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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: 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. While in high school, 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 Skylight Dance Theatre, York Dance Works, and Misty Owens, and has appeared onstage with Pilobolus. Andrea is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and is very involved in the community of dance medicine and science practitioners. She has presented multiple research projects at conferences of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science, and trains dancers in supplemental conditioning and injury prevention. This is Andrea's first season with Dance Entropy.

Mary Angel Flores hails from Lubbock, Texas! She holds a degree from Washington University in St. Louis in dance and English literature. She studied under Christine O’Neal, Mary Jean Cowell, David Marchant, Cecil Slaughter, and in her senior year, Angel produced and directed an evening-length, thesis concert entitled Roots and Wings. She has performed works by Carlos Fittante, Trinette Singleton, Jennifer Medina, and while with OPUS Dance Theater in New York, performed works by James 'Buster' Grant and Christopher L. Huggins. Angel attended The Ailey School as a Fellowship recipient and joined Dance Entropy in 2005. In her spare time when she is not performing with Valerie Green/Dance Entropy, Angel works in marketing for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Sarah Hartley is a Rhode Island native who has recently graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance Theater under the direction of Gregg Lizenbery. Sarah attended the 75th season of the American Dance Festival with a Young Artist Tuition Scholarship and performed choreography by Mark Dendy. Sarah has been fortunate to have danced in re-stagings of Doris Humphrey's Soaring, Alwin Nikolais' Tensile Involvement, Paul Taylor's 3 Epitaphs, and Bebe Miller's Blessed. This is Sarah's first season with Valerie and Dance Entropy and is excited to be here in NYC dancing, thriving being around the ones she loves!

Erin Hunter Jennings has danced recently with Pilobolus, C Eule Dance, Erica Essner Performance Co-op, and Charles Moulton. Erin holds degrees from Bucknell and New York Universities, and teaches and choreographs when not performing. Her work has been produced at DTW, John Jay College and at various showcases.

Joanie Johnson, originally from Pennsylvania, earned a BA in dance from Slippery Rock University in 2004.  She has worked professionally with H.T. Chen and Dancers and Pittsburgh’s Attack Theatre.  She is involved with the non-profit organization, House of the Roses, as a full time movement teacher, dancer, and member of the Artistic Advisory Committee.  Other credits include Ism by Pele Bauch, Dance EXposure ’06, The Soup or Salad Dance Project, an internship at the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, and a 2004 summer scholarship at ADF.  She is also a 2007 certified Pilates mat instructor recognized by Pilates Method Alliance. 

Kristin Licata graduated from the Fordham/ Alvin Ailey BFA program.  There she had the privilege of performing works of Alvin Ailey and Joyce Trisler as well as working with choreographers William Forsythe, Robert Battle, Sean Curran, and  Elise Monte to name a few.  Post graduation, she danced for Dayton Contemporary Dance Company II, Vox Lumiere and can be seen in the film Jaaneman.  Currently, she is working with Felice Lesser, Regina Nejman and Co.,Vabang!, and WongDance.

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.

Melissa Plotnick, born and raised in Colorado took to dancing at a young age. She was first introduced to modern dance in high school thanks to Jan Justis where she also got the chance to travel to Scotland to participate in the Fringe Festival. She was accepted in the BFA program at Marymount Manhattan College and quickly started her professional career with Hannah Kahn Dance Company and Speaking Of Dance. She has also been privileged to work with Denver Independent Choreographers Project and Fragments of Divine. Enjoying challenge and a variety of styles she is excited to apply herself to Valerie Green's unique style. This is her first season with Dance Entropy.