Atalee Judy founded Chicago-based Breakbone DanceCo. in 1997 as a creative outlet to house her athletic nature as well as her cathartic creative process after earning a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance & Choreography,with Honors in Outstanding Achievement, at Columbia College Chicago. Atalee is a dancemaker who emerged from the 80’s punk rock scene of New York City and made her way to Chicago. Since 1994 her work has been presented throughout Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, Amsterdam, and Russia. Most recently, she traveled to the University of Texas at Austin, for Gender Studies in Dance Professor, Dr. Rebecca Rossen-Pavkovic’s event called “Warriors & Queens” to perform, teach & discuss her work as radical staging in dance and identity. She has created over 30 dance works, and has produced 13 full evening length concerts. Atalee has served as an advisor for other independent choreographers and has been commissioned to choreograph, teach & perform for established performance companies in Chicago and elsewhere. For six consecutive years, Atalee has been an Artist-In-Residence with Arts Partner The Chicago Moving Company & Nana Shineflug with Hamlin Park of The Chicago Park District. Her achievements have been recognized by her supporters earning numerous consecutive grants from foundations and an Artistic Fellowship from the Illinois Arts Council in 2006. In 2005 Breakbone was the recipient of the Chicago Dance and Music Alliance’s Elizabeth F. Cheney Dance Achievement Award, citing Atalee's evening-length project "ONE" as an example of excellence in the field of dance. In 2009, after a rigorous selection process, Atalee was selected to be one of four choreographers to be a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist. She was also named by The Chicago Reader as among one of the “Best Choreographers in Chicago” and most recently her production "DE-evolution of Mudwoman" received New City's "Top 5 Best Dance Shows by Chicago Dance Companies" listing. With over 18 years in the Chicago dance scene, Atalee is still committed to creating dance works of uncompromising intensity and visceral engagement while discovering the potential opportunity for growth in an environment that enables the artist to delve, to really dig, to share with others, and to become transparent in their process. Please visit www.breakbone.com for more information. Breakbone DanceCo creates visually driven dance theater. The ensemble strives to make strong statements which capture the raw, primal elements of humanity, moving beyond traditional modern dance techniques to focus on an honest use of gravity. Equally important is the creation of an atmosphere on stage, using original imagery and sound scores. Taking dance to new audiences, Breakbone performs in both large, fully equipped production houses and smaller, alternative site-specific performance spaces.