Patrick Mueller (Artistic Director) grew up in Lakewood, Colorado. He studied dance and performance art at Pomona College (Claremont, CA), Ohio State University, and Hollins University & American Dance Festival. He currently lives three blocks from his childhood home, with his wife Kristine and their amazing child Levi.
Patrick has performed internationally with dance companies in the U.S. and Europe, including Ben J. Riepe Kompanie (DE), Mancopy Danse (DK), Troika Ranch Dance-Theatre (NY), and Wild Heart Dance (CO). In 2016 he originated a role in Sweet & Lucky, DCPA Off-Center's immersive opus by Third Rail Projects (NY). In 2017 he served as choreographer for DCPA Off-Center's immersive production of the musical The Wild Party.
Patrick has taught dance technique and theory at Naropa University, Red Rocks Community College, Colorado Conservatory of Dance, and at various other studios, schools, and festivals.
As artistic director of Control Group, Patrick serves as Lead Vision-Holder for most company projects, and regularly performs and designs lights and physical environments.
Patrick Mueller
Caroline Sharkey (Admin team) is a freelance artist, dancer, and choreographer. Caroline is originally from Northwest Arkansas, which sits on the unceded native lands of the Osage, Caddo, Quapaw, and Sioux peoples. They attended Interlochen Arts Academy to further their formal dance training. Upon graduation, they received the Fine Artist award in dance. They have since spent time at the Alonzo King LINES BFA program and the Hubbard Street Professional Program under the direction of Alexandra Wells. Caroline has worked closely with artists such as Rena Butler, Peter Chu, Ryan Mason, Troy Ogilvie, Bobbi Jean Smith, and Johannes Wieland among others. Caroline has served as rehearsal director for works by Mark Morris and Joshua Manculich.
Find out more at carolinesharkey.com.
Caroline Sharkey
Kristine Whittle (Founding Associate Director) lives in Lakewood, CO with her husband Patrick and 11 year old child Levi. She divides her time between parenting, dancing, gardening, massage therapy, and teaching yoga.
Kristine holds a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Arizona State University. She has worked in the dance companies of Ann Ludwig (Phoenix, AZ), Barbara Grubel (NY, NY), Aura Fischbeck (SF, CA), and KC Chun/Fresh Blood (Denver, CO)., Wild Heart Dance (Boulder), and Tara Rynders Dance (Denver).
She is a founding member of Control Group Productions, and served multiple central roles through the organization’s opening years. She returned in 2020 to support the organization through this challenging period and co-lead research and development of Control Group’s Treeline series.
Kristine Whittle
Advisory Council Members
Cipriano Ortega is a visual artist, actor, musician and poet. Cipriano has been fortunate enough to have his work recognized and shown both nationally and internationally. Cipriano strives to create works of art that probe the mind and make people question what they perceive as the normative. Whether that is shown in music, theater, visual art or some sort of culmination of all of the above; Cipriano enjoys blending all creative forms of expression. As a sociological artist, Cipriano deconstructs the worlds around him and observes it under a nihilistic perspective. As an indigenous POC, they also have no choice but to deal with colonialism head on by making it a daily practice to see the divisions we as a society create and continue to make the ‘normative.'
Cipriano Ortega
Alicia ‘Bruce’ Trujilo
Alicia "Bruce" Trujillo is an arts and music professional in Denver, CO. Known professionally as Bruce, she has been working in music and arts organizations since 2006, with a mission to collaborate with communities who are systematically excluded, with a focus on independent and locally made music and art.
Trujillo is the founder of Manos Sagrados, a space for live music, artist studios, and movement, by and for marginalized communities in downtown Aurora. Manos Sagrados offers boutique booking, with clients including Denver Vibes Fest, Denver Health Foundation, and MCA Denver. Manos Sagrados partners with Baby Riot Management to offer whole person artist management to local and international artists. Trujillo and her team are also available for consulting work for arts and music, DEIA, and professional development.
Trujillo is also the Executive Director and Host for Colorful Colorado Collaborations, bringing together Colorado BIPOC musicians and local businesses for a unique concert series that celebrates collaboration, creativity and commerce.
Trujillo proudly serves on the Board of Directors for Biennial of the Americas and D3 Arts; is a 2023 appointee to the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs, and is in the inaugural Civic Center Park Community Activation Collaborative. Trujillo is a Professional Member of the Recording Academy, and serves on the Advocacy Committee. Additionally, she hosts sessions, panels, and other live events with partners across the city, does voice work and audio production, and sometimes writes for Denver Westword, with a focus on local art.
Diego Florez-Arroyo
Diego Florez-Arroyo is a full time poet, artist, and musician. Diego has worked on and produced a variety of projects from large scale prefabricated installations to immersive art exhibitions. As a multi-instrumentalist, writer, and composer, Diego is a founding member of the Denver band Los Mocochetes. He regularly performs with longtime Denver improvisational avante-garde group Art Compost and Word Mechanics at the legendary Mercury Cafe, and is a part of Soul Jazz Rock Trio The Cosmosmiths.
In 2023 he opened an art installation and exhibit at Alto Gallery of RiNo Art Park, called Mensajes Mestizos (“messages from the mixed ones”), focusing on the spectrum of diversity among Chicano and Mexicano peoples along the American southwest, and northern Mexican region, before and after the establishment of colonial borders.
