CARL ROWE IDT Co-Artistic Director
Mr. Rowe began his dance training at UC Santa Cruz and in New York City. He has performed with the Baroque Dance Ensemble for the Smithsonian Institute, the Portland Dance Theater, the Dance Theater of the Southwest in Texas, for Rod Rodgers in New York, and for Kelly Holt in California. In 1980 Carl founded the Idaho Dance Ensemble with Hilarie Neely in Sun Valley. For five years the Ensemble performed throughout the region. He performed a solo dance concert in 1986 and won the Artist Fellowship from the Idaho Commission on the Arts in 1987, and again in 2000. He also received the Worksite Award for choreography in 1995. In 1990 Carl received a grant from New Forms: Regional Initiative with which he created Next of Kin, a full-length, multimedia play. Carl has been with IDT since its inception in 1989 and has choreographed extensively for the company. Carl is also a professional painter with gallery representation throughout the northwest, also having received the Artist Fellowship in 1999 with honorable mention in painting. Carl was awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2002.
MARLA HANSEN IDT Co-Artistic Director
Marla and her husband, Alfred Hansen, founded Idaho Dance Theatre in 1989. Since that time, she has choreographed over 60 ballets for IDT. She is also an Associate Professor at Boise State University in the Department of Theatre Arts and directs the Dance Minor, the Dance Option BA Degree and the BSU Summer DanceFest workshop. Marla choreographs regularly for BSU Theatre and Music Department productions including Metamorphoses, Cabaret, HMS Pinafore, Pippin, Into the Woods and Damn Yankees, to name a few. She loves to collaborate with other artists and organizations and recently choreographed the Opera Idaho productions of Faust and Amahl and the Night Visitors. She has been named the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, “Dance Educator of the Year” in the Northwest District.
Marla received her early professional training as a Harkness Ballet company trainee in New York City. She attended the University of Utah where she earned her BFA and MFA in ballet while dancing as an apprentice with Ballet West. She was principal dancer with Portland Ballet Company for three years and choreographed several ballets for PBC and other Northwest companies. From1981 to1989 she danced with American Festival Ballet (AFB), during which time she was a principal dancer, teacher, ballet mistress, choreographer and acting artistic director. She choreographed the full length Cinderella, Firebird and numerous other shorter ballets for AFB. She received the 1988 Idaho Commission on the Arts Artist Fellowship for her Firebird choreography.
GONZALO VALDEZ Focus Director
Mr. Valdez has been an Idaho Dance Theatre company member for 6 seasons. He began dancing as a senior in high school after the persuasion of a classmate to take a swing class. After that one recital he discovered his new found passion for dance and began to train with the local studios in his hometown of Wendell, Idaho. Gonzalo’s early training was with Shari Mauldin and Cindi Jones of the Magic Valley, which included local and national competitions in jazz, tap and hip hop. He then focused his training in classical ballet and studied under the direction of Marla Hansen at Boise State University. In his 6 seasons with the company, Gonzalo has not only been featured in new original works, but has also been nurtured as a choreographer. He has set four pieces on the company, two of which were selected to take on two of the company’s tours. His choreography has also been featured in IDT’s “Dancing Through the Decades” Gala and IDT’s Outreach Program. He has also performed in the community with Boise State University and Opera Idaho in the productions of “Pippin” and “Amahl and The Night Visitors”. Gonzalo is very excited to be part of IDT’s newest endeavor, Focus Dance Ensemble. He looks forward to see this company take flight and work with this group of eager, dedicated and very talented dancers.
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