Nimbus Dance Works Elects New Officers
Company’s Growth Continues With Addition of New Board Members

August 2, 2011, Jersey City, New Jersey — Nimbus Dance Works, Jersey City’s premier dance company, announces the election of new officers following its Annual Meeting: Elizabeth Shaff Sobo, President; Guillem Lomas, MD, Treasurer; and Judith Pott, Secretary.

Ms. Sobo is the Principal of SoboConsulting, an agency that provides Strategic Planning, Board Development Facilitation, Fundraising Consulting, Succession Planning, Human Resource Analysis, Executive Coaching and Facilities Planning. She is a Fundraising and Vision Planning professional with more than 30 years of experience working in the not-for-profit and public sectors, most recently as Director of Development at Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, NJ, a professional Actor’s Equity Association regional theater. She continues to serve in leadership capacities on the board of Dance New Jersey, the state’s service agency to the field, and was a board member of Randy James Dance Works from 2005-2007. As a professional performing artist, she danced with Pennsylvania Ballet, Les Compagnons de la Danse (Montréal), and New Jersey Ballet. Following her professional performing career, Betsy held various management positions in the retail sector in Washington, DC for eight years. She earned a Certificate in Arts Administration from New York University. She resides in South Orange, NJ.

Sobo stated: “I am honored and thrilled to help Artistic Director Samuel Pott realize his vision for Nimbus Dance Works. I look forward to working with my fellow board members, our community of supporters and the field at large during my tenure to assure Nimbus’ relevance and the full manifestation of our firm belief that art changes lives.”

Artistic Director Pott noted, “We at Nimbus Dance Works have been looking deeply at how to build our organization for long term success as a top-flight dance company with meaningful ties to the communities we serve. The election of our new officers and board members, with Elizabeth Sobo as President, is an important step in our growth. The caliber of these individuals and their commitment to Nimbus speak to the company’s valuable work and track record over our first seven years.”

Dr. Lomas is an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. He specializes in Arthroscopic Surgery, Ligament and Tendon Reconstructions and Sports-Related Injuries. Dr. Lomas completed his undergraduate studies at Yale University and received his medical degree from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. He has treated dancers for a variety of ailments, including foot and ankle, knee, hip and shoulder conditions. Dr. Lomas is affiliated with Jersey City Medical Center and also sees patients at Christ Hospital in Jersey City. He resides in New York City.

Judith Pott is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City. Prior to becoming a psychologist, she was an elementary school teacher. She holds a B.A. in Art History from Bryn Mawr College, a M.S. of Ed. in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from New York University. She is a graduate of the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. She is a lover of all the arts and a lifelong enthusiastic choral singer. Ms. Pott resides in New York City.

Reflective of its continued growth, the company has also brought on new board member Jessica Wasilewski. Ms. Wasilewski is the Associate Producer for the Office of Arts & Cultural Programming (ACP) at Montclair State University, and has worked as an arts administrator since moving to New York City in 2005. Prior to joining ACP, she served as the Assistant to the Producers for Lincoln Center Festival (Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.), working with national and international artists and companies such as Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Comédie-Française and the Kirov Opera of the Mariinsky Theatre. Ms. Wasilewski resides in Jersey City.

Nimbus congratulates its new board member and officers.

About Nimbus Dance Works

Nimbus Dance Works, Jersey City’s premier dance company, focuses its work on the intersection between high-level dance and innovative ways of involving communities and audiences. Nimbus presents dance performances and programs to diverse audiences locally and on tour, serving present dance audiences and building future ones. Performers with Nimbus Dance Works are top-tier dance artists drawn from widely recognized companies including American Repertory Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, and the Martha Graham Dance Company. Through critically acclaimed performances throughout New Jersey and the Northeast, programs for Jersey City youth and seniors, partnerships with institutions such as the Jersey City Board of Education, Rutgers University, and the Newark Museum, and collaborations with notable composers and visual artists, Nimbus weaves together artistic excellence and community impact. Nimbus programs and performances impact more than 8,000 people each year, and more than 2,000 students annually are introduced to dance through Nimbus dance education programs. Nimbus Dance Works presents annual home seasons in Jersey City and is company in residence at Grace Church-Van Vorst. In 2010 Nimbus performed at the internationally renowned Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and held its first New York season, at the Peridance/Capezio Theater.

About Samuel Pott, Artistic Director

Samuel Pott founded Nimbus Dance Works in 2005, drawing on a deeply held personal belief in the value that the arts can play in bringing people and communities together. Mr. Pott’s choreography has been shown in New York City and throughout New Jersey, New England and California, including at New York City’s Joyce Theater and at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Recent choreographic projects include a new work for Graham II in collaboration with composer Daniel Bernard Roumain. A member of the New Jersey State Arts Council’s Arts in Education roster of artists, Mr. Pott has taught dance at the elementary, high school, college and professional levels, and has served on the faculty of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. Mr. Pott received a Choreography Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts in 2008.

Mr. Pott began his dance training at the University of California, Berkeley, and completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999. Currently he is a soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Mr. Pott has performed as a lead dancer with many ballet and contemporary companies including New Jersey’s American Repertory Ballet and the Oakland Ballet. He has performed featured roles from a wide range dance styles and choreographers including works by Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Isadora Duncan, and Twyla Tharp, and he has created numerous original roles in contemporary works.

Nimbus Dance Works is supported in part by grants from The American Music Center; The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; The Hudson County Office of Heritage & Cultural Affairs; City of Jersey City Division of Community Development; Jersey City Board of Education; Target; Taipei Cultural Center in New York; O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation; and New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. DeGise, County Executive, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.

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The Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs and Tourism awarded Nimbus grants for general operating support and technical assistance, which will help Nimbus continue to develop its organizational capacity along with its artistic growth. Click here for more information about the Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs and Tourism.

In July 2010, Nimbus Dance Works performed a new work called The Butterfly Dream with Taiwan’s Taipei Crossover Dance Company at Rutger’s University’s Mason Gross Presents Summer Series. Read the review on NJ.com.