DANCERS
INFO ABOUT AXIS ALUMNI - click here
Judith Smith,
Artistic Director, has earned an international reputation in the field of physically integrated dance.
Upon taking over artistic leadership of AXIS in 1997, AXIS began commissioning works by some of the nation’s
best choreographers, composers and designers and launched Dance Access Community Education and Outreach Program.
Prior to becoming disabled in a car accident at age 17 Judith was a champion equestrian. She transferred her
passion for riding to dance after discovering contact improvisation in 1983. Along with several other disabled
and non-disabled dancers she founded AXIS in 1987. Judith has been featured in several award winning videos
including Dancing from the Inside Out, WNET TV’s nationally broadcast series People in Motion and
John Killacky’s Crip Shots. In 1997, she was a co-curator and Artistic Consultant for Dance Umbrella’s International
Festival of Wheelchair Dance. Judith teaches dance to youth and adults and lectures at community organizations, schools,
universities and conferences. She has been on the faculty of Florida Dance Festival and Bates Dance Festival.
In addition, she has served on numerous arts grant review panels and is on the advisory boards of The National
Art and Disability Center based at UCLA, Bates Dance Festival, Dancers’ Group and the Magee Allessee National Center
for Choreography at Florida State University. Judith received KQED’s Local Hero award in 2005 and the Artship Foundation’s
Local Hero award in 1999.
Rodney Bell
is of Maori descent from the Ngati Maniapoto Iwi (Tribe) of New Zealand (Aotearoa). Rodney began dancing 13 years ago with Touch Compass Dance Company, New Zealand’s first mixed ability dance company. He also choreographed dance works for Touch Compass. In July 2007, Rodney joined AXIS. Soon after he attended the MANCC choreography process in Florida with the company. Rodney also teaches mixed ability dance to those with and without disabilities and is constantly sharing his technique and knowledge through various workshops and dance intensives. His other pursuits include: representing New Zealand from 1996 to 2006 playing wheelchair basketball; working as an occupational therapy assistant; featuring in programs such as 60 Minutes, Good Morning Show, and Maori Television; acting in various plays; and performing with Poutokomanawa (Maori Kapa haka group). He shows great passion towards the performing arts, Maori culture and disability culture and in his own words “It fulfills my soul.”
Lisa Bufano
is an interdisciplinary artist from Boston, Massachusetts. Lisa has performed for audiences in Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Canada and in venues in the United States including The Kennedy Theater, The Baryshnikov Arts Center, and Judson Memorial Church. After a bacteria infection led to the amputation of both her feet and fingers when she was 21, Lisa pursued animation and sculpture at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. After a 15-year career as primarily a visual artist, Jeremy Alliger introduced her to NY choreographer Heidi Latsky and she began new work in modern dance. Lisa moved to Oakland in 2007 to work with AXIS and has found challenging and engaging work and invaluable friendships. Lisa would like to thank Wayne A. Koniuk, prosthetist and proprietor at San Francisco Prosthetic Orthotic service, for getting her back up on new feet in time for home season. San Francisco Prosthetic Orthotic service fit the prosthetics and cheetah running legs that Lisa is performing in tonight. Lisa would also like to thank Peter Couture, prosthetist at Next Step O & P in Manchester, N.H., for 13 years of encouragement and friendship.
Janet Das is a native of the bay area and grew up performing in numerous musicals, plays, dance, and choir performances. In her young adult life she discovered modern dance and ended up receiving a BFA from CalArts and an MFA in dance performance and choreography from Mills College and currently teaches at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center. Janet has performed throughout Northern and Southern California for Trip Dance Theater, Collage Dance Theater, Molisssa Fenley and dancers, Li Chiao-Ping, Rebecca Gilbert, Sonsheree Giles, and Joe Goode. Janet has been seen most recently performing with Leyya Tawil’s Dance Elixir and Katie Faulkner’s little seismic dance company. Her own work has been shown at San Diego’s Sushi performance space, CalArts, Mills College, and the Cowell Theater. She currently lives in Oakland with her husband Raja and is thrilled to become a part of AXIS, dancing with its innovative and talented dancers. Janet joined in 2008.
Sonsherée Giles is originally from New Orleans, LA and now resides in Oakland, CA. She is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, and costume designer. She received her MFA in dance performance/choreography from Mills College. In 2005 she began dancing with AXIS Dance Company. She is honored to be a part of the company and appreciates the myriad of choreographers and dancers she has been exposed to through AXIS. When not dancing with AXIS, she often makes her own dances by combining movement with intermedia. Additionally, she creates costumes for dancers and choreographers throughout the Bay Area. As a teacher she has taught dance in both high school and university institutions. She is inspired by yoga, running and Steve Paxton.
Bonnie Lewkowicz, studied ballet, tap and jazz from age 5 to 15 until an all-terrain vehicle accident left her paralyzed. Not knowing that dancing in a wheelchair was an option, she explored wheelchair sports and earned a B.A. in Recreation Therapy. Through a contact improvisation workshop she discovered dance again. She is one of the founding members of AXIS Dance. In her various roles as teacher, dancer and administrator, her favorite is teaching kids. She feels blessed to have worked with choreographers Bill T. Jones, Stephen Petronio, Joe Goode, Sonya Delwaide, Ann Carlson, and Margaret Jenkins. She is also the founder and director of Access Northern California, a non-profit organization that works to improve access to travel and recreation. As a published travel writer, she has written an accessible trail book for the Coastal Conservancy and several magazine articles. She lives in Berkeley with her non-dancer husband and two cats and also enjoys gardening and being outdoors.
Alice Sheppard, is a former musician and literature professor; she grew up in England and moved to the United States in 1991. Alice came to dance late in life; she began to explore movement in response to a dare from disabled dancer Homer Avila. She soon discovered that dance was a passion. Alice made her professional debut in New York with Infinity Dance Theater as a wheelchair dancer. She loves to explore a wide variety of dance forms; she is particularly interested in work that challenges conventional understandings of the relationship between dance and disability. She joined the company in 2006 and is over the moon about working with AXIS.