Back to NDEO Site
Join NHSDA voices as they interview six up-and-coming choreographers about their artistic process. The presenters will speak to their own choreographic strategies, problem-solve ruts or artistic blocks, and offer advice to new dance makers. The interviews in this webinar have been pre-recorded.
In the video recordings, our panelists cover the following questions:
Hannah Albin (She/They) is a professional dancer, educator, and choreographer based in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a B.F.A. in Dance Choreography and Performance from the University of California, Irvine where she trained under Lar Lubovitch. During her undergraduate degree, they performed solo roles a a trainee with the José Limón Dance Foundation under Dante Puleio and Kathryn Alter. As a professional, they have performed with the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company, collaborated in the Next Festival of Emerging Artists, and with choreographers Lindsey Matheis and Joshua Manculich. As a choreographer, her work has been awarded for its depth in research and ability to challenge political climates. To create new work, Hannah is inspired by the intersection of dance, philosophy, and the human condition. Their goal is to challenge how dance is understood, perceived, and experienced by performers and audience members alike. Hannah is an active collaborator and performer with the Megan Flynn Dance Company, Ballaro Dance, Wolf & Swan Dance Company, Trainor Dance, and critically acclaimed playwright Matty Mahoski.
Deshaun Evans is a Philadelphia based artist who specializes in Hip-Hop styles. Deshaun has featured in several television and media performances such as MTV, America’s Got Talent, and Shutter Magazine. Including live performance and competitions at Prelude dance competition, World of Dance. While Evans is not performing, he is teaching at I AM PHRESH DANCE Academy and Beat Addikts United. In addition to choreographing winning competitive performances. Evans seeks to provide a safe space in the hip hip/street dance community and works to bridge the gap between street dances and studios and academic settings all while honoring the practices of the culture.
Karly Meehan is a freelance dance artist and educator based in Philadelphia. She received her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where she also danced with Cirque du Soleil and Academy of Villains. In addition, she returned to UNLV as a guest artist shortly after graduating, premiering three new works for the UNLV Performing Arts Center. Karly’s choreography has been recognized by the Inspired Dance Australia Film Festival and the Inaside Chicago Dance Choreography Competition. With an affinity for the sciences, Karly’s works often explore biological and metaphysical systems that establish the body’s relationship with its environment and beyond. Her inquiries surrounding life’s biggest questions inspire collaborative processes that seek to discover more information about the human subconscious. As an educator, she developed and operated her own dance program for elite gymnasts for the Salcianu Academy of Gymnastics. Now in Philadelphia, Karly is a Lead Teaching Artist with BalletX’s Dance eXchange program, facilitating movement classes in Philadelphia public schools.
Vivian Torres is a performer, dancer and choreographer born in Newark, NJ. She joined the Temple Dance department in 2021 where she now resides as a junior. Vivian began dancing hip hop at an after school club in middle school in 2014. Broadening her studies of ballet, jazz and modern she continued dancing under M.A Taylor at her local high school. Since moving to Philadelphia in 2021, she has joined the IAMPHRESH performance dance company where she has had the opportunity to train under “SmartMark”, “QP” and many other well known choreographers.
Lian Long Xian is a movement artist in Singapore who first started his dance journey as a breaker (B-boy), NOT a breakdancer. In search of a deeper meaning in dance and to find more opportunities beyond Singapore, Lian decided to pursue a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance at Temple University.
Jena Barton (she/her) is a Philadelphia-based movement artist who facilitates choreographic processes that are trauma-informed and collaborative. She makes meaning of these processes, and consequently their products, through the lenses of Existentialism, Absurdism, and Postmodernism. Jena holds a BFA in Dance from UNC Greensboro. Currently, she is an MFA candidate at Temple University where she has served as an Instructor of Record and Graduate TA. Previously, Jena has developed movement curricula for Greene Towne Montessori School, Friends Central and taught dance regularly at studios in Connecticut, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. As a 200hr CYT, she teaches at Studio 34 and has created kids' yoga curriculums across the Philly area. Jena toured throughout the mid-atlantic region with the West Virginia Dance Company and was a company dancer with Theatre West Virginia. Notably, she has performed in works by Germaul Barnes, Justin Tornow, Michael Job, Duane Cyrus, Kara Janelle Wade, Latasha Barnes, Fairul Zahid, and Xiang Xu. At NDEO’s 2023 National Conference, Jena served as a panelist discussing labor rights and pedagogy. She is the 2024 recipient of the Sarah Hilsendager Professional Dance Educator Award and received a completion grant from the Graduate Board Fellowship Committee in support of her MFA thesis research.