Jodee Nimerichter was appointed ADF Director in 2012. Ms. Nimerichter served as the festival's Associate Director from 2003 to 2007 and Co-Director from 2007 to 2011, and becomes the first woman to direct the Festival solely in 43 years. She has worked for the Festival for the past 20 years in numerous capacities, beginning as an intern in 1992 after she discovered the ADF at the age of 16 when The New York Times critic Jack Anderson's book The American Dance Festival arrived at her parent's home in Denver, CO. What began with a book detailing the Festival's long history inspired a lifelong passion and dedication to serving the modern dance art form. Following her internship she continued on as the assistant to Charles and Stephanie Reinhart, and later became the Director of International Programs, where she helped further the ADF's mission to advance modern dance on an international platform by managing several dance festivals and exchange programs in over 20 countries.

In 1997 she worked as the associate producer of the ADF's Emmy Award-Winning Series Free to Dance, a documentary that honored the African American presence in modern dance, and ten years later, in 2007, she produced the ADF's Dancing in the Light program for PBS that showcased six historic works by African American choreographers including Katherine Dunham, Talley Beatty, and Bill T. Jones. Ms. Nimerichter went on to work for New York's Thirteen/WNET as a production member of the Great Performances: Dance in America series from 1999 to 2003, when she returned to the ADF at the request of Charles to serve as Associate Director. She also currently serves on several Boards of Directors and is a Hubsite for the National Dance Project.

photo by Sara D. Davis/ADF 2009