Contemporary Faculty

Nicole von Arx

Nicole was born in England and raised in both Switzerland and Hong Kong, and is a freelance dancer and choreographer based between Brooklyn and Geneva (Switzerland). She studied at The Ailey School and San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and her performance career led her to work with Jasmin Vardimon, Carte Blanche, Company XIV, Bryan Arias Company and Loni Landon Dance Projects. As a choreographer, she was invited to present her work in Europe at the BFM, TanzFest Winterthur 2018, La Fête de la Musique on the stage of l’ADC, and the Flux in Switzerland, and at Reykjavík Culture Night in Iceland.

In the US, her choreography appeared at the Center for Performance Research (CPR), the Museum of Moving Image, Judson Church, The Wild Project, The 14th Street Y, the Ailey Citigroup Theatre and Sam Houston State University. She was awarded the 2018 STUFFED summer residency at Judson Church and the 2017 Dance Gallery Festival Level UP program. Nicole now creates work under the name NVA & Guests and teaches pop up dance classes on the roof of the Ace Hotel in New York.

Jason Reese

Jason Reese began his career as a founding member of VIM VIGOR in his last year of studies at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. In the past three years he has had the opportunity to teach at institutions such as Princeton University, NYU Tisch, Ailey/Fordham, New Dialect, the University of Quebec at Montreal, B12, SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Program Enlaces, North Carolina School of the Arts, the Movement Invention Project, New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble, and the Conservatory of Music and Dance and Pennsylvania Performing Arts Academy. He is a choreographic collaborator with VIM VIGOR and has helped create work for LA Dance Project, the Juilliard School, the University of Michigan, Barnard College/Columbia University, Gibney Dance Company, Springboard Danse Montreal and Manhattanville College. He is currently a member of PunchDrunk NYC in the cast of, ‘Sleep No More.’ Jason continues to teach and create with VIM VIGOR Dance Theater Company.

Christopher Bloom

Christopher Bloom is from Frederick County, VA where he began dancing at the Blue Ridge Studio for the Performing Arts and the Vostrikov Academy of Ballet. Chris graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in 2012. In 2011, he joined Parsons Dance as an apprentice and continued to perform with the company as a guest artist for two years while also performing with Lydia Johnson Dance, Thang Dao Dance Company, VonUssar DanceWorks, 360° Dance Theatre, and the Peridance Contemporary Dance Company. Chris joined Ballet Hispanico in 2013 and has performed orignal roles in works by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Edgar Zendejas, Miguel Mancillas, Fernando Melo, Michelle Manzanales, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, and Eduardo Vilaro. He has also performed in Nacho Duato’s Jardi Tancat, and as Don Jose in Gustavo Ramirez Sansano’s CARMEN.maquia.

Brandon Coleman

Brandon Coleman is an NYC-based performer from Katy, TX and is a graduate of the University of Arizona, where he received his BFA in Dance and BA in Communication with a minor in Arts Administration. He attended Springboard Danse Montréal in 2016 and 2017 and received additional training from River North Dance Chicago and KEIGWIN + COMPANY.

Formerly a member of Visceral Dance Chicago, Brandon has also worked with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as a guest artist for their 2017 Summer Series. Since moving to NYC in 2017, Brandon has danced with KEIGWIN + COMPANY, the Metropolitan Opera ballet, VIM VIGOR Dance Company, and performed regularly in Punchdrunk’s SLEEP NO MORE.

As a teacher, Brandon has taught across the country in major cities such as NYC, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Brandon has been on faculty with Visceral Dance Center in Chicago, IL, and Inspire School of Dance in Naperville, IL but is a regular guest teacher at Hubbard Street Dance Center, Gibney Dance Center, and Millennium Dance Complex LV. Currently working as a guest teacher for a variety of workshops and intensives across North America, Brandon’s class revolves around movement quality and a positive learning environment.

Brandon is currently the Artistic and Executive Director of Momentum Coaching Club, a 12-week program for pre-professional dancers to help them bridge the gap between college and the professional dance world.

Kiley Dolaway

Kiley Dolaway was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA.
She studied ballet and modern dance at Philadelphia Dance Theatre then attended high school and studied dance at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts under the direction of Susan Jaffe. She recently graduated in May of 2018 from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College with a BFA in dance performance. During her time at Purchase, she performed repertory by Shannon Gillen, Kevin Wynn, Manuel Vignoulle, Sidra Bell, and Merce Cunningham. Additionally, she was invited to dance at Springboard Danse Montreal in the summers of 2017 and 2018 where she performed in the restaging of ‘Paper Cuts in an Empty Bag’ by Peter Chu and ‘Neither Here|There’ a new creation by Johannes Wieland. In 2018, Kiley also premiered in Shannon Gillen’s ‘SUPERBLOOM’ at the 92nd Street before joining VIM VIGOR as a company member. Since then she has assisted Gillen at The Juilliard School, SUNY Purchase, NYU Tisch, and Fordham Ailey. She has supported Shannon Gillen’s creations at L.A. Dance Project, b12 festival in Berlin, Princeton University, Boston Dance Theater, and Booker T. Washington School for the Arts. In 2019, she will debut in VIM’s latest creation FOREVER in NYC, before traveling with Gillen to teach and create at LINK 2019 in Salt Lake City, Perry Mansfield’s Summer Program, Springboard Danse Montreal, Springboard X, and VIM VIGOR’s Summer Program in NYC.

Sean Lammer

SEAN LAMMER is a choreographer, dancer and teacher currently based in Housatonic, MA. He is an alumnus of The Juilliard School (’19) and Walnut Hill School for the Arts (’15). He has performed repertoire by Twyla Tharp, Nacho Duato, Merce Cunningham, Ohad Naharin, Martha Graham and Roy Assaf, and has worked with artists spanning a spectrum of mediums including Zack Winokur, David Michalek, Madeline Hollander, and Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison. Sean currently works consistently with NY based dance companies GALLIM and Helen Simoneau Danse.

His personal work uses improvisation as a mode of creation and values the process of reconciling the full breadth of physical tones, rhythms and dialects present in the body, preferring to create from authentic impulses over fixed aesthetic styles. In 2019 Sean Co-Founded BODYSONNET, a Berkshire-based dance collective committed to creating highly collaborative work in unconventional spaces.

Jessica Smith

Jessica Smith, a native of New Orleans, is a graduate of the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. Growing up, Jessica trained as a competitive gymnast as well as attending the performing arts high school, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. In her third year at Purchase College, she studied abroad at London Contemporary Dance School. Jessica is now entering her second season with ZviDance and her first season with both Kizuna Dance and Vim Vigor. She continues to research and show her own work throughout New York City while collaborating with many people she’s met along the way.

Natalie Border

Natalie Border, a Utah native, trained and worked professionally as a dancer in Salt Lake City. She holds a B.F.A. from the University of Utah where she was a part of the honor society, Orchesis. Natalie performed as a guest artist with Rire-Woodbury and with the Performing Dance Company in works by Andrea Miller of Gallim and Sharee Lane. She has also worked with other gifted artists such as Loni Landon, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Scott Wells, and LajaMartin among others. Upon graduating, she was invited to dance in Northwest Dance Project’s Launch program, guestedin Repertory Dance Theater’s Emerge show, and produced her own show, Nomad. Natalie was recently a company member of SALT Contemporary Dance and performed works by Dan Higgins, Satu Hummasti and Daniel Clifton, and Penny Saunders. Natalie joined VIM VIGOR in 2019.

Jeffrey Docimo

Originally from Connecticut, Jeff earned his BFA from New World School of the Arts, and received further training with Rubberbandance Group. He has been a performer in Punchdrunk’s production of ‘Sleep No More’ since 2015. Jeff has also worked with artists such as Peter Chu, Bryan Arias, and Madboots Dance. He is the director and choreographer of Isodoc Dance Group.

Shannon Gillen

Shannon Gillen is the founder, artistic director and choreographer of New York’s visionary new dance company VIM VIGOR. Gillen is one of NYC’s most sought after choreographers with an established and passionate audience following and commissions at prestigious national and international venues. Through a prolific body of work that galvanizes the body’s potential to express intellectual and emotional concepts, Gillen has pioneered a recognizable artistic language that possesses heroic physicality, electric emotional life, and cinematic imagery that illuminates and heightens the narrative imagination. Gillen was recently championed by Deborah Jowitt as ‘vastly gifted’ and VOGUE Magazine called her work ‘mesmerizing’. Coming off the company’s sold out debut at GK Arts Center in NYC, VIM VIGOR is preparing for several upcoming creation and educational commissions from The Juilliard School, Lines Training Program, B12 Workshops in Berlin, Springboard Danse Montreal – where the company will be returning as a Principal, VIM VIGOR’s summer program in August, an upcoming residency with DANCEworks at the historic Lobero Theatre for the incubation of VIM VIGOR’s next evening length work, and a tour of VIM VIGOR’s seminal work ‘SEPARATI’ to the PRISMA Festival in Panama.

Gillen danced with the Johannes Wieland Company at the Staatstheater Kassel, Germany as a full time company member. She danced in 56 international performances and was singled out in the press for being ‘in top form, a feat of strength’ (HNA, German News). While dancing in Germany, Gillen burst into the choreographic scene receiving 3rd Prize at the International Solo-Tanz Competition in Stuttgart and commissions at the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg and the TIF Theater in Kassel. She was also selected as a THINK BIG choreographer in residence with the Staatsoper in Hannover, creating a piece that premiered at the TANZ Theater International Festival. In Fall 2014 she returned to the United States where she was noted in The Brooklyn Rail for her ‘fierce physicality and rigorous inquisitiveness in her work.’ She was commissioned by two of New York State’s most distinguished dance colleges: New York University’s Second Avenue Dance Company and the Purchase Dance Company at SUNY, with performances at New York Live Arts where her creation premiered alongside works by Aszure Barton and Doug Varone. Additionally Gillen was selected for the International Commissioning Project for Hubbard Street. HB2 recently premiered her piece in Switzerland, with upcoming performances planned across the US and in Germany.

An insatiable creator, Gillen has choreographed 26 new works since 2010 with notable commissions at Treffpunkt-Rotebuehlplatz, Springboard Danse Festival, Dance Theater Workshop, Dance New Amsterdam, HERE Arts Center, Judson Church, Tangente Theater with the Montreal Fringe Festival, PULSE Art Fair as part of Art Basel in Miami, with LMCC’s Sitelines Series as part of NYC’s River to River Festival, Bryant Park Presents, Festival Oltre Passo in Italy, BEACH SESSIONS and Steps Repertory Company for the The Joyce Theater and Jacob’s Pillow, among others.

Gillen’s awards and honors include:* selected by Hubbard Street’s International Commissioning Competition (2015/2016)

* selected as a Principal Company to the prestigious Springboard Danse Festival in Montreal (2015/2016)

* the THINK BIG residency fellowship in Hannover (2014)

* 3rd Prize in dance at the Solo-Tanz Festival in Stuttgart with Germany tour (2014)

* special mention as a choreographer of note in The Brooklyn Rail (2014)

* recognition as one of the top 20 artists in Brooklyn Magazine (2013)

* Residency with Random Collision/Grand Theater in Groningen, NL (2013)

* awarded the Dean’s Fellowship at Tisch School of the Arts/NYU (2012/2013)

* the first emerging artist selected by Christopher Wheeldon for the Steps Repertory Company (2012/2013)

* commissions for PULSE Art Fair in NYC and Miami as part of Art Basel (2011/2012)

* Artist in Residence with The Stella Adler School of Acting (2011)

* Swing Space Artist with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (2010)

* Finalist in the A.W.A.R.D.S. Show! at Joyce SoHo (2010)

* Artist in Residence at LMCC’s Swing Space (2009)

* Artist in Residence at Dance New Amsterdam (2009)

* Fresh Tracks Artist with Dance Theater Workshop (2009)

Gillen graduated from The Juilliard School with her BFA (2003) and from Tisch School of the Arts/NYU (2013), where she was awarded a full fellowship to obtain her MFA. Dedicated to the advancement of movement based education, Gillen is a leading contemporary dance teacher with a large following of dancers in both the professional and higher education arenas. She holds faculty teaching positions at SUNY Purchase College, Mark Morris Dance Center, Peridance Capezio Center and Gibney Dance, and is a regular guest teaching artist at The Juilliard School, The Hartt School, and New York University/Tisch School of the Arts. And with VIM VIGOR, Gillen has established a new platform for contemporary dance-theater education in NYC through company workshops and intensives.

www.vimvigordance.com

Magdalyn Segale

MAGDALYN SEGALE is a dance artist and multi-media performance director. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School (BFA 2014) and alumni of NJDTE (2010). Maggie works for OFFSHORE, a project directed by Cally Spooner, with which she has performed, taught and collaborated internationally at Le Centre National de Dance de Paris, France; Centre of Contemporary Arts, Singapore; M Muesum in Leuven, Belgium; the New Museum, New York City. Maggie is a teaching artist at Nord Anglia International Schools and is also a member of Helen Simoneau Danse and The Bang Group, both based in NYC.

Loni Landon

Loni Landon is a Dancer, Choreographer, and Movement Consultant based in New York City. In addition to creating dances for her own collective Loni Landon Dance Projects, her work is commissioned by Dance Companies and Film Makers across the country. Born and raised in New York City, Landon received her BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School in 2005. While a student at the NYC High School of Performing Arts, Landon was a NFAA Young Arts Modern Dance Winner. After Juilliard, Landon performed with Aszure Barton and Artists, Ballet Theater Munich, Tanz Munich Theater, and The Metropolitan Opera. Landon is the 2013 Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship winner awarded with BODYTRAFFIC. As a sought after choreographer, her work has been commissioned by Keigwin and Company, Whim Whim, LEVY DANCE, The Juilliard School, BODYTRAFFIC, American Dance Institute (for Loni Landon Dance Projects), Northwest Dance Project, Hubbard Street II, Ballet X, Ballet Austin, SUNY Purchase, and Marymount Manhattan College. Her company has performed at The Joyce Theater and Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Series, as well as at Bryant Park and the first annual Beach Sessions in Rockaway Beach. Landon has won numerous awards including 1st Prize Winner of Ballet Austin’s New American Talent Competition, Winner of Northwest Dance Project’s “Pretty Creatives’” Choreography Competition, Winner of the Next Commission from CityDance Ensemble, Finalist in the International Solo Tanz Theater Competition in Stuttgart, Germany, and Finalist in the Hannover International Choreography Competition. Landon was also a participant in the 2012 Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation New Directions Choreography Lab made possible through the generous support of the FordFoundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Other residencies include ITE and the CUNY Dance Initiative. Alongside Gregory Dolbashian, Landon co-founded THE PLAYGROUND, an initiative designed to give emerging choreographers a place to experiment, while allowing professional dancers to participate affordably. The Playground was recognized by Dance Magazine as a 25 To Watch for 2013.

Adam Barruch

Adam Barruch began his career as a young actor, performing professionally on Broadway and in film and television, later receiving dance training at LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts and The Juilliard School. As a dancer he has performed the works of Jiri Kylian, Ohad Naharin, Susan Marshall, Jose Limon, Daniele Dèsnoyers, and was a dancer with Sylvain Émard Danse in Montreal and also worked with The Margie Gillis Dance Foundation. As a choreographer, Adam’s work has been presented at notable venues such as The Joyce Theater, Dance Theater Workshop, City Center, and NYU/ Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, and he has taught technique and repertory at such colleges as Princeton University, The Boston Conservatory, The Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, and New York University. Adam was selected as a participant in the 2011 Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation New Directions Choreography Lab, and his full-length evening solo work, My Name is Adam, was performed at Joe’s Pub commissioned by DanceNOW NYC in 2013. His short-film collaboration with filmmaker Nel Shelby, Folie a Deux, was screened at the Dance On Camera Festival in Lincoln Center in 2012. Adam has created works for companies such as Ailey II, Keigwin + Company, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, River North Dance Chicago, BalletX, Whim W’Him Seattle Contemporary Dance, Graham II, GroundWorks Dance Theater and Minnesota Dance Theatre, as well as for dance icons Margie Gillis and Miki Orihara. Adam was the recipient of a 2014 Lotos Foundation Prize in the Arts and Sciences, and in 2015, Adam was the choreographer-in-residence at the Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara, California as part of the 2015 DANCEworks Residency. Adam was an artist-in-residence at the 92Y Harkness Dance Center in 2016-2017. He is currently working on a new physical theater production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Based in Brooklyn, Adam currently creates and performs work under the epithet of his own company, Anatomiae Occultii.

Sidra Bell

Sidra Bell (Artistic Director of Sidra Bell Dance New York), is a Master Lecturer at the University of the Arts (Philadelphia), and was an Adjunct Professor at Ball State University (Indiana) and Barnard College (NYC). She has a degree in History from Yale University and an MFA in Choreography from Purchase College. Ms. Bell has won several awards, including a notable 1st Prize for Choreography at the International Solo-Tanz Festival in Stuttgart, Germany. Her critically acclaimed work has been seen throughout the United States and in Denmark, France, Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Germany, China, Canada, Aruba, Korea, Brazil, and Greece. Bell has received many commissions from institutions internationally and has produced over 100 new works. Bell was commissioned as the choreographer for the feature film “TEST” set in San Francisco during the height of the AIDS crisis. The movie was nominated for a 2015 Independent Spirit Award. “TEST” was also awarded two grand jury prizes from the Los Angeles Outfest and was a New York Times Critic’s Pick. The film has had many screenings at LGBT festivals worldwide and is enjoying an international theatrical run. She was recently named one of 50 outstanding artists living or working in Westchester County as part of ArtsWestchester’s 50th Anniversary. SBDNY has an extensive educational and mentorship program and works with institutions for dance and theater internationally with a particular emphasis on young artist development.

Jenni Berthelot

Jenni Berthelot received a BFA in Dance, Magna Cum Laude, from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. A Houston native, Jenni graduated from the High School for the Performing & Visual Arts and trained at Rowland School of Ballet in Kingwood, Texas. Jenni is a founding member of chuthis., a contemporary dance company under the direction of choreographer Peter Chu. Most recently, Jenni had the pleasure of premiering the latest works of chuthis., —in3s— in Las Vegas. Jenni has also acted as assistant and rehearsal director for many of Peter’s recent creations, including pieces for New Dialect (Nashville, TN) and Brigham Young University. Teaching highlights include Brigham Young University & MIP2. Currently, Jenni lives in New York City, working as a freelance artist and teacher.

Andrea Miller

Andrea Miller is originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, a graduate of The Juilliard School, and former dancer with Ohad Naharin’s Ensemble Batsheva, Cedar Lake, The Limón Dance Company, and Buglisi Dance Theater. In 2006 she established Gallim Dance. Her work has been commissioned and performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel. Miller has been selected as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” (January, 2009 Issue). In addition to being the artistic director for Gallim she is also the Associate Choreographer for Noord Nederlandse Dans in Groningen, Holland (2009-2011). Recent commissions include Ballet Hispanico (NY), Ballet Bern (CH), Hubbard Street 2 (IL), The Juilliard School (NY), Zenon Dance Company (MN), Springboard Danse (CANADA), Repertory Dance Theater (UT), Hedwig Dances (IL), Arts Umbrella (CA), among others. She has choreographed for students at The Juilliard School, Alvin Ailey, SUNY Purchase, and New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble. Miller is the recipient of choreographic awards and residencies including the Hubbard Street 2 Choreographic Competition and The Stella Adler Studio of Acting Artist in Residence (MAD AIR), New Haven Ballet AIR, and College at Brockport Company Residency among others. In addition to choreography, Miller teaches dance and movement to actors. NJDTE won the 2010 Dancin’ Downtown at the Joyce Choreography Award with Andrea’s work SNOW.

Shanna Irwin

Shanna Irwin grew up in Landing New Jersey. Throughout high school she trained and performed

with Generations of Dance as well as The New Jersey Dance Ensemble, under the direction of Nancy Turano. She spent summers at The Vancouver Arts Umbrella, Complexions Intensives and world Dance Movement, Italy. In April 2014, Irwin began touring with Complexions before receiving her BFA in dance from Marymount College in May 2014. Irwin joined Complexions Contemporary Ballet in 2014.

Tim Stickney

Tim Stickney began his dance training at the age of 3 and furthered his training at The Gold School in Massachusetts under the direction of Rennie Gold. While there, he was featured in DanceLife TV’s Male Voices documentary series in 2010, winner of four “Telly” awards. He continued his education at the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. Program, where he graduated in 2014. He has had the opportunity to perform the work of Alvin Ailey, Dwight Rhoden, Ronald K. Brown, Karole Armitage, Alejandro Cerrudo, and Joshua Beamish to name a few. He has been working with the Francesca Harper Project since 2012 and worked with the Equus Projects in New York and Sweden from 2012 to 2014. Stickney joined Complexions in 2014.

Cherice Barton

Cherice Barton is a creative force with over 20 years experience in the entertainment and performing arts Industries. An internationally renowned choreographer, director, dancer and actor, Cherice’s extensive background in the conception and production of live events has led her to creatively direct and collaborate on numerous notable projects ranging from Las Vegas Cirque spectacles to intimate music and dance creations including productions by Dragone Entertainment Group, American Ballet Theater, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Wynn Las Vegas, ABRI Agency, Acroback, Zone 3 Productions, Aszure Barton & Artists, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal (BJMDanse) and many more. Ms. Barton is proud to have joined forces with numerous prestigious artists and innovators such as Franco Dragone, Mia Michaels, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Vincent Paterson, Serge Denancourt, Giuliano Peparini, Aszure Barton and Crystal Pite, to name a few. She has most recently joined Julie Taymor, Danny Ezralow, Bono & The Edge as the resident choreographer for Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark, scheduled to open on Broadway in 2010, after returning to New York City from Las Vegas where she was the resident choreographer for the cirque aquatic spectacle, Le Reve, at the Wynn Resort Hotel and Casino. Cherice was also commissioned to create Gesto for NJDTE. Barton continues to tour with the casting department of Dragone Entertainment Group and is frequently asked to conduct master classes, choreograph for and creatively collaborate with such distinguished institutions as The Julliard School, Barnard College at Columbia University, Adelphi College and The Banff Center School of Fine Arts. The eldest of three sisters, all equally powerful forces in the performing arts industry, Cherice’s performance career has spanned over 20 years in over 30 countries including North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia.