Plgdc guest artists
Jamar Roberts
Jamar Roberts is a choreographer who has made works on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, LA Dance Project, Ballet X, the Juilliard Dance Division, Ailey 2, New York City Center’s Fall For Dance and Vail Dance Festival, among others. Mr. Roberts is a graduate of the New World School of the Arts and the Ailey School and has danced for AAADT, Ailey II, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Mr. Roberts won the 2016 Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer and has performed as a guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London and made multiple television performance appearances. In the fall of 2020 the March on Washington Film Festival invited Mr. Roberts to create a dance on film tribute to the Honorable John Lewis. Other highlights include Works and Process at the Guggenheim where he created the acclaimed short work on film entitled Cooped and A Chronicle of a Pivot at a Point in Time which first premiered on film in the summer of 2021 and was restaged for a live performance world premiere in March of 2022. Jamar was a Director’s Fellow at NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts in the 2020-2021 season and he has also made a short film for the LA Opera entitled The First Bluebird in the Morning. He was most recently featured on the cover of Dance Magazine in June of 2021, having previously been on the cover in June 2013 and being named “25 to Watch” in 2007. Jamar is a Creative Associate at the Juilliard School.
Photo credit: Michael Avedon.
Gentry George
Gentry George founded Inwood NYC’s premiere dance company Zest Collective November 02, 2013. Former Dance Artist for the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Ailey II, George graduated from The Juilliard School in 2012. Gentry is a Guest Artist at Randolph College and Central Connecticut State University. He teaches at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), Dance Project of Washington Heights, and Eglevsky Ballet. George was born in Miami, Florida in 1990. At age eight, he began his artistic studies with the Founder of The Community Book and Dance Academy Linda Agyapong. He went on to study with Daniel Lewis before graduating from New World School of the Arts. Gentry would also train with Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida’s Artistic Director Vladimir Issaev. Further, he was a scholarship student at The School at Jacob’s Pillow, The Ailey School, and The Miami Conservatory’s Thomas Armour Youth Ballet.
George is a recipient of a Level 1 ARTS award, given by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and is featured on HBO’s “Masterclass,” also starring Jacques d’Amboise. He has graced the pages of Essence Magazine, and can be seen in the feature-film “Life of an Actress.” In February 2015, George's company debuted an installation performance - 'A Matter Of Heart' with visual artist Brian Michael Reed, accompanied live by electronic performance duo Pax Humana at the Alchemical Theatre Laboratory. Gentry has created work on The Governor's School for the Arts (Norfolk, VA), Arts High School (Newark, NJ), Randolph College (Lynchburg, VA), and has choreographed three ballets on the Peter London Global Dance Company: the most recent of which premiered in December 2019 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. George has presented work throughout New York City, New Jersey and Florida. In New York City, ZEST has performed at the SummerStage, Dixon Place, HarlemStage Gatehouse Theater, Ulster Performing Arts Center, The Wassaic Project, Jamaica Center for the Arts and Learning, Whitebox Art Center, Madiba Harlem, Fort Tryon Park, Marcus Garvey Park, and the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood.
Lloyd Knight
Lloyd Knight was born in England and reared in Miami. Has a BFA from the New World School of the Arts under Artistic Director Daniel Lewis. Mr. Knight joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2005 and was promoted to Principal in 2014. He has had ballets choreographed on him by Nacho Duato twice, Andonis Foniadakis, Larry Keigwin, Doug Varone, Lar Lubovitch, Kyle Abraham, Liz Gerring, Michelle Dorrance, Anne Bogart, Pontus Linberg, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Pam Tanowitz, Hofesh Shechter and Mats Ek. Dance Magazine named Mr. Knight as one of the “Top 25 Dancers to Watch” in 2010. He partnered with New York City Ballet Principal Wendy Whelan in Graham's "Moon Duet" and with American Ballet Theatre's Principal Misty Copeland in a Graham’s "Letter to the World". He was picked Best Performer of 2015 by Dance Magazine. Bessie Nominated for best Performer in 2022, as well as a Guest Principal Dancer for Twyla Tharps City Center Season in 2022. Most recently he was a guest Principal artist for The Royal Ballet of Flanders.
Richard Villaverde
Born and raised in Miami, FL, Richard began dancing privately coached by Maria Eugenia Lorenzo, graduated from New World School of the Arts high school and received his B.F.A from University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Notably, he was a part of Arsenale della Danza 2012 at La Biennale de Venezia under the direction of Ismael Ivo. He later joined BalletX (2012-2021) where he was featured in works by Matthew Neenan, Kevin O’Day, Nicolo Fonte, Cayetano Soto, Trey McIntyre, Jodie Gates, and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, to name a few. He’s performed at the Vail International Dance Festival, Ballet Sun Valley, Belgrade Dance Festival and Jacob’s Pillow. Richard is beginning his third season with the Martha Graham Dance Company where he has been featured in classic works such as “Diversion of Angels,” “Acts of Light” and most recently premiered Husbandman in “Appalachian Spring”. He is also featured in Hofesh Shechter’s “CAVE” choreographed just for the Martha Graham Dance Company. Last year in 2022 had the honor of being part of Twyla Tharp’s revival of her two most iconic works “In the Upper Room” and “Nine Sinatra Songs” at New York City Center.
Annellyse Munroe
Annellyse Munroe began her dance training at the age of five in Miami, FL at South Florida Ballet. She attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Martha Graham School, and The Ailey School as a Scholarship student. Ms. Munroe has worked with choreographers including Kyle Abraham, Desmond Richardson, and Amy Hall Garner. She has performed at the Joyce Theater for Martha Graham Dance Company’s 86th anniversary season. In 2014, Annellyse received a BFA with honors from New World School of the Arts/University of Florida. Immediately after graduation, she joined Ailey II 2014-2016, the sister company of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Ms. Munroe was featured on the cover of Dance Spirit magazine’s February 2015 issue. Annellyse is signed with Bloc Talent Agency NYC where she participated in other engagements in dance performances, including the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards for Beyoncé and for Desigual SS18 collection in New York Fashion Week to name a few.
In 2019, Annellyse received a Master of Science degree in Non-Profit Management from Columbia University. While at Columbia, she also served as Secretary for the Nonprofit Management Student Association. Most Recently, Ms. Munroe serves as the Student Life Coordinator at the ABT, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, and is a New York Knicks City Dancer. Annellyse is always eager to give back to her community and enjoys teaching master classes when she can. She is determined to educate, empower, and equip the next generation of dance artists.
Melissa Verdecia
Melissa Verdecia is from Miami, FL and received her early training from Mencia-Pikieris School of Dance and New World School of the Arts where she graduated summa cum laude in 2008. In 2012, Melissa went on to earn her BFA in dance from The Juilliard School under the direction of Larry Rhodes. While attending The Juilliard School Melissa performed works by Sidra Bell, Alex Ekman, Nacho Duato and Jerome Robbins among others. In 2008, Melissa was selected as a modern dance Finalist in the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) YoungARTS competition. She was also featured in the HBO series “Master Class.” In 2016 Melissa had the joy of being presented along with her BH colleagues in Lincoln Center at the Movies Great American Dance Series where she performed lead roles in works by Gustavo Ramirez Sansano and Pedro Ruiz. Currently, Melissa is in her ninth season with Ballet Hispánico with whom she performs nationally and internationally as well as teaches workshops as part of their outreach initiative. Melissa has also choreographed for and served as the rehearsal director for the Peter London Global Dance Company in Miami, FL and Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami.
Justin Rapaport
Justin Rapaport (he/him) is a freelance dance artist, choreographer and stager who enjoys collaborating and creating with like-minded artists and individuals. Most recently, he has worked with Anne Plamondon, PARA.MAR Dance Theater, Rachel Meyer, Zoe|Juniper, Joshua Beamish/MoveTheCompany and Alejandro Cerrudo and Artists. Justin is a former member of Ballet BC, under the directorship of Emily Molnar and Medhi Walerski, where for 6 years, he had the opportunity to perform various solos and lead roles by choreographers such as Crystal Pite, William Forsythe, Aszure Barton, Ohad Naharin and Sharon Eyal. Justin received his formal training at New World School of the Arts, followed by The Juilliard School, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts. During his training, Justin had the opportunity to perform works by Jiří Kylián, Twyla Tharp, Kyle Abraham, Martha Graham and Camille A. Brown. He also had the opportunity to perform as a guest artist with his classmates with Brain Brooks/Moving Company and Kate Weare Company during his time at Juilliard.
Justin has delved into the choreographic realm throughout his career, starting out in student choreographic presentations and working his way up to companies and festivals. He started his professional choreographic career with Peter London Global Dance Company in 2014 and has gone on to create numerous collaborations for the company, including Leah, Frosties, Around as you turn, Current, and at an end to name a few. He thanks Peter London for his generosity and belief in his choreographic endeavors and vision, providing Justin and numerous South Florida artists a home to create without limitations and expectations. He has gone on to create with HD Theatre, Boykin Dance Projects, Dance Deck Dix and Ballet BC. Most notably in 2021, Justin created Passing By at Ballet BC, in collaboration with Evan Rapaport and Rae Srivastiva, which was selected as a finalist of the 14th Copenhagen International Choreography Competition, and awarded the Danish Dance Theater Award by Pontus Lidburg. For that achievement, Justin had the opportunity to set Passing By on Dansk Danseteater and present the work at the Copenhagen Summer Dance Festival in July 2023.
Justin has also had the opportunity to begin staging work, first getting practice with his fellow colleagues at Ballet BC. He took the next step in January 2023, where he set Walkerski’s Sway on Staatstheater Hannover and then will stage the work for Ballet BC in the spring of 2024. He wants to continue to work as a stager for companies and artists.
While growing in Miami, Justin was a trained violinist for 10 years, in addition to his rigorous dance training, but had to put it to the side as dance became his full-time focus after high school. He stills fiddles around with it from time to time. Outside of dance, Justin loves being outdoors biking or at the beach, and the occasional decadent donut.
Photo credit: Michael Slabodian
BUSK by Aszure Barton
Sharron Lynn
Sharron Lynn is a proud native of Miami, FL, and high school graduate of New World School of the Arts where she trained in all forms of dance. During her time at New World, she received a number of scholarships to attend the Alvin Ailey summer intensive and was eventually asked to join the 2nd company, Ailey II. She then went on to attend Florida State University and finished with two Bachelor’s degrees, one in Applied Economics and the other in Interdisciplinary Social Science.
Realizing her talents, abilities, and artistic appetite encompassed the world of dance and more, she went on to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre under James Brill. She has worked in Film and Television on projects such as HBO's Vinyl and Lovecraft Country, the Netflix Original Series The Get Down, and Scary Movie 5 and has also played the role of Cinderella at Lincoln Center in the Little Orchestra Society's production of Cinderella. She had the pleasure of touring the US and Canada with Disney’s The Lion King and was most recently performing with the Broadway company. She has also been featured in a variety of ad campaigns, commercials, and magazines for brands such as Reebok, Target, Under Armour, Office Depot, Seattle Magazine, Runner’s World Magazine, and Glamour Magazine to name a few.
Sharron continues to work extensively as an artist and wellness professional providing free yoga classes via her Youtube channel, Breathe Flow Be with Sharron Lynn. She serves as a mentor to a number of young women and is always looking to inspire, grow, and expand.
Kashia Kancey
Kashia Kancey is a Miami-born dancer, choreographer, performer, and artist, who earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from New World School of the Arts. Upon finishing her education, Kashia presented choreography on the Dancemakers: New Works Series at NWSA, and choreographed two commissioned works for Peter London Global Dance Company, titled “War of the Women” and “Everyday is February”. Since then, she has apprenticed with Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, and is currently working with Adele Myers and Dancers. Kashia is now based in Brooklyn, New York, and continues to pursue her professional career as a dancer and choreographer.
Christopher McKenzie Jr.
Christopher is a native of Miami, FL. He was born at Florida Memorial Hospital to two amazing parents, Christopher Sr. & Alicia. He is a graduate of Miami Carol City Senior High School where he was in the marching band. He went on to attend New World School of the Arts College having the amazing chance of working with the best of the best teachers. He has danced with Dallas Black Dance Theatre, The Las Vegas Contemporary Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Orlando, and he is currently dance captain/male swing of Disney’s The Lion King US National Tour.
Brooke Logan
Marion-Skye Brooke Logan is currently an educator, performer, and rehearsal director/assistant to the Dance world. As a native to Miami, FL, Brooke grew up dancing at the Dance Empire of Miami where she studied jazz and hip hop under Angel Fraser-Logan and Tawanna Hall-Charlton. As a former graduate of New World School of the Arts College, Ms. Logan holds a BFA in Dance and has learned various repertoires such as works from, Peter London, Robert Battle, Paul Taylor, and Ohad Naharin. Along with those repertoires came learning ballet techniques, and traditional modern techniques such as, Graham and Horton. While obtaining her BFA in Dance, Ms. Logan became fascinated with learning more about technique, improvisation, and relaxation. During her college summers she traveled to San Francisco, New York, and Israel on several occasions to study Gaga (Naharin), Ballet (Rhatigan) and more at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and The Batsheva Studios.
Ms.Logan was also accepted to the Jacobs Pillow program which was a one time in American History “Gaga” oriented study. Ms. Logan has assisted Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s house choreographer Jamar Roberts on his first creations. These commissions have included Alvin Ailey and Juilliard. Ms. Logan has danced with Peter London Global Dance Company since 2019 where she was given the opportunity to perform with Dance Theater of Harlem and perform at the Perez Art Museum for the women of the United Nations. Ms. Logan has received recognition from Dance Magazine on her first solo with PLGDC "Eomeoni" 2019. In 2020, Ms. Logan has taken the position as Dance Director at Doral Academy Preparatory School for middle and highschool dance as well as a coach for the Rubies Dance Team. Most recently, Logan has been selected to premiere her film “Mortal Stain” at the 2020-2021 Miami Screen Dance Festival! Logan dreams of using videography and social media to reach the community of Miami. Marion-Skye’s favorite passion hobby is to use dance films to share stories and lessons with her community from love, to human rights.
Vitolio Jeune
Vitolio began his dance training in his native country Haiti. He studied a variety of dance techniques under the mentorship of Jeanguy Saintus and Jean Rene Delsoin. Vitolio also danced with Ayikodans for many years and was a guest artist with Lena Blou’s company Trilogie. In 2005 Vitolio moved to Miami, Florida to further his dance education at New World School of the Arts, where he graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts; in partnership with University of Florida and Miami Dade College. Soon after graduation Vitolio was selected as one of the top 20 dancers for the popular televised show, So You Think You Can Dance (Season 5). He finished the show as one of the top 14 dancers.
Vitolio joined Garth Fagan Dance in 2009 as a soloist and quickly became one of the stars of Garth Fagan Dance. Vitolio danced with Garth Fagan Dance for 12 years before deciding to leave the company to venture on his own.
Vitolio has taught at The Ailey School, University of Rochester, Miami Dade College, New World School of the Arts, School of the Arts and S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.
Vitolio was featured in the Dance Magazine as a dancer “On the Rise” where he was described as: “a brilliant technical dancer with great intelligence and a great gift for interpretation, he gets inside the dance and inhabits it.” The New York Times has described Vitolio as “a split-leaping dynamo and a gravity defying dancer.”