"With...the flying feet of step-dancing demon Malke Rosenfeld, Cucanandy brought the crowd to their feet...Rosenfeld could easily hold her own in Riverdance and maybe even teach them all a thing or two about the spontaneous enthusiasm that infects an audience with galloping excitement." The Chronicle-Herald, Halifax, NS

"She is a dynamic teacher whose energy and enthusiasm spill out of her at every moment.  Never have I see such utter joy in dancing.  I'm hooked."  Adult Student, Augusta Heritage Center

"Your residency was really a treat and your programming is incredible. You have such a gift for engaging students and creating a space for them to gain confidence in their own creative choices."  Kerry Ginn, Education Director, The Carnegie Center for the Arts, Covington, KY

A R T I S T

Malke Rosenfeld is a professional dancer and musician who has performed and taught across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom since 1995.  She is a founding member of the nationally touring Celtic group Cucanandy which recorded two critically acclaimed CDs.  Malke also spent two years touring internationally with the highly acclaimed Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, including the London run of Riverdance.  Fluent in a variety of traditional percussive dance styles, including Cape Breton step dance, old-time clogging and flatfooting, and her own style of "drumming" with her feet, Malke is hailed for her "spontaneous enthusiasm that infects an audience with galloping excitement." (The Chronicle-Herald, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 8/10/01)   

With "astonishing precision" (Dirty Linen, Jan '00) Malke provides both an aural and visual accompaniment to tunes and songs in both Celtic and Old-time musical traditions.  She considers herself both a dancer and musician, not just because she also plays the Irish flute, but because her feet are an instrument as well, providing a "powerhouse platform for each reel and jig." (Art Menius, The Independent, 11/01)   

                E D U C A T I O N

In 1991 Malke graduated with a B.A. from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, a state university committed to interdisciplinary learning and student initiated studies at the undergraduate level.  Her coursework included inquiries into epistemology and ways of knowing, social sciences, philosophy of education and community, and Russian/Soviet studies.  While in college, Malke was active at both the local and state levels of the Washington State YMCA Youth & Government program.  She prepared high school students to take on roles in a statewide mock legislature, including bill writing and research, legislative roles and procedures, and presentation and debate skills.  In 1989 she was awarded the Youth & Government State Advisor of the Year.

                                I N S P I R A T I O N 

Malke began her artistic life in creative movement classes until age 11 and started playing wind instruments at the age of 9 at the Music Academy in State College, PA.  She played in school bands and orchestras through her junior year of high school.  Discovering traditional Irish music at the Olympia, WA sessions after her college graduation (and after a seven-year break from playing music) eventually led her to Cape Breton step dance at the tender age of 26. 

Malke traveled to Ireland in 1992 for a four-month stay to learn the particular lilt of Irish music styling, and to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia to study Cape Breton step dancing at the Gaelic College in 1997 and 2000.  In October 2003, Malke traveled again to Cape Breton on an Individual Artist Project Grant from the Indiana Arts Council to engage in an intensive, two week cultural dance exchange with dancer Melody Cameron.  She has studied intensively with the creative and internationally famed foot/body percussionist Sandy Silva, and NEA Choreography Fellow Eileen Carson.

                                                         A R T I S T   E D U C A T O R

Malke has been active in the area of Arts In Education for almost a decade.  She was co-creator of the traditional arts program Steps, Songs, & Stories, a school performance program for grades K-8.  This program was performed in schools across the eastern third of the U.S for over 6 years.  In 1998 Malke developed Drum With Your Feet!, a 5-day dance residency that brings the Appalachian clogging alive as a relevant piece of America's history and heritage, and as an opportunity to experience traditional music and dance as vehicles for self-expression.  She created an in-depth, 30-page study guide to accompany the program which has been presented in public and private schools across PA, SC, NC, IN, MI, OH, MA, and KY.

During the summer of 2002, Malke was Artist in Residence at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio.  In part an Artist Retreat for the creation of new work, this residency also included adult classes and performances for park visitors.  The highlight of her summer's work was the creation and teaching of interdisciplinary programming for the Environmental Education Center's summer youth camps. 

During the 2003-04 school year Malke collaborated with Presidential Award winning math teacher Jane Cooney to develop her newest program, Math In Your Feet!.  This collaboration led to the creation of a 5-day residency created as model for integrated learning, as well as materials specifically designed to ensure student learning and the ability for teachers to integrate the experience into future lesson plans.  This program has a professional development component for both artists and teachers.

Performance and Teaching History