ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Nick Alselmo (he/him)
Nick Alselmo (Performer) is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a BFA in contemporary dance. He has shown work throughout New York City since 2015.Nick freelances as a performer and has worked with Abarukas, Johnnie Cruise Mercer/The RED Project NYC, Emotions Physical Theatre, Susannah Yugler, and The New York City Children’s Theater. He is the founder of his own dance companyThe Pocket Fuel Groovers, whose movement is influenced by contemporary, hip-hop, ballet, house, funk dance styles, and martial arts. By combining these disciplines with elements of theater, DJ-ing, team sports exercises, and ideologies, TPFG aims to push the boundaries of what is possible in a performance and communal setting. The group has performed at Arts on Site, Abrons Arts Center, The Brick Theater, Triskelion Arts, Center for Performance Research, The Tank, and much more.
Valentina Baché (they/them)
@vacavache
Valentina Baché was born and raised in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. At 15, they skipped high school, moved to the US, attended Bard College at Simon's Rock,for an associate degree in Biology and dance. Then, with a deep yearning for more dance and a desire to be seen, they moved to NYC to attend Hunter College for a BA in Dance, graduating in 2020. Their works have been featured throughout New York, Movement Research at Judson Church, the Kaye Playhouse, BK Art Haus, NY Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, Recess, Chelsea Factory, Dixon Place, and their pedagogy shared at Performance Space NY April 2024. A 2024 Gallim's Moving Artist Resident. Triskelion Arts Split bill April 24-26, 2025. Estrogenius Solo Show at Judson Church May 8th 2025. Currently working on an Evening length original show at Triskelion Arts premiering March 9-11 2026. Has performed with "The Young Boy Dancing Group", Monica Mirabile. In addition, they have been working on designer-made hand-woven art, "Raspaditos," only using second-hand/deadstock fabric and scissors to create genderless, sexy, and versatile clothing that can be danced in. Valentina is constantly rediscovering their ancestral bodily archives to best inform how change happens within the body first, through recognizing and witnessing profoundly effective energies such as rage, discomfort, and sorrow. They showcase the power of pleasure and joy through resilient, stubborn, and unbound honesty.
Marcel (Marci) Byrd (he/they)
@dancemarcij
Marci is an NYC-based dance artist with a movement affinity for geometric patterns, avant-garde depictions, and queer celebration. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Marci’s early experiences of dance were rooted in familial and communal gatherings, allowing them to make joy the center of their practice. As Marci began their “formal” dance journey in adulthood, they began with modern dance, before finding a home in jazz, vogue, hip-hop, ballet, house, and West African styles. Marci’s present dance focus has been on waacking. Marci has performed in spaces such as The Kennedy Center and at events such as Dance Africa DC, SheNYCArts Festival, and Choreographer’s Carnival, among others.
Noëlle Davé (she/her)
@noelledave
Noëlle Davé, a South Carolina native, graduated from East Carolina University with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. She is a freelance movement artist, choreographer, and educator currently based in New York City. During her time at ECU, she had the opportunity to perform in a repertory piece Standing in Tears, staged by Koresh Dance company members, as well as in works by David Ingram, Danielle Sheather, Michel Kouakou, John Dixon, Tommi Galaska, Teal Darkenwald, Micah Geyer, and Joe Cotler. Since then, Noëlle has been a moving artist with gloATL under lauri stallings, performed with Britt Fishel & Artists, and is currently a dancer with Culpdid Dance Company. She loves to travel and take on innovative learning opportunities to grow in her artistry and explore new ways of thinking and moving.
Joshua Dent (they/them)
@joshthecellist
Joshua Dent began playing cello at the age of fourteen in their hometown of Kissimmee, Florida. They later studied music at the Florida State University. Their current work ranges from playing in chamber music groups, vaudeville-style bands, rock groups, and jazz ensembles, to playing with singers/songwriters, recording for studio sessions, and teaching improvisation workshops for cello studies around the country. Spending much of the year away from home, Joshua frequently travels around the U.S. are Europe playing music and collaborating with artists of other mediums such as painters, dancers, writers, and actors.
Eva Ding (she/her)
@itsevading
Flutist and multi-disciplinary artist Eva Ding (she/her) was often humorously likened to an inflatable tube man onstage because of her enthusiasm and physicality. Ever-growing in her craft, Eva creates multimedia chamber music shows that meld together her passion for music and storytelling – illuminating important narratives of her heritage. Her endeavors have been supported by grants from Chamber Music America and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Eva has performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Joe’s Pub, and WQXR's The Greene Space and has collaborated with such artists as Grammy and Oscar winner Jon Batiste.
Taylor Ennen (she/hers)
@taylor.ennen
Taylor Ennen (she/her) is a dancer, performance artist, improviser and teacher originally from Ohio. Her interest focuses heavily on interdisciplinary, collaborative, and conceptual work with an underpinning of community integration. She earned a BFA from FSU’s School of Dance with credits from the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and the Academié American de Danse de Paris. Taylor is an ongoing collaborator with Danse Theatre Surreality and a previous collaborator with The Equus Projects and Eryc Taylor Dance, among other freelance projects. She has performed in films by Sarah Elgart and Jee Eun Ahn and has had the privilege of dancing in works by Robert Moses, Ohad Naharin, Alex Ketley, Merce Cunningham, Christian Burns, Larry Keigwin, Doug Varone, Gerri Houlihan, and Gwen Welliver, among others.
Emma Gordon (she/they)
@emrgordon
Emma Gordon is a Movement Intuitive born and raised in New York City. Her journey in dance began in an afterschool program at P.S. 212, where she went on to attend Ballet Tech: The NYC Public School for Dance and The Alvin Ailey Professional Performing Arts School Program. She has graduated with her Honors College BFA in Dance from George Mason University, earning the award for Excellence in Performance in the program. Professionally she works with various dance companies and projects, is signed by Stewart Talent, works as a trainer at Formation-Biohacking Gym, and teaches dance back at MTW.
Shaena Kate (she/her)
@shaena.kate
Shaena Kate is a Stage Manager originally from North Carolina. She graduated from Montclair State University with a BFA in Dance. Some of her stage management credits include "Sleep No More" and "Dungeons and Dragons The Twenty Sided Tavern", and as a Company assistant to Urban Bush Women. Additionally Shaena is a performer herself, having worked with creators institutions such as Stefanie Batten Bland, Charlie Kellogg, Arts By The People, and the University of Dundee. Shaena is incredibly grateful to work with the team on Shadowboxing in Blue.
Charlotte Munn-Wood (she/hers)
@tt_nn_oo
An outspoken proponent of experimental sounds and expression, violinist Charlotte Munn-Wood is an improviser, chamber musician, and sought-after educator in New York City and beyond. Her music and visual art explore the textures and timbres of the natural world and of inner psychological environments. Munn-Wood is a founding member of Du.0 (du-point-oh), a two-violin ensemble specializing in experimental contemporary and noise-based improvised music, formed with Aimée Niemann in 2015. The duo has forged a path of innovative, inclusive programming in non-traditional venues. The ensemble released its debut studio album, Thoughts From the Future, in 2024. Munn-Wood is a founding member and Executive Director of the Telos Consort, a group of creatives seeking to reimagine the concert experience through the performance of new and newer works by living composers.
Munn-Wood is a graduate of the Contemporary Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Dr. Curtis Macomber, and of Western Michigan University as a student of Renata Knific. Away from the violin, she is an avid runner, rock climber, and prolific fiber artist.
https://www.charlotte-munn-wood.com/
Sergio Muñoz Leiva (he/him)
@sergio.violist
Boston-based Chilean violist Sergio Muñoz Leiva’s repertoire spans from early Baroque to music that is fresh off the press, performed on modern and baroque viola. He has performed as a guest artist with the Rasa String Quartet, A Far Cry, Palaver Strings, the United Nations Chamber Music Society, and the Chile Chamber Orchestra in venues such as Jordan Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, and the Guangzhou and Shenzhen Opera Houses. His musical mentors include Kim Kashkashian and Carol Rodland. He holds degrees from the New England Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, and The Juilliard School.
Dr. Muñoz Leiva is the Director of Chamber Music at the College of the Holy Cross and Music Theory Instructor at Project STEP.
https://www.sergiomunozviolist.com/
Jamila (Jam) C.V. Ravel (she/they)
@jamtonight
Jamila Ravel (Performer) is a Chicago-born, New York-based musician and dancer. Jam's current projects include performing with Las Mariquitas: New York's Queer + Trans Salsa Band - a political liberation project, and teaching with TGNCon2 - an Afro-Latin dance/movement collective, working to create an affirming space to embrace the fundamentals of Salsa music and movement, centering BIPOC TGNC folks. Her history of mentors and colleagues includes some of Chicago and New York's most esteemed artists, including Benny Powell, Chico Hamilton, Lakecia Benjamin, Solomon Dorsey, Cassondra Kellam, Joel Hall, Elvis Collado, Melanie Castillo, and Antonio Doza.
Kevin Rios (he/him)
@kevsrios
Kevin is a New York-based actor, born and raised in Jalisco, Mexico. He had his debut in the professional stages of New York as Claudio and Pompey in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. He continued his journey in the theatre with plays such as King John, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Romeo & Juliet, Boleros for the Disenchanted, and Anna in the Tropics. He recently starred in the short film I’m neither her nor there which has been selected at international film festivals in Atlanta, Miami, and Philadelphia.
Sasha Lynn Smith (she/her)
@sasha.lynnsmith
Sasha Lynn Smith is a Brooklyn based creator who dabbles in art forms like she's trying on jeans at a thrift store; finding the right fits - & making them her own.
Sasha's performance career has spanned the realms of modern & contemporary dance, immersive theater, film & stand-up comedy. As a producer, writer and director, she enjoys fostering creativity & expansive storytelling both on & off the stage.
Her work centers around embracing the multiplicity of her identity, self-discovery, empowerment & those little details that she never wants to forget.
Sasha began her boxing journey four years ago every Saturday morning in Prospect Park with coach Ruth O’Sullivan.
Aika Takeshima (she/her)
Aika Takeshima(she/her), originally from Japan, is a dance artist with a 10+ year career, a DEI practitioner, and a co-founder of the sarAika movement collective with Sara Pizzi. She specializes in contemporary dance, with strong floor work and dynamic and fluid movements made possible by effectively using joints and utilizing different skills from various dance styles. Her ultimate goal is to help people find more freedom and possibilities in themselves through her arts and DEI knowledge.
Her work has been presented at: HERE, The Brick, IATI Theater, Mark Degarmo, New York Fashion Week performance for Julian Magazine × ALLU USA, Woodside Arts Collective, PhysFestNYC, CUPADANCE, University Settlement, JAANY, Dance Parade NYC, Spoke The Hub, 7MPR, Dixon Place, The Craft, IKADA, BAAD! The Bronx, Movement Research, NYC Pride, Japan Day, Creative Performances, The Dynamite Experience, Queensboro Dance Festival, Turnout NYC, Liberty Hall Dance Festival, ESTIA, EMERGING ARTISTS THEATRE, & more.
Aïssatou Thiam (any pronouns)
@Aissatou_
Aïssatou Thiam is an NYC based dancer/singer/actor/choreographer hailing from Miami FL; but considers themselves a ‘global citizen’. They are a recent graduate of Marymount Manhattan College where they received their BFA in Musical Theatre. She is a collector of manga and squishmallows and is passionate about music, makeup, and movies. Some of her favorite past roles include ‘Pythio’ in Head Over Heels and ‘Texas’ in Cabaret. Aïssatou is enthusiastic about works that inspire and express humanity. She thanks all her loved ones for their unwavering support.
Brendan "Sway-Z" Winkfield (he/him)
@simplyswayz
Originally from Long Island, Brenden “Sway-Z” Winkfield began dancing at the age of four, training in ballet, tap, and jazz. As a child, he appeared on Sesame Street and performed in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. His professional career has taken him across the globe, including contracts on multiple cruise lines and a standout role as a tap soloist in Tokyo Disney’s Big Band Beat. Now back in New York, Sway-Z continues to build a dynamic dance career, blending his classical roots with a bold, international stage presence.