Danni Gee

Director of Programming, The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc.

Danni Gee has close to 40 years of experience in the Arts and Entertainment industry. She has performed as a principal dancer with both her hometown troupe, PHILADANCO! The Philadelphia Dance Company, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she performed memorable leading roles including the iconic solo, CRY. As a vocalist, she has appeared with renowned music artists such as Kathy Sledge, of Sister Sledge, Gloria Gaynor, and CHER, as well with her own NYC-based indie rock band, Suga Bush. While continuing to perform on the music circuit, Danni returned to concert dance in 2006 when she accepted the position of Dance Curator for City Parks Foundation / SummerStage, one of New York City’s largest, free outdoor festivals where she engaged such established companies as Parsons Dance, Dance Brazil, Kibbutz Contemporary Company, Ballet Hispanico, Martha Graham Dance Company, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Alvin Ailey. Along with providing performance and commissioning opportunities for many emerging and established choreographers and companies over the years, she also successfully presented several special theatrical evenings including Notes of a Native Song featuring indie-rockers Stew and the Negro Problem; a 10th anniversary concert version of Fela! The Musical; the 20th anniversary of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam; and the 40th anniversary celebration of the hit Broadway show, The Wiz, with direction by Tony Award-winning choreographer, George Faison, and featuring appearances by original cast members including Phylicia Rashad, Andre De Shields, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Danni is also the creator of the online series, dannIGeeLive, which she started in April 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in an effort to support her artistic community. The series, live streamed via Instagram from her living room, features conversations with artists and educators across disciplines and genres. Archived episodes of dannIGeeLive are available on demand at www.dannigeetv.com.

In September of 2022, Danni embarked on a new adventure as Director of Programming at The Joyce Theater in New York. Under the leadership of Executive Director, Linda Shelton, Danni currently oversees 45-plus weeks of programming at the heralded venue and will strive to continue and uphold its mission to serve and support artists and the art of dance and choreography, and to promote the richness and variety of the art form in its fullest expression.

Michael Novak

Artistic Director, Paul Taylor Dance Company

Michael Novak, Artistic Director of Paul Taylor Dance Company, is carving a profound mark in the dance industry with an unwavering commitment to usher in a new era of expansion for the Taylor organization, driven by his passion for artistic innovation, inclusion, and education. Before assuming his role as Artistic Director, Novak built an impressive career as a critically acclaimed Taylor dancer, hailed by The New York Times as “a marvel of plasticity and penetrating imagination.” In 2018, after eight years performing with the Company, Paul Taylor appointed him as his successor, entrusting him with the responsibility of preserving and evolving the Company. That same year, Novak officially became Director after Paul Taylor’s death, and retired from performing shortly thereafter. Under Novak’s direction, Taylor continues to be one of the world’s leading dance companies, with robust domestic and international touring; an annual season at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; an ever-expanding repertory that includes both Paul Taylor’s groundbreaking work alongside new choreographic voices to reflect contemporary themes and diverse perspectives; several educational programs to inspire the next generation of dancers and dance advocates; and a recent expansion to large new headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, offering greater resource to the creative community in New York City, the heart of the dance universe. Born with a passion for movement and expression, Novak’s formal dance education began at a young age, with foundational training in his hometown of Rolling Meadows, Illinois. He studied at the University of the Arts, The Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Springboard Danse Montréal, Barnard College, and The Taylor School, and is an alumnus of Columbia University’s School of General Studies, where he received his BA in Dance magna cum laude, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and currently serves as a member of their Board of Visitors.

Dante Puleio

Artistic Director, Limón Dance Company

A widely respected former member of the Limón Dance Company for more than a decade, Puleio is the sixth Artistic Director in the Company’s 75-year history, a position that originated with Doris Humphrey. After a diverse performing career with the Limón Dance Company, touring national and international musical theatre productions, television and film, he received his MFA from University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on contextualizing mid 20th century dance for the contemporary artist and audience. He is committed to implementing that research by celebrating José Limón’s historical legacy and reimagining his intention and vision to reflect the rapidly shifting 21st century landscape.

Chelsea Ainsworth

Executive Director, Arts on Site, and Co-Artistic Director, Dual Rivet

Chelsea Ainsworth is a graduate of the Dance Department of The Juilliard School. After graduating she worked with Johannes Wieland/StaatstheaterKassel in Germany, Flexicure, Amber Sloan, Bryn Cohn + Artists and was on the modern/ballet dance faculty at Cap21 musical theater school and Chen DanceCenter. Currently she is dancing with The Bang Group, as well as ZviDance. She’s also the co-founder and Executive Director of Arts On Site, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting artists of all disciplines by offering affordable studio space and performances of all disciplines. She also built and curates residencies at a retreat and residency center in the Shawangunk mountains in upstate New York. In 2020 she joined the Dance Advisory Board of Marymount Manhattan College as well as faculty at Saint Anns School, Gibney, Juilliard, Marymount and Purchase College. She co-founded and co-directs a highly physical contemporary dance company, Dual Rivet, alongside Jessica Smith.

Dr. Sean Vitale

Jazz Dancer, Physical Therapist

Sean is a dynamic dancer with a love for jazz music and movement. Sean has been lindy hopping since 2018 and is a prominent member of several NYC based dance troupes including Frankie Manning’s legacy troupe, The Big Apple Lindy Hoppers. Sean is grateful to be a part of the 2024 cast of the renowned stage show, Sw!ng Out. As a partnered dance specialist, Sean excels at improvisation and has won many partnered improvisation competitions throughout the U.S. and Europe. Sean has witnessed the power of dance to both grow community and heal hearts and minds and he wishes to spread that joy for as long as he is able. Beyond his work as a dancer and educator, Sean is a Doctor of Physical Therapy rehabilitating dancers, athletes, and those affected by neurologic conditions such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease.

Elizabeth Yilmaz

Co-founder and Producer, Art Bath NYC

Elizabeth Yilmaz is the Co-Founder/Producer of Art Bath NYC, a live performance series presenting over two-hundred artists in the past three years. Elizabeth is a former company member with Ballet Hispanico and is currently in her 13th season dancing at The Metropolitan Opera. Ms. Yilmaz is on faculty teaching advanced ballet for the Trainee Program at Joffrey Ballet and The 92NY in New York City. She is also on the Dance Advisory Board for Marymount Manhattan and is currently a student in the “Crossover to Business” Program for professional athletes at Harvard Business School.

Shawn Bible

President, Dance on Camera Festival

Shawn T Bible, grew up in Roseville, Michigan and received a BA in Social Science and Dance from Michigan State University and an MFA in Dance Choreography and Performance from the University of Michigan. Shawn is the President of the Dance Films Association and an Executive Producer and curator of the preeminent Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center. He is also moderator for the Dance Film Labs providing education to dance film makers and the filmmaker Q&A panels during the festival. Bible is also the artistic director of shawnbibledanceco. established in 2007. shawnbibledanceco. is a contemporary dance company that presents throughout New York City and Internationally at the International Choreographic Festival of Blois, France, Lourdes Dance Festival (Paris, France), Oaxaca Dance Festival (Oaxaca, Mexico), NYLA, Battery Park Dance Festival, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Joyce’s DANY Studios, to name a few. Bible has also taught masterclasses and set work in dance and dance for camera at universities, colleges, and high schools across the U.S. and abroad.

Shawn has been a Professor of Dance at Idaho State University, Texas Tech University, Grand Valley State University, and joined the faculty at Manhattanville University in 2016 as Director of Dance.

Cara Hagan

Associate Professor, The New School

Cara Hagan (She/They) is a mover, maker, writer, curator, champion of just communities, and a dreamer. She believes in the power of art to upend the laws of time and physics, a necessary occurrence in pursuit of liberation. In their work, no object or outcome is sacred; but the ritual to get there is. Hagan’s adventures take place as live performance, on screen, as installation, on the page, and in collaboration with others in a multitude of contexts.

Hagan’s newest short film, Cut Me Summa Dat Noise, is set to premiere in early 2025 having been completed in the fall of 2024. She is currently in process for In/Separate, a multimedia performance work that explores how human bodies and non-human bodies experience climate trauma in ways that are similar, connected, or both. The work has thus far been supported by a grant through the Puffin Foundation and a technical residency at the Barnard Movement lab in the summer of 2024. Anticipated premiere of In/Separate is set for the fall of 2026. For the months of September and October of 2024, Hagan is a performance resident at the Monira Foundation in Jersey City.

Other recent work has included, were we birds?, an immersive, site-specific work commissioned as part of the 90th anniversary season of the American Dance Festival. Additionally, Hagan’s work titled, SKIDD-ID-A-BOP was commissioned as part of the 2023 season for Rhythmically Speaking, a jazz-focused dance company based in Minneapolis. Hagan was awarded a 2023 GALLIM Parent Artist Residency, where she has had the pleasure of crafting a new solo-dance and visual art work titled, Mama Piranha. Thus far, iterations of Mama Piranha have been presented by Morven Moves at the Morven Museum, a GALLIM artist residency showing at the Chelsea Factory, and by Pioneers Go East as part of the Crossroads Festival. Hagan will premiere the work in its entirety in the spring of 2025 at JACK.

Cara is grateful to have received financial support from various organizations and institutions to continue their work. Recent support has included, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Council, the Changing Tap Times Initiative, The New School Office of Faculty Research, GALLIM Dance, and the National Center for Choreography at the University of Akron where she was named the inaugural Community Commissioning Residency Artist for the 2020/2021 season. Past support has come from the Dance Films Association, the Filmed in NC Fund, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Forsyth County Arts Council, the Appalachian State University Research Council, the Watauga County Arts Council, and Betty’s Daughter Arts.

Nadav Heyman

Founder & Artistic Director, dancefilmmaking.com

Nadav is an award-winning director and founder of dancefilmmaking.com, the premier online platform for dance films. He was the recipient of the Subhashok Artist Residency in Thailand where he directed his film, as·phyx·i·a·tion, which was later published by Dance Magazine. His most recent film, Old Man at the Corner Store won awards at the Portland Dance Film Fest, Dance Film Festival Prague, Dances With Films, and Berlin Dance Film Festival. He’s been a guest lecturer at UT Austin, Cal Arts, and USC, amongst others, and is the producer of the revolutionary Dance Filmmaking Masterclass. His goal is to propel the art of dance filmmaking forward and carve out a new space for dance to thrive and evolve.

Linda Schaller

Director of Programming, San Francisco Dance Film Festival

Director of Programming, Linda Schaller (she/her), oversees the programming of the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, special events, and the production of SFDFF video projects. When joining SFDFF in 2018, she brought 25+ years of producing/directing experience of arts documentaries and performance specials for local and national PBS and arts organizations such as American Ballet Theater (50th gala), SF Ballet, and SF Opera. Linda has garnered four Emmy Awards and a Grand Prix Video Dance International Documentary Award. Her love of dance solidified when she was one of the PBS directors selected to train with the “Dance in America” staff at the American Dance Festival. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Visual Communication (Television concentration). History research, water aerobics, and house restoration also keep her busy.

Tobin Del Cuore

Owner, Producer, and Director, Imagination + Muscle

After training and performing in theater and dance from a young age, Tobin Del Cuore attended The Juilliard School. After graduating, he went on to become a dancer and trusted collaborator with many of today’s most acclaimed choreographers and companies, including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Aszure Barton, and Lar Lubovitch.

In the midst of a successful performing career, Del Cuore began working as a self-trained filmmaker. He then founded his production company Imagination + Muscle in 2011, for which he has produced and directed an extensive body of work, including music videos, commercials, promotional videos, live streams, dance films, and multi-camera live performance captures.

For the past three years, Del Cuore has directed multicamera dance performance shoots for 92NY’s Harkness Mainstage Series. He is also producing and directing an upcoming documentary film in celebration of 92NY’s 150th Anniversary.

Other short films co-directed by Del Cuore (Monument, Forgotten Song, and The Sky Was Different) have been screened at film festivals worldwide, including the Edmonton International Film Festival, Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center, the Tokyo International Short Film Festival, Dances With Films LA, and Blow-Up International Arthouse Film Fest Chicago.

Nel Shelby

Executive Producer and Founder, Nel Shelby Productions

Nel Shelby preserves and promotes dance by documenting live performances, producing livestreams and virtual programs, and creating marketing videos and documentary films. Nel Shelby Productions serves a diverse list of dance clients, and the entire team has training in movement. Nel is Producer/Director of NY Emmy-nominated documentary PS DANCE! and its sequel PS DANCE! THE NEXT GENERATION, films about the power of dance education. She is Director of Media for Jacob’s Pillow and Vail Dance Festival. Nel lives in New York City with her husband, dance photographer Christopher Duggan, and their two children.

Mike Tyus

Choreographer, Filmmaker

Mike Tyus is ... an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and creative director hailing from the vibrant city of Los Angeles, California. With over 20 years of experience, he has become a celebrated figure in the world of dance, captivating audiences on both stage and screen.

As a performer, Tyus has graced the stages of renowned productions, including Cirque Du Soleil’s IRIS at the iconic Kodak Theater in LA and KOOZA, where he mesmerized audiences as “The Trickster,” a devilish ringleader and the lead character. In 2013, Tyus joined the prestigious Pilobolus Dance Theater, collaborating with visionary choreographers like Sidi Larbi Cherkoui, Penn & Teller, and Israeli choreographers Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollack. His contributions to the company’s repertory continue to be celebrated today. Tyus has also had the privilege of performing in Ryan Heffington’s choreography for Sia and gracing the Oscars stage under the direction of Philipe Decoufle. He is a founding member of Jacob Jonas The Company and served as an Associate Producer for Films.Dance, a platform dedicated to pushing the boundaries of dance film through unconventional collaborations. Tyus is currently collaborative choreographer and performer in the worlds largest brand new immersive theater production called LIFE N TRUST, from the creators of “Sleep No More” Emursive Productions.

Tyus’ choreographic style is a captivating fusion of his diverse training, blending elements from circus theater, acrobatics, ballet, and Greco-Roman wrestling to create a truly unique and mesmerizing art form. His choreographic portfolio spans across dance companies, museums, and pop stars. Notable recent works include creations for SuperBlue Museum in Miami commissioned by Live Arts Miami, a dance film creation and live performance for The Broad Museum in Los Angeles, a creative residency at LA Dance Project, and commissions for Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, Hedwig Dance Chicago, Visceral Dance Chicago and a commission for Joffrey Ballets prestigious Winning Works. Tyus directed and choreographed the stunning dance film ELSEWHERE for Whim W’him Contemporary Dance Company, which was showcased on PBS. Tyus’ choreography extended to a Facebook commercial directed by FKA Twigs, which has earned a place in the MOMA’s archives for its cultural significance and a LANCOME spot directed by Daniel Sannwald featuring Zendaya. Tyus has further enriched pop culture through his choreography in music videos for Nigerian Pop-Star Adekunle Gold and emerging artist Anna Margo, Rae Khalil, Keiynan infusing the art world’s sensibilities into mainstream entertainment. In 2020, he established “Mike Tyus & Co,” a dance company dedicated to bringing his visionary work to life, with an impressive repertoire of over 13 films and the creation of the compelling piece Hunger, developed at Orsolina28, a dance residency in Moncalvo, Italy.

Education is a paramount focus for Tyus, where he shares his wealth of knowledge and experience with universities and non-profit arts programs, including Utah University, CalArts, Point Park University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CLI Conservatory, Manhatten Youth Ballet and Lines Ballet. He crafts workshops for communities hungry for ways to connect to their bodies in creative ways.

Beyond his achievements in the realm of dance, Mike Tyus has demonstrated his creative prowess as a director by spearheading branded campaigns for leading brands such as Vaara, Anthropologie, Veuve Clicquot, Club Monaco, SONY, Apple, and Abercrombie & Fitch. He artfully bridges the gap between dance and commerce, leveraging his substantial social media following to share the joy of dance with audiences worldwide. At the heart of Tyus’ mission lies a deep commitment to community and creation, which continues to inspire his endeavors in crafting work that nourishes the human spirit and reflects the essence of our times.