Marla Brattain Hansen, Co-Artistic Director
Ms. Hansen received her early professional training as a Harkness Ballet company trainee in New York City. She attended the University of Utah where she earned her BFA and MFA in ballet while dancing as an apprentice with Ballet West. She was principal dancer with Portland Ballet Company for three years while she choreographed several ballets for PBC and other Northwest companies. In 1981 she joined American Festival Ballet (AFB). She choreographed the full length Cinderella and numerous other shorter ballets. She received the 1988 Idaho Commission on the Arts Artist Fellowship for her Firebird choreography. In 1989, she and her husband Alfred founded Idaho Dance Theatre. Marla has choreographed more than 40 ballets for IDT. She is an Associate Professor at Boise State University, directing the Dance Option BA Degree in the Department of Theatre Arts and the BSU Summer Dancefest workshop. In addition, Marla choreographs regularly for BSU Theatre and Music Department productions such as Cabaret, HMS Pinafore and Into the Woods. In the fall of 2006, Marla was awarded the Dance Teacher of the Year in Idaho and in January 2007 was named Dance Educator of the year in the North West United States.
Carl Rowe, Co-Artistic Director
Mr. Rowe began his dance training at UC Santa Cruz and in New York City. He has performed with the Baroque Dance Ensemble for the Smithsonian Institute, the Portland Dance Theater, the Dance Theater of the Southwest in Texas, for Rod Rodgers in New York, and for Kelly Holt in California. In 1980 Carl founded the Idaho Dance Ensemble with Hilarie Neely in Sun Valley. For five years the Ensemble performed throughout the region. He performed a solo dance concert in 1986 and won the Artist Fellowship from the Idaho Commission on the Arts in 1987, and again in 2000. He also received the Worksite Award for choreography in 1995. In 1990 Carl received a grant from New Forms: Regional Initiative with which he created Next of Kin, a full-length, multimedia play. Carl has been with IDT since its inception in 1989 and has choreographed extensively for the company. Carl is also a professional painter with gallery representation throughout the northwest, also having received the Artist Fellowship in 1999 with honorable mention in painting. Carl was awarded the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2002.
Alfred Hansen, Technical Director/Lighting Designer
The exceptional lighting design component the audience has come to expect of IDT performances is due to the expertise of Fred Hansen. He brings exceptional creativity, and ingenuity to his lighting design, due in part to the years he spent as a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer. Fred knows dance and is sensitive to the needs of the choreographers and choreography. As a dancer, Fred performed with modern dance companies in San Francisco and Chicago, with the Portland Ballet Company, Spokane Ballet, and as a principal dancer with the American Festival Ballet from 1981-88. He co-founded Idaho Dance Theatre in 1989 and performed and choreographed for many years with the company before becoming the Technical Director. In 1991 he received the Idaho Commission on the Arts Artist Fellowship for excellence. His numerous lighting design credits include BSU Theatre and Music Department productions, Idaho Theater for Youth, Boise Contemporary Theater, Balance Dance Company, and the outdoor musical series, Summerfest.