DDCF’s “RIVERA COURT STAGE” is a series of performance showcases taking place in Rivera Court located in the beautiful atrium of the Detroit Institute of Arts. This unique showcase is designed to highlight local, national, and international talent, sharing diverse styles of dance with DDCF audiences in an inspiring museum setting.
READ MORE ABOUT THE AMAZING Rivera Court Stage 2023 artists!
Allison Lincoln
Allison Lincoln is a choreographer, dancer, and photographer. She found her love for contemporary fusion while exploring movement at college. She graduated from the University at Buffalo with a BFA in dance, and is planning to grow her style further in the contemporary fusion realm. She is passionate about humanity; creating movement from personal emotions and experiences. She hopes to grow her roots in the Detroit Dance scene by meeting fellow creators, hoping to collaborate with more artists in the future.
Oakland University
Elizabeth Kattner is a dance educator, scholar, and choreographer. She performed widely in the US and Europe in both ballet and Baroque dance. She serves as Assistant Director of for the School of Music Theatre and Dance and as Associate Professor of Dance at Oakland University. She coordinates the Dance Education program at OU. Her book, Finding Balanchine’s Lost Ballets, was released by University Press Florida in November 2020.
Ballet Folklorico Sones Mexicanos
Ballet Folklorico Sones Mexicanos was founded in 2011 with the purpose of creating a safe, motivating and instructional space for our community to learn and continue with their traditions of Mexican folklore through dance. Our performances showcase the beautiful traditions of Mexico through a journey of colorful and lively dances for all to enjoy.
Grand Rapids Ballet
Seyong Kim is a Certified Movement Analyst, a Somatic Dance Educator, an ABT® Certified Teacher, and an Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University. He holds an MA in Dance Education from NYU and an MA in Dance from Sung-Kyun-Kwan University in South Korea. He earned Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University. Seyong has taught for the University of Georgia, Rutgers University, Kent State University, Randolph College, Peridance, World Dance Alliance-America (WDAA), American College Dance Association (ACDA), Eisenhower Dance Detroit, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, and Grand Rapids Ballet. Seyong has danced with the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, Albania National Ballet Theatre, Traverse City Dance Project, TAKE Dance, and Oakland Ballet Company. His choreographic works have been presented at Landestheater Coburg in Germany, Florence Dance on Screen Festival in Italy, International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City, Taiwan JueDai Taipei International Dance Festival, ProArteDanza in Canada, Seoul International Dance Festival in TANK, Battery Dance Festival, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, American Dance Guild Festival, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, CrossCurrent Asian American Dance Festival, and Movement Research at the Judson Church.
Ava Kowalewski
The first time Ava slipped on her ballet flats at five years old, she fell in love with dance. Ava loves how dance brings people together. Through the years, she has grown to appreciate dance as a way for people to express themselves.
Compañeros de Flamenco
Michelle is a dancer, choreographer and teacher. She has a B.S. degree in Education and an M.F.A. degree in Dance. In addition to Flamenco she has worked in Modern Dance, Folk Dance, Ballet and Musical Theater. She is a Master Teacher of the Pilates Method of Body Conditioning. . Compañeros de Flamenco is a group of dancers that bring to life the lively music and dance of Spain, known as Flamenco.
Eric Mullins
Eric Mullis is a Charlotte, N.C.-based dance artist who received an MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee) and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of South Carolina. He has presented choreography at UrBANGUILD (Kyoto), FACT/SF Summer Dance Festival, the Midwest Alternative Performance Festival, the Richmond Dance Festival, and the North Carolina Dance Festival. Eric has authored essays on dance that have been published in Dance Research Journal, Dance Chronicle, and the Journal of Performing Arts and Digital Media, as well as two books on dance. In 2020, Eric received a Fulbright scholarship to research and teach dance technology at Taipei National University of the Arts.
ArtLab J for Grown-Ups
ArtLab J for Grown-Ups was founded with the idea of creating a healthy and artistic environment by exploring ways to develop and create movement motivating the participants to push their limits and to reach beyond by using a unique method which melds traditional techniques and aesthetic. Working as a team, we will aid participants in building confidence, trust, and developing their sense of self.
Animus Movement
The mission of Animus Movement is to provide artists a chance to "perform" through dance films and other alternative mediums. The company strives to create opportunities for artists to move freely and share their craft and love of dance to audiences. The company loves to collaborate with their dancers, as well as other choreographers, musicians, visual artists and beyond. Animus Movement was founded in NYC and now has expanded to Colorado as well, performing in both states. In the last year and a half Animus has created three dance films, performed at multiple festivals and co-produced shows at Ballet Arts, City Center NYC and New York Live Arts.
RESILIENCE Dance Company
Emily Haussler is the Artistic and Executive Director of RESILIENCE Dance Company (RDC), founded in 2019 in St. Louis, MO. Overall, her work centers on building healthier, more sustainable dance communities by equipping dancers with resources for their mental health, physical wellbeing, and artistic success. She believes in the power of collaboration and in challenging the toxic norms of the dance world, seeking to create high quality, insightful dance works inside of healthy dance spaces. Her full-length choreographic works for the company include All Times At Once (2022), Making Room (2021), Stanzas & Sculptures (2020). Her notable short works have been shown in St. Louis, MO (Washington University, The Link Auditorium), Kansas City, MO (The Gem Theater), Cape Girardeau, MO (Southeast Missouri State University), Nashville, TN (The Looby Theater), and Durham, NC (American Dance Festival). Furthermore, her dance film, There Are No Rules, was shown at Exchange Choreography Festival in 2020. She has danced professionally with Common Thread Contemporary Ballet (2017) and Emily Duggins Dance Project (2020), and as a trainee with Nashville Ballet (2018) and The Big Muddy Dance Company (2019) prior to founding RDC. Emily holds a B.A. in Dance and Biology from Washington University in St. Louis where she was the recipient of the Ian D. Cramer Prize for Dance (2018) and the Marcus Artist in Residence Award (2022).
Haley Tarling & Dancers
Haley is a dancer, choreographer and teacher located in Chicago, IL, and is currently a core company member with Hotcrowd. As a dancer, she has had the opportunity to dance in two music videos for the band Course, choreographed by Lizzie MacKenzie and Jackie Nowicki. She was the Emerging Choreographer tor Young Dancers Initiative's 2021 partnership with Brighton Dance Festival, and has presented work at Dance Chicago, Trifecta Dance Festival, Detroit Dance City Festival and for Simantikos Dance Chicago's Choreo kick-off. Most recently, she has created new work for Simantikos Dance Chicago and Hotcrowd. She is a graduate of Point Park University with a BFA in dance and a BA in psychology, and is an alumni of Extensions Dance Company, under the direction of Lizzie MacKenzie. She has had the chance to perform works by: Jessica Miller Tomlinson, Emily Rayburn, Joseph A. Hernandez, Caili Quan, Kiki Lucas, Maree ReMalia, Jason McDole, Pearlann Porter and Kiesha Lalama. As an artist, she strives to embody expansion, authenticity and grit, while telling stories that reflect human experience through the metaphor of intellectual ideas.
Company Six
Company Six is a movement collective created in 2023 by Stormy Davis and Olivia Woebke. Made up of six friends who found each other through the Wayne State University dance program, this company provides its members with choreographic and performance experiences informed by the varied backgrounds of each dancer. While the company’s debut piece Sunlight is choreographed by Davis and Woebke, the group aims to give all members artistic freedom and is excited to present work choreographed by other members in the future!
Xing Dance Theater - Competition Team
His interest in dance awoke at an early age, entering the Pablo Casals Specialized School of Fine Arts. He specialized and trained in jazz dance, although he also took classes in different styles such as ballet, hip hop, salsa, folklore, and acrobatics. James received a full scholarship to continue his studies in ballet, at Ballets San Juan school. During his time at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, he was selected as a member of the Dance Team, in which he held the position of captain and now is currently the coach. As a coach, the dance team of the UPR – Río Piedras campus, holds the National Championship in the Jazz Division for two consecutive years and the top 5 (Hip Hop) in the UDA College Nationals 2019-2020. In 2012 he began his professional career as a dancer with Hincapié dance company. During the course he was in companies such as Ballet Brío, CoDa21 and Andanza. Along with these companies, he had the opportunity to participate in different ballets such as The Nutcracker, Peter Pan, Romeo and Juliet, among other repertoires. He was also part of the Walt Disney World company and The Festival of Lion King show. He is currently an active dancer with the contemporary dance company Xing Dance Theater. James has had the opportunity to perform in countries such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, Japan, USA, among others. James has a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems and is continuing his college studies to complete a Master of Fine Arts Education with a specialty in Dance. Currently, he is a full-time dancer and teacher with Xing Dance Theater.
Movement Reservoir Dance Company
Lachan Niedbala (formerly known as Lachan Jaarda) is the artistic director and founder of Movement Reservoir. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Hope College in 2019. While at Hope, she worked with choreographers such as Steven Iannacone, Sharon Wong, Matthew Farmer, and many more. Since graduating, she has worked with companies such as Wellspring/Cori Terry and Dancers, CPR Inhale Movement, Chamberlain Dance, Tapestry Dance Company, and Atelier Dance Company. Additionally, she has had the opportunity to take her choreography to Detroit (MI), Chicago (IL), and Paris (France.) Lachan is currently a company member with Wellspring and teaches at two studios in Kalamazoo. She is an instructor at Academy of Dance Arts and an instructor/Youth Ensemble Coordinator at Wellspring Dance Academy. Additionally, Lachan is passionate about her independent projects. She produced the film series Rooted Movement in 2021, Perspectives Dance Concert in 2022, and formed Movement Reservoir in 2022 to continue producing concerts in the Kalamazoo area. Movement Reservoir was founded by Lachan Niedbala to provide a creative outlet for artists and increase the Kalamazoo community’s awareness of dance. Movement Reservoir strives to create a place for artists to express their artistic voices through dance while challenging themselves to grow in an uplifting environment. Additionally, it provides the Kalamazoo area with more opportunities to experience dance from various artists throughout the Midwest.
Sophia & El Kronox
Sophia & El Kronox are Tango dancers based in Ann Arbor, MI. They have been dancing Argentine Tango together since 2015. They share their love of Tango with the community through teaching and performing.
Antonella Doblanovic
Antonella is a recent graduate of Loyola Marymount University. She is American and French with Croatian, Italian and Portuguese roots. Her experiences traveling extensively have given her the rich inner knowledge that feeling displaced in a village, community, or country can be amended when returning to her body. Dancing continues to take Antonella on a gratifying journey of self discovery and community building.
Embodied Arts Collective
Ari Mokdad is a Detroit-born, Traverse City-based choreographer, dancer, and writer. She is the artistic director of Embodied Arts Collective and is currently receiving her MFA from Warren Wilson College. Her work, When Water Moves, was the recipient of the Best Performance Award from the Vesuvius International Film Festival and was awarded the 2021 Michigan Arts and Cultural Affairs Grant.
BGIRL MAMA
Mary Mar aka BGIRL MAMA is part of Hardcore Detroit & Venus Fly dance crews, and the dance duo Mama2. Mary started her journey in the Hip Hop culture when she started breakin’ aka breakdancing in 2001. Since then, she has performed, judged, and competed throughout the United States and Canada. Mary runs a performing arts studio just north of Detroit, MI, and hosts a free open-session practice spot in Detroit empowering youth and adults of all ages through hip hop dance and culture. In 2016, Mary was selected to be part of the Caravanserai: American Voices Tour in which Muslim American artists shared their cross-cultural stories in unique, contemporary expressions. Mary introduced her solo project, Escape From the Killing Fields. Her solo project is an emotionally driven, theatrical dance piece motivated by her family’s journey to the United States, where they escaped the Khmer Rouge and the war in Cambodia. Mary is also a competitive b-girl and won several competitions including the 2011 Breakin’ the Law in Madison, Wisconsin; 2011 Grand Rapid’s Slam N Jam; the 2014 Detroit’s Quality All Styles Dance Competition; and 2016 On the Rocks battle. As she continues her journey with Hip Hop and dance, she never loses sight of who she is: a Cambodian Muslimah B-Girl.
Diversiform Dance Project
Madisyn Boussie graduated from Oakland University in April of 2022, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance. During her time as an undergraduate student, Madisyn served as the student-body president of the Oakland University Department of Dance and was a member of Oakland Repertory Dance Company. In March of 2022, Madisyn was selected by the Oakland University Department of Dance faculty to present her senior group work for adjudication at the American College Dance Association’s East-Central Region Conference, which took place at Ohio University. In addition to this, Madisyn has set and presented her work with Oakland Dance Theatre. Currently, Madisyn is a member of two professional companies in the Metro-Detroit area- Diversiform Dance Project and Suttle Dance Company. Post graduation, Madisyn is also continuing to spread her love for dance by teaching at 2nd Street Studio of Dance and serving as a pre-professional modern instructor at Elite Dance Lab.
Mrudani School of Performing Arts
Dr. Anuradha Murali is the Artistic Director of Mrudani School of Performing Arts, whose mission is to promote the classical arts of India. She performs and teaches Indian Classical Dance (Bharathanatayam and Kuchipudi) and Carnatic Music. As an Adjunct Professor of Dance and as an instructor, Anuradha has taught Bharathanatyam and Kuchipudi at Columbia College and University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. She has authored several scholarly articles in teaching at community colleges and universities for dance majors. Anuradha, a recipient of numerous grants/awards for dance choreography and dance performance, has performed at prestigious national and international festivals including India, Japan, Korea, Greece, Italy and Brazil.
dropshift dance
dropshift makes dance works that communicate human experiences to offer audiences a place to be still, to find something tender and raw, and a place to experience mood, tone, and whimsical abstract imagery. Their empowered collaborative process values the individual and their contribution of unique creative gifts.
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky Dance Program educates its students in the history, theory, creativity, practice, and performance of dance within the context of a broad liberal arts education. The students have performed and presented work throughout the United States and China.
sk|dancers
Susan Koper describes herself as an artist, choreographer, performer, and educator who cultivates her craft and artistry through her work in these many different areas of dance. Early in her career, she was a member https://skoper.wixsite.com/susankoperof Empire State Ballet in Buffalo, NY and more recently she has worked with the movement cooperative z3 movement project performing in festivals throughout the US. She currently shares her own work as a solo artist in regional, national, and international festivals including in Italy, Mexico, Ireland, New York, Chicago, Michigan, N. Carolina, and Indiana. Susan has studied with Doug Varone as part of the DEVICES 4 Choreography Mentorship Program and her work explores memories and histories in the dancing body. She is a member of the Dance Studies Association and the National Dance Educators Organization. Susan received her MFA in Dance from Hollins University/ADF and she currently mentors and guides young artists as an Associate Professor of Dance at Ball State University.
rivera court stage memories
