Silvana Cardell is a Philadelphia-based award-winning choreographer, dancer, and educator. She is the Artistic Director at Cardell Dance Theater and the Director of the Dance Program at Georgian Court University. Prior to working at GCU, she worked as faculty for the School of Dance at The University of the Arts.
You can learn more about Silvana at cardelldancetheater.com
Paula Meninato is an Argentine-born American artist, activist, and public speaker. She has an MA from Plymouth College of Art in Plymouth, UK and graduated from Tyler School of Art with a BFA, a Full-Tuition Merit Presidential Scholarship, and the Dean’s Grant for Student Research. She has curated art events at Tate Modern, Philadelphia City Hall, and The School District of Philadelphia. Her first solo exhibition was at The Embassy of Argentina in Washington, DC. Meninato has given 300+ speaking engagements around the world, including Barcelona, Berlin, London, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Vienna.
Learn more about Paula at paulameninato.com
Olivia Jenna Brown is a dancer/choreographer and dance educator who loves sharing the joy of movement with students of all ages. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Dance from Bennington College/formerly UArts School of Dance. Originally from NYC, Olivia trained at the acclaimed Alvin Ailey School, where she studied Ballet, Limon, Graham, Jazz, and Horton techniques. She holds a BA in Dance from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College. At Hunter, Olivia performed works by esteemed choreographers such as Doug Varone, Vicky Shick, and Monica Bill Barnes. Olivia’s pedagogy is informed by extensive studies in movement development with the Laban Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies. In her dance teaching, Olivia aims to foster integrated neuromotor development and empower children to express themselves through creative movement. Olivia’s movement practice is grounded in her ongoing practices of somatics, contact improvisation, and contemporary dance. Her choreography, which explores Jewish themes and collaborative process, has been featured at venues across Philadelphia and in festivals such as Flair Dance (2021) and the Philadelphia Fringe Festival (2021, 2023). She is passionate about the healing potential of dance as a means of radically imagining and embodying positive change in the world.
Loren Groenendaal is a dance teaching artist who holds degrees in Dance: a BA in Dance from Oberlin College and an MFA from University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is a Certified Movement Analyst in Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies. As an educator of educators, she has provided mentorship to junior colleagues at Cardell Dance Studio, The Arts League, Koresh Kids Dance, and the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies and has taught Dance Pedagogy at Temple University. As an administrator, she has been the Program Coordinator for Mascher Space Cooperative as well as serving on their board and led many programs through Vervet Dance, Dissolving Doors, and Free Fleet. Most of her artistic work is through Vervet Dance which is based in Philadelphia and has performed in Canada, Mexico and many places in between. This creative work often references patterns in the natural world, investigates the community-building possibilities of live art, the spectrums between improvisation and composition and ritual and performance, and blurs the distinctions between dance, visual arts, music, and sometimes even comedy. For youth her teaching is focused on creative dance education, supporting young dancers to become improvisers and choreographers while also building their skills in coordination, collaboration, strength, agility, flexibility, and balance through predominately creative movement and modern dance with some influence from ballet, hip hop, and folk dances from around the world. Loren’s movement vocabulary in her choreography and adult class has similar influences as well as traditional Balinese dance and Contact Improvisation. Loren is a certified Trauma-Informed Practice Teaching Artist through Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation and she also has a strong history of holding space for learning differences with a particular interest in supporting neurodivergent children and adults.
Alex Brazinski (He/Him) is a licensed acupuncturist and movement practitioner who teaches a combination of acrobatics, contemporary floorwork, and mobility in Philadelphia.
Alex spent most of his 20s pursuing movement-based practices such as acrobatics, floorwork, yoga, and martial arts. Alex has studied intensively under Tom Weksler through Movement Archery and Zen Acrobatics and now teaches acrobatics and floorwork classes at Urban Movement Arts in Philadelphia and Cardell Dance Studio. He performed as a dancer/acrobat with the Des Moines Metropolitan Opera in its production of The Love of Three Oranges in 2023. Alex premiered his first evening-length performance, “Where There is Hope, There is Light” at Cannonball Festival 2024 accompanied by musician Noah Julian.
Julian Darden studied performance and choreography at the Esther Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. As a teaching artist, he has worked with the youth of Philadelphia in association with the Lenfest Center, The Village of Arts and Humanities and presently, The Philadelphia Ballet. He teaches Umfundalai, a contemporary African dance technique, at Temple University and taught various adult classes in Center City at Urban Movement Arts and Range of Motion Philly (2018-2023). Standing on the shoulders of his mentors Oluko C. Kemal Nance and his Mwalimu Monique Newton Walker, Darden received his professional teaching certification of the Umfundalai dance technique in February 2021.
As a performing artist, Darden performed with D2D: Dare to Dance Co., Kariamu & Company: Traditions, and the Nance Dance Collective. He performed at New Freedom Theatre in “The Ballad of Trayvon Martin” (2016) and had his choreography featured in the productions of “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope” (2016) and “Black Nativity” (2016), shared the stage with the Stella Maris Dance Ensemble in Kingston, Jamaica (2017-2019) and participated in the Philadelphia Fringe Arts Festival in 2016, 2017, and 2019. Darden had the privilege to work as an assistant choreographer and be featured in Saleka Shyamalan’s music video “Clarity” (2020), Kingsley Ibeneche’s music video “So Kind” (2021) and Tierra Whack’s music video “27 Club” (2024).
Katherine Kiefer Stark is dance-artist, educator, and the artistic director of The Naked Stark. Katherine approaches dance holistically, exploring movement as culturally informed, politically charged, and aesthetically particular. This philosophy is deeply informed by theories from the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, Dr. Ann Dils, and Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild as well as the studio practices of BJ Sullivan and Jeremy Nelson. Katherine received her MFA in choreography from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and her BA in dance from Connecticut College. In Fall 2023, she took “Dance Pathways,” a disability inclusion course for dance teachers with Michaela Knox, a Master Danceability teacher.
She works with release-based movement techniques, partnering, and improvisation. She loves embracing weight, being propelled through space, and moving with necessary effort. Her artistic practice explores humanness, identity, and drama inside of these postmodern movement aesthetics.
Katherine has been a teaching artist with a variety of organizations and institutions, including Bryn Mawr College, Stockton University, and Widener University. Currently, she is adjunct faculty at Muhlenberg College, and offers a variety of drop-in classes and workshops in Philadelphia, including co-facilitating Creative Movement Workshop, an intergenerational class for all abilities, with Aubrey Donisch.
Katherine is passionate about collaboration and is fortunate to be in an on-going creative process through The Naked Stark with Amalia Colón-Nava, Chloe Marie, Harlee Trautman, Marcie Mamura, and Meredith Stapleton. Learn more thenakedstark.com