ABOUT WILD HEART
Wild Heart Dance is a contemporary dance company based in the front range of Colorado. Created and directed by Kat Gurley, the ensemble includes Tim Bruno, Amanda Carlson, Mimi Ferrie, Kat Gurley, Kerry Healy, Page Jenkins, Amanda Leise, Faith Markovetz, and Bridget Ryan.
Wild Heart uses dance, music, and physical transformation as the sole vehicle for performance. The dancers' varied experiences and backgrounds are rooted in a passion for and love of dance. For intangible beauty and unspoken truths, Wild Heart remains true to the source: that our bodies when danced and our spirits when broken open have the ability to transform our world.
THE COMPANY
Kat Gurley
Mimi Ferrie
Amanda Leise
Page Jenkins
Timothy Bruno
Amanda Carlson
Faith Markovetz
Bridget Ryan
KAT GURLEY Artistic Director
Kat Gurley graduated with her BFA from the University of Colorado and has been performing, choreographing and teaching ever since. Kat was on faculty at Naropa University teaching contemporary dance technique and ensemble work for many years as well as the director of the Berkshire school’s dance department. She has also danced with 3rd Law Dance Theater, New Breed Dance Company and Control Group Productions. Kat feels passionate and compelled to perform deeply, choreograph from a place of uncompromising truth and teach with an open heart. When not dancing she can be found listening, reading and laughing at life’s abounding depth and ridiculousness.
Kat is grateful and excited to share her Wild Heart with you.
MIMI FERRIE
Mimi Ferrie is a Colorado dance artist who has been teaching, performing, and choreographing professionally for two decades. She grew up studying many forms of dance as well as gymnastics, theatre, and music. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Colorado in 2007 and has continued her education in early childhood development and public health, most recently with the University of Florida’s School of Arts in Medicine. Mimi has worked professionally with several local dance organizations, including New Breed Dance Company, Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop, Dance Dimensions, Mountain Contemporary Dance Arts and One Big Yes Productions. She recently founded Anima Arts, a public health organization supporting children and families through arts education. Mimi is a partner to her spouse Ernie and mama to her two children, Reed and Noemi. Mimi’s favorite kind of dance is the generous kind.
AMANDA LEISE (on maternity leave)
Amanda Leise, originally from Boulder, Colorado performed, taught and choreographed in LA and Dallas from 2002 to 2013. Amanda currently teaches and co-directs Starbound, a competitive dance company, at Dance Dimensions in Longmont with her family. She has always felt that dance is the best way for her to connect to the world and others. Part of Amanda’s motivation to move back to Boulder was to find an expressive dance environment. Wild Heart has brought to the surface a process and performance aspect that she has yearned for—it is an environment with beautiful humans that connects, expresses, and explores the depth of her love for the art of dance.
PAGE JENKINS
Page Jenkins graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of the Arts in Dance. After graduating she danced for 3rd Law Dance/Theater, Interweave Dance Theatre, Louder Than Words Dancetheatre, and New Breed Dance Company. Page spent several years in Beijing designing and running the dance program at Beijing National Day School as well as teaching master classes and workshops in Beijing and Wuhan. She is currently dancing with 3rd Law Dance/Theater and Wild Heart Dance. Page also teaches for 3rd Law and Colorado Conservatory of Dance and is a licensed Gyrotonic® instructor at Gyrotonic Bodhi.
TIMOTHY BRUNO
Timothy began dancing halfway through his college career in Eugene, OR. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2020 with a BS in dance and moved to Colorado shortly after. Since then he has been dancing and teaching in the community. He is a certified DanceAbility® instructor and danced in the mixed abilities group Joint Forces Dance Company from 2018 to 2021 under the direction of Alito Alessi. He is an active member of Life/Art Dance Ensemble, has performed at and choreographed for two regional American College Dance Association festivals, performed in a massive collaborative show with the Oregon Bach Festival and at the Fulbright Program’s 75th anniversary in Washington D.C. He is looking forward to his time with Wild Heart.
AMANDA CARLSON
A Colorado Native, Amanda is a choreographer, dancer, teaching artist and movement educator. She is a versatile dancer trained in techniques including Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Latin styling, many different street styles and, her favorite, Contemporary Floorwork. Amanda is the owner and lead choreographer of Night One Productions. Her company produces theatrical fashion show events with a focus on fundraising for non-profit organizations. She has worked on numerous stage productions in New York, Dubai, London and Colorado. While living in Dubai, Amanda was a principal dancer with Sima Dance Company. In New York City, she performed with several different dance companies. As well as teaching dance at Broadway Dance Center. Amanda continues to collaborate with choreographers both nationally and internationally.
FAITH MARKOVETZ
Faith Markovetz is a dancer, educator, and recent graduate of Arizona State University where she received her BFA in Dance. In addition to her studies at ASU she has attended the American Dance Festival, NobleMotion Dance’s Winter and Summer Intensives, and Red Rock Dance Festival. As a performer, Faith has worked with choreographers Kimberly Bartosik, Mary Fitzgerald, Nicole-Bradley Browning, Adam McKinney, Liliana Gomez, and Roni Koresh. Faith was with CONDER/dance, an Arizona based contemporary company, for their 2021-2022 season and is eager continuing developing her work as a performer with Wild Heart Dance.
BRIDGET RYAN
Bridget Ryan grew up in Davis, IL and received her B.A. in Dance and International Studies from Denison University in 2019. She has trained with and performed works by Molly Shanahan, Sandra Mathern-Smith, Michael J. Morris, Momar Ndiaye, Julie Fox, and Umeshi Rajeendra. Bridget has spent time in Colombo, Sri Lanka as a Visiting Lecturer of Contemporary Dance at the University of Visual and Performing Arts and was a member of TK Dance Lab for their 2020-2021 season. She has additionally presented work at the Detroit Dance City Festival’s Choreographers Showcase and at Rooted Residency Boulder. Bridget is a trauma-sensitive RYT-200 and currently teaches vinyasa and yin classes at Yoga Pearl in downtown Boulder.
Beloved past Wild Heart dancers: Anna Mayer, Hallie Bauernschmidt, Tara Rynders, Kristine Whittle and Mollie Wolf