KYLE ABRAHAM

Kyle Abraham is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow who began his dance training at the Civic Light Opera Academy and the Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He continued his dance studies in New York, receiving a BFA from SUNY Purchase and an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Washington Jefferson College, and is currently serving as a visiting professor in residence at UCLA. In November 2012, Abraham was named the newly appointed New York Live Arts Resident Commissioned Artist for 2012–2014. Just one month later, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater premiered Abraham’s newest work, Another Night, at New York’s City Center to rave reviews. That same year, Abraham was named the 2012 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award recipient and 2012 USA Ford Fellow, before serving as a choreographic contributor for Beyoncé’s 2013 British Vogue cover shoot. Abraham received a prestigious Bessie Award for Outstanding Performance in Dance for his work in The Radio Show, and a Princess Grace Award for Choreography in 2010. The previous year, he was selected as one of Dance Magazine’s 25 To Watch for 2009, and received a Jerome Travel and Study Grant in 2008. His choreography has been presented throughout the United States and abroad, most recently at Fall for Dance Festival at New York’s City Center, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Joyce Theater, The Los Angeles Music Center, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Théâtre de la Ville, Maison de la Danse, Tanz Im August, On The Boards, Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Bates Dance Festival, Harlem Stage, Montreal, Italy, Germany, Sweden, France, Jordan, Ecuador, Dublin’s Project Arts Center, The Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum located in Okinawa Japan, The Andy Warhol Museum, The Byham and The Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to performing and developing new works for his company, A.I.M, Abraham recently premiered Untitled America, a 3-part commissioned work for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and finished touring The Serpent and The Smoke, a new pas de deux for himself and acclaimed Bessie Award-winning and former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Wendy Whelan as part of Restless Creature and choreographed for the feature-length film, The Book of Henry with acclaimed director, Colin Trevorrow. Abraham recently premiered a solo work for American Ballet Theater principle, Misty Copeland in October 2019.

ASZURE BARTON

Artist and choreographer Aszure Barton has collaborated with celebrated dancers and companies including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Misty Copeland, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, English National Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, National Ballet of Canada, Nederlands Dans Theater, Sydney Dance Company, and Teatro alla Scala, among many others. She is a Bessie Award Honoree and has received numerous honors including the prestigious Arts & Letters Award, joining the ranks of Oscar Peterson, Karen Kain, and Margaret Atwood. She was the first Martha Duffy resident artist at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and is an official ambassador of contemporary dance in Canada. She is the founder of Aszure Barton & Artists, an inter-disciplinary international dance project.

HOPE BOYKIN

Two time “Bessie Award” winner, Hope Boykin was an original member of Complexions, danced with Philadanco, and most recently completed her 20th and final year with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Hope has choreographed for numerous dance companies including Philadanco, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Minnesota Dance Theater, BalletX, Ballet Black of London, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, and has created three works for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, along with commissions ranging from contemporary dance to ballet by Damian Woetzel, the Kennedy Center, and Vail Dance Festival. Hope has garnered much acclaim with her virtual work for Carolina Performing Arts, Guggenheim Works And Process Virtual Commissions initiative, and the National Black Theatre. As a motivator, Hope has been an annual keynote speaker for Lincoln Center Activate, a national education forum, which has included a special Weekend With Hope, a series of talks with friends and dance industry professionals, discussing crucial topics in our dance world. Hope serves as Artistic Advisor for Dance Education for the Kennedy Center and Artistic Lead for the Kennedy Center Dance Lab. She is Artist-In-Residence at USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and was advisor for the Howard University Department of Dance for their 2021 spring semester.  Hope continues to build on her work as a writer; blending her words and cadence as a the foundation of her developing movement-language. As a director and dance-maker, Hope received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for her own Covid Safe residency #BoykinBubble and in the fall of 2021 premiered a full evening of her choreography, An Evening of Hope at 92nd Street Y in New York City, to much acclaim. Most recently she released “Beauty Size & Color” a short film commenting on what has changed in the first twenty years of the 21st century on AllArts.org. As an educator, creator, mover, and motivator, Hope firmly believes there are no limits.

THANG DAO

Thang Dao resides between Los Angeles and New York City where he works as a freelance choreographer, educator, and coach. He is a graduate of Hollins University (MFA’ 21) and New York University (MA’ 09). Dao received his formal dance education from the Juilliard School and Boston Conservatory (BFA’ 01). Dao has choreographed for Ballet Austin, Ballet Austin II, Ailey II, Ballet X, Philadanco, Taiwan National University of the Arts, Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Program, Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Kennesaw State University, Troy University, Michigan State University, and the Boston Conservatory along with many universities and performing arts schools nationally and internationally. His works have toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia with acclaimed reviews. His ballet Stepping Ground, choreographed for Ballet Austin for the 1st Biannual New American Dance Talent, received the Audience Choice Award all four nights. Dao was the recipient of the 2008 Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship, the 2009 Special Project Grant, and the 2012 Vilcek finalist for Creative Promise in choreography. In 2012, his work Waiting Women was featured at NYCDAF Gala: Destiny Rising at the Joyce Theater in New York. Dao was part of the creative team for the James Brown Project: Get On The Good Foot commissioned and produced by the Apollo Theater in collaboration with Philadanco under the artistic direction of Otis Salid. In 2017, Dao garnered 1st Prize for his choreography at the DAP Festival in Pietrasanta, Italy. Dao was the recipient of the 2022 #launchPAD residency, an initiative  of Works & Process at the Guggenheim.  Dao is ecstatic for the opportunity to work with the artists of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago under the incredible direction of Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell. Follow Dao on Instagram @tawndu. www.thangdaodancecompany.com 

OSNEL DELGADO

Osnel Delgado danced with Danza Contemporanea de Cuba (DCC) from 2003 to 2011 before founding Malpaso Dance Company, where he serves as Artistic Director and choreographer. He has worked with choreographers Mats Ek, Rafael Bonachela, Kenneth Kvarnström, Ja Linkens, Itzik Galili, Samir Akika, Pedro Ruiz, Isidro Rolando, and George Céspedes, among others. Delgado has created works for DCC, Rakatan, and Ebony Dance of Cuba. Delgado is a 2003 graduate of the National Dance School of Havana, where he is also a professor of dance studies.

LAR LUBOVITCH

Lar Lubovitch is one of America’s most versatile and widely seen choreographers. He founded the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in 1968. Over the course of 53 years, it has gained an international reputation as one of America’s top dance companies, produced more than 120 dances and performed before millions across the U.S. and over 40 countries. Many other major companies throughout the world have performed the company’s dances, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Joffrey Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, and more. Lubovitch has created ice-dancing works for Olympians John Curry, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Brian Orser, JoJo Starbuck, and Paul Wylie, and he has created feature-length ice-dance specials for TV: The Planets for A&E (nominated for an International Emmy Award, a Cable AceAward, and a Grammy Award) and The Sleeping Beauty for PBS and Anglia TV, Great Britain. His theater and film work includes Sondheim/ Lapine’s Into the Woods (Tony Award nomination), The Red Shoes (Astaire Award), the Tony Award-winning revival of The King and I (on Broadway and in London’s West End), Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame in Berlin, and Robert Altman’s movie The Company (American Choreography Award). In 2016, he premiered The Bronze Horseman, based on the Pushkin poem, for the Mikhailovsky Ballet in Russia. In 1987, he conceived Dancing for Life, which took place at Lincoln Center. It was the first response by the dance community to the AIDS crisis, raising over one million dollars. Together with Jay Franke, in 2007 Lubovitch created the Chicago Dancing Festival, in collaboration with the City of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art. It presented 10 seasons entirely free to the public. Recent awards: 2007 named Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune; 2008 named similarly by Chicago Magazine; 2011 designated a Ford Fellow by United States Artists and received the Dance/USA Honors Award; 2012 his dance Crisis Variations awarded the Prix Benois de la Danse for outstanding choreography at the Bolshoi Theatre; 2013 honored for lifetime achievement by the American Dance Guild; 2014 awarded an honorary doctorate by The Juilliard School; 2016 received the Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement and the Dance Magazine Award, named one of America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures by the Dance Heritage Coalition and appointed a Distinguished Professor at UC/Irvine. In honor of his company's 50th anniversary, in 2018 he was presented with the Martha Graham Award for lifetime achievement.

SPENSER THEBERGE

Spenser Theberge is a dancer and choreographer based in Los Angeles. A graduate of The Juilliard School and a former company member of the Nederlands Dans Theater and The Forsythe Company, Spenser's own creations have been commissioned and presented worldwide, including at LA Dance Project, Gothenburg Opera Dance Company, The Broad Museum, Korzo Theater, Springboard Danse Montreal, and NAVEL, among others. As a movement director and performer, Spenser has worked with artists and brands including Taylor Swift, Rihanna's Savage x Fenty, Gwen Stefani, Ben Platt, LANY, LykkeLi, and the Tune-yards, and his work has appeared on The Today Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! Spenser is a former faculty member at the CalArts School of Dance, and conducts masterclasses at conservatories, schools, and programs across America, Europe, and Asia. Spenser is a YoungArts award winner, a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and a Princess Grace Award winner.