Denise Roberts Hurlin: Graduated in 1984 with a BFA in Dance from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. As a dancer, she was a founding member of Parsons Dance and has set David Parson’s work on the Purchase Dance Corps and Netherlands Dans Theater. She performed with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, where she danced the leads in such Taylor classics as Aureole, Big Bertha, Sunset and Company B, and was featured in the PBS/WNET Dance in America special Speaking in Tongues. In 1991, Denise and fellow Paul Taylor dancer Hernando Cortez co-founded Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS as a vehicle to help so many of their friends and fellow dancers who had become ill. Denise remains in her role as founding director, leading the program's efforts to continue providing a safety net for the dance community. Denise received, on behalf of DRA, a Bessie Award Special Citation, the Creative Excellence Award by Jennifer Muller/The Works at its 35th anniversary gala, was a contributor in Danspace Project’s 2016 Platform Lost & Found: Dance, New York, HIV/AIDS Then and Now was presented with the 2017 Martha Hill Dance Fund Mid-Career Award and 2018 honoree at the Chase Brock Experience Gala. DRA is a recipient of a Dance Magazine Award. 

https://dradance.org/

Karesia Batan is a Queens-based producer, dancer, and choreographer who founded the annual Queensboro Dance Festival (QDF) in 2014. Throughout her freelance dance career in NYC, she became increasingly compelled to the importance of community strength building among artists and audiences through dance, and recognized this uniquely complex need in Queens. Every summer, QDF presents about 25 all Queens-based dance companies of diverse cultures and styles, touring various indoor and outdoor public venues across Queens to make high-quality, local dance accessible to thousands of residents. In addition to QDF, Karesia has also established Queens-based programs DANCE SHORTS film screenings, and the Site Moves series in the LIC Arts Open. QDF has been acknowledged for its community impact in the first ever Create NYC Cultural Plan released in 2017 as part of a space and accessibility case study, and was a 2018 honoree of the Queens Pride organization with a Proclamation from the New York State Comptroller's Office Thomas P. DiNapoli and certificate from NYC Public Advocate Letitia James. In 2019, QDF was named the Best in Arts & Humanities with the Long Island City Game Changer award with certificate recognition from Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan.

http://www.queensborodancefestival.com

Pam Tatge is the Executive & Artistic Director of Jacob’s Pillow, an international dance Festival, professional School, & Archives located in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. Tatge is responsible for setting the artistic vision and strategic goals for all aspects of the organization, including Festival programming, education, preservation, audience engagement, residency programming and artist support, long-term planning, collaborative programming, fundraising, marketing, and more. In June 2017, Tatge spearheaded the creation of Vision ‘22, a strategic approach to the Pillow’s development through 2022. As a blueprint for enabling Jacob’s Pillow to become a year-round center for dance research and development, the initiative highlights three areas of focus: creating the Pillow Lab, an incubator of new work; enhancing the Pillow’s civic leadership and community engagement; and renewing campus facilities. For nearly 17 years, Tatge served as the Director of the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, overseeing robust programming and acclaimed artistic initiatives for dance, music, theatre, & the visual arts, including the Breaking Ground Dance Series. 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 Prog=ramming. She has served extensively as a panelist for grants & awards including as both a Hub Site and an Advisor to the National Dance Project and most recently, as a member of the jury for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Music. She also serves on the Board of the New England Foundation for the Arts. Prior to her work at Wesleyan, Tatge spent a decade as the Director of Development at Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, CT. Tatge holds a B.A. in History and an M.A.L.S. from Wesleyan U.

https://www.jacobspillow.org/

Stanford Makishi was appointed to his current position of vice president for programming at New York City Center after having served as associate producer of the organization's Fall for Dance Festival since 2011. He danced with Trisha Brown from 1992 to 2006, was assistant director of her production of Winterreise, and has taught and restaged her work internationally. He also served as artistic advisor for the Ringling International Arts Festival in Sarasota, executive director of the Baryshnikov Arts Center, director of programs at the Asian Cultural Council, and director of creative services at Carnegie Hall. Makishi began his dance training in his native Honolulu and received early performance opportunities while a student at Harvard University. He is a member of the steering committee for the New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Awards and serves on the board of Dance/USA.

https://www.nycitycenter.org/