Christopher Amaya

CHRISTOPHER AMAYA

Christopher began his performing career with Corpus Christi Ballet at age seven, since then has gone on to summer intensives with the American Ballet Theater in NY and the Houston Ballet Academy.  He has been in over 29 productions with CCB, some of his favorites include: Peter in Peter and the Wolf and Remembrances. He has competed in Showstoppers National Championship and was part of the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra Christmas Spectacular playing the role of Adam.

He attended the University of the Arts Pre-College Musical Theater Summer Workshop. He went on to attend the Boston Conservatory of Music pursuing a BFA in Musical Theater. After two years he relocated from Boston to Texas finishing his undergraduate degree at Sam Houston State University. A local theater credit includes Ryan in High School Musical at the Harbor Playhouse. At SHSU he was in productions of Chicago, Secret Garden, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Dance Spectrum Choreography pieces. Christopher performed at the Moody Gardens in Galveston with Performers Playhouse’s production of the Roaring 20s.

His professional career began in Boston with a production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by David Gammons. Following that he danced Blue Bird with Ballet Forte/Fort Bend Academy of Dance. He then went to Dallas where he performed with Uptown Players (Regional Equity Theater), in their production of the Off-Broadway production of ALTAR BOYZ where he was Dance Captain and understudied Mark/Juan.  He then was a paid actor for an episode on the Canadian Reality TV Show (Party Mamma’s) which filmed in 2010. He is happy to be dancing this 2011-2012 Season with the Company that began his career in the arts. He is in the process of launching a website for Life Coaching, and he will cover everything from love, careers, food, and finding happiness.

"It amazes me how healing fruit and vegetables are and they give you a rocking body! Fruit fuels my body for dancing and keeps me at my best for performances. I am stronger, leaner, and more energenic from this diet." -Christopher Amaya

M.O.V.E. Summer Gala

Compassionate Mover, Nicole Johnson is the creative director of Javanna Productions, a non-profit organization that from 2010-2011 has hosted the effort 'M.O.V.E. For Cambodia.' In the past 8 months they have held 20 events, including spoken word nights, coffee house series events, movement classes, parties, large and small scale performances, workshops, discussion groups, visual art presentations, etc. Now on July 18th at the Connelly Theater they're bringing everyone together for a reflection of their past efforts and to see how they can complete their goal of raising $20,000 by September 2011. This money will go towards opening a school in a Cambodian Village and will mark the end of their journey as a national team of compassionate 'Movers.' Join them at the Connelly Theater for a night of food, entertainment and fundraising. Including visual art, a photo gallery, short film screening, M.O.V.E. showcase, and food!

To make a donation click here. For tickets to the M.O.V.E. Summer Gala click here!

Ballet: Not A Riddle To Decipher

Our compassionate 'Mover,' Justin Leaf wrote an article for the Minnesota Playlist which shares his thoughts on the many ways one can interpret a piece of classical or contemporary ballet choreography. It reads: Over the centuries, “ballet” as classical genre of dance has expanded from romantic story ballets to include neoclassical abstract works and contemporary movement pieces. Story ballets remain the style closest to other forms of popular art (literature, films, music, theater), as they incorporate an easily understood narrative. Dance, however, also uses movement as its language, which leaves plenty of room for interpretation. The more abstract the movement, the less identifiable the intent. (READ ON)

Toughies In Tutus

Is it impossible to find the word "Toughie" and "Tutu" in the same statement? We might have you fooled. That is the idea when it comes to ballet. If we master strength after years of hard work we can then apply grace and control that is seemingly effortless. In fact, don't  be surprised to find the "tough guy," football player in ballet, developing their control and building their center. Ballet requires power, stamina, and precision. Behind the grace there is a lot of commitment and tears of which these dancers truly earn the title: 'Toughies In Tutus.' I came across this article today and noticed yet another compassionate 'Mover' in Mumbai, Maharashtra India. The article reads:

Of the older girls, Ashrafi Ginwalla (20) teaches at the school and Annabelle Haydon Venkat (21) independently teaches little girls the basics of ballet. Venkat has been training with Dallas since age eight and takes the dance-form very seriously. She even sticks to "a no-wheat, no-dairy vegan diet that's designed by dietician Vijaya Venkat to boost energy levels." (source)

Don't forget our 'Essentials' page with cruelty free apparel for compassionate 'Movers.'

Trials & Tribulations

ANJA KEISTER

Anja Keister is a compassionate 'Mover' to be on the look out for! Drawing from her background in performance art and stage productions, Anja Keister sets out to create original burlesque acts that explore the ideas of beauty, femininity, gender roles and the cult of pop culture. Combining spectacular theatricality with the bizarre, Anja thrives in the New York neo-burlesque scene, pushing audiences to question their own definitions of what is beautiful, what is sexy, and what makes them uncomfortable. Always a fan of the beauty of decay and deconstruction, Anja Keister hopes to change herself and the world with every garment she removes.

“Burlesque is known for its feathers and silk and neo-burlesque also incorporates a lot of the fetish world into the acts, so often there can be a lot of leather involved. Sticking to my ethical beliefs has been quite a challenge, but I feel it’s only made me more creative in my work. How does one have a feather boa or fan without feathers? I’ve had to do a lot of research and in fact I’ve documented and journal a lot of this work, frustration and discovery in my blog: The Trials and Tribulations of Becoming a Vegan Burlesque Performer.” -Anja Keister