Artistic Leadership
Brenna Mosser: (she/her) is a dance artist who seeks to illuminate the awe in her surroundings by sculpting falls, stumbles, and asymmetries gracefully. She spent two years in the Conservation Corps, where she faced the reality of climate change and has since dedicated her work to dissecting and digesting this crisis with her community.
Brenna founded Analog Dance Works in 2019, a dance company whose mission is to explore the intersection between dance and science through choreographic works and roundtable discussions. Alongside Analog, Brenna currently dances for Threads Dance Project, Ruby Josephine Dance Theater, 43°N 94°W Movement Research, Zoë Koenig, and Bernadette Knaeble.
She earned her bachelor’s in dance performance at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, UK. She supplemented her degree at le Centre national de la danse Contemporaine in Angers, France where she spent two years learning intensively from world-renowned dance companies and their artists. There, Brenna earned the US equivalent of a BA in dance performance and in arts management.
The Dance Artists
Karen Christ Aalgaard: Fresh from the farm, Karen Christ Aalgaard hails from Lakota, Iowa. She is a graduate from the University of Iowa with a BFA in Dance. Prior to college she studied under the direction of Michelle Clegg. Along with Analog Dance Works she does her bionic boogie with Threads Dance Project, Ruby Josephine Dance Theatre and Vox Medusa. Karen is a teaching artist throughout the Twin Cities and the founder of 43x94 Movement Research.
Devyn Hannon: has been a dancer for as long as she’s been walking. Originally from Memphis, TN, Devyn grew up dancing at the Dance Academy of Bartlett before attending the University of Georgia, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and her Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology. While in Georgia, Devyn was a part of the UGA Dance Company, the Young Choreographers Series, and the CORE Contemporary & Aerial Dance Company. Since graduating, Devyn made her way to the Midwest to Minnesota, where she is currently a company member of Threads Dance Project, a local dance teacher, and most recently, a performer for Analog Dance Works. Devyn is thrilled to be involved in this project and is excited to share the stage with so many talented artists.
Shannon Hartle-Dolan: is from Des Moines, Iowa where she started her dance training at a young age. Shannon graduated high school early to attend Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Trainee Program in NYC before attending college. She graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a BFA in Dance, Minor in Communication Studies, and a Certificate in Arts Entrepreneurship. During her time at UI, she worked with Monica Bill Barnes, Jennifer Kayle, Christopher Rasheem-McMillan, Eloy Barragan, Armando Duarte, and toured with University of Iowa's Dancers in Company along with traveling to perform at ACDA, the American Dance Guild, and Hollins University. Now, she resides in the Twin Cities area and is a company member with Threads Dance Project and Ruby Josephine Dance Theatre. She also participates actively in freelance work throughout the Twin Cities including guest appearances with eMartin Dance, Stark Dance, Ayumi Schaefer, and Black Label Movement.
Zoë Koenig: Zoë Koenig is a Minneapolis-based dancer, choreographer, and writer. Her work has been presented in the Twin Cities at the Walker Art Center, the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, the Southern Theater, the Off-Leash Art Box, and gallery spaces. She has danced in the works of numerous choreographers including Sarah Abdel-Jelil, Nieya Amezquita, Leila and Noelle Awadallah (Body Watani), Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Martha Graham, Erika Martin, Brenna Mosser, Katy Pyle (Ballez), Gina T’ai, and Kate Wallich, among others, and performed at many festivals in the US and Canada. Her work has been supported by the Cowles Center’s Generating Room artist residency program, the Walker Art Center's Choreographers' Evening, commissions by Alternative Motion Project and Analog Dance Works, and funding from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her new evening-length work in development, a collaboration with composer Nora Nygard, Physical Prizes will premiere in October 2025 at the Southern Theater.
Rachel Lieberman: has been dancing and choreographing since first convincing all siblings and cousins to comply with rehearsals for holiday routines in the living room. She is a queer, diasporist, jewish girl whose work explores home, belonging, public silliness, and public grief. Growing up in and around Chicago, she trained primarily with Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. After graduating from Macalester College in 2018, Rachel has performed in works by Contempo Physical, Leila Awadallah, Off-Leash Area, A Cripple’s Dance, Mathew Janczewski, Analog Dance Works, and Black Label Movement. She has also choreographed solo and group works with Alternative Motion Project, Franconia Sculpture Garden, Red Eye Theater, Black Label Movement, and Candy Box Festival. Offstage, Rachel works as a Program Director at Cow Tipping Press, teaching and publishing creative writing by adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities.
Sophia Pimsler: (she/her) performed for the first time at age two in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Instead of walking across the stage, she looked to the audience only to see complete darkness and jumped up to be carried the rest of the way by her dad. Nevertheless, she fought past her fear, first training with Zivili (OH) and then Ballet Arts Minnesota (MN). After graduating from Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists (SPCPA), she completed her bachelor’s in dance with a Minor in Alcohol & Drug Studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU). Each year of her college attendance, Sophia's choreography was selected to represent the University’s dance program at the American College Dance Association.
Sophia has danced professionally with Borealis Dance (MN), Contempo Physical Dance (MN), GloATL (GA), Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater (MN). Her choreography has been commissioned for Threads Dance Project, Borealis Dance Company, Alternative Motion Project, Shoot The Glass Theater's Production of "Spring Awakening", PiM Arts High School, & The Phipps Center for the Arts (WI). She is also an Assistant Teaching Artist with Suzanne Costello, for National Residencies including a community performance project with members of Walter Reed Hospital (MD) and with Oramo Dance Company (CO).
In addition to dance, Sophia holds an MA from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in Marriage & Family Therapy and works in the Twin Cities as a Psychotherapist. Since completing her Graduate Certificate in Sex Therapy from the University of Wisconsin, Stout, Sophia provides therapy services at a sexual health clinic, Sexual Wellness Institute, offering a sliding scale for BIPOC, Queer, and artist clients and leads the educational program for clinicians.
Asha Rowland: is a multi-disciplinary artist and dancer with a focus in Bharatanatyam, various African idioms of dance, Raq Sharqi (mentored by Sabah Saeed), Hip Hop, and more. A disciple of Smt. Hema Rajagopalan and Smt. Krithika Rajagopalan of Natya Dance Theatre, she has been training in Bharatanatyam since the age of 8. She taught Bharatanatyam and her own experimental movement to Chicago land area youth for over 6 years and has been a professional group and solo performer since 2014 after her arangetram. Her personal work and movement have been a guide and a by-product of exploring her multiethnic heritage; driven by curiosity of cultural intersections, ancestry and community connections. Asha performance and solo work is based in storytelling, world-creation, character development, and puzzle-making encompassed around social justice concepts and mythology with a purpose of illuminating global power dynamics and imbalances. Often drawing from her dreams has led her to explore themes on reality, time, paradoxes, illusion, and how to convey subjective perspective. More recently, Asha was a part of the Choreographer’s Evening 2023 cohort, premiering a section of her latest evening-length work and is in residence at the Cowles Center through the Generating Room program.
Addie Smith: A California native, Addie graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in Theater Arts and Dance. Since moving to the Twin Cities in 2017, they have created and performed with various local companies and artists including Loom Lab, Crash Dance Productions, Alternative Motion Project, Rogue & Rabble Dance, Zoë Koenig, Rachel Lieberman, and Hannah MacKenzie-Margulies. Addie loves bringing humor and vulnerability into dance spaces; their style and work is often theatrical, absurd, and steeped in child-like curiosity. They are honored and thrilled to be a part of this production.
Ruby Josephine Smith: is a contemporary dance artist who is passionate about movement as a form of emotional expression and connection. This perspective was not only molded by having two artist parents, but by her unconventional dance training, traveling around the world from the age of 20 to learn from a variety of artists. In 2014 she landed in Tangier, Morocco which became her home for the next 7 years, working with contemporary dance as an emerging art form in the city.
In Tangier, Ruby’s full-length performance pieces were commissioned and sponsored by the US Embassy, l’Institut Français, and the American Language Center Network. She also had opportunities to perform and work with international artists at festivals around Europe.
Ruby returned to her hometown of Minneapolis in 2020 and has since founded her own company, Ruby Josephine Dance Theater (RJDT). She also choreographs for other local organizations and works as a freelance performer. As a teaching artist, Ruby has taught contemporary dance to all ages and levels for over a decade at studios in Tangier & the Twin Cities, currently offering regular classes at Hothouse Studios and WestMet Classical Training.
Maddy Woodman: grew up in rural Minnesota. She took her first dance class as a 3-year-old and has been dancing ever since. She earned a BFA in dance with honors from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Since graduating, she has performed with Concerto Dance Company and is a current company member with Threads Dance Project. Maddy is also passionate about dance education and teaches youth dance classes at Creo Arts and Dance Conservatory and Intrepid Dance Company.
Technical Staff
Claudia Errickson: is a theater practitioner with emphases in lighting and scenic work. She works as a lighting designer, lighting technician, scenic painter, and scenic designer. Her theater practice stems from a strong connect and commitment to the power of performance art and its ability to alter mindsets.
Her work in her multiple fields has molded her into a very well-rounded theater maker and collaborator. Her design and technical processes are based with a foundation of collaborative energy and creative empathy.
A large part of her design work is her ongoing love affair with visual and sculptural art. Oftentimes her design process hinges on her own artistic responses to performance works. Sometimes you need to start creatively in a medium that transcends language, like painting or sculpture, to better understand the core foundation of the work itself.