2025 NewDANCEfest Guest Artists

  • Cameron McKinney is a New York City-based choreographer, educator, and Artistic Director of Kizuna Dance. He was selected by the 2019-20 U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission to collaborate with Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki and present work in Japan. He has been a Choreography Fellow at The School at Jacob’s Pillow, a Hearst Choreographer-in-Residence at Princeton University, an Alvin Ailey Foundation New Directions Choreography Lab Fellow, and an Asian Cultural Council Individual Grantee. He has presented work and taught in twenty states and in Japan, Mexico, France, Germany, Belgium, and the UK, including performing his original choreography alongside Sayo Homma (Dance Barbizon) in Tokyo, Japan in the U.S. Ambassador's Residence. He has received over 30 commissions from colleges, companies, and institutions across the country and abroad. He currently teaches on faculty at Montclair State University and NYU Tisch. Each year, he organizes Kizuna Dance’s Open Intensive, a week of day-long intensives made entirely free for all participants.

  • Born in Detroit, Michigan, Alex Soulliere is an American dancer, choreographer and masterclass  teacher currently based in London, England. In his early years, Soulliere trained as a gymnast,  eventually transitioning into dance at the age of thirteen. His training began at Spotlight Dance  Works and later continued at The Juilliard School, under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. During  this time, he became a member of The Juilliard GLUCK Fellowship, where he helped curate,  choreograph and perform at hospitals and schools across New York City. He worked with Ground  Works Dance Theatre as a guest artist for their 2015 summer season, and later performed at Le  Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur for choreographer Ethan Colangelo. Upon graduation,  Soulliere completed a residency with Winter Guests’ choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen at The  BANFF Center for the Arts and Creativity, and later performed a run of shows for Jasmine Ellis in  Munich, Germany. In 2018, Soulliere moved to London to join the Rambert Dance Company,  under the direction of Benoit Swan Pouffer. For six years he worked for Rambert as a dancer, and  later as a Rehearsal Assistant during the company’s work with choreographer Jill Johnson in  2024. Throughout his professional career, he has performed works by Crystal Pite, Ohad Naharin,  Sharon Eyal, William Forsythe, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Hofesh Shechter, Imre and Marne van Opstal,  Wim Vandekeybus, Jo Strømgren, Alonzo King, Aszure Barton, Richard Alston, Merce  Cunningham, Jerome Robbins, and Wayne McGregor. Alongside his contemporary career,  Soulliere has performed at The Fred and Adel Astaire Awards, The BBC Olympic Homecoming  Event with Laura Mvula, the closing ceremonies for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, at Vogue  World with FKA Twigs, and with Rambert at the 2024 BAFTA’s. He can been seen in The  Avalanches’s music video “We Will Always Love You” and a 2024 “World AIDS Day” campaign for  MAC Cosmetics UK. He also appeared in the August 2023 issue of Vogue Magazine alongside  Naomi Campbell. All of these experiences have helped shape Soulliere into the artist he is today.  He is celebrated for his dynamic ability, consistency, and the broadness of his versatility. As a  choreographer, he has presented several works at The Juilliard School and at Rambert’s  choreographic platform “The Loom”. Soulliere is also an international masterclass teacher,  primarily teaching across the UK, Canada and the United States. He has served on faculty at the  Rambert Intensive and Rambert’s virtual platform, Rambert Home Studio. He has lead auditions  for Rambert in the UK and France, and worked as a teacher and assistant for workshops across  Italy, India and Australia. In the future, he is looking forward to broadening his curiosity and giving  back to his community, all while creating work alongside his partner, Jonathan Wade.

  • Originally from Miami, Florida, Jonathan Wade is an American dancer currently based in London,  England. Starting his career at the age of four, he toured nationally with the Broadway musical  Miss Saigon. His two and a half years on tour propelled him into the world of performing, and at  such an early age, he discovered a deep passion for dance. Wade’s training continued at Dance  Unlimited Miami, where he received several national awards including becoming a National  YoungArts winner in 2015. After graduating high school, he was hired by the convention company  Break The Floor, working as a full time assistant with 24Seven Dance Convention. This is a  position he held for four years, travelling across the nation assisting, performing and teaching.  Following the guidance of his mentors, Wade then had the privilege of attending Springboard  Danse Montreal, under the direction of Alexandra Wells. His time in Montreal shifted his focus to a  more Eurocentric approach to movement, working with choreographers like Bobbi Jean Smith, and  performing work by German choreographer Marco Goeke. After moving to New York City, he  began an apprenticeship with Parsons Dance Company, and participated in choreographic  research with principal dancers Hope Boykin (Alvin Ailey American Dance Company) and Lauren  Lovette (New York City Ballet). In 2021, Wade was offered a contract with Rambert2, the junior  cohort of the world renowned London based contemporary dance company Rambert, under the  direction of Benoit Swan Pouffer. In his year with the company, he performed works by Sharon  Eyal, Micaela Taylor, Andrea Miller, and Benoit Swan Pouffer. The following year, Wade was  promoted to the main company, where he has remained a full time company member ever since.  Working with Rambert has allowed him to perform works by numerous choreographers from  around the world, amongst which include Imre & Marne VanOpstal, Wim Vandekybus and Alonzo  King. Most recently, he enjoyed working with Jill Johnson, former principal dancer with William  Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt, to create an installation in Central London. Alongside his contemporary  work, he has been seen at Vogue World alongside FKA Twigs, at the 2024 BAFTAs, and with  Laura Mvula at the closing ceremonies for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Throughout his career  he has taken great interest in choreography, most recently presenting his duet work “Merry Go  Round” at Rambert’s choreographic platform “The Loom” in 2023. Wade also works as a  masterclass teacher, teaching young people and professionals around the UK and America. Some  of his teaching credentials include being on faculty for the Rambert Intensive and leading and  assisting Rambert auditions in London and Paris. It is his belief that dance be used as a vessel to  respond to, question, and challenge the world around us. In the years to come, he aspires to  perform, create work with his partner Alex Soulliere, and continue sharing his knowledge with the  international dance community.

Previous NewDANCEfest Guest Artists

  • JAKE TRIBUS

    2024 NDF Guest Artist

    Jake Tribus (he/him) is a 2020 graduate of USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance under the direction of Jodie Gates. He currently dances for Gibney Company, and joined in 2020. Tribus’ past training includes intensives with Netherlands Dance Theater, Batsheva Gaga Technique, The Juilliard School, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Additionally he has performed repertoire from choreographers William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Jîrí Kylián, Twyla Tharp, Johan Inger, Sharon Eyal, Paul Taylor, Victor Quijada, Aszure Barton, Sonya Tayeh, and Dwight Rhoden. Jake has performed on stages including The Joyce Theatre (with Gibney Company and the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance), The Shed (with A Quiet Evening of Dance by William Forsythe), the Kampnagel International Summer Festival (premiering Where There’s Form by Aszure Barton), and in 2022 the Fire Island Dance Festival (choreography by Akira Uchida and Micaela Taylor). He has also performed in music videos and on stage for artists including Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Lorde, Backstreet Boys, and Janet Jackson, among others. He most recently was a featured dancer in a fragrance campaign for fashion brand Carolina Herrera under the direction of Stephen Galloway. Jake is the recipient of a 2022 Princess Grace Award in Dance. Jake was a lead actor and dancer in “Daytripper,” a film directed and choreographed by James Whiteside in partnership with All Arts (a program of PBS). He is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, where he began his training at CC & Company Dance Complex. He also trained at Next Generation Ballet in Tampa, Florida, under the direction of Peter Stark. 

  • LIZ RIGA

    2024 NDF Guest Artist

    Liz Riga received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Liz ventured to New York City in 2001, where she attended New York University Tisch School of the Arts and received a Master of Fine Arts in Dance. Liz worked extensively with Keigwin + Company, creating, performing, touring, and teaching as an original member of the company. Liz has had the honor of performing at the Joyce Theater, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Works in Process at the Guggenheim, the Opening Gala at Jacob’s Pillow, and the New York City Center, to name a few. She taught master classes at various schools across the United States, including the University of Michigan, New York University, and North Carolina School of the Arts. Liz moved to Michigan with her family and began teaching at Oakland University in the fall of 2017. She has since choreographed works for Oakland Dance Theater and Oakland University’s Repertory Dance Company.

  • TAMISHA A. GUY

    2023 NDF Guest Artist

    TAMISHA A. GUY, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, began her formal dance training at Ballet Tech, under the direction of Eliot Feld. Later she attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, and SUNY Purchase College as a double major in dance and arts management. She has performed works by William Forsythe, Bebe Miller, Doug Varone, Merce Cunningham, Pam Tanowitz and Mark Morris. In 2013 Guy graduated with honors from SUNY Purchase College and joined the Martha Graham Dance Company shortly after. In 2016 Guy was selected as one of Dance Magazine' Top 25 to Watch and she also received the 2016 Princess Grace Award. She was featured in the segment “Spotlight on Success” in Dance Informa Magazine as well as the Caribbean Life newspaper, where she discussed her upbringing and the distinguished Princess Grace Award. In 2017, she was named one of the Best Dancer's of the Year by Dance Europe and in 2021, she received the 2022 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Dance. Guy has been fortunate to teach masterclasses in Hawaii, London, Berlin, Haiti, Colombia, Minneapolis, Arizona, Dallas etc. Tamisha currently dances with A.I.M, under Artistic Direction of Kyle Abraham, and she is a Lecturer in Dance at Barnard College.

  • KELLY HIRINA

    2023 NDF Guest Artist

    Currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, Kelly Hirina enjoys teaching technique, choreography and improvisation. Kelly is certified to teach Countertechnique and Double Skin/Double Mind, both of which she encountered and trained in while living and dancing professionally in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In the twenty years overseas, she worked with ICKamsterdam (Emio Greco & Pieter C.Scholten), Dansgroep Amsterdam (Krisztina de Châtel), Jakop Ahlbom and freelance choreographers stemming from the Batsheva and Nederlands Dans Theater companies. Kelly received an M.F.A. from the University of Michigan and is a 500-hour fully certified Pilates & Vinyasa Yoga instructor.

  • NORBERT DE LA CRUZ III

    2022 NDF Guest Artist

    Born in Bayombong Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines and raised in Los Angeles, CA Norbert De La Cruz III is recognized for his versatility in performance and choreography. He is a performing and collaborative artist with roots in classical and contemporary dance.  After moving to New York, he received a BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School followed by an MFA in Dance from Hollins University. He is a New York and Los Angeles based freelance dance artist.

    Professionally, Norbert has performed as a soloist with the Metropolitan Opera's production of Aida, Aszure Barton & Artists in Germany & Austria (Blue Soup & Busk), Balletto Teatro di Torino (Italy), Joe Goode Performance Group, Sydney Skybetter & Associates, Santa Clarita Ballet, Lustig Dance Theatre, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and Boca Tuya with Omar Román De Jesús. As a pre-professional, he was honored the Music Center's 17th annual Spotlight Award, the Emerging Young Artist Award, Youth America Grand Prix 2nd place in non-classical, and represented the Juilliard School at Kodak Theatre’s first annual Dizzy Feet Foundation Gala in Hollywood, CA.  Norbert recently been casted in Warner Brothers Pictures film adaptation of Tony-winning musical In The Heights.

    Norbert's choreographic career was further mentored by esteemed Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB) Directors, Tom Mossbrucker and Jean-Philippe Malaty. His early career was recognized through the support of the Jerome Robbins Foundation’s NEW Essential Works Grant (2012), commissioning his first large-scale ballet, “Square None” (2012) with ASFB. He was then a finalist of Hubbard Street’s National Choreographic Competition (2013), a Princess Grace Foundation-USA Award under the choreography fellowship (2012), Alvin Ailey New Directions Choreography Lab (2013), finalist for the Joffrey Academy of Dance’s 2014 Winning Works and a recipient for the 2015 National Choreographic Initiative in Irvine, CA. He was selected for the 2017 and 2018 Spring Sessions at the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of New York City Ballet, where he created his “Lunar” and "Traces" ballet alongside Juilliard composer and esteemed collaborator, Nathan Prillaman. Additional honorable mentions include the Asian Arts Alliance Jadin Wong Award, McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival Award, and was featured in Dance Magazines Top 25 to watch.

    He has since been commissioned to create and premier new works for companies such as Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, Joffrey Academy of Dance, James Sewell Ballet, Tulsa Ballet II, Barak Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Ballet Florida, Peridance, Golden State Ballet, Attack Theatre, Ballet X, Olympic Ballet Theatre, and Periapsis Music & Dance.

  • WENDELL GRAY II

    2022 NDF Guest Artist

    A dance artist, choreographer, and educator currently based in New York City. He has worked professionally with choreographers such as Joanna Kotze, Tere O’Connor, Pavel Zustiak, Maria Bauman, Jonah Bokaer, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, and more. In late fall of 2021 he received the STUFFED Artist in Residence at Judson Memorial Church. He was also a Work Up 6.0 Artist at Gibney Dance in Spring 2020. Additionally, he has shown work at the University of the Arts, Movement Research at Judson Church, Center for Performance Research, Chez Bushwick, La Mama Galleria, Capezio ACE Awards, and Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. He has set work on companies such as Michiyaya Dance, Pennsylvania Ballet II + Philadanco II, and Periapsis Music and Dance. Wendell is a BFA graduate of the University of the Arts (15’) under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield was raised in Atlanta, GA.