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Upcoming Performances
Thursday, November 6 at 7:30pm
The Writer's Center Theater, 4508 Walsh St, Bethesda, MD
Featuring choreography by Amanda Attiya, danah bella, Ginny Bixby, Sarah Coady, Riana Cole, Courtney Lorraine Cooper, May Kesler, Roxann Rowley, Brighton Sawyer, and Jessica Warchal-King. Learn more about our Thursday choreographers.
Friday, November 7 at 7:30pm
The Writer's Center Theater, 4508 Walsh St, Bethesda, MD
Featuring choreography by Rachael Alexandra, Covenant Babatunde, Talissa Bavaresco, Evalina W. Cain, Regina Cameron, Kyoko Fujimoto, Joan Gavaler, Emily Green, Vishwadha Gunda, Krishnapriya Nair, Kevin Ortiz, Julia Ramirez, and Ariel Samuel. Learn more about our Friday choreographers.
Saturday, November 8 at 7:30pm
The Writer's Center Theater, 4508 Walsh St, Bethesda, MD
Featuring choreography by Nick M. Daniels, Margaux Lieser, Louisa Mejeur, Keira Hart-Mendoza, Erica Rae Smith, Tabata Vara, Andrea Vargas, Juanita Maria Winston, and Deanna Woodman. Learn more about our Saturday choreographers.
Sunday, November 9 at 4:00pm
The Writer's Center Theater, 4508 Walsh St, Bethesda, MD
Featuring choreography by Simone Bak, Sylvana Christopher, Emily Crews, Jael Goldstein, Kristin Hatleberg, Victoria Kreutzer, Keith Macadangdang, Carrie Monger, Malcolm Shute, Rachel Timmerman, Stephanie Vadala, and Yolit Yospe-Kachlon. Learn more about our Sunday choreographers.
About APT Dance Festival
A Place To . . .
A Place to… (APT) Dance Festival is a multi-day performance series highlighting local choreographers presenting new works in a variety of styles.
Mission Statement
APT Dance Festival provides performance and connection opportunities primarily for local (Maryland, D.C., and Virginia) choreographers and dancers. We are building bridges between professional and emerging artists and community dance spaces. APT prioritizes inclusion, accessibility, safety, and facilitating opportunities for artists currently without dedicated performance opportunities or spaces.
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Choreographer Bios
BiosThu
Amanda Attiya
Amanda Attiya (she/her) is DMV-based dancer and choreographer. Originally from southern New Jersey, Amanda trained competitively in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, and hip hop at Starstruck Dance Academy. She received her degree in Public Administration from George Mason University, where she performed and choreographed with Mason Danceworks and SoleTap GMU. As Vice President of Mason Danceworks, Amanda choreographed several pieces that won awards at various intercollegiate competitions. In DC, Amanda has performed with Capitol Movement, Effervescence Collective, AVA Dance Company, and other local choreographers. In addition to a vibrant dance career, Amanda also works as a State Policy Specialist at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
danah bella
danah bella is an acclaimed dance artist who has performed, presented work, and held residencies at festivals and universities across the U.S. and internationally. She is the artistic director of d a n a h b e l l a DanceWorks, a modern dance company reclaiming movement as social practice, and a founding member of Colectivo Caliban, an interdisciplinary artist collective. A Functional Awareness® Movement Educator, danah leads workshops nationwide, focusing on using Functional Awareness to foster equity and inclusion in studio settings. She was recognized by the Baltimore Sun as one of the “25 Women to Watch” (2018), received the Maryland Dance Education Association’s Higher Education Dance Educator of the Year Award (2021), and was named one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year (2022). danah is the Founding & Sandra Levi Distinguished Chair of BFA Dance at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University.
Ginny Bixby
Ginny Bixby is a D.C. area dance artist. She is the founder of the Liberation Dance Project, a queer-centered and body-neutral dance collective. She has choreographed and presented original works for Dance Canvas Festival, NACHMO D.C., Atlas Intersections Festival, DanceArtTheater Open Dance Works, Fieldwork at Rhizome, and the University of Mary Washington. She currently performs with the Effervescence Collective. Ginny’s work often centers around intersecting themes of communication, relationships, and queer identity. Ginny studied a variety of dance styles while growing up in Manassas, Virginia. She later attended the University of Mary Washington, where she danced and choreographed for the Performing Arts Company. Ginny teaches at area dance studios and has earned certification with the Cecchetti Council of America.
Sarah Coady
Sarah Coady (she/her) is an educator, dancer, and choreographer. Sarah began her training in ballet (RAD syllabus), modern, and jazz dance at the Dance Workshop of Hanover in Massachusetts. She received her degree from Harvard University, where she performed with and directed the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company. In DC, Sarah has performed with Corina Iona Dalzell, Glade Dance Company’s NACHMO, Heart Stück Bernie, the ICONS Choreographic Institute, and other local DMV choreographers. As an original co-founder of The Effervescence Collective, a Washington D.C. community-based dance collective, Sarah choreographed two works entitled "Stormo di Storni" and "mes amis s'ennuient," which premiered at Dance Place and Dance Loft on 14, respectively. When she is not dancing, you can find her covered in dry erase marker and stickers as an elementary teacher.
Riana Cole
Riana Cole works in communications at FEMA, blending clarity and creativity to connect people with the information they need most. Originally from Kansas City, she relocated to pursue her love of dance. Though life took her away from choreographing for over a decade, the inspiration never left her. Riana believes heartbreak is proof of your heartbeat. And she's working hard to give grace to every version of herself that got her here.
Courtney Lorraine Cooper
Courtney Lorraine Cooper is a multidisciplinary artist who came back to dance after moving to DC. They enjoy exploring emotions and the intersections of identity through movement.
May Kesler
May Kesler, MA, MS, Mth, PT has been dancing since age 4, and has studied with many iconic choreographers in NY and DC area. May’s dance works have been shown on PBS America, in NY and DC, and internationally. May has performed at venues including Kennedy Center to Dance Loft, and in NYC. May was choreographer for Glen Burnie middle school years for 7 Broadway Jr productions, as well as Potomac’s CBT Oliver! production last spring. May has choreographed for Jewish history productions with her father, National Mall event in 2023, and will be choreographing an Israeli Jewish dance for HGCBT A Winter's Eve Show. May is also a physical therapist and combines it with dance as a healing art at her practice Kesler Physical & Massage Therapy. Her dance about Fascia was just performed at the Fascia Research Society Congress opening ceremonies in New Orleans to stellar reviews.
Roxann Rowley
Roxann Morgan Rowley is the artistic director for Next Reflex Dance Collective. Since 2006 she has been producing dance work in the DC Metro Region. Her work has been showcased in productions at Dance Place and Joy of Motion, Dancing Across the Virginias, the Charlotte Dance Festival, The Goose Route Dance Festival, White Wave CoolNYC Festival, The Velocity DC Dance Festival, John F. Kennedy Center, and the Harman Shakespeare Theater. She has choreographed for The American Century Theater. Her work has also been presented at James Madison University, George Mason University, and The University of Mary Washington. An artist and performer, she has had the opportunity to work artists and companies including MansurDance, Clancy Works, Steven Mazolla, Daniel Burkholder and the Playground, Dakshina Dance Company, Anomosmotion, Peter DiMuro, Jane Jerardi, Jane Franklin Dance Company and HumanLandscape Dance. Ms. Morgan Rowley holds an MFA from George Mason University and a BA from George Washington University studying under national and international faculty members. Outside of NRDC Ms. Morgan Rowley has taught for James Madison University, University of Mary Washington, Northern VA Community College and Fairfax County Public Schools Institute for the Arts and Joy of Motion. Currently Ms. Morgan Rowley teaches for George Mason University.
Brighton Sawyer
From the erratic and massive, to the subtle and motionless, Northern Maryland, and Pittsburgh based dancer and choreographer, Brighton Sawyer aims to tell vulnerable stories through the vast range of motion and emotion humans are capable of. Believing strongly in the idea that all movement is dance but not all dance is movement, has driven him to explore the contrast between explosive force and total stillness through choreographing to heavy metal. Encouraging the viewer to experience music they may never have expected to see dance to, and find subtlety in its chaos. Utilizing a mix of post-modern, contemporary, and moshing or “slam” movement, Brighton’s first works “Smoke Break” and “The Sympathetic Embrace of Cold Steel” explore themes of mental health, workaholism, the loss of your artistic self, and the scars that capitalism leaves on all of us.
Jessica Warchal King
Jessica C. Warchal-King, MFA, described as a “post mod(ern) ballerina” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, is founder and director of JCWK Dance Lab, a Reading- based contemporary dance company. The organization supports her artistic & creative research utilizing physical dance practice, performance and education to create joy, connection and wellness through kinesthetic stories. JCWK Dance Lab has been awarded grants from The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Berks Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and the Reading Musical Foundation. Jessica is a Rostered Teaching Artist with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Artist in Residence in Dance at Alvernia and has been on faculty at Drexel and Widener Universities. She is also trained in Dance for PD (Parkinson’s Disease), Creative Aging, and Artists in Health. She was a senior dance artist with Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers (KYL/D) & Nora Gibson Contemporary Ballet. Jessica earned her MFA in performance and choreography from Temple University. She holds a BA in Dance and Anthropology from Muhlenberg College.
BiosFri
Rachael Alexandra
Rachael Alexandra is a dancer, choreographer, producer, visual artist, and teacher based in Maryland. As a choreographer, Rachael is known for her theatrical interpretation of modern and contemporary dance, as well as her approach to topics of race, gender, social injustice, and family. Through her work, she echoes the feminist sentiment that “the personal is political,” drawing connections between our daily lives and systemic injustice and oppression. Rachael’s most celebrated works include “Black.Dancing.Bodies.” (2024), “Mother-Daughter Fight Club” (2024), and “Surviving Whole” (2025). In 2023, Rachael worked together with Caitlin Mitchell to co-found DanceShareDC and in 2024, she founded the Platform Black Dance Festival. Rachael has danced for many exceptional choreographers and companies and is currently a company member at Effervescence Collective. Rachael holds a B.A. in Dance from James Madison University (2016) and a M.F.A. in Dance from Hollins University (2024).
Covenant Babatunde
Covenant Babatunde (she/her) is a DMV choreographer, dancer, and actor who has presented work at several venues in the East Coast. She’s recently presented work in shows hosted by Glade Dance Collective, Light Switch Dance Theater, Platforms Black Dance Festival, and acted in productions with Synetic Theater, Arts on the Horizons, and Theatre Prometheus. Covenant has a BA in Creative Writing and a minor in Musical Theatre. If it isn’t yet clear, Covenant’s work is interdisciplinary because her passion lies not in one form but many. She hopes her work creates solace without compromising questions. As best said by two of her favorite spoken word artists: “Turn off the music, listen to the quiet. Whisper: Thank you for stopping by.”
Talissa Bavaresco
Native of Brazil, Talissa Bavaresco is a NYC/DC based Dancer and Choreographer with expertise in Ballet, Jazz and Modern Techniques, as well as Contemporary, Theater and Commercial styles. A graduate from the Joffrey Ballet School’s Jazz & Contemporary Program, Talissa has performed with dance companies such as Keigwin+Company, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Joffrey Ensemble, Humans Collective, Jazz Ain’t Dead, TunanuT, and in independent works by Gabrielle Lamb, Patrick O’Brien, Manuel Vignoulle, Mark Caserta and more. Commercially, Talissa has performed with artists Kimbra, Andrew McMahon and Oriion, danced at PANORAMA Music Festival NYC and at Six Flags’ Fright Fest. Choreographically, Talissa is the Artistic Director of BAVA Dance (Bold Alluring Virtuous Artists) and her works have presented at the Apollo Theater, Bryant Park Dance Series, DUMBO Dance Festival, Dixon Place, The New York Jazz Choreography Festival, WAXworks, HATCH Presenting Series, Holi Hai Festival NYC, Uptown Rising and NACHMO. Currently, Talissa teaches weekly Adult Classes at CityDance in Friendship Heights, DC.
Evalina W. Cain Carbonell
Evalina “Wally” Carbonell is a Philadelphia-based Dance Artist. Originally from MD, she earned a BFA in Dance from Florida State University and then danced six seasons as a principal artist with Roxey Ballet Company. In 2012, Evalina joined Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers where she spent twelve years as a performer, choreographer and curator. She has produced 8 shows for the Philadelphia Fringe, received the Ellen Forman Award and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Last year, her work was produced at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Evalina is also a teacher of dance, GYROKINESIS®, GYROTONIC® and mother to two children.
Regina Cameron
Regina is a choreographer and lifelong dancer from the DMV area. Deeply inspired by the human experience and the richness of African American culture, Regina’s work draws from the vibrant traditions of the Black diaspora. With a foundation in ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, and African American dance styles, she creates movement that tells stories, honors heritage, and captures the spirit of resilience and joy.
Kyoko Fujimoto
Kyoko Fujimoto is a versatile choreographer based in Washington DC whose journey began with classical ballet and musical theater in Japan, Boston, and New York City. She holds a B.A. in Physics from Boston University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her interdisciplinary background enables her to fuse artistic and technical/scientific ideas. Fujimoto’s choreography often explores unexpected themes like video games and medical imaging. In 2018, CriticalDance noted that her food ballet, Flavorland, "expertly captures the joyful experience of devouring a chocolate truffle." In 2025, Dancing in the District lauded her "daring choreography" and the "juxtaposition of humor and metaphysics" in her works. Fujimoto is a recipient of the FY25 Arts and Humanities Fellowship Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Joan Gavaler
Joan Gavaler, Artistic Director/Aura CuriAtlas, Dance Professor/William & Mary. As a choreographer and director, Joan has created 85 original works. She relishes collaborative discovery with poets, visual artists, composers, actors, acrobats, physicists, and neuroscientists on dance and theatre projects. She has been awarded 35 grants from local, state, and national agencies to create and present new work and has been invited by 80 organizations to present and teach in the U.S. and internationally including Steppenwolf Theatre, Millennium Stages, and Multi Arts Exchange Cyprus. “Strength and humor, a dash of curiosity, a pinch of whimsy, a generous dose of inventiveness, mix thoroughly and you have Aura CuriAtlas’ compelling brand." - BWW
Emily Green
Emily Green (she/they) grew up dancing in Southwest Virginia, where she opted for tap and jazz shoes over working on her family’s dairy farm. She started choreographing and teaching from a young age and followed her passion for movement to Connecticut College, where she discovered a new love for merging technology and performance and was able to dive more deeply into contemporary dance. Emily has presented her own works throughout the East coast in performances through New Releases, Small Plates Newburgh, NACHMO DC, Dance Canvas, Transformations Dance Festival, and In the Lab with Glade Dance Collective. She has been a member of DanceArtTheater since 2023 and performs independently in works by her peers as much as she can! Her current project, and Five Fifty Dance’s premier work, MACHO HUZZAH, was selected for Dance Place’s New Releases Showcase in May 2025 and featured with 7 other works at one of Washington, DC’s most established dance performance and education venues! Emily’s movement is dynamic, energetic, and textured. Her choreography is rooted in strength, but lightened by humor, and she strives to make work that empowers and excites both the performers and the audience.
Vishwadha Gunda
Rooted in storytelling and driven by identity, Vishwadha is a dance choreographer and artist whose work blends South Asian dance movement. Specializing and exploring in styles she has trained in Kuchipudi, Bollywood, Bhangra, Hip - Hop, and South Indian Folk, she crafts powerful narratives that reflect the complexities of diaspora identity and lived experience. Her choreography is grounded in rhythm and emotion, using movement as a vessel for representation and storytelling. From studio spaces to national stages, she invites audiences into stories that are raw and rhythmic.
Krishnapriya Nair
Krishnapriya Nair has been a dancer for nearly two decades. Krishna started her dance journey in the Indian classical dance style of Bharatanatyam and later ventured into Kuchipudi. She is a professional choreographer and performer in these Indian classical styles as well as hip hop, kuthu, and bollywood! Aside from dance, Krishna is a software engineer! She is also a trained martial artist and drummer! She has studied in Choy Li Fut Kung Fu, Kalaripayattu, and now in Jow Ga Kung Fu. Over the years, Krishna had learned Taika, Western Drum set, and Mridangam.
Kevin Ortiz
Choreographer bio coming soon.
Julia Ramirez
Julia Ramirez is an emerging dance artist, educator, and choreographer based in Jersey City, NJ. She holds both a BFA and a Master’s in Dance Education (K–12 CEAS) from Rutgers University, where she was honored with the Margery J. Turner Choreography Award. Her choreographic work has been featured nationally at venues including the 2025 Westfest Top Floor, 2024 All Over Westfest Festival, MODArts Dance Festival, 92NY Future Dance Festival (2023), International Washington Dance Festival, Dumbo Dance Festival, Kun-Yang Lin’s Performance Series, Koresh Artist Showcase, Uptown Rising Performance Series, Waxworks, and Rutgers University. Julia is currently an adjunct lecturer at Rutgers University, and a dance educator at the Mark Morris Dance Center, Washington Rock Dance, BOLD Arts and Accent School of Dance. She has served on faculty at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, where she taught modern dance and composition, and continues to work throughout the tristate area as a guest artist and choreographer. As a performer, Julia has performed with Dance Visions NY, Emma Conrad, and her own work. From 2020 to 2023, she worked with David Dorfman Dance as their Media and Artistic Assistant, contributing across artistic, administrative, and production roles. In 2022, she founded JRamirez & Artists, a project-based company creating interdisciplinary work that explores and reimagines collective histories and lived experiences. The company’s growing repertoire includes Everything, but the Kitchen Sink,5:1, Kinematic Indeterminacy, A Subject Under Consideration, and more. These works have been presented across NYC, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Her first evening-length piece, Everything, but the Kitchen Sink, premiered at Mignolo Arts in June 2024. It was supported by the Director’s Choice Award from the 2023 Spring for Spring Festival and has been featured in the Emerging Artists Theatre’s Fall 2024 Spark Theatre Festival NYC and Rutgers University May 2025.
Ariel Samuel
Ariel is a DC-based choreographer, educator, and dancer. She currently teaches jazz and contemporary to students ages 8-18. This is her choreographic debut, and she's excited for her work to be performed by such a talented cast of dancers. Her focus is on creating dance that sparks joy for both the audience and the performers. Ariel also performs with Effervescence Dance Collective and takes classes throughout the DMV area.
BiosSat
Nick M. Daniels
Nick M. Daniels is a celebrated Pittsburgh-based choreographer, multimedia artist, and the founding Artistic Director of The D.A.N.A. Movement Ensemble (Dancers Against Normal Actions), a company he launched in 1991 to confront and challenge societal norms through movement. A graduate of Slippery Rock University with a BFA in Dance, Daniels has been celebrated as a Pittsburgh Cultural Treasure and recognized as a pioneer in exploring themes of race, sexuality, and identity in performance. After a 20-year hiatus, Daniels reemerged in 2016 with a renewed artistic vision grounded in authenticity, innovation, and bold social commentary. Drawing from a dynamic blend of African, modern, and contemporary dance—infused with Butoh influences and raw emotionality—his choreographic language is uniquely his own. His work is a powerful fusion of dance, electronic soundscapes, video projection, and theater, creating immersive experiences that spark dialogue and reflection. His creative practice has been supported by numerous awards and residencies, including a Pittsburgh Cultural Treasures grant, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater's FRESHWORKS Residency, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts' Preserving Diverse Cultures grant, and the Young-Howse Theater Award for Movement Artist of the Year. Daniels’ work has been commissioned and performed across the United States and internationally, and 2025 brings new opportunities to share his vision throughout Europe, Central and South America, and beyond.
Keira Hart-Mendoza
Keira Hart-Mendoza is the Executive & Artistic Director of UpRooted Dance and works as a professional educator and choreographer. She uses movement, sound, images, and text to immerse viewers in thought-provoking storytelling in unexpected locations. Her interdisciplinary approach seeks to explore points of intersection across multiple points of view by leveraging diverse collaborators from fashion designers, sculptors, print-makers, taiko drummers, computer programmers, scientists, and more.
Margaux Lieser
Margaux Lieser began her dance training in Chicago, IL at the Joel Hall Dance Center, where she trained in jazz, modern, ballet, and hip-hop. She attended Vassar College, where she was a member of the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre, served as the Artistic Director of a student-run dance company, and choreographed 7 original dance pieces. She was commissioned to choreograph as a Guest Artist for the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre’s 2018-2019 season. Since relocating to DC in 2018, Margaux joined Capitol Movement Dance Company, where she has had the opportunity to work with Cat Cogliandro and Mike Esperanza. Margaux has presented 4 works for the National Choreography Month DC showcases. Her choreography, while jazz-based, aims to fuse together the styles she has learned, with a strong emphasis on rhythm and musicality. She recently co-produced Playing Through: Jazz Dance - Legacy to Future with Momentum Dance Theatre and Roberta Rothstein for the Intersections 2025 Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center.
Louisa Mejeur
Originally from Texas, Louisa Chapman Mejeur danced with Nashville Ballet 2 and BalletMet before joining Ballet RI for the majority of her career. Louisa’s work, The Elements, was performed at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2017. Her family friendly production, The Three Little Pigs was created in 2018 followed by The Family Ballet in 2024 as a part of Dance Place’s Co-Presentation Series. She proudly co-founded the Rhode Island Women’s Choreography Project, now Choreography Project in 2018. Louisa currently resides in Washington, D.C. working as a mother, choreographer, teacher, and freelance artist with Capital Ballet. She believes in creating Luminous Works: works that shed light on narratives important to her, make light and bring humour to audiences, or shine light on the beauty in the natural world.
Erica Rae Smith
Erica Rae Smith, Founder and Artistic Director of Raediant Movement LLC, is a Philadelphia native with a BFA in Modern Dance from The University of the Arts. Her training spans South African, Dancehall, Caribbean Folk, Ballet, Modern, and Jazz. She has performed with Mahogany Dance Theater and Lesole’s Dance Project, and in 2011, founded Raediant Movement to celebrate and share dances of the African Diaspora. An Adjunct Professor at Bowie State University and a certified Umfundalai, M’singha Wuti (community) level instructor, Erica continues to impact both K–12 and higher education. Her choreography has been featured at Dance Canvas 2025 in Atlanta, The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Atlas Intersection -NACHMODC, and Dance Place, reflecting her vision of dance as connections across the African diaspora, to heritage, and storytelling.
Tabata Vara
Tabata Vara, founder of Totema Dance Company, is a choreographer and performer whose work is a visceral exploration of identity, memory, and transformation. She began her dance journey at 18, training in various dance forms, and in 2022 earned a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Towson University, where she received the Outstanding Achievement in Choreography Award. This foundation, combined with her deep connection to cultural traditions, has shaped her into a choreographer the explores the darker, more enigmatic aspects of human experience. Since its founding in 2022, Totema Dance Company has garnered recognition for its bold, evocative works, both locally and internationally. In 2023, the company performed at the DC Summer Dance Showcase and the Attune Dance Festival in Kyoto, Japan, where Tabata’s piece Immolatio. During her time in Kyoto, Tabata also led a creative movement workshop for children. The company’s momentum continued into 2024 with performances at S.H.E/MOVES and Nachmo DC. Her piece When Tongues Collide explored the emergence of consciousness in non-living entities, while Obruo, a collaborative dance film, reflected on the pressures of creativity during the Covid-19 pandemic. That same year, Tabata was commissioned as a choreographer and performer for The Latinx Movement Festival in DC, where she explored themes of cultural heritage and identity, infusing her work with the rich textures of Mexican culture. Additionally, she presented an excerpt from Los Pecados De Nuestros Padres as part of Threads, a free public production. This poignant work explores generational trauma, silent sacrifices, and the emergence of love amidst pain. At its core, Totema Dance Company is a space where the forbidden is embraced, the ancestral reimagined, and the human spirit is laid bare. Tabata’s vision is to create art that challenges, provokes, and ultimately transforms. Her work is not about entertainment; it is about awakening thought, sparking dialogue, and inviting audiences to see the world through unfamiliar lenses. With each performance, Totema fractures the familiar, leaving audiences to grapple with the pulse of something ancient and uncharted—a reminder that art’s greatest power lies in its ability to make us think, feel, and question.
Andrea Vargas
Andrea Vargas Arriaga is a dynamic and passionate dancer whose journey in the world of movement spans over 10 years. Born and raised in Mexico, Andrea has cultivated a diverse background in dance, training in jazz, ballet, tap, hip hop, and contemporary dance. While she has explored various dance styles, Andrea’s true focus and artistic expression lie within modern and contemporary dance. With a commitment to innovation and emotional storytelling, Andrea has honed her craft in modern and contemporary techniques, blending her technical foundation with creative exploration. Her versatile style is characterized by fluidity, strength, and a deep connection to the music and movement. At just 22 years old, Andrea is dedicated to continuing her growth as a dancer, pushing the boundaries of her art while embracing the rich cultural influences that have shaped her unique perspective on dance. Whether on stage or in the studio, Andrea is driven by her passion to share the power of movement, using dance as a means to connect, inspire, and express her deepest emotions.
Juanita Maria Winston
Juanita Winston began her dance training at the age of three, where she studied the Cecchetti method of ballet, classic jazz, musical theater, and contemporary dance. She continued her education at The Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, and has subsequently taught modern dance and ballet for various studios in the NY/NJ area and has collaborated as a performer and choreographer with renowned artists in the tri-state area. Upon her relocation to the Washington, D.C. area, Juanita founded the Juanita Maria Dance Company (JMDC), which celebrates the diversity of the surrounding DMV community through jazz fusion choreography for the company's repertoire. Juanita Winston is also a gifted actor, with training from HB Studio in NYC.
Deanna Woodman
Deanna Woodman (they/she) is a queer, nonbinary choreographer and performer based in Washington, DC since 2018. A California native, they trained in the Bay Area and performed with the Bay Area Teen Dance Company, Mark Foehringer's Dance Project, and at Radio Disney promotional events. During college, Deanna was a company member of ArtistEDGE and the Natasha Cartlitz Dance Ensemble. Since relocating to DC, they have choreographed for NACHMO DC and the Dance Canvas Festival, and served as a guest soloist for Gallaudet's Dance Company. They recently produced EXPLORE, a multidisciplinary experimental arts event that encouraged artists to try things they never had before. Deanna’s artistic practice is deeply informed by their activism for social justice and inclusion. Deanna believes in art's power to expand minds and inspire new perspectives, weaving this philosophy through both their movement and their community engagement.
BiosSun
Sylvana Christopher
Sylvana Christopher, BFA, founded Vigorous Roots in 2023, SylviDances in 2016 and Glade Dance Collective in 2009. Christopher educates youth in the art of dance at Dance Place, Inspired Child, Sitar Arts Center, and Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School. She is a graduate of the ICONS Choreographic Institute’s Smart program. She choreographed works for Arts United of Washington, Bowen McCauley Dance, DancEthos, Capital Fringe, Creative Cauldron, Duke Ellington School for the Arts Theater, Gallaudet Model Secondary School for the Deaf, Glade Dance Collective, Howard Community College, Sitar Arts Center, St. Columba’s Church, and Word Dance Theater. She is open to choreographic commissions. www.sylvanachristopher.org.
Emily Crews & Carrie Monger
Goose Money Productions is made up of Emily “Money” Crews and Carrie “Goose” Monger, who have been performing professionally in the DMV for a combined 58 years! Each of us has choreographed as independent artists and this is our first long-awaited collaboration. We bring our decades of experience and shared sense of humor about what it means to stay in the field for so long. It comes together in this exploration about aging and continuing to make a place for ourselves in the dance world.
Jael Goldstein
Jael Goldstein (she/her) is a dancer and choreographer currently living in Washington, D.C. Her dance training began with a wide array of styles in childhood, and has shifted to a focus on modern dance in recent years. She also studied dance history and wrote an interdisciplinary thesis about Jewish immigrant women's dance practices while at Barnard College. As a professional educator, she has taught language arts, math, humanities, Judaic studies, and arts integration to students in grades 2 through 11, regularly incorporating dance/movement activities to enhance engagement, learning, and joy. She believes that dance is a powerful way to tell stories and build empathy, and thus creates dances that inspire the viewer to think deeply and build appreciation for history, science, and humanity.
Kristin Hatleberg
Kristin Hatleberg is a dance artist and improviser who focuses on cross-genre collaboration. She has been working as a dance artist since 2005. Her interest in thinking through motion has led her to creative collaborations with professionals in diverse fields. As a somatic movement educator, Kristin is a facilitator of Skinner Releasing Technique and teaches the fifteen Introductory Level classes designed by Joan Skinner. She is also a Somatic Experiencing practitioner and Pilates educator. Kristin’s work has been presented in Canada, Greece, Iran, Netherlands, Turkey, and across the United States. She has enjoyed working in the dance field as an editor, director, teacher, choreographer, and performer. More about her work can be found at www.kristinhatleberg.com.
Victoria Kreutzer
Victoria is a dancer, performer, and choreographer based in Virginia. She earned her undergraduate degree with a double major in Dance Performance and Psychology. Victoria teaches part-time at Art in Motion in McLean and has choreographed and performed with various companies. She joined Luminarium’s Satellite Dance Company in 2019 for Global Water Dances: South and later performed in Merli V. Guerra’s productions in Boston. Victoria has appeared in Guerra’s XR dance film Time Traveler’s Lens, collaborated with The Redef Movement Dance Company, and choreographed the music video for “World Unphased” by Danny and the Fond Band, which was accepted into the International Music Video and Film Festival. Most recently, she choreographed Static / I am I am I am for the 2025 NACHMO showcase in Washington, DC, hosted by Glade Dance Company.
Keith Macadangdang
Keith Macadangdang, originally from Hawaii, is an up-coming choreographer in the DMV area who is a modern contemporary dancer. He has performed in DC, Maryland, Hawaii, Washington and Oregon and has done choreography for the camera. He enjoys creating dances around relations between people.
Malcolm Shute
Malcolm Shute, MFA, CMA, founded Human Landscape Dance (hldance.org) in 2006. Noted for “…ingenious choreography and staging...” by the Washington Post, Shute’s dances are characterized by intimate portraits of people using touch to communicate, bodies molding to create a collage of images. Shute organizes dance concerts around the world, bringing together movement artists of various backgrounds to share their work with audiences. Shute has been a faculty member of the Towson University Dance Department since 2004. He has led workshops in partnering, contact improvisation, and Laban Movement Analysis in many nations. Shute also facilitates the weekly contact improvisation class and jam at Dance Place in Washington DC. Shute was recently awarded a 2025 Arts and Humanities Fellowship Grant in Modern Dance by the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He has been commissioned to set dances for companies and colleges in the US.
Rachel Timmerman
Rachel has been dancing since she was 5. She is a Maryland native and has been teaching since 2017. Her education is well-rounded in different styles of dance. She teaches Lyrical, Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, hip-hop and has her PBT and Acrodance certification. Rachel received her BA in Dance with a minor in humanities, health, and medicine from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is also a certified personal trainer. She has a passion for teaching as well as helping others learn and grow their love for dance. Rachel has danced with many community groups. To name a few, Rachel was a part of the Montgomery college dance company which is directed by Alice Howes. In addition, Rachel has danced in one-act works by emerging choreographers Faith Rokowski (2023) and Svetlana Nikoloff (2024) through the ICONS Choreographic Institute program. She currently dances with the Effervescence Dance Collective. In her free time Rachel loves to line dance and travel!
Stephanie Vadala
Stephanie is a seasoned performer, choreographer, educator, and producer. For almost two decades, she has brought her passion for tap dance into every room or studio she’s in. She is currently on the dance faculty at American University, Knock On Wood Tap Studio, and Dance Place teaching tap to all ages. Her choreographic work has been presented at multiple festivals throughout the DMV under her project-based company, Rooted in Rhythm. To further connect the DMV tap community, she founded The Wood Collective– an organization providing enrichment opportunities to the tap community through workshops, jams, hangs, and history. Driven by the passion of her pursuits, Stephanie is committed to introducing tap dance to as many people as she can.
Yolit Yospe-Kachlon
Yolit Yospe-Kachlon, born and raised in Israel, fell in love with Flamenco as a teenager, after attending art school, studying different dance genres. She studied Flamenco and performed in Israel, with renowned teachers and attended workshops and master classes, pursuing her love for Flamenco. Upon arriving in the US in 2004, Yolit continued pursuing her dancing studying with renowned Flamenco maestros in both the US and Spain, and performed with a variety of Flamenco companies and venues. Yolit has been the lead Flamenco teacher at American Dance Institute (ADI) and CityDance School of Dance, where she taught the Flamenco program. In September 2015, established her own Students company- Alma Flamenca, which performs at different venues. In January 2022, she fulfilled her life-long dream by opening Alma Dance Studio, which is now the home of a growing Flamenco and international, multi-cultural community. where she holds her classes, rehearsals, showcases and other events. Yolit lives in Rockville, MD with her husband and 3 daughters (who are just like their mom, dancers).
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