Tickets & Event Registration

Performance Lineup & Artists

DURATIONAL

This work will be available throughout the festival for viewing in the Black Arts and Cultural Center in the Epic Center

See artist Dani Oblitas perform live with the installation at the following times:

  • Thursday, March 5 | 5:00-6:30 p.m.

  • Friday, March 6 | 6:00-7:30 p.m.

  • Saturday, March 1 | 1:30-3:00 p.m.

  • Dani Oblitas (they/she) is a dance artist, choreographer and educator based in Chicago, IL. She is passionate about making movement accessible to all, and views movement as a powerful tool for healing, transformation, and community-building. They graduated from St. Olaf College with a degree in both Dance and Environmental Studies. Dani has performed with Liz Sexe Dance, Helen Lee, kt Williams, Erin Kilmurray, The Seldoms, and Ishti Collective among others. Currently, they are a collaborator and performer with 773 Dance Project, Sildance/Acrodanza, and Albany Park Theater Project's Port of Entry. Dani has presented work at Links Hall as a CO-MISSION Resident for 2024/2025, Marvelous Monday, Short Stack Film Festival, FACT/SF Summer Dance Festival, Going Dutch Festival, and Outlaw of the Arts. In 2024, they completed the Essential Level Spiral Body Techniques® teacher certification with Molly Shanahan/MadShak.

MICHIGAN MADE

Thursday, March 5 | 7-8:30 p.m. | Cori Terry Theatre

Pre-Show 6:30-7 p.m. | Post-Show Talkback 8:30-9 p.m.

  • Brayden Schmitt is a professional choreographer, dancer and educator from Lansing, Michigan. His foundational dance training ranges from classical ballet to competitive genres such as hip hop and tap. Brayden enjoys letting his work be a melting pot of these dance philosophies he has learned from. As a pre professional, his piece “Betraying the Betrayed”, was awarded directors pick at Regional Dance America’s 2021 Midstates festival. Following high school, Brayden was invited into the Greater Lansing Ballet’s professional company where he was given the opportunity to present original works while working with a robust stylistic range. Brayden currently guest performs for projects, theaters and companies in the Midwest while dancing as a member for Take Root, a modern dance company in Rochester, Michigan. From concert to commercial, Brayden keeps storytelling, musicality and clarity at the forefront of his work.

  • Carolyn Pampalone Rabbers is the Executive Artistic Director and founder of CPR Dance: Inhale Movement in Southwest Michigan. She received her MFA at the University of the Arts and graduated as the Presidential Scholar with a BFA from Western Michigan University. Carolyn is an Instructional Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University, on faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and has taught at Grand Valley State University and Western Michigan University. She can be seen as ‘Abby’ in Moondance (2020) and has performed for Wellspring, Coldplay, Omi, Starbucks, Jockey Bra, Kaplan University, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Diavolo EdCo, Mariana Olivera, Clairobscur, LACDC, Nickerson-Rossi Dance, and Vox Lumiere.

    CPR Dance: Inhale Movement is a nonprofit dance company based in Southwest Michigan focused on access to professional contemporary dance while fostering community connection through performance, teaching, and collaboration. Founded on the principle of movement as essential as breath, the company blends dance, wellness, mindfulness, and justice that press into reflective evaluative works.

  • Suttle Dance Company, founded in 2013 by Artistic Director Sylvia Suttle, is a Detroit-based nonprofit modern dance company dedicated to creative exploration and artistic collaboration. The company has performed widely across metro Detroit and beyond—including the Detroit Institute of Arts, ArtLabJ festivals, Henry Ford College, the Koresh Showcase Series in Philadelphia, Going Dutch in Chicago, and with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Their original showcases since 2019 premiere to enthusiastic, sold-out audiences. Suttle Dance’s mission is to create unique, emotionally resonant experiences that inspire personal reflection. With a deep commitment to collaboration, the company seeks to build lasting relationships and strengthen Detroit’s artistic community through its work.

    Christine Howe (she/her)—selected for the Suttle Dance Emerging–Established Choreographer Program—is a dance educator, performer, and maker currently serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor at The University of Akron. She holds a BFA from Akron and an MFA in performance from The University of Iowa, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. Christine creates community-driven learning environments that spark curiosity and individual artistry. Her choreographic work has been presented by Columbus Contemporary Dance Company, The Cleveland Dance Festival, Take Up Space (Chicago), Lindenwood University, and The University of Akron.

  • Lauren Blair Smith is a professional performing artist, a choreographer, and the very proud founder of Lauren Blair Smith Dance Company in Singapore. With a BFA in Contemporary Dance with a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Lauren is currently pursuing her MFA from the University of Michigan (U-M). She is a multi-Maggie Allesee Choreography Award Finalist (2024 Screendance Winner). Lauren is a Kenan Fellow at Lincoln Center Education, an American Ballet Theatre Certified Teacher, and founder of Singapore Dance Intensive.

    Lauren performed on the Broadway National Tour of "Fiddler on the Roof" in 400+ performances in 100+ cities. Lauren’s choreography has been featured in the US, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Portugal, and Australia and has received prestigious recognition from international festivals. Lauren has also enjoyed successful collaborations with organizations such as Panasonic, Google, Jewel Changi Airport, TEDx Procter & Gamble, Certis Group, X System International, and Singapore American School. Lauren helped direct, choreograph, and organize the 2025 U-M First Year Dance Company. www.laurenblairsmith.com

  • Leah Haggard is a former professional dancer and a licensed nutritionist. After training with the Ballet Center of Houston and in the Pacific Northwest Ballet Professional Division, Leah went on to dance professionally with Grand Rapids Ballet, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Utah Metropolitan Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Ballet Memphis and Deos Contemporary Ballet. She danced in numerous classical ballet and contemporary works. During her time at Deos Contemporary Ballet, she worked with artistic director, Tess Sinke, for notable roles in many new works including Jane in Jane Eyre, Minnie Wright in Trifles, and the Firebird in Firebird. Before her retirement from Deos in August 2025, Leah choreographed for the first time with her colleagues for their Awaken performance. Leah also holds a master’s degree in nutrition and is a licensed nutritionist who specializes in sports nutrition, eating behavior, and eating disorders. She works with dancers and dance organizations on promoting dancer health and wellness in the art form.

  • Born and raised in Santiago, Chile, Andi is a choreographer, dance educator, performer, and sociologist with a multifaceted career. Her voice as an artist and educator developed through years of both practice and study, receiving her BA in Sociology at the Catholic University of Chile, then continuing to earn an MFA in Dance and Choreography from Mills College in Oakland, CA, and most recently graduating with a Master’s degree in dance education from NYU: Teaching Dance in the Professions: ABT Pedagogy.

    Since moving to the U.S., she has performed for choreographers such as Joe Landini and Molissa Fenley, while showcasing her work with “APulso DP" at many festivals and venues around the State. She has also taught at Alonzo King Lines Ballet and ABT as a teaching artist.

    Since relocating to the Midwest from NYC, she has taught on faculty at the University of Michigan Dance Department, Western Michigan University,  Alma College, and Grand Rapids Ballet, as well as choreographed for Eastern Michigan University and Grand Valley State University.

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  • 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).

  • Noelle Kayser is an award-winning choreographer, director, and multi-disciplinary performer based in Chicago. She is the inaugural resident choreographer for Open Space, a Whim W’him Choreographic Shindig winner, the 2025 BalletX Choreographic Fellow, and a 2026 Ballet Collective Commission for Developing Choreographers recipient. Noelle has created work for companies including Dance Aspen, DanceWorks Chicago, MADCO, Visceral Dance Chicago, and SALT II among many others. She served as a guest Ballet Mistress at the Lyric Opera, was the founding rehearsal director and administrator for PARA.MAR Dance Theatre (2022 Dance Magazine Top 25 to Watch), and named one of NewCity Magazines, “The 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago”. 

    In addition to her choreographic work, Noelle has performed works by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, Ihsan Rustem, Wen Wei Wang, Danielle Agami, Robyn Mineko Williams, Kevin O’Day, and Alice Klock, among many others. She has had the privilege of dancing with companies such as NW Dance Project, LED Boise, Open Space, and Visceral Dance Chicago among others. She has taught for organizations such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Goodman Theatre, and Visceral Dance Chicago. Noelle has narrated 16 audiobooks for Audible, appeared in advertising campaigns, and acted in stage productions at The Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and The Alliance Theatre among others. Most recently, she won the 2024 Jeff Award for Best Ensemble for her performance as Selene in The Penelopiad at The Goodman Theatre, and starred in Anna Long’s short film Death in the Desert (Best Actress in a Short at the Idyllwild Film Festival & Best Short Drama at the Breckenridge Film Festival).

    Western Dance Project (WDP) is a touring company offering WMU Dance students professional experience through national and local performances, guest artist residencies, masterclasses, and school outreach. The ensemble fosters artistry, resilience, and career readiness, empowering dancers to grow through real-world performance and engagement opportunities.

  • Seyong Kim, Associate Professor of Dance at Western Michigan University and International Visiting Professor at Sung-shin Women's University (Seoul, South Korea), holds an MA in Dance Education from New York University. He is a CMA (Certified Movement Analyst), a RSDE (Registered Somatic Dance Educator), and an ABT® Certified Teacher (Primary through Level 7 of the American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum). Seyong has taught for the University of Georgia, Rutgers University, John Hopkins University, Randolph College, Alabama Dance Festival, Grand Rapids Ballet, Ballet 5:8 Chicago, and Eisenhower Dance Detroit. Seyong has danced with the Metropolitan Opera in Lincoln Center, Albania National Ballet Theatre, Traverse City Dance Project, TAKE Dance, and Oakland Ballet Company. His choreographic works have been presented at Landestheater Coburg in Germany, International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City, ProArteDanza in Canada, Battery Dance Festival, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, Washington International Dance Festival, CrossCurrent Asian American Dance Festival, and Movement Research at the Judson Church. Seyong is a resident choreographer with Wise Ballet Theater in Seoul, South Korea.

SHORT WORKS: Concert I

Friday, March 6 | 7-8 p.m. | Cori Terry Theatre

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  • Audrey Martel is a multidisciplinary artist, dancer, and choreographer, living in Ojai, CA. She started her dance journey at Nordhoff High School under the direction of Kim Hoj and continued on to receive her Bachelor in Theater and Dance at UCDavis in 2020. Post graduation she helped form Stoopid Dance Company under the direction of David Grenke. She then found a home back in Ojai, CA with a local dance company, Dev Dance Theater, directed by Devin Fulton. Audrey serves as a multi disciplined performer, choreographer, and co-director with the company. Her goal is to continue to produce immersive and emotionally transformative works that challenge traditional performance spaces and narratives; celebrating the rawness, irony, and vulnerability of our humanity. Outside of the company, Audrey also focuses on mentoring local dance and choreography students, as well as crafting and showing her own solo multidisciplinary work.

  • Claire Porter, www.cportables.com, has created a series of movement and language work (solo and group pieces), that have been performed in Germany, Scotland, Holland, Latvia, Korea, and India and in the USA at The American Dance Festival, Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, Florida Dance Festival, Liberty Science Center, The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, The American College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center, and at many Universities. Porter was presented in Mikhail Baryshnikov’s GALA and has been in residence at his center in NYC. She is a Guggenheim Fellow, has received several Fellowships including those from The National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey State Council for the Arts, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, New Music USA, is a Laban Movement Analyst and teaches at Montclair State College and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

  • A mover, maker, researcher and educator, Gina Laurenzi graduated from the University of WI - Milwaukee where she earned her MFA in dance. With roots in jazz dance and contemporary ballet, Laurenzi’s professional dance career began in Chicago training at Giordano Dance Center as a scholarship student, and later as a member of Giordano II. In Milwaukee, Laurenzi’s performance career expanded as a contemporary company dancer with Danceworks Performance MKE and Wild Space Dance Company. In 2015, Gina created the Gina Laurenzi Dance Project to present and develop her own choreographic ideas alongside a collective of artist collaborators. Originally from Southeast Wisconsin, Gina was previously a Co-artistic Director at Danceworks and dance lecturer at the University of WI - Milwaukee. Gina aims to craft curious and dynamic interdisciplinary works of dance that spark wonder, and invite reflection. A passion for scuba diving and a lover of nature, Gina’s recent choreographic work explores awe, and the human impact on the planet through the medium of dance. Residing in Texas, Laurenzi continues her research as an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

  • Joanna Lees is an accomplished Minneapolis-based choreographer, performer, producer, and educator. She co-founded and leads Alternative Motion Project (AMP), where she has produced 15 shows, created 17 original works, and collaborated with over 60 Twin Cities dance artists. Her choreography—known for its physical intensity, emotional depth, and collaborative spirit—has been presented in New York City, Chicago, Louisville, Kalamazoo, Spokane, and across Minnesota. Joanna holds a BFA from The Ohio State University and an MFA from the University of Utah, where she received the L. Scott Marsh Mentorship Award and a University Teaching Assistantship. She was selected for DEVICES 5, a choreographic mentorship program with Doug Varone. Joanna’s work has been selected for adjudication at multiple Regional Conferences for American College Dance Association (ACDA). She has taught at St. Olaf College, Winona State University, University of Utah, and throughout the Twin Cities.

    Alternative Motion Project empowers and connects communities through highly physical, evocative, and collaborative contemporary dance experiences. Founded in 2011 by Kristin Howe + Joanna Lees, AMP creates professional opportunities for Twin Cities dance artists & engages with students and audiences so they may connect deeply & intentionally to the performance experience.

  • Rachel Stratton (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher from Fort Wayne, IN. She is a recent graduate from Indiana University, getting her B.F.A. in Dance from the Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance. During her time at Indiana University, Rachel has performed in works by Baba Stafford Berry Jr. (allies and activists, 2022), Professor Selene Carter (Customaries, 2023), and Professor Beatrice Capote (Concurrent Pulsations, 2024). Recent choreographic works include her first evening-length dance work, “As I Return to the Earth” (2025), “a plea to the void” (2024), and “In Place of Convalescence” (2023), which has been showcased at the Detroit Dance City Festival’s Rivera Court Stage and was selected for ACDA’s East Central Conference Gala. Her most recent work, "silence (still) = death" explores the perpetual fight for queer liberation and the necessary resilience of the queer community in the United States over the past century. She is currently working as a dance instructor in Fort Wayne, IN, at Craneisha's Dance Unlimited.

  • Marisa Bianan (she/her), Wellspring’s Artistic Director, obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Western Michigan University in April 2018. Through her studies, Marisa had the privilege to work with leading 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 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 was invited to present at the 2025 Festival. Marisa stepped into the role of Artistic Director with Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers in 2024, and is excited to impart her artistic vision within the Southwest Michigan dance community. 2025-2026 will be Marisa’s eighth season with Wellspring.

    Wellspring exists to awaken wonder, artistry, and connection through movement. Now in its 45th season, Wellspring is one of the nation’s longest-standing small professional modern dance companies. For decades, the company has welcomed thousands into the world of dance and has helped shape Kalamazoo’s arts landscape through collaborations with professional artists and through its work as a producer, presenter, and educator, through Wellspring Academy—advancing Kalamazoo as a home for modern dance that moves hearts, bodies, and minds. Wellspring is proud to present Fall and Spring Concerts of Dance, an annual four-day Regional Alternative Dance Festival (RADFest) and collaborative community performances throughout each season.  

  • Halie Bahr (she/hers) is a dance artist, educator, and scholar who researches the socio-political implications of trauma in the creative process. She loves creating both performances and educational communities that are playful, sincere, candy-colored bright, visceral, over-the-top spectacles that pull at our heartstrings or make us re-think our world.

    She has presented work and performed nationally in venues such as Movement Research at the Judson Church (New York, NY), The Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), Links Hall (Chicago, IL), among many others. Halie is a Professor of Dance at Hamline University, and is the Associate Director and Editor of loveDANCEmore, a dance publication committed to forwarding the professional work of experimental dance artists. She has held professorships within a variety of higher education contexts, including Davidson College, University of Kentucky, Southern Utah University, and the University of Utah Prison Education Project, which provides higher education to students currently incarcerated in the Utah State Prison. Halie holds her MFA from the University of Utah, BFA from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and is a Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysts (CLMA). She recently published scholarship with Dance Studies Association (2025, vol. 43), and was awarded the Utah Division of Arts & Museums Performing Arts Fellowship (2024) for her distinguished professional career advancement within the State of Utah. For more information, visit www.haliebahr.org.

ALTERNATIVE SPACE

Friday, March 6 | 8:15-9:15 p.m. | Judy Jolliffe Theatre

  • This event is FREE but registration is suggested.

    Lucy Dillon is a dance artist investigating the utility of movement for claiming embodied agency. Her work declares aliveness and unapologetic presence by researching precarity, impulse, and gravity in the body. Lucy has shared her choreography nationally—including at venues such as: Ailey Citigroup Theater (New York), Ruth Page Center (Chicago), and Levy Dance (San Francisco). She has been an artist-in-residence at Columbus’ Urban Arts Space, Levy Dance, Iowa Choreography Festival, and SAFEhouse Arts. As a performer, Lucy danced with Malashock Dance Company, Polaris Dance Theater, and Call It Art. Currently, Lucy dances with Abby Z & The New Utility. Lucy created choreography for dance majors at The Ohio State University, bringing a solo work to American College Dance Association’s Midwest Conference, and for Denison University’s Dance Company. She has an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University, and in 2024 was selected as an ATLAS Choreographer at ImPulsTanz in Vienna, Austria.

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SHORT WORKS: Concert II

Friday, March 6 | 9-10 p.m. | Cori Terry Theatre

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  • Megan Mazarick is a Philadelphia-based choreographer and performer known for blending movement, theater, and text. Her work has been presented throughout the United States and in Singapore, Bulgaria, Hungary, Egypt, Poland, Mexico, and Australia. Megan’s solo old swan won the Audience Award at the 2022 Gdansk Solo Dance Festival and she was selected as a resident artist at their 2024 Festival. She has received support from an Independence Fellowship, Live Arts Brewery Residency, Map Fund, and various American Embassies abroad. As an organizer, she developed a free dance program for the nEW Festival in Philadelphia and co-produced the By Chance Festival in Cairo in 2015. She has performed with Merian Soto, David Gordon, Silvana Cardell, Susan Rethorst, and Black Box Dance Theater. She has taught technique, improvisation, and composition in festivals and universities around the world. Megan is currently an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Dance at Rider University.

  • Angelina DiFranco is a dance artist, writer, and choreographer. She graduated from Kent State University with honors in May 2023 and holds a BFA in dance and a BA in English with a concentration in professional writing. She has trained with Deeply Rooted, Koresh, Visceral, and LA Contemporary Dance Company and partaken in residencies with choreographers such as Amy Hall Garner, Hope Boykin, Stefanie Batten Bland, Laura Smyth, Staycee Pearl, and Tiffany Mills. Angelina danced professionally with InPulse Dance and MoJo Co.Lab, and is currently in her fourth season with Dancing Wheels, where she has toured internationally, choreographed repertoire, and earned the Dancing Wheels Teacher Certification. As a choreographer, her work in film has won Best Overall at the Kent State Film Festival and Best Experimental Film at the Highland Square Film Festival. Angelina’s choreography has been performed at Cleveland Dance Fest, the Museum of Contemporary Art, OhioDance Festival, and CDF Akron Series. Alongside her work as a performing artist, Angelina is entering her second season teaching at Studio J and Cleveland Dance Project. As a writer, she has taken part in See Chicago Dance’s critical writing fellowship and has been published in See Chicago Dance, Luna Negra, Brainchild, Arts Air, and The Movement Project’s Blog. 

  • Irvin Manuel Gonzalez and Alfonso Cervera have been duetting since 2010. Being Mexican American makers, dancers, artivists, community engagers and teachers who grew up dancing between Southern California and Mexico. Gonzalez and Cervera work as assistant professors of dance at the Ohio State University. Their collaborative work is rooted in rasquachismo, a Chicanx, working-class methodology that focuses on upending the intended use-value of materials. In doing so, they explore the intersections of queerness, Latinidad, and ecology through rasquachismo to queer dance connections, intimacy, and storytelling practices by playing with intended outcomes and aesthetics. The duo has shared work at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, HIGHWAYS Performance Space in Los Angeles, Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco, Redcat in Los Angeles, Critical Resistance in San Francisco, Breaking Ground Dance Festival in Arizona, and Hot Festival in NYC. They both are founding members of Primera Generación Dance Collective, a Latinx arts troupe based in Southern California, and are co-directors of Show Box L.A., a non-profit arts organization in Los Angeles, CA.

  • 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.

    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, and Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, leaving an indelible mark on the dance landscape. 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?”

  • Holly Jaycox is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and improvisor based in Lafayette, Indiana.  She is interested in how dance supports us exploring and expressing our humanity, community and agency. Her works question assumptions, often exploring compositional approaches inspired by nature. A founding leader of GLACIER (Great Lakes Area Contact Improvisation Enthusiasts Retreat), improvisational movement is Holly’s primary dance form and focus of her research. Holly has a BFA in dance from the University of New Mexico, an MFA in dance from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, and is Associate Chair of Theatre and Dance at Purdue University.

  • Katelyn Altmann is a movement-based artist, choreographer, and educator based in Milwaukee, WI. She holds a BFA from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts, where she graduated summa cum laude. Katelyn has served on faculty in the UW–Milwaukee Department of Dance and has been a guest instructor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

    Active within the Midwest arts community, Altmann maintains a multifaceted practice as both performer and creator, collaborating with a wide range of local and national artists. Her choreographic work has been presented in cities including Milwaukee, Chicago, Seattle, and New York. Her piece soft ground, stiff shoulder was selected for presentation at the American College Dance Association’s North Central Conference (ACDA), and in 2019 she collaborated with Joe Goode on the dance film Real Words, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Katelyn’s artistic research lives in embodied study-tested and realized through creation processes, improvisational strategies, and performance. Her work takes shape through porous embodiment, visceral play, and radical attunement. She is a company member and creative collaborator with Danceworks Performance MKE, Li Chiao-Ping Dance, and Wild Space Dance Company, and has performed with The Seldoms, Hyperlocal MKE, The Gina Laurenzi Dance Project, Aperi Animam, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

  • Maggie (she/they) is a Chicago-based dance artist who works collaboratively and thrives in multi-media performance spaces. They create visually arresting worlds, whose movement straddles the spectrum between bold washes of athletic complexity and sensitive, individualized details. Crafting with instant composition methods remains the center of their devising practice, prioritizing collective imagination, emboldening performers to experiment with their performativity in real time. Chicago collaborations include work with Erin Kilmurry, The Seldoms, INSEKTA, Fever Dream Dance Collective, Amalia Wiatr Lewis, Tina Diaz, Deandra Alaba, and Braden Barnes. Maggie has devised original works for Steppenwolf’s LookOut series, SANCTA, and Northwestern’s dance department Danceworks concert. She is on faculty at Northwestern University, College of Dupage, and a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago, along with teaching weekly open classes at The Rooted Space. They earned their MFA from the VERVE program at Northern School of Contemporary Dance and their BFA from London Contemporary Dance School (The Place).

SHORT WORKS: Concert III

Saturday, March 7 | 5-6 p.m. | Cori Terry Theatre

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  • Driven by a spirit of nomadism and chance, Jen Passios and Jacob Regan have spent the last 8 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 both artists received their MFAs in Dance.

  • Stacie Flood-Popp: After receiving her degree in Visual Arts, Stacie moved to Paris, France to study with visual artist, David Loeb. While in Paris, Stacie fell in love with another form of visual art, dance. Two years later she returned to Nashville where she taught at Nashville School of the Arts (NSA) and worked with world renowned choreographers Andre Fuentes and Erica Sobol. For 19 years, Stacie trained dancers who performed with Camille A Brown, Pilobolus, Celine Dion, Donna Summer, DCDC and other concert and commercial dance communities. She served as dance faculty at Vanderbilt University and visiting artist at American College Dance Festival, RADfest, and Big River Dance Festival. In 2016, Stacie earned her certification in Laban Movement Analysis. In 2019 Stacie left teaching to give back to her community by developing safe and supporting environments for movement artists.

    Found's mission is to establish a community by addressing real life issues through the lens of movement theatre. The company explores the unspoken trials which we all seem to face but no one wants to admit. Our vision is to expose our community to choreography that maintains responsibility to social consciousness.

  • Amy Wilson

  • Alisha Jihn | 靳書怡 (she/her) is a dancer, maker, and board-certified dance/movement therapist. Her choreography is grounded in ideas of hybridity and intercultural experiences reflective of her identity as a Taiwanese-American raised in the Midwest. Alisha has presented her work at the Asia Pacific Dance Festival (Honolulu, HI), Cleveland Dance Festival (Cleveland, OH), OhioDance Festival (Columbus, OH), Hamlin Park Theater (Chicago, IL), and DanceLAB MKE (Milwaukee, WI). Alisha was a Fulbright Fellow to Taiwan researching cross-cultural approaches in dance/movement therapy. As a performer, Alisha is a collaborator with Benjamin Roach (Columbus, OH) and has performed in works by Abby Zbikowski, Momar Ndiaye, Jade Charon, Alexandra Beller, Wild Space Dance Company, and stilgo dance + tech. Currently based in Columbus, OH, she holds degrees from St. Olaf College, Columbia College Chicago, and a MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University. 

  • Terrill Mitchell is a Houston-based dancer, choreographer, teacher, and consultant. A graduate of Point Park University, he founded HTX Connect to support and unite the local dance community. A former company member and faculty with Houston METdance, he has performed nationally, including at Jacob’s Pillow and Boston Dance Festival. He has created work for companies and schools across the country and consulted for several collegiate dance teams. He is on faculty with Dupree Dance Convention and represented by GO 2 TALENT AGENCY.

    Social Movement Contemporary Dance Theater (SMCDT) is a performing arts organization that uses dance arts as a form of social commentary.

    We fulfill this by performing original work, providing educational opportunities, and collaborating with artists and organizations to explore cultural narratives and embody the full spectrum of human experience.

  • Originally from Ann Arbor, MI, Will Brighton graduated summa cum laude from Western Michigan University with a B.F.A. in Dance and a B.A. in English. While at WMU, he performed works by Yin Yue, Christian Denice, BAIRA, George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor, and others, and also performed alongside Peridance Contemporary Dance Company. After graduating, Will moved to Saint Louis and is now in his sixth season with Saint Louis Dance Theatre, where he has performed creations by Jiří Kylián, Sidra Bell, Omar Román de Jesús, Norbert de la Cruz III, Brian Enos, Joshua Peugh, and many more. He has also appeared as a guest artist with Saint Louis Ballet and MADCO. Will was selected as an Emerging Choreographer in 2020 by Young Dancers Initiative and in 2021 by Eisenhower Dance Detroit’s NewDANCEfest. His choreography has been commissioned by Space Station Dance Residency and Resilience Dance Company, and presented at ACDA’s East-Central Conference, The Big Muddy Dance Fest, MADCO’s Dare to Dance Festival, and the Saint Louis Contemporary Dance Festival.

  • Yukina Sato is a Japanese dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker whose work explores movement and storytelling through cultural hybridity. Her projects reflect the experience of living between cultures and often incorporate live performance. She has collaborated with acclaimed artists including Abby Zbikowski, Curl Flink, Crystal Perkins, and Bebe Miller. As co-founder of YY Dance+Media, she creates multimedia performances. Her work Motion of Seeing premiered at the Detroit Dance City Festival and received the 2023 National Exchange Award. Yukina holds an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University and currently serves as Assistant Professor of Dance at Minnesota State University, Mankato.


SHORT WORKS: Concert IV

Saturday, March 7 | 7-8 p.m. | Cori Terry Theatre

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  • Sara Wagenmaker is a movement artist from the West Side of Chicago. They hold a Dance BFA and Arts Entrepreneurship minor from The Ohio State University and are an NASM certified trainer. They have worked with international choreographers including Bob Eisen, Pau Aran, Abby Zbikowski, David Covey, and Carrie Hanson. Their creative work, informed by their training in European and Africanist contemporary forms, has been supported by the Chicago DanceMakers Forum, the Croft, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and the Poor Farm. A deep curiosity drives them to continually listen, question, and connect, welcoming people and ideas into rich embodied experiences.

  • Wildflower Collective is a contemporary dance company founded by Dale Ratcliff and Nikki Theroux. The two began their collaboration in 2019, premiering their debut duet, Symbiosis, across various locations in New York City. Both Ratcliff and Theroux have received extensive training in Gaga and other contemporary dance styles, refining their craft through studies and performances in New York, Tel Aviv, Berlin, and Amsterdam. Wildflower Collective has presented their work at notable venues including Dixon Place, The Craft, Brooklyn Art Haus, and The Art Shelter. Currently, the company is in the process of developing a new duet, The Art of Carrying, with support from Moulin/Belle in France and Brooklyn Arts Council for its expansion in 2025.

  • ​​Ali Kenner Brodsky makes gesturally rich and emotionally driven dance-theater works and dance films that ask the viewer to indulge in a world of reflection, remembering, and connection. She received a 2022 Massachusetts Cultural Council Choreography Fellowship and was honored to be a part of NEFA'S NE Regional Dance Development Initiative 2021/22. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Croft: Ground for Art (2019), a Catalysts artist at the Dance Complex (2018/19), and an Artist-in-Residence at the Joyce SoHo, NYC (2003/4). She was an Emerging Choreographer in Residence at the Bates Dance Festival 2016 and a recipient of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellowship 2014. Ali frequently works with the Wilbury Theatre Group and is currently a Visiting Lecturer at both Harvard and Brown Universities. With Lila Hurwitz and Andy Russ, she is co-artistic director of Motion State Arts. A Rhode Island native, AKB makes home in Dartmouth, MA with her husband, two children and five chickens.

  • Benjamin Roach is a queer movement artist and educator from Gallipolis, Ohio. As a transdisciplinary artist, she works to activate the political conduit that is the body acting abnormally. His work engages the body through the unconventional, unsubscribes from everyday metrics, and materialize strategies of liberation, autonomy, and awareness. In 2018 she received her B.F.A. in Dance and Choreography from Ohio University.  Since 2019 Benjamin has been a company member/ collaborator with Abby Z + The New Utility performing at venues such as Jacob’s Pillow, New York Live Arts, Wexner Center, American Dance Festival, Walker Arts Center, Time Square, and Saddler’s Wells Theater. Benjamin has also had the great honor of dancing for artists Momar Ndiaye, Dance the Yard, Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, DZ Macial, and JACKS. Additionally, she is fortunate enough to be in collaboration with Ani Javian touring their comedic and theatrical duet When The Sky Separated From The Earth (2024) across the country.

  • Anniela Huidobro (she/her) is a Mexican dance artist, a graduate of the Escuela Profesional de Danza de Mazatlán. She is a finalist in the Lab Artists 2025 program of the Chicago Dancemakers Forum and was selected as one of the artists for the Chicago Performance Lab 2025 by the University of Chicago.

    She has taught workshops and presented her work in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, the United States, and Mexico. Recently, she has choreographed at the Boston Dance Theater Company Trainee Program (2024) and the Newport Contemporary Ballet Company (2025).

    She has also been invited to teach dance workshops at the University of Chicago and has presented her works at festivals such as Dança a Deriva (Brazil), Festival Prisma (Panama), Festival Detonos (Colombia), Newport Festival, RADFest (U.S.), La Carpa (Mexico), among others.

  • Katie Carey grew up in Columbus, Ohio and moved to Chicago to train with Giordano Dance Chicago. Katie has performed as a main company dancer with Nomi Dance Company and Cocodaco Dance Project. Through her performances and choreography, she creates from the idea of letting a moment with someone on something take over until you give in completely with an abandonment to the feeling. She calls this concept “method dancing”. Katie is the co-founder of Purus Motus, a company that produces dance cinema, and is dedicated to merging concert dance and hip hop to create a unique viewpoint into how we watch different styles of dance. Purus Motus has been selected to present their work at film festivals around the world. Most recently they premiered at the San Francisco Film Festival. Katie has had the opportunity to create works on Nomi Dance Company, Trifecta Dance Collective, Cocodaco Dance Project, New Dances, Moonwater Dance Project, and is currently the resident choreographer for Hot Crowd, a contemporary/modern dance company in Chicago.

    Alluvion Dance Chicago is a contemporary company dedicated to building a community of dancers, choreographers, and producers. We strive in advocating for up & coming artists, not only movement wise, but also with what they have to say through their choreography.

  • Samuel Bennett Hanson (he/him) is a writer, curator, and dancer who has performed in the work of Alexandra Barbier, Hilary Carrier, Isabel Lewis, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Mina Nishimura, Yve Laris Cohen, Yvonne Meier, Simone Forti, Michael Watkiss, and Alexandra Pirici. His work tends toward the intimate, made for specific performers and smaller spaces. Before living in New York from 2015-19, he worked closely with Ashley Anderson as a performer, curator, and editor through her platform loveDANCEmore, an incubator of experimental dance for the Western United States, which he now serves as executive director. Also a K-12 educator, advocate, and former school board member, he has taught dance and special education in elementary, middle, and high schools in Utah, Illinois, and New York City. He has guest lectured on dance and education policy at Davidson College, Weber State University, the University of Utah, and the University of the Américas Puebla. He is currently a Teaching Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois.

ALTERNATIVE SPACE

Saturday, March 7 | 8:15-9:15 p.m. | Judy Jolliffe Theatre

  • This event is FREE but pre-registration is suggested.

    Wild Space Dance Company is in its fourth decade of offering inventive performances, outreach initiatives, and community-based programs. Founded in 1986 by Debra Loewen, and now led by Artistic Director Dan Schuchart, Wild Space is celebrated for its site-specific works and collaborations that weave together wit, innovative movement, and emotionally charged dance. Drawing inspiration from visual art, literature, history, and both built and natural environments, the company creates choreography that is visually striking and deeply human. Wild Space fosters experimentation and collaboration by supporting local artists and inviting audiences into shared experiences of place and community.

     Artistic Director Dan Schuchart is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who has been part of Wild Space since 2002 as a performer and choreographer. Under his leadership, the Milwaukee-based company continues to explore diverse cultural and natural landscapes through provocative, site-responsive work. Schuchart holds dual BFAs in Dance and Painting/Drawing from UW–Milwaukee, an MFA in Experimental Choreography from UC–Riverside, and a Graduate Laban Certificate from Columbia College Chicago. He has created more than 40 works across the United States and is a member of the Teaching Faculty in UW–Milwaukee’s Department of Dance.

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RAD ENCORE

Saturday, March 7 | 9-10 p.m. | Cori Terry Theatre

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  • Noelle Kayser is an award-winning choreographer, director, and multi-disciplinary performer based in Chicago. She is the inaugural resident choreographer for Open Space, a Whim W’him Choreographic Shindig winner, the 2025 BalletX Choreographic Fellow, and a 2026 Ballet Collective Commission for Developing Choreographers recipient. Noelle has created work for companies including Dance Aspen, DanceWorks Chicago, MADCO, Visceral Dance Chicago, and SALT II among many others. She served as a guest Ballet Mistress at the Lyric Opera, was the founding rehearsal director and administrator for PARA.MAR Dance Theatre (2022 Dance Magazine Top 25 to Watch), and named one of NewCity Magazines, “The 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago”. 

    In addition to her choreographic work, Noelle has performed works by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, Ihsan Rustem, Wen Wei Wang, Danielle Agami, Robyn Mineko Williams, Kevin O’Day, and Alice Klock, among many others. She has had the privilege of dancing with companies such as NW Dance Project, LED Boise, Open Space, and Visceral Dance Chicago among others. She has taught for organizations such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Goodman Theatre, and Visceral Dance Chicago. Noelle has narrated 16 audiobooks for Audible, appeared in advertising campaigns, and acted in stage productions at The Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and The Alliance Theatre among others. Most recently, she won the 2024 Jeff Award for Best Ensemble for her performance as Selene in The Penelopiad at The Goodman Theatre, and starred in Anna Long’s short film Death in the Desert (Best Actress in a Short at the Idyllwild Film Festival & Best Short Drama at the Breckenridge Film Festival).

    Western Dance Project (WDP) is a touring company offering WMU Dance students professional experience through national and local performances, guest artist residencies, masterclasses, and school outreach. The ensemble fosters artistry, resilience, and career readiness, empowering dancers to grow through real-world performance and engagement opportunities.

  • Holly Jaycox is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and improvisor based in Lafayette, Indiana.  She is interested in how dance supports us exploring and expressing our humanity, community and agency. Her works question assumptions, often exploring compositional approaches inspired by nature. A founding leader of GLACIER (Great Lakes Area Contact Improvisation Enthusiasts Retreat), improvisational movement is Holly’s primary dance form and focus of her research. Holly has a BFA in dance from the University of New Mexico, an MFA in dance from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, and is Associate Chair of Theatre and Dance at Purdue University.

  • Originally from Ann Arbor, MI, Will Brighton graduated summa cum laude from Western Michigan University with a B.F.A. in Dance and a B.A. in English. While at WMU, he performed works by Yin Yue, Christian Denice, BAIRA, George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor, and others, and also performed alongside Peridance Contemporary Dance Company. After graduating, Will moved to Saint Louis and is now in his sixth season with Saint Louis Dance Theatre, where he has performed creations by Jiří Kylián, Sidra Bell, Omar Román de Jesús, Norbert de la Cruz III, Brian Enos, Joshua Peugh, and many more. He has also appeared as a guest artist with Saint Louis Ballet and MADCO. Will was selected as an Emerging Choreographer in 2020 by Young Dancers Initiative and in 2021 by Eisenhower Dance Detroit’s NewDANCEfest. His choreography has been commissioned by Space Station Dance Residency and Resilience Dance Company, and presented at ACDA’s East-Central Conference, The Big Muddy Dance Fest, MADCO’s Dare to Dance Festival, and the Saint Louis Contemporary Dance Festival.

  • Katie Carey grew up in Columbus, Ohio and moved to Chicago to train with Giordano Dance Chicago. Katie has performed as a main company dancer with Nomi Dance Company and Cocodaco Dance Project. Through her performances and choreography, she creates from the idea of letting a moment with someone on something take over until you give in completely with an abandonment to the feeling. She calls this concept “method dancing”. Katie is the co-founder of Purus Motus, a company that produces dance cinema, and is dedicated to merging concert dance and hip hop to create a unique viewpoint into how we watch different styles of dance. Purus Motus has been selected to present their work at film festivals around the world. Most recently they premiered at the San Francisco Film Festival. Katie has had the opportunity to create works on Nomi Dance Company, Trifecta Dance Collective, Cocodaco Dance Project, New Dances, Moonwater Dance Project, and is currently the resident choreographer for Hot Crowd, a contemporary/modern dance company in Chicago.

    Alluvion Dance Chicago is a contemporary company dedicated to building a community of dancers, choreographers, and producers. We strive in advocating for up & coming artists, not only movement wise, but also with what they have to say through their choreography.

  • Irvin Manuel Gonzalez and Alfonso Cervera have been duetting since 2010. Being Mexican American makers, dancers, artivists, community engagers and teachers who grew up dancing between Southern California and Mexico. Gonzalez and Cervera work as assistant professors of dance at the Ohio State University. Their collaborative work is rooted in rasquachismo, a Chicanx, working-class methodology that focuses on upending the intended use-value of materials. In doing so, they explore the intersections of queerness, Latinidad, and ecology through rasquachismo to queer dance connections, intimacy, and storytelling practices by playing with intended outcomes and aesthetics. The duo has shared work at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, HIGHWAYS Performance Space in Los Angeles, Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco, Redcat in Los Angeles, Critical Resistance in San Francisco, Breaking Ground Dance Festival in Arizona, and Hot Festival in NYC. They both are founding members of Primera Generación Dance Collective, a Latinx arts troupe based in Southern California, and are co-directors of Show Box L.A., a non-profit arts organization in Los Angeles, CA.

  • Megan Mazarick is a Philadelphia-based choreographer and performer known for blending movement, theater, and text. Her work has been presented throughout the United States and in Singapore, Bulgaria, Hungary, Egypt, Poland, Mexico, and Australia. Megan’s solo old swan won the Audience Award at the 2022 Gdansk Solo Dance Festival and she was selected as a resident artist at their 2024 Festival. She has received support from an Independence Fellowship, Live Arts Brewery Residency, Map Fund, and various American Embassies abroad. As an organizer, she developed a free dance program for the nEW Festival in Philadelphia and co-produced the By Chance Festival in Cairo in 2015. She has performed with Merian Soto, David Gordon, Silvana Cardell, Susan Rethorst, and Black Box Dance Theater. She has taught technique, improvisation, and composition in festivals and universities around the world. Megan is currently an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Dance at Rider University.

  • Sara Wagenmaker is a movement artist from the West Side of Chicago. They hold a Dance BFA and Arts Entrepreneurship minor from The Ohio State University and are an NASM certified trainer. They have worked with international choreographers including Bob Eisen, Pau Aran, Abby Zbikowski, David Covey, and Carrie Hanson. Their creative work, informed by their training in European and Africanist contemporary forms, has been supported by the Chicago DanceMakers Forum, the Croft, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and the Poor Farm. A deep curiosity drives them to continually listen, question, and connect, welcoming people and ideas into rich embodied experiences.

YOUNG ARTIST SERIES: Concert I

Sunday, March 8 | 2:30-3:30 p.m. | Cori Terry Theatre

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  • Amelia’s work is being performed by the dancers at Michiana Dance Ensemble. She danced with Children's Dance Workshop with Bonnie Baxter starting in 2010 at age 4, and later joined Michiana Dance Ensemble from 2018 at age 12 till she graduated in 2025 at age 18. She is now a freshman at Ball State University, studying Art Education and pursuing a dance minor. 

  • Babacar Thiam, originally from Senegal, lives in South Bend, IN. He has a strong passion for the performing arts, with dancing, singing, and acting being key forms of self-expression throughout his life. Though still a student, he is focused on developing his talents and building a future in the arts.

  • Leif VanHorn (15) has been dancing and performing with the Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet for the past eleven years under the direction of Heather Raue. He has also pursued advanced training at prestigious institutions including the Chautauqua Institute, Colorado Ballet, and The Croft Residency.

    "Glorified" marks Leif’s fifth work submitted to RADfest and his first self-choreographed live performance piece. His creative voice is shaped by the mentorship of renowned dancer and artist Peter Sparling, as well as a deep fascination with art history—particularly the powerful lines and sculpted musculature of Ancient Greek figure sculpture. Leif’s choreography and performance emphasize physical strength, form, and presence, reflecting both his classical training and his personal connection to the human body as art.

  • Rowan is a long-time dancer and current undergraduate student at Saint Mary’s College this fall. They've been dancing for eighteen years, and can recite every role they’ve had in every performance in chronological order. They spent their childhood choreographing, directing, and starring in productions of The Nutcracker rehearsed and performed in their family’s living room (with fellow Michiana Dance Ensemble members Fiona and Elizabeth, who are both featured in "Almost There"). When they’re not dancing, they can be found writing, reading fantasy novels, and having passionate discussions with friends and family.

  • Sierra Schlehuber is 12 years old and has been dancing with the Crooked Tree Arts Center since she was 4 years old, under the direction of Heather Raue. This year is her third year submitting works to Radfest. She was accepted for both screendance and live performance pieces in 2023 (Finding Mi Chispa & UnMasked) and 2024 (Love & Loss and Colibri).  This last summer she attended the School of American Ballet summer intensive in New York City. The summer of 2024, she attended Chautauqua Institution and Miami City Ballet for summer intensive programs. In the summer of 2023, she attended Miami City Ballet. In the summer of 2022, she attended Ballet Hispanico. Over the last few years, she has also attended master classes with Pilobolus and the Hubbard Street Dance Theater.

  • Sienna Stuchell was born and raised in Petoskey Michigan, and began dancing with the Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet at the age of 3. Since then, she has attended summer programs at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Grand Rapids Ballet, Bates Dance Festival, Lousiville Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Sienna has been assisting contemporary classes since 2023, and is excited to continue in the 25-26 school year. Sienna choreographed her first piece Nostalgia in August of 2025, which would soon be performed in November of 2025. She aspires to continue her dance education at the collegiate level after graduation in spring of 2026.

  • Babacar Thiam, originally from Senegal, lives in South Bend, IN. He has a strong passion for the performing arts, with dancing, singing, and acting being key forms of self-expression throughout his life. Though still a student, he is focused on developing his talents and building a future in the arts.

  • Sierra Schlehuber is 12 years old and has been dancing with the Crooked Tree Arts Center since she was 4 years old, under the direction of Heather Raue. This year is her third year submitting works to Radfest. She was accepted for both screendance and live performance pieces in 2023 (Finding Mi Chispa & UnMasked) and 2024 (Love & Loss and Colibri).  This last summer she attended the School of American Ballet summer intensive in New York City. The summer of 2024, she attended Chautauqua Institution and Miami City Ballet for summer intensive programs. In the summer of 2023, she attended Miami City Ballet. In the summer of 2022, she attended Ballet Hispanico. Over the last few years, she has also attended master classes with Pilobolus and the Hubbard Street Dance Theater.

YOUNG ARTIST SERIES: Concert II

Sunday, March 8 | 4:30-5:30 p.m. | Cori Terry Theatre

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  • Betty Kondo, originally from Bowie, Maryland, has been a professional dancer for over 15 years. She received her training at Maryland Youth Ballet and spent several summers participating in summer programs throughout the country. She began her professional career with Orlando Ballet and has since performed with many classical and contemporary ballet companies including Kansas City Ballet, Eugene Ballet, and Owen/Cox Dance Group. Some of her favorite performances include works by Gerald Arpino, Twyla Tharp, Trey McIntyre, Anthony Tudor, Jerome Robbins, Donald McKayle, William Whitener, Ib Anderson and Toni Pimble. She has competed and won high medals in the American Dance Competition as well as the Helsinki International Ballet Competition. In addition to performing, she has over ten years of experience teaching ballet, pointe, contemporary, conditioning, and choreography. She feels honored to serve as the Artistic Director at Ballet Arts Ensemble and is thrilled to inspire the next generation of dancers to fall in love with ballet.

  • Delta Dance Connection’s Student Ensemble is a pre-professional dance company composed of dancers ages 13-16. The Student Ensemble works with a variety of choreographers and guest teachers training in a variety of styles with a focus on modern and contemporary dance. The company exists to prepare students for professional and collegiate settings in dance. Students in the Ensemble work to present works at regional dance festivals. Past festival performances include Oakland Dance Festival and Michigan Youth Dance Festival. 

    Choreographer Bio: Lauren Mudry (she/her) is a distinguished dancer, educator, and teaching artist from Lansing, MI, boasting over 30 years of dance experience and 18 years in teaching. She possesses academic credentials from Lansing Community College and a degree in Dance Science/ Performance from Eastern Michigan University. As an accomplished choreographer, her work has been showcased at Regional Dance America and numerous dance festivals. Lauren serves as an adjunct instructor at Lansing Community College and is on the faculty at Delta Dance Connection, Greater Lansing Academy, and Teaching artist for the Wharton Center at Michigan State University. She also holds several key positions within the dance and theatre community. Lauren is dedicated to creating an inclusive environment, advocating for arts integration in K-12 schools, and empowering students through dance education.

  • Amanda Fabry and Carmen Craft are accomplished dancers, teachers, and choreographers based in metro Detroit. Amanda began her training at Mt. Zion Performing Arts and earned a BFA in Dance Performance from Oakland University in 2020. She danced with ConteXture Dance Detroit and has spent eight seasons as an instructor, drawing inspiration from her students to grow artistically. Carmen trained under Carmen Wade of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and with esteemed programs in Chicago and New York. She has performed professionally with Pure Existence Dance, participated in major dance festivals, and danced internationally in El Salvador and Peru. Both currently teach and choreograph for Mt. Zion Performing Arts, with their work earning high honors and recognition in the dance community.

  • Madeline Williamson is a dancer, choreographer, and dance educator from Northern Indiana. She holds dual degrees in Contemporary Dance and Kinesiology and is a certified Pilates instructor. Madeline is on faculty at Children’s Dance Workshop, where she teaches and choreographs for students of all ages. She also teaches creative movement and Pilates throughout the Michiana community. Her choreography has been presented across Indiana and Michigan.

    Róisín O'Brien is a dance artist, writer and teacher from Edinburgh, Scotland. Since moving to South Bend, IN, her work has been performed at Dancing in Summer Festival, Movement Reservoir’s Annual Concert and Fieldworks Festival. She dances with New Industry Dance and teaches dance and yoga at Children’s Dance Workshop, Bend Yoga and Notre Dame RecSports. 

  • Karin Li is an artistic director and dance teacher at the Kalamazoo Chinese Academy. She has over 30 years of dance experience and has led dance troupes for more than 20 years. Her dance style is a blend of modern, ballet, and traditional Chinese dance. She has performed at numerous national and international events, including the annual Lunar New Year Gala in Kalamazoo since 2008.

    She has also served as the artistic director and a performer for the Spring Gala at Western Michigan University, a cultural event featuring a variety of Asian arts.

  • Youth Company exists to explore and establish authentic voices through all aspects of dance performance while building community.

    Angel Sutton (she/her) is a Kalamazoo-based dance artist and educator. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Western Michigan University in the Spring of 2023. During her time at WMU she had opportunities to perform works by artists such as Aszure Barton, George Balanchine, and Mike Esperanza. Throughout her time at the university and until recently, she taught for a variety of dance studios in the greater Kalamazoo area. Angel has continued her education by completing trainings through Dance Education Equity Association and National Dance Education Organization. In addition to teaching, in the Fall of 2024, she stepped into the role of Education/Outreach Coordinator for Wellspring Dance Academy. This fall will start her fifth season of the company, and she is taking on Coordination of the Academy’s Youth Company. Angel is passionate about making the arts accessible, creating a safe space for all individuals, artistry in movement, and individuality.

  • DeTashia Coleman is a passionate hip hop choreographer and the founder of Suicide Squad Dance Team. With a deep love for the culture of hip hop, DeTashia’s choreography blends precision, emotion, and storytelling to create powerful, memorable performances. She has a unique ability to weave meaningful themes into her routines, tackling subjects like identity, empowerment, and personal growth. 

    In addition to her artistic vision, DeTashia co-leads the team alongside her partner, Patricia Gardenhire-Lamar, a skilled therapist and mental health coordinator. Together, they’ve built a program that emphasizes not only technical excellence but also emotional well-being. While DeTashia focuses on choreography, Patricia ensures that dancers have access to mental health resources and support, fostering a holistic approach to performance and personal growth.

    Suicide Squad has been making waves since 2014. Whether they are performing for local events or at a Detroit Pistons game, they always leave it all on the floor.

    Through their collaboration, DeTashia and Patricia have created a nurturing environment where dancers can thrive both mentally and physically.