Gregory Glade Hancock
Artistic Director
Gregory Glade Hancock is founder, Artistic Director and primary choreography for Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre. Prior to this, he was the Artistic Director for Indianapolis Dance Company. He has created over 120 works for GHDT's diverse and vast repertoire including such critically acclaimed pieces as The River's Edge, Stigmata, 1941, Out of Darkness, 1968, Dracula, The Rapture, Joan of Arc, The Trojan Women, The Birth of the Gods, Lagaan, cuchci cuchi, The Sari, Devdas, Alice and Her Bizarre Adventures in Wonderland, Hooray for Tollywood, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, SUPERHERO; the story of a man called Jesus, A Legend of Enternal Love, Pinocchio and many more. Mr. Hancock has created choreography for dance companies in the USA, Eastern Europe and India. He has had the honor of the National Dance Ensemble of Latvia presenting an entire program of his works, which has toured throughout Europe. He has also created choreography for Musical Theatre, opera, industrials, television commercials, film, and international top-level figure skaters. In addition to dance, Mr. Hancock is an accomplished musician and visual artist. He spent six years as the Costume Designer for "Yuletide Celebration" with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and numerous other orchestras throughout the country. He has received numerous awards and honors for his work as a dancer and choreographer including two Master Artist Fellowships from the Indiana Arts Commission, International Fellowships from ArtsLink and The Citizen Exchange Council in New York and two Creative Renewal Fellowships from the Arts Council of Indianapolis and Lilly Endowment. Mr. Hancock was named Outstanding Choreographer at the Youth America Grand Prix in 2005 in NYC. Mr. Hancock was invited to bring his company to the prestigious 11th International Baltic Ballet Festival in Riga, Latvia in 2006, where the company received critical acclaim and was invited back for a second tour in 2007. Mr. Hancock also works in Mumbai, India with Expression Modern Dance Company. He has worked extensively with themes of India in his work and has created a unique fusion of Eastern and Western dance forms. He is the director for The Academy of GHDT and teaches at the Academy as well.
Heather Helene King
Company Dancer
Heather Helene King first performed with GHDT as a waltzer in the 1996 production of Dracula. She was completely enamored with the production, and was invited to become an apprentice to the company and then became a member the following season. During her time with GHDT, Heather has covered roles in the repertoire ranging from dramatic to comic. Some of her favorite roles include Zhana, The Queen of the Undead in Dracula, Mary, Mother of Jesus in SUPERHERO, Alice in Alice and Her Bizarre Adventures in Wonderland, and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Disco. She was very excited to travel abroad with the company in two recent tours. Heather is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Music, where she received a degree in French Horn Performance and studied ballet under Jurgen Pagels and Marina Svetlovna. She also enjoys being a singer and instrumentalist in local projects and an independent Ballroom Dance teacher.
Martin Casanova
Company Dancer
Martin Casanova's first full performance with GHDT was in 2003 in It's All Greek to Me! He has been featured in numerous roles and originated such roles as Milloc in Dracula, Chunilal in Devdas, Narcissus in Echo and Narcissus and The Witch in Hansel and Gretel. He has also originated roles and has received critical acclaim in several full-length productions such as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jesus of Nazareth in SUPERHERO and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at the Disco. Mr. Casanova has been featured in many of the company's outstanding duets including; Lagaan, Crop Circles, Unchained Melody, Echo and Narcissus and Carmen. Some of his favorite repertoire pieces include: The Birth of the Gods, The River's Edge, Bolero, My Gypsy Soul, Devdas, The Seven Deadly Sins, Alice and Her Bizarre Adventures in Wonderland in which he created the roles of The King of Hearts, The Mad Hatter, The Gryphon and The Caterpillar and The Casket Girls in which he danced the role of Father de Beaubois. In 2006, Mr. Casanova was honored to dance the final pas de dues from The Hunchback of Notre Dame with partner Christine Colquitt Thaker at the 11th International Baltic Ballet Festival in Riga, Latvia. In addition to dancing with the company, he serves as production assistant, co-director of G2 and is on the faculty of The Academy of GHDT.
Sara Little
Company Dancer
Sara Little has been a member of GHDT since 2008. She is from St. Louis, MO and is a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance Performance and a minor in English studies. Sara was a member of Ball State Dance Theatre for 4 years. With BSDT, she performed in numerous classical and contemporary pieces and had the opportunity to dance in New York City at the American College Dance National Festival. Her choreography has been featured in BSU showcases and was selected to perform at the American College Dance Festival in Kalamazoo, MI. Some of her favorite roles with GHDT include The White Rabbit in Alice and Her Bizarre Adventures in Wonderland, a Charlie's Angel in Romeo and Juliet at the Disco, the Latin Duet in Down on the Bayou and the Voodoo duet in Papa Legba. Sara is also on the faculty of The Academy of GHDT.
Natalee Cooney
Company Dancer
Natalee Cooney is honored to be a part of GHDT. An Indianapolis native, she is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Natalee also has her Master's Degree from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Natalee joined the company in 2007. As a company member, her favorite roles include: The Cheshire Cat in Alice and Her Bizarre Adventures in Wonderland, A woman of Jerusalem in SUPERHERO, a crime fighting Angel in Romeo and Juliet at the Disco and an Evil Nun in The Casket Girls.
Melanie Eakman
Company Dancer
Melanie Eakman of Indianapolis joined GHDT as a company member in 2009. She received her BA from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a major in Dance Performance and a minor in Business Management. During her college career, Melanie performed in More Momentum and Adjunct Connections with the Conservatory of Performing Arts. As an apprentice with The Pillow Project Dance Company based in Pittsburgh, she performed in Volume III: A Certain Point of View. Her most memorable role with GHDT is Mary Magdelene in SUPERHERO. She has performed in GHDT's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Between Heaven and Earth, India Ever After and Romeo and Juliet at The Disco. She trained at Jordan Dance Academy in Indianapolis for 13 years.
Phillip Crawshaw
Company Dancer
Phillip Crawshaw joined Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre in 2011. He is from Indianapolis and a graduate of Anderson University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Family Science and Psychology with a minor in Dance Performance. While at Anderson University, Phillip participated in several dance, musical theatre, opera and choral performances. Phillip's passion for dance started his first year of college and has grown ever since.
Alannah Cataldo
Alannah Cataldo received her early training at Conservatory of Dance under the instruction of Lydia Aurinko-Mostow and Dawn Deahl. In 2009 she joined Ballet Chicago Studio Company (BCSC). While with BCSC, she was featured in George Balanchine's Serenade, Who Cares and Divertimento #15. Alannah started as an apprentice with Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre in the summer of 2010 with American Classics.
Dana Backes
Dana Backes began her dance training in Colorado Springs, Colorado at Springs City Ballet. She has recently graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet and a Minor in Business, where she had the privilege of being a member of Utah Ballet. During this time she performed both soloist and corps de ballet roles, as well as worked with guest choreographers Rick Tija, Eddie Toussaint, Jiang Qi, and Bruce Caldwell. As a member of Utah Ballet she traveled to Berlin, Germany and took classes at the Berlin State Ballet School. Dana was also chosen to perform Zigi, choreographed by Edgar Zendejas, in the 60th Anniversary of the Department of Fine Arts. She is excited to perform with GHDT and would like to thank Gregory Hancock for this new opportunity.
Emily Farley
Emily Farley graduated from Wright State University with a B.F.A. in Dance. While at Wright State, she danced under Teressa Wylie McWilliams, GinaGardner-Walther, Justin Gibbs, and Gregory Hellems. Emily also had the honor to work with Kiesha Lalama-White, Dawn Carter, William McClelland, and Adam Hougland. Upon her last two years in school she was also a company member of Dayton Contemporary Dance Second Company. Both experiences brought her to work with various world renounced artist and is blessed for the training. Emily is now honored to be dancing with GHDT!
