Collaborative Artists

Austin McCormick

(Choreographer/Director)

Austin McCormick's work has been performed at Lincoln Center's Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Alice Tully Hall, Clark Studio Theater, Symphony Space and James and Martha Duffy Performance Space at the Mark Morris Dance Center in New York. Austin founded Company XIV in 2005, enjoying a series of sold out performances in New York and California. His unique blend of Baroque vocabulary in conjunction with contemporary movements and theatrical staging is commanding attention. He was the recipient of the 2007 Susan Braun Award, a grant given to one young choreographer/filmmaker by Dance Films Association supporting new choreography for the camera. His dance film premiered at the Walter Reade Cinema in Lincoln Center in January 2008. Company XIV was in residence at the University of California Santa Barbara for the summer of 2007; teaching, performing, and making new work. Austin was also the recipient of the Center Stage production grant, allowing Company XIV to perform to a sold out theater in Santa Barbara. He was commissioned by the New York Baroque Dance Company to create a new work involving artists from both Company XIV and NYBDC which premiered in September 2007 at the Mark Morris Dance Center.

Olivera Gajic

(Costume Designer)

Olivera Gajic is a New York based designer, 2004 recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Designers and Directors. Her recent New York credits include "Edward II" directed by Sam Gold, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" opera directed by Eve Shapiro, dance pieces for Senior Dance Productions 2005-2006 at The Juilliard School, "Miss Julie" at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater directed by Anders Cato, "One Million Butterflies" at Primary Stages, "Bride", "Blue", and "Golden Morning Breaks" for LKB Dance and the films "Love" and "Clear out". She has designed extensively for the Berkshire Theatre Festival and Connecticut Repertory Theatre. Some of hers BTF credits include: "Peter Pan," "A Dream Play," and "My Fair Lady" with director Eric Hill, as well as "Miss Julie", "Talley's Folly", "Heartbreak House", "Misanthrope", "American Buffalo" and "The Father' with director Anders Cato. Ms. Gajic is from Yugoslavia with a degree in Fine Arts and completed her studies with an MFA from the University of Connecticut in Theatre Design. She is happy to be working with Austin McCormick and Company XIV.

Robert Stivers

(Photographer)

A born artist, Robert Stivers has been fortunate to wear many hats over the years, Stivers successful career as a professional dancer was abruptly thrown to a halt when he suffered a traumatic back injury, shifting his artistic focus to choreography, and then ultimately to photography. www.RobertStivers.com

Rumiko Ishii

(Set & Production Designer)

Ms. Ishii's recent scenic design includes "Man: Biology of a Fall", a brand new opera composed by Evan Hause and directed by Jyana Gregory (Kumble Theater at Long Island University); "Cosi Fan Tutte" directed by Edward Berkely (Aspen Opera Theater Center / Music Festival), and "Lulu" directed by Mark Lamos (Yale Repertory Theater). Other scenic design credits: White Hot (HERE Arts Center), The Seagull (The New Theater at Yale), Layla and Majnun (Carlotta Festival for The New Plays), The Duchess of Malfi (Yale University Theater). Ms. Ishii also has worked for major film and television productions: When In Rome (Disney), Little Manhattan (20th Century Fox), Empire Falls (HBO), Angels in America: Perestroika (HBO), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (NBC), and designed numerous independent short films. She is currently working on "La Cenerentola" for Aspen Opera Theater Center, untitled project directed by Lisa Rothe, and is serving as an assistant art director on a feature film "All Good Things". Ms. Ishii is a recipient of Donald M. Oenslager Scholarship and Fellowship in Stage Design. Education: BS in Studio Art and Graphic Design, New York University; MFA in Scene Design, Yale School of Drama. www.rumikoishiidesign.com

Philip Buiser

(Filmmaker/Photographer)

Philip Buiser is a 2007 New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artists Grant recipient. His film Jacob won Best Short Film at the Urban Mediamakers Film Festival in Atlanta and has screened by special invitation to open race relations discussions for such prestigious institutions as Princeton University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Company XIV film Folies d'Espagna, which he shot in collaboration with award-winning choreographer Austin McCormick, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Dance On Camera Festival and premiered at New York's famed Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He was recently awarded the MySpace Users Choice Award for "filmmaker the MySpace community would most like to see more from." He is a trained photographer with a B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and Mass Communication and received a certificate in dramatic arts from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. He owned and operated SkinnyMan Productions in New York before co-founding Two Penguins Productions in Southern California. www.twopenguinsproductions.com

Andrzej Przybytkowski

(Composer)

Born in Tucson from Polish parents, Andrzej (Andrew) Przybytkowski grew up north of the border in Montreal. After not having scored one goal in his two and a half year hockey career that abruptly ended by horse riding lessons at the age of 10, he re-oriented his career... Having played guitar in high school plays, he later on studied composition at the conservatory of music of Montreal and started to work with modern dance, which eventually led him to New York. To him, dance is an impressionistic medium that enables a connection to our nature within sound and movement without the oppression of pre-conceived ideas.

Leigh Allen

(Lighting Designer)

Leigh Allen is a Los Angeles based designer, her recent dance lighting ventures include: Pasadena Dance Theater, Le Petit Performing Arts Center, This is Bellydance and Notoriety Inc. Other designs include: Beauty and the Beast (Musical Theater West), Death of a Salesman (Pacific Resident Theatre), The Red Road (Naitive Voices), Killer Joe (Ovation Award: Production of the Year), The Fab Four (South Bay CLO), The Prince of L.A. (The Old Globe in San Diego), The Secret Garden (Macy Award), and Vincent in Brixton (Pasadena Playhouse). She is the recipient of the LADCC and LA Weekly awards for Johnny Got His Gun.