Mutual Dance Theatre: Up-Close

Countess V. Winfrey, a native of Nashville, TN, currently serves as a performer, teaching artist, choreographer, and rehearsal director for the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. Winfrey attended the University of Memphis and also performed with ClancyWorks Dance Company (Washington, D.C.). She has choreographed works for Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, DCDC2, The Ohio State University, ClancyWorks Dance Company, and Kazyna Dance Company, plus an evening-length production entitled “Memories of Walking in Memphis,” which was commissioned for the University of Memphis. Career highlights include appearing as a soloist in “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder” at the world-famous Bolshoi Theater (DanceMotion USA tour) and at Lincoln Center during Donald McKayle’s Memorial performance.  Additionally, she has toured nationally and internationally to Russia, Kazakhstan, China, and Bermuda. She has performed works by Ulysses Dove, Donald McKayle, Ray Mercer, Dwight Rhoden, Ronald K. Brown, Debbie Blunden-Diggs, Abby Zbikowski, Dianne McIntyre, and Donald Byrd.

Stevie Lamblin was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio and has been dancing ever since. They started in the studio environment at 3 years old and studied  ballet, pointe, modern (Horton), tap, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, Tahitian, and Hawaiian. They started in DCDC’s second company at age 18 and received an apprenticeship by their senior year of college. Throughout this time, they engaged in deeper study in ballet, modern, contemporary and African. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in behavioral neuroscience and psychology from Wright State University, they immediately began working and touring full-time as a professional artist with DCDC.

During this time, Stevie was attending school for their Master of Science degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. They graduated summa cum laude in 2019 and became nationally certified and professionally licensed as a counselor in the state of Ohio. Their accomplishments earned them a spot in Wright State’s 2019 “Woman of The Year” and an article and feature titled “Balancing Act” wherein Stevie discusses the duality and connection of their career paths. After 8 years with DCDC’s organization and a full caseload, they decided to retire from the stage…or so they thought! They returned to the stage with Mutual Dance Theatre in 2021 and completed two seasons with the company. In 2022, they joined the Dayton Dance Initiative (DDI), a collaboration of artists from DCDC and Dayton ballet.

They have had the immense pleasure of working professionally with Kirsten Ulrich, Donald Byrd, Bridget L. Moore, Ray Mercer, Francesca Harper, Ronald K. Brown, Sidra Bell, Crystal Michelle,
Debbie Blunden-Diggs, Stevan P. Evans, Robert J. Priore, Glenda Figueiredo, and Victor Lewis Jr. of Philadanco. They have also performed the works of Dwight Rhoden.

Stevie is fresh into the choreography sphere. They were asked to choreograph for DDI in 2023 and created “Pertho”, a piece based on ancient Norse divination tools used by Vikings. They are both humbled and excited to be creating a full length work for Mutual Dance Theatre. They hope to showcase how their background in psychology has enhanced their artistic lens.

Some of Stevie’s favorite memories as a professional are performing “This I Know for Sure” by Ray Mercer at the Shanghai Dance Festival in China, touring to Bermuda in 2019, and performing at TEDx as part of their DDI premiere in 2019.
Stevie attributes much of their growth as an artist to the mentorship of beloved Audra Kucharski (1981-2022) and Shonna Hickman-Matlock, as well as the unconditional love and support of their mom, sister, and father (1960-2022).

When they are not on stage or working with clients, Stevie can be found water color painting or playing with their pet jumping spiders!