Mary Carbonara (Artistic Director) has been choreographing, performing and teaching in the Bay Area since 1988. Her choreography has been described as “exquisitely shaped dancing” by the San Francisco Chronicle and she has been called a “remarkable dancer” by the SF Bay Guardian and “a powerful dancer and choreographer” by Voice of Dance. She has been presented by Summerfest/Dance 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003, Dance Mosaic, Dance Works, Dancers’ Group’s Local Choreographers Series, and as part of Venue 9’s Women’s Work Series and Monterey Dance Week 2003. She has choreographed commissions for San Jose State University Dance Theater (UDT) and Mills College Repertory Dance Company.

Mary debuted her own company, Mary Carbonara Dances, in 2002 with Dwellings, an evening of original works performed at San Francisco’s Dance Mission Theatre.She is the recipient of a CA$H Grant (2001) and two Zellerbach Family Fund Grants (2002 and 2003).

Mary has been a member of Margaret Jenkins Dance Company since 2000 and is formerly a member of Robert Moses’ Kin, Project Bandaloop, Liss Fain Dance, and Wendy Osserman and Company. She has taught nationally, internationally and throughout Northern California, including San Jose State University, East Carolina University, UC Davis, St. Mary’s College, Mills College, Citicenter Dance Theatre, Dancers’ Group, ODC/San Francisco, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center and in Washington, North Carolina, New York City and Tokyo, Japan. She currently teaches at San Francisco Dance Center and San Francisco Ballet School. Mary holds a M.F.A. in Choreography and Performance from Mills College and a B.A. in English from Barnard College.

Peter V. Swendsen (Composer) explores the capacity of electro-acoustic sound and digital media to challenge and extend our engagement with performance. His music has been called "highly skillful" by the San Francisco Bay Guardian and "the sonic equivalent of ether" by the San Francisco Chronicle. Swendsen is currently a Jefferson Scholars Fellow and Ph.D. student in Composition and Computer Technologies at the University of Virginia, where he is also an instructor in the McIntire Department of Music. He received his MFA from the Mills College Center for Contemporary Music and his BM from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. His work has been heard throughout the United States and recently in Italy, Slovakia, India, Spain, and Chile. Swendsen has studied composition with Gary Nelson, Richard Povall, and Kristine Burns, and more recently with Gail Wight, Maggi Payne, Fred Frith, and Pauline Oliveros. He is currently studying with Matthew Burtner and Judith Shatin, creating and performing with interactive environments, dance, installation, video, and sound. He serves as webmaster for the Society of Composers, Inc. and as Assistant Editor, Publications for Journal SEAMUS. Swendsen is the co-artistic director of Prospect Dance Group, and works extensively in collaboration with choreographers.

José Mar?a Francos (Lighting Designer) has designed for the Wall Flower Order, Ellen Bromberg Ensemble, June Watanabe In Company, Joanna Haigood’s Zaccho Dance Theater, the Repertory Dance Theater of Trinidad and Tobago, Dimensions Dance Theater, Kulintang Arts, Pearl Ubungen Dancers and Musicians, the Oakland Opera, Oakland Ballet and the Joseph Papp NY/SF Festival Latino. He co-founded and served as director of the Bay Area Dance Series, for which he was honored in 1991 with the Isadora Duncan Award for Sustained Achievement. María Francos is the production manager at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Heidi Schweiker (Costume Designer/The Beggar’s Table) has been making costumes as long as she has been making dances. She received her B.A. in English from Stanford University in 1997 and has choreographed, performed and worked at numerous crafts in the Bay Area since then. Heidi is pleased to continue her collaboration with Mary Carbonara for whom she has both danced and acted as Guest Choreographer, presenting work alongside MCD in 2002 and 2003. Heidi has presented her work in numerous local venues, is a current member of both Janice Garrett & Dancers and the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, and has also danced with Nancy Karp + Dancers and choreographer Lea Wolf.

James Meyer (Costume Designer/Deflecting Faith) has a degree in Art History from SUNY Potsdam and a MFA in Surface Pattern Design from Syracuse University. He has worked with companies such as LINES Ballet, Company Chaddick, Janice Garrett and Dancers, Liss Fain and Dancers, Stacey Printz and the Printz Dance Project, Spinning Yarns Dance Collective, St. Mary's College, SOTA, and others.

Greta Jorgensen (Dancer)received early dance and theater training in her native California. She earned a BFA in Ballet from the University of Utah where she danced with the Utah Ballet and created several student works. She went on to dance professionally in Europe with the Norwegian National Ballet, with Flemming Flindt in Denmark, and with members of the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam where she created a workshop piece. Now living in San Francisco, Greta is in her fourth season with Mary Carbonara Dances, occasionally guests with Kunst-Stoff, and has begun to explore digital filmmaking. Her short dance film “Ascent” premiered at the Dance Mission New Media Festival in 2004.

Mathew Holland (Dancer) began his training in Berkeley where he has a minor in performing arts from the University of California. At the university level he performed in the annual University Dance Theater and toured two years with the Bay Area Repertory Dance Company. He has danced with Naganuma Dance during their Sticks and Feathers '03-'04 season and worked with Bay Area choreographers Joe Goode and Robert Moses. His most recent projects include performances in Heidi Schweiker's Of Checkered Breezes, which premeired in Summerfest/dance 2004, and Without Seed by Westwick/Dolder Dance Theater. This is Matthew's first season with MCD.

Grace Kraaijvanger (Dancer) has been performing and teaching in the Bay Area since 1997. She has performed with various dance companies including Printz Dance Project at the Joyce SoHo in NYC, at the Choreographer’s Carnival in Hollywood, at Dance Mission Theater, with Ballet Arizona, and as a soloist in Moscow. She has taught at San Francisco Dance Center, SF School of the Arts, UC Davis, Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre, and throughout Arizona. Her performances are dedicated to Arnaud and Jane, both of whom inspire her to embrace life and dance. Grace is currently on maternity leave with her second child. She joined MCD in 2004.

Never Navarro (Dancer) was born in Lima, Peru, and trained on a full scholarship at the Escuela Nacional de Ballet in Lima. Upon graduation, he joined Ballet Nacional de Peru under the direction of Olga Shimazaki. He has performed in opera, television commercials and TV variety shows, as well as in staged productions of Broadway dance-style shows in Peru. Since moving to the Bay Area in 1998, he has performed with San Jose Dance Theater, Pacific Dance Theater, Enrico Labayen's Dance/SF, Robert Moses' Kin and Oakland Ballet. He has also performed the works of Arturo Fernandez, Krissy Keefer, Jose Navarrete, Brian Chung, Alma Esperanza-Cunningham and Todd Courage, among others. This is his first project with MCD.

Jennifer Perfilio (Dancer) received her early dance training from the New Jersey Dance Theater Ballet and went on to earn a BA in Dance from the University of Massachusetts. She began her professional dance career touring internationally as a company member with the Tennessee Dance Theater. In 1997 she returned to New York City and joined HT Chen and Dancers. She also danced for various independent choreographers, notably Stephen Koplowitz in his site specific performance of Fenestrations at Grand Central Station. Since relocating to San Francisco in 2000 Jennifer has been an active member of the dance community, performing with Strong Current Dance Company, peck peck dance ensemble, Jenice Acosta Movers, Passion Flower Project, Radical World, and Bibliodance. This is Jennifer's first season with Mary Carbonara Dances.

Laura Sharp (Dancer) caught the dance bug at the age of 8. A few years later, she became an apprentice with the Premiere Dance Theater Company and preformed throughout the Tri-State area. In college, Laura studied with and/or performed the works of Dan Wagoner, Jeremy Nelson, David Dorfman and Sean Curran. She graduated from Connecticut College with a BA in Zoology and works as a veterinary technician. This is her second season with MCD.

Steffany Toto (Dancer) began dancing in New Jersey with mentor Mickey DeFranco. She also studied on full scholarship at Steps on Broadway and continued her education at North Carolina School of the Arts. Since moving to San Francisco in 1997, Steffany has danced with Liss Fain Dance, Janice Garrett & Dancers, and Heidi Schweiker. This is her fourth season with Mary Carbonara Dances. Steffany is also a much sought after Pilates trainer and the owner of SET In Motion, a Pilates based studio.

Angelina Vasile (Dancer) was introduced to modern dance at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon and fell in love. While there, she studied and performed with Margo Van Ummersen's Rose Hips Dance Company. Upon taking a master class with Joe Goode Performance Group and seeing them on stage she was inspired to change her major to Dance/Performance Choreography and move to San Francisco to get involved in the magic. She received her BA from San Francisco State in 2000 and since then has worked with Erica Essner, Chris Black/Potrezebie Dance Project, Shona Curly and Lea Wolf. This is her second show with Mary Carbonara Dances.