools and public spaces. In addition to producing her own work, she has been commissioned for companies including the Trifecta Dance Collective, Project606 Dance, and Esoteric Dance Project, and most recently for New Dances (2020) by Thodos Dance Chicago and Dance Works Chicago. Currently she is developing a new work blending film and live dance through Dovetail Studio’s 3for3 Artist Residency When she isn’t choreographing, Joanna can be found performing with the Dance Avondale Collective and teaching dance in Chicago-land.

Movement Matters: Juliann Wang at Guild Row Oct. 18, 2022. Wang presented a solo, “Untitled.”

CHOREOGRAPHER BIO
Juliann Wang is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist, designer and performer whose work employs a multidimensional creative practice. Juliann received an MFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and BFA from The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. Her work reflects current shifts in culture, functioning as a narrative background for discussions of the personal versus society in the complex place of shared experience. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including Susquehanna Art Museum, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, The Cleve Carney Museum of Art, Sullivan Galleries at Art Institute of Chicago, Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection at Art Institute of Chicago, Giertz Gallery at Parkland College, Cetys University in Baja California (México), 808 Gallery at Boston University, Hyde Park Art Center, 33 Space in China, etc. Juliann also has created and collaborated in numerous performances throughout Chicago such as the Chicago Cultural Center, Anderson Japanese Garden, Mana Contemporary, 6018 north Gallery, Hyde Park Art Center, and others. She is a DCASE Individual Artists Program Grantee for 2021, 2022. Currently, she is an artist in residence at High Concept Labs.