Frederick Ford – you can call him Freddie – was born on a Tuesday. As a boy, he drew cartoons and was a good speller. As an adult, he preoccupies himself with travel, fitness, and performance theory. For 10 years he has taught the arts – from acting to creative writing to puppetry to video editing. For 5 years he ran a theatre company specializing in audience interactivity. So far in life he has worked as an actor, model, director, dishwasher, documentary filmmaker, teacher, producer, lifeguard, customer service representative, playwright, golf caddy, educational coordinator, and vending machine restocker. He was raised in St. Louis, has performed in England and Germany, and his favorite places include Denmark, Durango, and Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles. One night in Paris, while smoking a cigarette and admiring the Eiffel Tower, Freddie came across Rooted’s call for facilitators. Inspired by the Center’s philosophy and emboldened by his desire for human connection, he set out to become a part of this unique community. At Rooted, Freddie looks forward to creating a space where your self expression requires no apologies.

Aliza Roth is a dancer, teacher, yoga instructor, and aspiring dance/movement therapist. After recently graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.S. in Dance and a Certificate in Business, she will bring to Rooted Center her passion for and knowledge of movement as a vehicle for creative expression and emotional healing. Aliza has just completed a year with Performing Ourselves, a grant-based program through which UW-Madison dance majors lead dance and movement classes with an emphasis on creative movement to K-12 girls. In Summer 2013 she participated in the Dance Education Laboratory’s Summer Institute in New York City, an experience that has prepared her for teaching creative movement to various levels and age groups. Her recent move to Chicago is the beginning of what she hopes to be a fulfilling teaching career and a life surrounded by art. Aliza belongs at Rooted. Through mindfulness meditation and yoga, she has found a way to bring principles of non-judgment, awareness and acceptance into her life and relationships. Aliza brings this outlook to Rooted and hopes to inspire as many people as possible to let go of what they do not need – to live in the present moment, to treat themselves with loving kindness, and to share their humanity with others.

Jacquelynn Camden-Gay has been a performing artist for over 20 years and a theatre educator/facilitator for the last five. She is a recent Chicago transplant by way of South Florida by way of Richmond, VA where she attended Virginia Commonwealth University. She received a BFA in Theatre Performance with an emphasis in Musical Theatre and an MFA in Theatre Pedagogy with a double concentration in Acting/Directing and Voice & Speech. As an Adjunct Faculty Instructor at VCU, Jacquelynn taught a variety of courses in Acting, Voice & Speech, and Theatre History. She also had the opportunity to study abroad with the DAH Teatar in Bel Grade, Serbia in order to train in Eastern European Movement styles based in the work of Jerzy Grotowski and Eugenio Barba. Her work onstage has garnered her nominations for both an Irene Ryan Award for her role in Smokey Joe’s Café and the Richmond Critic’s Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Maureen in RENT. She is a current member of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association and an alumni member of The Conciliation Project, a social justice theatre company whose works seek to promote dialogue about issues such as sexism, racism, homelessness & the prison industrial complex in America. Jacquelynn’s focus in graduate school was on the use of Ritual Poetic Drama within the African Continuum and as a facilitator her passion has been using this methodology to promote individual and social transformation by fostering self-knowledge, community building and the freeing of one’s body, voice, mind and soul. She believes that theatre has the power to inform, empower, heal and transform anyone and is thrilled to be going on this journey with the team at Rooted.