Classes & Workshops

luciana achugar is a Brooklyn-based choreographer from Uruguay who grew as an artist in close dialogue with the NY and Montevideo contemporary dance communities. She began making work collaboratively with Levi Gonzalez in 1999, and in 2002 she started working independently. Her work is concerned with the post-colonial world, searching for an undoing of current power structures from the inside out. She is a two-time "Bessie" recipient, a Guggenheim Fellow and Creative Capital Grantee.

Claudia La Rocco is the author of The Best Most Useless Dress (Badlands Unlimited), selected poetry, performance texts and criticism. She edited I Don't Poem: An Anthology of Painters and Dancers, Buildings and People in the Streets, the catalogue for Danspace Project's PLATFORM 2015, which she curated. Her work has been presented by The Kitchen, The Walker Art Center, Kiria Koula, Tokyo's Dance New Air Festival, et al. She is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts' graduate program in Art Criticism and Writing, contributes to The New York Times and Artforum.com and runs ThePerformanceClub.org. The Chocolate Factory Theater has commissioned her first novel.

Born in Korea, NY based choreographer and theatre artist, founder of Limbo, part of the first generation of independent arts movements in Korea, performance: BAM Fisher, DUMBO Dance Festival, DTW, NYLA, Kitchen, La MaMa, Dixon Place, LMCC's Siteline2010, Watermill Center, and Judson Church etc. residencies: 2009-10 Cave Share Residency, The Field's Emerging AIR, 13' Spring Residency, '09 Watermill international program, 2011-12 Fresh Tracks Artist (New York Live Arts), Skidmore College guest artist (SITI Company), recipient of the Arts Council Korea Fellowship (Korea,'11-12), current: associated artist of Theatre C Company, Movement Research Artist-in-Residence (2014-2016). www.yangheelee.org

Molly Lieber recently performed in works by luciana achugar, Keely Garfield, Neil Greenberg, Maria Hassabi, Melinda Ring, Brian Rogers, and Donna Uchizono. She makes dances in collaboration with Eleanor Smith.

Melanie Maar is a dance artist and teacher. Gertraud Maar, Daria Faïn, Master Li Junfeng and Janet Panetta have deeply influenced her teaching, which is based on her artistic practice. Maar recently taught for Laboratorio Somático Escénico Mexico, The Danish National Dance School, Pieter L.A. and Tanzstudio Maar Vienna. She was awarded the 2015 Grant to Artists from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and is currently working on Dämmerung with Kenta Nagai. She has performed with choreographers luciana achugar, RoseAnne Spradlin and Luis Lara Malvacías.

Barbara Mahler is a widely respected choreographer, movement educator, bodyworker and a recipient of a 2013 BAX Arts Educator Award. She travels extensively in all of these capacities, a certified teacher and major contributor in the outreach of Klein Technique™. Her choreographic vision and passion is the small and intimate dance. An alumni of Hunter College, NYC, she holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Barbara has been a recipient of many grants and residencies to support her teaching and choreographic research and has been a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence. Upcoming include a LIFT OFF residency, and workshops in Berlin, London and Israel. She is a teacher and certified practitioner of ZeroBalancing. www.barbaramahler.net

Luis Lara Malvacías (Venezuela) has presented work in NY at DTW, PS122, Danspace Project and The Kitchen among other venues in the city. He has taught and created work at several institutions in the U.S. and regularly teaches and presents work in Europe, South America and Asia. He has been a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence and is the recipient of a 2006 NYFA Fellowship for Choreography.

Juliette Mapp is a dancer, teacher and choreographer based in NYC. Juliette has taught and performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, South America and the United States. She has been on the faculty of The George Washington University, Hunter College and Fordham University and currently teaches at The New School. Juliette is a 2013 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence. She received a "Bessie" in 2002 for her dancing and one in 2008 for choreography.

Susan Mar Landau is a New York City based dramaturg and interdisciplinary artist. As a dramaturg she has collaborated with choreographers Vanessa Anspaugh, Aretha Aoki, Maximilian Balduzzi, Daria Faïn, Levi Gonzalez, Emily Johnson and Carlos Maria Romero. Landau holds a BA from Hampshire College, a MA in Performance Design and Practice from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of London, and a Graduate Certificate in Performance and Interactive Media Arts from CUNY.

Clare Maxwell leads workshops in the Alexander Technique for performers, somatic practitioners, Alexander teachers, and therapists. The Technique became her root practice after she discovered it with Eva Karczag. Clare maintains a private practice in NYC and is inspired by the Dart Procedures, a form of developmental movement historically linked with the Alexander Technique. Clare is dedicated to helping her students leave injury and burnout behind and have long, sustainable careers doing what they love.

Yvonne Meier has been exploring improvisation in performance and teaching Releasing Technique, Authentic Movement and her own improvisational technique, "Scores," throughout the U.S. and Europe for the past 32 years. She has been on the faculty of the American Dance Festival for the past 5 years. She has taught dance companies such as Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker's Rosas and Meg Stuart's Damaged Goods Company, among others. For her choreography, Yvonne Meier has received three "Bessies" as well as an "American Masterpiece Award" from the NEA.

Johanna S. Meyer is a teacher and choreographer. She has made work since the 1990s in New York City and recently graduated with an MFA in Dance from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Johanna's Pilates teaching incorporates dance, somatic practices, and strength training. She uses these approaches as tools to work with a wide range of bodies from dancers to people recovering from injuries.

Sarah Michelson is a choreographer living and working in NYC. She has been a guest curator at The Kitchen since 2003 which has included a deep ongoing commitment to the DAP program. She is basically a horrible teacher / not a teacher.

Jennifer Monson (Artistic director, choreographer and performer, iLAND-interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art, Nature and Dance) uses choreographic practice as a means to discover connections between environmental, philosophical and aesthetic approaches to knowledge and understandings of our surroundings. She creates large scale dance projects informed and inspired by phenomena of the natural and the built environment. Her recent projects include BIRD BRAIN (2000-05), iMAP/Ridgewood Reservoir (2007) in NYC, Mahomet Aquifer Project (2009) in Illinois, and SIP(sustained immersive process)/watershed (2010) in NYC. Her current project is Live Dancing Archive. Monson is on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the Dance Department.

Charles Mosey has been practicing, researching, facilitating, and teaching Contact Improvisation for over 20 years. In that time, he has had the opportunity to work in depth with Daniel Lepkoff and Nancy Stark Smith.

Jeremy Nelson was a member of the Stephen Petronio Dance Company and has also danced in the work of David Zambrano, Susan Rethorst, Luis Lara Malvacías, in his own work, and with improviser Kirstie Simson. He is the recipient of a "Bessie" for performance and a Guggenheim Fellowship for choreography. In the last 30 years, he has taught classes/workshops in over 30 countries at venues including ADF, ImPulsTanz, and P.A.R.T.S. He was Head of the Dance Department at the Danish National School of Performing Arts from 2009-15 and is now Associate Professor at Tisch School of the Arts.

Adele is a NYC-based dancer and Alexander Technique teacher. She received her 1600-hour training at Riverside Initiative for the Alexander Technique (RIAT), where she continues to serve as assistant faculty and anatomy teacher, and she maintains a private teaching practice in Manhattan. As a dancer, Adele most recently worked with Annie-B Parson and rock musician St. Vincent in performance at the Hollywood Bowl, and as a member of the Liz Gerring Dance Company (2007-2015) when she was featured in Glacier, and nominated for a 2013 "Bessie". Adele is passionate about the thinking, moving body and seeks to help her students find freedom and balance in every aspect of their lives.

Jennifer Nugent danced with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company from 2009-2014 and David Dorfman Dance from 1999-2007, receiving a “Bessie” for her work with the company. She has worked intensively with Daniel Lepkoff, Lisa Race, Paul Matteson, Martha Clarke, Gerri Houlihan, and Dale Andre, among many others. Jennifer enjoys creating her own work and collaborating. She is currently working with Wendy Woodson and studying with Patty Townsend.

Tere O’Connor has been making dances since 1982. He has created over thirty works for his company and performed throughout the U.S. and in Europe, South America and Canada. O’Connor has also created numerous commissioned works for dance companies around the world. Among these have been solo work for Mikhail Baryshnikov and works for the Lyons Opera Ballet. He is an active participant in the New York dance community, mentoring young artists, teaching, writing, curating and volunteering in various capacities. He is a Center for Advanced Studies professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he resides for the spring semester each year.

Tim O'Donnell has been studying, teaching and performing CI for over 15 years throughout Europe and the USA. His exploration in the form is strongly rooted in a deep physical listening and a sense of adventure. His classes range from the gentle and subtle to the acrobatic and fluidly athletic. He holds an MFA in Dance and has been a somatic bodyworker since 1991. He has been a returning guest artist at ASU for the past five years and is currently teaching and performing in NYC, where he resides.

Jaime Ortega is a movement artist, therapist and educator. For over 35 years, he has studied a wide variety of movement practices and body technologies, with an emphasis in somatic approaches to embodiment. He is interested in the powers of the body for expression, healing and awareness. He is a certified practitioner of the Topf Technique/Dynamic Anatomy®, a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator, and studies and teaches yoga in the Krishnamacharya/Desikachar tradition. Co-Teaching with Nina Martin, RoseAnne Spradlin, and Sarah White-Ayón.

Margaret Paek is dedicated to collaboration and sees dance as a life practice. She is a Lower Left collective artist (www.lowerleft.org ) and is deeply influenced by her relationships with Contact Improvisation, Ensemble Thinking, Alexander Technique, Barbara Dilley, Nina Martin, Shelley Senter, Dahlia Nayar, Loren Kiyoshi Dempster and their daughter. Margaret also teaches regularly at Marymount Manhattan and Manhattanville Colleges. www.margaretpaek.com

iele paloumpis comes from a long line of self-identified witches who have passed down generations of family folklore. As a life-long dance artist, iele feels that engaging in a movement practice can be deeply restorative. Their healing work is rooted in kinesthetic awareness, Tarot, herbal medicine, and some astrological know-how – all within a framework that centers on social justice. They have practiced Tarot for 19 years, most recently under the mentorship of Eva Yaa Asantewaa. iele received their BA from Hollins University in 2006 and is currently studying under the guidance of Deanna Cochran to become an end of life doula.

As a veteran of the American Ballet Theatre, Janet Panetta also has a broad experience of contemporary dance forms. She has trained dancers in many of the major American companies such as American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, as well as many European companies such as ROSAS and Pina Bausch. Ms. Panetta is also available for private classes and coaching.

Chrysa Parkinson is a dancer living in Brussels, Belgium and Berkeley, California. She lived in New York for many years and performed with Tere O'Connor Dance, Irene Hultman, Mia Lawrence, Jennifer Monson and Mark Dendy, among others. She began traveling to Belgium in 2000 to work on improvisational performance with Zoo/Thomas Hauert and David Zambrano. Since then she has also performed with: Veli Lehtovaara, Remy Heritier, Boris Charmatz, Andros Zins-Browne, Rosas/Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Jonathan Burrows, Mette Ingvartsen, Philip Gehmacher, Eszter Salomon, John Jasperse, Deborah Hay, Alix Euynadi, Meg Stuart and Joaquim Koester. She has taught in the US, Europe and Australia, and yearly at P.A.R.T.S. (be) since 1998. Chrysa's writing and films have been published and distributed internationally. Her most recent documentation is available at Oralsite.be The Dancer as Agent Collection. She is the Director of the New Performative Practices MFA program at DOCH in Stockholm.

Jimena Paz was born in Buenos Aires. She has had the pleasure of working with Lance Gries, Vicky Shick, Susan Rethorst, the Stephen Petronio Company ('99-'06), Martha Clarke, Ralph Lemon, Constanza Macras (Germany), Iris Scaccheri (Argentina), Liz Gerring, Burt Barr, Virginie Yassef (France) and Antonio Ramos, among others. She is currently on faculty at Movement Research and Eugene Lang College at The New School and teaches internationally. A Certified Feldenkrais® Practitioner, Jimena works on somatic approaches to dance at the Feldenkrais Institute in New York and in her private practice.

Anthony Phillips works with Contact Improvisation as a physical practice and creative process to explore the dynamic possibilities of relationship through movement. Integration of sensation and action is his primary interest as a performer, teacher, and massage therapist. He works with touch as a tool to cultivate awareness and support the free flow of energy through the body. Anthony has worked extensively in the companies of Bill Young, Colleen Thomas, Bebe Miller, Yoshiko Chuma, and Robin Becker.

California-born/bred, Philadelphia-based choreographer and performer Jumatatu Poe grew up dancing around the living room and at parties with his siblings and cousins. His style continues to be influenced by various sources, including his foundational training in those living rooms and parties, his early technical training in contemporary African dance, his rigorous studio practices of American and European modern/contemporary/improvisation techniques, and his recent sociological research of and technical training in J-setting. Poe frequently produces dance and performance works with idiosynCrazy productions, a company he founded in 2008 and now co-directs with Shannon Murphy. Since 2012, he has been engaged in a shared, multi-tiered performance practice with NYC-based dance artist Jesse Zaritt. Since 2011, he has been training under and performing with J-Sette artist Jermone Donte Beacham. Previously, Poe has danced with Marianela Boán, Silvana Cardell, Tania Isaac, Charles. O. Anderson/Dance Theatre X, Marissa Perel, Leah Stein, Keith Thompson, Kate Watson-Wallace, and Kariamu Welsh (as a member of Kariamu & Company). As a performer, he also collaborates with Merián Soto. Poe is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Swarthmore College.

Kayvon Pourazar is of Persian origin and was raised in Iran, Turkey and England. He has performed in the works of Beth Gill, Levi Gonzalez, K.J. Holmes, John Jasperse, Juliana May, Jodi Melnick, Jennifer Monson, Donna Uchizono, Doug Varone, Gwen Welliver and Yasuko Yokoshi. He received a 2010 "Bessie" for Performance. He has been a guest artist teacher at TsEKh Moscow, Bennington College, University of Nebraska and Sacramento State University. He currently performs with Juliana May.

Katy Pyle is the creator of the Ballez. The Firebird, a Ballez was presented at Danspace Project in Spring and Fall 2013, and has been in residence at Brooklyn Arts Exchange since 2013, performing throughout the city, and presented Variations on Virtuosity at American Realness this past January. Pyle has performed with Ivy Baldwin, Faye Driscoll, John Jasperse, Xavier Le Roy, Karinne Keithley Syers, Young Jean Lee, Jennifer Monson, and Katie Workum, among others.

Otto Ramstad is a certified teacher of Body-Mind Centering® who has been teaching BMC®, dance, and improvisation internationally for almost twenty years in contexts such as Impulstanz, Vienna, Movement Research, NYC, Ponderosa, Germany, TanzLaboratorium, Kiev and for dance companies such as Axis Dance Company (California), Lyon Opera Ballet (Lyon), and Young Dance (Minneapolis). BodyCartography Project, which he co-directs with Olive Bieringa, was named Dance Company of the Year 2013 and Artists of the Year 2008 by the Twin Cities City Pages. Recent performance works have been commissioned by the Walker Art Center, PS122, American Realness, Dance Place in DC, among others. bodycartography.org

Will Rawls is a choreographer, performer and writer exploring the instability of identity and form through live performance. Curious about the ambiguous nature of dance as a medium, his choreographic practice employs movement, often in conjunction with text, objects and other media, to reconsider how personal and cultural histories are embodied, resisted and reconstructed.

Since 1975, Susan Rethorst has created dances out of New York City. Rethorst's work has been presented by The Museum of Modern Art, The Kitchen, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, The Downtown Whitney Museum, among others, as well as at various dance theaters, universities, and festivals throughout the U.S. Internationally her work has been produced by The Holland Festival, Spazio Zero Rome, The Kunsthalle Basel, The Aix-en-Provence Festival, among others.

Melinda Ring, choreographer, born in Los Angeles, CA, has lived and worked in New York since 2001. She creates dances, performance pieces, videos and installations. Forgetful Snow (2014), her last project, was commissioned and presented by The Kitchen, NY and The Box, Los Angeles, and documented by Contact Quarterly in Chapbook 6, "Forgetful Snow". Current work in-progress has been supported by Yaddo, Headlands Center for the Arts, Whitman College and Movement Research (AIR 2014-2016). She has developed programing as an artist-curator for Danspace Project. Educated Bennington College (MFA) and University of California, Los Angeles (BA); Critic in sculpture, Yale School of Art, 2014 - present; full-time visiting instructor in Dance, UCLA, Spring 2016 (Movement Research exchange program).

Tamar Rogoff is a choreographer and filmmaker who explores the outer limits of how people negotiate extreme circumstances. Her work has been presented at numerous venues, both nationally and internationally, including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, PS122, La MaMa Theater, and the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn. Rogoff was movement coach to Emmy award-winning Claire Danes for HBO's "Temple Grandin," and also coached the lead actor in Stephen Daldry's film "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." Her choreographic work "Diagnosis of a Faun," which became the subject matter for her and Daisy Wright's documentary "Enter the Faun," premiered at La MaMa in 2009 and subsequently toured. Rogoff's work is featured in the book "Site Dance: Choreographers and the Lure of Alternative Spaces." She is an adjunct faculty member at the Experimental Theater Wing at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and has been teaching and developing her unique brand of bodywork classes for over twenty-five years.

Gregg Mozgala is the Artistic Director of The Apothetae, a theater company dedicated to the production of works that explore and illuminate the "Disabled Experience." A critically acclaimed actor and playwright, Gregg has been in various New York productions Off and Off-Off Broadway. Along with choreographer, Tamar Rogoff, he has been invited to speak about the effects of cerebral palsy at the Wyss Institute For Biological Engineering at Harvard University, La Rabida Children's Hospital in Chicago, Eastern Carolina University Medical School, Columbia University Medical School and the Kennedy-Krieger Institute in Baltimore, MD. He now teaches and works with adults and young people with CP and he helped to start the first "Cerebral Posse" in New York City.

Jen Rosenblit has been making dances in NYC since 2005. Rosenblit has taught for CLASSCLASSCLASS, Bowdoin College and Hollins University. In NYC, her work has premiered at New York Live Arts, Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church and Issue Project Room. Rosenblit is a recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Art 2012 Grant for Artists. She was a 2013 Fellow at Insel Hombroich, and her newest work, a Natural dance, premieres at The Kitchen May 29-31.

Judith Sánchez Ruíz is a Cuban born choreographer, improviser and teacher based in New York since 1999 and relocated to Berlin in 2011. She has worked with Trisha Brown Dance Company, David Zambrano, DD Dorvillier, Jeremy Nelson & Luis Lara Malvacías, Deborah Hay, Sasha Waltz & Guests among others. Her works have been presented internationally in theaters, festivals, museums and galleries. In 2010 she founded JSR Company in New York City, focusing in multidisciplinary and site-specific performances. Sánchez has created works at different companies and dance institutions, and has taught workshops and master classes throughout the world.

Eva Schmidt is an artist living and working in Brooklyn. Her creative practice spans the visual, performing and culinary arts. She enjoys eating outdoors and cooking for artists. Please contact Eva if you need a hot meal. Schmidt is currently training as a Life Chef. www.evakschmidt.tumblr.com

Peter Sciscioli is an interdisciplinary performer, creator, educator and producer, whose work encompasses dance, music, theater and film. He has worked extensively with Meredith Monk, Jane Comfort and Daria Faïn, and performed in work by Jonathan Bepler/Matthew Barney, Ping Chong, DD Dorvillier, Tatyana Tenenbaum, Fiona Templeton and Philip Glass/Mary Zimmerman, among others. Since 1997 he has been creating work with a wide variety of collaborators for performance, site-specific and gallery venues throughout the world. He has taught and facilitated labs in countries from Mexico to Macedonia and coached several dance companies in voice work, most recently Milka Djordjevich and Yackez. www.petersciscioli.com

Shelley Senter is an independent and collaborative performer, choreographer and teacher whose work has been presented worldwide. She has been investigating the application of the principles of the Alexander Technique for thirty years, a certified teacher for more than twenty. Her interest is rooted in the ephemerality and materiality of bodies; their design, biologies, biographies, and relationships, as well as the un/sub/consciousness of kinesthetic experience that underlies the possibility for shared narratives and collective choreographic maps.

Vicky Shick has been involved in the NYC dance community for three decades. She worked with many choreographers, is a former member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and received "Bessies" for performance and choreography. In addition to showing work at Danspace, DTW, The Kitchen, PS122, Movement Research at Judson Church and WET, she has made dances for Arizona State University, Barnard College, Bryn Mawr and George Washington University. Shick was a 2006 Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant recipient, a 2008 Guggenheim Fellow, and is a 2015 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence.

Paul Singh earned his BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois. Paul has danced for Gerald Casel, Erica Essner, Risa Jaroslow, Douglas Dunn, Christopher Williams and was featured in the inaugural cast of Punchdrunk theater company's American debut of Sleep No More. He was also in the creation cast for the opera The Indian Queen under the direction of Peter Sellars. His work has been presented at the Judson Church, New York Live Arts, Joe's Pub, Dixon Place, La MaMa E.T.C, and in 2004 his solo piece Stutter was presented at the Kennedy Center. Paul has taught Contact Improvisation around the world during CI training festivals in Israel, Spain, Germany, France and India. While in NYC, Paul hopes to continue dancing and choreographing for his little company, Singh & Dance, until his feet fall off. www.paulsinghdance.com

Stephanie Skura, "major American experimentalist" & "Bessie" award-winner, has researched, performed & taught movement & performance for three decades in fourteen countries and 30 U.S. states. She investigates boundaries & intersections of dance, poetry and performance, with a deep respect for individual diversity & subconscious realms. She has a passion for collaboration, as political act as well as artistic choice, and for sustainability both in nature & performance. A former New Yorker directing a touring dance company, she now lives near Seattle & travels frequently. More info at www.stephanieskura.com.

Mårten Spångberg is a choreographer living and working in Stockholm and Brussels. His interest concerns choreography in the expanded field, something he has approached through experimental practices and creative processes in a multiplicity of formats and expressions. He has created more than 20 stage works, and has also been active in visual art, architecture and has a close relationship to theory. He has thorough experience in teaching both theory and practice, and has published extensively. In 2011 his first book Spangbergianism was published.

Anna Sperber's work has been presented by The Kitchen, Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Chocolate Factory Theater, Dance Theater Workshop, Gibney Dance, American Dance Festival (ADF) among many other venues. Anna has an been an Artist in Residence at BAX, Gibney Dance Center (DiP), LMCC Process Space, Movement Research, and Sugar Salon at Barnard College. As a performer she has worked with luciana achugar and Juliette Mapp. She co-founded classclassclass, and has taught at Movement Research, DNA, Gibney Dance, ADF, and George Washington University

RoseAnne Spradlin, NYC-based choreographer, is interested in body consciousness and presence of the performer. She has taught in England, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Greece, Amherst, Berkeley, etc. Spradlin has received a "Bessie," Guggenheim, Lambent and FCA Award, among others. She is the winner of a 2014 US Artist Ford Fellowship in Dance and is the Director of a new low-residency MFA in Choreography and Visual Arts at Wilson College in PA.

Tasha Taylor, a Feldenkrais® practitioner since 2006, maintains a vibrant practice on the upper west side, primarily working with performing artists interested in improving their self-use. As a dancer, Tasha performed extensively with many innovative choreographers including Pat Cremins, Steve Gross, Dean Moss, Lynn Shapiro and RoseAnne Spradlin. She received a "Bessie" Award for her performance in Spradlin's Underworld. Tasha delights in improvisation and poetry and is curious about the relationship between movement, feeling and learning.

Leyya Mona Tawil is a conceptual artist working with dance and music practices. Her performance scores have been presented in 16 countries internationally, including ongoing collaborations in Berlin, Detroit, and Saint Petersburg, Russia. She is known for her location-based work; a prominent example is Destroy// All Places, which began in 2012 and has since taken residence in 19 cities including Rome, Cairo and Athens. She is the director of DANCE ELIXIR and TAC: Temescal Art Center.

Tatyana Tenenbaum is a choreographer and composer whose work explores the phenomenal singing body. From 2007-2009 she curated a monthly improvisational forum for musicians and dancers called "The Raw and the Cooked Show." This research evolved into a personal practice seeking to bring sensational practices of music and movement into the same thinking body. Her original work has been presented by the Chocolate Factory Theater, Dance Theater Workshop"s FRESH TRACKS, Temple University, and Pieter PASD (LA). She has performed and collaborated with artists Yoshiko Chuma, Daria Faïn, Jennifer Monson, and Levi Gonzalez, among others.

Donna Uchizono is a dance artist based in New York City and Artistic Director of Donna Uchizono Company, which has toured throughout the U.S, Europe and South America. A "Bessie" recipient, Uchizono has been recognized by numerous awards and grants including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Alpert Award, Rockefeller Map Fund, National Endowment for the Arts grants, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships, Jerome Foundation, National Dance Project, and NPN among others. She has been commissioned to create work for Mikhail Baryshnikov, Paula Vogel, and most recently for the Live Ideas Festival celebrating Oliver Sacks in honor of his 80th birthday. www.donnauchizono.org

Larissa Velez-Jackson is a NYC-based choreographer/multi-platform artist. She was a Movement Research Artist in Residence 2012-13, a boo-koo artist resident 2014 at Gibney Dance Center, and an El Museo del Barrio AIR 2014. Her last evening-length work, "Star Crap Method" premiered at Chocolate Factory Theater in 2014. She is now creating an evening-length work of her outlandish song and dance collaboration with husband Jon Velez-Jackson called YACKEZ at New York Live Arts in 2016/17.

Gwen Welliver is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She performed with Doug Varone and Dancers (1990-00), was a recipient of a "Bessie" for Sustained Achievement (2000), and served as Rehearsal Director for the Trisha Brown Dance Company (2000-07). Welliver's work has been presented on the stage and in gallery settings. Recent support for her process has come from NYFA, NYLA, LMCC, New Music USA, and CPR. Welliver has been a Movement Research faculty member since 1997 and currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. She is a 2015 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence.

Sarah White-Ayón received her BFA in Dance from the University of Missouri, KC in 1999, and her Alexander Technique Teaching Certificate from the Balance Arts Center, NYC in 2007. In addition to maintaining a private practice in the Alexander Technique, she has taught at various schools in New York City including Balance Arts Center, Movement Research, Class Class Class, and Parson's School of Design. Additionally, she holds an MFA in video art from the School of Visual Arts Photo, Video & Related Media Program, 2011.

Abby Zbikowski is a choreographer, an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and is on faculty at the American Dance Festival. Her choreographic work with her company, Abby Z and the New Utility, has been presented by Gibney Dance Center in NYC and Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh, among other venues. She has been an artist in residence as part of the nEW Festival in Philadelphia and at the Bates Dance Festival. Abby has studied intensively at Germaine Acogny's L'École de Sables in Senegal, holds a BFA in dance from Temple University and an MFA in dance from Ohio State University, where she worked closely with mentor Bebe Miller.