sarAika movement collective contemporary dance company NY

JUST KEEP WAITING

sarAika movement collective contemporary dance company NY

JUST KEEP WAITING

JUST KEEP WAITING

waiting —
for something
to begin,
to change,
to arrive.

DESCRIPTION

As part of the 2025/26 Season at The Performance Project @ University Settlement, sarAika movement collective brings you “JUST KEEP WAITING,” a full evening-length contemporary dance performance created in collaboration with guest choreographer Katia Tubini, Executive Director of LPP Dance Project (Verona, Italy).

This work explores the shared human sensation of waiting — for something to begin, to change, to arrive.

We keep waiting for the first domino to fall, to start the chain of movements for life.

Through evocative physicality and emotional honesty, the dancers embody the tension, hope, and quiet persistence that live inside the words “just keep waiting.”

📅 Date: Thursday, November 19th, 7:00pm (Doors open at 6:30pm)

📍 Location: Speyer Hall — 184 Eldridge St, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10002

waiting for the first domino to fall

Choreographers

LPP Dance Company
from italy

Katia Tubini

LPP Dance Company is a contemporary dance and show production company from Verona, directed by the choreographer Katia Tubini. The company has gained professional recognition throughout the region and has presented its repertoire in Italy and abroad. Over the years, they have participated in well-known events and competitions and have performed in important theaters across Verona, Italy, and other countries.

sarAika movement collective

Sara Pizzi & Aika Takeshima

Founded by queer immigrant women Aika Takeshima (Japan) and Sara Pizzi (Italy), sarAika movement collectivechampions diversity, equity, and inclusion in dance. The collective creates performances that authentically amplify underrepresented voices, transforming the stage into an immersive space where identity, rights, and lived experience are explored. By fusing contemporary movement with multidisciplinary performance, sarAika addresses social issues and intimate personal narratives, offering dance experiences that speak about and for women, queer, and immigrant communities, reflecting their insights, stories, and perspectives.

Since 2021, they have performed nationally and internationally, with commissions from IATI Theater, Et Alia Theater, Naoko Tosa (Kyoto University) for Japan Society NY, Philip Baldwin (Stony Brook University), Peter Schelfhout (University of Bridgeport), and Museum of the City of New York. Resident engagements include Dance Base Yokohama, University Settlement Performance Project, Jamaica Arts Center, and Spoke the Hub, with performances across New York, Chicago, Detroit, Sweden, Italy, and Japan.

sarAika movement collective

Dancers

Aly Candland

Dancer

Avery Boose

Dancer

Casey Leyden

Dancer

Aviana Goodman-Fish

Dancer

Rylan Joenk

Dancer

Kaede Hibara

Dancer

Special Thanks

The Performance Project at University Settlement

This event is supported by University Settlement Performance Project.

Review

sarAika movement collective presented a piece “I choose myself,” which was strong in eye contact between dancers sharing that human connection described within the description of the piece. The piece was strong in contact, improv manipulating each other in ways society almost manipulates women. There was a strong connection between the dancers that made this piece so powerful and dynamic in addressing the societal issues of the present day.
THE DANCE ENTHUSIAST Audience Review

from Creative Performances presents “Our Bodies! A Protest in Dance!” 4/5/2023

sarAika movement collective presented a piece “I choose myself,” which was strong in eye contact between dancers sharing that human connection described within the description of the piece. The piece was strong in contact, improv manipulating each other in ways society almost manipulates women. There was a strong connection between the dancers that made this piece so powerful and dynamic in addressing the societal issues of the present day.
THE DANCE ENTHUSIAST Audience Review

from Creative Performances presents “Our Bodies! A Protest in Dance!” 4/5/2023

Gallery

coming soon

gallery

by BECCAVISION

Aly Candland

Aly Candland grew up in St. George, Utah, with a background deeply rooted in dance and music. She studied contemporary dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, graduating in May 2023. Post grad, Aly was awarded a fellowship with Lincoln Center Education, which brought her to New York in July 2023. There, she worked alongside Lincoln Center Teaching Artists and co-choreographed a duet performed at Lincoln Center in January 2024 and Arts on Site in May 2024. She joined Peridance Contemporary Dance Company in September 2023, and has since performed works by Yue Yin, Roderick George, Igal Perry, and Dolly Stier.

Avery Boose

Avery Boose is a New York City-based freelance dance artist. Originally from Chicago, she trained at The Dance Colony under Seth Robinson and Jeff Wolfe before earning a BFA in Dance from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. During her time at NYU, she worked with companies such as Limón and Gallim. Since graduation, Avery has collaborated with renowned choreographers and companies including Liz Gerring, Tabula Rasa Dance Theater, Saraika Movement Collective, and Natalia Nikitin Dance Works. A passionate movement artist, she also teaches yoga, continuing to explore and expand the boundaries of dance and wellness.

Casey Leyden

Casey Leyden is a freelance dancer based in New York City. She graduated from Adelphi University obtaining a BFA in Dance with a minor in Environmental Studies. Casey has worked with various companies and choreographers such as APoint5 Dance Company, SarAika Movement Collective and Lawton Dance Collective, Omar Román De Jesús, Doug Varone, Larry Keigwin, Isaac Lener and more. She has also done additional training with Gallim, Doug Varone and Dancers and Take Dance Company Intensives. She is estatic to be back working with SarAika for this project!

Aviana Goodman-Fish

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Aviana is an artist and performer dedicated to exploring the human condition through movement. Her dancing has been shaped by a B.A. in Dance from Loyola Marymount University, time abroad at JAMD, and training with SALT, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Vertigo Dance. She is currently a company member with Eryc Taylor dance and has performed works by Doug Varone, Azure Barton, and Dana Wilson. Aviana’s movement and choreography emphasize flow, physical freedom, and playful expansion of the body. In addition to dance, Aviana is also a certified Pilates instructor, allowing her to integrate principles of alignment, strength and fluidity into her dance practice.

Rylan Joenk

Rylan began their dance training at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago before continuing their studies at Walnut Hill School for the Arts under the direction of Michael Owen. They went on to earn a BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where they performed works by Dana Ruttenberg, José Limón, and fellow emerging choreographers. It was at Tisch that Rylan discovered their deepest passion: the collaborative, experimental process of creating new work.

During their time at Tisch, Rylan trained with artists including Pamela Pietro, Sean Curran, Sofia Nappi, Andrea Miller, and Sidra Bell. Since graduating in 2024, they have performed with Natalia Nikitin and Dancers, Lumu Company, and Saraika Movement Collective, as well as in works by Sebastian Zuber, and Katia Tubini.

As a choreographer, Rylan has presented original work at 7MPR Midnight’s Pride Celebration at Arts On Site, WestFest: Top Floor at the Martha Graham Studio Theater, WADE’s “We Wear The Sky” performance as a 2025 Pride Resident Artist, as well as Saraika’s curated performance “Assigned At Birth” for the International Human Rights Arts Festival in Queens.

Instagram: @drop_dead _joe

Kaede Hibara

Kaede Hibara is originally from Toyko, Japan. She trained in classical ballet at Tanaka Shizuka Ballet Studio and K-BALLET SCHOOL under the direction of Tetsuya Kumakawa (former principal dancer with The Royal Ballet). In 2019, she moved to Canada to train at the Victoria Academy of Ballet (Victoria, BC) in their Post-Secondary Bridge Program under the direction of Bleiddyn Bellis (Artistic Director, Fellow & Examiner CSC-CIBI, Enrico Cecchetti Final Diploma) and KerryLynn Turner (Program Director, PDTD, former artist with Ballet BC). Now based in New York,

Kaede dances with Julia Bengtsson, Alden Moves Dance Theater and Salvatore LaRussa Dance Theater. She has also performed at events including New York Fashion Week and New York Textile Month.

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