2025The Joyce Theater - NYU Steinhardt Dance Education Dance Symposium Program

Dance Symposium 2025

REIMAGINING AND CULTIVATING THE CREATIVE AND ARTISTIC PRACTICE OF LEADERSHIP IN DANCE AND DANCE EDUCATION January 16-18, 2025 9:00AM - 4:30PM

History In 2018, Cornelius Carter stopped Heather McCartney on the corner of 19th Street, in front of The Joyce Theater. He was headed to see and performance and she was heading home from work. Cornelius shared his wishful thinking about engaging more with his academic peers and using the American Dance Platform programming at The Joyce, and the annual APAP convening each January as the nexus. With the help of Séan Curran – the head of dance at NYU Tisch School of the Arts at the time, and Dana Whitco, founding director of the Center for Creative Research at NYU, connected us with the Center of Ballet Arts that agreed to host the first symposium in 2020. The theme: Moving Forward. The presentations, conversations and classes confirmed that dance practitioners hungered for this type of engagement.

Intimate, intellectual and multi-pronged thematic approaches proved to be the secret sauce, so once again we gathered in 2023 to address: Leadership, Advocacy and Technology. This time NYU Steinhardt’s Dance Education Program proved to be the perfect partner and host. The program director, Deborah Damast, and program manager, Allegra Romita, along with student volunteers, made all feel welcome and comfortable. And the pre-symposium day with Norah Zuniga Shaw of Livable Futures, and the mid-career participants in the Think Tank Sandbox got an extra all-day session before sharing their findings with the group.

Since 2023, folks have been asking for another opportunity to reconnect.

Cornelius Carter is always discerning what’s trending in the academic dance community and thought inviting those with leadership practices that expand the definition beyond the traditional deserved space. Which leads us to focus of 2025 – Reimagining and Cultivating Creative and Artistic Leadership Practices in Dance and Dance Education. How do you define leadership?

Creative leadership? Pedagogical innovation? Get ready to reimagine and expect the unexpected… this is not your typical symposium, it's better.

Thank you for being here.

Program

2025 Dance Symposium Team Heather McCartney started her career in the arts as a young dancer at the renowned 92nd Street Y in New York City before devoting nineteen years to teaching dance in public schools and was a dance specialist for the New York City Department of Education for most of those years. Among the first to be licensed in dance education by the city and state, she helped establish dance education programs in small alternative and magnet schools, and was one of the founding teachers at Manhattan East, and the Professional Performing Arts School. In 2001, Heather ended her teaching profession at The Beacon School, where one of many highlights was chaperoning two dozen students to Cuba as part of a charitable mission. During her career she has worked as a teaching artist and consultant to The Joyce Theater, a researcher for ArtsConnection, CoDirector of Arts in Education & Community Programs for Alvin Ailey HEATHER MCCARTNEY American Dance Theater, and Director of Public Programs for Community Works. Heather consulted on small-scale arts education projects for CO-DIRECTOR, choreographer Camille A. Brown, and served on committees for the NYC DANCE SYMPOSIUM Arts in Education Roundtable, and the NYC Department of Education, where she was a facilitator for the DELTA team responsible for designing professional development days.

As the Director of Dance Education & Family Programs for The Joyce Theater Foundation since 2014, she brings her experiences as a dance educator, teaching artist, and administrator to the organization that has over three decades of education and community engagement; and works to uphold the high-quality dance residencies established by her predecessors. Heather holds a B.S. degree in Dance Education from New York University, and a M.S. Ed. in the Education of the Gifted and Talented from the College of New Rochelle. Ms. McCartney continues to introduce new initiatives and partnerships with educational and cultural institutions to The Joyce.

Cornelius Carter is the former Director of Dance at The University of Alabama, and Artistic Director of the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre. Mr. Carter has been awarded the National Outstanding Doctoral and Research Universities Professor of the Year award by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in Washington, D.C. He received the award for the 2001-2002 Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award by the Alabama Alumni Association. Mr. Carter attended the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University in St. Louis, MO and received his MFA in Dance from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has danced with Cleo Robinson Parker Dance Ensemble and studied at The Ailey School in New York.

Mr. Carter was the Artistic Director of the first contemporary dance company and school in Reykjavík, Iceland. He has been a faculty member at the American Ballet Theatre, American Dance Festival (Moscow & Ekaterinburg, Russia & Seoul, Korea), Bates Dance Festival and was the Dean of Students at the Harvard Summer Dance CORNELIUS CARTER Festival. His choreography has been presented at the American Choreographers Showcase in France, Holland, Austria, Vienna and Lithuania. He continues to set CO-DIRECTOR, new works with student companies, professional companies and other university DANCE SYMPOSIUM dance programs in the United States and abroad. He also served as Guest Rehearsal Director for Dance Brazil in Bahia, Brazil.

For the past 17 years. Mr. Carter has taught and choreographed for the Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive Program and in 2013 he debuted a work with Broadway Dance Center in New York in 2013. He has set works around the world and was recently appointed as a faculty member at the Broadway Dance Center, where is serves at faculty in residence.

His most acclaimed recent choreography include works at the Victoria School of the Arts in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; the Gus Giordano Dance School in Chicago; the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City; and the National High School Dance Festival. In 2018, he spent the summer as a Guest Choreographer and Master Teacher for the University of Roehampton (London, England) and at the Listdansskoli Icelandic Ballet School, Reykjavik, Iceland. In 2019 Professor Carter will be showcasing his new work with Dance-Forms, 76th International Choreographers Showcase at the Fringe Festival, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

DANCE SYMPOSIUM TEAM

2025 Dance Symposium Team

DEBORAH DAMAST DIRECTOR OF DANCE EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM PARTNER

NYU STEINHARDT

Deborah Damast is Associate Professor and Director of Dance Education at NYU Steinhardt where she teaches and directs Concerts, Kaleidoscope Dancers, and Uganda study abroad, was selected for the inaugural Mid Career Leadership initiative, received grants that include Caring Culture, Innovation and Diversity, Faculty Challenge, and Internationalizing the Curriculum, and is a 2024 Fellow at CBA. She has served on the boards of NYSDEA (Past-President) and NDEO, and currently on Dance Teacher, DEiP, Peridance, and Misty Copeland’s BE BOLD. She has presented at numerous conferences and festivals and her choreography has been shown at over 40 venues in NYC and internationally in Japan, Uganda, Korea, Italy. Deborah has written curriculum for Peridance, Paul Taylor, Carnegie Hall, DEL, NYCB and the NYC DOE. She is a recipient of prestigious awards from NYU, NDEO, Dance Teacher Magazine, NYSDEA Martha Hill Foundation.

PRESENTER: EMBODIED LEADERSHIP BALANCE & SHIFT

Allegra Romita (MA, CMA, EdM, RYT) is co-creator of Functional Awareness: Anatomy in Action®. She is a collaborator in curriculum design for Functional Awareness for Dancers and primary curriculum designer of Functional Awareness for Yoga. Allegra’s collaborative work with Nancy Romita includes publishing Functional Awareness: Anatomy in Action for ALLEGRA ROMITA Dancers and Functional Awareness and Yoga: An DANCE EDUCATION PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR Anatomical Guide to the Body in Reflective Practice SYMPOSIUM PARTNER (Oxford University Press). She has presented workshops and keynote speeches on the Functional Awareness NYU STEINHARDT approach worldwide from New York City to San Diego, from Helsinki to Hong Kong.

She has presented sessions at the American College Dance Association (ACDA), the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), and the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) and as a keynote speaker at the Somatics and Dance Conference. Allegra graduated from the University of Michigan with honors with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Movement Science. She additionally received her MA in Dance Education from NYU Steinhardt and EdM in Motor Learning and Control from Teachers College, Columbia University. Allegra serves as the Program Administrator for NYU Steinhardt's Dance Education program. She is an adjunct faculty in the dance department at Marymount Manhattan teaching Experiential Anatomy. Since 2011, Allegra has been performing regionally and nationally with Sydnie L. Mosley Dances and is the Artistic Visioning Partner with the company.

DANCE SYMPOSIUM TEAM

2025 Dance Symposium Team

JOYCE LAOAGAN ADMINISTRATOR, DANCE SYMPOSIUM

DANCE SYMPOSIUM TEAM

Joyce serves as the Program Manager for the Dance Education & Family Programs Department at the Joyce Theater. Her journey in dance began at an early age, where she was part of various dance troupes, in competitive dance. She has showcased her skills in the Latin, experimental, and modern dance scenes in both the Philippines and New York City. With extensive experience as a dance, movement, and music educator in Asia and New York City, Joyce specializes in ESL, culturally responsive teaching, SocialEmotional Learning (SEL), and trauma-informed methods in arts teaching/education. She is a member of the Corillera Cultural Group - a Dance, Music and Arts group that showcases her indigenous culture as an Igorota. In addition to dance, she also freelances in performing and creating comedy, immersive work, theater, and film productions through her production company, The Ally Artists Group.

Joyce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a premed focus, has received training in Special Education (SPED), and has earned a Master of Arts degree in Music. She grew up practicing Arnis/Kali, a Philippine martial art that incorporates stick techniques into a dance form. Joyce has trained at the Broadway Dance Center and Paul Pellicoro’s Dance Sport, and has been involved as a dancer and producer at the Center for Performance Research and Movement Research for improvisation and experimental dance and movement. Furthering her education, she attended the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and the Juilliard School for Vocal Arts, and completed her Master of Arts degree in Arts Administration at Baruch College.

NYC DANCE SYMPOSIUM 2025 Community Agreements

o Honesty with kindness o Practice WAIT: Why am I talking? / Why aren’t I talking? o Practice Ouch/Oops: Remedy impact/ take responsibility for your words and actions o Challenge ideas not people o Confidentiality – what’s said here stays here, what’s learned can leave o Don’t make assumptions – ask honest questions o Practice active listening -- listen for meaning o If you make an assumption, assume positive intent o Address impact regardless of intent o Use “I” statements, speak from our own experience o Take care of yourselves – take breaks when you need them o Value multiple truths all experiences are valid o Permission to speak in rough draft o Bring your whole self to the conversation and be transparent in your feelings o Relax and Laugh - hard work doesn’t have to feel hard *Generated from The Joyce Theater working agreements

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT NYU Steinhardt, where we are gathered today, rests on Lenapehoking, the ancestral and traditional homelands of the Lenape. We honor the Lenape by implementing this land acknowledgement as a responsible act of understanding our roles and relationality to this land. Further, we acknowledge the contributions of all Indigenous people and their continuing struggle to dismantle the ongoing legacy of settler colonialism.

This acknowledgement demonstrates our commitment to the process of dismantling the legacies of colonialism and cultural imperialism. We acknowledge the ongoing violence towards Indigenous people through systemic inequality. We pay our respect to the Indigenous peoples who lived and continue to live upon this land, and whose rich history, artistic practices, and spirituality are tied to this land.

New York Indigenous & Native American Dance Groups to Support: Thunderbird American Indian Dancers www.thunderbirdamericanindiandancers.wordpress.com/ Indigenous Enterprise www.store.indigenousenterprise.com/ RedHawk Native American Arts Council (Dance) www.redhawkcouncil.org/native-dancers-performers Emily Johnson/Catalyst Dance www.catalystdance.com

REMINISCENCE 2020 * 2023

REMINISCENCE 2020 * 2023

BIOS

Linda Shelton Linda Shelton, Executive Director The Joyce Theater Foundation Linda Shelton is a distinguished leader in the dance field with over three decades of experience in arts administration, management, and education. She is the executive director and a trustee of The Joyce Theater Foundation, a premier venue for dance in New York City that supports the development and presentation of diverse local and international artists. Prior to joining The Joyce in 1993, she served as general manager of The Joffrey Ballet, held various management positions at The Twyla Tharp Dance Foundation, and managed tours for the Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow Virtuosi, Sankai Juku, and composer Phillip Glass.

Shelton attended NYU earning a BA in Dance. While completing work towards an MA, she interned at the New York State Council on the Arts and thus began a career in Arts Administration. She has taught at Marymount Manhattan College and currently teaches in NYU Steinhardt’s Graduate Performing Arts Administration program.

Ms. Shelton has served on numerous panels, boards, and juries for prestigious organizations and awards in the US and abroad, including the National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, Dance/USA (serving as the chair from 2000-2002), Dance/NYC (a trustee from 1996-2006), the Toyota Choreography Award in Tokyo, a Tony Award nominator (2013), and the Benois de la Danse in Moscow. Ms. Shelton currently sits on the boards of Studio School and Chelsea Factory.

Shelton has been the recipient of several honors, including France’s Order of Arts and Letters both as a Chevalier (1999) and as an Officer (2017), Dance/USA’s “Ernie” Award (2015), the Documents of Dance Award from The Dance Library of Israel, the William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence (2019), and on behalf of The Joyce Theater she received the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Liberty Award (2011). In 2017, Dance Magazine recognized Shelton as one of the most influential people in dance and awarded her the 2019 Chairman’s Award for her global leadership in dance. Shelton was recognized by the women’s basketball team, NY Liberty (2022) as a changemaker/ leader who advocates for social justice as a part of their platform. As a further testament to her work, in 2023, Shelton was asked to participate in the Mayor’s Inaugural Live Performance Industry Council, which invited a diverse group of leaders in the live arts sector

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Dance Class with Ousman Omari Wiles Ousmane Wiles is an African American West African and Vogue dancer. Wiles is best know as, legendary Omari NiNa Oricci, founder of The House of Nina Oricci [est. OCT. 2019] and Creative Director of LES BALLET AFRIK dance company.

Wiles was born in West Africa Senegal. He began his training in West African dance at the age of 6 years old, under the tutelage of his mother and father, who owned a dance company. Wiles joined his mother [Marie Basse Wiles] and father [BaBa Olukose Anthony Wiles] and became the assistant director of the family company, The Maimouna Ketia School of African Dance. Working with master African dancers, Ousmane evolved the skills needed to teach the art of traditional African dance. Venturing further into the world of dance, Wiles found himself learning, training and falling in love with other styles such as Hip-Hop, House, Modern, Jazz, and Vogue.

Through his involvement with the ballroom scene, his love and passion for Vogue (dance) grew.

As his notoriety in the ballroom scene grew, it began to grow outside of the ballroom scene as well. Wiles has had the opportunity to work with many artists, featuring his range of dance. His choreography has been featured with Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, John Legend, Jidenna, and Rashaad Newsome and he has worked as a featured dancer, showcasing Afrobeats [with Goldlink, Jidenna, Maleek Berry, and Wunmi], West African dance [with Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, and Forces], and Vogue [with Rashaad Newsome, Lady Gaga, Madonna, and Jennifer Hudson].

Wiles has been published in Dance Magazine "Top 25 to Watch", Korean Vogue, British Vogue in a spread featuring Naomi Campbell, The Observer, Dance Mogul Magazine, and The New York Times. Wiles also appeared with his house [the house of Nina Oricci] as a contestant on Legendary Season 2 on HBOMax. Wiles is now evolving his own style of dance with his company LES BALLET AFRIK, blending African, Vogue, Modern, and House as one. He and his company have performed at the Joyce Theater, the Guggenheim, and the New York Metropolitan Museum.

Presenters Tonya Lockyer Professor, Arts Leadership and Performing Arts Seattle University Artists on Creative Administration

Tonya Lockyer, widely praised as “a key cultural changemaker” (Seattle Times), is an award-winning dance artist and cultural strategist. Her work as a groundbreaking arts leader and curator has been recognized by the NEA, Arts International, Princeton University, NPR, TEDx, The Banff Center, Canada Council, and the City of Seattle. After touring inter/nationally as a performer and choreographer, Lockyer was the transformative director of Seattle’s Velocity Dance Center (2011-2018), and inaugural chair of Seattle’s first arts district. She currently serves on the faculties of Seattle University’s Arts Leadership MFA, and Cornish College of the Arts. Lockyer developed and edited Artists on Creative Administration (The University of Akron Press | NCCAkron Series in Dance 2024) one of KIRKUS’s Best Books of 2024. Artists on Creative Administration, features the voices of thirty artists and arts workers, sharing their experiences as they navigate issues of equity, leadership, systems design, collaboration, family, ethics, and care.

PRESENTERS

Presenters Matthew Farmer Chair of Dance Department, Hope College Surviving, and Thriving, in Today's Arts Leadership

Matthew Farmer is currently the Chair of the Dance Department at Hope College and the Dorothy Wiley DeLong Endowed Professor of Dance. He is the Co-Artistic Director of R.G. Dance Productions, Co-Artistic Director of H2 Dance Co., Co-Author of the book Introductory Modern Dance: A Teaching Manual, and author of the book Teaching Dance Improvisation: A Beginner’s Guide. Matthew received his MFA from the University of Michigan in Dance Performance and Choreography, and his BA in Theatre and Dance from Hope College. Matthew was a company member of The Peter Sparling Dance Co., and company member and Associate Director of LehrerDance.

He has had the pleasure of working with Avi Kaiser, Sergio Antonino, and Matthew Thornton, as well as performing in works by Merce Cunningham, Laura Dean, Doug Varone and many others. He has performed in the United States, Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. His teaching credits include directorships, professorships, and residencies at multiple colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad, as well as a faculty member and judge for multiple regional and national dance conventions and competitions. Farmer’s choreography spans the field of dance, and can be seen on college campuses, professional dance companies, international festivals, theaters companies, competitive dance teams, and musical theater venues throughout the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, France, and Ecuador.

PRESENTERS

Presenters

Duane Cyrus Director, School of Dance, University of Arizona Curating for Student Success in Dance Education Duane Cyrus is founder of Theatre of Movement, LLC, and director of the School of Dance at the University of Arizona. Graduate of the Juilliard School (BFA) and University of Illinois at Urbana (MFA).

He is an award-winning artist, educator, curator, and producer committed to interdisciplinary collaborations and career sustainability for artists. He has performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Martha Graham Dance Company, and Disney’s The Lion King (original London cast) among others. Cyrus is co-author and editor of Vital Grace: The Black Male Dancer,

a photographic essay co-authored with Joanne Savio. Cyrus is a 2018 Bessie Award nominee and recipient of the Princess Grace Foundation Award for Emerging Artists, Coleman Entrepreneurship Fellow, and North Carolina Arts Council Choreography Fellow. Cyrus holds a Not-for-Profit Management Certificate from Duke University; is a Coleman Entrepreneurship Fellow; and Anne Fulton Carter Business Plan competition winner. Cyrus was professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for seventeen years and former member of the UNCG Entrepreneurship Cross Disciplinary Advisory Board. He currently serves on the School of American Ballet’s Alumni Diversity Advisory Board and the University of Arizona’s Black Advancement & Engagement Advisory Council.

Jennifer Mizenko

Moving Spirits - Community Healing through multi-cultural engagement.

Professor Emerita, Dance & Movement for the Actor, The University of Mississippi Jennifer holds a B.A. in Psychology, and an M.A. in dance. She has studied many movement forms including T'ai Chi, Michael Chekhov's acting technique, and Gaga. Jennifer is a teaching member of Alexander Technique International and served as Chair of ATI. She is a Laban Movement Analyst and yoga instructor. Jennifer completed a month-long experience in Bali, with Dell Arte Physical Theatre, studying Balinese dance, theatre and culture in June 2023. In 2019 she was the producer and choreographer of a site-specific physical theatre project, which brought to life the esearch of the University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group’s (UMSRG) work. The project, Moving Spirits: The History of the Enslaved and Civil Rights Through Movement, Dance and Song was performed live for an audience and is the subject of a documentary film of the same title. In April 2024 she produced and choreographed a Moving Spirits II: A Deeper Understanding of Rowan Oak through Movement, Dance and Song, again highlighting new research by the UMSRG. Jennifer is one of the co-authors of The Laban Workbook for Actors, A Practical Guide with Video.

PRESENTERS

Presenters Ann Sofie Clemmensen Associate Professor & Linehan Artist Scholars Program Director, Uiversity of Maryland IMPROVISATION as a Conscious Generative Process to Find and Develop Creative Movement Exploration Abilities.

A native of Denmark, Ann Sofie Clemmensen received a BA at the Norwegian College of Dance ('06), a first-class honor post-graduate diploma from the NSCD, UK ('08), and an MFA at The Ohio State University ('13). Her choreography has been presented at THE REACHKennedy Center in Washington DC, the Davison Theater and BalletMet in Columbus OH, the American Dance Festival (ICR), Ullens Contemporary Dance Center in Beijing, China, Movement Research at Judson Church, and other venues. She received support from the US Embassy in Copenhagen, Columbus Dance Fellowship, OhioDance, and the 2019 Local Dance Commissioning Project by the Kennedy Center. Notable residencies include the 10th International Choreographer Week (Tilburg, NL), Dance All Year Long (Denmark), American Dance Festival (IRC), and CIRCAIMET Artist in Residence 2022-2023 (MD). Clemmensen's creative and pedagogical research addresses movement and its realization through patterns, both in the visual sense and the patterning of knowledge that takes place in the body as it receives and interprets information—how new knowledge emerges from reworking existing structures of knowledge within the body. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Dance and Director of the Linehan Artist Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Laura Katz Rizzo Associate Professor, Temple University Decolonizing the Ballet Curriculum: Simple Guidelines Laura holds a PhD in Dance and Gender Studies from Temple University and a BA in History and English from the University of New Mexico. She has performed with several ballet and contemporary dance companies and performed her own work (for live theater and film) at independent venues across the United States. She has published for the academic and popular dance press and taught and presented her research at institutions worldwide.

She works with ballet as a mode of inquiry and research modality. Her research, which manifests as written publication, performance and installation art, emerges from the intersections between between dance, feminist theory any performance studies and incorporates ritual structuring and the creation of liminal sacred spaces that combine theoretical and practical modalities of dance composition, dance performance, ethnographic field work, and oral history with a feminist ideological commitment to making the personal both political and transparent. Rizzo studies, teaches, performs and makes dances that problematize the binaries neoliberal Western epistemology has created between body and mind, human and non-human, truth, and fiction.

PRESENTERS

Friday, January 17, 2025

Every Body Move with Cat Foster A Camille A. Brown and Dancers Community Engagement Platform CATHERINE FOSTER is a professional dancer, dance educator, choreographer, and freelance digital marketer. She received her dance training from the DC Youth Ensemble (DCYE), Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) and at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She was a finalist and 2nd place winner in the National Arts Recognition in Miami, Fla., and is a recipient of the Astaire Award for Best Broadway Female Ensemble. .She has worked with and performed the works of noted choreographers, including Donald Bryd, Bill T. Jones, Jeffrey Page, Camille A. Brown, Hinton Battle, and Abdel Salaam. Company credits include The Fred Benjamin Dance Company, Forces of Nature, Camille A. Brown and Dancers. Recording artists' credits include Alicia Keys, The Roots, Jazmine Sullivan, Seun Kuti, Davido, Angelique Kidjo, and Lauryn Hill. Film/TV credits include TED Talks; Black Girls Rock (BET); Netflix Original: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Assistant Choreographer); and NBC / Amazon Prime series HARLEM (Dancer/Actor). Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include FELA! (original cast), produced by Jay Z and Will Smith; Once on this Island (Assistant Choreographer); and Ain’t No Disco (Assistant Choreographer). Company credits include The Fred Benjamin Dance Company, Forces of Nature; and Camille A. Brown and Dancers (Currently).

Catherine's career has spanned prestigious institutions, including Camille A. Brown's Every Body Moves (Master/Founding Teacher), NYU Tisch School of the Arts (Guest Teacher, Residency), Indiana University (Adjunct Professor), and The Ailey School (Jazz Teacher). She has also held lead teaching roles at Uprooted - The Journey of Jazz Dance (Educational Program), Success Academy Charter, Harlem School of the Arts, and CUMBE, among others. Catherine is passionate about cultivating a lifelong love for the arts and is dedicated to inspiring creativity and artistic expression in children and fellow educators. With over two decades of experience teaching dance, she aims to enhance students' understanding of how the arts preserve culture and shape identity.

Presenters Charles Anderson Professor of Afro-Contemporary Dance Ohio State University Navigating Leadership: BIPOC Dance Leaders in Today's Higher Education Climate Charles O. Anderson, a native of Richmond, Virginia, is a visionary leader, artist, and educator renowned for his commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusive excellence in the arts. Anderson’s academic leadership is defined by his dedication to anti-racist pedagogy and social justice. He is the first Black gay male Chair of the Department of Dance at The Ohio State University, where, since 2022, he has spearheaded transformative initiatives to diversify faculty, enhance curricula, and strengthen partnerships within the university and the broader community. Anderson began his academic career at Muhlenberg College, where he founded the Africana Studies Program and elevated the institution’s theatre and dance program to national prominence. At The University of Texas at Austin, he served as Associate Chair for The Department of Theatre and Dance and Head of the Dance Program, revolutionizing the curriculum with an anti-racist focus and establishing the first MFA in Dance and Social Justice in the United States—a fully funded, groundbreaking program.

As an artist, Anderson is the founder and artistic director of dance theatre X, an afrocontemporary dance-theatre company he established in 2003. A graduate of Cornell University (BA) and Temple University (MFA), he has danced with leading companies such as Ronald K. Brown/Evidence and Sean Curran Company. Recognized as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 Artists to Watch,” Anderson’s choreographic work has been supported by prestigious organizations, including the National Performance Network and the New England Foundation for the Arts.

Anderson’s creative work bridges academia and artistry, using dance as a powerful medium for social transformation. His choreography has been nationally showcased at the Kennedy Center and has earned recognition for experimental dance theatre by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. His acclaimed project, (Re)current Unrest, exemplifies his dedication to social justice and has been recently commissioned by Dayton Contemporary Dance Company who will premiere the live iteration.

In addition to his artistic and academic contributions, Anderson serves on the Board of the National Association for Schools of Dance (NASD) and is a former president of the Council of Dance Administrators (CODA). These roles highlight his influential voice in shaping the future of dance education and his unwavering commitment to equity in the arts.

PRESENTERS

Presenters Cheyla Clawson Director, School of Performing Arts Wichita State University.

Navigating Leadership: BIPOC Dance Leaders in Today's Higher Education Climate Cheyla Clawson’s modern dance research is focused on Horton Technique, and she attended the Horton Dance Technique Certificate Program at The Ailey School in NYC. Her two duets, Anam Chara (2014) and NosuchSymbiosis (2016) were invited to the ACDA National Festival at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Cheyla has presented curricular-focused research at several conferences including The International Arts in Society in June 2022 (Australia), gave a workshop on Dance and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the ACDA online National Workshop Series in March of 2021, as well as community-focused intergenerational research at The American Dance Symposium in January of 2023. Beyond Wichita State, Clawson has created dance works for several companies and universities including but not limited to the University of Central Oklahoma, Milwaukee Dance Project, and the University of Colima in Colima, Mexico. At WSU, Cheyla is a member of the Student Success and Persistence Coalition, the President’s Diversity Council, and the University Assessment/Accreditation Committee. She coordinates the College of Fine Arts Inclusive Excellence Committee and is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership Program.

Crystal U. Davis Navigating Leadership: BIPOC Dance Leaders in Today's Higher Education Climate Crystal U. Davis, CLMA is a dancer, movement analyst, and critical race theorist with twelve years of experience teaching in P-12 education. Her work has been published in the Journal of Dance Education, Palgrave Handbook of Race and the Arts in Education, and in her book, Dance and Belonging: Implicit Bias and Inclusion in Dance Education. She obtained her B.A. in Comparative Religion from Emory University, M.F.A in Dance from Texas Woman’s University, M.A. in Performance Studies from New York University, and C.L.M.A. from Integrated Movement Studies. As an artist, her performances span from Rajasthani folk dance to West African dance performances to postmodern choreography examining incongruities between what we say, what we believe, and what we do. Ms. Davis’s ethnographic research in Rajasthan, India explored the relationship between religious beliefs, dance as an art form, and pedestrian movement. Her current research explores implicit bias in dance and how identity politics of privilege manifests in the body. She is an Associate Professor and Head of Dance Performance and Scholarship at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she teaches anti-racist pedagogy for dance and theater, modern technique, somatics, and movement analysis.

PRESENTERS

Presenters Gina Gibney Founder, Artistic Director,and CEO - Gibney Dance Making Art and Taking Action Gina Gibney, a nationally recognized leader and entrepreneur in the field of arts and social justice, is the Founder, Director, and CEO of Gibney, a New York City-based arts organization dedicated to dance and social action. With a belief in the vast potential of movement, creativity, and performance to effect personal change and social transformation, Gina Gibney established the Gibney organization in Manhattan in 1991. Today, Gibney’s presenting, training, fellowship and residency programs have served and supported thousands of New York City artists and audiences, and community outreach programs have impacted hundreds of lives, especially in the areas of domestic violence, economic inequality, and workforce development. Gibney Company, has grown from a small troupe of dancers presenting Gina Gibney’s choreography into a critically acclaimed internationally touring contemporary dance company dedicated to commissioning and presenting today’s most compelling choreographers. Gibney operates two New York City locations—280 Broadway near City Hall and 890 Broadway above Union Square— encompassing 23 studios and five performing spaces that serve as a nexus for a diverse and expansive artistic community.

Gina Gibney is known for pioneering innovative new programs which connect the arts with the broader community. Her work has impacted the lives of thousands of domestic violence survivors through programs like Move to Move Beyond, an evidence-based program that offers the transformative power of movement to survivors of gender-based violence and their families. Her Moving Toward Justice incubator uses art as a tool for activism and social impact with a focus on entrepreneurship, social engagement, and mobilization alongside artistry. Other innovative programs include the Dance in Process (DiP) Residency.

One of the first programs of its kind, DiP provides extensive, holistic support for mid-career New Yorkbased dance artists who are in the middle stages of work on a new project.

Gina Gibney’s career started as an independent choreographer and quickly evolved with her acquisition of Studio 5-2 at 890 Broadway which immediately became a resource for the community, planting the seeds for what the Gibney organization has become today. During her 25 years as a choreographer, she created intimate, poetic works that explored the humanity and physicality of interpersonal connection, such as Landings (1992), Anchoring (1994), Coming from Quiet (1998), Time Remaining (2003), Thrown (2004), unbounded (2005) and View Partially Obstructed (2009).

In 2008, Gina Gibney was inducted into the Vanity Fair Hall of Fame for “making art and taking action.” She has served as a Trustee of the national dance advocacy organization Dance/USA and received its Ernie Award in 2017 in recognition of her role as a changemaker in the field. She is a founding member of the Board of Directors of Dance/NYC and is a member of The Women’s Forum of New York. She was included in Dance Magazine’s 2017 list of The Most Influential People in Dance Today and was named to the Out100 2016 list of influential members of the LGBT community. In 2018 she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Case Western Reserve University, and in 2019 was awarded the Floria Lasky Award from the Jerome Robbins Foundation and the Plus Factor Award from the string quartet ETHEL. Gina Gibney is a frequent panelist and speaker on topics of dance, entrepreneurship, and arts-community partnerships. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

PRESENTERS

Presenters Gilbert T. Small II Company Director - Gibney Dance Making Art and Taking Action

Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Gilbert T Small II’s formal training started at the Baltimore School for the Arts. He received his BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance in 2009. While at Purchase, he studied abroad at Codarts in Rotterdam, an opportunity that shifted his perspective, pushing him to investigate and explore the multifaceted nature of the art form.

Small was a leading artist with the internationally acclaimed Ballet British Columbia under the leadership of Emily Molnar. During his ten years with the company, he worked with choreographers such as William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, Medhi Walerski, Emily Molnar, and Cayetano Soto to name a few. As a senior artist with Ballet BC, he was asked to take on the role of Rehearsal Director for the company’s fall 2017 season. Small is a mentor to many emerging artists here and abroad and serves as guest faculty for institutions internationally, cultivating relationships and connections across many demographics and communities.

PRESENTERS

Presenters Kristen Stevens Program Manager, Harkness Center for Dance Injuries, NYU Langone Health Prioritizing Longevity in Every Career Stage

Kristen manages education programs and marketing at NYU Langone’s Harkness Center for Dance Injuries. Previously, she worked as a professional ballet dancer in companies including Norwegian National Ballet and BalletMet Columbus, and she is now on faculty at the American Ballet Theatre’s JKO School Children’s Division. She holds a master’s degree in arts administration from Teachers College, Columbia University and has worked as a Teaching Artist for New York City Ballet, Ballet Hispànico, and other dance organizations.

Nigel Campbell Artistic Director, MOVE/INC Reimagining the model Progressive Arts Leader Nigel Campbell is a Princess Grace Award Winning Artistic Director, Entrepreneur, and Educator. Born and raised in The Bronx, New York, he began his training at Creative Outlet Dance Theater and is a graduate of The Juilliard School, under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. While studying at Juilliard, Nigel joined the Metropolitan Opera Ballet as a soloist. Upon graduation he danced for the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Gibney Company, the Saarlandisches Staatstheater, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Kyle Abraham’s A.I.M and Sidra Bell Dance New York.

In 2015 Nigel co-founded MOVE|NYC| alongside his partner, Chanel DaSilva, where he serves as Artistic Director and CEO of Programming & Artist Development. MOVE|NYC|’s mission is to cultivate greater diversity and equity in the dance field and beyond. In 2020, Campbell and DaSilva were Dance Teacher Magazine’s cover feature for its May/June issue, Changing the Face of Dance. The magazines main article, When you’re the Only Black Dancer in the Room, outlined the success and impact of MOVE|NYC|’s early years.

PRESENTERS

Presenters Campbell continued......

In 2017, after two years as a Dancer and Artistic Associate with Gibney Company, he was named Company Director. From 2017-2021 Nigel played an instrumental role, alongside Gina Gibney and Amy Miller, in the exponential growth and transformation of the company. From 2022 to 2024 he served as the inaugural Artistic Director of Gibney Center, overseeing Presenting and Residencies.

Nigel’s programming revolutionized Gibney Presenting, including the creation of the Artist-inResidence Program, sold out performances, and multiple Bessie nominations.

Nigels multi-faceted contributions to the field of dance have been recognized with numerous awards and honors including a 2019 Martha Hill Mid-Career Award, and a 2011 Princess Grace Award; he is National YoungArts Award winner and a NAACP ACT-SO Gold Medalist. Nigel is a 2004 Presidential Scholar in the Arts and at 17, was featured on the National PBS documentary American Talent. He resides in New York City.

Barbara Angeline Assistant Professor, Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University Leadership Training in Jazz Dance: Dancer/Coach/Writer Communities Barbara Angeline is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Mason Gross School of the Arts, teaching African Diasporic Jazz, Broadway Jazz, History of Broadway Dance (course author), Jazz Dance Repertory and Dance Studies. She has an M.A. in Dance Education, with a concentration in Teaching Dance in Higher Education and the Professions (NYU) and a B.A. in Dance (UC Irvine). Barbara is the founder and artistic director of Hysterika Jazz Dance, a company dedicated to expanding the legacy of jazz dance as a powerful American art form. Creative research includes: “eat Crow” (inspired by the movement style and life of Josephine Baker); “Hot Miss Lil” (celebrating dance of the 1930s and the music of Lil Hardin Armstrong) and “In Pieces: A Vaudeville Review” (inspired by the talents and contributions of Aida Overton Walker in the early 20th century). Performance credits: Broadway Backwards 5 (soloist), 6 (dance captain), and 7; Oakland Ballet, Radio City Music Hall Christmas and Easter Spectaculars (dance captain); Equity national tours and musicals.

Barbara has worked with/for Woody Allen, Jerry Mitchell, Graciela Daniele, Bob Bartley, Bernadette Peters, and Aretha Franklin. Barbara presents jazz dance workshops and choreography at venues, conferences, and schools nationally. www.BarbaraAngeline.com

PRESENTERS

Saturday, January 18, 2025

Restorative Wellness Practice for Empowerment with Kelvin Cooper Kelvin Cooper was born in the Bahamas, and he has a Master’s degree in Dance Education from New York University. He is the Chair and an Associate Professor of the Health Physical Education and Recreation Department at Bronx Community College. He has taught AfroCaribbean dance at NYU, and he is a teaching artist at Alvin Ailey in the Arts Education Program. He completed a study abroad program in Uganda as a teacher’s assistant for NYU. Kelvin has performed at the Apollo Theater, BAM, Joyce Theater, and Symphony Space.

He was a featured dancer for the band Arrested Development at Madison Square Garden and has performed in Samson and Delilah at the Metropolitan Opera House. He has taught, directed intercultural dance and wellness workshops, conferences, and performances on the continents of Africa, South America, Asia, North America and Europe. These are all opportunities that have allowed him to explore much of his Restorative Wellness Practice with diverse communities. He uses this work to create joy, wellness, and safe spaces in addressing two fundamental needs of human beings; the need to be connected to your authentic self and the need to be connected to others for mutual support and resources.

Presenters Joseph Alter Professor/Artistic Director, San Diego State University/Joe Alter Dance Problem of Problems Joe Alter has been an active dancer, choreographer, and teacher in the field of contemporary dance for over 40 years.

His works have been performed at The Kitchen, The Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, the 92nd St. Y, Harkness Center for Dance in New York City, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas, California, and internationally in Mexico, Columbia, Germany, Poland, The Czech Republic and Serbia. Mr. Alter has taught at numerous festivals throughout East-Central Europe and was a guest faculty member at the Frederick Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, and WTT in Bytom, Poland. Mr. Alter has created over 55 works including numerous Commissioned works most recently Mr. Alter “If/Then” which premiered in November of 2019 at the International Meeting of Dance Theater in Lublin, “Skin Hunger” in Wrocław, Poland. The work remains in the repertory of Teatr Polski Wrocław and toured the U.S. in the spring of 2023.

Currently, Mr. Alter is touring a new work in collaboration with Tijuana, Mexico’s Lux Boreal Compania de Danza: Skin Hunger: Part II. Since 2005 Mr. Alter has been a Professor of Dance at San Diego State University.

Eilish Henderson Joyce Teaching Artist, Adjunct Professor and Teaching Artist, Westchester Community College and Iona University Eco-Somatic Transformations Through Butoh Eilish Henderson is an interdisciplinary artist and scholar working with subjects of the body based in Brooklyn, New York. Eilish received her M.A. in Dance Education from NYU: Steinhardt in 2023. She is currently on faculty at Westchester Community College and Iona University.

Eilish has presented her scholarship at the 2023 National Dance Education Organization Conference in Denver and the 2024 International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association/NDEO Conference in New York. Eilish is the artistic director of project-based dance collective, SHADOWSWELL. Her work has been presented as a part of Queer Butoh Festival at The Brick, WADE Dance Festival, Emerging Artists Festival, “The Body as Archive” at Smush Gallery, and Agropoli Dance Festival in Italy. Eilish has been granted artist residencies at Homeport Art House, Peaked Hill Trust, and Arts, Letters, and Numbers. As a performer, Eilish has danced in the works of many artists including Javier Padilla, Doug Varone, Sean Curran, Adam Barruch, and Ellen Sickenberger. https://eilishadonnahenderson.com/ PRESENTERS

Presenters JoAnna Mendl Shaw Adjunct Professor, Choreographer, Dance Educator, Artistic Director - The Equus Projects Beyond Technique: Exploring the Full Range of our Skillsets as Dancers

Veteran choreographer and dance educator, JoAnna Mendl Shaw has been expanding the parameters and strategies for dance-making, since 1998. Her company, The Equus Projects, tours throughout the States and Europe, creating site-specific works in immersive collaboration with local communities.

An internationally recognized dance educator, Shaw has taught on faculty at NYU, The Juilliard School, Alvin Ailey BFA and Certificate Programs, Princeton University, Mount Holyoke College, Montclair State, Marymount Manhattan and most recently as a Visiting Adjunct Professor at Stanford University. She has been a Visiting Artist at University of Florida, Ohio State, Colorado State, Dickinson College, Point Park College, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and numerous other colleges and universities in the United States.

Shaw is the recipient of two NEA Choreographic Fellowships and multiple NEA grants for the Equus Projects’ Interdisciplinary Performances. She has brought her somatic practice of Physical Listening into elementary schools and academic think tanks, into the Strategic Studies group at the Naval War College, workshops at NYU Medical School and Stanford University School of Medicine.

Shaw is a certified Laban Movement Analyst and the author of the 2022 book, Physical Listening, A Dancer’s Interspecies Journey.

Shaw has served on the Board of Directors of Ping Chong Company and Ice Theatre of New York and as a Founding Board Member of The Gender Project, Career Transitions for Dancers, DANCE RISING.

PRESENTERS

Presenters Emily Milam Kent Education Director, PILOBOLUS

Creating Access: A Pilobolus/ Joyce Theater Education Initiative

Emily Milam Kent graduated Magna Cum Laude, earning a BSEd in Dance Education from the University of Georgia.

She began working with Pilobolus in 1999 working first as a dancer and collaborator and then Teaching Artist.

She has created original works for high school and university dance companies for Pilobolus and as an individual artist. She has set classic Pilobolus repertoire on high school and university students; she and her partner Matt Kent, were the first to have the process notated by a Laban Notator. During her career with Pilobolus she has created new programs to share the Pilobolus Method to people of all ages and abilities to people around the country: Pilobolus @ Play, the flagship touring education residency, Connecting with Balance, a progressive program for the aging population, The Pilobolus Teaching Manual, to share our techniques with teachers. She spends her days teaching and training teachers to bring Pilobolus’s ideals of collaboration and improvisation to young and old.

PRESENTERS

Supporters Hand + Body Wellness Youthen Joseph, Founder

Arts in Education Roundtable, NYC

Dance Magazine, NYC Gus Giordano Dance Schoo Chicago

Starbucks Coffee

Trader Joe’s Harlem, NYC

SUPPORTERS

Broadway Dance Center

NYU Steinhardt Dance Education Department

Special Thanks Barbara Angeline Green Ana Nery Fragoso Ann Sofie Clemmensen

Jamē McCray.

Jennifer Mizenko Joan Finkelstein JoAnna Mendl Shaw John Perpener Joseph Alter

Laura Katz Rizzo

Eilish Henderson Emily Kent

Laura Katz Rizzo

Dana Whitco Duane Cyrus

GIna Gibney Gilbert T. Small II

Victoria Stretton

The Joyce Theater and NYU|Steinhardt Dance Matthew Farmer Education Programs would like to THANK YOU Melanie Clarke , for joining us this year and providing your unique voices to the 2025 Dance Symposium.

We hope you to return to your practice reimagining how creative leadership practices Paul Thompson manifest in your work and your actions allowing you to think differently.

Until we Ousman Omari Wiles meet again.

Faye Harrison Cat Foster Carol Hess Charles O. Anderson Cheyla Clawson Crystal U. Davis Sindy Folgar Sheila Baker

Yvonne Winborne Youthen Joseph

Katy Meyers

NYU Student Volunteers

Rebecca Salzer

Kathleen Leary Kelvin Cooper Kristen Stevens

Vincent Thomas Nigel Campbell Naomi Lefebvre Sell

Thomas Ford Tonya Lockyer

The Joyce Theater, Dance Education & Family Programs www.joyce.org NYU - Steinhardt - Dance Education Department https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/programs/dance-education Created by Joyce Laoagan