MARIA INGRID ASP
Neighborhood Bridges Captain
Maria has been with the Neighborhood Bridges program since its beginning and serves as the lead Teaching Artist as well as the Captain. She partners with area teachers to use storytelling and theatre to teach Critical Literacy to inner city public school students. As the lead Teaching Artist, Maria observes, trains and provides support to the other Teaching Artists. She is also a teacher and the coordinator of CTC's Jr. Ensemble Theatre Arts Training program. At The Children's Theatre Company she has performed in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Wrinkle in Time, Merry Christmas Strega Nona, and Ramona Quimby. Maria has appeared in 15 productions at Frank Theatre including: Venus, Women of Troy, Sicilian Nights, The Cradle Will Rock, The Love song of J.Robert Oppenheimer, Taming of the Shrew, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Self Defense, The Three Penny Opera, and most recently, Mother Courage and Her Children. Maria created Hamlet Cake, a performance art piece for the Walker Art Center's Out There series as well as Dead Fish by the River for their Shut Up and Listen series. Maria's film and television credits include Mother's Milk, Cat Nip, and Lucky Seven. Maria holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota in Theatre Arts; she plays and sings in the band The Baptism River Ramblers and has 2 young boys.
NICOLE GURGEL
Community Engagement Associate
Nicole joined The Children's Theatre Company in the fall of 2006. She came to CTC from Chennai, India where she had spent a year working with Tara Publishing, India’s most innovative publishing house. A graduate of St. Thomas, Nicole has worked creatively and administratively with a number of arts organizations and non-profits in the Twin Cities including Central Touring Theater, Teens Rock the Mic, Blue Sky Thinking, and The Family Place. She has also created, directed, and produced Somewhere Else Mother, a documentary drama based on stories told by mothers experiencing homelessness. In addition to her work at The Children's Theatre Company, Nicole is also the Assistant Executive Director of zAmya Theater Project, an organization that creates original plays with an ensemble of homeless and housed individuals.
KIYOKO MOTOYAMA SIMS
Assistant Director of Education - Community Engagement
Kiyoko - originally from Tokyo, Japan - has been active as a performing artist, educator, and arts administrator. She holds an MFA in musical theatre performance from San Diego State University, and an MA in theatre arts from the University of Minnesota. Kiyoko's performance credits include: Fish Head Soup, Ballad of Yachiyo, and Interior Designs at Theater Mu, Buried Fire with Rhodessa Jones and The Medea Project: Theatre for Incarcerated Women, and The Underground Project by Robbie McCauley. Kiyoko developed and presented The Song of Pomegranates: Japanese Folk Tales at the Center for Independent Artists. She was Associate Director - Community Programs at the Walker Art Center for eight years. Currently, Kiyoko is Assistant Director of Education - Community Engagement at The Children's Theatre Company as well as a Teaching Artist with the Neighborhood Bridges program.
PETER C. BROSIUS
Artistic Director - The Children's Theatre Company
Peter C. Brosius joined The Children's Theatre Company on July 1, 1997. At CTC, he has directed Anon(ymous), Reeling, The Monkey King, Amber Waves, Hansel and Gretel, The Snow Queen, Dragonwings, Mississippi Panorama, A Village Fable, Whale, Afternoon of the Elves, Boundless Grace, and Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham/Garrison Keillor's The Old Man Who Loved Cheese. Previously, he was the Artistic Director of The Honolulu Theatre for Youth. He directed world premiere productions by James Still and Velina Hasu Houston, as well as the American professional premieres of Dockteatern Tittut of Stockholm. Previously, Brosius was the Artistic Director of the Improvisational Theatre Project of the Mark Taper Forum where he commissioned and directed numerous world premieres as well as U.S. premieres. Brosius is the recipient of numerous awards including TCG's Alan Schneider Directors' Award and honors from the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award as well as a Drama-Logue Award.
JACK ZIPES
Professor of German and Comparative Literature - University of Minnesota
Creator of the Neighborhood Bridges program, Dr. Zipes has more than 20 years of experience in working with children, educators, schools, actors and storytellers in utilizing storytelling techniques to enhance core curriculum. Zipes is an acclaimed champion of fairy tales and children's literature, and an internationally recognized translator of folk tales and fairy tales. Among his books are Speaking Out: Storytelling and Creative Drama for Children, Creative Storytelling: Building Community, Changing Lives; Fairy Tale as Myth, Myth as Fairy Tale; The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm; and Don't Bet on the Prince. Dr. Zipes is Professor of the Department of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota, and has served on the faculties of the University of Florida, University of Wisconsin, New York University, and the Amerika-Institut of the University of Munich.
SANDRA AGUSTIN
Arts Consultant Sandra Agustin is a performing artist and educator, who holds a degree in Dance Therapy from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has extensive training in performing arts, and has taught creative movement and modern dance to everyone from high-risk pre-schoolers and developmentally disabled adults, to theater/dance majors and non-dancers. She has worked throughout the country as a consultant for the arts, community building, and arts based civic dialogue as well as choreographer. She is currently the Executive Director for the National Association of Artists’ Organizations and is also working on behalf of the Neighborhood House at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center in St.Paul as an arts consultant. She has received several awards including the Leadership Initiatives in Neighborhoods (LIN) grant awarded through the St. Paul Companies to study intergenerational creativity and most recently, the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute. Sandra continues to work with Mu Peforming Arts, and SteppingStone Theater for Youth Development.
ANNE ENNEKING
Annie has worked in the Twin Cities as an actor, dancer, and singer for over 24 years. She attended classes and performed at CTC during her junior high and high school years, appearing in numerous plays. Her favorites include Pippi Longstocking, Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, and Nancy Drew. More hag now than ingenue, Annie recently returned to CTC to play in Hansel and Gretel, The Hobbit, Sleeping Beauty and Anon(ymous). In addition to theatre credits at Theatre de la Jeune Lune and Actor's Theatre of St. Paul, Annie is privileged to work with Frank Theatre, where she "got her Greek on" in The Trojan Women and played the title role in Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. As a dancer, Annie trained with the Zenon Dance Scholarship Program and toured with the renowned dance companies of Shawn McConneloug and Danny Buraczewski. She is a co-founder of the band Triangle Park; she has released two albums of original material and is working on a third. Her work in these various disciplines has been recognized by the Twin Cities Critics Kudos Award, The Princess Grace Foundation, and The Kristen Phaff Memorial Scholarship. Annie is proud to be part of the Neighborhood Bridges team and lives in Minneapolis with her dog-loving husband and two lovely daughters.
JENNIFER J. HOLT
Jennifer J. Holt has been part of the Bridges Team for the past three years. She has also been teaching creative movement and modern dance to children for over a decade. She has previously taught in the Junior Conservatory Program at The Children's Theatre Company and is currently an instructor at The Dance Institute. She has produced full evening works under her dance theater company, Vroom - Vroom Group and has performed with Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theatre as well as Gerry Girouard. Jennifer also shares her love of stories through her songwriting and music, which she performs in her alternative country band, The Wranglers.
MATT JENSON
Matt Jenson teaches dance and creative storytelling to students ages 4-14 at The Children's Theatre Company. He has choreographed six main stage productions including this year's production of The Big Friendly Giant. He has choreographed commissioned works for The Rose Ensemble, Minnesota Dance Theatre, composer Libby Larsen, and the Weisman Art Museum. His choreography has been supported by The McKnight Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Jerome Foundation. He teaches Modern Dance I for the University of Minnesota Dance Program. Additionally, he does graphic design, project coordination, and classroom visits for the Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health. In spring 2006, he worked with 4th graders from Hayden Heights Elementary to create a public awareness campaign about children's mental health for their neighborhood. His choreography has been supported by The McKnight Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Jerome Foundation.
LEIF JURGENSEN
Leif came to Minneapolis from Milwaukee, WI in 1991 to be a performing apprentice at The Children's Theatre Company. He then joined the CTC Acting Company for two seasons. Over the years Leif has performed in numerous CTC main stage productions, a national tour, and two regional tours. He has performed at other local theaters including 15 HEAD - a theatre lab, Frank Theatre, The Guthrie, Outward Spiral Theatre Company, Theater Mu, Stages Theatre Company, and James Sewell Ballet. Leif graduated from Marquette University with a BA in theatre arts and trained at the SITI Company's Summer Intensive at Skidmore College.
WENDY KNOX
Wendy is the Artistic Director of Frank Theatre where she has directed works such Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock, Carson Kreitzer's The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Ruth MacKenzie's Kalevala, as well as Brecht's The Threepenny Opera and Mother Courage and Her Children. Knox has worked extensively as a teacher and freelance director, including a production of Lysistrata at The Guthrie. Her work has been recognized with McKnight Theater Artist Fellowships, Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Fellowships, Jerome Travel and Study Grants, and a Fulbright Fellowship. She is the former Board Chair of Kulture Klub Collaborative, an organization that brings artists together with homeless youth; she has worked with them for the past 10 years.
MICHAEL LEE
Michael Lee has taught and performed theatre for young people in the Twin Cities and across the country, since receiving his degree in Theatre from Saint Olaf College in 1990. Michael has been with the Children's Theatre's groundbreaking Neighborhood Bridges program since 2001 and he frequently collaborates with CTC's Saturday Junior Conservatory program, the Educational Outreach program, Summer Conservatory, and as a CTC storyteller in various settings. Michael also instructs theatre to junior high and high school aged students, as a part of Park Square's Theatre Immersion days, and in 2006, Michael directed 5th and 6th graders in Once Upon a Something or Other... for Unity Unitarian Church in Saint Paul. Michael is active as a freelance actor, and was recently seen as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls for Paul Bunyan Playhouse, as well as in the Hennepin Theatre District's long-running interactive show, The Awesome 80's Prom and last year's hit, Don't Hug Me. Michael was spotted as the Cat in the Hat in Seussical, during the 2004 MN Fringe Festival. Other recent Twin Cities performance credits include Children's Theatre's Once Upon a Forest, Grimm Tales, and the title role in CTC's tour to main stage Lyle the Crocodile, as well as stints with Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Brave New Workshop, Park Square Theatre, and two national tours with Troupe America.
KATY MCEWEN
Katy was born and raised in Dayton, OH. She attended college at Wright State University where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and met her husband Caleb, although not necessarily in that order. After graduating, they packed up the cat and moved to Minneapolis, unable to resist the intoxicating allure of cheese curds and no sales tax on shoes. Having spent her first year in the Twin Cities as an assistant manager at Blockbuster, she was thrilled to begin work as a performing apprentice at the Children's Theatre. Since then, she has been lucky enough to continue her relationship with CTC as a company member, teacher, and guest artist - although rarely at the same time. For the past eight years she has been working as a company member, writer, and teacher at the Brave New Workshop where she ridicules the government for fun and profit. She was recently promoted to the prestigious position of Associate Artistic Director of the Brave New Workshop, which essentially means that she's doing all the same things she was before, only now she gets health insurance. She and her husband are thrilled to have welcomed their first child, Isaac into the world on August 2, 2006, and they now live in St. Paul with the new baby, two cats, and an uppity Corgi.
DEREK PHILLIPS
Derek Phillips is a native of Kansas City, Missouri and a 1977 graduate of Carleton College. He began his dance career with the Nancy Hauser Dance Company as a performer, instructor, outreach coordinator and board member and toured nationally with the Children’s Theatre Company. Derek has been a roster artist for the Minnesota State Arts Board’s Artists-in-Education Program, and continues to conduct annual residencies for the Montevideo, Minnesota public schools. He has taught as part of the Dance/Math program at Whittier Community School for the Arts in Minneapolis and also served as Development Assistant for Intermedia Arts’ capital campaign. Currently, Derek tours internationally with Katha Dance Theatre, explores contact improvisation with Mandance, performs English country dances with Minnesota Traditional Morris and teaches and for Minnesota Dance Theatre’s Dance in the Parks Program. Derek also serves as the Adjunct Dance Coordinator at the Perpich Center for Arts Education, where he assists in the coordination the Arts Courses for Educators (ACE~) Dance program, and the All State Dance Education Summit.
EMILY ZIMMER
Emily is happy to return as a Neighborhood Bridges teaching artist. CTC credits include Reeling, Brooklyn Bridge, Antigone, Once Upon a Forest, and The Snow Queen. Favorite past productions with Frank Theatre include The Cradle Will Rock, Perfect Pie, and The Adventures of Herculina. She is a graduate of Macalester College and studied theater at the University of Ghana and at the Burlesk Center in Switzerland. She is currently working with Solidarity Kids Theater to help create a new play based on the book Si Se Puede! to be performed for union audiences.
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Neighborhood Bridges Staff 
