2023-2024 Choreographers
Casey Avaunt is a contemporary dance maker committed to creating innovative choreography projects. Her work has toured to a number of national and international venues including the Sheung Wan Civic Center (Hong Kong), Dance Theater Workshop (New York City), the National Experimental Theater (Taiwan), Meridian Gallery (San Francisco), and the 21st Major Network Cities Asia Festival (Bangkok, Thailand). Casey has received a Mellon Foundation award, a Pike's Peak Arts Award, and three Maxwell H. Gluck Arts Fellowships. She recently presented her choreography at the Dance Bridges Festival in Kolkata, India, Untitled Space in Shanghai, China, the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, and in the Solo Series for Flatlands Dance Theatre in Lubbock, Texas. Casey holds an M.F.A. in Dance Choreography from Taipei National University of the Arts and a Ph.D. in Critical Dance Studies from the University of California, Riverside.
Alyah Baker is a dance artist, scholar, and choreographer working at the intersections of art and embodied activism. She holds a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Dance from Duke University and was a member of the inaugural MFA in Dance: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis graduate class, where she received the Kenan Institute of Ethics Graduate Arts Fellowship in Social Choreography and Performance ('20-'21). In her work, Alyah examines power, the politics of place, and identity while centering liberation and joy. She is deeply committed to accessible arts education and building equitable creative ecosystems. Alyah has been recognized in Dance Teacher Magazine and the New York Times and received choreography commissions from American Dance Festival, Queering Dance Festival, and Oakland Ballet. In 2021, Alyah founded AB Contemporary Dance, a project-based company exploring storytelling, queer aesthetics, and Black feminist praxis. The company's current project, Quare Dance, is a recipient of the 2023-24 National Performance Network Creation and Development Fund.
Jackie Bennett is a Durham, NC native. She holds an MSW and an MFA in dance. Jackie has had the privilege of performing the works of various local choreographers such as Kristin Taylor Duncan, Jasmine Powell, and Raina Lucas. Jackie has also presented her own choreography at various festivals such as the Move to Changes Dance Festival (NY), Greensboro Fringe Festival (NC), and Wimmin at Work (NC). Jackie desires and plans to continue to research, create, and engage dance and community work that highlights, encourages, and inspires the voices and lives of marginalized individuals.
Matthew Rock (Pinehurst, North Carolina) has performed, choreographed, and presented his works in venues and theatres all along the Eastern US. Matthew's works were selected for the 34th Annual Choreographer's Showcase in DC, Atlas Dance Festival 2017, Wake Forest Dance Festival 2018, NCDF 2019, and produced his own dance festival, Weymouth in Motion 2021 and 2022 in Southern Pines, NC. As artistic director of MARO Movement, his works provide different insights and perspectives on current societal events and human experiences through athleticism and artistry. Dancing with companies such as ArasDance, Jane Franklin Dance, and Light Switch Dance Theatre, and under the instruction of various renowned dance artists, he has received a versatile education. Matthew graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a BFA in dance performance and choreography. He works with NC schools, studios, and programs to offer various dance techniques, integrative movement/dance therapy, and fitness training.
From Raleigh, NC, Chania Wilson is a dance artist, dance filmmaker, and educator. She received her BFA in Dance at UNC Greensboro with a concentration in Performance and Choreography. She was co-Dance Director at Enloe High School where she taught Modern and Jazz through historical, anatomical, and embodied lenses. While there, she guest-taught and choreographed for local companies in the area and started a county-wide dance intensive, IGNITE Dance Intensive, in 2022. She is a dance company member and member of the Board of Directors for Black Box Dance Company. Currently, she is a first-year MFA in Dance student at Duke University and a 2023 NC Dance Festival Artist in Residence.