Program for Smuin's Dance Series 1 - Flipbook - Page 14
COLLABORATOR PROFILES
JENNIFER ARCHIBALD | CHOREOGRAPHER, ByCHANCE
Jennifer Archibald is the founder and Artistic Director of the Arch Dance
Company and Program Director of ArchCore40 Dance Intensives. Archibald
has choreographed for the Atlanta Ballet, Ailey II, Ballet Memphis, Kansas City
Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, and worked commercially for Tommy Hilfiger, NIKE and MAC
Cosmetics as well as chart-listed singers and actors. She was appointed as the first
female resident choreographer in Cincinnati Ballet’s 40-year history. Jennifer has
been commissioned by BalletMet, Grand Rapids Ballet, BalletX, the Washington
Ballet, Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre and the Kennedy Center’s Pathways to
Performance program to deliver new works this season. She was the acting movement
Director for Michael Kahn’s The Oresteia at Washington DC’s Shakespeare Theatre
Company. She is currently an acting lecturer at the Yale School of Drama.
MATTHEW NEENAN | CHOREOGRAPHER, THE LAST GLASS
Matthew Neenan, described as “one of America’s best dance poets” by The New York
Times, began his training at Boston Ballet School and with noted teachers Nan C.
Keating and Jacqueline Cronsberg. He later attended Laguardia H.S. of Performing
Arts and the School of American Ballet in NYC. From 1994-2007, Matthew danced
with the Pennsylvania, now Philadelphia Ballet where he danced numerous principal
roles in the Balanchine and contemporary repertoire. From 2007-2020, he was
the choreographer in residence, where he created 20 original ballets. Matthew’s
choreographic commissions also include New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest
Ballet, The Washington Ballet, Ballet West, BodyTraffic, Juilliard Dance and 6 world
premieres at the Vail International Dance Festival, among many others. From 20052013, Matthew co-founded and co-directed BalletX with fellow dancer Christine Cox.
BalletX has toured several of Neenan’s works at prestigious venues throughout the world.
He has received numerous awards including the NEA, the Choo San Goh Foundation,
the Jerome Robbins “New” Program Fellowship, Independence Foundation, and The
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. His ballet “The Last Glass’ was listed in The New York
Times “Top 10 of 2013.”
SUSAN ROEMER | COSTUME DESIGNER, ByCHANCE
Susan Roemer is a Northern California-based costume designer specializing in
creative collaboration for dance and film under her label S-Curve Apparel & Design.
Prior to her career in costume design, Roemer worked as a professional dancer
across the country, most notably with Smuin Ballet for nine years. Since 2012,
Roemer has designed and constructed costumes for San Francisco Ballet, Smuin
Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Joffrey Ballet, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery,
Ballet West, Ballet Memphis, AXIS Dance Company, Tulsa Ballet, Kansas City Ballet,
BalletMet, Ballet Austin, Miami City Ballet, and Singapore Dance Theatre, among
others. Roemer won an Isadora Duncan Award for Visual Design of Amy Seiwert’s
“Wandering” in 2017. In 2020, Susan launched a retail brand, TangentFit, blending
stage design with studio functionality..
14 • DANCE SERIES 1 • 2024