Pavel Zustiak (Artistic Director) is a choreographer, dancer and sound designer living in New York City. He was born in the former Czechoslovakia where he received his first dance training. At the age of seventeen he made his choreography debut to the M. P. Mussorgsky’s music Pictures at an Exhibition for 23 dancers of Tremolo Dance Company. He appeared in the children’s TV series "Golden Gate" for seven years and in numerous TV and radio plays. Zustiak received his MBA in 1993 and moved to study dance composition and production at the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam between 1998 and 1999. He feels enriched, stimulated and influenced by studying under Katie Duck, David Zambrano, Susan Rethorst and Scott delaHunta among many others. Zustiak is a finalist of the 1999 Choreography Competition in Amsterdam for “Wrinkle in Time.” He collaborated with Anders Schlanbush on “Gisteren is Anders” (Yesterday is Different) presented at Kannonenhallen in Copenhagen, EntreeScenen in Aarhus and Klapstuck Festival in Leuven, Belgium; as well as on “Let’s Dance!” presented at EntreeScenen in Aarhus and DanseScenen in Copenhagen.
Zustiak is the Artistic Director of Palissimo, a NYC-based dance theatre company he established in 2003. He has produced two evening length works shown in New York City at Wight Room, University Settlement, Chashama, HERE Arts Center and internationally at the Apostrof Festival in Prague, Czech Republic in 2005. His shorter works were shown at P.S.122, Dance New Amsterdam, Dixon Place, Alvin Ailey Studios and 92nd Y. Palissimo's new evening length work “Le Petit Mort” is commissioned by Performance Space 122.
As a sound designer Zustiak created sound for Palissimo, Dixie Fun Dance Theatre, Ashleigh Leite (“Autopsy”; Joyce SOHO, Evening Stars in the Battery Park, September 2006), and Jeremy Nelson (Mean Piece, Dance Theatre Workshop, September 2006).
Zustiak has been commissioned by Of Moving Colors Productions in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to choreograph three dance theater pieces: “Search” (1999), “Within Without” (2001) and “All That I Can’t Leave Behind” (2005).
Zustiak taught dance composition and improvisation workshops "Present Body" and "Art of Looking Sideways" in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Denmark and the United States.
Pavel Zustiak received funding from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant.

Tal Yarden (Video) is a founding partner of EyeMag Media, Inc. He has designed and directed multi-media installations utilizing film, video, slides and light for corporate and theatrical clients since 1990. He has created theatrical designs for works by numerous directors and choreographers including Ivo van Hove’s Dutch production of “Rent” (with Patricia Fox) Reza Abdoh’s “Tight Right White” and “Quotations from a Ruined City”, Stephen Petronio's “Not Garden” (with Patricia Fox),“The King is Dead” (with Cindy Sherman), and Tim Feldmann’s “Twin-Project” all of which have toured in Europe. He designed John Jesurun's “Chang in a Void Moon”, Mikel Rouse's “Dennis Cunningham”, Mark Wing-Davey’s “Monkey in the Middle” and Tina Landau's “Stonewall”. As a multi-media staging director and producer, he has supervised numerous live events ranging from fashion shows to gala benefits to product launches to corporate parties. He has also designed two of Juilliard’s Gala benefits and the Arts on the Highwire Benefit. Previously he directed music videos for various bands including 10,000 Maniacs, Throwing Muses, Barkmarket and The Silos. His designs for beauty and fashion industry clients include: Condé Nast, Ford Motors, Healing Garden, Holland and Holland, Clarins, Matrix, Ghost, Levi’s, LG Electronics, Timberland, Virgin and Visionaire. Other clients include The New Yorker Festival, Philips Electronics and Johnnie Walker. He has also worked as a film, commercial and television producer for Arcadia Films, Vanguard Documentaries, Manic Tango Productions, Sea Lion Productions, and R/Greenberg Associates.

Rachel Chavkin (Dramaturg), with her theatre company The TEAM, she has directed and devised Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, A Thousand Natural Shocks, inspired by Hamlet and other visions of the end of the world, Give Up! Start Over! (In the darkest of times I look to Richard Nixon for hope) created with co-Artistic Director Jessica Almasy and winner of the 2005 Fringe First Award, Faster, inspired by the book by James Gleick, Howl, based on the poem by Allen Ginsberg, and is currently directing/co-writing Particularly in the Heartland. She is a New York City based director, and is a New Georges affiliated artist. In addition to her work with The TEAM has directed Kurt Vonnegut’s Happy Birthday, Wanda June (7th Sign), Sam Shepard’s Buried Child, Howard Richardson and William Berney’s Dark of the Moon. She is an associate artist of New Georges, and was a 2004 Drama League Directing Fellow at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, where she directed and served as co-Artistic Director of the Lab Company. She has also dramaturged/assistant directed for a number of plays and dance pieces, including Macbeth (SITI Company, dir. Leon Ingulsrud), Anne Washburn’s The Ladies (The Civilians, dir. Anne Kauffman) and choreographer Pavel Zustiak’s Blind Spot. She received her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and has served on the Directing Faculty at Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. She is currently working towards her MFA in Directing from Columbia University.

Nick Vaughn (Set and Costume Design) is a New York based scenic and costume designer. Recent projects include “Particularly in the Heartland” with the TEAM, Teddy Roosevelt and the Treasure of Ursa Major” at the Kennedy Center, “The Monument” and “Two Rooms” at Theater Alliance, “The Girl in the Goldfish Bowl” at MetroStage, “Nerve” and “The Silent Concerto” with Packawallop Productions. He has collaborated on numerous projects at Columbia University with Kim Weild, Pedro Salazar, Marike Splint and Javier Antonio Gonzales. He received the 2005 NYC Fringe award for outstanding set design, the 2005 USITT Oren Parker Award for Set Design, the Lloyd Weninger Award for Stage Design, and was selected for exhibition in the US entry to the 2007 Prague Quadrennial. Nick is also a company member of the TEAM (Theater of the Emerging American Moment).

Jose Aragon (Photography), born in Spain, started to flirt with cameras at the age of four when taking some family portraits one summer. But it was only later during his college years as a geology student that he decided to pursue his true passion. He started assisting in Madrid, and later moved to London where he had a very successful start, winning the Fuji-Affaep Assistants Awards' fashion category, and within a very short time published in Vogue UK, Harpers & Queen and the major Sunday supplements. A natural progression from his still images and his avid curiosity took him to study at the prestigious New York Film Academy. Since then he has been involved in commercial and more experimental projects in fashion, music, dance and documentary filming and photography. His unmistakable style and treatment of light, space, colors and textures is recognized internationally. His clients include Cartier, Hogan, Boodle and Dunthorne, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Camper and Nicholson, Principe Di Bologna, Wella, Jaime Mascaro, Pinaud, Oriflame, Vogue Gioiello, Vogue Pelle And GQ.

Nectarios Leonidas (Video, Film) is documenting Palissimo and the process of creating Le Petit Mort.  Nectarios was born in Rhodes, Greece and attended the School of Visual Arts in NY. His credits include Basquiat and The Mirror Has Two Faces and his work has been shown in several international film festivals.  He is the creator and founder of a new screening series, Film Blitz, and is on the Board of Advisors for the West Harlem Arts Fund. (ww.flippant.net)

Joe Levasseur (Lighting Design) has worked closely on lighting with New York based dance artists such as John Jasperse, Jennifer Monson, Sarah Michelson, Chris Ferris, Kari Hoaas, Mei-Yin Ng, Anna Sperber and Pavel Zustiak. He has worked as a Stage Manager for Karole Armitage and JoAnna Mendel Shaw and assistant lighting designer for Clifton Taylor. He is also the Production Manager at Summer Stages Dance at Concord Academy.

Benjamin Asriel (Dancer), a native Kentuckian, is thrilled to be joining Palissimo. Having attended Brown University (AB Music 2003), Benjamin matriculated to NYU Tisch (MFA Dance 2006). In addition to Palissimo, Ben is currently dancing with Kyle Abraham/A.i.M., Milka Djordjevich and the Team, Keely Garfield, and projectLIMB. Also his own work was featured in the 2006 Dumbo Dance Festival.

Gina Bashour (Dancer), a native to Massachusetts, graduated from Adelphi University with a BFA in dance. She performs with Ashleigh Leite and Melissa Riker's The Kinesis Project. Gina has also performed under the direction of Alberto Denis, Fly By Night Trapeze, Skip Costa's COREmovement Project, the Off-Broadway dance drama Thin Line, and Ellen Stokes Shadle Danceworks. Gina has been choreographing for ten years and in 2001 founded the dance company GiBa in motion, which has performed throughout New York and New England. Gina is the Founding Artistic Director, in collaboration with Teresa Fellion, of interCATaction/Children's Adaptive Theater, an interactive dance theater project for elementary schools that encourages and educates children through innovative storytelling. She has been a performer and rehearsal director for Palissimo since 2003.

Ellen Cremer (Dancer) was born in Germany in 1979, studied dance, improvisation and acting in Germany and at the Theater School Amsterdam. Supported by a scholarship she had the opportunity to participate in several workshops with international teachers like Inaki Azpillages, Wim Vandekeybus, Katie Duck and the SITI Intensive Workshop in Saratoga in the United States. Ellen worked with choreographers in New York and Europe, including Robert Allen, Edward Winslow, Jochen Roller and Marianne Kim. She performed with Hofftanzt and is also member of LeeSaar The Company. She joined Palissimo in February 2005.

Saar Harari (Dancer) was raised in a farm in Israel and served as a commanding officer in the Israeli special forces for six years. In 2004 he moved to NYC with his company LeeSaar The Company and received his American green card for the excellent in the performing arts. His Company has been presented by the Performance Space 122 with the full evening dance quartet Herd of Bulls in October 2005 and January 2006 and the new work Moopim in September 2006. Lee Saar The Company will open the Harknees Dance Festival at the Ailey Theater in February 2007.

Marya Wethers (Dancer, Company Booking Representative) is a dancer, arts administrator, and curator. She is a member of Palissimo and also performs with Yanira Castro + Company (www.yaniracastrocompany.org) and Faye Driscoll. Television credits include hosting "Move The Frame", a public access television show about videodance produced and directed by Anna Brady Nuse. Film/video work includes a featured role in the new dancefilm "Lez Side Story" by Hedia Maron and Faye Driscoll and small roles in three other independent films. Marya has curated the "Out of Space" @ BRICstudio performance series in Brooklyn since 2003 and was honored to be featured in a profile in Gay City News. She authored the article "UnCHARTed Legacies: women of color in post-modern dance", which was published in the 25th Anniversary Movement Research Performance Journal #27/28. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1997 with a B.A. in Dance (cum laude) and a minor in African-American Studies.