WHO'S WHO IN MALPASO
FERNANDO SÁEZ (Founder/Executive Director) graduated from the School of Performing Arts at the Superior Institute of Arts (ISA) in Havana in 1988. He is also a founder and actor of Estudio Teatral de Santa Clara, was the head of the Sociocultural Development Project in Las Terrazas, Pinar del Rio from 1993 to 1997, and he served on the staff of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba since 1998 to 2014. He is also a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
OSNEL DELGADO (Founder/Artistic Director) danced with Danza Contemporanea de Cuba from 2003 to 2011, before founding Malpaso. He has worked with choreographers Mats Ek, Rafael Bonachela, Kenneth Kvarnström, Ja Linkens, Itzik Galili, Samir Akika, Pedro Ruiz, Isidro Rolando and George Cespedes, among others. Delgado has created works for DCC, Rakatan and Ebony Dance of Cuba. Delgado is a 2003 graduate of the National Dance School of Havana, where he is also a professor of dance studies.
DAILEIDYS CARRANZA (Associate Artistic Director/Co-Founder/Dancer/ Choreographer) graduated from the National Ballet School of Havana in 2003. She was a member of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba from 2003 to 2011, before founding Malpaso with Osnel Delgado and Fernando Saez. Daile has worked with choreographers such as Sonya Tayeh, Robyn Mineko Williams, Jan Linkens, Samir Akika, Pedro Ruiz, Isidro Rolando, Aszure Barton, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Ron K. Brown, among others. She has created choreographic works for her company Malpaso and for students of Toronto Metropolitan University. She has collaborated with different musicians: Lullaby for Insomnia with Jordi Sabatés (Barcelona) and in the piece Habanera with Miguel Núñez (Cuba).
DIANA ROSA HERNANDEZ (Stage Manager) graduated from the National School of Arts with a degree in acting in 2008. She is a member of Teatro Espontáneo de La Habana. Hernandez worked in the HavanaBama collaboration between the University of Alabama and Cuba. Since she joined Malpaso in March 2014, she has worked with choreographers such as Ron K. Brown, Trey McIntyre, Aszure Barton, Sonya Tayeh, Robyn Mineko Williams, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, Ephrat Asherie and among others. Diana Has worked also as lighting designers such as Al Crawford, Manuel Da Silva, Nicole Pearce, Burke Brown and Ellen Ruge.
ESTEBAN AGUILAR (Dancer), before joining Malpaso in February 2016, studied dance at ISA (Superior Institute of Arts)'s Faculty of Dance and was a member of Danza Fragmentada Company (2002-2014). He has worked with choreographers like Aszure Barton, Osnel Delgado, Sonya Tayeh, Robyn Mineko Williams, Aszure Barton, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Ron K. Brown, Daile Carrazana, Ephrat Asherie, among others.
DAYRON DOMINGUEZ (Dancer) graduated from EduardoAbela Elemental Art School in San Antonio de Los Banos and from the National Dance School in Havana Cuba in 2022. He joined Malpaso Dance Company upon graduation.
ESVEN GONZALEZ (Dancer) graduated from the National School of Dance in 2014. In September of that same year he joined Danza Contemporánea de Cuba company. He has worked with choreographers such as Theo Clinkard, Anabell López Ochoa, Lea Anderson, George Cespedes, among others. He has toured nationwide and abroad in countries and organizations such the City Center in New York, National Auditorium in Mexico, La Maison de Lyon in France, as well as various venues in Great Britain, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland and Russia.
LIZ MARIAN LORENZO (Dancer) graduated from the Alfonso Pérez Isaac Art School of Matanzas and the National Dance School Fernando Alonso in 2022. An award-winning student in international competitions, Liz performed works in the repertoire of the National Ballet of Cuba by Alicia Alonso, Ramona de Saa, and Ely Regina Hernandez, Numa. She joined Malpaso Dance Company in 2022.
DARIO ORTEGA (Dancer) graduated from the National Ballet School
Fernando Alonso in 2020. He joined Micompania in 20219 where he danced works by company’s founder and director Suasano Pous. He joined Malpaso Dance Company in 2023.
LAURA RODRIGUEZ (Dancer) graduated from the Vocational Dance School
Benny Moré in Cienfuegos in 2014 and from the National Dance School in Havana in 2018. She joined Danza Contemporánea de Cuba in 2017 where she danced works by choreographers such as George Cespedes, Yoerlis Brunet, Billy Cowie, Christopher Beranger, among others. She joined Malpaso Dance Company in 2023.
ILIANA SOLIS (Dancer) is a dancer and dance teacher who graduated from Raul Gomez García Art School in Holguín, Cuba. She was a member of Codanza Dance Company from 2006 to 2013. From 2006 to 2008 she also worked as professor at José Martí Pérez Arts Instructors School. She joined Danza Contemporánea de Cuba in 2015. She became a member of Malpaso Dance Company in 2019. Ileana has worked with choreographers such as Theo Clinkard, Billy Cowie, Lea Anderson, Fleur Darken and Anabel López Ochoa, among others.
JENNIFER SUAREZ RAMOS (Dancer) graduated from the Acosta Danza Academy where she worked with choreographers such as Jorge Crecis, Pontus Lidberg, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Goyo Montero. She has performed in theaters and events both in Cuba and abroad including the Holland Dance Festival, Venice Biennale, Budapest Dance Festival, and The Royal Ballet.
CARLOS VALLADARES (Dancer) graduated from the Samuel Feijó Professional School of Art in Santa Clara in 2017 and from the Acosta Danza School in 2022, where he danced works from the company's repertoire created by the choreographers Alexis Fernández and Raúl Reynoso. He joins Malpaso in November 2022. He has danced works by choreographers such Ohad Naharin, Aszure Barton, Osnel Delgado, and Ron K Brown.
GRETA YERO ORTIZ (Dancer) graduated from the Fernando Alonso National Ballet School in 2017. She also received training at the Ruth Page Center and Quenedit Ballet School in the United States. In the same year of her graduation, she was part of the National Ballet of Cuba, where she assumed various relevant roles. She joins Malpaso in 2022.She has danced works by choreographers such Ohad Naharin, Daile Carrazana and Osnel Delgado.
GRETA YERO ORTIZ (Dancer) graduated from the Fernando Alonso National Ballet School in 2017. She also received training at the Ruth Page Center and Quenedit Ballet School in the United States. In the same year of her graduation, she was part of the National Ballet of Cuba, where she assumed various relevant roles. She joins Malpaso in 2022.She has danced works by choreographers such Ohad Naharin, Daile Carrazana and Osnel Delgado.
KEERATI JINAKUNWIPHAT (Year of the Leopard, Choreographer) is a NYCbased choreographer and dance artist, originally from Chicago. She has worked with and performed works of artists such as Kyle Abraham, Trisha Brown, Jasmine Ellis, Shannon Gillen, Kevin Wynn, Doug Varone, and more. Keerati began working with A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham in 2016, and choreographed her first work for the company in 2019. In 2023, she had the honor of becoming the first Asian American woman to be commissioned to choreograph for the New York City Ballet, resulting in Fortuitous Ash, with music by Pulitzer-prize winning composer Du Yun. In addition, Keerati has been commissioned to set and create works on A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham, New York Choreographic Institute, Houston Contemporary Dance Company, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Bang On A Can, Princeton University, PARA.MAR Dance Theatre, Whim W’him Seattle Contemporary Dance, Fire Island Dance Festival, and more; her choreography has been performed at venues including the Joyce Theater, New Victory Theater, MASS MoCA, Lincoln Center, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, New York Live Arts, Chelsea Factory and more. Keerati has graced the cover of Dance Magazine as one of their 25 to Watch in 2021. She was awarded a 2023 Jadin Wong Fellowship Artist of Exceptional Merit by the Asian American Arts Alliance, a 2023 Princess Grace Award in choreography, and is a 2025 NYSCA/ NYFA Artist Fellow in Choreography. Keerati was a 2024 Artist in Residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, where she recently premiered her debut evening-length work, Of Dishes and Dreams, and is a 2025-
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Artist in Residence at the 92NY's Harkness Dance Center. Keerati received her BFA from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase and was a recipient of the Adopt-A-Dancer Scholarship. She has also studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Springboard Danse Montreal. She has served as adjunct professor at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Marymount Manhattan College, and Barnard College/Columbia University.
MARTHA GRAHAM (1894-1991) (Dark Meadow Suite, Choreographer) is recognized as a primal artistic force of the 20th Century. She was named “Dancer of the Century” by Time and has been compared with other creative giants such as Picasso, Einstein, Stravinsky, and Freud. She created 181 ballets and a technique that revolutionized dance throughout the greater part of the past century. Using the founding principals of contraction and release, she built a vocabulary of movement to “increase the emotional activity of thedancer’s body,” exploring the depth and diversity of human emotion. Her ballets were inspired by a wide range of sources from the American frontier to Greek Mythology. She created and portrayed prominent women, including Clytemnestra, Jocasta, Medea, Phaedra, Joan of Arc, and Emily Dickenson. During her 70 years of creating dance, she collaborated with other great artists –Noguchi, Copland, Barber and Schuman, and her mentor Louis Horst among others, and is recognized for her groundbreaking work in all aspects of the theater –use of time, space, lighting, costumes, sets and music. Her company was a training ground for many generations of choreographers including Cunningham, Taylor, and Tharp. At the Neighborhood Playhouse, she is said to have changed the course of American acting through students such as Bette Davis, Gregory Peck, Tony Randall and Orson Wells. Her creative genius earned numerous honors and awards, including the Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of the Arts. Martha Graham’s extraordinary legacy lives on in the work of the Martha Graham Dance Company, Ensemble and School, and in the students worldwide studying her technique and performing her masterworks.
YOSMARA CASTANEDA VALDES (Musician) graduated from the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory of Music as Violinist and from the Higher Institute of Art (ISA) in the Viola player. She has collaborated with national and foreign artists. She has performed in Mexico, Venezuela, China, and the United States with different ensembles such as Grupo Frasis, Amigos del BuenaVista Social Club, and Arslonga. She taught classes at the Alejandro Garcia Caturla School of Music and at Elementary Schools of Music Manuel Saumell and Amadeo Roldan. Currently, she is a member of different orchestras such as the "Havana Chamber Orchestra" directed by Maestra Daiana García, the "Música Eterna" Chamber Orchestra directed by Maestro Guido Lopez-Gavilán, "Camerata Romeu" directed by Zenaida Castro Romeu, Emsemble CANTABILE and ALMA String Quartet.
CAMILA CRESPO RAMIREZ (Musician) graduated from Guillermo Tomás Conservatory of Music and graduate in music from University of the Arts (ISA) in the specialty of violin (2020). She was part of the Autumn Course of the Transatlantic Orchestra of the Youth Academy Cuban-European in Germany (2023). She worked in the Havana Soloists Ensemble Orchestra. She currently is member of the Alma String Quartet since 2018, performing at events such as the annual editions of La Ruta de Mozart at the Mozart-Havana Festival. She has collaborated with the Espiral Eterna Editions Office of Maestro Leo Brouwer interpreting and recording his works. In 2022, she participated in the celebrations for the liberation of slavery in Guadeloupe (French Island). She has collaborated with the Malpaso Dance Company, performing at events such as the Jazz Plaza Festival 2024. She teaches violin at the Paulita Concepción School of Music since 2021. She works as a concertmaster at the Camerata Romeu String Orchestra from 2022, conducted by Maestra Zenaida Romeu, performing at different events such as the Habana Clásica Festival 2022 and in the 43rd edition of the Latin American International New Cinema Festival.
AMAYA JUSTIZ ROBERT (Musician) graduated as cellist and teacher from the Conservatory of Music Amadeo Roldán and the Higher Institute of Art (ISA). As director and founder of the ALMA String Quartet, she has been part of the La Ruta de Mozart festival in all its editions, at the Mozart Havana festival, and in various concerts at the Basilica of the San Francisco de Asís convent. She participated in the commemoration of the National Liberation Day from slavery in Guadeloupe (French Island) invited by the government of the region. She has also performed in Brasil as part of the Sao Paolo-Havana Ensemble project conducted by Maestra Daiana Garcia. She currently collaborates with the Ediciones Espiral Eterna office. In which highlights the recording of Leo Brouwer’s three compositions for string quartet and guitar together with French guitarist Lazhar Cherouana. She has been part of other groups such as the Amado Mozart quartet conducted by violinist Michael Dabroski. She has played with the orchestra of the Lyceum of Havana, the Soloists Orchestra of Havana, and Habana XXI Ensemble. She is currently the 1st cello of the Havana Chamber Orchestra directed by Maestra Daiana García, performing in different venues and important festivals such as Habana Clásica, Jazz Plaza, and accompanying internationals artists such as Linus Roth, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Willem Stam, and Kinan Azmeh. She actively collaborates with the Camerata Romeu directed by Maestra Zenaida Romeu. She is a teacher at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, and at the Paulita Concepcion Elementary Music School.
LILIET SILVA CARMENATES (Musician) graduated from the National School of Music and graduated in music from the University of the Arts (ISA) in the specialty of violin (2023). Participates as assistant to concertmaster Aitor Hevia, in the closing concerts of the XXXI International Music Course of Llanes, Spain (2018). Member of the Alma String Quartet since 2023, collaborating with Maestro Leo Brouwer's Ediciones Espiral Eterna Office, performing and recording his works written for this format. She has collaborated with the Malpaso Contemporary Dance Company since 2020 and it includes the Jazz Plaza 2024 Festival. She is currently part of the “La Camerata Romeu” String Orchestra directed by Maestra Zenaida Romeu since 2019, performing at different events such as the 49th edition of the Cervantino International Festival in Mexico (2020), Habana Clásica Festival (2022) and the 43rd edition of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. She has recorded with the Camerata Romeu the album Libertango.
GABRIEL CHAKARJI (Musician) is a GRAMMY award-winning pianist and composer known for his unique blend of Venezuelan and New York City jazz music. Growing up in Caracas, Gabriel was exposed to a wide variety of musical styles, including Afro-Venezuelan folk, Caribbean, and Brazilian music, as well as jazz and gospel hymns. He eventually moved to New York City to explore new musical frontiers and has since performed at some of the city's most iconic venues, including Carnegie Hall, Blue Note, and Dizzy's Club. Gabriel has released two critically acclaimed albums as a bandleader: Vida and New Beginning. His composition "Enredadera" was nominated for best jazz single at the 20th edition of the Independent Music Awards in New York City. In 2022, Gabriel was awarded the prestigious Jazz Gallery Residency Commission and the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. In addition to his successful career as a bandleader, Gabriel has collaborated with a diverse range of artists and companies around the world, including Disney's Encanto Sing-Along Show, Jeremy Bosh, Luis Enrique, Ari Hoenig, Luisito Quintero, Mambo Legends Orchestra and Dayna Stephens. He participated in the Grammy-winning album Fandango at the Wall in New York with The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. His compositions and playing reflect his passion for social justice and multiculturalism. www.gabrielchakarji.com
Over the last decade, Brooklyn native ADAM O'FARRILL (Year of the Leopard, Composer/Musician) has established himself as one of the most indemand trumpet players on the international contemporary jazz scene. He is widely recognized as a “rising star as a player and composer” (PopMatters) and “a blazing young trumpet talent” (The New York Times). This recognition is unsurprising given O’Farrill’s rich musical lineage: his grandfather was boundary-pushing Cuban composer and arranger Chico O’Farrill; his father is composer, pianist, and activist Arturo O’Farrill; his mother, Alison Deane, is a classical pianist and educator; and his brother and frequent collaborator, Zack O’Farrill, is a drummer and musicologist. O’Farrill has been featured with artists including Hiromi, Mary Halvorson, Vijay Iyer, Anna Webber, Tyshawn Sorey, Mulatu Astatke, Son Lux, Samora Pinderhughes, Rudresh Mahanthappa, and Photay, and has garnered widespread acclaim as a leader in his own right. He has released four albums documenting his longtime quartet Stranger Days, including HUESO (2024), which The Washington Post called “strikingly original.” HUESO features saxophonist Xavier Del Castillo, bassist Walter Stinson, and drummer Zack O’Farrill in the chord-less setting that has served as the vehicle for much of O’Farrill’s compositional output. The band’s previous album, Visions of Your Other, was named one of 2021’s best jazz albums by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and PopMatters, and received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in January 2022. His most recent release, For These Streets, is a suite inspired by the culture, literature, and music of the 1930s, performed by an octet of leading improvisers including Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Kevin Sun, David Leon, Kalun Leung, Tyrone Allen, and Tomas Fujiwara. The Wall Street Journal wrote, “Mr. O’Farrill here makes his boldest statement as a composer…he extends a storied lineage…[and] has his own distinct vision.” O’Farrill will release his sixth album as a bandleader, ELEPHANT, in March 2026, moving toward a more electronically inclined sound and featuring Yvonne Rogers, Walter Stinson, and Russell Holzman. O’Farrill has received numerous awards for his work as a composer and improviser, including third place in the 2014 Thelonious Monk Institute International Trumpet Competition, DownBeat Critics Poll Best Rising Star Trumpeter honors in 2019 and 2021, and commissions and grants from the Shifting Foundation, South Arts, Roulette, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Hermitage Artist Retreat, YoungArts, Metropolis Ensemble, the Jazz Gallery, and ASCAP’s Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award.
ZACK O'FARRILL (Musician) is a drummer/percussionist, educator, and big band director from Brooklyn. He performs regularly close to home in Brooklyn, throughout the United States, and across the globe with Adam O’Farrill Stranger Days, Albert Marquès and Freedom First, Kalí Rodríguez-Peña and Mélange, Mali Obomsawin, Dan Lehner's True East, and El Kikirikí Biquéy. He also works extensively with his father Arturo O’Farrill and has performed on several of his Grammy® Award-winning albums. He was the Community Liaison at Belongó (fka the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance) where he worked to connect the organization to its neighborhood of El Barrio and the Latino community at large in the lead up to the construction of their permanent brick and mortar arts and community center. With Belongó he manages the Fat Cats youth ensembles, directing the big band. With his wife, Colombian soprano Sasha Gutiérrez Montaño, he is co-founder of The Opera Next Door, producing opera’s (and not operas) in the streets of New York reaching audiences often overlooked by conventional arts programming.
XAVIER DEL CASTILLO (Musician) is a saxophonist and composer based in Brooklyn, New York. Since graduating from the Manhattan School of Music, he has performed with numerous jazz and new music ensembles including Adam O'Farrill's Stranger Days, Cat Toren's Human Kind, the Kyle Athayde Dance Party, the RAD Jazz Orchestra, Patrick Bartley’s Dream Weaver Society, Ben Rosenblum's Nebula Project, Mat Muntz’ Phantom Islands, Tim Rachbach's Under One Moon, Alec Goldfarb's Laughing Coffin, and Brooklyn Qawwali Party. He has co-led various ensembles like Brickwork (formerly Mughal Muesli), the Arsonists and Body Bag, as well as leading his own small groups as well as the jazz
prog metal fusion band Counterforce, recordings of which can be found on Bandcamp and YouTube. He has performed throughout the world at numerous festivals including BRIC JazzFest, Chicago Jazz Festival, Winter Jazzfest, Earshot Jazz: The Second Century, Havana International Jazz Festival, Angra Jazz, Festival Internacional Cervantino, St. Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival and Sitka Jazz Festival as well as venues like Birdland, Dizzy’s Club, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Kennedy Center, Roulette, Public Records, Littlefield, MoMA, Carnegie Hall, Palacio de Bellas Artes in CDMX and the 55 Bar.not operas) in the streets of New York reaching audiences often overlooked by conventional arts programming.
WALTER STINSON (Musician) is a bassist, educator and composer currently based between Brooklyn, NY and Montréal, QC. After graduating from Purchase College in 2012, he moved to New York City where he has been working steadily ever since. Some of his most frequent collaborators include Adam O’Farrill, Kevin Sun, Max Light, and Aaron Quinn. He has shared stages all over the world with Billy Hart, John Hollenbeck, Caroline Davis, Kenny Werner, Roy Nathanson, Arturo O’Farrill, Anna Webber, David Binney, and Jean-Michel Pilc. In 2025, Stinson, along with pianist Evan Main and drummer Steven Crammer, released their eponymous collaboratively-led piano trio “Prawntail” on Endectomorph Records. Originally from Ithaca, NY, Stinson began studying the upright bass at the age of ten. His first exposure to music came from his mother, a pianist who would sing and play jazz standards. While growing up in Ithaca, he also had the good fortune of being mentored by two unsung heroes of the New York City jazz scene, bassist Bernie Upson and drummer George Reed as well as being under the tutelage of Nicholas Walker, a protégé of Francois Rabbath. Along his educational journey, Stinson also studied privately with Doug Weiss, Todd Coolman, Kermit Driscoll, Scott Colley, Stephan Crump, Greg August, and William Parker. Walter continues to tour worldwide, devoting himself to a variety of improvised and creative music.
AMY PAGE (LA ESTACIÓN, Costume Designer, Wardrobe Supervisor) is a costume creator and wardrobe supervisor who has worked for many years with MMDG. She enjoys working with costume designers to bring their dreams to reality and supporting artists so that they can bring the best possible performance to the stage. Her costumes are in the repertory of Kyle Abraham’s A.I.M., Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dorrance Dance, and Camille A. Brown and Dancers. Passionate about supporting artists as they learn and grow in Academia, Amy has created costumes for Ballet Academy East, American Ballet Theater’s Make A Ballet program, and the Dance Department of Sarah Lawrence College, as well as teaching at the College of William and Mary. As a wardrobe supervisor, Amy oversaw many productions at the Mostly Mozart and White Light Festivals at Lincoln Center, as well as many touring companies who graced The Joyce Theater stage. From the Akram Khan Company to The Royal Ballet to Momix, her calm, capable presence through lightning-fast quick changes and marathon loads of laundry bring a ray of sunshine to the backstage world. She has toured with Ballet Hispanico, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Dorrance Dance, and Philadanco. On Broadway, she has had the pleasure of dressing Tatiana Maslany in Network, as well as the cast of Hamilton and Hadestown. In the television world, she worked as a costume fitter on the last three seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She has also taught children’s dance classes at the Dance Center, 2014-2017. She holds a BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
KAREN YOUNG (Year of the Leopard, Costume Designer) is an artist and costume designer based in New York. She has worked extensively with world renowned dance companies, choreographers, directors and artists. The breadth of her work has spanned from fine art exhibitions to costumes of many genres of contemporary performance and dance. Amongst others, she has worked with artists Eve Sussman, Matthew Barney, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Kyle Abraham, Wendy Whelan, The Royal Ballet, and Miami City Ballet to name a few. She is currently the costume design consultant to the Martha Graham Dance Company
during the process of reconstructing all of the costumes of the Graham Repertoire. Young holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, received a design fellowship from the N.E.A and Theater Communications Group, and was a visiting fellow at London College of Fashion.
ROYA ABAB (Associate Lighting Designer) is an Iranian-American lighting director, programmer, and creative professional working in New York. Currently the Lighting Director for the annual Vail Dance Festival, Roya was recently the moving light programmer for Stereophonic on Broadway and the Lighting Director for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater where she toured with the company for over a decade. She has traveled widely both domestically and internationally with repertory dance companies including AAADT and the Limón Dance Company and has worked regionally with companies such as The Washington Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Hamburg Ballet. She has programmed work on and Off-Broadway, a few being: Teeth, Walk on Through, and The Welkin. Roya has led workshops and classes at LDI, Studio School of Design, and UNCSA, and participated in mentorship programs with ETC and AAADT.
MEXLY COUZIN (Lighting Designer), credits include, Broadway: JOB. OffBroadway: MEXODUS, Rheology, N/A, Fiasco Theatre’s Pericles, A Good Day to Me Not To You, Here We Are (ALD), Straight Line Crazy, peerless, Tambo & Bones; Regional: Real Women Have Curves (Alley Theatre), MEXODUS (Berkeley Rep, Baltimore Center Stage/ Mosaic), Indian Princesses (La Jolla Playhouse), HENRY 6 (The Old Globe); Das Rheingold (Seattle Opera); Incendiary (Woolly Mammoth); West Side Story (Centro de Bellas Artes Puerto Rico); La Belle et la Bête (Opera Paralléle). International: Théâtre des ChampsElysées, Nuits de Fourvière. MXD Lighting Co-Founder. 2023 recipient of The 1/52 Project grant. MFA University of California, San Diego ’20. www.mextlycouzin.com
MANUEL DA SILVA (Production Manager, Lighting Designer & Supervisor) was born in Caracas, Venezuela and raised in South Florida where he developed a passion for theatre and the arts at a young age. Manuel attended The University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he received his BFA in Lighting Design and Technology. Now an NYC based lighting designer, Manuel has had the chance to work with several OffBroadway theatre companies, including designing the world premiere of La Tía Julia y el Escribidor at El Repertorio Español. Manuel has also had the opportunity to display his work at the Gilbert Hemsley Lighting Portfolio Review and the National Design Showcase East.
BRIDGET CASTON (Company Manager) has worked in arts administration since 2021. A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography and a BBA in Consulting and Change Management, she has held roles with Gesel Mason Performance Projects, K. DMC, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance’s 90th Anniversary Festival. From 2022–2024, Caston was Associate Producer at the Joyce Theater Foundation’s in-house producing entity, Joyce Theater Productions (JTP), where she contributed to projects including serpentwithfeet’s Heart of Brick, Hope Boykin’s States of Hope, and Caleb Teicher’s Bzzz, and served as company manager for touring productions. She also helped launch and manage the Joyce’s New York Center for Creativity & Dance. In 2024, she supported Max Roach 100, a centennial celebration featuring Ayodele Casel, Rennie Harris, and Ronald K. Brown, among others. Most recently, she was Company Manager for A.I.M by Kyle Abraham (2024–2025). Caston is dedicated to advancing the growth, efficiency, and sustainability of performing arts and artists for years to come.
JOYCE THEATER PRODUCTIONS (JTP) is the in-house producing entity for The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc., formed to create original work for The Joyce’s stage and for worldwide touring. The initiative provides dance artists who have little or no formal management or
infrastructure the means to create productions of the highest standards of excellence. The program also includes the Associate Company model, offering sustained producing, fiscal and/ or administrative management to companies that may require short or longer term support. Originally founded in partnership with Sunny Artist Management, Inc. (SAM) in 2014, JTP has since supported projects with Daniil Simkin, Wendy Whelan/Brian Brooks, Arthur Pita/James Whiteside, Maria Kochetkova, Caleb Teicher, Alexei Ratmansky, Molissa Fenley, and L.A. Dance Project, and maintains and ongoing relationship with Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company.