The Juilliard School

Richard Ross has a passion for capturing images and theatre.  When his good friend, Jake Alan Nelson, told him that the American Fusion Project was going to document their Kansas tour, he wanted to be part of it.

Colin Stokes.  How do I even start to tell you who Colin Stokes is?  There are so many layers to this man, and I feel like I have scratched the surface, possibly seen through a crack of his carefully-constructed deliberateness.

Where do you start to try and tell the story of Jake? 

You could go with the mundane.  He is a Texan.  He grew up outside Dallas.  He loves barbeque, and can’t wait to taste the Kansas version.  He found his way to the performer he is through community theatre, working the technical side in sound, scene design, and carpentry. He started classical music lessons when he was 18, went to Juilliard at 23, and now the baritone actor is 25 and moves to the next thing by simply saying, “Yes.”

Cleo is the dancing astronaut, and always will be to me no matter where the rest of her life takes her.  I asked her why she wanted to be an astronaut and dance in space.  Her answer was profound.  She says the whole world would be your audience if you danced in space, and everything that separates us like battles over who owns what land, what country you live in, and what language you speak would all be eliminated.  That’s pretty profound for the youngest member of the Into the Sun crew.

Gabriel Medina: A southern gentleman from Houston, Texas.

And more.

He’s a young composer, working on his master’s from Juilliard.  His undergraduate work was in piano performance, and something inside wasn’t settled with that.  He knew himself well enough to recognize he didn’t enjoy the spotlight, but the creative process and composing.  He took composition classes which turned out to be the road to his calling.

Taylor Hansen-Johnson is a dancer with the American Fusion: Into the Sun project coming to Kansas.  

Thinking back on our conversation, the words that come to mind in describing Taylor are: strong- of body, mind, and spirit.  She’s worked hard to get to the level she’s at in each area.   

Body.  Taylor wanted to dance since she was three.  Her mom started her in gymnastics, but Taylor kept insisting she wanted to dance.  Her mom was a dancer working at a studio in her hometown outside Columbus, Ohio.  That’s where Taylor began to dance, and she’s been dancing ever since.

Maria Im is boundless energy with eyes that send messages louder than words. 

She loves sharing her music.  She says when she plays, she’s holding out her hand inviting you to come and join the experience. 

If you could cross Tinker Bell with a pit bull, you would have Kristen Doering.  The Garden City, Kansas native is a willow on a mission.  Armed with an idea to bring New York art to Kansas in an innovative way, giving the artists and the audience opportunity to create relationships and share experiences was her goal.