Joe Goode
Artistic Director/Choreographer
Joe Goode is a choreographer, writer, and director widely known as an innovator in the field of dance for his willingness to collide movement with spoken word, song, and visual imagery. He was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007, and the United States Artists Glover Fellowship in 2008. In 2006 Goode directed the opera Transformations for the San Francisco Opera Center. His play Body Familiar, commissioned by the Magic Theatre in 2003, was met with critical acclaim.
The Joe Goode Performance Group, formed in 1986, tours regularly throughout the U.S., and has toured internationally to Canada, Europe, South America, Africa, and the Middle East. Goode is known as a master teacher; his summer workshops in “felt performance” attract participants from around the world, and the company’s teaching residencies on tour are hugely popular. He is a member of the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley in the department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies.
Goode’s performance-installation works have been commissioned by the Fowler Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles, Krannert Art Museum, the Capp Street Project, the M.H. de Young Museum, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. His dance theater work has been commissioned by Pennsylvania Ballet, Zenon Dance Company, AXIS Dance Company and Dance Alloy Theater among others. Goode and his work have been recognized by numerous awards for excellence including the American Council on the Arts, the New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie), and Isadora Duncan Dance Awards (Izzies).
Company Performers
Melecio Estrella
Company Member
Melecio Estrella is an artist rooted in the Bay Area and central valley of CA. His dance beginnings in 90’s rave communities and contact improvisation led to a couple decades of practice in dance theater, public space activations, vertical dance, choreography and directing. He is currently Artistic Director of BANDALOOP, fog wrangler at Fog Beast, and a project co-director with Joe Goode Performance Group. Recent Engagements: Redwood (Broadway 2025), Bird Strike (Santiago Chile, 2023) Resurgam St. Paul’s Cathedral (London, 2023), Downstream (Laguna De Santa Rosa Watershed 2024). Upcoming Engagements: BANDALOOP FLOCK tour in Hungary (May 2025) FLOCK premiere at the Momentary Bentonville, AR (June 7, 2025), Somewhere to Oakland (Frank Ogawa Plaza Oakland July 2025), Are You Okay? (JGPG Aug. 2025)
Marit Brook-Kothlow
Company Member
Marit Brook-Kothlow joined Joe Goode Performance Group in 1990. She collaborated and performed with the company for 17 years, during which she was nominated for an Izzy Award for her role in JGPGs Hometown. She has also danced with Tandy Beal & Company and collaborated musically with composers Erik Ian Walker, Beth Custer and Mikel Rouse. Her dance video projects have been collaborations with Kathleen Hermesdorf, Robert Arnold and RJ Muna. After an extended hiatus, Marit is happy to be back dancing with the company again. She teaches workshops and dance classes in the Bay Area and currently lives in Berkeley, CA with her husband and 9 year old daughter.
Felipe Barrueto-Cabello
Company Member
Felipe Barrueto-Cabello is a native of Chile and grew up in the Bay Area. He received a degree in Mathematics from Cornell University. Felipe has performed with Joe Goode Performance Group since 1996 and currently serves as Rehearsal Director. He teaches JGPG Technique Class regularly at the Joe Goode Annex, and has taught at Mills College and UC Berkeley in the department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies.
Damara Vita Ganley
Company Member and Creative Engagement Lead
Damara Vita Ganley (she/they) is a Bay Area dance artist. They are grateful to be in longtime creative collaborations with the Joe Goode Performance Group, BANDALOOP, Fog Beast Dance and D.A.P collective. Following degrees in Cultural Anthropology, Critical Feminist Theory and Performance, Play and Design, her performance career has included opportunities to perform with Mel Wong, Ellen Webb, Nancy Karp and Jo Kreiter/Flyaway Productions, Gerald Casel Dance Cid Pearlman, Holcombe Waller, Erin Mei-ling Stuart/emspace dance, Manuelito Biag/Shift Dance Theatre, and Lisa Townsend. She currently shares in the alchemical creative adventure as a Lecturer at UCSC in the department of Performance, Play and Design as well as with people with Parkinson’s, Veterans, care providers, youth and professional performers.
James “Bear” Graham
Company Member
James “Bear” Graham is an SF based choreographer, performer, and teacher. In 2017 he received an IZZIE for Ensemble Performance (with Sebastian Grubb) for Grahams “Homeroom.” In 2015 he received an IZZIE for Individual Performance (for his Full Season). He started his company, James Graham Dance Theatre, in 2010 to present original dancetheatre work that deals with universal experiences in order to provide a space for audiences to understand themselves and others in new ways. Graham produces DANCE LOVERS, an annual event of duets around Valentine’s Day. Graham is a Certified Gaga Instructor (Ohad Naharin/Batsheva) and took part in Naharins pilot training program of international Gaga teachers. He has taught Gaga extensively in the U.S., as well as in Canada, France, South Korea, Germany, Sweden, Thailand, and Israel. He is currently on faculty at UC Berkeley and Dominican University/LINES BFA Program. Graham holds an M.F.A. in Dance from The Ohio State University and a B.A. in Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley. In addition to JGPG, he performers with Lisa Wymore & Sheldon Smith.
Molly Katzman
Company Member
Molly Katzman started dancing in middle school at Nevada City School of the Arts and then danced all through high school in the Nevada Union Theatrical Dance program. She attended Cabrillo College where she won the Roberta Bristol award for dance in 2009, then went on to earn her B.A. at UCSC. While living in Santa Cruz, she has danced for choreographers such as Cid Pearlman, Cat Willis, Dixie Shulman, Gerald Casel and is a member of FLEX dance company. Molly and Sierrah Dietz, who started their own company, HOMEbodies, debuted their first show in April 2012, presented their second show in 2013, and entered the New Orleans Fringe Festival in 2014 where they were nominated for the award, Outstanding Choreography (New Work). Molly currently teaches in Santa Cruz at Motion Pacific.
Wailana Simcock
Company Member
Wailana Simcock was born in the Philippines and raised in Hawaii. He became a professional contemporary dancer when he moved to San Francisco in the mid 1990’s. He is also an aerial artist, hula practitioner, and surfer. Now back in San Francisco after a 17 year hiatus, he is dancing with Bandaloop, KAMBARA + DANCERS, Fog Beast, Steamroller, and Joe Goode Performance Group. He is excited to be here and honored to share dance with the community that first gave him his start.
Patricia West
Company Member
Patricia West is an Oakland based dancer, choreographer, and elementary school teacher. She earned a B.A. in English, Dance, and Education at U.C. Berkeley and an M.A. in Education at San Jose State University. Patricia has worked and performed with Bay Area Repertory Dance, Capacitor, Levy Dance, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, Robert Moses KIN, The Alayo Dance Company, and Zaccho Dance Theater. Patricia is currently one of the Education Coordinators for JGPG and has been a member since 2006.
Dancers Emeriti
Liz Burritt
Dancer Emerita
Liz Burritt is an original member of Joe Goode Performance Group and has been an instrumental collaborator in the making of over 30 original works. She has been featured in many pieces including The Ascension of Big Linda into the Skies of Montana, Disaster Series, Remembering the Pool at the Best Western, Maverick Strain, and What the Body Knows. She is the recipient of an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Individual Performance. Liz was a faculty member in the Dance Department of Columbia College Chicago for ten years. She teaches technique, voice and performance workshops for dancers and actors around the country. She is currently residing in Denver, Colorado teaching at Denver School of the Arts. She is extremely grateful for her twenty-one fulfilling, transformative years creating and performing with the family of the Joe Goode Performance Group.
Staff
Liam Day
Executive Director
Liam’s professional experience spans education, government and non-profit work. He was a classroom teacher and school administrator before spending five years in local government, including as acting director of child and adolescent health for the Boston Public Health Commission. Since moving to the Bay Area, he has served as Executive Director for two different organizations. Liam is a writer, whose work has appeared in a number of publications. His poetry collection, Afforded Permanence, was recognized by the Massachusetts Book Awards. He’s taught film at the college level and he once organized a Fringe Theater Festival in Boston just for the fun of it. He is interested in the corporeality of art in an increasingly incorporeal technological age.
Aja Randall
Venue Lead
Aja Randall is from St. Louis Mo and graduated from Stephen College, Columbia Mo. with a BFA in Dance and Minor in Education in ‘99. Moved to the Bay Area in 2004, and has danced for several local artists with the longest stretch for Afro-Cuban based Alayo Dance Company. Yoga Alliance Certified since 2017 and strongly believes in the practice to help in maintaining longevity in art making, the care taking of the aging body and its philosophy to just get through day to day life with more gratitude and ease. Being Venue & Ops Manager with Joe Goode Performance Group since 2022 is a manifestation come true. The immersion of witnessing artists in process, the sharing in the assistance to help present in our space and holding the opportunity to contribute to this community is just lovely, just right.
Alyssandra Wu
Communications & Development Manager
Alyssandra Wu is an ambitious artist, teacher, and arts administrator whose experience encompasses a broad range of skill sets. In the past, she has worked administratively for companies such as AXIS Dance Company, Robert Moses’ KIN, and Nancy Karp + Dancers; in addition to teaching at institutions such as Alonzo King Lines, Ramon Moreno School of Ballet, and Mobu Dance Studio. Alyssandra continues to run and create work for her dance company Alyssandra Katherine Dance and currently holds a masters degree from London Contemporary Dance School and a bachelor’s degree in World Arts & Culture/Dance from UCLA. Starting out as a JGPG House Manager at the Joe Goode Annex, Alyssandra now takes on the position of Communications & Development Manager where she will spearhead the company’s communication and development strategies.
Board of Directors
McCrae Parker
Board President
McCrae Parker,a SF Bay Area native, has spent 25 years working at the intersection of digital technology access, media advocacy, community empowerment and equity. His roles at local, state and national levels have ranged from community educator to policy advocate to senior leadership positions in local and national organizations. Most recently, McCrae was the Deputy Director at MediaJustice a national organization focused on media rights, access, representation and power for POC/LGBTQ+ communities in the digital arena. Prior, he was the Managing Director of ZeroDivide where he designed and implemented capacity building and leadership development projects that leveraged digital technology in under-resourced and under-served communities for social equity and justice outcomes in vulnerable communities. McCrae is currently an Advisor for Public Matters, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA) and serves as a consultant for the The Dialogue Company (National).
Kathleen Moore
Secretary
Kathleen Moore is a native San Franciscan. She has spent over 25 years in children’s non-profit arts education with the San Francisco Arts Education Project (SFArtsED), an early collaborator with the JGPG Youth Education program. Kathleen received a BA in Physical Education with a Dance Emphasis from San Francisco State University and has a dance performance background that stretches back to the late 1970’s. She has served on the boards of Pearl Ubungen Dancers and Musicians and the Tenderloin Reflection and Education Center. As a side gig, Kathleen has designed and built thousands (whew!) of children’s costumes for SFArtsED and the Brisbane Dance Workshop. The highlight of Kathleen’s week is JGPG’s Movement for Humans class and she has been a fan and grateful witness of the deeply tender, humorous, and honest work of Joe Goode and JGPG for over two decades. Kathleen’s intention is to listen and actively support JGPG and all of its programs in any and every way that is truly helpful. She sends gratitude to po po Helen Kwan who came to America as a picture book bride and paper daughter. Her sacrifices have made her granddaughter’s journey and service in the arts possible.
Ellen Chamberlain
Ellen Chamberlain fell in love with dance when she took her first ballet/tap combo class in preschool. After studying the artform across disciplines for nearly 20 years, she pivoted to follow another personal passion and began working as a journalist. Her stories have graced airwaves, both print and digital publications across the country, and she even presented a TEDx talk dedicated to hip hop—another “artistic true love” of hers. Ellen enjoys reading, water activities, travel, and entirely too much television. The Michigan native earned her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Wayne State University and currently lives in metro Atlanta with her wife and son.
Regina Dick-Endrizzi
Regina Dick-Endrizzi drove to San Francisco in 1986 with a U-Haul full of used clothes to open the Haight St. Buffalo Exchange, Ltd., and to explore its contemporary dance scene. That year she met Joe Goode when she took his dance class. For thirteen years Regina worked as a District Director for Buffalo Exchange, Ltd, eventually found herself in city government, first as a legislative aide to a Member of the SF Board of Supervisors. In 2009, then Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed her Executive Director to the Office of Small Business and Small Business Commission. A position she held until retirement in 2022. Regina’s journey with the Joe Goode Performance Group (JGPG) began when she saw The Ascension of Big Linda into the Skies of Montana and was moved by Joe’s extraordinary ability to distill down complex feelings to a few gestures, a few words, or sounds, then combine them to get to the raw place of being human. Regina joined the JGPG Board of Directors (1989 -1999), and has continued to support JGPG, including as Assistant Producers for Traveling Light along with her wife Irene. Regina is honored to rejoin the JGPG Board of Directors. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Dance) from University of Arizona, and a recipient of the San Francisco Bay Guardian 2009 Small Business Advocate Award.
Kara Page
Kara Page took her first dance class at age 4 in a small town in Michigan and has continued dancing ever since. While taking a gap year before they were cool, she studied and mastered French and went on to get a bachelor’s degree in French while continuing to dance. After finishing an M.A. in Political Science, she moved to Seattle with 3 suitcases to embark on her career, focused on marketing, event planning and, later, search engine optimization, working for Fortune 500 Tech Companies and leading her own marketing consulting business. She met Joe Goode Performance Group while working on a customer video project and selected them as a QuickBooks Online customer. Kara enjoys reading and journaling plus any activities that keep her moving. She lives in the Bay Area with her two sports loving sons.