Nadia Oussenko
Nadia Oussenko is a choreographer, photographer, filmmaker, dance teacher, and aspiring rock star. After earning her Master of Fine Arts degree in dance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ms. Oussenko moved back to Chicago to pursue her growing passion for "Dance for the Camera". In effort to learn more about video, she began photo and video assisting eccentric event photographer,
Richard Shay, who let her mess around with his video equipment at big parties. Since then, she has been juggling her many endeavors, actively developing her artistry in event photography and videography. In addition, she has continued to choreograph, teach and direct dances for the camera. Her most recent dance work,
Connect 4, was selected by jury and will be premiering at the 12th annual ADF Dancing for the Camera: International Festival of Film and Video Dance in July, 2007. Recently Ms. Oussenko choreographed for a feature film,
Actually, Adieu My Love, directed by Minji Kang, and for a comedic short film,
Mating Dance, directed by Kenneth Yoder/plain label pictures, which will make it's premiere at the Chicago Short Comedy Video and Film Festival in July 2007. Ms. Oussenko's work has also been shown in the
Around the Coyote Film Festival in Chicago, the
Reel Dance Film Festival in Victoria, B.C., the
New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, and the
Fifth Annual Dance For the Camera Festival at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Ms. Oussenko has also choreographed for dance festivals and concerts in Chicago, including
Dance Chicago,
Duets for my Valentine,
Motivity and
Ameba Acrobatic and Aerial Dance Company. Nadia has spent the last year filming the creation of Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak's
My Name is a Blackbird. This documentary will premiere in October, 2007. In her spare time, Nadia enjoys cooking, frequenting live band karaoke, and driving her new Volkwagen Beetle.
