Artistic Direction
Ali Woerner
Artistic Director
Ali Woerner (she/her) is the Artistic Director and Founder of Take Root
and is Associate Professor of Dance at Oakland University. She received
her MFA from the University of Michigan and BFA from Oklahoma City
University. Woerner has performed, choreographed and taught all over
the world; including Colombia, Costa Rica, Japan, Berlin and Korea. Take
Root has been in residency at the Tanz Tangente in Berlin, Germany;
teaching, creating work and performing. The company has performed at
the New Dance for Asia International Festival/Seoul, South Korea,
Incheon Yeonsu International Dance Festival/Incheon, Korea,
Uferstudios/Berlin, Cleveland Dance Fest, White Wave Dance
Festival/NYC, Austin Dance Festival, Detroit Institute of Arts, Colorado
Dance Festival, National Theater of Costa Rica, Harvest Chicago
Contemporary Dance Festival, The Music Hall Center for Performing Arts Detroit.
Woerner is the Founder/Director of Take Root’s Dance for Parkinson’s
Program, offering daily classes throughout South East Michigan, guest
lectures for the OU Graduate Neuro Interventions course, leads in-
services for physical therapists throughout southeast MI., was a guest
host for the National Parkinson’s Movement Disorder webinar, speaker for the Parkinson’s Disease Symposium, Michigan Parkinson’s Facilitator’s
Conference, Women in Dance Conference, co-authored for the Neurology Journal and the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Woerner
directs Take Root’s Arts Education Impact Outreach program, in
partnership with Center for Success, the Detroit Opera House and the
Detroit Public Schools.
Jon Anderson
Musical Director
Jon Anderson’s music has been described as “haunting,” mixing “electronic beats” with a “cocky mélange of aggression and tongue-in-cheek humor.” He writes a variety of music for traditional acoustic ensembles such as orchestra, band, and chamber groups, as well as less traditional ensembles involving interactive computer music, which frequently incorporates physical movement and dance as structural elements. Having won awards from institutions such as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Society of Composers Inc. & ASCAP, and the Pierre Schaefer International Competition of Computer Music, his works have been commissioned and performed by orchestras, ensembles, and soloists throughout the world. In addition to being Take Root's Musical Director and Composer, Anderson, Associate Professor of Music, teaches music theory and composition at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Vivian Costello
Rehearsal Director
Vivian Costello is the Rehearsal Director and a founding company member of Take Root. Vivian is a 2013 graduate of Oakland University's B.F.A. program in Dance and is McEntire Pilates certified. She was the recipient of the 2013 Matilda Award for Outstanding Dance Performance and 2019 recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award in Dance. Vivian is trained in Dance for Parkinson’s Disease, acts as Creative Director of Minty Photography, and has a schedule full of incredible Pilates clientele. Throughout her dance career she has performed nationally and internationally, but what resonates deeply within her is the importance of movement. Whether you are 5 or 95 years of age, movement can be powerful and healing. She strives to continue on a path of sharing her gifts and impacting as many lives as she can.
