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About Valerie Green/Dance Entropy

Dance Entropy is a professional modern dance company that abstracts the potential chaos of the body and creates order through expressive movement reflecting the world within which we live. The word “Entropy” refers to the tendency towards disorder in a social system and chaos in motion. Dance Entropy supports my vision as Artistic Director where by I create stage and site-specific work. A significant part of my mission is to perform works in locations and communities where the content of the work will have the greatest impact.

The performances, workshops, and collaborative creations of Dance Entropy and Green Space, the company’s New York City and community home, maintain the following goals:

• Create a platform for multicultural understanding

• Nurture artistic and educational connections

• Build trust within and amongst program participants. 

• For individuals, develop new levels of self awareness and empowerment

Artistic Director Biography

Valerie Green became interested in dance as a child growing up in Cleveland, Ohio.   In 1998 she formed Valerie Green/Dance Entropy, adding a permanent home for the company in 2005 - GREEN SPACE- in Long Island City, Queens.

Ms. Green’s choreography has been presented at festivals and venues throughout New York City including La Mama, Performance Mix and Dance Now @ Joyce Soho, Movement Research at Judson Church, Draft Work at St. Mark's Church, Oasis at Chashama, Mulberry St. Theater’s New Steps, Dance Now @ Dance Theater Workshop, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, University Settlement, the 92nd St. Y, Hunter College, Context, The Flea, Cunningham Studio, Dixon Place, Hudson Guild Theater and St. Sava Cathedral.  Additionally her work has appeared in less formal venues and public spaces such as parks, art galleries, and studios.

Valerie spent several years working on the International circuit.  Among the festivals where she taught and performed are: Chandigarh Institute of Performing Arts, India, Italy’s Meeting Anti-Razista, Trulo Arts Center, Ostuni, Le Regard du Cygne, Paris, The Avignon Fringe Festival, and Toronto, Canada’s Fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists.  Her company, Dance Entropy, toured her evening- length show, Homeland-Inner Side throughout Serbia in 2001, which led to additional teaching engagements with various cultural institutions in Belgrade.  Additional work in Europe includes a teaching engagements as part of Croatia’s TEST! Theater Festival in Zagreb and performances at The National Theater in Mostar, Bosnia, The National Theater of Belgrade, Serbia, the World Dance Congress in Argos, Greece, and the Body Navigation Festival in St. Petersberg, Russia.

As a guest artist, Valerie has received commissions from Texas State University, BITEF Theater in Belgrade, Serbia, and Theater Alternativa in Tirana, Albania.  She has also taught at the University of Las Vegas, Texas State University, LaGuardia Community College, University of Nanterre, France, and at the Faculty of Drama & Art in Belgrade, Serbia and Sarajevo, Bosnia.  She has received funding from the SOROS Foundation,  CEC ArtsLink, the American Embassy’s of Serbia and Bosnia, The Puffin Foundation, Independence Community Foundation, The Queens Community Arts Fund and the Queens Independent Artist Initiative.

Valerie’s choreographic work and teaching style is influenced by her formative years working with the Erick Hawkins Dance Company and her undergraduate work at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Valerie has performed for many New York based choreographers, including H.T. Chen & Dancers, Poppo & the GoGo Boys The Wellspring Project, Dura Mater, Nancy Meehan & Dancers, Katherine Howard, Gloria McClean/LifeDance and The Phyllis Rose Dance Company.

Dancer Biographies

Amy Tennant Adams graduated from Connecticut College with honors degrees in Dance and Human Development. In New York she has worked with David Dorfman, Heidi Latsky, Stefanie Nelson, Faith Pilger, Ani Javian, Betsy Miller and Erin Malley, and is featured in a dance film by Diego Agull. She has also performed in China, India, and Brazil. In addition to Dance Entropy, she is currently dancing with Regina Nejman & Company and is creating her own work as a co-founder of the Propel-her Dance Collective.

Andrea Brown grew up in Boulder, Colorado and trained at the Boulder Arts Academy. She performed with the Boulder Ballet, and graduated Magna Cum Laude with her B.S. in Exercise Science and Dance from Skidmore College. Since moving to New York, Andrea has performed with Riedel Dance Theater, Skylight Dance Theatre, Ariel Grossman, and Misty Owens, and has appeared onstage with Pilobolus. Andrea is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and has recently launched Virtuoso Fitness, a company dedicated to personal training and injury prevention education. She is also very involved in the community of dance medicine and science practitioners, and has presented multiple research projects at conferences of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science.

Sarah Ann Hartley is a Rhode Island native who received her first dance and gymnastics training under the direction of Paula McCormick. Sarah earned a B.F.A. in 2008 from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is certified in beginning and intermediate levels of Labanotation. She has attended the American Dance Festival as a student in 2008 and in 2009 as an assistant to choreographer Mark Dendy where she performed two site specific works Would You Please Restate The Answer in The Form of The Question? and Golden Belt. Currently, Sarah is a principal dancer for Dendy Dancetheater which includes a performance for Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2009. This is Sarah's second season with Valerie Green/Dance Entropy and would like to thank her friends, family, and Kevin for their never ending support and love.

Joanie Johnson, originally from Pennsylvania, holds a BA in dance from Slippery Rock University.  In addition to Valerie Green/Dance Entropy, she has performed professionally with H.T. Chen and Dancers, and Pittsburgh’s Attack Theatre.  She is a lead teaching artist and member of the Artistic Advisory Committee for House of the Roses Dance Company.  She teaches pilates, modern, ballet, tap, and creative movement across the NYC metropolitan area.  Other credits include co-artistic director of Dance EXposure ’06, an internship at the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, summer scholarship study at ADF, and performing works under the direction of Sherone Price, Helanius Wilkins, Ursula Payne, Johanna Wininski, and Pele Bauch.

Kristin Licata has a BFA from Fordham University/Alvin Ailey, where she performed works of Alvin Ailey and Joyce Trisler as well as working with choreographers William Forsythe, Robert Battle, Sean Curran, and Elise Monte.  Post graduation, she danced for Dayton Contemporary Dance Company II, Vox Lumiere, Felice Lesser Dance Theater, and in the film Jaaneman.  Currently, she is freelancing with Covenant Ballet Theatre, Regina Nejman and Co., VaBang! and WongDance.  This is Kristin’s second season with Dance/Entropy.

Jen Painter is originally from south Florida and holds a degree in theater from Florida State University. Since moving to New York in 2001, she has had the pleasure of working with artists such as Skip Costa, Te Perez, Jana Hicks, Marijka Eliasberg, and performing with companies such as Wobble and Seen Performance. Jen has been seen in venues all over Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.  She has recently delved into the world of choreography and has shown her work at Green Space's Fertile Ground series. Jen is currently a certified Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis instructor. She is also a certified pre-trainer and enjoys being able to lead her students on the path to becoming teachers themselves.  She is happy to be dancing with Valerie Green/Dance Entropy and supporting the arts in Long Island City!

Ashlea Palafox comes to New York City from Forth Worth, Texas pursuing her love and passion for dance.  She graduated with a BS in Dance at Texas State University, where she worked with Valerie Green during a guest artist residency in 2006.  She moved to the big city in the fall of 2007 in order to train and apprentice with Dance Entropy and is now happy to be a member of the company.  Ashlea would like to thank Valerie for this amazing opportunity and would also like to thank her family and friends for their overwhelming support.