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TALLIE MARA MEDEL
works in Brooklyn as an actor, comedian, dancer and choreographer. Film credits include JOY KEVIN (Sarasota Film Festival - Winner, Outstanding Performance) THE UNSPEAKABLE ACT (BAMcinemaFest, Edinburgh International Film Festival - International Competition, Indie Night - Film Society of Lincoln Center, Sarasota Film Festival - Winner, Independent Visions Competition), UNCERTAIN TERMS (Los Angeles Film Festival), and the Nerdist Channel's GARY SAVES THE GRAVEYARD. She starred in and co-choreographed the music video for Passion Pit's Cry Like a Ghost. Tallie is from Ketchikan, Alaska, of which she is deeply proud. -
ELEANORE PIENTA
is a visual artist and actress, as well as a dancer and choreographer based out of New York City. Working mainly in video, her work explores fictional, and oftentimes absurd characters with empathy and sincerity--humor often a by-product. She recently put up a solo show, HAPPY, performed in NYC, which wove together live performance and video through character work and dance. She is responsible for creating Mona, the central character appearing in the feature film See You Next Tuesday (London Film Fest, Sidewalk Film Fest, Indie Memphis - Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance). Watch her next in the upcoming feature 7 Chinese Brothers opposite Tunde Adebimpe and Jason Schwartzman. -
SUNITA MANI
is a dancer/choreographer, improviser and actress from Dickson, TN. She has spent the past few years coming up through the Upright Citizens Brigade core improv program (Diversity Scholarship recipient, 2010) as well as improvising at The Magnet Theatre. She has been honored to represent her weird and physical self in theatrical runs of THE WEIRD ONES directed by Shannon O'Neil (UCB) and THE ACID TRIP directed by Louis Kornfeld, a spotlight series staged at the Magnet. Her acting is featured in films like Everything A Monster is Not (dir. Daniel Scheinert) and bit parts in The Unspeakable Act (dir. Dan Sallitt), Intimate Semaphores: High + Dry (dir. T.J. Misny), and the upcoming Third Street Blackout (dir. Negin Farsad). You can see her in Broad City on Comedy Central in a very diverse cast of the young and the restless of a tech company. Her dancing and choreography is featured in first-dances for Bollywood style weddings, her own solo work, all over time + space with COCOON CENTRAL DANCE TEAM, and most recently in the music video "Turn Down for What" by DJ Snake feat. Lil Jon. She can't believe this is a fact of her life.
WE ARE COCOON CENTRAL DANCE TEAM,
a choreographed dance-comedy act, and we dance until people start laughing. We have a hyper-earnest talent show quality with character-driven performances, and people love it. We’re physically adept, absurd, and committed.
We’re confident in our abilities to represent the lady wave because there’s nothing out there like us. We’re very aware of the expectations of women in comedy and we subvert those expectations with a variety of explosives.
Our diverse range (independent film, visual art, synesthesia) informs our comedy, which culls Minelli theatrics and Streep subtleties into a delightfully entertaining package. We’ve got a beat and you can dance to it.
RESUME
SOMETHING NEW: INNOVATION IN CONTEMPORARY COMEDY / Miriam Katz, MoMA PS1
OPENING CEREMONY ACT for 2013 ING NYC MARATHON / NYRR, Central Park
BREAKOUT ARTIST COMEDY SERIES feat. JOE PERA / Carolines on Broadway
BAM & IFC Present: Get It Out There / Caroline Creaghead, BAM Cafe
BROAD CITY / Abbi Jacobson & Ilana Glazer, Upright Citizens Brigade NY
THE CHRIS GETHARD SHOW / Chris Gethard, Manhattan Neighborhood Network
COCOON CENTRAL DANCE TEAM / Spank! Upright Citizens Brigade NY
COCOON CENTRAL DANCE TEAM: SPRING RECITAL / The PIT
ENTERTAINING THE BARTENDER / Jena Friedman, Ace Hotel
GENTRIFY! BROOKLYN / Upright Citizens Brigade NY
HEART OF DARKNESS / Greg Barris, Union Hall
THE MOON / Bob Walles & Nat Towsen, Union Pool
OPENING CEREMONY ING NYC MARATHON 2012 / (Cancelled, Sandy)
SHOWGASM / John Early, ArsNova
VARIETY SHAC / Shonali Bhowmik & Andrea Rosen, Upright Citizens Brigade NY
WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL 2012, WICF 2013 / Improv Boston & Oberon, Cambridge MA