Nikki Blakeslee – Co-Artistic Director: Nikki Blakeslee, an Idaho native, is currently dancing, teaching, and choreographing in Los Angeles. Nikki has worked professionally with Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Lenny Kravitz, Debra Cox and Debbie Allen on stage and in television. Nikki has appeared in the Annual American Music Awards, Billboard Live Music Awards and Fame the reality series. Nikki has assisted Terry Beeman for twelve years and performed in all of his Company works; Atmosphere, Bound, La Piccollo Concerto and The Closing. Currently, Nikki can be seen in Terry's, "The Super Sexy Show" a burlesque, cabaret, dance review playing at EI Cid dinner theather in Hollywood.
 Robert Ryan Schultz - Choreographer/Artistic Director: Robert is not just one thing; he is everything; jazz, hip-hop, musical theater, comedy, partnering and even outrageous styles that cannot be pigeon-holed into a category.
Producers, Directors, and Artists begin with a vision which Robert is not only able to create, but is able to develop into a piece that exceeds any expectations.
Actors and Artists praise his professionalism and his love for the work, as well as his patience and respect for their effort. He makes the end result seem simple and natural, while the Actors and/or Musical Artists look amazing and feel confident in their work. His experience is diverse in that it involves various styles of dance and movement, as well as experience with various levels of dancers, from professionals to' actors who need to learn movement for a particular role.
Robert Schultz has been in Los Angeles for seven years. He is a teacher at Edge Performing Arts Center in Hollywood and has danced and choreographed professionally for ten years.
He has choreographed for film, television, video and stage including: FILM - Rome and Jewel, True Love, and Pussycat. TELEVISION - Grounded for Life and Arena Football. STAGE - E3Games, Pin-Ups Girls, A-Team, 3 Wishes, Miss Chinatown, Katie Babb, and Carnival. TOURS - Fantasy Twins and Legends.
As a Dancer Robert’s projects have included: FILM - Pussy Cat, Gigli, The Wedding Planner, She's All That, Flinstone's 2, and Dark Night (Film Short). TELEVISION - Scrubs Musical, Music Mania, Now What, Grownups, Billboard Awards-Backstreet Boys, Mtv European Awards, Fame La, Step 2 This-Pilot, The Lady Of Soul Awards-Toni Braxton, and Disney- Making Of. STAGE AND TOURS - Kroq Concert, Legends, Club Land, Miss China Town, Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Hi-Tech Promotional Show, Chevrolet Auto Show, Toyota Auto Show, Huggies Promotional Show, Armani Fashion, Patnail Co, and Action For Kids. VIDEOS - Backstreet Boys-Everybody, My Town-My Town, Rome-Crazy Love, Imani Coppola-Legend Of A Cowgirl, For Real-Like I Do, Jade-5,4,3,2 Yo Time Is Up, Andrea Buchnan-Should Have Been, and Blink 182.
Don Cromwell – Music Director: Don Cromwell is a veteran musician, songwriter and producer. He toured the world as the bassist for the pop group Air Supply, co-writing three songs on their self titled album that was certified gold. Following that, Don toured with rock icon Eddie Money and has produced several tracks for Eddie over the years. Don and singer / guitarist Tommy Girvin (long time member of Eddie’ band) formed a band called Ransom, and released the album “Trouble in Paradise” in Europe to great reviews. The European hit single “Never Say Never” by Jennifer Rush was co-written and co-produced by Don, which led to additional production work with EMI Records. He has also placed several songs in feature films and has performed on many of the major television talk shows.
With his own Production Company and Recording Studio, Don currently has two projects near completion and ready for release. One is a country rock album from Jana Anderson, a dynamic vocalist and entertainer. She has worked with some of the biggest names in music, including Don Henley, Prince, Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks. Also in the final stages is a much anticipated solo CD from Russell Hitchcock, the voice of Air Supply.
Don is excited about the opportunity to be involved with Live Arts Live and eager to add his talent and experience to the mix.
Gary Mintz – Lighting Designer, Technical and Artistic Consultant: Gary is the Technical Facilities Manager for the Community and Cultural Services Department for the City of Thousand Oaks. He has held this position since the opening of the Civic Arts Plaza facility in 1994. Prior to that time, Gary was the Technical Director for the Lancaster Civic Theatre in Lancaster, CA from 1991 to 1994. From the mid 80’s to the mid 90’s Gary worked as a lighting designer and technical director for many touring performing companies, primarily in the Avant Garde movement of dance and music. He toured with the Merce Cunningham Company, Pilobolus Dance Theatre, The Philip Glass Ensemble, Meredith Monk, and others. In 1985 Gary was awarded a “Bessie” for best lighting design at a downtown New York Theatre for his lighting design of Molissa Fenley’s modern dance trio, “Esperanto”. Gary has a B.A. from Cal State Northridge and an M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts.
Chip Bolcik - Video Producer: Chip has made a living in show business for 25 years. He is the voice of over 50 E! True Hollywood Stories, as well as the narrator for numerous programs for National Geographic Discovery, TLC, Court TV as well as many others. Chip has recorded voiceovers for thousands of TV commercials working with such celebrities as James Earle Jones, Leon Redbone and Sara, Dutchess of York. His commercials include American Express, Southwest Airlines, Weight Watchers, Verizon, Nasonex, Pizza Hut, Red Lobster, Alka Seltzer, Marie Callenders, In N Out, Bayer Aspirin, Bridgestone, NRDC, Hellmanns/BestFoods and a million others. If you've ever watched TV or listened to the radio, you've heard Chip's voice. Chip also writes and directs feature films. His latest comedy, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," now filming, follows four couples battling through the arctic, new babies, old girlfriends, prison escapes and life after retirement. Chip's next film, "The Intrepid Pornographers," a comedy about love, sex and breaking the law to follow your dreams, is in development. He is the father of two and husband of one. |
