Marisa Bianan (she/her) obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Western Michigan University in April 2018. Through her studies, Marisa had the privilege to work with choreographers including Jeremy Blair, Monique Haley, Carolyn Pavlik, and Brendan Duggan. Since graduating, Marisa has presented various choreographic works in the Midwest including at the 2019 Midwest RADFest and Inaside’s Summer 2022 in-person/virtual hybrid concert. Recent accolades include becoming a finalist for the 2021 Maggie Allesee Choreography Competition, receiving a commission to create a new work for Western Michigan University’s First Year Performance class, which premiered in February 2022, and being accepted into the 2023 + 2024 Detroit Dance City Festival Choreographer’s Showcase. Most notably, she received the 2024 Detroit Dance City Festival's Best Choreographer Award and is welcome to present at the 2025 Festival. Marisa stepped into the role of Artistic Director with Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers in 2024 and is looking forward to imparting her artistic vision to the Southwest Michigan dance community.

Annika Johansson is a dance artist from Minneapolis, Mni Sota Makoce. They create dance for both theaters and public spaces and have shown work at the Casket Arts Building, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Red Eye Theater's Works in Progress, and ARENA DANCES' Candy Box Dance Festival. Recently they self-produced the show LILACS at the Red Eye Theater. They are passionate about collaboration and investigating process and bring the same curiosity to projects of all scopes. As a performer, Annika has sought opportunities to work with a variety of local artists and collect creative experiences. When citing their experience as an artist and body, they return to thank the trans and queer elders and friends who helped them ask questions and discover their truest self.

April Sellers is a choreographer with a desire to lift and celebrate ignored streams in society. She founded the April Sellers Dance Collective in 2002 to use dance to create new, more equitable futures, especially for the queer community. Using pop culture, politics, and queer histories, she infuses life’s extreme moments and human stories with dance craft, controlled bedlam and superb comedic chops. In 2021 she received the National Dance Project Production Grant for her most recent work, Rumble Strips. In 2017 she received the award “Artist of the Year” by City Pages for her performance, Animal Corridor. Her works have been commissioned by The Right Here Showcase, Candy Box Festival, Intermedia Arts, Southern Theater Hennepin Theater Trust and Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis and Dancing Queerly in Boston. Her artistic work has been supported with fellowships/grants from National Endowment for the Arts, MN State Arts Board, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, Ohio Partners for the Arts and McKnight. She received a Sage Award for Outstanding Performance for “House of Big Love”, created and performed with collaborator Judith Howard, site specific at a St Paul residence.  Over the past decade, Sellers’ work has been recognized by invitations to several well-known artist residencies, including the Djerassi Resident Artists Program (Santa Cruz CA), Maggie Allesee Center for Choreography (Tallahassee FL) Tofte Lake Center (Ely MN) Centrum (Port Townsend WA) South Porch (Summerville SC) and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Thesis Residency, where she received her MFA in Dance. 

Ayumi Shafer is an educator, choreographer, and mover currently active in the Twin Cities and greater area. Originally from California, Ayumi has now been teaching since 2006 in various cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Eugene, and Minneapolis. She earned a BA in Dance and Choreography from San Francisco State University (2009), as well as a MFA in Dance from the University of Oregon (2013). As she continues to teach in both public and private institutions, Ayumi has focused on collaborating with local artists in both dance and other disciplines. In 2014, she co-founded DanceBARN Collective with her dance partner, Molly Johston. DanceBARN is a nonprofit organization committed to creating dance opportunities for artists, performers, educators and audience members in rural communities. Ayumi and Molly strive to build community, create innovative dance through collaboration, and nurture the creative minds and bodies of our communities. Ayumi is also immersed in the community at Jeté Dance Centre in Rogers MN, serving as Assistant Director and working with youth of all ages, in many genres from Musical Theatre to Improvisation. 

Recently, Ayumi had the opportunity to collaborate with Jagged Moves on a residency at the Southern Theater, and has had other opportunities to share her performance and creative experiences through the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Off-Leash Area, The Cowles Center’s Generating Room, 6x6 Solos, and Candy Box Festival. Drawing inspiration from the idea of play, the freedom to act on our impulses, and active curiosity, she strives to create work that tells a story. She is enthusiastic about sharing dance with all members of her communities, and continues to organize events for people with all types of experiences in art and life. 

When Ayumi is not teaching or working, she enjoys her days with her husband and 2 kids. Usually catching a movie, crafting, cooking, or romping at a playground.

Benjamin is a performer, designer, and massage therapist from Northern Michigan. He is the founder and Artistic Director of The Croft Residency, a dance residency in Horton Bay, MI. His personal movement practice centers on moving meditation, with a focus on somatic, intentional, and metaphoric improvisational movement. He uses the tools of Body Mind Centering (BMC) and the Tamalpa Life Art Process (TLAP) as lenses and languages to engage in his explorations and facilitations.

Kelsey Paschich is a versatile dance artist whose work integrates traditional dance with emerging technologies, blending physicality with digital innovation to explore new performance modes. Holding an MFA from the University of New Mexico and a BFA from Point Park University, Paschich is also a certified Countertechnique® teacher and serves as Assistant Professor of Innovation in Dance at Western Michigan University. Her 20-year international performance career spans collaborations with The Moscow State Classical Ballet, DCDC2, Thodos Dance Chicago, River North Chicago Dance Company, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others. As a choreographer, she delves into the synergy of dance with AI, motion capture, and film, presenting her interdisciplinary works globally at festivals in Asia, Canada, Europe, and the U.S.

Stephanie Rankin is a dancer, choreographer, administrator, and educator. She holds a Bachelors of Arts from Hope College (MI) in Dance Performance /Choreography and Communication and a Masters in Arts Administration from Drexel University (PA). Stephanie has produced and choreographed shows throughout Chicago and the US, has been a guest dance professor for Hope College and Yuma High School, and a participant of an international dance program in Israel. Currently she is working with Strike Time Dance Company at Hope College, performing with the Rooted Space Company, dancing for Kim Baker Choreography, and developing a dance film series around the concept of home.  She currently lives in Chicago (right by the lake), enjoys upcycling furniture, visiting thrift stores, collecting 70s folk rock vinyl, traveling, and muffins.