Auditorium Theatre 2021-2022, Issue 5, Giordano

16 | AUDITORIUM THEATRE :: GIORDANO DANCE CHICAGO AMANDA HICKEY From Hanover Park, Illinois, Amanda is in her first year as a main company member, and her fourth year with GDC. Amanda began her dance training at the Fauborg School of Ballet and graduated with honors from Butler University. She spent four years dancing with Nomi Dance Academy, and she has danced principal roles in the Schaumburg Dance Ensemble’s annual Nutcracker performances. Amanda has had the opportunity to choreograph pieces for Nomi Dance Academy, the Ballet Theatre of Indiana, and The Ballet INitiative. ADAM HOUSTON A main company member from Boone, Iowa, Adam has been with GDC for nine seasons, and is serving as this year’s co-Costume Manager and co-Rehearsal Captain. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with the “Outstanding Senior” award from the School of Dance at University of Arizona, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Adam has many performances under his belt, but some of the most fulfilling in his career include being cast as the male soloist in signature GDC work and personal Gus Giordano favorite “Can’t Take This Away” choreographed by Randy Duncan, and has participated in the Finale section of Dance For Life, also by Randy Duncan, for the last four years. Adam has choreographed three pieces for Giordano II, and in the Fall of 2021, Giordano Dance Chicago premiered his first work, All For You on the main company. SASHA LAZARUS From Delray Beach, Florida, Sasha is in her first year with GDC as a member of Giordano II. She trained in the Complexions Contemporary Ballet Pre-Professional Program and then kicked off her career dancing with the Menlowe Ballet. While with the Menlowe Ballet, she performed works by Donald McKayle, Christopher Huggins, and Margo Sappington, and was a principal dancer in Michael Lowe’s It’s A Wonderful Nutcracker in 2019. Sasha was a National Young Arts Winner in Ballet Dance in 2016, and again in Modern Dance in 2017. ZACHARY MORRIS From Bay Area, CA, Zachary joins Giordano II in the second half of the 59th Season. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan (U of M) School of Music Theater and Dance with a BFA, in addition to his degree in Women and Gender Studies from the U of M School of Language, Science, and the Arts. He has performed in works choregraphed by Victor Quijada and Kara Davis, worked with Shannon Gillen and Vim Vigor at The University of Michigan, and performed with Alonzo King Lines Ballet. Zach danced with the Dance Legacy Project in Brandenburg Concerto NO. 4 by Doris Humphrey, as reset by Jillian Hopper for the Library of Congress. He has also received recognition for his portrayal of Action in The Mountain Plays 2016 production of West Side Story. The Company continued