AS OF 1/17/2018
DANCERS
Karen Peterson Corash
Artistic Director, Choreographer, Dance Artist
Karen Peterson Corash, founder and Artistic Director and Founder of Karen Peterson and Dancers, is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and has received many awards from Miami Dade Department of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs for her physically integrated choreography. She has influenced the dance and disability communities in South Florida for 30 years and has challenged audiences to revisit ideas about disability and dance with her dedicated activities of education, creation and presentation. She has created over twenty-five physically integrated, full staged works that have been showcased at various local, national and international venues and festivals in; New York City, Atlanta, Cleveland, Brazil, Italy, Scotland, Bosnia, Serbia, Guatemala, Montenegro and Ireland. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 from the New World School of the Arts and was named one of the “Queen of the Arts” by the Miami Herald 2014. She received the 2017 Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alumni Entrepreneurial Award for the presentation of “Warmamas: a Performance” at the Judson Memorial Church, NYC and is a Miami-Dade Dance Miami Choreographer’ (DMC) Program Winner for 2017 and 2019. Under Karen’s leadership, KPD has won support from the John and James L. Knight Foundation, The Miami Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts in 2017 - 2022 for The (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) Annual “Forward Motion Dance Festival and Conference of Physically Integrated Dance.” KPD was named “Miami’s Best Dance Company for 2019” by the Miami New Times and Karen is a recent recipient for The Boston Conservatory at Berklee School of Music Alumni Achievement Awards for her “dedicated work in the field and contributions to society” in Boston, March 2022. In June 2022, KPD presented an excerpt from “Lost and Found” at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio and at the Mark Morris Space in Brooklyn, N.Y. as part of Dancing Wheels Company’s three city tour project “Beyond Barriers, Boundaries and Beliefs” with Dancing Wheels and Heidi Latsky Dance.
Shawn Buller
Dance Artist
Shawn Buller joined KPD in the fall of 2006 and created many original roles in the KPD repertory. She performed with Axis Dance Company at the Colony Theatre in January 2012 and has traveled widely with KPD; to Belgrade Serbia for “The Off Frame Festival” in 2015; to Lisbon Portugal in 2016, to perform “Identity” and to London, England 2018 to participate in a Candoco dance workshop. She holds a Master’s degree in Music Therapy and is retired from the Miami VA Medical Center. She performed in both 2018 and 2019 Forward Motion Festival as well as performed “Warmamas” at the historic Judson Church in 2019 in New York City. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season.
Marjorie Burnett
Dance Artist
Marjorie Burnett, a graduate of Florida Int’l University, is one of five original cast members of KPD and created many original roles from 1990-2000 that were presented in New York City, Washington DC, Atlanta, GA, and Ohio. She collaborated with Pioneer Winter’s on the award winning “GIMP GAIT”, performed in Jerome Bell’s “Company, Company” at The Contemporary Arts Museum and featured her work on “Requiem”. She is currently developing IDAMA: “Integrative Dance and Music Advancement”. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season.
Barny A
Dance Artist
Barny A. Espinal is a dancer, choreographer, and scholar . An alumnus of the Dance Department at Florida State University she has worked with choreographers as Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and Ronald K. Brown. This is her first season with KPD. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season.
Penelope Huerta
Dance Artist
Penelope Huerta is a graduate from the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City with a professional career of 15 years of national and international touring. She has worked with many companies in Mexico and has developed her own projects as a soloist that brings Mexican traditions and culture to contemporary dance. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season. She performed at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio and at the Mark Morris Space in Downtown Brooklyn as part of Dancing Wheel’s Physically Integrated National Dance Tour “Beyond Barriers, Boundaries and Beliefs”
AS OF 1/17/2018
DANCERS
Karen Peterson Corash
Artistic Director, Choreographer, Dance Artist
Karen Peterson Corash, founder and Artistic Director and Founder of Karen Peterson and Dancers, is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and has received many awards from Miami Dade Department of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs for her physically integrated choreography. She has influenced the dance and disability communities in South Florida for 30 years and has challenged audiences to revisit ideas about disability and dance with her dedicated activities of education, creation and presentation. She has created over twenty-five physically integrated, full staged works that have been showcased at various local, national and international venues and festivals in; New York City, Atlanta, Cleveland, Brazil, Italy, Scotland, Bosnia, Serbia, Guatemala, Montenegro and Ireland. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 from the New World School of the Arts and was named one of the “Queen of the Arts” by the Miami Herald 2014. She received the 2017 Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alumni Entrepreneurial Award for the presentation of “Warmamas: a Performance” at the Judson Memorial Church, NYC and is a Miami-Dade Dance Miami Choreographer’ (DMC) Program Winner for 2017 and 2019. Under Karen’s leadership, KPD has won support from the John and James L. Knight Foundation, The Miami Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts in 2017 - 2022 for The (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) Annual “Forward Motion Dance Festival and Conference of Physically Integrated Dance.” KPD was named “Miami’s Best Dance Company for 2019” by the Miami New Times and Karen is a recent recipient for The Boston Conservatory at Berklee School of Music Alumni Achievement Awards for her “dedicated work in the field and contributions to society” in Boston, March 2022. In June 2022, KPD presented an excerpt from “Lost and Found” at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio and at the Mark Morris Space in Brooklyn, N.Y. as part of Dancing Wheels Company’s three city tour project “Beyond Barriers, Boundaries and Beliefs” with Dancing Wheels and Heidi Latsky Dance.
Shawn Buller
Dance Artist
Shawn Buller joined KPD in the fall of 2006 and created many original roles in the KPD repertory. She performed with Axis Dance Company at the Colony Theatre in January 2012 and has traveled widely with KPD; to Belgrade Serbia for “The Off Frame Festival” in 2015; to Lisbon Portugal in 2016, to perform “Identity” and to London, England 2018 to participate in a Candoco dance workshop. She holds a Master’s degree in Music Therapy and is retired from the Miami VA Medical Center. She performed in both 2018 and 2019 Forward Motion Festival as well as performed “Warmamas” at the historic Judson Church in 2019 in New York City. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season.
Marjorie Burnett
Dance Artist
Marjorie Burnett, a graduate of Florida Int’l University, is one of five original cast members of KPD and created many original roles from 1990-2000 that were presented in New York City, Washington DC, Atlanta, GA, and Ohio. She collaborated with Pioneer Winter’s on the award winning “GIMP GAIT”, performed in Jerome Bell’s “Company, Company” at The Contemporary Arts Museum and featured her work on “Requiem”. She is currently developing IDAMA: “Integrative Dance and Music Advancement”. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season.
Barny A
Dance Artist
Barny A. Espinal is a dancer, choreographer, and scholar . An alumnus of the Dance Department at Florida State University she has worked with choreographers as Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and Ronald K. Brown. This is her first season with KPD. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season.
Penelope Huerta
Dance Artist
Penelope Huerta is a graduate from the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City with a professional career of 15 years of national and international touring. She has worked with many companies in Mexico and has developed her own projects as a soloist that brings Mexican traditions and culture to contemporary dance. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season. She performed at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio and at the Mark Morris Space in Downtown Brooklyn as part of Dancing Wheel’s Physically Integrated National Dance Tour “Beyond Barriers, Boundaries and Beliefs”
AS OF 1/17/2018
DANCERS
Karen Peterson Corash
Artistic Director, Choreographer, Dance Artist
Karen Peterson Corash, founder and Artistic Director and Founder of Karen Peterson and Dancers, is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and has received many awards from Miami Dade Department of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs for her physically integrated choreography. She has influenced the dance and disability communities in South Florida for 30 years and has challenged audiences to revisit ideas about disability and dance with her dedicated activities of education, creation and presentation. She has created over twenty-five physically integrated, full staged works that have been showcased at various local, national and international venues and festivals in; New York City, Atlanta, Cleveland, Brazil, Italy, Scotland, Bosnia, Serbia, Guatemala, Montenegro and Ireland. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 from the New World School of the Arts and was named one of the “Queen of the Arts” by the Miami Herald 2014. She received the 2017 Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alumni Entrepreneurial Award for the presentation of “Warmamas: a Performance” at the Judson Memorial Church, NYC and is a Miami-Dade Dance Miami Choreographer’ (DMC) Program Winner for 2017 and 2019. Under Karen’s leadership, KPD has won support from the John and James L. Knight Foundation, The Miami Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts in 2017 - 2022 for The (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) Annual “Forward Motion Dance Festival and Conference of Physically Integrated Dance.” KPD was named “Miami’s Best Dance Company for 2019” by the Miami New Times and Karen is a recent recipient for The Boston Conservatory at Berklee School of Music Alumni Achievement Awards for her “dedicated work in the field and contributions to society” in Boston, March 2022. In June 2022, KPD presented an excerpt from “Lost and Found” at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio and at the Mark Morris Space in Brooklyn, N.Y. as part of Dancing Wheels Company’s three city tour project “Beyond Barriers, Boundaries and Beliefs” with Dancing Wheels and Heidi Latsky Dance.
Shawn Buller
Dance Artist
Shawn Buller joined KPD in the fall of 2006 and created many original roles in the KPD repertory. She performed with Axis Dance Company at the Colony Theatre in January 2012 and has traveled widely with KPD; to Belgrade Serbia for “The Off Frame Festival” in 2015; to Lisbon Portugal in 2016, to perform “Identity” and to London, England 2018 to participate in a Candoco dance workshop. She holds a Master’s degree in Music Therapy and is retired from the Miami VA Medical Center. She performed in both 2018 and 2019 Forward Motion Festival as well as performed “Warmamas” at the historic Judson Church in 2019 in New York City. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season.
Marjorie Burnett
Dance Artist
Marjorie Burnett, a graduate of Florida Int’l University, is one of five original cast members of KPD and created many original roles from 1990-2000 that were presented in New York City, Washington DC, Atlanta, GA, and Ohio. She collaborated with Pioneer Winter’s on the award winning “GIMP GAIT”, performed in Jerome Bell’s “Company, Company” at The Contemporary Arts Museum and featured her work on “Requiem”. She is currently developing IDAMA: “Integrative Dance and Music Advancement”. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season.
Barny A
Dance Artist
Barny A. Espinal is a dancer, choreographer, and scholar . An alumnus of the Dance Department at Florida State University she has worked with choreographers as Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and Ronald K. Brown. This is her first season with KPD. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season.
Penelope Huerta
Dance Artist
Penelope Huerta is a graduate from the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City with a professional career of 15 years of national and international touring. She has worked with many companies in Mexico and has developed her own projects as a soloist that brings Mexican traditions and culture to contemporary dance. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season. She performed at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio and at the Mark Morris Space in Downtown Brooklyn as part of Dancing Wheel’s Physically Integrated National Dance Tour “Beyond Barriers, Boundaries and Beliefs”
Sun Jennifer Park
Dance Artist
Sun Jennifer Park received a Doctorate of Philosophy of Dance from the Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea, and has won many Governmental prizes for her dance performance, martial arts competitions and her publications about sports, dance and wellness. She performs with Dale Andree’s National Water Dance Projects. She created original roles in “Lost and Found” and “Samsara” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season.
Jesus Vidal
Dance Artist
Jesus Vidal began his dance and gymnastic training at the age of five in the Dominican Republic. He became a member of its national gymnastics team and was an eight - time national gymnastics champion winning a scholarship to Pennsylvania State University. State. In 2014 he suffered a spinal cord injury and continues to find new ways to add dance, creativity and performance to his life. With KPD, he has performed in the 2018 and 2019 Forward Motion Dancer Festival as well as performed “Warmamas” at the historic Judson Church in New York City. He created original roles in “Warmamas” and “Lost and Found” during KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season and performed at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio and at the Mark Morris Space in Downtown Brooklyn as part of Dancing Wheel’s Physically Integrated National Dance Tour “Beyond Barriers, Boundaries and Beliefs” He was also a dance instructor at Miami Beach Senior High School for teens with special needs in 2019.
Adam Eckstat
Dance Artist
Adam Eckstat originates from Long Island, NY, and is one of the original 1990’s cast members who performed with KPD at the Vineyard Theatre in Soho In 1993 and at Oberlin College for the 25th Contact Improvisation Festival in 1995.
He has created original roles in “Bach Suite” (1994) “Primitive Essence” (1995) “My Guy” (2005), “Potpourria” (2012; a collaboration with the CrossTown Strings Quartet), and “Samsara” for KPD’s 2021-2022 dance season. He is also a freelance drummer.
Monica Lynne
Dance Artist
Monica Lynne As a digital nomad with Multiple Sclerosis, Monica Lynne travels the world managing her condition and working remotely as a copywriter, a language interpreter, contributing writer for Healthline Magazine and in digital marketing with Miami-based boutique PR agency, JLPR. A Miami native, she has a presence in South Florida’s arts & culture community as an actor, dancer and content creator. With degrees in Theatre, Dance and Communication Studies, she is a triple-major from Nova Southeastern University. Monica is thrilled to work with the Karen Peterson Dance Company another season in Miami as a company dancer and as head of their marketing team.
Dinorah de Jesus Rodriquez
Media / Video Artist Collaborator
Dinorah is a visual artist and experimental filmmaker working with expanded cinema, public intervention, installation, and media design for the stage. Often incorporating nature and the outdoors into her work, Rodriguez probes such themes as genetic memory, social constructs, ecology, the body, gender, and sexuality. Combining handcrafted 16mm film with video, installation, and live performance, her pieces are exhibited internationally in film festivals, museums, galleries, TV, public venues, and on stage, as well as in public spaces as interventions. Most recently, her work was exhibited in the 2019 Havana Biennial. In 2018 she completed two installations at the Centro de Desarrollo de Artes Visuales in Havana. In 2017, she participated in a multidisciplinary residency in collaboration with choreographer Lucia Aratanha, sponsored by the National Performance Network and Mujeres en las Artes Tegucigalpa, Honduras, which resulted in a street performance titled Esquema María addressing the influence of the Virgin Mary in the lives and identity of Latinas.
Maria Lino
Collaborator
Maria Lino, Fulbright US Scholar (Peru, 2011) , Oscar B. Cintas Fellow Maria Lino Maria Lino was born in Havana, Cuba. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Studio Art from New York University, and a Master of Fine Arts from Florida International University. She is a Fulbright U.S. Scholar and a two time recipient of the Oscar B. Cintas Fellowship. A multi-disciplinary visual artist, Maria employs drawing, printmaking, text, video, dance, and textiles, to create individual and group portraits of those who are often overlooked: women, children, people with disabilities, migrants and immigrants. Maria immigrated with her parents to the United States as a child. Immigrants from the working class, she describes them as “factory migrants” who until 1959, would spend part of the year first in New York City, then in Miami, and the rest in Havana. She drew and wanted to study art from an early age, an ability and dream her family encouraged despite their low economic status. Maria considers these experiences and encouragements crucial to the development of her art concepts. Maria Lino has exhibited her work in both solo and group exhibitions.
Ximena England began her career as a dancer for the Chilean National Ballet Company and in 1991 she moved to Miami and co-founded ALTURAS (a traditional Chilean dance group), taught at local studios and was invited by the Chilean ambassador to represent Chile in Croatia. She is also an instructor for KPD’s Miami-Dade public school residency program for teens with disabilities.