Ihaiah Miller is a native of Jacksonville, Florida where they trained at the Douglas Anderson School for the Arts and Jacksonville University’s Dance with Distinction program. In 2003, they graduated from the Joffrey Ballet/New School University with a BFA in Ballet and Composition Studies and in 2016, was a “Reaching for the Stars” fellowship recipient at Arizona State University where they were pursing their Masters of Fine Arts in Theatre, Performing Arts Management and Entrepreneurship.

As a professional dancer, Mr. Miller has performed with the Eugene Ballet, Ballet Idaho, the Dance Theatre of Harlem “Dancing through Barriers” Ensemble (DTH) Coastal Arts Project, the Florida Ballet, and Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Trocks) in soloist and principal roles. They have toured nationally and internationally, and have performed at prestigious festivals, in over 60 countries on 6 continents. They have performed many principal and leading roles in such ballets and works as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Taming of the Shrew, Cinderella, La Bayadere, Le Corsaire, Raymonda, Paquita, The Little Humpbacked Horse, Flames of Paris, and Giselle, Harold Lander’s Etudes, Gerald Arpino’s Italian Suite, Glen Tetley’s The Rite of Spring, Norbert Vesak’s Belong Pas De Deux, Spring Waters, Mark Bogaerts’ Full Circle, Arthur Mitchell’s Fete Noir, Septime Webre’s Shoogie, and Peter Anastos’s Go for Barocco. Ihaiah has been photographed, written up, and reviewed in numerous press articles such as the New York Times and the London Daily Standard. Amongst their most notable performances, Ihaiah has performed at the Guggenheim Works in Progress series with DTH, performing at the Folies Berger in Paris, the Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Bogotá in Colombia, performing for Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand in Bangkok, and my final performances at the Joyce Theatre in New York City with the Trocks.

In 2005 they founded a dance company, Diesel Dance, which later became Diesel | Fusion Dance Theatre (DFDT), and was based both in New York City and Jacksonville, Florida. Through DFDT, Ihaiah’s work has been showcased throughout Florida and New York, and has been performed at many festivals, benefits, and concerts including the 2005 and 2006 Downtown Dance Festival, the Women’s Professional Conference, the 2005 Black Expo, the 2005 Young Artist’s Festival, the 2007 Rhythms: Choreographers of NYC Showcase, 2008 Florida Dance Festival on Tour, the 2010 Emerging Choreographer’s Festival, and the Quigley House Benefit hosted by the Arts Edge School of Dance and Theater. In 2003, Ihaiah was privileged to create their ballet, Les Plaisirs Suite on the Manhattan Youth Ballet and in 2007, they choreographed the SDIII music video “1 Potato, 2 Potato, 3 Potato, Knish” for the Neoworld Productions Sketch Comedy Show. To date, Ihaiah has choreographed over 120 works throughout their career and looks forward to creating many more. In addition to this, Ihaiah has re-staged many of the romantic and classical repertoire including La Bayadere, Giselle, Les Corsaire, Raymonda, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Paquita, and the Nutcracker.

COURSE: “Contemporary Fusion” and “Choreography Workshop”

From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Glenda Figuieredo‘s 20-year dance background spans countless performances in brilliant costumes throughout Brazil in Ballet, Jazz, Modern, traditional Brazilian dances, and Contemporary Dance. In the States, Glenda toured a dancer and an aerialist for Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus for 5 years and performed over 400 shows each of those years. Here in Cincinnati, Glenda has performed with and choreographed for Pones, Inc. and produced Performance and Time Arts series at the former Contemporary Dance Theater. In 2022, Glenda was commissioned by Mutual Dance Theatre to create “Nightcap,” a half-evening-length work centered on a woman’s final night.

COURSES: “REPERTORY”

Hannah Williamson is an 8th-season performing Company Member, as well as the Rehearsal Director and a choreographer in Mutual Dance Theatre. She is a 2017 graduate of Wright State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance, magna cum laude. While a student, her senior choreography project White Shores received the Adjudicated Choreography Award and was performed in the 2017 faculty concert alongside Testament, choreographed and set by Dwight Rhoden and Clifford Williams of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, which she also had the honor of performing in. Williamson’s works created after her studies have been selected for presentations, including two choreographic residencies with Columbus Modern Dance Company, Contemporary Dance Theater’s Area Choreographers Festival (2018 and 2021), Mutual Dance Theatre’s New Dance Laboratory, and Yes! Virginia Dance Festival. Williamson also received a commission from MDT for the creation of a half-evening of work titled Variations in a Brainstorm (2021) and “Nacht” (2024). She was honored to be chosen to teach Advanced/Intermediate Modern for Wright State’s prestigious dance program in the fall of 2022. She has recently been hired as an adjunct professor for the college’s advanced musical theatre program and was also honored with the opportunity to create original work for the school’s faculty concert.

Through her passion for choreography, she strives to communicate eternal truths where mere words come up short. Her prior works have been selected for such presentations as Columbus Modern Dance Company’s January 2018 Emerging Choreographer Residency, The Area Choreographers Festival (Contemporary Dance Theater), and Yes! Virginia Dance Festival (Richmond, VA). Williamson also received a commission from MDT for the creation of “Variations in a Brainstorm” (premiere 2021), which was heralded by many audience members as their favorite MDT work.

COURSES: “SOMALAB”

COURSE: “LIMON-BASED MODERN DANCE MASTERCLASS”

Rowan Salem is a choreographer, performer, and teacher originally from Massachusetts. As an artist, her interests lie in compositional improvisation and philosophy’s links to movement. Her teaching is influenced by Humphrey/Limon technique, contact improvisation, and contemporary forms. Rowan earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Choreography and Performance as a Teaching Fellow/Gretchen Moran Scholar at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Her teaching affiliations include Amherst College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Rowan recently relocated from Denver, Colorado, where she held faculty positions at Colorado Ballet Academy (the official school of the Colorado Ballet), Aspen Academy, Colorado Academy, and Metropolitan State University of Denver. She has recently collaborated on and performed in the work of Chris Aiken, Angie Hauser, Kate Speer, and Tara Rynders. Rowan’s work has been presented at Redline Contemporary Arts Center, Counterpath Exhibition Space, Green Street Studios, and Art Gym, Denver where she was the 2017 recipient of the Create Award Residency.