“It is not the role of art to change the world but I think it is important at least to try make people question them self about their behavior and society towards other communities and people, to initiate a soft process in peoples’ mind.”
-Faustine Lavie
Sara Pizzi
Sara Pizzi (she/her) from Italy, began her dance studies with Urban Dances performing in concerts, music videos & TV shows. In 2017, Sara moved to NYC with a scholarship from Steps on Broadway; later joining the Certificate Program, Contemporary/Ballet Track at Peridance Center, graduating in 2020. Sara is a company member of The Next Stage Project, Valerie Green/Dance Entropy, Light Painting NY, Six Degrees Dance, sarAika movement collective co-founded with Aika Takeshima & She define her creative space/identity S|R|P|Z in 2020. She was a guest artist/choreographer at CreateArt, Dixon Place, Green Space, City Center Studios, Lincoln Center Plaza, Movement Research, Gibney, HERE, The Brick & more; in 2022 she premiered her first commission for “Et Alia”. Sara is also educator for Musicamente, dance program for people with disabilities and Woodside on the Move, a preschool program for seniors and kids besides being teaching artist for Valerie Green/Dance Entropy and sarAika movement collective for community classes and residencies. Lastly, Sara is a photography/videography assistant for BECCAVISION.
Aika Takeshima
Aika Takeshima (she/her) is a 10+ year career dance artist and certified DEI practitioner. From 2014, Aika attended the International Dance Program in the Academy Peridance Center in NYC working with Amy Jordan “Victory Dance Project Company”, Ashlé Dawson “ESTADO INGRAVITTO”, Julia Eshstrand and Elisabetta Minutoli. In order to help people find more freedom and possibilities in themselves, she creates dance works, and founded an DEI organization LIVABALL in 2020 aiming to make the society more livable in Japan. Beginning her dance education with hip hop, locking, expanding further to ballet, contemporary, dance-theater, jazz, now her major is improvisation,with a unique mix of many dance styles such as contemporary, floorwork and locking/popping, taking everything “NOW” —what is around her, what comes into her sight, how she/someone is feeling now etc— and improvise getting inspiration from them, and keep making chains of movements. Aika is a performer for “Light Painting New York” by Chanette Manso; and “sarAika movement collective”. From 2020, Aika has guest artists for: 7MPR, Dixon Place, The Craft, IKADA, JCAL, BAAD! The Bronx , Movement Research, Dance Parade, Pride Parade, Japan Day, Japan Parade, SJAC, Creative Performances, The Dynamite Experience, Crossmove Lab, Salvatore LaRussa, Halloween Parade, Queensboro Dance Festival, Turnout, Liberty Hall Dance Festival, 3:33, 4533, Honey’s Brooklyn, and on August 2022 she premiere in Manhattan at HERE and in Brooklyn at THE BRICK her first dance/theater commission for “Et Alia”.
Faustine Lavie
Faustine Lavie (she/her) was born in Toulon, France, where she started ballet at 3 years old. She studied in different renowned dance schools such as Paris Opera Ballet School and ESDC Rosella Hightower. She moved to NYC in 2015 to attend The Ailey School, where she graduated from the Certificate Program in May 2018. Faustine had the opportunity to perform works by many choreographers, such as Darrell Grand Moultrie, Manuel Vignoulle, Winston Dynamite Brown, Amy Hall Garner, Fredrick Earl Mosley, Clifton Brown and Shay Bland. Faustine worked with An Nuo Spiritual Dance & Art, with whom she performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, in 2018 and 2019. She is currently a company member with i KADA Contemporary Dance Company, LaneCoArts, Footprints Dance Company, The DynamitExperience, Arim Dance, Keiko Fujii Dance Company and Six Degrees Dance. She founded Faustine Lavie Dance Project in 2020. She is delighted to join Sara and Aika in the production of L Train and is looking forward to more projects with them.
Mayu Nakaya
Haley Morgan Miller
Haley Morgan Miller (she/they) is an interdisciplinary choreographer, dancer, technologist and teacher based in Brooklyn, New York. Her works include audio reactive renderings of paper mache masks for Every Morning a New Arrival, premiered at Art She Says. The healing performance installation explores the relationship between the self and shadow selves with live painting by Lauren Altman. Haley’s debut dance film, Ephemeral Pleasures, appeared in the Anyplace Anytime Online Dance Film Festival by Cross Move Lab, and FRAMES Virtual Festival hosted by Collective Exchange. Her choreography has been presented at Marinnovators Science and Technology Festival, Vision Series Festival, and The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Haley is a company member with sarAika movement collective, and Chloe Kastner Dance Company. She graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Contemporary Dance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she performed work by Mark Morris, Juel D. Lane, Michael Figueroa, Jun Kuribayashi. Haley is a company member with both sarAika movement collective, and Chloe Kastner Dance Company. She adores teaching at The Tutu School, and working as an Arts Administrator and Marketer with Yana Schnichtzler HUMAN KINETICS and sarAika movement collective.
Maitlin Jordan
Maitlin Jordan (she/her). A graduate of the University of South Florida and rigorous Limon Professional Studies program in New York City, Maitlin was hand-picked by the artistic director, Colin Connor, of the Limon Dance Company to perform as a guest artist during the Limon Dance Company’s 2018-2019 season. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, Maitlin has performed at venues such as: The Joyce Theatre, Aaron Davis Hall, Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Tank, Triskelion Arts, among many others. She is presently working with choreographers such as: Kathryn Alter, Colin Connor, Bridgit Stanton, Sandra Robbins, and several others. Her improv work can be seen in various videos for musical artists, and showcases such as Dance Astoria, Calling All Magic, and the upcoming debut of L TRAIN Production.
Alongside her own performance career, Maitlin is currently on faculty as a modern, Contemporary, and Jazz teacher at Dance Matters NYC, leads the Dance Education Program at the Academy of the City Charter School, and has set award-winning choreography for several dance studios along the east coast.
Actor
BIO
Arianna Wellmoney (she/her) is originally from Milan, Italy. She graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2016. She recently starred in Emmy Award Winning Director David Distinti’s webseries “Dave’s Retro Video Lab”. Recent credits include: “La Santera” (TV Pilot), “3018” (Snapchat Show), “#SwipeLife” (Tinder Commercial), “Enoptromancy” (Off Broadway show) and “True Drama” (Feature Film). She wrote and starred in “Extraordinary Aliens”, performed both in New York and Los Angeles.
gathering of talents
Meet The Team
BIO
Carol Prud’homme Davis (she/her), a native Texan moved to NYC to dance. She has served as visual artist in residence at both Peridance Capezio Center and the Sandra Cameron Ballroom Studio and has drawn over 100 companies and dance artists. She is once again resident visual artist at Peridance as well as The Anna Sokolow Dance Ensemble and sarAika. Carol’s work has been shown in the first American Contemporary Dance Museum exhibition (where her work is in the permanent collection), The East Texas Fair, Peridance, 288 Tom & Jerry’s, The Cooper Union windows, the Anna Sokolow Theater Dance Ensemble website (“Rooms” gallery), Francesca Todesco’s website, Kathryn Atler of the Limon Company’s website and The Infinity Dance Theatre website. She is now illustrating books on Lynn Simonson and Kimberley Monroe’s “Helmet” which will be presented as a children’s puppet performance and book. She looks forward to having her art image on the Anna Sokolow “Slaughter of the Innocents” album cover which will be performed live at the Smithsonian along with her artwork inspired by rare photos of Anna Sokolow performing “Slaughter of the Innocents. Carol’s image “Reflection and Reaction” was featured in the awarding winning video, “Pause”. Carol’s artwork is the book cover on “A Dancer Writes Haiku” by Marie Paquet.Nesson. In December 2021 her work was featured at the 6th Street/Avenue B projection ”Bowery Resident and Homeless Street Artists Exhibition” funded by LMCC and directed by Ms. Davis. Carol is the founder and owner of “Inside Change from Within” and “Inside Change, Inc.” both focus on social justice, food equity and arts exhibition, education and performance for all.
Anna Sokolow : Rooms , Sidre Bell, Battery Dance, Alison Cook Beatty, Guanglei Hui, Limon:( Alan Danielson, Kathryn Atler, Attica, Raphael Boumara, Sue Bernard, Geraldine Cardiel, Concerto Grosso, Iroyo, Betty Jones, Logan Krueger, Psalms, Rias Steinberg), Jesse Obremski, Igal Perry, Simonson : (Laurie DeVito, Katiti King, Diane McCarthy, Teresa Perez Ceccon, Lynn Simonson), Jae Man Joo, Princess Lockerooo, Are We There Yet: Alan Danielson
Diane Auriel, Arthur Aviles, Stephanie Batten Bland, Alyssa Breteramos, Camille A.A. Brown, Maria Bauman, Jaqueline Buglisi, Lecia Calcaguis, Cornell Callendar, Marie Carstens, Attila Joey Csiki, Dina Denis: Into the Light, Carolyn Dorfman, Catherine Gallant, Marianne Galassi, Samantha Geracht, Francesca Harper, Jody Herman, JDove Productions: Mariano Martinez, Florence Frittias, Jamel Gaines, Karina Gonzalez,, Evelyn Ifiegubu, Infinity Dance Theatre, Randy James, Carmen Jonson, Barbara Kane, Bill Kline, Mary Susan Sinclair Kuenning, Charlotte Landreau, Emery LeCrone, David Leung, Lloyd Knight
, Erin Lemeux, Kate LohMarco, Reed Lupua, Melissa Martinez, Amy Marshall, Jim May: Edgar Alan Poe, Gina Mayer, Darrell Grande Moultre, Benny Ninja, Javier Ninja, , Elisa Scheiber Peterson, Kevin Polak, Dante Polchetti, Ellen Moon Pope, Alexandre Proi, Danielle Quisenberry, Manuel Ronda, Leidy Roas, Dana Ruttenberg, Yoeko Sashat, Jacquelyn Scafidi, Link Sekou, Caleef Sellars, Madeline Shen, Alice Sheppard, Irene Sposetti, Igor Shteynberg, Carmen Nicole Smith, Oliver Steele, Kathryn Sullivan, Summation, Lynn , Ellen Tittler, Loretta Thomas, Francesca Todesco, Evelyn Tuul, Krishna Washburn, Max Stone, Jordan Washington, Ammanda Wells, Johannes Wiedman, Evita Zacharioglou, Hara Zi, Nikki Holck, ERic Delgado, Elisabetta Minutoli, Graciela Kozak, Elizabeth Farrell, Ejoe, Hector Invictus Lopez, Ebenzer Ackon, Kendrick Samuel, Korie Genius, Alex Anderson, sarAika
BIO
Rebecca Marcela Oviatt (she/her)/BECCAVISION is a New York City based movement and visual artist, and educator. Becca has been working professionally as videographer, photographer, and video editor since 2017, primarily working with dancers, movement artists, and educators. Becca earned her graduate degree in Dance Education from NYU Steinhardt in 2010, and has since been working in the education sector, in addition to performing professionally and working as videographer and photographer. Becca’s work ranges from dance photography and videography, to commercial and editorial portraiture, to lifestyle and influencer content creation. At the center, Becca focuses on capturing an element of storytelling, honesty, humanity, and personal connection in her work, and seeks to give the artist, and audience, yet another way to experience the art work. More of BECCAVISION’s work can be found IG @becca.vision.
BIO
Haley Morgan Miller (she/they) is an interdisciplinary choreographer, dancer, technologist and teacher based in Brooklyn, New York. Her works include audio reactive renderings of paper mache masks for Every Morning a New Arrival, premiered at Art She Says. The healing performance installation explores the relationship between the self and shadow selves with live painting by Lauren Altman. Haley’s debut dance film, Ephemeral Pleasures, appeared in the Anyplace Anytime Online Dance Film Festival by Cross Move Lab, and FRAMES Virtual Festival hosted by Collective Exchange. Her choreography has been presented at Marinnovators Science and Technology Festival, Vision Series Festival, and The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Haley is a company member with sarAika movement collective, and Chloe Kastner Dance Company. She graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Contemporary Dance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she performed work by Mark Morris, Juel D. Lane, Michael Figueroa, Jun Kuribayashi. Haley is a company member with both sarAika movement collective, and Chloe Kastner Dance Company. She adores teaching at The Tutu School, and working as an Arts Administrator and Marketer with Yana Schnichtzler HUMAN KINETICS and sarAika movement collective.
Past Performers
BIO
Karma Chuki (she/her) is a professional dancer currently pursuing dance at Peridance International Dance School in New York City. Through her versatile experiences, she has been committed to knowledge sharing to re-frame the social connectors of dance with physical and cognitive wellbeing.
Karma has trained under The Danceworx Performing Arts Academy since 2012 and has coexisted with the company as a dancer, teacher and a performer. She later became one of the principal dancers of India’s leading touring company, Navdhara India Dance Theatre. Her dance experience as a soloist and as part of a team with NIDT spreads across Israel, Germany, USA, Poland, South Africa, Canada, China to name a few.
She has trained extensively in ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, hip hop, Improvisation and bollywood. She has developed a strong understanding of dance as an Impetus to change the world through discipline and opportunities.
