Company

Nickemil Concepcion (Dancer, joined Cedar Lake in 2003) comes from New York, where he received his early training at Broadway Dance and the New Ballet School in New York City. At age 13, he began his professional career by performing in a Broadway production of Cinderella. He went on to be featured in the 1993 film Avenue X and George C. Wolfe’s 1996 Off-Broadway production of On the Town. Concepcion then joined Ballet Tech, where he performed for seven years.

Jason Kittelberger (Dancer, joined Cedar Lake in 2003) comes from Rochester, New York, where he began performing at age three at the Draper School of Dance. He continued his dance education at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he graduated with a BFA in dance performance. Kittelberger has performed with the Rochester Ballet and Hubbard Street II. Thanks to D. Noble.

Navarra Novy-Williams (Dancer, joined Cedar Lake in 2010) was born in New York City and was fortunate to receive her early training from Elaine Kudo and Buddy Balou in Verona, NJ. She graduated from The Juilliard School with a BFA in 2006. She joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal in 2006 where she performed works by choreographers Nacho Duato, Ohad Naharin, Stijn Celis, Mats Ek, Mauro Bigonzetti, Jean Christophe Maillot, Shen Wei, Didy Veldman, Christopher Wheeldon, and George Balanchine. In 2009 she moved to Israel where she spent the year dancing in the Batsheva Ensemble.

Matthew Rich (Dancer, joined Cedar Lake in 2005) hails from Las Vegas, Nevada, where he studied at the Dance Zone under the direction of Jami Artiga and Kaydee Francis. Rich graduated from the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts, during which time he was the recipient of several regional and national competition titles, as well as convention and workshop scholarships. Choreographers Rich has worked with include Ohad Naharin, Lauri Stallings, Jacopo Godani, Adam Houghland, Crystal Pite and Stijn Celis. He also works extensively with dance schools across the country, giving master classes and workshops as well as choreographing solos and ensemble pieces for competition.

Acacia Schachte (Dancer, joined Cedar Lake in 2006) was born in Santa Barbara, California. She trained in Canada at Vancouver’s Arts Umbrella. She then joined Ballet British Columbia’s Mentor Program, where she trained for a year before joining the company. Dancing seven seasons with Ballet British Columbia, Schachte performed the works of such choreographers as John Alleyne, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Jean Grand-Maitre, Serge Bennathan, James Kudelka, Dominique Dumais, Nicolo Fonte and Paul Taylor. She appeared in the CBC film The Fairie Queen, and has choreographed for Ballet British Columbia’s Mentor Program.

Vânia Doutel Vaz (Dancer, joined Cedar Lake in 2010) was born in Setúbal, Portugal and trained at The National Conservatory School of Dance in Lisbon, Portugal, working with ballet master Georges Garcia and choreographer Rui Horta. Her professional career in Portugal includes Vasco Wellenkamp’s Contemporary Portuguese Dance Company and freelance work with theater director Miguel Moreira and choreographers Luís Guerra de Laocoi, Rui Lopes Graça, Romulus Neagu while continuing her dance and theater training with Vera Mantero, Margarida Bettencourt, João Fiadeiro, Francisco Camacho and Emmanuelle Huynh; in Madrid, Spain, a feature film from director Carlos Saura, Fados; in London, and a dancer in Push 04 under the artistic direction of Josette Bushell-Mingo. Most recently Vaz was a member of Nederlands Dans Theater where she performed works by such choreographers as Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Paul Lightfoot & Sol Léon, Alexander Ekman and Marco Goecke.

Rachelle Scott (Dancer, joined Cedar Lake 2012) was born in Montpellier, France. She received her dance training at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts where she received the YoungARTS/New York Regional Award in DANCE/Modern and the Eiger Scholarship Award. She is a 2012 graduate of The Juilliard School in New York

City. During her time at Juilliard, she danced works by Merce Cunningham, Alexander Ekman, Ohad Naharin, Fabien Prioville, Luca Veggetti, Sidra Bell, Eliot Feld, Jose Limon and Bronislava Nijinska, among others.

Bill Bell (Dancer, joined Cedar Lake in 2012) was born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida. After graduating from Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Billy continued his training at The Juilliard School where he performed works by Jose Limon and Sidra Bell. He has worked in many commercial dance forms ranging from Britney Spears’ “Hold It Against Me” video to appearing on FOX’s “HOUSE” in a scene choreographed by Mia Michaels. He has worked as a demonstrator/faculty member on JUMP Dance Convention, Assistant Choreographer and Artist with Cherice Barton (New York, NY) and as a member of Jose Navas’ Company Flak (Montreal, QC). He is also the founder of Lunge Dance Collective (New York, NY).

Jin Young Won (Dancer, joined Cedar Lake in 2012) Won hails from Seoul Korea. She studied at SunHwa Art High School in Seoul. During her third year of school she won the Prix de Lausanne, Switzerland. She was then offered an apprenticeship with Nederlands Dans Theater II (NDT II), in The Hague, Netherlands and a scholarship to join a summer term with American Dance Festival. She later danced professionally for NDT II under the direction of Gerald Tibbs and Ballet Basel with Richard Wherlock. Won has worked with choreographers: Jiří Kylian, Ohad Naharin, Paul Lightfoot/Sol Leon, Hans van Manen, Stijn Cellis, Johan Inger, Alexander Ekman, Angelin Preljocaj, Mauro Bigonzetti, Marco Goeke, Henrique Rodovalho and Gustavo Ramirez, Jorma Elo, Rami Be’er, Sagi Gross and Wherlock. She has toured throughout Europe, South America and Korea. Other credits include winner of the 9th Asian Pacific International Ballet Competition (Tokyo, Japan 2005) and prizes from Korean national dance competitions.

Joseph Kudra (Dancer, joined Cedar Lake in 2012) was born in Chicago, IL and began his training at the age of 9 at the American Dance Center under the direction of Jack and Kathleen Villari. He has worked with River North Chicago Dance Company, DanceWorks Chicago, and most recently Luna Negra Dance Theatre. Kudra has performed works by Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Christian Spuck, Edgar Zendejas, Robert Battle, Alex Ketley, Fernando Melo, Fernando Hernando Magadan, and Asun Noales.