For you, I dream of me

for you, I dream of me

This contemporary dance theater project explores the themes of sexuality, sacrifice, and violence depicted in fairy tales and lore from various cultures and traditions around the world to reveal through motion biases and assumptions embedded in mainstream culture.

Fairy tales are stories that describe a society’s cultural morals. These morals become the lens through which society defines its boundaries and biases. The plight of women, particularly queer, BIPOC, and otherwise disenfranchised women, historically become cautionary tales in these stories. By exploring both classic and contemporary texts through movement, For you, I dream of me seeks to convey more expansive, complex and nuanced depictions of character, conflict, and resolution that highlights and challenges accepted cultural biases.

Stories investigated include Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid”, “A Rose for Zemira” by Fred Crump Jr, and two selections from Carmen Maria Machado’s collection of short stories “Her Body and Other Parties” (“The Husband Stitch” and “Real Women Have Bodies”).

This initial development of this project was made possible by the JMAC Worcester's Project Sponsorship grant program, administered in collaboration with the Worcester Cultural Coalition and funded by the Barr Foundation. For you, I dream of me was presented as a full length in process work December 15-16, 2023 at the JMAC Worcester Brickbox Theater. I would love to keep working on it... so pray to the funding goddesses that someday the money reveals itself.

youth intensives

It is a core belief of mine that professional productions should include educational components that welcome youth dance students and general members of the community into the creative process in an effort to de-mystify the professional contemporary dance industry for students and audience alike. As part of Dreaming With The Body, I have hosted a series of youth and community intensives across Central and Eastern Massachusetts. Pending funding, I will continue to host similarly structured workshops throughout the duration of the project leading to its eventual premier. Learn more here.

cast & collaborators

composer

Benjamin Cuba is a multi-instrumentalist, accompanist, and composer based in the Boston area. He was born and raised in Worcester, and he is proud of it. He is excited for his first composition for Kristin Wagner. He works as a ballet pianist and dance-class accompanist for Boston Conservatory, Emerson College, and Greater Boston School of Dance. He has composed music for Alive Dance Collective, The Click, Somerville ArtBeat, and NACHMO ’19, ’20, ’22, and ’23. He also plays bass for the band Midnight Motion. His recordings, compositions, and work can be found at bencuba.com.

Ben composed original music for each of the dances shown in For you, I dream of me. While they are not individually credited in the physical program, please see all music titles below - and keep an eye out on Spotify! Ben will be publishing the full album for streaming in the coming months!

She Will Fly to the Clouds
She Will Tame the Monster
She Will Fight the Fire
She Will Walk on Waves
She Will Keep What is Hers
She Will Plant a Seed
She Will Cast a Shadow

lighting designer & production manager

Andrea Sofia Sala was born in San Antonio, Texas, but grew up in Northern Mexico. During her high school years, she was heavily involved with dance companies and programs around San Antonio, including San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet. Andrea then moved up north to snowy Massachusetts to get her BFA in Lighting Design and minor in Engineering Sciences, specializing in electrical engineering from Boston University. She has had the privilege to work with incredible companies and institutions, including Dance Theater of Harlem, Urban Bush Women, Jacob’s Pillow, The Yard, Central Square Theater, Fresh Ink Theater Company, Free Soil Arts Collective, and local dance artists at the Boston Center for the Arts. She is also involved as a performer with the Boston dance community.

stage manager

Audrey MacLean is a New England-based dance/performance artist. Since graduating from Connecticut College, Audrey has had the pleasure of performing in work by: Jimena Bermejo, Peter DiMuro, Morgan Griffin, Heidi Henderson, Kimberleigh Holman, Grant Jacoby, Annie Kloppenberg, Betsy Miller, Ruckus Dance, and Kristin Wagner, among others.

Audrey's choreographic work has been presented by Boston Center for the Arts, The Dance Complex, DanceNOW Boston, DanceNOW NYC, and at a number of New England theaters and festivals. She has taught technique and composition at a number of institutions throughout New England, and under the umbrella of The Click. Audrey has also acted as Production Manager and Lighting Assistant for companies/artists such as Cedar Lake Ballet, Adele Myers & Dancers, and Lisa Race.

Learn more: audreymacleandance.com

performance artists

Gabriela M. Amy-Moreno is a native of Boston, MA, where she currently is a freelancer. Coming from a family of dancers, she was introduced to dance at a young age. Gabriela began her early training at The West Roxbury School of Dance and Boston Arts Academy and then continued on to The University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she received her BFA in Contemporary Dance. She has also furthered her training while attending summer intensives such as The Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Ailey School, Burklyn Ballet Theater, American Dance Festival, and San Francisco Conservatory of Dance.

Since 2019, Gabriela has been a guest dancer for Rachel Linsky’s Zachor, a project that seeks to preserve WWII holocaust survivor stories through dance. Most recently she premiered in Linsky’s ’Schulhoff’ at The W-Gallery in Wayland, MA and ‘Hidden’ at the Boston Center for the Arts. Gabriela has also danced professionally with Boston Dance Theater (May 2019 - Dec 2021). She joined them as an apprentice and was later on promoted to core member. During her time there she performed works choreographed by Micaela Taylor, Itzik Galili, Marco Goecke, Yue Yin, Shannon Gillen, Rena Butler, and Rosie Herrera.

Since becoming a freelancer, Gabriela is looking forward to connecting more with the Boston dance community. Recent local engagements include: performing at the 2022 Boston Dance Alliance Gala in honor of her father Ramon de los Reyes who received the 2022 Dr. Michael Shannon Dance Champion award, performing with Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion at the Rose Kennedy Greenway, joining The Click for the premiere of Kristin Wagner’s ‘make light: or how I survived it all" at The Foundry, and more.

Outside of dance, Gabriela works part-time at a restaurant. She enjoys watching movies, drinking chai lattes, and spending time with her loved ones.

Bri Antaya is a graduate from Roger Williams University with a Bachelors in Psychology and Dance Performance studies. During her time at RWU, she has had the opportunity to be apart of the London Study Abroad Dance Program. While in England, she was able to attend over 47 shows, onsite works, performances to not only learn about performance art, but gain the knowlege of how to analyze different art mediums properly. She continues to pursue her passion for dance, entertainment, and performance art with The Boston She Party, ArtUnearths and collaborating with other Boston, RI and NH artists. She has a strong modern & contemporary background while currently studying/training in other disciplines such as HipHop, dancehall and Popping.

Aliza Franz (they/she) is a Boston-based dancer, collaborator, and arts manager. She graduated from Skidmore College, where she earned a double major in Dance: Performance and Choreography and Psychology, with a minor in Gender Studies. While in school, Aliza had the pleasure of working with artists such as Sidra Bell, Erika Pujic, and Stephen Petronio. Since they began freelancing in Boston, Aliza has had the pleasure of dancing with various artists and organizations including Boston Lyric Opera, Ilya Vidrin, and Eliza Malecki Dance. Aliza is currently in residence with Jessi Stegall, a part of the next installment of Rachel Linsky’s Zachor, and dancing with Lorraine Chapman the Company. She is also a company member and the rehearsal director of VLA Dance. In addition to doing freelance work, Aliza is a passionate dance teacher, working with students ranging in age from 5-18 in a variety of styles. Outside of dance, Aliza is the Creative Director of Zamana Art, a company that provides team building and fosters interpersonal connection through the lens of art and creativity and the facilitator of Dunamis Boston’s program Artists Anonymous. Aliza continues to explore their identity through movement and advocate for diversity in creative spaces.

Nikki Gagliano is a Boston based Dance artist and educator who earned her Bachelors of Arts in both Dance and Business Administration from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania with concentrations in Choreography, Performance & Education, and Marketing respectfully. In her time at college, she choreographed numerous contemporary pieces in addition to performing in works by professional artists such as Randall Anthony Smith. Since moving back to Massachusetts, Nikki has joined Sasso & Company and Boston Community Dance Project as a company member. She has also presented her own work locally at NACHMO Boston and Salem Arts Festival. Nikki joined KAIROS Dance Theater as a trainee in the fall of 2022.

Claire Lane is a dance artist, educator, choreographer and administrator. She graduated summa cum laude in 2020 from Smith College with a B.A. in Dance and French Studies with the distinction of highest honors. During her undergraduate studies, she performed in repertory by Doug Varone, Bebe Miller, Ephrat Asherie, Angie Hauser, Chris Aiken, and Rodger Blum. Claire furthered her Contemporary Dance training at P.A.R.T.S under the direction of Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker in Belgium, and at Trinity Laban Conservatory in London.

Claire is co-Artistic Visionary of detritus dance, a Boston-based collective of multidisciplinary artists focused on reframing storytelling through the feminist gaze using contemporary dance, collage, and text. Her choreographic process works towards dismantling patriarchal systems and values through subversive gender performance.

As a freelance dancer, Claire has worked with Kairos Dance Theater, Abilities Dance Boston, Chavi Bansal/Vimoksha Dance, Holly Stone/StoneWorks Productions, Haley Andrews/Andrews Movement, and Eliza Malecki Dance at esteemed venues including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, L.A. Dance Project, and Rhode Island College. As a Modern, Contemporary, and Ballet dance educator to toddlers through senior citizens, she uses somatic imagery to ignite imaginative play and curiosity with her students. She continues to hone her teaching practice with Midday Movement Series.

Leah Misano was born in Leominster, MA but grew up in Florence, SC. There she found dance at the age of eleven at South Carolina Dance Theatre where Leah studied classical ballet under Susan Rowe. Starting her sophomore year of high school, she attended the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities (SCGSAH) under Josée Garant. Her primary teachers there were Irina Ushakova, Miriam Mesa-pelly, and Tracy Vogt. At SCGSAH, Leah continued to grow in her classical training while being first introduced to modern techniques such as Graham and Horton. During this time, Leah also spent her summers attending intensives at American Ballet Theatre in New York City and The Juilliard School.

Upon graduating SCGSAH, Leah decided to attend the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. At Boston Conservatory, she started to explore contemporary movement while pulling inspiration from her classical training. When she started working with former Pilobuls dancer, Jun Kuribayashi, she found an affinity for the floor and going upside down. At the Conservatory, Leah performed works by many renowned choreographers including Loni Landon, Jennifer Archibald, Kate Weare, and several others. Since graduating in 2021, Leah Misano spent a year freelancing and teaching in Boston. In summer of 2022, she joined the ranks of Whim W’Him Seattle Contemporary Dance for their 2022/2023 season. With Whim W’Him, Leah worked with choreographers of the likes of Nicole von Arx, Rauf “Rubberlegz” Yasit, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Olivier Wevers.

Nora Paul (she/her), is from the Chicago area and is now based in Boston. She graduated from Grinnell College in May of 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. In 2021 she earned a Certificate in Dance from PERA School of Performing Arts in Cyprus, where she worked with and/or performed works by Anton Lachky, Robyn Mineko Williams, Judith Sánchez Ruíz, and more. She was a Trainee with Boston Dance Theater during the 2022-23 season. Aside from dance, she is a freelance writer for the Chicago Reader, contributing to the Arts section, and has had poetry published both in print and in online journals.

Carmen S. Rizzo, from São Paulo, Brazil, is a freelance dancer/choreographer and a dancer at Kairos Dance Theater and Abilities Dance Boston. She also has been exploring her own choreographic voice in individual opportunities in the Boston area. She graduated from the Boston Dance Theater trainee program and from Manhattanville College with a Summa Cum Laude and highest honors double degree in Dance and Theatre (concentration: Dance) and Business Management with a minor in Psychology. Prior, she successfully completed the 8-year professional training program at Escola de Dança de São Paulo (EDASP), culminating in experience with Balé da Cidade de São Paulo and Ballet Stagium. At Manhattanville she had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Shannon Gillen, Shawn Bible, Mike Esperanza, Leah Ives, Michaela McGowan, Yoshito Sakuraba, Julia Ehrstrand, Max Stone among others. She also performed works by Martha Graham, George Balanchine, Itzik Galili, Yin Yue, and Ohad Naharin and was featured in performances with Shawn Bible, CKDC and Modaté (Leuven, Belgium). Carmen’s dance films have been featured in festivals such as Homegrown, Shut in Dance Festival, Manhattanville’s Film Festival and the DFA College Exchange. She is also currently a dance teacher, Dance Church teacher, Pure Barre instructor, Boston Dance Alliance’s Operations and Membership Associate, and collaborating with other local artists on individual projects.

Cassie Wang is a multidisciplinary artist with interests in contemporary dance, design, and animation. She is a company member with VLA DANCE and KAIROS Dance Theater and has performed with the Boston Lyric Opera and other local choreographers—most recently Jessi Stegall, Rachel Linsky, and Chavi Bansal. Her choreographic works have been presented by ACDA Baja, NACHMO Boston, Dunamis, and Resilience Dance Company in St. Louis. As a past MIDDAY BIPOC Professional Dancer Mentee (2023) and Emerging Artist Fellow with Dunamis (2022), Cassie is grateful to find support and community in these spaces that uplift artists of color.