Anat Shinar, Director of Develpment, is a Minneapolis-based contemporary artist, working in performance and visual mediums. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BFA in Dance and Visual Arts and completed her Master’s degree in Arts & Cultural Leadership in 2015. Her work has been presented at the Red Eye, Southern Theater, Soap Factory (3x5), Bryant Lake Bowl, Monday Live Arts/SooVAC, The Ritz Theater, and Future Interstates at the Cowles Center. As a performer, she has worked with Morgan Thorson, Chris Schlichting, Body Cartography Project, Carl Flink, and more.
In addition to performance, she is a consulting curator at the Walker Art Center, is an educator with Young Dance, as well as is their Development Director, and serves on the Steering Committee for DanceMN, a weekly e-newsletter and online resource for the Twin Cities Dance Community.
Anat has been teaching dance for over 15 years and has taught students of all ages, from 0 to 100, and of all abilities. She teaches techniques including ballet, jazz, and modern, as well as creative movement and dance composition. She joined the faculty at Young Dance in 2013 and joined the administrative team in 2015, first as Outreach Director and then as Development Director.
Gretchen Pick, Executive Director, has a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, an MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin, and is a certified Laban Movement Analyst. She has been an active dancer, teacher and choreographer in the Twin Cities since 1993. The companies and choreographers she has danced for include 45 Chartreuse, Gomez Dance Group, 10,000 Dances, Flying Sisters Theater, Dancing People Company, Sarah Hauss and Megan Flood.
Gretchen's own choreography has been in original concerts at Studio 6A, Red Eye Collaborations and Old Arizona Studios in Minneapolis. She has also presented her choreography at the Show Off Gallery in Bellingham, WA and the International Festival of Contemporary Dance in Bytom, Poland. Her work has been commissioned by the Walker Art Center, Winona State University and Carleton College. Gretchen teaches dance and yoga to students of all ages at various schools in the Twin Cities metro area. She is adjunct faculty at the University of Minnesota. Gretchen also works in the Minneapolis Public Schools developing curriculum that infuses dance into academics. She has received funding for her work as both a choreographer and as a teacher from the Lyndale Neighborhood association and the Perpich Center for Arts Education. Gretchen will be working with all levels as both a teacher and a choreographer and overseeing the choreography projects of the dancers.
Justin Jones, Artistic Director, is a dancer, choreographer, sound designer and teacher. He has danced in choreography by Body Cartography Project, Chris Schlichting, Dylan Skybrook, Morgan Thorson, Karen Sherman, Chris Yon and was a member of Tere O'Connor Dance Co. from 2001-2004. His choreography has been presented in Minneapolis at Bryant Lake Bowl, Red Eye, The Southern Theater and the Walker Art Center; in New York at The Thalia, LaMama Etc., Sarah Lawrence, EMPAC and has been a sometimes visitor to the CATCH series. He has a BFA in dance from NYU, is the recipient of the 2007 McKnight Fellowship for Choreography and was awarded a 2003 NYFA Fellowhship for Performance Art/Multidisciplinary work for his work with Chris Yon. Justin creates sound design for his own choreography and for other dance makers including Ivy Baldwin, Chris Schlichting and Chris Yon. Justin is the producer/host of TALK DANCE, a sporadic podcast created for the Walker Art Center website (listen at: 
Charisse Ponder is a Teacher, Choreographer, and Dancer for over 30 years in the Twin Cities and Northfield communities. She is a Classical Ballet trained dancer who carries this training into all her works. She has studied at the Joffrey Ballet and a variety of schools in New York City. She has performed with St. Paul Classical Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theater, Prairie Home Companion, Joe Chvala's Flying Foot Forum Residency, Four Seasons Dance, and with Young Dance All Abilities Classes. Charisse is currently teaching with Young Dance with their community classes, outreach programs, and the all abilities classes. She also teaches at Zenon and Four Seasons Dance in Minneapolis. Charisse is particularly passionate in the study of language and culture and speaks Spanish and French.
Maggie Zepp grew up in Stevens Point, Wisconsin and received her BA in Dance from the University of Minnesota. She creates dances as part of the five-person collaborative group DaNCEBUMS, and has performed their work at Walker Art Center's Choreographer's Evening, Red Eye Theater, and on live television for Twin Cities PBS. She has also performed work by Morgan Thorson, ARENA Dances, and Chris Schlichting, and danced alongside recording artists Tickle Torture and Har Mar Superstar. She teaches modern technique at Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists in addition to assisting classes at Young Dance.
Cary Bittinger has had the opportunity to share her love of dance and the power of movement with a diverse population from around the world. Each population she has encountered whether they be refugees, High School students from the Westside of Chicago, children in the Bahamas, individuals that exhibit mental illness in Australia, homeless in North Carolina, dancers with disabilities etc., she recognizes the essences of what movement provides: joy, freedom, peace, and an understanding of the human connection that is felt through the mind/body/spirit connection. Cary received her masters degree in Dance/movement Therapy & Counseling from Columbia College Chicago in 2009, which taught her how to approach movement from a different lens. This is Cary's 6th year with Young Dance. During her time, she has assisted the level 2 All-Abilities, has been teaching the level 1 All-Abilities class, assisted and taught all-abilities classes at Bridgeview, taught at Hennepin County Home School, and has taught other various outreach classes throughout the years.
