Artistic Director of Desko Dance, Owner of “The Grey Box” Theatre
GINA MARIE DESKO received her Masters in Fine Arts in Dance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her Bachelors of Philosophy in Dance Science from The Pennsylvania State University. She has taught as an adjunct faculty member at The University of Pittsburgh, La Roche College, Point Park University, The Pennsylvania State University, Elon College, and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Desko is the Director and Co-founder of the Pittsburgh Dance Connection (PghDC) and is currently developing her new dance company, GMDdance. The PghDC has produced two professional concerts, Fast Forward & Rewind, conducted educational residencies, and participated in the Three Rivers Arts Festival (2004), FLUX Downtown, and the UNCG Alumni Concert. GMDdance has shown choreography at the 2005 & 2006 Piccolo Spoleto Festival (Charleston, SC), the Ellsworth Festival, Art All Night, and the New Hazlett Theatre’s Community Celebration (Pittsburgh, PA).
Desko has also shown work in Sydney, Australia, North and South Carolina, and Pennsylvania, including the Dance Alloy Continuing Series and The American College Dance Festival. She has performed professionally with The Contemporary Dance Company, John Gamble Dance Theatre, X-Factor, Attack Theatre, and LABCO Dance, and for artists including Sarah Skaggs, B.J. Sullivan, and Karla Wolfangle.
In March of 2008, Desko opened a new performing arts facility, The Grey Box Theatre, in revitalized Lawrenceville, PA. The space is designed as a black-box style theatre and will foster a vibrant performing arts scene in Pittsburgh. The Grey Box will not only produce artists, events, workshops and performances, but will also offer its theatre as a rental house to individual artists, arts organizations, and other entities for use of performances, fundraisers, exhibits, rehearsals, classes, meetings, social events, and more.
Desko worked as the Administrator for Attack Theatre, a Pittsburgh-based multimedia dance company. Co-directors, Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope present their work locally, regionally, and internationally. In 2006, Desko graduated as a participant of the Leadership Development Initiative (LDI) program as part of Leadership Pittsburgh Inc.
http://www.greyboxtheatre.com/