Artist Bios

Christiana Axelsen (dancer) is originally from Bainbridge Island, Washington. In addition to her work with Christopher Williams, she has danced with Molissa Fenley, Pam Tanowitz, Beth Gill, Michou Szabo, zoe|juniper, Dai Jian, Anne Zuerner, Mana Kawamura, and Korhan Basaran among others. She graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in dance and geology from Mount Holyoke College and is a graduate of the Merce Cunningham Professional Training Program where she danced with the Repertory Understudy Group.

Tei Blow (sound design) is a media designer, technologist and performance maker. Tei’s work has been seen at Hartford Stage, Dance Theater Workshop, PS122, Lincoln Center, The Kitchen, BAM, The Public Theater, The Broad Stage, MCA Chicago, MFA Boston, Kate Werble Gallery, Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Roundabout, The Wadsworth Atheneum, and at theaters around the world. He has been nominated for 2 Bessie Awards, the Lucille Lortel Award, the recipient of The Obie Award, The Henry Hewes Award, NYSCA Composer’s Grant, the Bessie Award, the FCA Grants to Artists Award, and the Creative Capital Award. teiblow.com

Jack Blackmon (dancer) (he/they) was born and raised in the mountains that surround Lake Tahoe, where they received their early dance training. They went on to attend NYU Tisch School of the Arts before working for contemporary choreographers throughout New York City, including Sean Curran, Paul Singh, Larry Keigwin, Emily Schoen, Nicole Wolcott, and Jordan Lloyd, among others. Jack has also toured their own collaborative choreographic work with Charlotte Settle to the Austin Dance Festival, Dance Gallery Festival (Houston and New York), Crossing Boundaries at Dixon Place, WestFest Dance Festival, and most recently Lake Tahoe Dance Festival. In August of 2018, they joined the cast of Punchdrunk’s “Sleep No More” in New York, and performed several roles for nearly two years before the pandemic. They are currently studying to achieve their license in massage therapy from Pacific College of Health and Science, and Jack believes in the immense power of touch and intimacy to ground and heal one another. Their goal is to incorporate as much levity, humor, absurdity, and queerness into whatever project they may be doing.

Janet Charleston (dancer) is a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and rehearsal director. Since 2004, her collaborations with Christopher Williams include Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins, Janet and A Child’s Tale. She dances with Douglas Dunn, for whom she also serves as manager and rehearsal director, Baye & Asa, and Megan Williams. A longtime member of the Lucinda Childs Dance Company, she appeared in the second world tour of Robert Wilson and Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach. Other artists she has worked with include Chamecki/Lerner, Kota Yamazaki, David Parker, RoseAnne Spradlin, Stephen Koester, June Finch, and Beverly Blossom. Her choreographic work has been presented at venues across the United States and in South America. Invited by Merce Cunningham to teach in 2001, Charleston teaches for the Cunningham Trust, Sarah Lawrence College, and the Mark Morris Dance Center, and is on faculty for the Cunningham Technique® Teacher Training Program. She has also taught at Barnard College, SUNY Purchase, Joffrey Trainee Program, University of Kansas, SEAD (Salzburg), and El Centro Cultural Los Talleres (Mexico City). Charleston was a Fulbright Scholar in Santiago, Chile, and later served as a Peer Reviewer in Dance for the Fulbright organization. She holds an MFA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Julian Donahue (dancer) is a choreographer and dancer based in Brooklyn. Julian danced with New York Theatre Ballet from 2018-2024, performing masterworks by Antony Tudor, Merce Cunningham, Jerome Robbins, José Limón, David Gordon, and many others. Julian started dancing with Ellen Cornfield in October 2024. Julian also specializes in Baroque, Renaissance, and folk dance forms, performing with New York Baroque Dance Company, Boston Early Music Festival and Juilliard415. Julian’s historically informed choreography was presented at the Kennedy Center in Opera Lafayette’s production of Les Fetes de Thalie (April 2024) and at Lincoln Center with Juilliard415 and Tafelmusik (February 2026). In 2025, Julian was awarded a Support for Artists Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts to make a ballet for New York Theatre Ballet previewed at Kaatsbaan and premiered at Judson Church. Julian’s choreography has been presented at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, Battery Dance Festival, Judson Church, Hofstra University, Arts on Site, and more. Julian’s one man show With Violets in Her Lap premiered in April 2025 at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Center and will be presented again on May 14 & May 15, 2026 at Center for Performance Research. Arts on Site, curated by David Parker’s the Bang Group, will present a program of Julian’s surrealist dances on June 12-14 2026.

https://www.juliandonahuedance.com

MJ Edwards (dancer) (they/them) is a dance artist from Middletown, New York, recognized for physical clarity, emotional intelligence, and embodied storytelling. Their early training began at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and MOVE|NYC|, performing works by Shamel Pitts, Yin Yue, and Gregory Dolbashian. In 2017, MJ joined the San Francisco Ballet School, where their creative voice earned them the 2018–2019 Choreographic Fellowship. They gained national recognition in 2019 as a YoungArts Winner in Modern/Contemporary and recipient of the Meringoff Family Foundation Valedictory Prize. MJ went on to attend The Juilliard School, collaborating with acclaimed choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Sonya Tayeh, Amy Hall Garner, and Andrea Miller. Beyond institutional settings, MJ has collaborated as an artistic assistant and performer with FHP Collective (Francesca Harper), kNoname Artist (Roderick George), and Aszure Barton & Artists. From 2021 to 2025, MJ danced with the Limón Dance Company, honoring a lineage-driven practice while collaborating with vibrant creators like Kayla Farrish and Raúl Tamez. Most recently, MJ’s artistry was honored with a 2024 Princess Grace Award, a distinction that reflects the rigor of their training, the integrity of their artistic voice, and their continued impact as a performer in the field of contemporary dance.

Dominica Greene (dancer) is an interdisciplinary conceptual artist whose creative outputs traverse the realms of dance, movement, theater, facilitation, and producing. Greene has collaborated with, performed, and toured the work of many notable artists domestically and internationally. A prominent performer and maker in New York, Greene is applauded for her risk-taking and awestruck nature. @draminica / dominicagreene.com

Alex Haquia (dancer) grew up in Whippany, New Jersey, and began dancing at the age of 15. Before graduating from the Fordham Ailey BFA program, he joined Ballet Hispánico as a company dancer, subsequently touring internationally for two seasons. Haquia toured with Complexions Contemporary Ballet for a season and later joined “Rock the Ballet” for their most recent European tour. His opera credits include Jenüfa (The Metropolitan Opera), and his theatrical credits include Gatsby: An American Myth (A.R.T.), Cats (The Fulton Theatre), West Side Story (Papermill Playhouse, Casa Mañana), and Newsies (Kansas City Starlight).

Maxfield Haynes (dancer) (they/them) is a Queer, Afro-Latine polyglottal artist and performer, with roots in the South, West Coast, and Brooklyn/LES. Their professional career as a dancer began at age 16 with the Louisville Ballet under Bruce Simpson, and continued on with full merit scholarships at the San Francisco Ballet School (David Palmer Foundation Scholar), the Houston Ballet Academy, Dance Theatre of Harlem School, and HAMU Performing Arts University in Prague, Czech Republic. They received a BFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2018, and completed an MFA course in Dance Pedagogy under Seán Curran and Pamela Pietro. After graduating Tisch, they joined Complexions Contemporary Ballet for their 25th anniversary season as a soloist dancer touring domestically and internationally. Other company work includes time with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Dance Heginbotham, Ballet 22, and Ballez. They were named on Dance Magazine’s Top 25 to watch list in 2022, and made their debut at the Metropolitan Opera House as the first nonbinary “Prima Ballerina” to perform the soloist role of “The White Bird” en pointe in Julie Taymor’s The Magic Flute. Their work as a choreographer has been featured at Lincoln Center, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Guggenheim Works and Process, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They have been featured in the New York Times, Berliner Zeitung, Broadway World, Dance Magazine, Pointe Magazine, Dance Spirit, and on the cover of New York Magazine. They can be found everywhere @itsmaxfield.

Andrew Jordan (costume design), whose work has been proclaimed “sensational...a visual feast” (The Philadelphia Inquirer) and “a sculptural wonder” (The New York Times), is a new York Dance & Performance “Bessie” Award winning costume designer exploring the possible relationships between sculpture, installation, puppetry, and the moving form of the human body. He has designed for both stage and screen, including projects spanning opera, contemporary dance, experimental performance, and parade. His collaborators have included choreographers Douglas Dunn, Ellen Cornfield, Michelle Dorrance, Cori Olinghouse, Raja Feather Kelly, and Christopher Williams as well as video artists Mike Olenick and Grant Worth. Andrew has worked as Props Master on projects for Caramoor Center for Music and Art, Classical Theater of Harlem, and Gotham Chamber Opera and has assisted theater and design artists Mimi Gross, Wade Laboissonniere, Anka Lupes, and David Quinn on several productions. He has also created designs for multiple Fringe Festivals and Mermaid Parades. While at Izquierdo Studio in NYC, Andrew completed projects for The Metropolitan Opera, Broadway, MTV, Marc Jacobs, Wes Craven, Madonna, Heidi Klum, Ralph Lauren, and Julie Taymor, among others. Andrew received his MFA with an emphasis in sculpture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and his BFA in Fine Arts, with a minor in Media Studies, from the Columbus College of Art and Design. www.andytoad.com

Joe Levasseur (lighting design) is a graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts, and has been working in theatrical production in New York since 2002. As a lighting designer, he has collaborated with many artists including: Christopher Williams, John Jasperse, Sarah Michelson, Jodi Melnick, Jennifer Monson, Neil Greenberg, and Beth Gill. He lit both Wendy Whelan’s 2013 breakout Restless Creature, and her subsequent collaboration with Brian Brooks Some of a Thousand Words (2016). He has received two ‘Bessie’ awards (including one with Big Dance Theater) and a Knight of Illumination Award for his work on Meredith Monk’s Cellular Songs. He is currently the lighting supervisor for Trisha Brown Dance Company.  Instagram: @sirjoelevasseur www.joelevasseur.com

Justin Lynch (dancer) is from Kingston, Jamaica. In addition to his work with Christopher Williams, he has worked with the Merce Cunningham Trust, Molissa Fenley, the Metropolitan Opera, Elisa Monte, Megan Williams and others.  He has also collaborated regularly with Third Rail Projects, performing as a dancer, actor and pianist in several of its productions.  Justin studied piano at the Royal College of Music in London and Boston University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa before earning a law degree at Columbia University. When not dancing, he is a collaborative pianist at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and an immigration attorney for artists.

Kieran McBride (understudy) is a dance artist based in New York City. Kieran received her early training in Northern New Jersey under Leath Nunn and later went on to train at The Royal Danish Ballet School, and Gelsey Kirkland’s Academy. Throughout her training she has been fortunate to work under the incredible mentorship and tutelage of legendary teachers such as Gelsey Kirkland, Patricia McBride, Diana Byer, and Magaly Suarez. Kieran has performed a variety of works both classical and contemporary with companies such as American Repertory Ballet, South Carolina Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet, and Douglas Dunn + Dancers. She has had the opportunity to perform in works by Merce Cunningham, Douglas Dunn, Antony Tudor, Pam Tanowitz, Agnes DeMille, Gabrielle Lamb, and many more. In addition to her work with classical ballet and modern dance, she also performs Mexican Folklorico dance with Ballet Nepantla as a guest artist.

JoVonna Parks (dancer) from Brooklyn, NY, is a Philadelphia native where she began her intense formal training in Ballet, Horton and Graham techniques. She attended Ailey/Fordham and graduated with her BFA in dance in 2012. JoVonna performed with Elisa Monte Dance under the direction of both Elisa Monte and Tiffany Rea-Fisher from 2014-2019. She has also worked with Classical Theater of Harlem in their productions of Macbeth, The Three Musketeers, Antigone and A Christmas Carol. She is currently a freelance dance artist with Clymove Dance, Konverjdans, Ballet Vero Beach and South Dakota Ballet. Her creations have been performed at Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company: Solo Suites as well as the all female collaborative choreography festival CounterPointe. She has appeared in Season 2 of HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness. JoVonna is a recipient of the NYFA City Corps Grant, the 2021/2022 UMEZ grant from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as choreographer in collaboration with Nite Bjuti and a microgrant from The Map Fund in its first microgrant initiative. JoVonna has also created two world premiers for Brooklyn Ballet and CLYMOVE spring seasons’ 2024 and 2025 one of which premiered at New York Live Arts.

https://www.jovonnaparks.com

Logan Pedon (dancer) is an artist, dancer and actor who received his BFA from The Conservatory at SUNY Purchase. During his time at Purchase he began working with professional companies such as Cornfield Dance, Crossman Dance and The Cunningham Trust while still performing repertoire from Shannon Gillen, Kimberly Bartosik, MADboots Dance and Alexandra Beller. After graduating Logan began working with Christopher Williams Dance, Keerati Jinakunwiphat and The Althea Dance company performing in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Paris and London. Currently he is still rehearsing with Christopher Williams dance in New York and The Althea Dance Company in Paris.

Deniz Erkan Sancak (dancer), born and raised in Ankara, Türkiye, began his artistic career as a member of the Turkish National Team for Latin-Ballroom Dance sports before expanding into contemporary dance under the mentorship of Binnaz Dorkip. Recognized for both his talent and dedication, he was awarded the Shipley BTF (Bridge to Türkiye Fund) Impact Scholarship, which enabled his move to New York City to attend the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College. As a recipient of the Adopt-a-Dancer Scholarship, he graduated with honors in 2022. Sancak’s professional credits include performances with Ankara State Opera and Ballet, Tatbikat Theatre, PCDC, Wonderbound, The Metropolitan Opera, the Stephen Petronio Company, as well as guest appearances with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and the Trisha Brown Dance Company. Now based in New York as a freelance artist, he collaborates with choreographers Yoshiko Chuma, Douglas Dunn, Christopher Williams, Liz Gerring, and Ellen Cornfield. Sancak was named a 2026 “Top 25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine.

Christopher Williams (choreographer), dubbed “the downtown prodigy” (The New Yorker) and “one of the most exciting choreographic voices out there” (The New York Times), is a New York Dance & Performance “Bessie” Award winning choreographer, dancer, and puppeteer devoted to crafting choreographic works in NYC and abroad since 1999. Named a choreography fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 2021, he has presented his critically-acclaimed works in France, Italy, England, Spain, Holland, Colombia, and Russia, nationally in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Interlochen, Kaatsbaan, and Jacob’s Pillow, and in many local venues including Lincoln Center, City Center, Baryshnikov Arts, The Joyce Theater, New York Live Arts, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, La MaMa, P.S.122, HERE Arts Center, the 92^nd Street Y, and Judson Church. He is the 2025 recipient of the Sibyl Shearer Fellowship for Dancemakers at Ragdale and has been awarded fellowships from The New York Foundation for the Arts, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Center for Ballet & the Arts, the Bogliasco Foundation, and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. He was selected as a finalist for the 2025 Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists, was one of four finalists for the Hermitage Greenfield Prize in 2023, was named an honoree of Exploring the Metropolis in 2017 after receiving an EtM Choreographer + Composer Residency, and has been granted creative residencies at Ragdale, the Hermitage Artist Retreat, New York Live Arts (as a Live Feed Resident Artist), Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies, Bethany Arts Community, Marble House Project, Chautauqua Institution, Kaatsbaan, Joyce SoHo, Dance New Amsterdam, The White Oak Plantation, The Yard, Bates Dance Festival, Mt. Tremper Arts, Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, on Captiva Island via the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, through Movement Research, the Harkness Dance Center at 92NY, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Dream Music Puppetry Program, the HERE Artist Residency Program, the Tyrone Guthrie Center at Annaghmakerrig House in Newbliss, Ireland, the Anderson Center, via the CUNY Dance Initiative, and at Yaddo where he was named for the Charles and Candace Wait Residency in 2014. He holds degrees from Sarah Lawrence College and the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, and has performed for Douglas Dunn & Dancers, Tere O’Connor Dance, John Kelly, Kathy Westwater, Yoshiko Chuma, Edisa Weeks, Rebecca Lazier, and David Neumann, among others.

Special Thanks:
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Alison Manning, Louise Brownsberger, Chelsea Spraker, Aimee Graham and all the folks at the Harkness Dance Center, Josh Prince and all the folks at Dance Lab NYC, all the folks at LMCC, Amy Cassello and John Hoobyar at BAM, Stevie Klaark, Deanna Miera, and the women of my wonderful cohort #10 at Ragdale, all the folks at the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Scott Lundius and all the folks at the Morrison-Shearer Foundation, all the folks at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Alyssa Alpine, Rubina Shafi at John Jay College, Nicola Ayoub and Compagnie Hallet Eghayan, Andy Sandberg and all the staff at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, Alison Granucci, Douglas Dunn, Grazia Della Terza, my mother Barbara Williams and all the generous donors including Cheryl Henson, Anne Bonaparte & Judd Williams, Jo Ann Engelhardt & George Elder, Alison Granucci & James Klosty, Donna Williams & Pierce Bounds, Dana Wu, Lucie Wellner & Jim Lawyer, Beverley Matthews, David Matthews & Zoë Mackay, Margrit Diehl, Apryl Grover, Eliza Miller & Justin Samaha, Sylvia Smith, Rick & Chris Bond, Robert Flynt, Steven Pesner, Ginny Russell, Joseph Plocek & Val Holley, and Evelyn & David Damstra, collaborators Tei Blow, Joe Levasseur, Andrew Jordan (and Iggy Soliven), David Quinn, Benjamin Stange, Ray Dondero, and especially to all the dancers that have helped me envision and/or embody this work along the way including, Christiana Axelsen, Cemiyon Barber, Cove Barton, Heidi Berry, Jack Blackmon, Janet Charleston, Julian Donohue, MJ Edwards, Dominica Greene, Alex Haquia, Maxfield Haynes, Cynthia Koppe, Justin Lynch, Kieran McBride, JoVonna Parks, Logan Pedon, Deniz Erkan Sancak, Taylor Stanley, & Alec Knight.