Amy was a professional ballet dancer for many years in Canada, Sweden, and the US, before returning to school to get her bachelor’s degree from NYU in theater history and dramatic literature. After graduating from NYU, she continued to work in the theater industry as an assistant producer and assistant theatrical agent, where she reviewed contracts and managed and negotiated licensing agreements for plays in the US and internationally.

Having been inspired to go to law school by her desire to help other artists, she studied copyright, trademark, media law while at University of Michigan School of Law, where she served as an editor on the Journal of Race and Law, and as president of the Entertainment, Media and Arts Students Association.

Amy’s relationship with VLA began as soon as she had the opportunity to volunteer her services as an attorney. Her primary practice has been general commercial litigation, including matters involving art law, media law, employment, intellectual property, constitutional law, real estate, insurance, contract disputes, torts, and as well as other disputes.

Amy is a trained mediator with extensive experience working with VLA in the MediateArts program and is on the panel of mediators assigned to resolve cases for the Southern District of New York.

Amy is a member of the Entertainment Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association and was selected to Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2014, 2016, 2017 and New York Metro Super Lawyers 2018 and 2021.

Photo credit: VLA

www.vlany.org

BRAT (She/Her/Hers) is a pro choreographer/dancer with Grenadian-Nevisian roots living in NYC. Traveling to the West Indies and back again, she developed a love for dance from Carnival and family fetes. Realizing that she had been bitten by the dancing bug, BRAT's mother enrolled her in Harlem School of the Arts and other after school programs. Eventually, BRAT landed a scholarship to Dance Theater of Harlem's Community Program where she realized she wanted to be a dancer.

This love led her to attend Columbia College Chicago which helped her evolve greatly as a dancer.There she added more color to her movement palate by studying techniques like Bhyrata Natyam, Contact Improvisation, Capoeira, Popping, and Aerial Dance. While living in Chicago, she was homesick and wanted to connect with her West Indian roots. This longing eventually led BRAT to enter the Midwest Dancehall Queen Competition. She won.

This victory gave her the opportunity to compete in the International Dancehall Queen competition. Doors were opened afterwards such as choreographing and/or performing at BAM, Performa 19, Nasty Woman Art Exhibit, The Shed, VOGUE, Target, Coachella, VMAS, and The US Open. It also allowed BRAT the fortune of co-founding her dance crew, Queen Moves, which connects and empowers women through dance and starting her dance apparel line that focuses on the financial empowerment of dancers. BRAT communicates with the world through dance and she is forever grateful for this language.

http://www.dhqbrat.com

Joey Kipp is an Afro-Latinx-Brazilian Queer/Gay dancer/performer/actor/singer/writer/painter who was raised in the Bay Area, California. He studied Dance and Biology at Marymount Manhattan College. Joey has most recently worked/collaborated with Heather Kravas, Vic Haven, Pioneers Go East at Judson Church, David Byrne and Yasmine Lee in SOCIAL at the Park Avenue Armory, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s production of Deep Blue Sea also at the Armory, Occupy City Hall, and Cynthia Madansky’s film “Flowers for Lorraine” featured at the Horse Gallery in Dublin, Ireland. Joey’s artistry intersects with dance, theater, opera, film, and visual art all while advocating for healthy and equitable workspaces and processes within and outside of the arts.

https://danceartistsnationalcollective.org/mission/

Kate Shindle became President of Actors’ Equity Association in 2015, the youngest member and the third woman elected to the union’s highest office. Since then, she has led Equity through multiple high-profile contract negotiations, a strike that resulted in profit participation for actors and stage managers who develop Broadway shows, the introduction of a new dues model that stabilized the union’s finances, the creation of the first-ever national convention, increased representation on the National Council for members who live outside of Equity’s three major office cities, and of course, the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which took Equity members from record employment to 100% unemployment practically overnight. Kate is passionate about framing the performing arts as a vital financial engine for communities of all sizes across the country, in addition to their cultural value. Consistent with that philosophy, she believes that artists deserve the fair wages, safety standards, and employment protections that are valued by workers in other industries. She also believes that is is essential to continue transforming the theatre into an actively anti-racist, anti-discrimination industry that provides unprecedented access, inclusion, and belonging to those with historically marginalized identities.

She has starred or co-starred in four Broadway shows, numerous regional productions, and two national tours, in addition to film/TV work in projects like “Capote”, “Law & Order: SVU”, and most recently, an eight-episode arc on “The Good Fight.” Her writing has been featured in “Variety”, “Newsweek”, “Salon”, “The Daily Beast” and other publications, and her first book, “Being Miss America: Behind the Rhinestone Curtain” was published in 2014. She is also President of Theatre Authority, and a Trustee of The Actors Fund and Broadway Cares/Equity Fight

www.actorsequity.org

Peter is a disabled dancer, originally from New York City. Peter is a company dancer for Full Radius Dance, Heidi Latsky Dance, and General Mischief Dance Theater He also has a passion for acting and performance. In addition to dance Peter works in accessibility and technology as it relates to performance with a focus on the betterment of accessibility practices from both the audience and performer. He works with the belief that if we prioritize accessibility at the beginning, art will be better for it. Peter has performed at the United Nations, the Whitney Museum, The New York City Highline, High Museum of Art, and the Lincoln Center Atrium.