Northwest Movement Ensemble Creative team
The Understory premieres April 24-25, 2026 at The Lavender Network's new home on 1590 Willamette Street. Funded in part by the Lane County Cultural Coalition.
Bonnie Simoa, director of Northwest Movement Ensemble, holds an MFA in Dance from Mills College and is a Master Somatic Movement Educator through ISMETA. A dancer, choreographer, Continuum teacher and somatic dance educator, she developed Individual Movement Art–an approach to sourcing technique and creative material from deep states of awareness to generate distinctive movement ideas. She has choreographed over 35 dances, each exploring the beauty and challenges of the human condition. Bonnie is a Balinese dancer and scholar, traveling there to study numerous times since 1996. Bonnie’s movement explorations have expanded to include horses, with particular interest in the potencies of interspecies communication. These experiences reinforce her perspective that movement is the universal language and that dance unifies and heals.
Rebekah (Bekah) Felten took her first ballet class at age 10 and immediately fell in love with dance. She studied jazz, hip hop, acrobatics, and choreography with Hosanna Dance studio and is currently studying contemporary dance and improvisation with Bonnie Simoa. In 2025, Bekah joined Northwest Movement Ensemble, and performed in Ethan Guillén’s evening-length piece: The Unknowing. Bekah plans to continue pursuing dance and dreams of one day becoming a circus artist. Her love for movement extends beyond the studio into hiking, bouldering, and mountain biking. She is a musician and visual artist, working in ink, pencil, and acrylic paints.
Ethan Anthony Guillén has had a decades-long career as an activist and leader in global public health. In recent years, Ethan returned to the performing passions of his youth, to find new avenues to heal and connect to himself and others, (re)taking on his roles as a musician, actor, choreographer, and movement artist. Ethan has danced with Lane Dance Company and twice won the Choreography Award for dances created and performed at Lane. He co-facilitates a weekly improvisational dance class focused on somatic based practices and is currently choreographing a full length dance piece. He helps produce Queer Ecstatic Dance and in addition to contemporary dance, studies on heels and go-go dancing.
Grace (Grey) Roberts began a dance journey 13 years ago in a creative dance class full of five-year-olds. Grey soon started taking Hip Hop, Acrobatics, and Jazz which ignited a love and passion for dance. A founding member of Northwest Movement Ensemble, Grey has also danced with Hosanna Dance and the Lane Dance Company including the work of guest artist Melecio Estrella. Grey has also taught movement and dance to children in K-12 artist residencies in Lane County. Grey is a martial artist practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Shoshin Ryu. In addition to being a somatic movement artist, Grey is costume designer and visual artist exploring various mediums including paint, fabric, ink, and pencil.
Karen Sanchez (she/they) was born on a ranch in Guadalajara, Mexico, and raised there until age 6. As a multi-disciplinary artist in Oregon, her mediums include music, drawing, poetry, cinematography, prop building, and foreign languages. Karen is a founding member of Northwest Movement Ensemble, and also performer with DanceAbility International. She has been commissioned to dance with A-Squared Productions’ “Birds Flying Through”, Garner Dances, the Lane Dance Company, Dance Northwest, all in addition to appearing in dance films. Often abstract and surreal, Karen’s work emerges from an absurdist philosophy.
Madeleine Sisson (she/her) is a movement artist, serial entrepreneur, and Certified DanceAbility Instructor. She studied with Alito Alessi and performed with DanceAbility International. Madeleine’s musical theater and contemporary choreography has been featured at the Cottage Theatre, The Shed Institute, Storybook Theatre, Hult Center, and South Lane Ballet Academy. She is committed to inclusion of all abilities, ages, identities, and races. She is grateful for training and mentorship including Pamela Lehan-Siegal, Bonnie Simoa, and Peg Major. Her most recent performance credits include ‘Birds Flying Through’ choreography by Bonnie Simoa, and ‘Empty Where it Echos’ with choreography by Melecio Estrella. Madeleine is proud to dance alongside her friends and co-founders in Northwest Movement Ensemble.
Hales Wilson (they/them) creates through a queer & non-binary lens in disciplines including performance art, dance, and nature connection. Their mediums include drag, theater, experimental performance art, event hosting, gogoing, makeup and costume design, and dance styles including waacking, contemporary, heels, and improvisation. Hales is a founding member of Northwest Movement Ensemble, and a producer of the Dirty Faerie Drag Shows at Oregon Country Fair, queer ecstatic dance, and LGBTQ+ improv classes, among other immersive containers for queer collective healing. Hales is a director of an outdoor school fostering youths’ ecological understanding, gratitude, & an enhanced connection to self, community, & nature. They have danced with the Lane Dance Company and Melecio Estrella’s “Empty Where It Echos”, in addition to appearing in community art projects.
Christian Cherry is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and performer whose work is presented in the U.S. and abroad. Tales from Dapple Creek (’22) for Kista Tucker, has recently won multiple international awards. He presented at Il Corpo nel Suono, at the Academia Nazionale di Danza in Rome in 2019. As a dance educator, Christian was part of several prominent dance departments: the Ohio State, the University of South Florida and the University of Illinois. Christian has served as Head, Undergraduate Director and Music Director at the University of Oregon where he teaches music, dance theory, collaboration, and contact improvisation.
James McConkey has been Technical Director for LCC’s Performing Arts Department since 2003 and was the Assistant TD for 5 years before that. Graduating from Washington State University with a bachelor’s degree in Theatre, he then worked as a stagehand at the Hult Center for 10 years. He also worked with the University of Oregon’s Dance Department as Technical Director/Lighting Designer for over 10 years. Over the last 30 years, James has designed lights for well over 100 shows including work with the Eugene Opera, Eugene Festival of American Music, Dance for a Reason, Lord Leebrick Theatre Company, The Shedd Institute, The Very Little Theatre, University of Oregon Theatre and the University of Oregon Opera Workshop among many others. He is excited to work with Bonnie on this unique performance in this great space.
Ali, Tough & Tender Photo is a photographer with roots in Mississippi who has lived and created in Oregon since 2019. Their portrait work is anchored in connection: to ourselves, to others, and to the world around us. As a queer portrait artist, Ali endeavors to capture the beauty, tenderness, and joy of each unique individual in front of their lens. Ali was honored to lend their lens and perspective to document the magic created by the incredibly talented performers in Moon Marrow. You can find more of Ali’s work on their website (toughtenderphoto.com), Facebook, and Instagram.
Hayley Sklar (Production Manager) has over 15-years of experience as a community organizer & clown. She uses this expertise as a performance artist, activist, and educator. Hayley runs the HOOTS program , a sibling program to CAHOOTS providing integrative mental health clinics to local & rural high-school students. She performs & produces queer art as her drag persona, Fondra Farce. For nearly a decade Fondra has been fooling around with her big teeth & big personality. Most recently she debuted a one-hoe show, Slumber Party, and co-produced & co-hosts the Dirty Faerie Drag Show at Oregon Country Fair. Her work is dedicated to telling stories about identity, sexuality, revolution and queer joy! She has been honored to support Moon Marrow as an extension of those values!
Jake and Denae Reynolds (Videographer) met in 2016, Denae was studying dance and diving into the world of filmmaking. Jake was already a seasoned filmmaker and photographer, and was studying multimedia design. They decided to meet up to discuss collaborating their skills professionally, but it was love at first sight and they’ve been collaborating professionally and personally ever since. Together their work has been featured in the University of Oregon’s Research Symposium, the NW Screendance Festival, the World Dance Alliance’s Americas General Assembly, the RAW Artist PDX Showcase, and Praze Magazine. Beyond their artistic pursuits, they run Reyn Works, a corporate media production company, and Reyn & Co., a family photography and videography company specializing in weddings and portraits.
more about bonnie Simoa
MFA in Dance - Choreography and Performance - Mills College
Master Somatic Movement Practitioner - ISMETA
Individual Movement Art - Founder
Continuum Teacher Authorized by Emilie Conrad since 2004
Balinese Dancer and Scholar
Integrative Yoga Therapy - 200hr and Zuna Yoga - 300hr
Choreographer
Improvisor
Interspecies Collaborator
Lead Dance Faculty - Lane Community College 20+ years
I believe dance chooses you. It is rare that a person simply decides to be a dancer. You study for a while, perform a few times, and before you know it dance has you in its grips. And you can’t live without it. It is something you must do, or you feel like you are going to die. Or some part of you dies. Those of you who’ve been fortunate enough to be gripped by this delightful obsession, know what I mean. Shirley Wynne, my graduate professor at Mills College said that becoming a dancer is like entering into priestesshood. It feels like that sometimes.
My response to the call to dance has taken me on a long journey into a wide field of movement, sensation, creativity and healing. Continuum infuses every aspect of my life. Balinese dance transports me in a world where the ego recedes and the gods preside. Yoga inspires an ongoing exploration of balance, strength, and openness of mind and body. Improvisation and choreography lead me to my flow state: the place where action and consciousness melt and the challenges feel effortless.
Now, my interested is movement as healing, self care, and expression. Whether I am choreographing, teaching dance, Continuum or Yoga, walking my dog, riding my horse, or making dances, I dive into a sensorial experience to soothe my soul, to provide grounding and nourishment, and give something positive to the world. Individual Movement Art is the culmination of my life long exploration of the power of movement to heal, transform, and inspire.
As a Professional Member of the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association, I meet the high Standards of Practice and uphold the Code of Ethics. For more information visit www.ISMETA.org
Master Somatic Movement Practitioner - ISMETA
Individual Movement Art - Founder
Continuum Teacher Authorized by Emilie Conrad since 2004
Balinese Dancer and Scholar
Integrative Yoga Therapy - 200hr and Zuna Yoga - 300hr
Choreographer
Improvisor
Interspecies Collaborator
Lead Dance Faculty - Lane Community College 20+ years
I believe dance chooses you. It is rare that a person simply decides to be a dancer. You study for a while, perform a few times, and before you know it dance has you in its grips. And you can’t live without it. It is something you must do, or you feel like you are going to die. Or some part of you dies. Those of you who’ve been fortunate enough to be gripped by this delightful obsession, know what I mean. Shirley Wynne, my graduate professor at Mills College said that becoming a dancer is like entering into priestesshood. It feels like that sometimes.
My response to the call to dance has taken me on a long journey into a wide field of movement, sensation, creativity and healing. Continuum infuses every aspect of my life. Balinese dance transports me in a world where the ego recedes and the gods preside. Yoga inspires an ongoing exploration of balance, strength, and openness of mind and body. Improvisation and choreography lead me to my flow state: the place where action and consciousness melt and the challenges feel effortless.
Now, my interested is movement as healing, self care, and expression. Whether I am choreographing, teaching dance, Continuum or Yoga, walking my dog, riding my horse, or making dances, I dive into a sensorial experience to soothe my soul, to provide grounding and nourishment, and give something positive to the world. Individual Movement Art is the culmination of my life long exploration of the power of movement to heal, transform, and inspire.
As a Professional Member of the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association, I meet the high Standards of Practice and uphold the Code of Ethics. For more information visit www.ISMETA.org
