Donald Borror is an arts executive, producer, and former performer who currently serves as Director of the Pasculano Collaborative for Contemporary Dance at Lincoln Center. Throughout his career, he has helped artists and organizations build ambitious creative projects, leading institutions including Chelsea Factory, Dorrance Dance, and BODYTRAFFIC. Starting his career as a dancer with Ballet Hispánico, Borror has also worked on projects with the Apollo Theater, American Composers Orchestra, Mark Morris Dance Group, and annually helps produce Buglisi Dance Theater’s Table of Silence 9/11. A graduate of The Juilliard School (BFA) and Columbia University (MA), Borror has lectured widely on arts leadership and serves on the boards of GALLIM and MOVE|NYC.

Photo Credit: Alfonso Victoria

Michael Lonergan is the Senior Vice President and Chief Artistic Producer for Park Avenue Armory. During his tenure, he has curated and/or produced over 100 productions spanning theater, opera, dance, visual art, and music performance. Internationally, he has produced and toured several productions, including FLEXN, Euphoria by Julian Rosefeldt, Deep Blue Sea by Bill T. Jones, and Taryn Simon’s An Occupation of Loss. He has commissioned and produced several new works from Kyle Abraham (Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful), Bill T. Jones (Afterwardsness, Deep Blue Sea), Richard Jones (Judgment Day), Robert Icke (Enemy of the People), Anne Imhof (Doom), and artist Nick Cave (The Let Go), among others. He is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Photo credit: William Beauchamp

Pamela Tatge has served as the Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob’s Pillow since 2016, an international dance center that hosts the longest-running dance festival in the nation, alongside a school, archives, and community engagement programs. Prior to the Pillow, for 17 years, Tatge served as the Director of the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, overseeing programming in dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. Tatge was named one of “The Most Influential People in Dance Today” by Dance Magazine in 2017 and is the recipient of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters’ 2010 William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence and Sustained Achievement in Programming. She also received the 2022 José Limón Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award and the NAACP Berkshires Dunham Freedom Fund Award in 2024 which recognized Tatge as “an Activist for Peace, Justice, Equity, and Equality in the Art of Dance.”

Photo credit: Hayim Heron

Elizabeth Yilmaz is a professional dancer, educator, and producer based in New York City. Elizabeth is a former member of Ballet Hispánico and a longtime dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.

She holds a B.A. in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College and completed Harvard Business School’s Crossover Into Business program in 2024.

As a dedicated dance educator, Elizabeth is on faculty at both The 92nd Street Y (92NY) and the Joffrey Ballet Trainee Program. She is also the co-founder and producer of Art Bath NYC, an immersive, multidisciplinary salon series launched in 2022 with fellow dancer Mara Driscoll. Art Bath brings together musicians, dancers, poets, opera singers, and visual artists to create innovative performance experiences.

Notable Art Bath collaborators include the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Prototype Festival, 92NY, Fotografiska New York, and now Lincoln Center’s Festival of Firsts.

A 2023 Bessie Award winner for Outstanding Service to the Field, Michele Byrd is a street dancer, an arts activist and tireless advocate for girls and women; who works to hip-hop culture along gender, sex, and cultural and socio-historic racial lines. With a BS from Temple University and an MS from Drexel University, Byrd-Mcphee has worked in different sectors of the entertainment industry, having been a Production Coordinator at Brooklyn Academy of Music and a Senior Music Coordinator at Late Night with Seth Meyers.

A 2024 Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU Scholar in Residence, Byrd-McPhee continues her 21-year commitment as Executive Director for Ladies of Hip-Hop and artistic director of LDC (LOHH Dance Collective); and is currently a guest lecturer at Loyola Marymount, Rutgers University and Northern University.

Photo Credit: Dainique Jones

Nigel Campbell is from The Bronx, New York and is a graduate of The Juilliard School. Nigel has danced professionally at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Gibney Company, the Saarlandisches Staatstheater, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Kyle Abraham’s A.I.M and Sidra Bell Dance New York. From 2017-2022 Nigel served as Company Director for Gibney Company and from 2022-2024 served as the inaugural Artistic Director of Gibney Center, overseeing Presenting & Residencies.

In 2015 Nigel co-founded MOVE|NYC| alongside his partner, Chanel DaSilva, where he serves as Artistic Director and CEO. MOVE|NYC| is a civic arts and social justice organization committed to cultivating a more diverse and inclusive society through transforming the field of professional dance. In 2024, Nigel joined the Artistic Advisory Board of the Princess Grace Foundation and has been adjunct faculty at The Juilliard School since 2019 teaching “Essentials of Entrepreneurship in the Arts.”

Nigels is the recipient of 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.

Photo Credit: Stephanie Diani

Brandon Coleman is an NYC-based choreographer, educator, and performer from Katy, TX. He is a former cast member and rehearsal director for Punchdrunk’s SLEEP NO MORE in NYC and has worked with companies including Visceral Dance Chicago, KEIGWIN + COMPANY, the Metropolitan Opera ballet, VIM VIGOR Dance Company and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Brandon currently leads classes at Steps on Broadway and Peridance in NYC. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a BFA in dance and a BA in Communication and was awarded Alumni of the Year in 2026 for the college of fine arts. @itsbrandoncoleman

Photo Credit: Cole Witter

Zak Ryan Schlegel is a choreographer, founder + creative director of CONGRESS (@legalizedance), rehearsal director + soloist of Shen Wei Dance Arts, and educator at The Joffrey Ballet School, CLI Conservatory + Zeitgeist Dance Theatre. He served as inaugural curator + producer of Ryan Heffington’s residency DESERTRADE, collaborator on two Emmy-Awarding winning choreographic teams for HBO, and voting member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). His solo work has been presented at The Juilliard School in NYC, Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA and he is three-time Outstanding Choreographer of the Youth America Grand Prix. Through creation, curation and collaboration he believes dance has the power of epiphany and transcendence.

Photo credit: Richie Lee Davis

Denna Thomsen is an acclaimed choreographer, filmmaker, dancer, and actress whose work sits at the intersection of movement, performance, and cinematic storytelling. Over two decades, she has collaborated with leading directors including Spike Jonze, Olivia Wilde, Adam McKay, Edgar Wright, Ryan Murphy, and Alma Har’el, and artists including Madonna, David Bowie, Sia, and Harry Styles. Her credits span Euphoria, Winning Time, Pose, Booksmart, Blonde, and Don’t Worry Darling, alongside global campaigns for Gucci, Apple, Nike, and Airbnb. A double World Choreography Award winner, Denna’s distinctive visual language has established her as a sought-after creative collaborator.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Jackson

Adam Weinert is an arts leader, choreographer, and performer whose work spans artistic practice, cultural leadership, and community engagement. He is Executive Director of Hudson Hall at the historic Hudson Opera House, New York State’s oldest surviving theater, where he leads multidisciplinary programs in music, dance, opera, visual art, film, and education. As a choreographer and dancer, Weinert’s work has been presented at venues including The Museum of Modern Art and Jacob’s Pillow, exploring the legacy of modern dance through performance, research, and reconstruction. His work focuses on how cultural institutions can become more deeply rooted in the places they serve.

Photo Credit: Zach Gross

Ali Kenner Brodsky is a choreographer, dance filmmaker, curator and educator. She creates gesturally rich, emotionally driven dance-theater works and dance films that invite audiences into intimate spaces of reflection, memory, and connection. Her films have screened at festivals worldwide, receiving numerous awards and recognitions. Ali is co-director of Motion State Arts and is a frequent collaborator with the Wilbury Theatre Group, where she serves as movement director for a range of plays and musicals. She is currently a visiting lecturer at both Brown and Roger Williams Universities. A Rhode Island native, Ali lives in Dartmouth, MA. www.alikennerbrodsky.com / www.motionstatearts.org

Photo credit: Rich Ferri

Irishia Hubbard Romaine (she/her) is a choreographer, filmmaker, curator, and educator whose work centers Black aesthetics across choreography and dance film. She is a curator for the Dance on Camera Festival and a board member of Dance Camera West, where she previously served as Visibility Program Director. Her project Reimagining Screendance: Reclamation of Black Aesthetics in Dance Film History has been supported by the Schomburg Center and Yale University. As an Armstrong NOW Artist-in-Residence at the Louis Armstrong House Museum, she worked with archival materials to develop a multimedia performance integrating choreography and technology. Her films have screened in the U.S., Mexico, Spain, India, and the U.K., including Red Line, which received the Virtual People’s Choice Award at the 2024 Denton Black Film Festival. Romaine currently serves on the dance faculty at Point Park University and Pittsburgh CAPA.

Photo credit: Ryan Ross

Andy Russ is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, educator and producer, based in Providence, RI. Creating under the name Passive Aggressive Novelty Company, his personal work moves freely between the genres of dance, theater, music and media, driven by a desire to challenge the conventions of performance practice and audience expectation. As a designer, he has created soundscores, lighting, and projections for over 100 dance, theatre, film, and radio productions. He is a founding co-director of the dance presenting organization Motion State Arts, a Resident Artist at the Wilbury Theatre Group, an Adjunct Professor of Dance at Roger Williams University, and most recently a visiting lecturer at Harvard University. www.passiveaggressivenoveltycompany.com / www.motionstatearts.org

Photo credit: Domenik Carl Lee

Jennifer Scully-Thurston is a multidisciplinary choreographer, dance filmmaker, curator, and video installation artist. Her diverse career spans Off-Broadway collaborations with directors like Diane Paulus, to ongoing performances with D’Vorah Dance Arts and Gerri Houlihan’s Big Red Dance Project. As a prominent arts leader, she founded FilmFest by Rogue Dancer and previously directed Encore: Dance on Film and ADF’s Movies By Movers. Her immersive installations have been commissioned by venues including the Rubenstein Arts Center and Carrboro Arts Center, while her acclaimed dance films screen at prestigious festivals worldwide. Dedicated to her craft, she produces an annual film, frequently collaborating with her late husband, composer Christopher Scully-Thurston, to create work that continues to captivate global audiences.

Photo credit: Jeff Roll