ALTERNATIVE SPACE

  • RE|dance group presenting choreography by Michael Estanich

    Michael Estanich and Lucy Vurusic Riner formed RE|dance group in 2009 as a means to explore long distance collaboration since he lives in Stevens Point, WI and she lives in Chicago, IL. Michael's creative research currently examines ideas about the intersection of the physical body with space, architecture, and landscape often resulting in dances supported by sculptural environments. He is a Professor of Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he teaches modern dance technique, composition, dance pedagogy, movement analysis and dance history. He also serves as the Chair for the Department of Theatre and Dance. He earned his MFA from The Ohio State University and his BFA from Denison University. He is the Mainstage Choreographer at the Trollwood Performing Arts School in Moorhead, MN and Vice President of Nominations and Elections for the American College Dance Association (ACDA).

  • Stephanie Miracle is an international choreographer and teaching artist investigating the intersections of seen and unseen landscapes. Her highly collaborative practice is invested in the concept of abundance found within awareness and play. Her dances manifest as place-based performance interventions, sound walks, experimental films and stage productions. Described as “iconic and nuanced…with an irreverence that makes you smile unconsciously”, Stephanie's works have been presented in NYC, DC, Los Angeles, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Hungary, Portugal, and France. She is an Assistant Professor in Dance at the University of Iowa, a certified teacher of Klein Technique, and the artistic director of FAKERS CLUB: a live cinema performance project.

DURATIONAL

  • Kayla Schiltgen is an artist from rural Two Harbors, Minnesota blending dance, film, and improvisation to experiment with the conditions of her personal truth and the gentler world she envisions. Her screendance, installations, and live performances are a means of manifesting her vision—both for herself and audiences—inviting action towards shared possibilities.

    Kayla’s work has been showcased regionaly, nationally, and internationally at venues including Walker Art Center, International Meeting on Video-Dance and Video-Performance, North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival, InShadow Screendance Festival, Duluth Superior Film Festival, Arena Dance’s Candy Box, The Lab at NorShor Theater, and the Minnesota Fringe Festival, among others. Her work is supported by multiple Minnesota State Arts Board and Arrowhead Regional Arts Council grants. She is a 2022 Upstream Artist Fellow and has been recognized as a creative rural leader in the Upper Midwest by Springboard for the Arts. Kayla is a passionate advocate for rural communities and art. You can learn more about her work on social media @kaylaschiltgen and at kaylaschiltgen.com

SHORT WORKS

  • Anniela Huidobro (she/her) is a Mexican dancer, choreographer and dance educator. Graduated from the Mazatlan Professional Dance School (EPDM), she has received the PECDA Morelos Grant three times (2015, 2018 and 2024), and the IBERESCENA Grant in 2021. Finalist in the 2025 Lab Artists Program by the Chicago Dancemakers Forum. With more than 10 years of professional dance experience, Anniela has performed at various festivals and projects across Latin America: Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, as well as in different Festivals in Mexico. In the United States, she has performed her work at the Newport Dance Festival in Rhode Island (2023), the Delve Dance Showcase (2023), and in “Meditation On Being”, organized by the Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (2024). In 2024 she was invited to be a guest choreographer for the Boston Dance Theater company and to perform in the One Hour Project in Chicago. Currently residing in Chicago, Anniela teaches dance classes and workshops at various schools and cultural centers throughout the area. She has also taught workshops to the University of Chicago dance community and works as a teaching artist with Urban Gateways. She is a dance artist interested in creating environmental awareness, as well as reconnecting with our roots and ancestors.

  • Caitlin Wonsowski is an emerging choreographer and performer based in Chicago. She trained at USA Ballet Academy and Illinois State University before earning her BA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago in 2024, where she worked with choreographers like Michelle Gibson and Darrell Jones. Integrating her passion for movement and her interest in psychology, Caitlin has choreographed pieces such as “Echoes of Conditioning,” and co-choreographed work such as “Upraise of Uncertainty”. Since graduating, she has worked with Nexus Performing Arts, Phree, and Chih-Jou Cheng while continuing to create original works.

    Najah, a 21-year-old dancer from Phoenix, IL, began her journey in high school, training at studios like Gus Giordano Dance School, and Joel Hall Dancers and Center. She studied dance and musical theater at Columbia College Chicago, discovering her passion for contemporary, House, and improvisational styles. With a background in classical piano from The Chicago High School for the Arts, Najah aims to establish herself as a multidimensional artist.

  • Casey Avaunt is a contemporary dance maker committed to creating innovative choreography projects. Her work has toured to a number of national and international venues including the Sheung Wan Civic Center (Hong Kong), Dance Theater Workshop (New York City), the National Experimental Theater (Taiwan), Meridian Gallery (San Francisco), The 21st Major Network Cities Asia Festival (Bangkok, Thailand), and the Jakarta International Performing Arts Festival (Indonesia). From 2022-23, she was an artist-in-residence at the North Carolina Dance Project, and she was selected for the North Carolina Tobacco Road Dance Production’s "In Concert Series" in 2024. Casey has received a Mellon Foundation award, a Pike's Peak Arts Award, and three Maxwell H. Gluck Arts Fellowships.Casey graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts with an M.F.A. in Choreography.

  • Claire Porter of Claire Porter / PORTABLES www.cportables.com is a writer, dancer and choreographer with an extensive record of performances in Europe, Asia and in the USA. Porter is a Guggenheim Fellow and has received National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowships, New Jersey State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellowships and Mid-Atlantic Choreography Fellowships. She has received many university commissions for her work, including Out of The Question for Purchase College and Sentenced to Sentences for Montclair State’s New Works Initiative. She has created Falling for Prepositions with composer Mary Ellen Childs for singer Marla Berg and herself with support from a New Music for Dance Grant. Porter has an MA in Dance from Ohio State, a BA in Mathematics and is a Laban Movement Analyst. She will be conducting a Writing and Moving Creativity week this coming summer in Maine, www.bearnstow.org.

  • Dan Schuchart is an interdisciplinary artist and educator, serving as the Artistic Director of Wild Space Dance Company, where he has been involved since 2002 as a company member and choreographer. Founded in 1986 by Debra Loewen, Wild Space is known for its site-specific works and artistic collaborations that blend humor, clever choreography, and emotionally charged dance. Under Schuchart's leadership, the Milwaukee-based company continues its mission to explore diverse cultural landscapes through provocative choreography and site-based performances. The company cultivates creative experimentation, innovation, and collaboration by investing in local artists, and engages audiences with dance in a shared experience of place and community. Schuchart holds BFA degrees in Dance and Painting/Drawing from the UW-Milwaukee, an MFA in Experimental Choreography from UC-Riverside, and Graduate Laban Certificate from Columbia College Chicago. He has choreographed over 40 works across the U.S. and is a Teaching Faculty member at UW-Milwaukee's Department of Dance.

  • DAWN KARLOVSKY is the Founder and Director of Karlovsky & Company Dance, a contemporary modern dance-theater company based in St. Louis, MO. Her choreography has been commissioned and presented by universities and companies both nationally and internationally, with credits including Le Théatre du Rouret and Cie Haute Tension in France, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and New World Dance Theatre in South Africa. Recently, she served as an Artist in Residence at Moulin Belle in France. Drawing inspiration from human interactions and behaviors, Karlovsky’s somatically-driven approach often involves collaboration with musicians, visual artists, poets, and filmmakers. A Chicago native, she danced with companies in San Francisco, Louisville, and Chicago before moving to St. Louis in 1997. She holds an MFA from the University of Utah and a BA from Northern Illinois University and currently teaches in the dance departments of Webster University and Washington University in St. Louis. A nationally certified teacher with the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT), Karlovsky serves as Chair for the Committee for the Alexander Technique in the Performing Arts, fostering a holistic approach to movement and creativity. Dawn Karlovsky is a recipient of an Artist Fellowship in Dance awarded by The Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.

  • Fever Dream Dance Collective is directed by Chicago-based choreography and performance couple, Anna Caffarelli and Crimson Moeller. During their six years of collaboration, their choreography has been presented at New Dances Chicago, Agropoli Danza Festival, JELLO, Full Tilt, NYU Pride Residency, and several self-produced shows.

    Crimson and Anna enmesh their creative visions to produce a universe onstage that is both aesthetically heightened and fleetingly familiar. They use detailed emotive gestures, sweeping traveling passes, and distinctive spatial tableaus to drive narrative. Anna Caffarelli comes from a contemporary and improvisational based background with a choreographic interest in the shifting power dynamics of human relationships. Crimson Moeller finds her roots in Ballet and the Seattle grunge scene and creates work that exists in an alternate universe saturated with dreamy rebellion. As a collaboration, they create work that questions power structures, highlights chaos, and envisions a better future.

  • For 19 years, Stacie taught at Nashville School of the Arts (NSA). At NSA, she developed dancers who performed on Broadway, with The Louisville Ballet, Boston Ballet, Celine Dion, Donna Summer, DCDC and various other professionals in the concert and commercial dance community. She has served as dance faculty at Vanderbilt University Dance Program and was chosen to be a visiting artist at American College Dance Festival, RADfest, and Big River Dance Festival.

    In 2016, Stacie earned her certification in Laban Movement Analysis through the Integrated Movement Studies Program at the University of Utah. After her certification, Stacie has studied with Deborah Hay, Christopher Roman, KJ Holmes, and other great dance makers of the current times.

    In 2019 Stacie left her teaching career to begin her dream of opening her own sanctuary for artist and go back to the root of art through reestablishing community.

  • Ginny Ching-Yin Lo is the founder and artistic director of Identity Performing Arts since 2016. She was born in Hong Kong and trained with the Hong Kong Ballet; Ginny had danced with the Boitsov Classical Ballet and the Illinois Ballet Theater. She holds a B.A. in dance from Columbia College, Chicago and an M.A. in Communication and Culture from Trinity International University, IL. Ginny has taught dance in studios, public schools and conferences from beginner to professional level. She had served on dance faculty at Tongji University in Shanghai, China. She led the Shanghai Migrant Performing Troupe which was integral to Ginny's life mission to share their spiritual faith. Her choreography have been performed in the U.S., China, France and Germany; a variety have been nominated for the Chicago Dance Achievement Awards. Dance is her vehicle to express societal issues, with the intent to heal and restore the community.

  • Hannah MacKenzie-Margulies (she/her) is a multidisciplinary choreographer, dancer, and movement educator and based in Minneapolis, MN. She is a founding member of sub.set dance and served as the 2023 Lab II Emerging Choreographer for Ballet Co.Laboratory. Hannah is an alumna of Doug Varone and Dancers’ DEVICES and ODC’s Pilot choreographic mentorship programs. Raised in Lexington, Massachusetts, she trained at the Lexington School of Ballet, the Boston Ballet School, the Joffrey Ballet School, and the Vertigo International Dance Program and is a graduate of Reed College. Her work has been presented at the Walker Art Center, Manhattan Movement Arts, the Ten Tiny Dances festival, TBA: The Works, hq pdx, SpectorDance, Studio Azul, and ODC’s Studio B. Find her online at hannah-mm.com.

  • Jacob Henss is a dancer, producer, choreographer, and teacher primarily based in the Midwest. He currently works at Illinois State University as an Assistant Instructional Professor. Prior, Henss has been an adjunct faculty member at Millikin University where he was awarded outstanding adjunct faculty in 2023. Henss also was a Lecturer for the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign (UIUC). He holds an MFA in Dance from UIUC (2019-22) where he was awarded the award for best graduate performer in 2021 & 2022. He is also a graduate of Webster University (2013–17) with a BA in Dance and Music where he was awarded dance honors and the emerging choreographer award.

    Henss has performed with the Modern American Dance Company (MADCO), located in St. Louis, MO. Post-undergraduate graduation, Henss includes the Artistic Director for Space Station Dance Residency, an organization dedicated to presenting experimental dance work in the greater St. Louis area.

  • Mandy graduated from University of Cincinnati Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Ballet performance. She received additional training at the Graham School for Contemporary Dance, Beijing Dance Academy, Dance Works Chicago, Interlochen Center for the Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and Perry-Mansfield. She has worked with companies from all over the midwest such as Mamluft & Co., Dance Kaleidoscope, Winifred Haun & Dancers, Simantikos Dance, Cocodaco Dance Company and Kanopy Dance Company. Mandy is currently Rehearsal director and dance artist with Darvin Dances.

    Since moving to Chicago in 2017 her choreographic work has been shown at the Links Hall, Pleasant Home, Dance Chance, Going Dutch Festival, First Draft, The Garage at Dovetail Studios and the Simantikos Choreographic Competition.

  • Monique Haley, a respected creative educator in her field, is an Associate Professor of Dance (College of Fine Arts) and African American and African Studies (Institute for Intercultural and Anthropological Studies) and a Faculty Fellow in Community and Engagement for the College of Arts and Sciences at Western Michigan University. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Dance and Performing Arts from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Her scholarly research, featured in the informative jazz book Rooted Jazz: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the 21st Century, focuses on African cultural values and cultivating a unique ethos and sense of ritual in contemporary jazz dance pedagogy. She has worked with several national dance companies as a choreographer and has performed in numerous regional musical theater productions in the Chicagoland area. Ms. Haley's influence extends to the American Dance Festival (ADF) Summer Dance Intensive (contemporary jazz dance technique/repertory), where she uses the Diasporic Encounter Method (DEM)— a working methodology devised by Haley focuses on African cultural values, cultivating visceral veracity and collective ethos in contemporary jazz dance pedagogy. In this new year, she will recruit for ADF at the International Conference and Festival of Blacks in Dance (IABD) in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and implement her rooted jazz Africanist perspective, DEM, as the foundational framework for the Joffrey Midwest Summer Intensive (Detroit) program in June 2025. Asé

  • Sitting in the question of how aesthetics shape content and meaning, Penelope Freeh makes new dance performance. She is a two-time McKnight Fellow for Choreographers and was a member of James Sewell Ballet for seventeen years, serving as Artistic Associate from 2007-11. Unfashioned Creature, a Choral Ballet created with composer Timothy C. Takach, was named a Top Ten Most Memorable Dance Event of 2023 by Minneapolis’ StarTribune. She holds a master’s in dance from Hollins University and currently serves as Visiting Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of MFA Dance at Hollins.

  • Peter Sparling is Rudolf Arnheim Distinguished University Professor
    Emeritus of Dance and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Emeritus at University of Michigan. A graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and The Juilliard School, Sparling danced with the companies of José Limón and Martha Graham and directed Dance Gallery/Peter Sparling Dance Company. His videos have been screened globally, including festivals in New York City, Lisbon, and Paris. He is a published poet/essayist and has shown his paintings in five solo exhibits and numerous group shows.
    Since retiring from U-M in 2018, he has enjoyed painting in his home studio and serving numerous guest artist residencies.

  • Artists Emily "Lady Em" Culbreath and Joshua "Bboy Supa Josh" Culbreath are Snack Break Movement Arts, a performance duo specializing in Hip Hop dance education, event curation, and interdisciplinary performance works inspired by street dance. Respectively, Emily and Josh are rehearsal and assistant artistic directors for the renowned street dance theater company Rennie Harris Puremovement. They are graduate fellows at the University of Iowa's MFA dance program. Snack Break's duet entitled "Rock, Paper..." was recently included in San Fransisco International Hip Hop Dance Festival's 25th-anniversary program and received the award for "Best Duo" at Summer Dance Forever's online theater competition in 2022. Snack Break seeks to pay homage to the integrity of African-American vernacular dance while challenging the way audiences consume street dance through theatrics, the concert stage, digital media, and contemporary movement practices. They aim to build community through the power of storytelling and the excavation of intersectional identities. Confirming that the bio looks good. We would only add our IG handle @snackbreakmovementarts
    and our website     https://www.snackbreakmovementarts.com/ to the end of the bio.

  • Anna Pinault is a Twin Cities native, working around the country as a dance artist and educator. Her most recent performance work includes projects with TU Dance, Black Label Movement, Rovaco Dance Company, and the Des Moines Metro Opera. Anna has performed works by Yusha-Marie Sorzano, Stephanie Batten Bland, Ronald K. Brown, Trebien Pollard, Alanna Morris, Isaac Martin Lerner, Rohan Bhargava, Joe Chvala, Dani Cole, Chafin Seymour, Gabe Katz, Kora Radella, Angelica Sitskin, and Catherine Cabeen, among others. Her recent choreographic creations include works commissioned by TU Dance’s CULTIVATE Program, Black Label Movement: Movers Make, Zenon Dance School, Perpich Center for Arts Education, and The Walker Art Center’s Choreographer’s Evening. Anna is also passionate about sharing the power of dance through education, and teaches local classes in improvisational exploration, contemporary floorwork, and the Horton technique. Website: www.annapinault.com. Instagram: @anna_pinault.

  • Mike Esperanza is a multifaceted creative force, celebrated for his transformative contributions to the world of dance and choreography. With an innate ability to merge contemporary aesthetics with authentic storytelling, Mike has captivated audiences worldwide. His journey began in Los Angeles and currently in New York City, where he honed his craft, drawing inspiration from urban culture and the human experience. As an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and artistic director, Mike has choreographed for renowned educational programs and companies such as WhimW’him, Noble Motion, LACDC, Urbanity, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, leaving an indelible mark on the dance landscape. Mike has presented on prestigious stages including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Sergerstrom Center for the Arts, McCalllum Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Salvatore Capezio Theater at Peridance, The Royal Conservatory in Cordoba, Spain, and the Australian Circus Festival. Mike’s work has been described as “bold, athletic movement and theatricality – the latter clearly the coming together of Esperanza’s many talents – the company epitomizes the dance of the new millennium: shape-shifting, vernacular-blending with a prescient focus on the brave new world in which we live.” ~ Jessica Abrams, Explore Dance. Mike recently danced for Ariana Grande at the 2024 Met Gala as well as her music video “Yes, and?”

  • Alys Ayumi Ogura is a storyteller, dancer and performance maker through her movements, voice, and quirky humor. A native of Japan and based in Twin Cities, Ogura has been performing since 2010, and she has worked with more than 40 artists—near and far—including Hauser Dance, Emily Johnson/Catalyst, ASDC, KEDC, Emily Gastineau, Sandrine Harris, Kata Juhasz, Pam Gleason, Pramila Vasudevan, and Laurie Van Wieren. She performed some of her newest works at the 2024 Choreographers’ Showcase at the Keshet Dance and Center for the Arts, Albuquerque, New Mexico and at Dances at the Lake Festival (2024), Minneapolis, Minnesota.

    Ogura is a former Arts Organizing Institute Fellow (2017-18) through the Pangea World Theater, a Naked Stages fellow (2021) through the Pillsbury House + Theatre, and an Isolated Act cohort at the Red Eye Theater’s New Works 4 Weeks Festival (2023). She is a current steering-committee member for DanceMN.

  • Braeden Barnes is a Chicago based director, choreographer and teacher. He found his love of choreography from a young age and has created work for over 15 years. Braeden danced professionally with companies including Balletmet, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Billy Elliot the Musical, Nevada Ballet Theatre and Visceral Dance Chicago. He has worked with choreographers such as James Canfield, Paul Vasterling, Danielle Agami, Kevin O’Day, Mónica Cervantes, Marguerite Donlon, Matthew Neenan, and Lucas Crandall.

    As a choreographer, his work has been featured across the United States and abroad. Among these places, his work has won the first-place audience choice award at REVERBDance festival in New York, as well as first place for best choreography at YAGP in 2021. He has choreographed on companies such as Nevada Ballet Theatre, Cirque Du Soleil, Visceral Dance Chicago, Peoria Ballet, Waterstreet Dance Milwaukee, A&A Ballet, Common Conservatory, Indiana University Contemporary Department and for New Dances: a collaboration between Danceworks and Thodos Dance Chicago.

    In 2020, he started his own nonprofit danced-based company, Symbiosis Arts, which is based in Chicago.Symbiosis has produced full evening performances in Chicago and Denver and has commissioned choreographers such as Anna Long, Francisco Avina, Shannan Alvis, Jason Parsons, and Noelle Kayser. Symbiosis Arts is taking an expanded approach to incorporate multiple mediums of art, in hopes of questioning norms, building unorthodox collaborations, and being open-minded about how art can be seen and consumed.

  • Halie Bahr (she/hers) is an active choreographer, performer, educator, and
    scholar who researches the socio-political implications of trauma in the creative process. She loves creating performances that are playful, sincere, candy-colored-bright, visceral, over-the-top-spectacles that pull at your heartstrings or make us re-think our world. She was most recently awarded the Utah Division of Arts & Museums Performing Arts Fellowship (2024) for her distinguished professional career advancement within the State of Utah.

    Halie is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Southern Utah University. She has presented work and performed across the nation. Halie holds her MFA from the University of Utah School of Dance, BFA from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and is a Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst (CLMA). For more information, please visit. www.haliebahr.org

  • Driven by a spirit of nomadism and chance, Jen Passios and Jacob Regan (J&J) have spent the last 6 years engaged in a 24/7 life collaboration. Honing in on the realities of everyday existence, the pair focuses on creating situations for partnership through teaching, performance, writing, travel, and choreography. With shared backgrounds in Contact Improvisation and contemporary dance, Jen and Jacob create and live from standpoints of immediacy, trust, co-authorship, and mutual allowance. They have performed and taught together across four time zones, including notable engagements at the Boulder International Fringe Festival, East Carolina University, Barnstorm Dance Fest, Texas Dance Improvisation Festival (TDIF), the National Dance Education Organization’s 2024 National Conference, and Sam Houston State University where Jacob is currently on faculty and Jen is a third year MFA Candidate in Dance.

  • Julie Marie Muskat is a freelance dancer, choreographer, teacher, and stage manager currently based in the Twin Cities and originally from Texas. She is a summa cum laude graduate of the inaugural class of Alonzo King's LINES Ballet BFA Program in San Francisco, CA, and of Interlochen Arts Academy in MI. She has worked across the US, Israel, and Italy, dancing with companies such as Threads Dance Project, Vox Medusa, Revolution Dance Theatre, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and Compagnia AiEP. She is the founder of Deeper Water Arts & Mind/Body Center, which provides dance, cross training, and health and wellness opportunities for young people and adults. She has also worked as the operations and technology manager for an I/O psychology consulting firm.

  • Mauriah Donegan Kraker is a midwesterner, a collaborative performance maker, a long-distance walker primarily invested in slow travel: walking around the block and through the city as a means of attending to choreographic unfolding of time cycles in the body + land. Her movement practices are shaped by her time competing as an Olympic-level athlete; endurance, duration + precise framing of body/land are drivers in the creation of place-based works. Mauriah's work has been presented in the Italian Alps, deserted building in Asia, under highway underpasses, along rivers + in prairie sites in the Midwest. As a collaborative performer, she has danced at New York City’s Danspace Project, 92nd St Y, The Chocolate Factory, Dance Theater Workshop, Center for Performance Research and Roulette. She is a recent recipient of both Ucross + MacDowell Fellowships and teaches at Lawrence University (Appleton, WI), creating practices for the performing artist, athlete. IG: @mauriah.k

  • Elijah Alhadji Gibson, dance educator, choreographer, and activist, is the Artistic Director of Social Movement Contemporary Dance Theater, a Houston based professional dance company he founded in 2019 after an international career as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer and a long-standing career in Higher Education. Gibson is also on faculty at exas A&M University and serves as
    the Associate Program Director for the BS in Dance Science and Dance Minor. Originally from San Diego, California, he began dancing with the San Diego Civic Dance Association and attended the San Diego School for the Performing
    Arts. Gibson studied dance in college and later earned his Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He has been on faculty and has held residencies at several universities across the nation. Gibson’s work has received critical acclaim and has been performed by invitation at the Kennedy Center and Jacob's Pillow.

  • Sophia Perone is a graduate student at New York University, pursuing a degree in Performing Arts Administration. She completed her undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University and The Peabody Institute, earning a B.A. in Political Science and a B.F.A. in Dance. Currently, she collaborates with Mignolo Dance, and her choreographic work has been showcased at Koresh Dance Company, Baltimore Theater Project, Peridance KnJ Theater, Palm Springs International Dance Festival, and The Peabody Institute. Sophia perceives dance not only as a form of performance but also as a vital medium for political discourse, social development, community building, and cultural preservation.

    Originally from Florida, Harry Sukonik began his dance training at The Naples Academy of Ballet and In Motion Dance Project. He continued his academic and artistic studies at Johns Hopkins University/The Peabody Institute, graduating as a Sandra Hittman Scholar. In 2024, he joined The Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Aida, in addition to joining Jennifer Muller/The Works for their 50th Anniversary Season. Harry has performed choreographic works by Crystal Pite, Kevin Iega Jeff, Jennifer Muller, Christian Denice, and Daniel Nagrin, amongst others.

  • Celebrating its 44th season, Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers has enriched the Kalamazoo arts community through vibrant collaborations and modern dance and exists to offer a unique and authentic voice in modern dance which serves to inspire, engage and educate the community. Adult and youth dance classes are taught throughout the year and offer area dance students one of the community’s only opportunities to study with working professional dancers. Wellspring also hosts the annual RADFest, celebrating it's 16th anniversary, attracting dance artists who are pushing the boundaries of modern and contemporary dance.

    Angel Sutton (she/her) graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Western Michigan University in the spring of 2023. During her time at WMU, she had the opportunity to perform works by George Balanchine, Mike Esperanza, Aszure Barton, and Jeremy Blair as well as pieces of her peers’. Angel has taught in various dance education spaces for several years. Since graduation, she has earned certifications and taken courses through DEEA and NDEO to better provide for the dance community. Primarily focused in modern and ballet genres, she earned the title of Excel Dance Center’s Modern Dance Director. Most recently she has stepped into the role of Education/Outreach Coordinator for Wellspring Dance Academy. Angel looks forward to her fourth season with the company and sharing her choreography.

MICHIGAN MADE

  • Sara Kausch, originally from Toledo, Ohio, graduated as Presidential Scholar with a BFA in Dance, Minor in Nonprofit Leadership, and Certificate in Dance Studio Management from Western Michigan University in the Spring of 2022. Sara was a member of Western Dance Project, under the direction of Whitney Moncrief. She also worked with other notable mentors such as Seyong Kim and Jackie Nowicki, performing in WMU’s Winter Gala Dance Concert (2020, 2021, 2022). Sara has also performered in the Detroit Dance City Festival and Cleveland Dance Festival.
    She received the 2021 Maggie Allessee Choreography Award for a solo piece titled Ten/10, and represented WMU in the Adjudication Concert at the American College Dance Association East-Central Conference in March 2022. She worked as the Administrative/Operations Manager for The Florida Ballet, and currently is the Assistant Director of CPR Dance: Inhale Movement, and was an inaugural season company member.

  • Emma Kent graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. During her time at Grand Valley, she majored in dance and was a member of Momentum dance club. She has trained at summer intensives hosted by American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Met, Joffrey New York, Grand Rapids Ballet, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. She has performed as a guest artist with Movement Reservoir Dance Company and is a current company member of Wellspring Cori Terry & Dancers and Currents Dance Company.


    John grew up in Michigan and began dancing as a hobby before attending Columbia College in Chicago. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance, he performed with the modern dance companies Khecari and Mordine & Company Dance Theatre. In 2018 John moved to Japan, where he joined Hattori Hanzo and the Ninjas. After returning home to Michigan, John now works as a social dance instructor.

  • We are a Northern Michigan based quartet composed of two double-bass players and two dancers (One of which is a saxophonist). We're practicing the art of instant composition. Dedicating our fullest attention to the unfolding narrative. The musicians are Paul Erhard and Betsy Sokoup on Double-Bass and Yali Rivlin on Saxophone. Dancers are Benjamin Cheney and Yali Rivlin. We are committed to being attentive to what the piece needs vs what we want. Can we truly be present and allow the story to become its own entity? Viscerally, this presents us with the larger topic of adaptation to any given situation in life. How do we deal with adversity and difficulty in communication? When do we persevere and when do we let go? Can I truly be fully aware of myself and my surroundings simultaneously? Who are we as a group and who am I within that group?

  • Lynn Bowman grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River in Eastern Iowa, she started dancing in her family's living room and never stopped. Lynn has been schooled in dance at Ballet Quad Cities School of Dance, Luther College BA, The University of Iowa MFA, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (London), and Central Michigan University MA. She lives in Mid-Michigan and is interested in art-making as a form of place-making in her rural community (lynndances.com).

    Mandy makes art with her moving body. She is a certified Global Somatics® Practitioner with a B.A. in Theatre/Dance from Luther College. She co-creates site-responsive work with WEdances Movement Collaborative and is the founder of Bodies of Water Movement Arts, a creative dance program based in driftless Wisconsin. Her artistic vision is rooted in how the body materializes relationships with the wild, the forgotten and the unknown. www.mandyherrick.com

  • Storm Stokes (@stormwrks) is an eclectic contemporary dancer, choreographer, and artistic director based in MI/ NYC. Her works combine dynamic movement, videodance, projection, visual art, and site specificity to explore themes of liberation, autoethnography, and material self discovery. She has performed for artists Shamel Pitts, Jacob Jonas the Company, Rashaun Mitchell & Silas Riener, more; trained with artists Rebecca Lazier, James VuAnh Pham, Dianne McIntyre, Cameron McKinney/Kizuna Company, Samantha Spies, more; and studied at festivals Orsolina 28, b12, and ImPulsTanz.

    Storm completed a B.A. in African American Studies and Dance at Princeton University, where she combined black studies and critical choreographic research to produce a full length, proscenium work i, heresy and an accompanying thesis publication. She has received The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Toni Morrison Prize, Alex Adam ‘07 Award, and Outstanding Work awards; alongside The Badi Foster Distinguished Senior Prize in African American Studies & Departmental Honors.

  • ConteXture Dance Detroit is a non-profit dance company based in Detroit, that was founded in 2014 by artistic director, Tracy Halloran. It is a contemporary modern dance company that is interested in exploring cultural identity and the relationship between artistic expression and the human condition. Its concert works examine themes within human relationships in order to begin a dialogue on why and how we are connected to each other. ConteXture’s mission, as part of the burgeoning arts explosion in the city, is to explore and expand the urban dance identity of Detroit. Through advanced training and performance opportunities, ConteXture has developed a local corps of professional dancers in an effort to establish Detroit a nationally recognized center of dance. BIO of choreographer— Douglas Burkhardt grew up in Perrysburg, OH where he began dancing at the age of 4. He moved to New York to attend Marymount Manhattan College on scholarship under the direction of Katie Langan. While attending this illustrious institution he was a member of the Marymount Manhattan College Dance Company for three years. In 2016 he earned his BFA in dance with a concentration in ballet and choreography. At this program, he performed the works of Murray Louis, Adam Barruch, Alexandra Damiani, Emery Lecrone, Aszure Barton, Sonya Tayeh, Dwight Rhoden, and many more.

    In December 2013, he was selected to perform with the historical Nikolais/Louis Dance Company on their tour across Kunming and Beijing, China. Aside from his performances, his student-choreographed works at Marymount over four years earned him Marymount Manhattan College’s gold key in choreography representing “excellence” in the dance department.

    Outside of school, Douglas has performed in the Astaire Awards, A.C.E. Awards, BC Beat, Reverb Dance Festival, and Destiny Rising at the Joyce. Douglas also participated in the pre-production for various Broadway productions such as Wild Party, Moulin Rouge, and Rent Live on FOX with choreographer Sonya Tayeh.

    His intensive training includes Hubbard Street’s professional intensive, San Francisco Conservatory, and Springboard Danse Montreal. At these intensives he worked with renowned choreographers such as Johannes Wieland, Bobbi Jene Smith, Alejandro Cerrudo, and more.

    Currently, Douglas is a performer in Punchdruck’s widely known immersive dance theater show, Sleep No More, in New York City.

  • Roderick George, born in Houston, Texas, trained at Houston Ballet Academy, The Alvin Ailey School, and HSPVA. He won bronze at the Youth American Grand Prix (2005) and was a YoungArts Winner and Presidential Scholar of the Arts (2003). George danced for renowned companies including Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and The Forsythe Company, performing works by acclaimed choreographers. His choreography has been showcased internationally, and he's been commissioned by various dance companies and institutions. In 2015, George founded kNoname Artist, a NYC-based company blending diverse dance styles and exploring social commentary. The company has performed at numerous festivals worldwide. George's accolades include being named a YoungArts Fellow (2021-2022), receiving the Mertz Gilmore Foundation Dancer Award (2023), and the Jacob's Pillow Inaugural Fitzpatrick Award (2024). He recently received a Princess Grace Award.