Windfall Dance Company Member Bios
Abigail Alyn Grose
Abi is a 2007 graduate of Indiana University Bloomington where she earned a BS in Kinesiology with a Dance major. While at IU, she had the opportunity to perform works by Paul Taylor, Ben Munisteri, and Windfall alumni Liz Monnier and Debra Knapp in addition to studying at the International Contemporary Dance Festival in Bytom, Poland during Summer 2006. She has also presented her own modern dance choreography in Bloomington as a part of Abigail Alyn Dance Projects. She recently completed her MA in Anthropology at IUB, with her thesis focusing on American modern dance. In 2010, Abi spent the 6 months living in Beijing, PRC, where she had the opportunity to study Chinese ethnic dance under instructors from the Central University of Nationalities and Beijing Dance Academy.
Nicole Brooks
Nicole took up dance as a teenager in her hometown of Lafayette and studied ballet and modern at Lafayette Ballet Company. She earned a B.A. in Dance Pedagogy from Butler University in Indianapolis. She taught ballet and modern and choreographed in Lafayette, Texas and Washington. Nicole joined Windfall in fall 2009 and is happy to be dancing and performing again.
Ashley Donaldson
Originally from Indianapolis, Ashley Donaldson has been dancing since the age of five. She has studied ballet, jazz, and modern. A recent graduate of Indiana University, she began studying Middle Eastern dance in undergrad as well as salsa. Ashley has been a member of Windfall since September 2006.
Lauren Frederick
Lauren Weber Frederick is an Adjunct Faculty member in the modern dance department at IU and teaches at the Windfall Dancers, Inc. studio, where she is also the youth company director. Recently, she performed with Diavolo Dance Theatre, a Los Angeles based company. In 2009, Lauren's choreography was presented at the Omaha Dance Festival, voted Omaha’s Best Dance Show. A graduate of Indiana University, she received degrees in Dance and Theatre.
Kay Olges
Kay Olges has been a member of Windfall since 1997. She graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts with a concentration in ballet. She holds bachelor and master's degrees in speech-language pathology and works in the Lawrence County school system. Kay is also the founder and director of Windfall's Reading Through Movement Literacy Project. She is grateful to her wonderful family and friends for all their support over the years. Dancing is Kay's sanctuary.
Celina Jaffe
Celina Jaffe has been dancing since she was five. She started out with classical ballet training at IUBT for eleven years then transitioned to modern dance her last year of high school. Celina has experience with jazz, improv, and ballroom and enjoys swing dancing around Bloomington. Celina has also performed in various Musicals and Operas in Bloomington since her teenage years. In 2005 Celina choreographed the musical Nuncrackers for the Merry Mac players. In 2010 she received her Dance Minor with a concentration in performance from IU.
C. Neil Parsons
C. Neil Parsons discovered modern dance while studying Trombone Performance at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, where he declared an individual major in "Interdisciplinary Performance & Education". For nine years Neil served as bass trombonist/actor/dancer with Tales & Scales, a national touring company which created new music/theatre/dance works for children and family audiences. In addition to dancing with Windfall, Neil is the bass trombonist with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra and recently directed a production for the Bloomington Playwrights Project.
Elizabeth Theobald
Liz is from Dubuque, Iowa where she danced with the Dubuque Academy of Ballet for 12 years. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and minors in Business and Dance. She was a member of the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps Colorguard for 7 years. Currently she works as an Engineer at Cook Inc. and Colorguard Director for Bloomington High School South in addition to being a part of the Windfall Dance Company.
Yolanda Valdivia
Yolanda Valdivia is a native of San Jose, California, where she studied ballet, jazz, and musical theater. She graduated from UCLA with a major in Music History in 2006. She moved to Bloomington in 2007, and currently sings with the Bloomington Chamber Singers, and works at the IU Credit Union. She is happy to be dancing again and to have joined Windfall in 2010.