Meet the Artists of the 2022 Detroit Dance City Festival Choreographers Showcase

Meet the Artists of the 2022 Detroit Dance City Festival Choreographers Showcase

Detroit Dance City Festival is so excited to introduce their 2022 Choreographers Showcase artists! They have a lot of talent to share during this year’s festival. You can watch Choreographers Showcase I + II, September 9th & 10th at 7:30pm in the Detroit Film Theatre! Meet the artists below.

Founded in 2008 by Artistic Director, Ariel Grossman, Ariel Rivka Dance (ARD) is an all-female contemporary company that shares stories that resonate with a broad audience. Through movement, the company creates a community of vulnerability and acceptance, providing opportunities for hope and connection.

ConteXture Dance Detroit is a non-profit dance company based in Detroit, that was founded in 2014 by artistic director, Tracy Halloran. It is a contemporary modern dance company that is interested in exploring cultural identity and the relationship between artistic expression and the human condition.

Leah O’Donnell is a choreographer, teacher, and writer. Her performance career spans concert and commercial dance including the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Saturday Night Live and Beyoncé. Leah’s choreography has been presented by Global Women Performing Arts Festival, Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, ACDA Northeast Conference gala, and Michigan Opera Theater among others.

Moonwater Dance Project is a nonprofit contemporary repertory company founded by Artistic Director Mackenzie King in 2018. The goal of Moonwater Dance Project is to produce high-quality concert dance within an environment that values and compensates the dancers for their contributions to the artistic process and hard work they do. ​​The aesthetic of Moonwater Dance Project is similar to water and has a captivating duality.

Jared Baker is the Artistic Director of Nova Linea Contemporary Dance, a new professional dance company based out of Milwaukee, WI. Prior to the founding of Nova Linea, Jared received his B.F.A. and M.F.A from the University of Arizona. He was the Festival Exchange Recipient at the Detroit Dance City Festival (2021), where Nova Linea was invited to perform in the New Dance Festival in South Korea.

NSquared Dance is a professional dance company founded in 2014 by Artistic Directors Nick Neagle & Zackery Betty. NSquared Dance seeks to positively impact lives through dance by providing high quality performances to the public. Originated out of New York City, NSquared is now Manchester, New Hampshire’s premiere contemporary dance company. Their goal is to build a company on the foundation of versatility.

Kelsey Paschich is a dancer, choreographer, educator, interdisciplinary artist. She is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Western Michigan University. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of project whitewall where she experiments and creates live + digital work that explores humanness, the moving body, and its relationship to technology. She views dance as a language that can be shared across many mediums. Her work often utilizes multi-media elements inspired by surrealism as the theoretical and conceptual framework.

Rachel Slater is a dancer, choreographer and educator recently relocated to New Orleans, LA. She holds a BFA from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts in Modern Dance Performance and Choreography. Slater’s creative work has been presented around the world with the Philly Fringe Festival/ LIVE ARTS, Aix Dans, the Women on the Way Festival, 12 Minutes Max, and the JAW Festival, Pacific Dance Makers and Alchemy in Portland, among others.

Ali Woerner is the Founder/Director of Take Root and Associate Professor of Dance at Oakland University. Take Root has performed at the New Dance for Asia International Festival, Incheon Yeonsu International Dance Festival, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and National Theater of Costa Rica among others.

Founded in 2019 by Artistic Director Morgan Williams, Water Street Dance Milwaukee is a contemporary repertory dance company created on the foundations of authenticity and collaborations. While maintaining a home based in Cedarburg, the company has expanded its reach nationally to major cities and dance festivals.

Finally, Xing Dance Theater rounds out the Choreographers Showcase. Allen Chunhui Xing is a dancer and choreographer based in DMV area. He currently is the Artistic Director of Xing Dance Theater and City Dance Festival. He is a former member of Huajin Dance Drama Ensemble (China). His work has been invited and selected to perform nationally and internationally including at the Dance Gallery Festival NYC, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, NextNow Festival, and Maryland Campaign among others.

The Detroit Dance City Festival takes place September 9-11, 2022. Visit www.detroitdancecityfestival.com to stay updated and learn more.