ELLEN SINOPOLI
Artistic Director
ELLEN SINOPOLI founded the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company (ESDC) in 1991, after settling in the Capital Region from Boston and NYC. Under her direction, ESDC has become one of the premier dance companies in upstate NY, employing a steady roster of professional modern dancers and promoting and bringing dance to traditional and non-traditional venues. Over 32 years, Ellen Sinopoli has choreographed 100 new works and her many artistic collaborations and projects serve as a conduit to bring together talented artists (both regional and national) from varied genres that include visual artists, sculptors, architects, composers and musicians, poets and storytellers, videographers, photographers and physicists. ESDC dancers serve as a muse for Sinopoli’s creative process. Applauded for their consistent excellence and artistry, their movement imaginings, unique artistry, and deep professionalism add to the choreographic process.
Beyond her role as Artistic Director and choreographer, Ellen is also noted for her talents as a master teacher and for her efforts to educate young people about dance. She was Coordinator of Dance Programming at Russell Sage College until her retirement in 2020. She has taught at Siena College, Skidmore College, Union College, Albany Berkshire Ballet, Saratoga City Ballet and Guilderland Ballet, among others.
Ellen and ESDC were featured in 2020 on the WMHT AHA Series (A House for the Arts) for which they performed Filament and Falling. in the March 2019 issue of HERLIFE Magazine. In 2016, Ellen was one of thirteen women featured in the Time Union’s [email protected] magazine highlighting women in the arts. Ellen has appeared on “Schenectady Today”, WAMC’s Roundtable and WMHT’s Local Artist interviews for PBS’ Fall Arts Festival and WMHT’s “Our Town Troy”. In 2002, she received the “Educator of Excellence” award from WTEN, an affiliate of ABC. She was one of the 100 “Women of Excellence” honored by the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2000 and was a recipient of the 2000 Arts Awards from the Albany/ Schenectady League of Arts in the Capital Region of NYS.
HANNAH ALBIN
HANNAH ALBIN is a performing artist from the Bay Area, CA. She holds a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Dance Choreography with a Minor in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine, where she trained under the direction of Molly Lynch and Lar Lubovitch, graduating with the Dean’s Scholarship and department honors for Excellence in Dance Choreography. In 2021, she trained with the José Limón Dance foundation under the direction of Dante Puleio performing solos in Missa Brevis and Dances for Isadora. She has been a merit scholarship recipient with the Limón Dance Company, Black Label Movement, and Backhaus Dance. She’s choreographed for dance films and on stage for UCI’s Physical Graffiti, Bare Bones Dance Theater, the St. Cecilia Conservatory of Rome, Italy, and the Experimental Media Performance Lab where she directed, ran, and choreographed her own live show entitled Prefer Not To Say for which she was awarded the Medici Circle Scholarship. Hannah joined the company in 2022.
EMILY GUNTER
EMILY GUNTER graduated magna cum laude from Skidmore College in 2019 with a BA in Dance and Classics. She has performed works by Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, Stephen Petronio, Doug Varone, and Ronald K. Brown, as well as Skidmore faculty Denise Warner Limoli, Mary Harney, Debra J. Fernandez, and Erika Pujič. In 2019, she presented original choreography inspired by Ovid’s myth of Pygmalion at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum alongside a curated selection of sculptures from the Tang’s permanent collections. Originally from Hartford, CT, she is an avid tap dancer. Emily joined the company in 2020.
EMILY RELYEA-SPIVACK
Emily Relyea-Spivack is a Northern New Jersey native, where she received her early dance training at Nunnbetter Dance Theatre. After completing a year in The Ailey School’s Junior Division, she went off to study Dance at The Hartt School and performed original works by Stephen Pier, Gregory Dobashian & Loni Landon. She ultimately graduated with her BFA in Dance from UMASS Amherst where she had more opportunities to perform works by John Heginbotham, Leslie Frye-Maietta & Jennifer Hart. Prior to moving to the Capital Region, she was based in NYC where she was a company member of Chris Ferris & Dancers and Six Degrees Dance Company. Emily is also a certified Pilates Instructor and is the owner/founder of PILATEASE Virtual Pilates. Emily joined the company in 2021.
ANDRÉ ROBLES
ANDRÉ ROBLES is a graduate of the Joffrey Ballet School NYC. While a student at JBS he had the opportunity to perform with the Joffrey Ballet in works by noted choreographers Gerald Arpino, Peter Pucci, and Margo Sappington. Prior to his time at JBS he studied at the Ailey School where he danced in works by Dwight Rhoden, Nacho Duato, Troy Powell, Pedro Ruiz, and Judith Jamison. He also studied at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he danced in works by George Balanchine and Marius Petipa. He hails from Brooklyn, New York. He has presented his own choreography at The Arts Center of the Capital Region as part of Troy Night Out. André joined the company in 2009.
SARA SENECAL
SARA SENECAL holds an MFA in Choreography from Jacksonville University and a BA in Dance and minor in Education from the University at Buffalo. Along with dancing for ESDC Sara has presented her own choreography at many locations across NYS such as The Poet’s Den in Harlem, Byrdcliffe Theatre in Woodstock, The Carrier Theater in Syracuse, and The Egg PAC as the choreographer for ESDC’s Egg Kids Project. In 2018, she was the winner of Nacre’s “So You Think You Can Choreograph” Showcase in Saratoga Springs. Sara joined the faculty of Russell Sage College in 2018. She is originally from Schenectady, NY where she studied at Merritt Dance Center under Mara and Marlene Merritt. Sara has been with the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company since 2010 and is an Arts in Education Coordinator for the company.
LAURA TEETER
LAURA TEETER hails from Minneapolis, where she began her early training. She graduated magna cum laude from The Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Dance Performance, where she performed in works by José Limón and Seán Curran. While in Boston she co-produced a concert of her choreography and performed as a guest artist with Zoé Dance. Since joining the company in 2004, she has choreographed for ESDC, and collaborated with fellow ESDC dancers on Obsequi, a multi-media art event held in Albany’s historic St. Joseph’s Church, and as part of Trashion at Revolution Hall in Troy. She has presented work at Choreography on the Edge in Woodstock, NY, the Emerging Choreographers Project in Albany, the Chapel and Cultural Center at RPI, the Albany Center Gallery, the Dragon’s Egg in Mystic, CT and the Arts Center in Troy as part of Troy Night Out. She serves as the Assistant to the Artistic Director of ESDC and is also on the faculty of Siena College.