Auditorium Theatre 2021-2022, Issue 5, Giordano

AUDITORIUM THEATRE :: GIORDANO DANCE CHICAGO | 21 Dance Company, New Jersey Ballet, The Pensacola Ballet, Philadanco), landed him among New York City’s most innovative, multiskilled director/ choreographers. A dynamic virtuosic mover, Ray walks in the legacy of black dance progenitors, carrying both the historical and vanguard in his body. His uncannily facile body creates work that surprises and delights. His ability to lead the dancers in partnership forges space for them to execute movements that they previously thought impossible. This excitement adds to the infectious, disarming expression that characterizes his body of work. Ray Mercer is the choreographer for the Ailey School’s professional division and resident choreographer for Philadanco. He is the artist in residence at Omaha Performing Arts, and Tall Poppy Artists. The Smithsonian Museum commissioned and archived his work Hamdan: Through the Gate of Tears. Ray’s theatrical contributions include work as the choreographer of Deep Love: A Ghostly Rock Opera at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, In Our America, directed by Liesl Tommy for Broadway for Biden, and Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Omaha Playhouse. DAN MYERS Composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dan Myers is currently Assistant Professor of Commercial Music at Tiffin University, Tiffin OH where he teaches courses in film scoring and sound design. Dan composes for film, television and the stage and his original songs can be heard in major motion pictures, digital animation features and network television series. As a member of actor Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band , Dan has enjoyed the privilege of dueling on fiddle with Charlie Daniels at the Kennedy Center, performing for U.N. troops in Afghanistan and Kuwait, and debuting new music at the Ravinia Festival. Dan records and tours nationally with his indie-folk original band Stolen Silver , and has been featured in the Chicago Tribune , American Way Magazine , and T he New York Times . Dan earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Western Michigan University and a Master of Fine Arts in Music Composition for the Screen from Columbia College, Chicago. thedanmyers.com