DeAnna Pellecchiais a dancer, athlete, aerialist, actress, and choreographer committed to collaboratively creating multi-sensory works of live art. She crafts performance pieces that seamlessly blur lines of integration between disciplines including dance, martial arts, performance theater, music, film, and visual art. Her mission as an artist is to expand the understanding and appreciation of dance by presenting quality dance performances in non-traditional, unexpected venues. By engaging audiences of all kinds in site-specific, public spaces, she aspires to make “contemporary dance” accessible to the masses, disbanding the notion that the art-form is enjoyed exclusively by an "elite" minority. In the process of achieving this goal, she has danced with horses, in trees, on stilts, under water and through air. She has been featured in rodeos, operas, plays, fashion shows, magazines, movies and music videos. She has performed throughout the United States in countless unconventional landscapes including horse arenas, convention centers, office buildings, board rooms, shopping malls, churches, museums, sidewalks, parking lots, lounges, and night clubs, as well as theaters of all shapes and sizes.
Rather than pigeonhole herself as a “dancer”, contemporary or otherwise, DeAnna prefers to be regarded as an artist working in the medium of movement and live performance. She has not only danced but soared, climbed, hurdled, hydroplaned, hovered, flipped, tumbled, jigged, stomped, bounced, crashed and flown in the most unlikely places and spaces imaginable. She has danced on the brick floor of Boston's Historic Cyclorama Theater in stilts that made her 9 feet tall; on a rope ladder suspended 16-feet above a public train-station; on a middle school cafeteria stage amongst seventy-five eighth graders; on a floating bridge in the middle of a lake; on a wrought-iron fence surrounding a city garden; in an open field with real live dairy cows; on a 3-story jungle gym in the lobby of Boston’s Children’s Museum; and in a water-filled copper well during a rainstorm on a rocky hillside. She has precariously balanced on stools in the window of a coffee-house for a small audience of random passers-by; she has flown on ropes 40-feet in the air over the Nevada desert for an audience of four thousand. She has run, leaped and laid down with horses. She has dove, floated, skittered and plunged, down from trees, through cemeteries, across pools of clay, and under water fountains. She has performed with Chinese fans, Wushu spears, platform shoes, plants, buckets, bathtubs, batiks and an array of exceptional, incredibly brilliant artists.
DeAnna has been dancing her whole life; she has been dancing professionally for over a decade. "A dancer of...sinewy athleticism" (Big, Red & Shiny), her physical expression as a mover is also a blend of styles influenced by her studies in traditional dance technique, Hip-Hop, Tae Kwon Do, Capoeria, Performance Theater, and aerial dance. As a kid, DeAnna spent her weekends attending ballet classes and playing tackle football with her brothers. Her physicality is an articulate marriage of the two – a convergence of sheer athleticism and refined poetry. "DeAnna moves through vertical space with the strength of a gymnast, the ease of an acrobat and the grace of a dancer..." (The Boston Globe).
Critics have also called DeAnna "...intense...mysterious... striking...", and described her as having "...lines so long and elegant, they bend into curves...". Her dancing has been declared "electric...compelling...adventurous... effortless...and technically proficient...". The Boston Globe has deemed her "...a committed and daring performer...". STUFF@NIGHT magazine crowned DeAnna one of "Boston's Best Bodies" featuring her "most well-sculpted physique" alongside professional athletes from Beantown's own Bruins, Celtics and Patriots teams. The Boston Herald has referred to her as "...the stunning DeAnna Pellecchia...", proclaiming her "...one of the area's finest artists...", and Bay Windows has defined her as "muscular...mesmerizing... unforgettable..."
CHOREOGRAPER… DeAnna’s choreographic style, movement that blends free-wheeling turns and leaps with sudden inversions, quirky gestures and intricate footwork, is both emotionally rich and starkly beautiful. Her high-energy choreography is very grounded in nature, influenced by her extensive studies in martial arts, and punctuated with quick, explosive accents, characteristic of jazz and hip-hop. She creates original dance performances both site-specifically and for the stage, which have been described as "dramatic...effective... blistering...and sensuous". DeAnna’s work has been presented by the American Festival of Microtonal Music, The Charles Street Playhouse, Broadway Across America, Critical Moves Performance Series, Outside Art Collective, The Huntington Theater, Boston University, Roger Williams University, The Boston Center for the Arts, Mobius, The Order of The Artists, The Dance Complex, and Green Street Studios.
DeAnna crafts original works as Co-Artistic Director/Co-Choreographer of Kairos Dance Theater, founded with Ingrid Schatz. Theodore Bale of the Boston Herald has called them "the sexiest and most ironic duo on the local scene", and declared, "they represent a new wave in contemporary dance". Kairos performances incorporate dynamic movement and rich visual imagery to create a physical landscape that stimulates the senses. The work intends to defy conventional perception and challenge the state of complacency.
DeAnna also creates site-specific performance installations for both clubs and traditional performance spaces incorporating all-live music with musician Ed Broms. Former-musician of Grammy-nominated Blue Man Group, Ed has been dubbed "a true Renaissance Man" by The Boston Globe, and has been a mainstay of the Boston and NYC music scenes for the past 25 years. He has performed and recorded with a veritable 'who's who' list of the world's leading rock, jazz, classical and world-music musicians on bass, organ and voice. The artistic convergence between DeAnna and Ed is equal parts live music, dance, performance art, theatrics, spoken word, improvisational spontaneity, provocative costuming, original set design, and vocalization.
In 2008 DeAnna choreographed and staged the Boston premiere of Johnny Reinhard's theatrical opera "ODYSSEUS", presented by the American Festival of Microtonal Music. Also dancing in the production as a soloist, DeAnna performed the roles of "Circe the sorcerer" and "the lead Siren", opposite Grammy-nominated cellist Dave Eggar, who performed the lead role of "Odysseus". DeAnna coordinated the staging of the 50 plus musicians and singers in the performance, which included Grammy-nominated pianist Joshua Pierce and singer/songwriter/recording artist Dina Fanai.
PERFORMER… In keeping with her commitment to collaboration, DeAnna dances with companies and choreographers who are interested in making work with dancers, including them as an integral part of the creative process. Ms. Pellecchia is currently a principal dancer with internationally acclaimed New York-based Paula Josa-Jones/Performance Works. She is a featured soloist and original cast member of RIDE, PJJ/PW's Equestrian Dance Theater Performance. An equestrian herself, DeAnna grew up riding horses and has now been dancing with them for the past eight years. She also dances with Boston-based Kinodance Company (named one of Dance Magazine's "Top 25 to Watch" in 2008) led by choreographers Alissa Cardone and Ingrid Schatz. Currently DeAnna also dances for Wendy Jehlen’s Anikai Dance Company (since 2005), Janet Taisey Craft’s Ipswich Moving Company (since 2004) and Michael Jahoda's White Box Project. DeAnna has had the pleasure of working with legendary choreographer Elaine Summers, original member of New York's Judson Dance Theater, whose historic intermedia performance installation "Crow's Nest/Solitary Geography" has featured DeAnna in its revolving cast of performers. She has collaborated with award-winning choreographer Ann Carlson, creating the site-specific performance piece, "Green Movement", in which DeAnna dances with real live dairy cows. She has also worked with choreographers Nicola Hawkins (Nicola Hawkins Dance Company), Jamie Jewett (Lostwax), Leda Elliott, and Dillon Paul. DeAnna was a principal dancer/soloist with Bennett Dance Company, directed by choreographer Christine Bennett, from 1999-2007; in addition to being a founding member of BDC, she was also Rehearsal Director and Assistant Choreographer.
DeAnna has performed on stage with musicians Roger Miller (Mission of Burma, Alloy Orchestra), Mike Rivard (Club d'Elf), Dan Auerbach, Skip La Plante, Matt Samolis, Sam Ou, Hibiki Toen, Atsuko Kida, Kentaro Uchida, Takashi Sakai, Norihiko Akagi, Bruce Ferarra, Blake Newman, Haggai Cohen-Milo, Mateo Lugo, Matan Chapnizka, Daniel Wright, Phil Grenadier, Renato Malavasi, and Nat Mugavero; singers Stephen Salters, Patrice Williamson, Eleonora Bianchini, Stephen Marc Beaudoin, Alison Buchanan, Ramone Diggs, and William Hite; and music ensembles Dinnosaur Annex, and Boston Modern Orchestra Project. She has created work collectively with composers Evan Ziporyn, Elena Ruehr, Nandlal Nayak, Hugh Hinton, and Grayson Hugh; visual artists Michael Dowling, Dedalus Wainwright, Mary Edna Fraser, and Beth Galston; filmmakers Alla Kovgan, Christian De Rezendes, and Gary Shore; and photographers Liz Linder, Tim Gray, Jeff Anderson, Arthur Fink, and Kevin Bullis. DeAnna has appeared on MTV in the music videos of Public Enemy, among others. She acted the lead in filmmaker Gary Shore's newest feature-length film, "Children of Providence". DeAnna also choreographed the movement sequences in the film in collaboration with Gary Shore. Modeling credits include the Vintage Fashion Museum (runway), Tintagel Enterprises, Ltd. (advertisement), MorenaWear (advertisement), Eighth Generation Photography (art/print), and Liz Linder Photography (art/print).
TEACHER… Most rewardingly, DeAnna has taught and been taught by movers of all kinds. She has worked with doctors, musicians, quadriplegics, underprivileged youth, the elderly, professional dancers and corporate business managers, proudly helping to reveal the dancer in each of them. She has taught dance and movement at schools, universities and institutions throughout the country. Specifically her focus is working with inner-city teenagers, both ‘arts-identified’ and ‘non-arts identified’, from high schools throughout the Greater Boston area. She has taught for The Yard (Martha's Vineyard), The Huntington Theater (Boston), Vine Street Community Center (Roxbury), Medicine Wheel Productions (South Boston), The Cloud Foundation (Boston), and The Cambridge School of Weston (Weston). She co-directed the performing arts component of Medicine Wheel Production's "No Man's Land" Youth Outreach Program, involving art-based work with at-risk teens in South Boston, from 2002-2004. The site-specific outdoor performance "TURF", created by DeAnna and Ingrid Schatz in collaboration with the youth, was awarded the "Boston Peace Party Community Star Award" from the City of Boston for outstanding work in fostering peaceful neighborhoods. DeAnna was an 'artist mentor in residence' at The Cloud Foundation from 2007-2009, teaching movement & choreography workshops to urban youth, working to build confidence, ambition and hope in Boston's young people through artistic creation and cross-cultural experience. She resided on dance faculty at The Cambridge School of Weston, a progressive, coeducational, day and boarding school for grades 9 through 12, from 2005-2007.She greatly enjoys teaching inquisitive, courageous young people how to express themselves through the medium of dance, and in the process beautify the world with movement.
DeAnna resides on dance faculty at Boston University where she has taught Jazz technique at the beginner, intermediate & advanced level, since 2002. She has also taught dance and/or been a featured guest artist at Boston Conservatory, Boston Ballet, Boston Center for the Arts, Colby College, St. Joseph College, Newport High School, Northern Essex Community College, Roger Williams University, Salem State College, The Dance Complex, Green Street Studios, American College Dance Festival Conferences and VHA Inc. Science Complexity Conferences, among others. DeAnna instructed a seminar for people with severe handicaps at the 2002 TASH Conference. TASH is the international association of people with disabilities, their family members, other advocates, and professionals fighting for a society in which inclusion of all people in all aspects of society, is the norm. DeAnna, and collaborator Ingrid Schatz, with the Herb Lovett Memorial Fund, worked to celebrate citizens of all abilities by abandoning the idea that individuals exist as either "able" or "disabled". Workshops encouraged participants to create their own movement through guided tasks and culminated in a performance uniting movers of all abilities.
EDUCATION & TRAINING… DeAnna received a BA in Dance/Performance with a dual minor in Business Management & Latin from Roger Williams University. During her four years at RWU she performed and choreographed for The Dance Theater, was a recipient of The Dance Theater Performance Scholarship Award and traveled to Washington DC to perform in the National College Dance Festival Gala at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center. She has extensively studied several contemporary dance styles including Graham, Humphrey, Horton and Release technique, along with jazz, hip-hop, ballet, tap, mime, butoh, improvisation, performance theater and Tae Kwon Do. Her movement training also includes stilt-walking, tree-climbing, house-scaling, horseback riding, T'ai Chi, Wushu spear, Capoeira, Authentic Movement, acting and various forms of aerial dance including harness work with Flying by Foy, well known masters of theatrical flight using the patented Track On Track system, which allows two operators to independently control lift and travel of the aerial performer. DeAnna has also flown on low-flying trapeze, static trapeze, fabric sling, ropes and silks.
DeAnna has studied with and/or performed in the works of Sean Curran, Kelli Wicke Davis, Doug Elkins, Carl Flink, Emilie Plauche Flink, Heidi Henderson, Heidi Latsky, and Kelly Peters. She has intensively trained, practiced and competed in the Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do under Master Young Ho Jin. She has taken master classes in vocal work with Janis Brenner of Meredith Monk's Vocal Ensemble, aerial dance with Cypher Zero of FireFlyDance, hip-hop with Rennie Harris of Rennie Harris Puremovement, butoh with Jennifer Hicks of CHIMAERAlab, composition with Goran Bogdanovski & Dejan Srhoj of Fićo Balet, modern technique with Mia McSwain of The Parsons Dance Company, Daniel Charon & Stephanie Liapis of Doug Varone & Dancers and Kristin Hollinsworth of The Susan Marshall Company, and Capoeria Angola with Mestre Deraldo Ferreira.
PERSONAL TRAINER… DeAnna is an Ace-certified Personal Trainer who brings a unique understanding of the body to her work with individuals by incorporating over twenty years of dance and movement experience into the methodology of physical training. She is founder/owner of DANCEBODY Personal Training, an organization of Professional Dancers who are also certified fitness specialists. DANCEBODY Trainers teach body conditioning, health awareness and lifestyle improvement to individual clients in their homes. Working as a fitness specialist over the past decade, DeAnna has successfully helped clients lose weight (50 or more pounds), eliminate blood-pressure and cholesterol medication, better balance, increase coordination, rehabilitate shoulder and knee injuries, ease back pain, and feel more energized on daily basis. DeAnna has been studying Pilates, Yoga, and Wushu (Chinese Martial Arts) with Leda Elliott for over 6 years; she has taken master classes with Elaine Summers, MA, CAVS, inventor of Kinetic Awareness™, a sensory-based movement re-training modality; and she has explored Authentic Movement, a process of developing kinesthetic awareness, with Paula Josa-Jones, MA, CMA, her teacher and mentor of 7 years. DeAnna's goal as a trainer is to help her clients create vitality, whole body awareness, long term health and most importantly, ease of movement through everyday life.
This website chronicles DeAnna 's career and describes the services she provides. If you are interested in finding out more, please e-mail info@deannapellecchia.com. Thank you for visiting!
