Dayna Hanson is a choreographer, dance theater director, and filmmaker. She co-founded 33 Fainting Spells, a dance company which helped put the Seattle dance scene on the map. She has since branched off to work in theater and film, including the feature-length film Improvement Club and the dance/theater work Gloria's Cause. You can always find snippets of Anton Chekhov in Hanson's work. Learn more at daynahanson.com.

Thomas Graves is co-producing director for the Rude Mechs theater company in Austin, TX. As such he has developed, performed in, and produced The Method Gun, I've Never Been So Happy, Now Now Oh Now and the Rudes' re-enactment of Dionysus in 69. Thomas is currently working on the Rudes' new show, Stop Hitting Yourself, which will premiere in Lincoln Center Theater's LCT3 program next month.

Bonus: watch The Method Gun at OntheBoards.tv.

Wade Madsen has been teaching in the Seattle are for 33 years, at Cornish College of the Arts for 28 years, and has premiered nearly 30 dances for Cornish college dance company. Wade currently teaches community class in Seattle at Velocity Dance Center. Wade produced and performed in the work of his own company, Wade Madsen and Dancers, in Seattle from 1977-2005. A former member of the Bill Evans Dance Company and Tandy Beal & Company, Wade has been working and touring with Dayna Hanson for the past seven years, including We Never Like Talking About The End, Gloria’s Cause and the feature film, Improvement Club. Learn more at wademadsen.com. 

Peggy Piacenza has worked extensively locally, nationally, and internationally as a choreographer and performer, including work with Dayna Hanson in 33 Fainting Spells. In 2010 she graduated from the Ada Comstock Scholars program at Smith College. Through Smith College Peggy was the inaugural recipient of the Helen Gurley Brown Magic Grant, which allowed her to bring together Cambodian and American artists in Cambodia for a month of intensive dialogue and dancing in November 2011.  

Dave Proscia has been collaborating with Dayna Hanson since 2006. He has performed in her last three shows. Prior to that Dave's experience in theatre dates back to his production internship at On the Boards, where he learned how to plug in a light. This led to opportunities designing lights for luminaries in the dance and performance scene, including 33 Fainting Spells, Degenerate Art Ensemble, Scott Powell Performance, locust, Deborah Hay and many others. Dave has also stage managed, written and performed music for, designed sets and been a technical director in Seattle and on tour for the past 15 years.  

Known as both an actress and a singer, Sarah has performed numerous roles at the 5th Avenue Theatre, most recently as one of the wicked step-sisters in Cinderella for which she was nominated for a Gregory Award. She has performed in theatres from the Seattle Rep to Re-bar and last season was in Keri Healey’s new play, Torso, at Theatre Off Jackson. Sarah’s solo shows include Broad, Go There, and The Last State, which have toured PICA’s TBA Festival, The Adelaide Festival in Australia, The Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh and HBO Workspace in L.A. Earlier this year Sarah co-wrote, produced and performed in the rock music play, These Streets, at ACT Theatre. She was just featured in the PBS music documentary, Portrait of a City. She has a Stranger Genius Award in Theater. For more info, visit sarahrudinoff.com.

Photos by Kathi Kacinski, Chris Cameron, Wendy Turner, Karel Zwaneveld, and Charles Petersen