Friday November 22nd
Show 1 - 7:30 pm
Meet the Artists
KORA RADELLA (she/her) is a choreographer, movement artist and performer. Her work has been presented by New York City venues including Judson Church, Danspace Project, Dixon Place, 92Y, Center for Performance Research, Pioneer Works, and Roulette and in other locations nationally including Chicago, Cleveland, Grand Rapids, and Pittsburgh and internationally including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Basel, Berlin, Brussels, London, Mexico City, and Paris.Noted for her use of "awkward grace," Radella researches being on the edge of control, pushing both physical and psychological balances. She was a recipient of an artist residency at Yaddo and Watermill in 2016 and at Lake Studios Berlin in 2015, Ohio Arts Excellence Awards in 2014 and 2018, and was a 2019 Bogliasco Fellow. Radella's primary teaching interests include contemporary dance technique via what she calls "riding resilience," improvisation, contact improvisation, and composition. Radella has a long-standing collaborative history with composer/saxophonist Ross Feller. Radella has been an integral member of the Kenyon College dance faculty since 2004 and is a certified yoga teacher (500RYT).
NATYA NIRVANA is a professional Indian Dance company who’s mission is to enrich the Central Ohio community through arts education and promote India's dance and music, encouraging multicultural awareness and cultivating local talent. Founded in 2009, Natya Nirvana has conducted workshops at universities, schools, and community centers, and presented numerous concerts and events.
SUKANYA CHAND (she/her) is a dance practitioner who specializes in Bharatanatyam and Odissi- two of the eight Indian Classical Dance forms. Bharatanatyam originated from Southern India that embodies strong linearity and power while Odissi is from Eastern India that showcases circularity and isolations. Sukanya received her dance foundation in India and she explored the basics of Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Flamenco, Theater, and Modern dance when she moved to US. She enjoys choreographing solo and collaborative pieces that highlight the elements of Indian Classical, folk dances, creating traditional and contemporary pieces. She has produced a variety of performing arts events, creating cultural awareness, integration, enriching, and entertaining the Central Ohio community. She gives workshops and master classes through her dance company Natya Nirvana and is an instructor at MUCAI Academy in Worthington, Ohio.
LESLIE DWORKIN (she/her) is an independent dance artist whose performance residencies include the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Joyce SoHo, Movement Research in NYC, and Jacob’s Pillow, to name a few. She is a two-time recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in Choreography, and has received grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Pew Charitable Trusts, and a 3-year residency with the Susan Hess Choreographers Project. Leslie danced internationally as a member of the Melanie Stewart Dance Company and the Leah Stein Dance Company, and in the works of countless independent dance artists. She is an integrative bodywork therapist, a certified yoga and qigong instructor, and has been a guest artist in many dance departments throughout the U.S., including Oberlin College where she was guest faculty 2012—2013.
AJAYI DANCE is a project driven dance company based in Shaker Heights, Ohio with a goal to create dance that inspires and deepens a sense of connection to self, others, community, and the world around us.
MELISSA AJAYI (she/her) has worked as an independent artist since 2009, dancing in work by multiple companies/artists in New York, Lexington, KY and Cleveland including Kimberly Bartosik/Daela, Antaeus Dance, Travesty Dance Group, Marquez Dance Project, Emily Jeffries, Sarah Holmes-Villanueva, Leanne Schmidt and Company and Blackbird Dance Theatre. Since landing in Cleveland in 2015, she has performed at CPT's Danceworks, Pandemonium, Cleveland Dance festival, The Somatic Center, Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, Maelstrom Collaborative Arts and Borderlight Fringe Festival. Melissa’s own work has been presented at CPT’s Danceworks, Blackbird Dance Theatre, Tridea Dance, Maelstrom Collaborative Arts, Cleveland Dance Project Company Community Collab, Borderlight Fringe Festival and Ingenuity Fest. Since the inception of Ajayi Dance in 2021, Melissa has created over 10 original works including 3 self-produced evening length site-specific immersive experiences as well as a commissioned work with No Exit New Music Ensemble composer and percussionist Luke Rinderknecht. Through Ajayi Dance, Melissa has collaborated with many dance artists and organizations to achieve the mission of Ajayi Dance: to create dance that inspires connection to self, others, and the world around us. Recognizing a need for more intersections of the local dance community and with a dedication to process and collaboration, Ajayi Dance in partnership with Sha’Ran studios conceived and facilitated inFORMal Fridays, a weekly open studio for dance artists to experiment and focus on process in a shared community space. Melissa teaches a bi-weekly contemporary class and has been a guest instructor at many area institutions including Cleveland State University, Cleveland School of the Arts, Dancing Wheels, and Bard High School Early College. Melissa is also a Nationally Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist and has utilized dance and many other modalities as an intervention for improving quality of life in a variety of settings.
THE MOVEMENT PROJECT was founded in 2009 by Megan Gargano (she/her) and Rebecca Leuszler (she/her) with goals to support professional dance in Cleveland. Through the years, TMP has grown their efforts to support artists throughout NE Ohio, specifically the communities of Cleveland and Akron. In 2013 TMP launched its first full season of performances and has since then produced over 35 evening-length concerts, has created over 60 new works, produced 6 original dance films, and has performed at various venues such as Cleveland Public Theatre, The Breen Center, Dumbo Dance Fest in NYC, Baldwin Wallace University, Ohio University and Transformer Station. In 2019, TMP collaborated, performed and produced a sold-out concert with Pam Tanowitz and her NYC company Pam Tanowitz Dance. In 2013 and 2016, TMP was awarded The Fedora Award, a grant for individuals and organizations that focus on positively helping communities of Northeast Ohio. And in 2017 TMP was awarded funds by Puffin West Foundation to further support TMP's annual summer intensive, a 1-week summer intensive focused on providing affordable and accessible dance education to youth dancers. In 2015, TMP launched the Cleveland Artist Initiative, a program designed to support and fund the creation of new work by Cleveland artists. Over 51% of TMP's operating budget was dedicated to paying artists and in 2022 TMP collaborated with over 150 artists and organizations throughout the year. In 2016, TMP launched Cleveland Dance Fest, an annual dance festival featuring Cleveland choreographers and is hosted each year in Cleveland. TMP Co-artistic director Rebecca Leuszler was awarded the 2016 Creative Workforce Fellowship funded by Community Partnership for Arts & Culture and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) to produce the first festival. In 2019, 2021 & 2022, TMP was awarded funds by CAC to continue growing the festival, as well as in 2020 by Ohio Arts Council. Since its inaugural year, over $43,500 has gone towards paying artists. In addition to our programming in Cleveland, TMP has worked to provide resources to artists, families, and youth throughout the communities of Akron. TMP is committed to fostering the next generation of Akron artists through the development of sustainable and equitable practices for dance professionals. TMP's outreach programs have included The Akron Art Museum, Miller South School for Visual & Performing Arts, The University of Akron, and our annual year long residency at Firestone CLC. In 2023, TMP officially became a proud Pathway Partner with the College & Career Academies of Akron through Akron Public Schools. 2024 marked TMP’s first annual CDF | Akron Concert Series. Fall of 2017 TMP launched The Movement Project School of Dance for youth 2.5-18 years old, serving the neighborhoods of Cleveland. In 2022, company member Elyse Morckel (she/her) was promoted to Associate Director, expanding upon her already strong commitment to community building throughout the Akron and Cleveland communities. January 2022, TMP moved its operations to Cleveland’s westside community of Fairview Park where they offer year-round weekly professional classes, summer intensives, company rehearsals, festivals and performances.
FRTRSS DANCE THEATRE is a faith-based contemporary dance company in Akron, OH forged to create a safe place to create and fellowship. Frtrss Dance Theatre seeks to artistically nourish the unity amongst neighbors with dance, cultivate faith in communities by showing humility, and liberty, and expand the boundaries of our neighborhoods through charitable service and fellowship.
MATTHEW ROBERTS (he/him) is an Akron native who, at the age of 10, discovered he was bilingual and his real native language was dance. After studying at the University of Akron’s Dance Institute, he moved to New York looking to become more fluent and graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 2013 with a B.F.A. in Dance and a concentration in Choreography. There he performed works by Lar Lubovitch, Robert Battle, Jessica Lang, and Shen Wei. He has danced with Lustig Dance Theatre, Oakland Ballet Company, Awakening Movement, Molissa Fenley, Tami Stronach Dance, Neos Dance Theatre, Bruce Wood Dance, Zion Dance Project, Pegasus Contemporary, Osage Ballet, Ballet Papillon and Störling Dance Theater. He now freelances and teaches choreography and modern at the University of Akron, while he forges Frtrss Dance Theatre. He enjoys teaching dance, discussing movement, and leading worship jams, but his love for storytelling, choreography, and sharing the human experience are what fuel his passion to create.
MORGAN WALKER (she/her) is a Movement Artist, Choreographer, Teacher, and Director. She is currently completing her fifth season as a company dancer with the Dancing Wheels Company as well as their Rehearsal Director and Wardrobe Manager. Morgan holds a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography from Kent State University. Post-graduation she continued her training on scholarship at The Ailey School in New York, NY while concurrently performing on tour nationally and internationally with Cardell Dance Theater. She later joined the Dancing Wheels Company in July of 2019. In 2020, Morgan launched her choreographic project— MWalker Choreography and has since performed and been commissioned by establishments such as Kent State University, Bellingham Repertory Dance, GroundWorks DanceTheater, Dancing Wheels Company, Detroit Dance City Festival, Mark DeGarmo International Dance Festival, Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival, Trifecta Dance Collective Choreographer Showcase, Cleveland Dance Project, and regional and national American College Dance Association Conferences. In 2023, Morgan was awarded the Michigan Residency Award by Detroit Dance City Festival and was also recognized as one of GroundWorks DanceTheater’s Discovery Residency Artists. She is currently in process creating a new commissioned work to present at the Detroit Dance City Festival in September 2024 and continues to create new works and create space for aspiring and professional dance artists throughout northeast Ohio.bio here