Mario is a Mexican immigrant born to hard-working Mexican people in Kumeyaay territory, currently in the early stages of their career in social work. Mario transitioned to the field of human services after 12 years in professional concert dance. Currently a social worker with The Actors Fund, Mario provides mental health services and clinical case management for Entertainment Industry professionals. Mario’s clinical focus is derived from a deep commitment to social justice and mental health, which gives rise to an anti-oppressive approach to delivery of clinical services.

www.miespinoza.com

Rebecca Fitton is from many places. She cultivates community through movement, food, and conversation. Her work in the dance field as an artist-scholar, administrator, and advocate centers arts and culture policy, Asian American communities, and disability justice. Her practice takes shape in studios, classrooms, basements, warehouses, bars, grocery stores, rooftops, gardens, sidewalks, and streets. She has been an artist-in-residence at Center (MI), The Croft (MI), a LEIMAY Subsidized Fellow at CAVE (NY), a 2019 EMERGENYC participant (NY), and received a 2020 New Work Grant from Queens Council on the Arts (NY).

Fitton currently works as an independent artist manager for Will Rawls, in addition to providing development support for Adrienne Westwood and 2nd Best Dance Company. She is also an artistic collaborator of Westwood’s as a performer and writer. She served on Dance/NYC’s Junior Committee from 2018-2020 and was part of Dance/USA’s Institute of Leadership Training 2021 cohort. She is a member of Dance Artists’ National Collective, The Bridge Collective, and National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum - Texas. Fitton holds a BFA in Dance from Florida State University and is currently pursuing an MA in Performance as Public Practice at the University of Texas at Austin.

Photo credit: June Cheung

www.rebeccafittonprojects.com

Ami Tamar-Santo Scherson (she/her/hers) is a Japanese-Chilean musician, arts administrator, and facilitator. By day, Ami is the Equity in Arts Leadership Program Coordinator at Americans for the Arts, where she assists in the development and implementation of programs to enhance the skills of diverse emerging arts administrators. At night (and sometimes into the morning), she writes music informed by her experiences as a mixed race trauma survivor, as well as thought partnering with Tara Trinity Villanueva on art collaborative, mixt collective. In addition, she serves as co-chair for Dance/NYC’s Junior Committee. During her time for relaxation, she is weight training, taking care of her plants, and experimenting in the kitchen.

Linda Ryan (she/her/hers) is a dancer, choreographer, technology artist, and researcher in dance medicine. She works with movement and time-based media to confront the simultaneously familiar and odd systems that govern the way we interface with the world around us. She has created choreography with velcro suits, heat-sensitive floors, and her largest body of work incorporates GoPro action cameras into choreography to examine intimacy & embodiment at the micro-level. Linda holds a BA in dance from the George Washington University's Corcoran School of the Arts & Design. She has been an Artist-in-Residence at Keshet Dance & Center for the Arts; Nimbus Dance Company's OFFline Thrive series; PlySpace (where she taught at Cornerstone Center for the Arts and Ball State University); and the Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred University. Linda is currently a collaborator with Anna McDunn's Unhinged Dance and the Rehab Research Coordinator at the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries, where she works in biomechanics, injury epidemiology, and COVID-19 research. This is her second year on JComm.

Anna Bjella (they/them/theirs) is an artist, educator, and technologist. They are the co-founder and artistic director of the Brooklyn-based dance collective Here's T(w)o Collective, whose artistic work engages with a combination of improvisatory practices, critical theory, and deep discussion to continually work to reconcile the art that they desire to make with that which their bodies are trained to produce. Along with their collaborator Nia Sanders, they use their investigations to break down the origins of their collective movement so that they might build an artistic practice that both nods to where they come from and asks for something more. Their work has been presented at WestFest Dance, The Craft NY, the 19 Acts of Covid-19 Bravery Series, the Spitball Series, Movement Research at the Judson Church, the Newport Art Museum, The Dance Complex, and Movement Research Open Performance. When they're not making dances, Anna is an educator and technologist. They currently teach creative coding and technology skills to children of all ages and skill levels and manage a team of teaching artists. Anna strives to foster a classroom environment that promotes healthy and effective communication, collaboration, and intersectional feminism. They found many of these values first in their dance making and improvisation work, and believe that all of the best liberties that we bring to our creative spaces belong in our technology and classroom spaces as well.

Anna McDunn (she/her/hers) is a dance artist, administrator, and technician. She grew up in Pittsburgh and earned a BA in Choreography from Seton Hill University in 2015. Among others, Anna has stage managed for Kate Weare Company, New York Theatre Ballet, and Jillian Sweeney. She was the Wardrobe Supervisor at Jacob’s Pillow in 2016 and 2017, and returned as the inaugural Program Fellow & Assistant to the Director for the 2017-18 season. She joined Gallim in 2018 as Company Manager. Anna has created and performed work in New York City, Jersey City, Allentown, PA, and Durham, NC. When not in the studio or the office, Anna loves to bake, bike, and pet other people's dogs.

Brooke Rucker (she/her/hers) is a Brooklyn-based arts worker, specializing in dance. She began her arts training in her hometown Cartersville, GA and went on to earn her BFA in Dance at Florida State University in 2018 where she first met Jawole Willa Jo Zollar as a professor with the dance department. She has performed with Charles Anderson’s dance theatre X (2017-2019) and Gaspard & Dancers (2019) as a company member. Brooke has also worked as an apprentice with the dance companies Urban Bush Women and Camille A. Brown & Dancers. Alongside her dancing, Brooke is the founder of the book club collective, Books for the Revolution, which centers literature by marginalized authors who speak truth to the intersectional oppressive systems that govern our world. Brooke joined the UBW administrative staff in February 2019 as Jawole’s assistant and transitioned into her current role as the Development/Visioning Partner Assistant in 2020.

Danielle Iwata (she/her) is a Japanese/Filipina-American arts administrator and practitioner. She is the Special Projects Manager at LaPlaca Cohen, working closely alongside the Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to that, she was the Arts and Business Program Coordinator at Americans for the Arts and was previously the Development Coordinator and Board Liaison at Jacob’s Pillow Dance. Danielle has also interned at Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and the National Museum of Dance.

Danielle is a graphic notetaker and has been commissioned by nonprofit organizations and foundations to create visual representations of keynote presentations, panels, and more. Outside of the arts, she is involved with AAPI advocacy efforts.

Jesse Obremski (he/him/his), a native New Yorker, graduated from LaGuardia High School and The Juilliard School with additional development at Jacob’s Pillow with multiple years at The Ailey School, EMIA, and Springboard Danse Montréal. Obremski, an Eagle Scout Rank recipient, Asian American Arts Alliance Jadin Wong Dance Awardee (2016), Interview En Lair’s “Dancer to Watch” (2017), and Dance Magazine’s March 2019 Dancer “On The Rise” has performed with Diversity of Dance, Brian Brooks Moving Company, Peter Stathas Dance, Kate Weare Company, as a company member with Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Buglisi Dance Theatre, WHITE WAVE, has performed ensemble, soloist, and principal roles with The Limón Dance Company, and is an Artistic Associate with Gibney Company (2018-present). Obremski has performed for the inaugural Obama White House Dance Series and the Olympic recognized FINA World Tournament 2019.

Joan Bradford (she/her/hers) is a choreographer, dancer, teaching artist, facilitator, and arts administrator proudly born, raised, and still residing in The Bronx, NY. Joan holds her BFA in Dance and minor in Theatre from Long Island University with the Faculty’s Award for Excellence in Choreography. Joan has performed works with Sydnie L. Mosley Dances, MizantyMoves Dance Works, Alexandra Beller, Alethea Pace, KamrDANCE, Praevado Dance Collective, Haven Movement Company, and Mise en Danse throughout the tri-state and in residencies through Temple University, The Iron Factory, Wilson College, and Lincoln Center Education. Joan has shared her choreography through venues including Symphony Space, Triskelion Arts, Hunter College, Brooklyn School of Music, The Old First Reformed Church, Arts on Site, Socrates Sculpture Park, The Ritz Theater, Tilles Center, Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture, Pepatián Bronx Arts Collaborative, BAAD! (Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance) and The Knockdown Center. Joan completed a choreographic residency with Lost Dog Dance Theatre in Lewes, England and most recently was in residence through the Dancing Futures Mentor Collaborative Residency presented by Pepatián and BAAD! under the mentorship of Sydnie L. Mosley and Alexandra Beller. Currently, Joan is a Creative Partner and Rehearsal Director with Sydnie L. Mosley Dances, a Teaching Artist and Project Manager with The Bronx House, a Producer with WAXworks, a Fellow with the University Settlement Performance Project, and thrilled to be the Co-Chair of the 2022 JComm cohort. 

Photo credit: Whitney Browne

Joanbradford.com

John Maria Gutierrez (he/him/his;they/them/theirs) is an actor, dancer, creator who performs on screen and stage nationally and internationally. Originally from a small island presently called NYC, John was raised in the Northern region of the island in a hood commonly known as "Little Dominican Republic" or Washington Heights. His works combine bboy and postmodern aesthetics, original music, singing, and experimental theater to unwind a complex urban disparity brought on by social and systemic failings. As the first person in his family born in the US, John is carving out and balancing his own identity within his family, cultural history, and an artistic landscape that doesn’t often highlight the experiences of lower income, multilingual, and queer expressions. Recent credits: Law & Order: SVU, performing internationally with Miguel Gutierrez (This Bridge Called My A$$, Sadonna), MOTUS (PANORAMA), and Pilobolus. He is a graduate of the Terry Knickerbocker Studio and faculty at Peridance Center. John is a proud member of the Great Jones Rep Company of La Mama and G^2, an ongoing collaboration with Beth Graczyk which recently presented work at Judson Church and the Shanghai Tower in China. John is also a 2020-21 Artist in Residence at La Mama as well as a BAAD/Pepatian Dance Your Futures artist.

Katherine De La Cruz (She/her/hers) is an Afro-Dominican dancer and choreographer based in Brooklyn, NY. She graduated in 2020 from Hunter College with both a BA in Anthropology and Dance. She has performed in various venues and festivals both live and virtually including City Center’s Fall for Dance festival, The Estrogenius Festival, The American Dance Festival, The WP theater, Movement Research at Judson Church, The Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Arts on Site’s Women in Motion and more. She is currently a member of the Soul Dance Company. Katherine’s most important performances however have been those in which she danced for community activist groups and in support of social justice causes. She believes that dance is a powerful tool for community building and bridging divides across gender, race, class and language. Katherine is a passionate choreographer whose work centers around themes of social inequality, LGBTQ+ stories, familial ties, immigration and mental health. Most of her work is born from a need to make direct political statements and to make visible often ignored inner healing processes. Last summer she was awarded a full scholarship to attend the Bates Dance Festival and this winter she received a partial scholarship to attend the Gibney Winter Study both of which marked pivotal moments in her training and development as an artist. She is currently an artist in residence at The Floor on Atlantic where she is working on her newest solo piece “Casas de Carton”. Katherine is an avid reader, baker and seamstress. She is currently consumed with learning about the ecology of our city and aims to increase her knowledge on the native plants and ecosystems of Lenapehoking. This is Katherine’s second year as a member of the Junior Committee and she hopes to continue learning through deep listening and working towards building a more just and equitable dance community in our city.

https://www.kdlcdance.com

Kimberleigh Costanzo (they/she) is a dance and performance artist whose choreography has been presented at venues throughout New York City and developed in residency centers nationally and internationally. Kimberleigh graduated from Iona College’s Honors program with degrees in philosophy, dance, and sculpture, and has since presented writing and research on contemporary art at colleges and universities throughout the Northeast. Kimberleigh is a Program Officer at the Howard Gilman Foundation, where she has worked since 2015. She is a member of Grantmakers in the Arts, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, and PEAK Grantmaking, an alumna of Philanthropy New York's Young Leaders program, the former Co-Chair of Dance/NYC's Junior Committee, and a former Steering Committee Member of Philanthropy New York's Philanthropic Assistants and Coordinators Network. Kimberleigh serves on the Board of Directors of Hollaback!, a non-profit devoted to ending harassment in all its forms, and on the Activist Council for Planned Parenthood, advocating for reproductive justice at local and national levels. In addition to formal roles inside of these institutions, Kimberleigh is involved in anti-racist organizing efforts within the New York City dance community and acts as a facilitator of racial and gender justice work. 

Leila Mire (she/her/hers) is a researcher, curator, community organizer, performer, dramaturg, choreographer, educator, and writer. She is currently studying to receive her Master’s in Performance Studies from NYU Tisch where she focuses on ephemeral expressions and resistance art of the Middle East. She is a graduate of George Mason University, where she received a BFA in Dance Performance and is a former member of the Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble. She has performed with ClancyWorks Dance Company, ICONS, Silk Road Dance Company, NY Light Latin Cabaret, Chikyu to the Moon, Nadia Khayrallah+Leila Mire, and Bated Breath Theatre Company. She is currently focusing on solo projects which have been presented at venues like the National Cathedral, International Human Rights Arts Festival, the Kennedy Center, and Dartmouth University and supported through the Young Alumni Commissioning Project, the GMU Digital Content Fund, Aseemkala Fellowship, NYC Roundtable, and the Dance Educator’s Training Institute. Her choreography has been featured in the NY Times and Washington Post. It's been described as “...both funny and topical” (Off Off Line), “swift and playful...yet pensive” (No Proscenium), and “huh...why are they doing that?” from her father. She teaches Middle Eastern and contemporary dance with Artists Striving to End Poverty, Dancewave and is an independent contractor. She writes for ThINKingDance, serving on the first-ever Decolonizing Dance Writing International Dance Exchange Cohort. She is a founder member of Artists Striving to End Poverty Mutual Aid Network and an active community organizer for Palestinian rights and decolonization efforts. In her free time, she likes to try DIY projects and then curse at them when they fail, watch problematic Hallmark movies that she secretly enjoys, and fantasize comebacks to imagined conversations between herself and members of Congress.

leilamiredance.com

Maya Simone Z. is a NYC-based interdisciplinary artist, educator, choreographer, and art administrator from the South. Their work centers queer, Black diasporic emotional and spiritual connections as told by their ancestral lineages, Afro-futurist imaginings, and dreams of this and other worlds.

Maya Simone was recently a collective member of SLMDances and has also worked with Jasmine Hearn and Rogue Dancers. They are currently a More Art Fellow and an Art & Survival Fellow with Double Edge Theatre and BDAC. They have developed and collaborated in works presented at Green Space, Corkscrew Theater Festival, Theater Mitu and more. 

Maya Simone has also completed residencies with MODArts Dance Collective, the Hambidge Center, Mudhouse Art, and GALLIM. They currently work as a team member of PURPOSE Productions and serve on the Dance/NYC Junior Committee as Secretary. They enjoy supporting artists, such as André Zachary, Edisa Weeks and others as an arts administrator and emerging producer. In this and all they do, Maya Simone engages art-making holistically, with pleasure and purpose. They are a constant dreamer. Follow their journey at www.mayasimonez.com

Photo credit: Whitney Browne

www.mayasimonez.com

Stephanie Rivas (she/her/hers) is a Brooklyn based artist. Originally from Florida, she grew up dancing at a local studio. She studied dance in college at Florida State University where she earned her BFA/MA in dance. Her graduate research focused on dance science and conditioning for dancers. The interest in the dance medicine field lead to her current position at Harkness Center for Dance Injuries, a physical therapy center for dancers. Since being in NYC, she has been focusing on building her individual solo practice, learning about working with dance medicine within a healthcare environment, and constantly being inspired by her community. Stephanie is excited to be one of the Co-Chairs of the 2022 JCOMM cohort!

Veronica Jiao (she/her/hers) is a Filipino-American dance creative and educator, born on the unceded native land of the Kusso (Charleston, SC). As the grandchild of immigrants, she is engaged in the work of ending white supremacist structures in the arts and our bodies, by archiving the Asian-American experience. Her creative practice renders this work in the form of dance improvisation, facilitating critical conversation, and writing. As a member of Dance/NYC's Junior Committee, Veronica co-facilitates and organizes discussions for equity and inclusion in the dance field. Her voice can be found on various episodes of the Dance Union podcast, Dance Magazine’s online archives, and social media. Veronica also roams entertainment and musical theatre spaces, as a past performer with Disney Cruise Line and a former cast member for RWS Entertainment Group. Most recently, she has collaborated with dance activist groups BABEL Movement and Josh Pacheco Dance Theatre.