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BIOGRAPHYKRISTINA ANDRIANA KOUTSOUDASKristina is an independent choreographer, performer, and teacher of contemporary and folkloric dances of the Middle East and North Africa. Awarded her second Artist Fellowship Grant in 2004 from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris County for her work in preserving the cultural heritage of the Middle East and North Africa through dance, Kristina performs and teaches to help educate audiences about her little known cultural art form. She was one of six national Young Audiences (YA), Inc. artists chosen to work on the 2004 Honda DreamLab sponsored by Honda Inc. Her residency "Dreams of Splendor and Beauty: Dances of the Middle East and North Africa" is now featured on Young Audience's international web site. Currently, Kristina teaches classes at the Jung Center of Houston, Rice University, and at Studio K, researches and writes on dance history, and hopes to produce more narrative, cultural dance productions. Her most recent work was featured in Dancepatheatre's "Al-Andalus: The Legend!" to be performed this coming May 2008 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts with the Al-Andalus music ensemble. Kristina has been filmed for commercials for the Houston Grand Opera and for local documentaries for local public broadcasting (KUHT). Her performances include many national and local venues including: The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Miller Outdoor Theater, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston , the Rienzi Society, the University of Texas at Austin, Rice University, The University of Houston, University of Texas Health Science, Cy-Fair College, Tomball College, The University of St. Thomas (Houston), Houston Community College's World Dance 2000 seminar, Montgomery College, Lee College, Carroll Academy for International Studies, the Annual Turkish Festival, the Bayou City Arts Festival, the Houston International Festival, the Bob Marley Festival, the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral festival, the Asian-American Festival, the opening ceremony for the Arab American Cultural Community Center, Jewish Community Center, the Consulate of India, The Woodlands Symphony Orchestra Gala, Naked Angels of New York City, The Duplex Center for the Arts, Ovations, Continental Airlines, Texas Children's Hospital, the Ronald McDonald House, and The Children's Museum of Houston. Her collaborative projects include a choreography featured in Dance Houston's Choreographer's Project 2006 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts as well as being a soloist with the East/West Ensemble featuring Isabelle Ganz, Panda Lee's World of Dance, an international dance company, and as both a soloist and company member performing, touring, and teaching with The Anjali School of East Indian Performing Arts under Rathna Kumar. Kristina has developed several arts-in-education teaching and performing programs for children and youths at Dance Houston's "Young & Intense" dance camp teens and with The Children's Museum, The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (through a program originally developed by the Texas Institute for the Arts in Education), the Mars Millennia Project, Writers-In-the-Schools, Young Audiences of Houston, and is on the education and touring roster for the Texas Commission on the Arts. Since their inception these programs have been presented in one hundred schools and libraries throughout and around the city of Houston/state of Texas. She has also been an annual presenter and performer at workshops sponsored by the Sufi Order International on sacred and secular dances of the Middle East. A former employee of The World Music Institute of NYC, Kristina now works with Dance Houston Inc. and other organizations to provide the Houston community with venues promoting awareness and celebration of the arts, especially dance. In conjuction with the Museum of Fine Arts, she helped organize the "Crossing Cultures: An Evening on the Silk Road," a program celebrating the cultures of Central Asia by the Silk Road Dance Company. She also helped produce a concert of Middle Eastern/jazz fusion music with Simon Shaheen and Qantara with the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and hosted an evening of Turkish music with singer/musician Latif Bolat. Recently completing a M.A. in cross-cultural studies with a concentration in international dispute resolution, Kristina graduated Summa Cum Laude from UHCL & the Honors College and the College of Fine Arts and Humanities for her B.A. in history from the University of Houston. She has won several grants for continuing education in Middle Eastern dance from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris County and plans to further her studies in the near future. Kristina's primary dance education has been under the direction of Middle Eastern/North African master teachers Amel Tafsout, Tayyar Akdeniz, Artemis Mourat, Dalia Carella, Cassandra, Ibrahim Farrah, Leila Gamal, Jajouka, Jalilah, Eleni Lentini, Mahmoud Reda, Yousry Sharif, and East Indian dance performer, choreographer, and master teacher Rathna Kumar. Her secondary dance training includes several teachers of West, Central, and South African dance including Rfuaw Diarrha, director of Laini Ngoma Kuumba Dance Troupe, tutelage under master Balinese mask maker/dancer Ida Bagus Anom and several years of training in flamenco dance, martial arts, fitness, and self-defense techniques. Currently, Kristina continues to train in hatha yoga at the Houston Iyengar Yoga Institute. Since 1988, she has been a registered health care specialist with the state of Texas and in 2003 became a state certified dispute resolution specialist (mediator). Select Performances · Full Curriculum Vitae For more scheduling or information on classes, please contact: Andriana P.O. Box 541267 Phone: 832.287.7011 email: andriana@andrianadances.com |