Catherine Tharin is a choreographer, writer, curator, and educator. She holds a BA from Connecticut College
and an MA in Dance Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College. A former member of the Erick
Hawkins Dance Company, Tharin performed nationally and internationally with the company from 1988 to
1994. Her choreographic work continues to be shaped by the aesthetic legacy of Erick Hawkins and composer
Lucia Dlugoszewski.

For 15 years, Tharin served as Dance and Performance Curator at the 92nd Street Y where she presented
acclaimed choreographers across genres alongside emerging voices, as well as composers, designers, authors,
critics, videographers, and photographers. She was also a senior adjunct professor at Iona College for two
decades. Her writing on dance has appeared in The Dance Enthusiast, Interlocutor, Side of Culture, and on
WAMC, an NPR affiliate in the Hudson Valley. She has also contributed reviews to The Boston Globe.

Tharin currently curates The Dance Series at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, NY, and dance film at The
Moviehouse in Millerton, NY. She also serves on the Dance Committee of the Cosmopolitan Club. Throughout
her career, she has championed both innovative and legacy choreography, supported the work of artists across
the field, and brought critical attention to the art form.

Tharin appreciatively acknowledges the women who shaped her artistic path: Joanne Tharin, Jody
Arnhold, Thais Barry, Maxine DeBruyn, Lucia Dlugoszewski, Nancy Meehan, Catherine Mapp, and Aileen
Passloff. Their mentorship, encouragement, and example have had a lasting impact on her life in dance.

She is especially grateful to Harrison J. Weisner, who introduced Joel Forrester’s music, the work of James
Joyce, and commissioned this dance, and to David Parker and Jeffrey Kazin, founders of The Bang Group,
who have supported and presented her choreography over many years.

A New York City based dancer, choreographer, and producer, Dylan Baker is originally from the
boondocks of Wisconsin where he acquired a BFA in Dance at The University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee. Apart from dancing with Catherine Tharin, you can find Dylan in works by Matthew
Westerby Company, The Bang Group and with his own company, BOINK Dance & Film. When
not on stage, Mr. Baker is a producer for the WestFest Dance Festival every spring in New York
City!

Patrick Fitzgerald made his stage debut in the Irish Rep’s first production, The Plough and the Stars. He has
appeared in: Whistle in the Dark, Playboy of the Western World, Philadelphia Here I Come, The Shaughraun
(twice), Hal Prince’s Grandchild Of Kings (Clarence Derwent Award), Sive, Yeats: A Celebration, Sea Marks
(twice), and numerous other productions for the company. Other theatre credits include: The Sisters
Rosensweig (Lincoln Center and Broadway), Mike Leigh’s Ecstasy (New Group-Obie Award), Mojo

(Atlantic), A Clockwork Orange (Steppenwolf), and Katie Roche (Mint). He’s most proud of the Irish Rep
production of his own play, Gibraltar: An Adaptation After James Joyce’s Ulysses (NY Times critics pick). Mr.
Fitzgerald curates the James Joyce New York Reading Group which has been meeting, in one form or another,
for the last thirty years.

​Colleen Gibbs Howland holds a BFA in Fashion Design, AAS in Architectural Technology, and Certificate in
Horticulture-Landscape Design. She worked on Seventh Avenue and had designs featured in Vogue magazine.
Her couture commissions include pieces worn at inaugural balls and international galas. Colleen is committed
to sustainable living, waste reduction, and the power of art in all forms. She is delighted to collaborate with
Catherine Tharin Dance and her talented team to bring the highest order of emotion, expression and shape in
every dimension to the stage through dance.

Photo by Lynn Saville

Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Hannah Kearney is a dancer and Pilates teacher based in Brooklyn, NY. She
graduated summa cum laude from George Mason University with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Arts
Management. She also received her Accelerated Studies certificate from the Martha Graham School of Dance.
Hannah danced with the Philadanco Second Company/Danco II and while doing so also had the opportunity to
understudy the Philadelphia Dance Company/Philadanco!. She has performed works by Francisco Gella,
Robert Battle, Martha Graham, Donald Byrd, Jim Lepore, and Susan Shields. Hannah was a dancer for a new
American musical Soul Harmony. Hannah has danced with JKing Dance Company, Daniel Flores, and Ballaro
Dance Company. This is her third year with Catherine Tharin Dance.

Daniel Morimoto grew up in Orlando, Florida, an environment of theme parks, childlike splendor, and a faint
sense of magic in the air. He graduated from the University of Florida with a BFA in Dance and a minor in
German. As a performer, he has worked with companies and choreographers such as Catherine Tharin, The
Bang Group, Matthew Westerby Company, Amber Sloan, NIkki and the Noise, Megan Williams, Jody
Oberfelder, Daniel Gwirtzman, Spark Movement Collective, and more. As a choreographer, Daniel is the
Artistic Director of Digital Movement Dance. The dance company embeds elements of fantasy, world-
building, and magic into each work, creating immersive worlds with characters and stories to explore.

​Lora Robertson (b. 1971, Ann Arbor, MI) is a Leica Master Photographer and a filmmaker known for her large
scale works in color. As Executive Director of Satellite Collective in New York, she is an advocate for women
to stand in their own power and is committed to the retelling of classic story forms from the perspective of
female characters, putting their voices forward as flawed heroes. Bringing the discipline of fifteen years of
commercial advertising experience into her fine art projects, she uses very little digital manipulation, but
instead is devoted to studio lighting, set design and the power of in-camera processes. Lora also believes in
taking technical and creative risks which might break these comfortable habits, always from a place of hard
work and forward motion. Recent shows include, “The American Yes” at Mriya Gallery in 2025, “Agony In
The Scrub Pines” at Mriya Gallery and “Summer Blockbusterz” at Canada Gallery, both in 2024. Her work has
appeared at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Open Source Gallery, and 92Y in New
York, with public commissions in Michigan at The Grand Rapids Art Museum, Urban Institute of
Contemporary Art, Rosa Parks Circle, The Gerald R. Ford Museum, SiTE:LAB, and Fountain Street Church
which was awarded recognition from the ACLU. She will take on a muse but only if bets are lost.

Harrison J. Weisner was born & raised in New York City, He was a producer of Gibraltar - An adaptation after James Joyce’s Ulysses, by Patrick Fitzgerald. 

The Bang Group is a rhythm-driven, contemporary dance company directed by choreographer David Parker
and dancer Jeffrey Kazin who founded the company in New York City in 1995.  TBG tours and performs
regularly throughout North America and Europe and enjoys annual seasons in New York at venues such as
New York Live Arts, Danspace Project, DANCE NOW NYC, Harkness Dance Center at 92Y and Arts On
Site, among many others.  Best known for its comic/subversive, neo-vaudevillian Nutcracker called
Nut/Cracked, now in its 23rd consecutive season, TBG also presents independent choreographers and dance
companies at Arts On Site where it is in residence.  David Parker curates these performances and Jeffrey Kazin
produces them.  In their programming, they are dedicated to aesthetic diversity, creative freedom, and
craftsmanship.

​A native of Dublin, Michelle Clayton (reader) teaches Comparative Literature and Hispanic Studies at Brown
University. Her interests range over modern literature, dance, and the visual arts, and she is currently finishing
a book titled Articulations: Dancing Across Modernities.

Joel Forrester is an American composer and pianist who, after 50 years in New York, resides in Lyon, France. 
He has written more than 2500 compositions, all of which are publicly available through his archive at Ohio
University

Photo by Metin Oner

Allan Hunter is a creative person of varied interests and an assortment of capabilities.  The areas of primary
pride are music composition and being an author of books and articles, but he also dabbles in photo editing and
amateur graphic design, simple video editing, and sound editing, the latter of which in recent years has
manifested in assembling soundscapes for dancers and performance artists.

Jenny was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She attended the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY
Purchase as an undergraduate and Bank Street College for her Masters in Early Childhood Education, Family
Development and Early Intervention. Jenny toured nationally and internationally with MOMIX. She also had
the pleasure of dancing with companies such as Douglas Dunn & Dancers, isadoraNOW and AlleRetour
Dance Company. Jenny is honored and grateful to be dancing with Catherine Tharin.

​​Jack Murphy is a contemporary dancer and performer originally from Novi, Michigan. He began his dance
training at the age of six and later continued his studies as a trainee with the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. He
earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Juilliard School, where he performed works by renowned
choreographers including Martha Graham, Ohad Naharin, José Limón, Matthew Neenan, Andrea Miller, Bryan
Arias, and Nelly van Bommel. Since graduating, Jack has performed with Matthew Westerby Company,
Jacqulyn Buglisi, and Sandra Parks. He is currently thrilled to be working with Catherine Tharin.