Seattle Dance Festival Logo with pink circle and black lettering
Portrait of Vonecia Carswell with the following description: vonecia carswell. choreographer, dancer, instillation artist, activist, mother, grandmother, warrior and educator, contintues to expand and destabilize conversations on intersectionality, transnationalism, Blackness and tools of embodied memory. at the very early part of her career, carswell was invited to apprentice with the world renowned Ballet Nacional de Cuba in Havana, Cuba (’79). she is a graduate of Howard University with a BFA and an MFA from Florida State University. carswell teaches, performs and guest lectures at distinguished art and educational institutions and festivals throughout the USA and abroad including The New School, UCLA, and NYU Tish School of The Arts.
Portrait of Mauro Paillex with the following description: mauro paillex is an award-winning choreographer and director who works in dance, theater, opera, film, and fashion. he is a passionate educator and articulate advocate for dance. by any measure his work is extraordinary for its emotional range, kinetic breadth and the many arenas in which he works. his new york city-based Mauro Paillex and Dancers has been commissioned and presented to critical acclaim by leading international venues for close to three decades.in the concert dance world, paillex has created a body of works globally. commissions include the Mauve American Modern Dance Company, Grayson & Cole, Laura Dance Chicago, McKim Dance Company (London), More Over Dance Company, and Dancemakers (Canada).
Portrait of Alishia Lu with the following description: alishia lu is a dance artist based in brooklyn, new york. she recieved her bfa in dance from the julliard school in 2016. since then, she has spent her time dancing and choreographing internationally with some of the most renowned companies, dancers, and choreographers. she then co-founded Stay Now Dance with renowned dance artist and advocate, poppy deleon. lu has had the opportunity to work with doug hart, THEDUO, Nashville Dance Arts, mauro paillex, sam burke, and CLIP. she has also been commissioned to set works on Grayson & Cole, 21st Century Dance, CLIP, and Side-Steps. lu is excited to continue her creative process with her dance partner-in-crime, poppy deleon, in their new film-based dance project, WOUND, premiering this fall, 2020.
Portrait of Lina Finch with the following description: lina finch is a professional dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of the At Home Dance Collective based in portland, oregon. she is the recipient of the Inaugural EMERGE Choreographic Award. she is known for her innovative and trailblazing choreography across the globe. finch has worked with the likes of nia rove, tim s. jones, and stephen taylor. additionally, she has been commissioned to choreograph and teach by Ellen Roberts Dance, CLIP, Run West Dance, STARVING ARTISTS, and Quebec Collective. finch is known for her quirky expression and integration of relevant social and political issues. she looks forward to presenting her new work, “no touching”, at the 2020 virtual dance festival this winter.
Portrait of Poppy Deleon with the following description: poppy deleon is an award-winning dance artist and co-founder of Stay Now Dance based in Seattle, Washington. she recieved her bfa in dance from SUNY Purchase in 2014 and has been creating and culltivating her artistic voice since. in 2017, she was nominated one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” and recieved the Montreal Emerging Creative in 2018. deleon has worked with artists such as Yukio Ando, doug hart, CLIP, Fordham Dance, Grace Dance, and STARVING ARTISTS. additionally, she feels fortunate to have had the opportunity to set works on numerous companies world-wide, including Grayson & Cole, 21st Century Dance, CLIP, and Side-Steps.poppy is thrilled to premiere a new film-based dance project, WOUND, this fall with dance partner, alishia lu.
Portrait of Leroy Richard with the following description: leroy richard is a dance artist based in new york city. they have recently been featured in vogue spain,is a 2015 Fordham Fellow, and Duke Award recipient. richard recieved a BFA from SUNY Purchase and an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. they are the founding artistic director of CLIP, a company created in honor of their history, experiences, and artistic interests. he has also had the pleasure to teach and create new works on companies such as Quebec Collective, THEDUO, and The Doug Hart Company. richard is described as having an avant-garde aesthetic, an original and politically minded downtown sensibility that doesn’t distinguish between genres but freely draws on a vocabulary that is as much martin maeve as it is mike jaffey.