GRETE GRYZWANA
Founder, Artistic Director, & Principal Choreographer
Grete founded the acclaimed Epiphany Dance Company in 1994 to fulfill her vision to pair dance with great works of sacred and profane music, poetry, prose, scriptures, and art. As artistic director and principal choreographer, she created innovative works to reveal the sacred through movement. The prose of CS Lewis, the poetry of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, T.S. Eliot, and Rilke, the music of Debussy, Reich, Copeland and Faure, and the visual art of Caravaggio, Zubaran, and Rothko have each inspired particular choreographies.
In 2003 Grete moved to Los Angeles and earned her Master of Theology and the Arts from Fuller Seminary. While at Fuller, Grete studied medieval theology, art, literature and theater in Orvieto Italy. The power of art, literature, beauty, and theology influences all of Grete’s teaching and choreography.
Ever a passionate teacher, Grete served on the faculty of the School of Nashville Ballet, taught dance at Vanderbilt University and at The Oak Hill School. In California, she taught at The Wooden Floor and St. Bede Academy, while presenting workshops and master classes throughout the US.
Appointed to the Fine Arts Committee of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Grete worked closely with internationally recognized visual artists to select exhibitors, assist in installations and develop and produce performances for the Cathedral.
In Los Angeles, Grete’s choreographic and production highlights include The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, set against the backdrop of Simon Toparovsky’s sculpture exhibition at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, with music by Debussy, Handel’s Messiah with the Salastina Music Society at Pasadena City College, and Three Songs of Love at The Brehm Center’s Celebration of Spring.
BECKY EAGLETON
Board Chair
Becky Eagleton is a former professional dancer and choreographer, who also developed the Dance Minor at University of Tulsa. Before that she served as Founder and Executive Director for 10 years of the non- profit dance presenter, The LocalMotion Foundation in Tulsa, OK. Since retiring from Dance, Becky has served as Composition faculty on the college level and as a professional editor and published fiction writer. Currently she owns and operates a professional gardening business, The Garden Belle, in Nashville, TN.
JOHN O’MALLEY
Board Secretary
John O’Malley, M.S. is principal of Pasadena, CA-based O’Malley International Associates, a global communications agency specializing in marketing/PR, writing, training, media relations, and consulting services for nonprofits, universities, K-12 schools, businesses, government organizations, and individuals. Over the last 29 years, O’Malley International Associates agency delivered measurable results and practical solutions that successfully advance clients toward their goals. Visit his web site: www.omalleyinternational.com to learn more.
Board Member
Rev. Sarah W. Nichols, MDiv., is an Episcopal priest who has expertise in palliative care and providing spiritual care and support for those facing grief and trauma. Her work includes providing mindfulness training to help foster resilience and prevent burn out for medical professionals and volunteer care givers. After serving in parish ministry, Sarah served as Director of Pastoral Care for Episcopal Communities & Services for over 8 years, and was the Executive Director of By Your Side, a program she developed providing end-of-life education and training to volunteers and professionals, enabling them to serve as a compassionate presence to those who are chronically ill or dying. As a parish priest, Sarah had experience developing movement meditations and including choreography in liturgical settings.
REV. SARAH W. NICHOLS
Board Member
Wendi Dalby is a former professional actor and dancer. She studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Atlanta School of Ballet, Broadway Dance Center, and with Natalie Krassovska in Scotland. Wendi went on to get her master’s in education at NYU and doctorate at Peabody College at Vanderbilt. She Worked for two decades as an educational consultant and writer in corporate development and IT. Wendi currently works as a Writer and art consultant.
WENDI DALBY
CIARA
COSBY
Board Member
Ciara Cosby is an Associate Trust Advisor and Vice President with Regions bank in Nashville, TN. She has been in the financial industry for 7 years and enjoys advising her clients on how to best manage and transfer their assets. Ciara graduated from the University of Tennessee and lives in Nashville with her 4- year-old golden retriever."
JAN CARTER STUMBO
Board Member
Jan Carter Stumbo was a founding member of Epiphany Dance Company. She served the company as a soloist, rehearsal director and artistic advisor from its inception thru 1997. Jan brings 35 years of professional experience as a performer, dance educator, school director and choreographer, and is an AFAA certified personal trainer. Jan continues to teach, choreograph, and train throughout the US. Further accomplishments include raising two sons, formerly running a successful cafe and catering company in Franklin, Tennessee, and now partnering with a company that provides inside/out beauty products.
Board Member
Raleigh Dale (she/her) is a multi-hyphenate creative entrepreneur and the founder of Radical Means, a corporate advisory and leadership development company that helps create cultures of authenticity and inclusion in the workplace. She is a graduate of Belmont University’s College of Theology and a long-term writer with features in The Tennessean, Refinery29, Re:Set, USA Today, and Nashville Poet’s Quarterly.
A proud representative of the queer and neurodiverse communities, Raleigh is passionate about creating spaces and opportunities where our most authentic Selves are sought afer and celebrated. She currently lives in downtown Atlanta with her partner, two dogs, one cat, and countless books.
RALEIGH DALE
Board Treasurer
Tharon Garber grew up in the mountains of Colorado and fell in love with theatre when, 10-years-old, he joined a production of “Fiddler on the Roof. “Two years later, he was the Artful Dodger in “Oliver” and thus began his career in the world of community theatre. He was a cast or crew member in every community or school production until graduating from high school. At the University of Colorado, he participated in a production of “Tea and Sympathy” for non-theatre majors.
Afer earning a degree in environmental studies, he found himself on the family farm in a rural town with a rich theatre community. It was there that he got his first opportunity to direct children. He developed a program for grades 5 to 12 performing shows in farming towns across Southeastern Colorado. First, Molière, then a couple of melodramas and a classic fairy tale. He also participated in every local production in plays written by Beckett, Williams, Rogers and Hammerstein, Jerry Herman, and two shows written by a playwright-in-residence at the Kennedy Center in Washington D. C.
In California, he transitioned from environmental consultant to a strong advocate of a rich children’s theatre experience in K-12 schools. For the last fifeen years, he has produced and directed twenty-eight shows for children in grades 2 to 9 and managed a summer theatre camp for underserved students for five years. He has directed over sixty productions for children ages 10 to 18, including everything from short one acts to the classic American musicals.