Jonathan Riedel

Jonathan Riedel, Choreographer and Artistic Director of Riedel Dance Theater, began choreographing professionally in 1999. In 2002, he staged his breakaway hit, The Unsightful Nanny, on the Limón Dance Company, and in 2003 he founded Riedel Dance Theater, presenting its inaugural season in NYC and Italy. His work quickly became known for its taut, intelligent humor and poignant dramatic power. DanceView Times proclaimed it “brilliant," "profoundly moving," and having "an ingenuity and timing that would make Petipa jealous." He was the first choreographer to professionally stage Erik Satie's controversial, Uspud: Un Ballet Cretién. He has since created additional works for Limón, the Purchase Dance Company, Pace University's Commercial Dance Program, the Yard, and the Good Moves Consort, and has developed choreography and character movement for the video game, Godessia, produced by Artware.  His solo, The Angel, has been integrated into AHRC’s (The Association for the Help of Retarded Children) curriculum for dance developed by Carolyn Adams for students with autism. 

A native of Rye, NY, Jonathan began dancing at the age of 17 and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. He prospered in a career with the Limón Dance Company from 1996 to 2006, touring globally and performing works by such renowned artists as Doris Humphrey, Antony Tudor, Donald McKayle, Murray Louis, Jiří Kylián, Lar Lubovitch, Doug Varone, and Mark Haim. He has also been featured in many of Jose Limón's masterpieces including Chaconne, Orfeo, Psalm, There is a Time, and The Moor's Pavane. Heralded by critics, he was labeled "the Limón Company's reigning male star" by Allan Ulrich of the San Francisco Examiner, and Tobi Tobias of ArtsJournal declared him to be "surely one of the most fascinating dancers the company has harbored." Since then he returned to Purchase College, receiving his Masters degree in dance and choreography.

He has taught at the Juilliard School, Purchase College, Brown University, LABAN, the Limón Institute and HB Studio, and been on the faculties of the Boston Conservatory and Westchester Community College. He is currently on faculty at Pace University.

Jonathan has received the Choo San Goh Award in support of his work as well as a Harkness Space Grant and funding from The Greenwall Foundation, The Frances Alexander Foundation, and The New York State Council on the Arts. 

Jonathan lives in Pleasantville, NY with his wife and two children. Currently a full-time dad, he still finds hours in the week to create dances and write. His heart is very full.

Sherri Muroff Kalt

Sherri Muroff Kalt, founder of Process Portraits, LLC and author of Portrait of an Artistic Journey: The Creative Process in Real Life Context, is a Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Duke University with a B.A. in psychology. She began her career in marketing and sales in New York City with L’Oréal, Monet Jewelers, and Givenchy. 

Sherri eventually followed her passion for psychology and worked for some of Westchester’s most reputable mental-health organizations, including The Center for Preventive Psychiatry in White Plains and Peekskill and Four Winds Hospital in Katonah. There, she collaborated with multidisciplinary teams of clinicians to treat mentally ill mothers, seriously emotionally disturbed children, and adolescents with significant emotional and substance-abuse issues. She designed and facilitated therapeutic groups, provided intensive psychotherapy, and prepared and implemented comprehensive treatment plans for mothers and their children.

Capitalizing on her experience with parent/child dynamics as well as her social-issues concerns, Sherri founded The Authentic Mom in 2007. Created to bring women together to speak honestly and openly about their experiences of motherhood, Authentic Mom groups provided a safe place for mothers to process their psychological issues, family-systems dynamics, and societal pressures and expectations that profoundly affected their perceptions of themselves and their relationships with their children. 

Sherri’s desire to explore these ideas in the creative realm led her to collaborate with choreographer Jonathan Riedel, artistic director of Riedel Dance Theater, a modern-dance company in New York City that tells stories with complex emotional and psychological themes through innovative movement. Together, they set out to study and document the creative process by illuminating the intricacies of Jonathan’s artistic journey. 

The resulting book, Portrait of an Artistic Journey: The Creative Process in Real Life Context, captures the ways in which the creation and development of Jonathan’s creative visions are shaped by dynamics such as the rehearsal environment, infrastructure and financial difficulties, challenges arising from using freelance dancers, and complex psychological and emotional issues. 

Through her new company, Process Portraits, LLC, Sherri is collaborating with universities to incorporate Portrait of an Artistic Journey into their BFA and MFA programs, and she aims to reach the broader creative community as well. Her vision is to help both emerging and established artists gain insight into the circumstances that influence their own personal and professional development as well as the evolution of any work of art they create.