Joshua Bergasse

JOSHUA BERGASSE is the Emmy Award-winning choreographer for NBC’s musical drama SMASH, and received a Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics nomination as well as the Astaire Award for his choreography of ON THE TOWN. He also choreographed the new musical CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, directed by Jack O’Brien and produced by Warner Bros, as well as GIGI on Broadway.

Josh directed and choreographed the New York premiere of the re-imagined production of SMOKEY JOE’S CAFÉ. He also choreographed SWEET CHARITY starring Sutton Foster and won the prestigious CHITA RIVERA AWARD for excellence in choreography. Josh has also choreographed a variety of musicals, including the premiere of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME at The Old Globe; THE HONEYMOONERS at Papermill Playhouse; the Off-Broadway production of “Bomb-Itty of Errors”; the national and international tours of “Fame the Musical”; “West Side Story” at the Stratford Festival, Barrington Stage Company, Fulton Theatre and North Carolina Theatre; “The Royal Family of Broadway”, “Guys and Dolls,” “Carousel,” “The World Goes Round” at Barrington Stage Company, and many others.

Josh’s choreography has been featured on JESSICA JONES for Netflix, the feature film GROWN UPS 2with Adam Sandler, and the PBS special A CAPITOL FOURTH. Josh conceptualized and choreographed for LG Electronics on their ad campaign titled LG TWIN Wash presents: Divide & Conquer that was presented in New York City, and has choreographed multiple times for Fox’s SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE.

At Carnegie Hall, his credits as a choreographer include “Candide”, “The Sound of Music” and “Guys and Dolls”. He choreographed the televised special “Sinatra: Voice for a Century” with the NY Philharmonic at The Lincoln Center, “American Songbooks: Fascinatin’ Rhythm” also at Lincoln Center. Josh was chosen to help celebrate Bernstein’s 100th birthday by staging “On The Town” for the National Symphony in DC and on the famous INTREPID, and “West Side Story” for the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood.

Josh is a New York-based choreographer as well as a master teacher and has been a member of the Broadway Dance Center (BDC) faculty since 1998. Josh is also the artistic director for the Musical Theater Performance Project at BDC. He has been a guest artist at New York University, Marymount Manhattan College, Indiana University, James Madison University, Shenandoah University, Kean University, Creighton University and the University of California Satellite Program.

Next up, Josh will be directing and choreographing I MARRIED AN ANGEL for Encores at New York City Center.

Julia Eichten

JULIA EICHTEN grew up dancing in Minnesota. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School under the directorship of Lawrence Rhodes. Upon graduation Julia received the Hector Zaraspe award in recognition of her choreography. She has shown her work around New York City, at venues ranging from, The Le Poisson Rouge to Dumbo Dance Festival and Dance Theater of Harlem, as well as choreographic residency at The Yard, in Martha’s Vineyard in 2011. She has performed professionally with Camille A. Brown & Dancers, as well as Aszure Barton & Artists. Julia is a founding member of L.A. Dance Project and she has had the pleasure to perform around the world, works by Benjamin Millepied, Merce Cunningham, Justin Peck, Martha Graham, Danielle Agami, Emanuel Gat, Sidi Larbi, Ohad Naharin, and William Forsythe. In the spring of 2015, Julia had a world premiere of her piece, O'de, in collaboration with L.A. Dance Project and Lil Buck at the Palace of Versailles. Last summer at the Joyce Theater, she showed her work, Monsieur, which The New York Times dubbed, “an elegantly clumsy solo.”

Jim Vincent

JIM VINCENT, who studied dance at the Washington School of Ballet, Harkness House for Ballet Arts (NYC) and UNCSA, became the Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans Theater in 2009. He previously served as the Artistic Director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago from 2000-2009, following an extensive career as a dancer, teacher, ballet master and choreographer. Vincent’s distinguished career as a professional dancer includes a 12-year tenure with Jiri Kylian’s Nederlands Dans Theater and two years with Nacho Duato’s Compañía Nacional de Danza in Spain. As a dancer, he worked with many choreographers including Kylian, Duato, Lubovitch, William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Hans van Manen, Christopher Bruce, Bill T. Jones and Ohad Naharin. In 2012, he became Executive Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Entertainment.

Kirven Douthit-Boyd

KIRVEN DOUTHIT-BOYD began his formal dance training at the Boston Arts Academy in 1998 and joined Boston Youth Moves in 1999. He earned an M.F.A. in Dance from Hollins University in 2018. He has also trained on scholarship at The Boston Conservatory, and The Ailey School prior to performing with Battleworks Dance Company, Ailey II, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 2004-2015. He joined Ron K. Brown’s EVIDENCE, A Dance Company as a Guest Artist in 2016. Douthit-Boyd currently resides in St Louis, Missouri where he works as the Co-Artistic Director of Dance at the Center of Creative Arts with his husband Antonio Douthit-Boyd.

Josh Prince

JOSH PRINCE began his career as an actor after graduating from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He went on to appear on Broadway in Little Me and Saturday Night Fever, as well as perform in numerous regional theater productions and concerts. Before turning his attention to choreography, he also appeared Off-Broadway in Forbidden Broadway, toured the country in CATS, and starred as “Carmen Ghia” in The Producers opposite Jason Alexander and Martin Short at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles.

In 2006, Josh made his Broadway choreographic debut with Shrek, The Musical (Outer Critics Circle Nomination), which opened in December of 2008 and went on to tour the US, play in London’s West End, and tour the UK. He has choreographed shows at prestigious venues across the US and UK, including New York City Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, The Signature Theatre (DC), BAM, The New Group, The Old Vic, Royal Festival Hall, and The Royal Albert Hall. Josh choreographed a new adaptation of the animated film, Frozen, for Disney Cruise Lines, and made his directorial debut with Grease at the Winter Garden Theater in Toronto, CA. He is the choreographer of the new musical, Trevor, with director, Marc Bruni, and is currently collaborating with Tony-nominated director, Sheryl Kaller, on two new musicals, A Walk On The Moon and Bliss.

Josh is the proud choreographer of the award winning hit Broadway show, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical (Olivier, Helpmann, and Astaire Award nominations), which is currently running at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre and has toured the US, UK, Japan, and Australia.

Jenn Freeman

JENN FREEMAN, a graduate of NYU Tisch and Artistic Director of Freemove Dance, is an American choreographer, dance performer, and educator based in New York City. In October 2018, Jenn self- produced and debuted Freemove Dance’s first evening-length work, …it’s time…, at The Theater at the 14th Street Y. Jenn's choreography has been commissioned by Marymount Manhattan College, Wayne State University,  BYU, and The University of Texas at Austin where her piece, When, was nominated for a 2018 Austin Critics Table Award and chosen as a finalist to be presented at the Kennedy Center for the ACDA National Festival. Her works have been presented in NYC at The Reverb Dance Festival, The 14th Street Y Cabaret, and The Young Choreographer’s Festival (Guest Artist). In 2017 she was a finalist in both Division I and II at the McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival. With over a decade of commercial dance experience, Jenn has worked alongside internationally recognized choreographers in the development of pieces and large scale productions for: Florence and the Machine, Madonna, The X-Factor, Target, The Brit Awards, Cirque du Soleil, The Martha Graham Dance Company (Tayeh Variation), LA Ballet (Beneath One’s Dignity), SYTYCD, Encores! Off-Center at NY City Center (The Wild Party), and Classic Stage Company (Iphigenia in Aulis). She most recently choreographed JJ Lin's performance for the 29th Annual Golden Melody Awards in Taipei. Music Video choreography credits include: Avan Lava’s “Wanna Live”, directed by Alexander Hammer (Beyonce). Professionally, Jenn has danced in works by choreographers: Sonya Tayeh (you'll still call me by name, Lead Dancer),Mia Michaels, Kyle Abraham (Abraham.in.Motion, founding member), Larry Keigwin (Keigwin and Co.), Charlotte Boye-Christensen (NOW-ID), Brook Notary (The Pulse Project), Mark Swanhart, Danielle Flora, and many others. Jenn has appeared in live performances for Target, The MTV Video Music Awards, The Jimmy Fallon Show, Comedy Central’s“The Comedy Awards”, and The Rolling Stone's 50th Anniversary Tour.  Jenn is an internationally recognized educator. Her unique teaching style can be experienced across the U.S. at Revive Dance Convention. She is the creator and director of Contemporary Now, a Dallas based summer intensive. She also frequently appears as a guest/master teacher at STEPS on Broadway.

Tony Testa

Since moving to LA in 2005, TONY TESTA has been an Artistic Director for THE VOICE UK, NICKI MINAJ (AMA’s), ONE DIRECTION (SNL), KYLIE MINOGUE’s “APHRODITE” World Tour, Kpop’s “EXO” Lost Planet World Tour, & multiple Installations for the LACMA MUSEUM. He has Choreographed for JANET JACKSON, KYLIE MINOGUE, ARIANA GRANDE, BRITNEY SPEARS, DEMI LOVATO, VERSACE, TOYOTA, SYTYCD, DWTS, AMERICA’S GOT TALENT, XFACTOR, DISNEY, THE GRAMMY’s, JLO’s VEGAS RESIDENCY, multiple shows for FRANCO DRAGONE, multiple feature films for KENNY ORTEGA, & he worked with MJ on his final project, THIS IS IT.

Most recently, he has been apprenticing with greek theater director DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU on his produtions of “THE GREAT TAMER” in Athens & “SINCE SHE”, with Tanztheater Wuppertal. He also contributed Choreography for Dir. Michael Gracey’s, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN.

Tony actively supports non-profits such as HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES, THE ADVOT PROJECT, CREATIVE VISIONS, THE WOODEN FLOOR, & THE PAINTED TURTLE. He was a guest speaker for TEDx Palisades, where he used dance to raise concern about the effects of over-fishing & in 2018 he brought 2 pieces of dance to the PARLIAMENT OF WORLD RELIGIONS to highlight the current state of plastic pollution in our oceans & the global refugee crisis.

Tony Testa is trained in Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Partnering, Break-Dance, Flamenco, Butoh, & Hip-Hop. He was born & raised in Fort Collins, CO.

Ahmad Simmons

AHMAD SIMMONS is currently appearing in the Broadway revival of Carousel featuring the Tony Award winning choreography of Justin Peck. He was previously seen in the role of Alonzo in the revival of Cats choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler. Recent credits include the ABC TV remake of  "Dirty Dancing". A graduate of Point Park University, he has toured Russia, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and all over the U.S as a dancer with Parsons Dance Company, River North Dance Chicago, and Eisenhower Dance. As a choreographer, Ahmad has created works for DanceWorks Chicago, Thodos Dance Chicago, Eisenhower Dance, and Visceral Dance Chicago. In addition to concert dance he's spent summer performing with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, where he received the Julia Deberson Award for his work in Hairspray, The Producers, Curtains, White Christmas, and Cats. His passion for teaching young professionals has led former students to the Juilliard School, University of Michigan, Point Park University and Marymount Manhattan. 

Jamal Sims

JAMAL SIMS is one of today’s most sought after choreographer/directors in the industry. Currently Jamal is directing an HBO documentary entitled Buck U, working with HBO’s Sheila Nevins and World Of Wonder Productions. His recent projects include the fifth installment of the Step Up series, the acclaimed Microsoft “Surface/Surface Pro” tablet commercial, and the viral “Safety Video” hit for Virgin America. Jamal has also worked with Neil Patrick Harris as the Supervising Choreographer for RENT at the Hollywood Bowl. His other Choreography credits include Footloose, Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour, Dancing with the Stars, the Emmy nominated 82nd Academy Awards (Produced by Step Up feature film franchise Producer; Adam Shankman), Miley Cyrus Wonderworld Tour (which he also directed), Step Up 1, Step Up 2 The Streets, Step Up 3D, Step Up: Revolution, So You Think You Can Dance, Big Mama’s House: Like Father, Like Son (Martin Lawrence), Hairspray (John Travolta), Hannah Montana the Movie (Miley Cyrus), 17 Again (Zac Efron), Soul Men (Bernie Mac, Samuel L. Jackson), Beauty Shop, Vanilla Sky, and Garfield. Sims is known for his creativity in numerous commercials such as Target and Volkswagon, as well as music videos and stage shows for Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Usher, P. Diddy, Spice Girls, Outkast and Gloria Estefan. Jamal is truly setting the industry standard in choreography.

Seth Stewart

SETH STEWART is one of today’s most exciting and energetic all around entertainers! Recently, Seth performed as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, after previously being an original broadway cast member in the Award Winning hit show, “Hamilton the Musical.” With Hamilton, he has performed for the President of the United States, as well as the Grammy’s, where the show won for Best Musical Theater Album, and the Tony’s where the show won Best Musical! Seth also played the OBC role of Graffiti Pete, in the Tony winning musical “In The Heights” on Broadway, and was an original cast member in the Tony nominated musical “Sweet Charity.”

Seth has graced the silver screen in the Sex and the City Movie, Music and Lyrics By, and Friends With Benefits.  He played the lead role of Owen, for award winning independent film, Karma Club. As well as, Jason, in the award winning independent film, Inside a Change, directed by Rik Cordero. 

He has performed all over the world alongside some of the world’s most well known artists including Madonna in her “Reinvention Tour,” Jennifer Lopez “Brave” European Tour, Mariah Carey, Ne-Yo, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Black Eyed Peas, Jennifer Hudson, and Jay-Z.

Stephen Pier

STEPHEN PIER has achieved a uniquely rich and varied career as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. His credits as a performer include many years as a principal dancer with the José Limón Company where he was critically acclaimed as "a dancer of tremendous taste and insight.", "highly defined, a tour de force", and “one of the most gifted dancers on the modern dance scene today.”

Stephen went on to become a leading soloist with The Hamburg Ballett performing the title roles in John Neumeier’s “Othello” and “Saint Matthew’s Passion” and creating numerous other major roles during his nine years with the company.

As a member of The Royal Danish Ballett for six years, Stephen had the privilege of dancing leading roles in works of Bournonville, Balanchine, and Macmillan as well as collaborating with many of Europe’s finest choreographers.

He was also invited to teach both the company and the school of the Royal Danish Ballet and served as ballet master for the company from 1992-1996. He has since taught on the faculty of The Alvin Ailey School, the Martha Graham Center, Regional Dance America, New York International Ballet Competition and for many notable companies in Europe, America and Asia including Company Wayne McGregor, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Atlanta Ballet, Bat Dor, Introdans , and the New National Theater, Tokyo. He was on the faculty of The Juilliard School from 1996 to 2010 where he also directed the innovative Mentoring Program. Stephen continues to teach as a trusted guest master teacher for companies and schools throughout the world.

In 2004 Stephen began PierGroupDance to explore and collaborate with dancers and other artists and art forms. He has created over 60 works for the concert stage, opera, theater, and film. His work has been presented by The Hamburg Ballett(Ger.), The Royal Danish Ballet(Denmark), Royal Danish Theater, Royal Danish Opera, Bat Dor (Israel), the New National Theater(Japan) , the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, The Di Capo Opera Company (NYC), Nilas Martins Dance Company, the Dance on Film Festival at Lincoln Center and Musuc From Japan . He was selected to be part of Jacob's Pillow Choreographer’s Project in 1998. He co-founded and directed the emerging choreographer’s workshop, “Danses”, at the Royal Danish Ballet 1990-1996

In September 2008 Stephen started a 3-year tenure as Director of Visions and Voices: Altria/ABT Women's Choreography Project at American Ballet Theater

In Februry 2010, Stephen was appointed Director of the Dance Division of The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, CT.

Lauren Newman

LAUREN NEWMAN is a New York City based dance artist and teacher. She holds a BFA in dance and a B.A. in art history from Southern Methodist University. She was a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company from 2010-2016 where she performed soloist roles in Graham’s repertory, as well as in works by Kyle Abraham, Larry Keigwin, Nacho Duato, and Andonis Foniadakis. Lauren was part of the original creative process for works by Annie B. Parson, Marie Chouinard, and Michelle Dorrance. In 2012 she performed in the touring Italian production, Cercando Picasso, a play directed by Antonio Calenda with choreography by the artistic director of the Martha Graham Dance Company, Janet Eilber.

Lauren can also be seen in the Martha Graham Dance Technique video, produced by Dance Spotlight, as well as in the feature film Fall to Rise directed by Jayce Bartok. This past year she performed in the music video Black Snow by the music artist Oneohtrix Point Never and in his concertscape, Myriad, at the Park Avenue Armory. Most recently she performs with Madeline Hollander, and has also worked with Isabel Lewis, Yanghee Lee, Jesse Factor, Kristin Draucker, and Deborah Zall. Lauren has taught as an adjunct professor at Marymount Manhattan College and Long Island University, and has been a guest teacher at Southern Methodist and Rutgers Universities. Lauren continues to teach at the Martha Graham School and enjoyed working with our younger generation of artists at USDAN camp for the arts for the last three summers. Lauren is also certified to teach in the Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis methods.

Alan Tudyk

ALAN WRAY TUDYK is an American actor and voice artist known for his roles as Hoban "Wash" Washburne in the television series Firefly and movie Serenity, Alpha in the science fiction TV series Dollhouse, Tucker McGee in Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Steve the Pirate in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story and Wat in A Knight's Tale. He also co-starred on the ABC sitcom Suburgatory. He had a supporting role in the film 42 as baseball manager Ben Chapman and voiced significant roles in Walt Disney Animation Studios' Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Moana and Zootopia. Most recently, he produced, directed, wrote and starred in the web series Conman, and plays K2SO in Star Wars: Rogue One. He also co-stars in the NBC sitcom series Powerless with Vanessa Hudgens.

Jared Gertner

JARED GERTNER is best known for playing Elder Cunningham in The Book of Mormon on Broadway, in the 1st National tour, and in London, where he received an Olivier Nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Musical. He's also appeared on Broadway as William Barfee in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, as Warren in the Off-Broadway premiere of Ordinary Days (Roundabout Theatre Company), and in regional theatres across the country. 

In Los Angeles, Jared played Frank Lippencott opposite Faith Prince in Wonderful Town at LA Opera. He also created the role of Al Dubin in the new musical, I Only Have Eyes For You, and the role of Sidowsky in the world premiere of the play, The Dodgers. 

Television credits include: Supernatural, Modern Family, 2 Broke Girls, How I Met Your Mother, Marvel's Agent Carter, Ugly Betty, The Good Wife, and the popular Broadway-themed web series, Submissions Only. Jared starred in a television pilot for NBC/Universal called How We Live, and he also appeared in the CBS pilot, Superior Donuts.

His voice can be heard as an adorable pug dog in the film, Pup Star, as a bunch of folks on American Dad and Family Guy, in radio and television commercials and on the original cast albums for The Book of Mormon and Ordinary Days.

He will soon be seen in the horror film, Nightmare Cinema.

Jared is originally from The Jersey Shore (the place not the TV show). He is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Nigel Campbell

NIGEL CAMPBELL was born and raised in The Bronx, New York. He began his training at Creative Outlet Dance Theater and is a graduate of LaGuardia Arts High School, and of The Juilliard School, under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. He has also received additional training from The Miami City Ballet School, The School at Jacob’s Pillow, The Alvin Ailey School and Springboard Danse Montreal. While at Juilliard, Nigel joined the Metropolitan Opera Ballet as a soloist dancer for their production of Aida. Upon graduation, he moved to Saarbruecken, Germany to join the Saarlandisches Staatstheater, under the direction of Marguerite Donlon. In 2010, Nigel moved to Chicago, Illinois to dance for Luna Negra Dance Theater, under the Direction of Gustavo Ramirez Sansano. While in his first season at Luna, Nigel was the proud recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Award 2011. In April 2013, Nigel joined the world renowned GöteborgsOperans DansKompani in Gothenburg, Sweden under the direction of Adolphe Binder. He danced there full time as a soloist until June 2015.

In 2015, Nigel co-founded MOVE(NYC) with his partner Chanel DaSilva. MOVE(NYC)‘s mission is to cultivate greater diversity and equity within the dance profession and beyond. By providing increased access to high quality training, directly engaging our community, and curating new and exciting professional performance opportunities, MOVE(NYC) is fostering a dance experience more reflective of the world we live in today. A sought after master teacher and répétiteur, Nigel has set dances and given workshops throughout the United States and abroad at The Juilliard School, S.U.N.Y. Purchase Conservatory of Dance, The Ailey School/Fordham B.F.A., Princeton University, Ballet Hispanico, Springboard Danse Montreal, The Ballet Akademien Göteborg, No)one. Art House, MUDA Africa, & LaGuardia Arts HS among many others.

Nigel has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including a National YoungArts Level 1 Award and a NAACP ACT-SO Gold Medal. He is a 2004 Presidential Scholar in the Arts and at 17, was featured on the National PBS documentary American Talent. In 2017 Nigel is named Co-Director of Gibney Dance Company, after spending two years as a dancer and Artistic Associate for the company. He resides in New York City.

Billy Bell

BILLY BELL is an internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer. Most recently a cast member in Punchdrunk's "Sleep No More," Billy's past experiences include dancing with Jose Navas/Compagnie Flak and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet where he performed works by Jiri Kilian, Hofesh Shechter, Alexander Ekman, Crystal Pite, and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Billy is a recipient of the Frank Prize for Emerging Artists and an Award of Choreographic Excellence by Capezio. He is also well established in the commercial dance scene having been on FOX's So You Think You Can Dance, after which he had the opportunity to work with the likes of Britney Spears, the original cast of RENT, and the talented cast and crew of FOX's HOUSE M.D. An alumni of The Juilliard School, Billy holds a degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications with a focus on Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and is studying Interior Architecture and Themed Entertainment Design at Savannah College of Art and Design. Currently, Billy is touring with Radix Dance Convention and teaching modern dance techniques to dancers of all ages across the country.

Camille A. Brown

CAMILLE A. BROWN is a prolific Black female choreographer, who is reclaiming the cultural narrative of African American identity. Her bold work taps into both ancestral stories and contemporary culture to capture a range of deeply personal experiences. Ms. Brown has received numerous honors including a Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, a Doris Duke Artist Award, a United States Artists Award, an Audelco Award, four Princess Grace Awards, and a New York City Center Award. She is a TED fellow and the recipient of a Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among others. Her work has been commissioned by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Urban Bush Women, Complexions, Ballet Memphis, Hubbard Street II, Broadway theaters, and other prominent institutions. As Artistic Director of Camille A. Brown & Dancers (CABD), which she founded in 2006, Ms. Brown strives to instill curiosity and reflection in diverse audiences through her emotionally raw and thought-provoking work. Her driving passion is to empower Black bodies to tell their story using their own languages through movement and dialogue. Through the company, Ms. Brown provides outreach activities to students, young adults, and incarcerated women and men across the country. Currently, Ms. Brown and her company CABD is performing her new work “ink,” the final installation of her dance theatre trilogy about culture, race and identity. “ink” premiered in 2017 at The Kennedy Center and follows the Bessie Award-winning “Mr. TOL E. RAncE” (2012) and Bessie-nominated “BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play” (2015). Drawing on historic and contemporary rhythms, rituals, and gestural vocabulary of the African Diaspora, "ink" reclaims African-American narratives by showcasing their authenticity. The work examines the culture of Black life that is often appropriated, rewritten, or silenced. Recently, CABD was honored to partner with Google Arts & Culture on an exciting project for Black History Month exploring the story of Black history and culture through dance where “ink” was highlighted and filmed at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Ms. Brown is the choreographer for the Emmy Award-Winning special, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! aired on NBC-TV and is the Choreographer for the Tony Award-Winning Revival of Once on this Island on Broadway. For her work on this show she received Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Chita Rivera Award nominations. She choreographed Taren Alvin McCraney’s CHOIR BOY (2019), for which she received a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award nomination. For her choreography on BELLA: An American Tall Tale, she received an AUDELCO award and Lucille Lortel nomination. Ms. Brown’s other Broadway and Off-Broadway theater credits include choreography for: Broadway’s A Streetcar Named Desire (2012); Fortress of Solitude (The Public Theater, Lortel Nomination); Much Ado About Nothing (The Public Theater, Shakespeare in the Park; TONI STONE (Roundabout Theater); Cabin in the Sky (NY City Center’s Encores!) and Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…BOOM! (NY City Center’s Encores! Off-Center) starring Lin-Manuel Miranda. Regional credits include Stagger Lee (Dallas Theater Center) and the forthcoming ONCE (Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh). Ms. Brown is the choreographer for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by George C. Wolfe, for Netflix, and she will make her Met Opera debut choreographing the highly anticipated revival of Porgy and Bess, September 2019. Ms. Brown has been featured on the cover of Dance Teacher Magazine and Dance Magazine (2018). In the summer 2016, Ms. Brown performed as a guest artist in the world premiere of And Still You Must Swing with tap artists Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Derick K. Grant, and Jason Samuels Smith at Jacob’s Pillow. She has performed at the 2015 TED Conference in Vancouver, Canada and given talks at both TEDxBeaconStreet and TEDx Estée Lauder Companies. Ms. Brown is a graduate of the LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts and received a B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Lakey Wolff

LAKEY WOLFF founded Lakey Wolff & Company after 14 years at CESD Talent Agency, New York, where she was a top agent and respected leader in her field. She focuses on the development of artists, tailoring a team to fit each client individually using her deep resources, relationships and contacts in every area of the entertainment industry. Lakey is the Founder of her own full-service company concentrating solely on artists that are ready to focus on their career in any stage. Her strong interests and experience in theatre, film, TV and dance gives Lakey a unique ability to position her elite roster of clients for success.

Ebony Williams

EBONY WILLIAMS began her career as a dancer and choreographer at a very young age. Born in Boston Massachusetts, Ebony discovered her enthusiasm for dance in all genres, doing hip-hop with the neighborhood kids while studying jazz and tap at the Roxbury Center for the Performing Arts.

Exhibiting extraordinary talent with little to no ballet training. Ebony was selected to train in the Citi Dance Program. Soon after Boston Ballet recognized her talent as remarkable, therefore promoting her from the Citi Dance Program to the Boston Ballet School as a full scholarship student.

In 2005 after graduating from the Boson Conservatory with a BFA in Dance, Ebony signed a contract with the renowned Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet as the company’s first African American female dancer. Performing works by Hofesh Shechter, Crysal Pite, Alexander Ekman, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Ohad Naharin, Jiri Kylian as well as a host of others, establishing herself as an extremely versatile artist. As a 10 year member of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Ebony was featured in the movie Adjustment Bureau staring Matt Damonand Emily Blunt , So You Think You Can Dance and Ohad Naharin’s documentary Out of Focus.

Julie McDonald

JULIE MCDONALD is co-owner of McDonald Selznick Associates (MSA). She is the pioneer in the field of dance and choreography representation, having formed the first talent agency in 1985 devoted exclusively to dance. While breaking ground by representing her clients across all mediums of entertainment, she became an advocate for better terms and working conditions for dancers and choreographers and devoted herself to raising the visibility of the art and craft of commercial dance and especially choreography. In 2000 she and Tony Selznick formed McDonald Selznick Associates. (MSA). Their clients represent a who’s who in the world of dance and have been nominated for or have won numerous Emmy, Tony, and MTV awards. MSA clients have directed and/or choreographed Las Vegas spectacles, Broadway productions, television prime time dramas and sitcoms, every awards show including the Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar Awards, and numerous films spanning the past three decades. Ms. McDonald co-created the American Choreography Awards (1994-2004), an event honoring choreography achievement in media. She was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Choreographers Carnival and Dance under the Stars Choreography Festival for pioneering the representation of dancers and choreographers. She is on the Board of Trustees for the Dizzy Feet Foundation, an organization devoted to dance education for underserved communities throughout the US. She is also on the Boards of Center Dance Association at the Music Center, Dance Magazine, and Dare to Dance in Public.

Charissa-Lee Barton

CHARISSA-LEE BARTON is a choreographer and creative director with a presence in NYC and Los Angeles. For over 15 years she appeared on international stages including the Kennedy Center, City Center, La Scala, Sydney Opera House, and Lincoln Center, among many others. Credits as performer and collaborator include Parsons Dance Company, Aszure and Artists, Benjamin Millepied and Co, Alberta Ballet, NYC Ballet, Citadel Theater and the film Across the Universe. Her choreography has been represented on stage at the Grammy’s, AdobeMax, and Comiccon, and in TV/Film on Netflix, SyFy Network, and Lionsgate. Co-founder of Barton Movement and Axis Connect, platforms for world-class dance artists. Since 2007 she has also led nonprofits supporting international humanitarian relief. Her creative spirit and natural leadership render her invaluable as a versatile creator and collaborator. www.charissaleebarton.com

Cherice Barton

Cherice Barton is a choreographer and creative director based in Los Angeles, California. 

With inspired, emotional and visually stunning work from stage to screen and beyond. Ms. Barton’s projects have featured Gwen Stefani, Katy Perry, George Lucas, Julie Taymor, Printz Board and Kristen Bell. Cherice’s choreography credits include The Grammys, America's Got Talent, Dragone Productions Le Reve & House of Dancing Water, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway, Lucasfilm Animation, American Ballet Theater, Dance Camera West and the Juilliard School, among others. Ms. Barton recently choreographed a new ballet “Eudaemonia” for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, with its NYC premiere at the Joyce Theater. 

In 2016 Cherice joined forces with her sister, Charissa Barton for the launch of their production company, Barton Movement; a company of world-class creative artists specializing in dance, movement and choreography. One of Barton Movements first major projects was the creation of Axis Connect, a bi-coastal educational platform for emerging professional dancers. Led by its founders, the Barton sisters, Axis Connect bridges the gap between the institution and professional dance industry by providing the experience, connections, skills and exposure necessary for career success not only in concert and commercial dance, but the entertainment industry as a whole.

Cherice Barton's performance career has spanned 20 years in over 30 countries across six continents. She devotes her heart to her beautiful daughters, beloved husband and the most inspiring parents and siblings anyone could ask for.

Cheryl Mann

CHERYL MANN came to Los Angeles two years ago after two  decades of dancing & photographing in Chicago. 

Mann began her professional career at the age of 17, dancing at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL, and received a B.A. in dance from Point Park College, in Pittsburgh, PA. She performed with the Civic Light Opera in South Pacific as “Liat” under the direction of Robby Marshall in Pittsburgh. Upon moving to Chicago, she danced with River North Chicago Dance Company before joining Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a Hubbard Street dancer in May of 1997, Cheryl has been fortunate in her career to travel to and perform in 17 countries, as well as countless cities in the U.S. Cheryl danced with Hubbard Street for over a decade and retired in October 2007. She served as the Artistic Associate of Visceral Dance Chicago until she moved to LA to become the Executive Director of Ate9 Dance Company.

She is the owner of Cheryl Mann Productions, where she has traveled the world setting dance works for world renown choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Toru Shimazaki, Alejandro Cerrudo, & Danny Ezralow. She is also the official photographer for Joffrey Ballet Chicago, and has shot for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, River North Dance Chicago, Ballet Hispanico, Chicago Dancing Festival, LA Dance Festival, Visceral Dance Chicago, Ate9, amongst many more. 

Most recently, Cheryl was on the creative team for NBCUniversal’s Little Big Shots featuring Steve Harvey, and was the Associate Choreographer of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Live at the Hollywood Bowl. She also had the pleasure of casting and choreographing Moby’s latest music video “Motherless Child”. Cheryl is extremely happy to return to the Axis Connect team in their 3rd year of all things awesome. 

One of America's most versatile, popular and highly acclaimed choreographers, Lar Lubovitch founded the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company 46 years ago. In the years since, he has choreographed more than 100 dances for his New York-based company, which has performed in nearly all 50 American states as well as in more than 30 foreign countries.

Lar's dances are renowned for their musicality, rhapsodic style and sophisticated formal structures. His radiant, highly technical choreography and deeply humanistic voice have been acclaimed throughout the world. Lar Lubovitch has been hailed by The New York Times as "one of the ten best choreographers in the world," and the company has been called a "national treasure" by Variety.

Born in Chicago, Lar Lubovitch was educated at the University of Iowa and the Juilliard School in New York. His teachers at Juilliard included Antony Tudor, Jose Limon, Anna Sokolow and Martha Graham. He danced in numerous modern, ballet, jazz and ethnic companies before forming the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in 1968.