L. Brooke Schlecte - Artistic Director
Photo by Rachel Bruce Johnson
L. BROOKE SCHLECTE is the founder and artistic director of Out On a Limb Dance Company. Her repertory ranges from solo to group work and has been performed at a variety of places such as self-produced concerts in Dallas and Waco, TX, along with dance festivals in Addison, Bryan, Denton, and Dallas, TX, and high school and college residencies in Dallas, Denton, Waco, and Austin, TX. Her work has received critical comments such as “seized...[the] opportunity to go avante-garde" and “her work is drawing attention.” In addition to her extensive choreographic endeavors, she teaches dance in higher education. Currently, Schlecte is an adjunct faculty member at Baylor University in Waco, TX, working with the dance minors and The Baylor Dance Company. Schlecte holds an M.F.A. in Dance from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, TX as well as, a B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Texas at Austin. She studied with artists such as Yacov Sharir, Lyn Wiltshire (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre), Holly Williams (Mark Morris Dance Group), Sarah Gamblin (BeBe Miller Company), as well as professional choreographers Michael Foley, Vincent Mantsoe, and Doug Elkins’ dance works. Some of Schlecte’s performances include the American College Dance Festival’s Gala, in Fort Worth, TX, Out of the Loop Festival in Addison, TX, as well as dance for camera films that have been screened at the Film Fatale Festival in Ft Worth, TX, American College Dance Festival in Austin, TX, Perpetual Motion Dance, Inc. Concert in Oklahoma City, OK, and the Screen Door in Austin, TX. Mrs. Schlecte views dance as an agent to communicate, change, develop, and understand the complexities of human nature. Schlecte is most passionate about how choreography has greatly enhanced her understanding of life and how these choreographic ideas have the ability to transcend reality and percolate in the minds of those who view it.
Sarah Newton
Photo by Rachel Bruce Johnson
SARAH NEWTON is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Sam Houston State University where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance. While in the Houston area, Sarah danced with Kista Tucker Dance Company. Mrs. Newton was invited to perform and speak on the importance of dance education at the 2005 Alpha Chi National Honor Society convention in St. Louis, Missouri. Mrs. Newton holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Texas Woman's University. She has done extensive performing, including a solo choreographed by Dr. Linda Caldwell that was performed at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2007, the MAMandSCHLECTE dance concert in Plano, TX, March 2007, a solo by Jeanne S. Mam performed at the NOTcracker in Fort Worth Texas 2006, and a number of other performances at Texas Woman's University. Mrs. Newton is passionate about the possibilities of the dance frontier as dance maintains important traditions, however she keeps a focused eye on the possibilities of the future.
Brazie Adamez
Photo by: Christie Nelson-Sala
BRAZIE ADAMEZ was involved with many different dance and athletic activities at a very young age. In her high school years, she was drawn to drill team which inevitably led to her being a part of the world famous Kilgore College Rangerettes. As a Rangerette and Rangerette officer, Mrs. Adamez traveled and performed in Ireland and Washington, DC. After Kilgore, she continued her studies with dance at the University of Texas at Austin where she received her B.A. She also received intense training from progressive individuals in the field such as contemporary (Yacov Sharir), ballet (David Justin), Pilates (Andrea Beckham), pedagogy, and choreography (Kent de Spain). She was also an active member of the UT Dance Department’s performance group. Upon graduation, Mrs. Adamez became the Director of Dance at McCallum High School’s Fine Arts Academy in Austin. Recently, she has taught and choreographed for various high schools and colleges throughout Texas, and she currently is teaching for McCallum High School's dance department. Mrs. Adamez is continuing her performing career, most recently with the Austin-based performance and media company, Yellow Tape Construction Company, in But, I Could Do That. Mrs. Adamez believes that dance is not only a form of expression to portray particular emotions, but also a means of exposing these emotions in a healthy and therapeutic way.
Katie Quinn
Photo by Rachel Bruce Johnson
KATIE QUINN is currently the director of dance at Fossil Ridge High School in Dallas, Texas. Mrs. Quinn earned her B.A. in Dance from Texas Woman’s University. She was the Kilgore College Rangerette Captain and Swingster from 2002-2004. Ms. Quinn has done extensive performance work at the Dallas Bath House, Dance for the Planet, MAMandSCHLECTE dance, and various other performances, residencies and lecture demonstrations around DFW and the country. She has studied with Melissa Young in the Horton Technique, who graduated from The Alvin Ailey School and currently dances with Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Ms. Quinn has also been a guest artist for dance workshops in many camps around Texas as well as served as a college assistant for at the TDEA convention in Houston. She currently co-owns a dance studio in Kilgore, Tx called Elite Dance Center.She also works for Encore Creative Productions and surrounds herself with dance communities who are passionate about learning about the modern dance world. Being involved with these communities accelerates her passion for not only her own experience as a dancer and performer but also inspires her to share these experiences to others.
Lexie Drennan
Photo by Rachel Bruce Johnson
LEXIE DRENNAN is from Lufkin, Texas where she began dancing at the age of four and has studied ballet, jazz, tap, clogging, hip-hop, modern. Ms. Drennan performed as a Kilgore College Rangerette, serving as Lieutenant and Swingster. She has done extensive performing in places such as the The Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball, Dance for the Planet, MAMandSCHLECTE dance, Dallas Dance Visual Outburst concert, as well as numerous Rangerette and Texas Woman’s University performances. Ms. Drennan has studied under Stephanie Milling-Robbins (Dayton Ballet and Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company) and Sarah Gamblin (Bebe Miller Company). Currently, she is a candidate for a B.A. in Dance. Ms. Drennan seeks to provide audiences with an experience as well as a new understanding of dance as an art form through her investment in and passion for performance and choreography.
Rachel Bruce Johnson
Photo by Jeanne Mam-Luft
Rachel Bruce Johnson with Bell House Productions:
Company Photographer and Guest Choreographer and Performer
RACHEL BRUCE JOHNSON is the founder and executive director of The Bell House, a collaborative dance and art cooperative dedicated to creating opportunity for artistic exchange. Ms. Johnson’s film work is centralized around dance specifically made for the film medium. This entails considering dance and film equally in all its depth and complexity to fuse the two mediums into the genre of dance for camera. Ms. Bruce’s dance film work includes Deeper, we all fall down, PASSAGES, Ideas in the Mirror, Prepare the Veil, PaperCUTS, and She Drew a Picture of a Whale. Ms. Johnson has worked as a soloist, contributing choreographer and video enthusiast for various companies across the U.S. and abroad. Her work has garnished such critical comments as "avant-garde" [Margaret Putnam, Dallas Morning News] and "excellence in kinetic artistry" [Loretta Livingston] and was included in the American College Dance Festival’s gala invitational in 2007, the National Dance Association/AAHPERD convention, Screen Door Film Festival, Kivisto Studio K Tulsa, and various other multi-disciplinary venues. Ms. Johnson holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Performance and Choreography from Texas Woman's University in Denton, TX. She has studied with such artists as Melody Ruffin-Ward (Rhode Island College), Sarah Gamblin (Bebe Miller), Mary Williford-Shade (Mark Taylor), Todd Rosenlieb (Erik Hawkins Dance Company), Dr. Penelope Hanstein, and Dr. Linda Caldwell. She is particularly interested in performance process and in creating work for the dance for camera genre. In 2009, she launched the first adjudicated dance choreography festival in Tulsa, OK; THE EXCHANGE. Ms. Johnson also performs and choreographs with the Living Water Dance Company and Out On a Limb Dance Company. She is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Dance at Oral Roberts University and serves as a dance committee member for the Living Arts Council in Tulsa, OK.
Sarah Lane
SARAH LANE is an undergraduate at Texas Woman's University pursuing her degree in dance education. While studying at TWU she has had the opportunity to perform at the Arts and Jazz Festival in Denton, Texas and Barefoot Brigade in Dallas, Texas. Lane went to Kilgore College where she was a Rangerette and held prestigious positions as a Swingster and Lieutenant. During her time in Kilgore she performed in Chicago, New York, and the Crystal Charity Ball in Dallas, Texas.
Laine Edwards
LAINE EDWARDS is a Graduate
of Baylor University, where she was a dancer in
Baylor Dance Company. She continues to teach and
choreograph independently throughout Waco and the
Dallas/Fort Worth areas. Edwards studied at Texas
Christian University under Elizebeth Gillaspy and
Mica Trojacek. While in the DFW area, she performed
at the Dallas Dance Visual Outburst concert as a
member of the Dallas Dance Company. Edwards
received the esteemed Richardson Arts Alliance
Dance Scholarship in 2005, which enabled her to
further her dance studies in Hollywood, California
at The Edge dance studio.