Curriculum IV: Spin and Spin! Turn! Turn! Turn! Program

LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council)
in association with New York Live Arts and Battery Park City Authority
presents

BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE COMPANY

Bill T. Jones, Co-Founder & Artistic Director

Curriculum IV: Spin and Spin! Turn! Turn! Turn!

2026

featuring

The Company
Ryan Charles-Marc, Barrington Hinds, Camille Phelps, Justin Rainey, Babou Sanneh, Hannah Seiden, Philip Strom, Mak Thornquest, Wyeth Walker, Rosa Allegra Wolff

Conceived and directed by Bill T. Jones
Musical Composition by Samora Pinderhughes
Choreography by Bill T. Jones with Shayla-Vie Jenkins and the Company
Rehearsal Direction by Shayla-Vie Jenkins
Costume design by Liz Prince
Costume Assistance by Khari Walser
Lighting Design by Serena Wong
Vocal direction by Nio Levon
Vocal performance by Julia Easterlin, Jehbreal Jackson, Nio Levin & Schadrack Pierre
Guitar performance by Asher Kurtz
Percussion & Drumset by Frankie Leroux
Bass by Josh Hari
Keyboards & Music Direction by Chris Pattishall

Live Arts Programming & Production Staff
Kyle Maude, Producing Director & Chief Operating Officer
Chanel Pinnock, Director of Production & Operations
Dylan Richmond, Company Manager
Sydney Starks, Production Stage Manager
James Bennett, Audio/Video Manager
Eric Norbury, Associate Lighting Supervisor

LMCC Programming & Production Staff
Moe Yousuf, Artistic Director & Chief Executive Officer
Emma Montoya-Hils, Chief Operating Officer
Brandon Cournay, Programming Producer
Benjamin Papac, Events Coordinator

Additional Music & Text: "If I Told Him, A Completed Portrait of Pablo Picasso" by Gertrude Stein, 1923; “Turn Turn Turn” by Pete Seeger, 1959; “Quilted” by Poemme, 2017; “Constellations” by Astral Ambience, 2026; “I’ll Never Be The Same” by Matty Malneck and Frank Signorelli, 1932; “Soon This Space Will Be Too Small” by Lhasa del Sela, 2003; “Little Wheel Spin and Spin” by Buffy St. Marie, 1962; “Now That the Buffalo’s Gone” by Buffy St. Marie, 1964; “She Used To Wanna Be A Ballerina" by Buffy St. Marie, 1971; “Stars” by Janis Ian, 1971; “Nocturne” by Frank O’Hara, 1955; “Metaphysical Poem” by Frank O’Hara, 1964

Commissioned by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and presented in partnership with New York Live Arts and Battery Park City Authority as part of the 2026 River To River Festival. This work commemorates the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001.

Funding for Curriculum IV: Spin and Spin! Turn! Turn! Turn! is provided by Battery Park City Authority, The National Endowment for the Arts, the offices of NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin and Deputy Speaker Natansha Williams, and Harkness Foundation for Dance. Additional funding for the River To River Festival is provided by The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Howard Gilman Foundation, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, and The Robert Lehman Foundation. River To River is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

The creation of new work by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company is made possible in part by the company’s Partners in Creation: Anne Delaney, Zoe Eskin, Eleanor Friedman, Ruth & Stephen Hendel, Suzanne Karpas, Ellen M. Poss, Jane Bovingdon Semel, Rachel Shapiro in memory of Linda G. Shapiro, and Slobodan Randjelović & Jon Stryker.

Don't forget to tag us!

IG: @lmcc_nyc / @billtjonesarniezaneco / @nylivearts / @bpcparks

A Note from Bill T. Jones

The Curriculum cycle began during the COVID pandemic. Curriculum IV asks us to return to the original impulse behind the Curriculum project: “What must we become aware of, learn from and aspire to in order to live honestly and optimistically in our global contemporary world?”

I was graciously invited by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council to create a work on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of 9/11. This somber occasion calls out loudly, though humanely, for a response that is visceral, emotional, tender and brave. It gives composer Samora Pinderhughes and his ensemble, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, and New York Live Arts with its particular mission of supporting body-based arts, a perfect opportunity to collaborate together, sweat together, dream together and now celebrate all our missions as we add our voices to the ongoing discussion: What can one learn from history and, if history remains mute (as it seems to), how can we move forward with curiosity, delight and, yes, love.

A Note from LMCC CEO & Artistic Director, Moe Yousuf

Twenty-five years after September 11, we find ourselves at a remarkable threshold. The world was forever changed. New York City was changed. Lower Manhattan was changed. LMCC was changed. Nearly half of our organization’s history has now unfolded in the years since, and artists have been essential to how this community has rebuilt, reimagined, and moved forward.

On September 12, 2001, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company was scheduled to perform with LMCC on the plaza between the Twin Towers, where LMCC’s offices were located. That performance never happened. Twenty-five years later, this commission is, for us, an act of resilience: an artist returning to work interrupted and asking what can be found by encountering it anew. Resilience is not simply endurance. It is the choice to keep making, to keep showing up for artists and for one another, and to bear witness to the tension, harmony, beauty, and possibility that emerge when we gather with intention.

That is why LMCC is so proud to realize this work in partnership with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and the Battery Park City Authority, here in Lower Manhattan. We return not simply to remember, but to ask what we carry forward, what we might imagine differently, and how we choose to move together into what comes next.

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Company History

Over the past 44 years the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company has shaped the evolution of contemporary dance through the creation and performance of over 140 works. Founded as a multicultural dance company in 1982, the company was born of an 11-year artistic collaboration between Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane. Today, the company is recognized as one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the modern dance world. The company has performed its ever-enlarging repertoire worldwide in over 200 cities in 40 countries on every major continent. In 2011, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company merged with Dance Theater Workshop to form New York Live Arts of which Bill T. Jones is the Artistic Director.

The repertory of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company is widely varied in its subject matter, visual imagery and stylistic approach to movement, voice and stagecraft and includes musically driven works as well as works using a variety of texts. Some of its most celebrated creations are evening length works including Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land (1990, Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music); Still/Here (1994, Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, France); We Set Out Early… Visibility Was Poor (1996, Hancher Auditorium, Iowa City, IA); You Walk? (2000, European Capital of Culture 2000,Bologna, Italy); Blind Date (2006, Peak Performances at Montclair State University); Chapel/Chapter (2006, Harlem Stage Gatehouse); Fondly Do We Hope… Fervently Do We Pray (2009, Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, IL); Another Evening: Venice/Arsenale(2010, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy); Story/Time (2012, Peak Performances); A Rite (2013, Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill); Deep Blue Sea (2021, Park Avenue Armory).

Portrait of Bill T. Jones by Stephanie Crousillat, Courtesy New York Live Arts 1.jpg

BILL T. JONES (Artistic Director/Co-Founder/Choreographer: Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; Artistic Director: New York Live Arts) is a multi-talented artist, choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer, has received major honors ranging from the Human Rights Campaign’s 2016 Visibility Award, 2013 National Medal of Arts to a 1994 MacArthur “Genius” Award and Kennedy Center Honors in 2010. Mr. Jones was honored with the 2014 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, recognized as Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2010, inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2009 and named “An Irreplaceable Dance Treasure” by the Dance Heritage Coalition in 2000. His ventures into Broadway theater resulted in a 2010 Tony Award for Best Choreography in the critically acclaimed FELA!, the new musical co-conceived, co-written, directed and choreographed by Mr. Jones. He also earned a 2007 Tony Award for Best Choreography in Spring Awakening as well as an Obie Award for the show’s 2006 off-Broadway run. His choreography for the off-Broadway production of The Seven earned him a 2006 Lucille Lortel Award.

Mr. Jones began his dance training at the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY), where he studied classical ballet and modern dance. After living in Amsterdam, Mr. Jones returned to SUNY, where he became co-founder of the American Dance Asylum in 1973. In 1982 he formed the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company (then called Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane & Company) with his late partner, Arnie Zane. Mr. Jones is currently Artistic Director of New York Lives Arts, an organization that strives to create a robust framework in support of the nation’s dance and movement-based artists through new approaches to producing, presenting and educating. For more information, visit http://www.newyorklivearts.org/.

His work in dance has been recognized with the 2010 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award; the 2005 Wexner Prize; the 2005 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement; the 2003 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize; and the 1993 Dance Magazine Award. His additional awards include the Harlem Renaissance Award in 2005; the Dorothy B. Chandler Performing Arts Award in 1991; multiple New York Dance and Performance Bessie Awards for his works The Table Project (2001), The Breathing Show (2001), D-Man in the Waters (1989) and the Company’s groundbreaking season at the Joyce Theater (1986). In 1980, 1981 and 1982, Mr. Jones was the recipient of Choreographic Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1979 he was granted the Creative Artists Public Service Award in Choreography.

Mr. Jones was profiled on NBC Nightly News and The Today Show in 2010 and was a guest on the Colbert Report in 2009. Also in 2010, he was featured in HBO’s documentary series MASTERCLASS, which follows notable artists as they mentor aspiring young artists. In 2009, Mr. Jones appeared on one of the final episodes of Bill Moyers Journal, discussing his Lincoln suite of works. He was also one of 22 prominent black Americans featured in the HBO documentary The Black List in 2008. In 2004, ARTE France and Bel Air Media produced Bill T. Jones–Solos, highlighting three of his iconic solos from a cinematic point of view. The making of Still/Here was the subject of a documentary by Bill Moyers and David Grubin entitled Bill T. Jones: Still/Here with Bill Moyers in 1997. Additional television credits include telecasts of his works Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land (1992) and Fever Swamp (1985) on PBS’s “Great Performances” Series. In 2001, D-Man in the Waters was broadcast on the Emmy-winning documentary Free to Dance.

Bill T. Jones’s interest in new media and digital technology has resulted in collaborations with the team of Paul Kaiser, Shelley Eshkar and Marc Downie, now known as OpenEnded Group. The collaborations include After Ghostcatching – the 10th Anniversary re-imagining of Ghostcatching (2010, SITE Sante Fe Eighth International Biennial); 22 (2004, Arizona State University’s Institute for Studies In The Arts and Technology, Tempe, AZ); and Ghostcatching – A Virtual Dance Installation (1999, Cooper Union, New York, NY).

He has received honorary doctorates from Yale University, Art Institute of Chicago, Bard College, Columbia College, Skidmore College, the Juilliard School, Swarthmore College and the State University of New York at Binghamton Distinguished Alumni Award, where he began his dance training with studies in classical ballet and modern dance.

Mr. Jones’s memoir, Last Night on Earth, was published by Pantheon Books in 1995. An in-depth look at the work of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane can be found in Body Against Body: The Dance and Other Collaborations of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, published by Station Hill Press in 1989. Hyperion Books published Dance, a children’s book written by Bill T. Jones and photographer Susan Kuklin in 1998. Mr. Jones contributed to Continuous Replay: The Photography of Arnie Zane, published by MIT Press in 1999. Jones’s most recent book, Story/Time: The Life of an Idea, was published in 2014 by Princeton University Press.

In addition to his Company and Broadway work, Mr. Jones also choreographed Sir Michael Tippet’s New Year (1990) for Houston Grand Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. His Mother of Three Sons was performed at the Munich Biennale, New York City Opera and the Houston Grand Opera. Mr. Jones also directed Lost in the Stars for the Boston Lyric Opera. Additional theater projects include co-directing Perfect Courage with Rhodessa Jones for Festival 2000 in 1990. In 1994, he directed Derek Walcott’s Dream on Monkey Mountain for The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN.

ARNIE ZANE (Co-Founder/Choreographer) (1948-1988) was a native New Yorker born in the Bronx and educated at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton. In 1971, Arnie Zane and Bill T. Jones began their long collaboration in choreography and in 1973 formed the American Dance Asylum in Binghamton with Lois Welk. Mr. Zane’s first recognition in the arts came as a photographer when he received a Creative Artists Public Service (CAPS) Fellowship in 1973. Mr. Zane was the recipient of a second CAPS Fellowship in 1981 for choreography, as well as two Choreographic Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1983 and 1984). In 1980, Mr. Zane was co-recipient, with Bill T. Jones, of the German Critics Award for his work, Blauvelt Mountain. Rotary Action, a duet with Mr. Jones, was filmed for television, co-produced by WGBH-TV Boston and Channel 4 in London.

Composer

SAMORA PINDERHUGHES (Composer) is a multidisciplinary artist, composer, pianist/vocalist and filmmaker known for striking vulnerability and carefully crafted, radically honest art. He is also known for using his art to examine sociopolitical issues and fight for change.

Pinderhughes is the first-ever Art for Justice + Soros Justice Fellow and a recipient of Chamber Music America’s 2020 Visionary Award. He has also been designated as a Creative Capital awardee, a United States Artists Fellow, and a Sundance Composers Lab fellow. He was the 2025 MoMA Adobe Creative Resident and was awarded the “Spark of Change” Award from APAP in 2026.

Pinderhughes is a graduate of The Juilliard School and is currently getting his Ph.D. at Harvard University in the Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry program under the direction of Vijay Iyer.

Pinderhughes is also the Artistic & Executive Director of The Healing Project, a community arts organization that creates narrative change and collective healing in partnership with individuals impacted by structural violence to build a world based around healing rather than punishment.

His albums include The Transformations Suite, GRIEF, Venus Smiles Not in the House of Tears, and Black Spring. The short film for his song Process, directed with Christian Padron, won 2021’s Best Experimental Film award at Blackstar Film Festival. His solo exhibitions include GRIEF at the Kitchen (2023) and Call and Response at the Museum of Modern Art (2026).

Pinderhughes has collaborated with many artists across boundaries and scenes including Herbie Hancock, Glenn Ligon, Sara Bareilles, Simone Leigh, Daveed Diggs, Kyle Abraham, Titus Kaphar, and Lalah Hathaway. He is featured as a composer, lyricist, vocalist, and pianist on the albums August Greene and Let Love with Common, Robert Glasper, and Karriem Riggins. He has toured internationally with artists including Branford Marsalis, Chief Adjuah, Jose James, and Emily King, and been commissioned by institutions including Carnegie Hall and the Apollo Theater. Pinderhughes also scored the award-winning documentaries Whose Streets? and Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, for which he won an Emmy Award.

Performers

Portraits by Stephanie Crousillat

Ryan Charles-Marc

RYAN CHARLES-MARC (performer) is a Haitian-American dancer and choreographer from Miami, Florida. He earned his BFA in Dance from the New World School of the Arts College in 2025. He has previously performed as a company member with Peter London Global Dance Company and Zest Collective and is a member of the Nieces & Nephews dance crew. His performance repertoire includes works by Martha Graham, Robert Battle, Paul Taylor, Jamar Roberts, and other influential choreographers. In 2026, he was honored as a Barbara Ensley Award recipient from the Merce Cunningham trust. Ryan’s artistic practice explores Black identity, cultural memory, and community, creating choreography that celebrates Black culture.

Barrington Hinds

BARRINGTON HINDS (performer) is from West Palm Beach, Florida. He began his training at the School of Ballet Florida under the direction of Marie Hale. Hinds holds a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase College and has worked professionally with VERB Ballets, Northwest Professional Dance Project, and the national tour of Twyla Tharp’s Broadway show, Movin’ Out. In 2011 Hinds was honored as a finalist for the Clive Barnes Award for young talent in dance. He has worked with leading choreographers including Laurie Stallings, Edgar Zendejas, Sarah Slipper, Helen Pickett, Thaddeus Davis, and Cherylyn Lavagnino to name a few. Hinds has also danced with the Stephen Petronio Company and has freelanced in commercial, TV, and print work. In addition Hinds is also a choreographer and teacher. His work has been shown at Purchase College, Dixon Place, Warwick Summer Festival, Arts On Site, and The Tank. Barrington has been a Performer with the Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Company since 2017. You can follow him @bar_hinds and his website www.barringtonhinds.com

Camille Phelps

CAMILLE PHELPS (performer) (she/her) is an interdisciplinary dancer based in New York City. Originally from Atlanta, she began her training at Dancemakers of Atlanta. She continued her training at SUNY Purchase where she graduated in 2023 with her BFA in dance. During her time at Purchase, she had the opportunity to perform works by Bill T. Jones, Linda and Glenn Sims, 2nd Best Dance Company, and Kyle Abraham. After graduating, Camille has been freelancing in New York City, performing with Akira Uchida, Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Imani Gaudin, Wendell Gray, Ogemdi Ude and Sidra Bell Dance New York.

Justin Rainey

JUSTIN RAINEY (performer) (He/Him) was raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He began his formal training at the University of Oklahoma, where he had the honor of performing works by George Balanchine, Alejandro Cerrudo, Merce Cunningham, Austin Hartel, and Tommie-Waheed Evans. Justin joined Dance Kaleidoscope in 2021 under the direction of David Hochoy and performed his masterworks, such as Carmina Burana and Iconaglass. After relocating to New York, Justin has worked with Nimbus Dance, Site Specific Dance, Cold Springs Dance Company, Pascal Rioult Dance Project, Abarukas, and guested with the Paul Taylor Dance Company for their 2022 Lincoln Center Season.

Babou Sanneh

BABOU SANNEH (performer) is a first-generation Gambian-American dance artist, model, and performer from the Bronx, New York. He is a graduate of the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase (BFA). His theatrical work spans immersive and operatic worlds, performing in Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More and Emursive’s Life and Trust. Babou has also appeared on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera House and Lyric Opera of Chicago in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, El Niño, Champion, and X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X. He has performed works by acclaimed choreographers including Johannes Weiland, Tushrik Fredericks, Maleek Washington, Bill T. Jones, Martha Graham, and Victor Quijada | RUBBERBAND, with appearances at 92NY, Springboard Danse Montréal, and the B12 Festival Berlin. Beyond the stage, Babou has been featured in campaigns and publications for Burberry, Telfar, Nike, Carolina Herrera, GQ, and HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness.

Hannah Seiden

HANNAH SEIDEN (performer) from Boulder, CO, is a movement artist based in New York City. She graduated with honors from NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a B.F.A. in Dance. Hannah joined Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in 2024 with her premiere at Brooklyn Academy of Music in Still/Here. She has performed both nationally and internationally in works by MICHIYAYA Dance, Sidra Bell, Ohad Naharin, Shannon Gillen, Larry Keigwin, Merce Cunningham, Sonya Tayeh, Itzik Gallili, Kate Harpootlian, Stacey Tookey, and many others, including her own original compositions. She has choreographed and danced in music videos, films, and ads for numerous artists and companies including THINX, MAC Cosmetics, Ambar Lucid, Carseat Headrest, and more. She was a featured dancer in "Mean Girls the Musical” with choreography by Kyle Hanagami. Hannah choreographs and teaches various styles of dance and Pilates to people of all ages around the world. IG: @hbseiden

Philip Strom

PHILIP STROM (performer) (he/him) is a movement artist from Washington State. While pursuing his BFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, he danced in work by Crystal Pite, Sonya Tayeh, Ronald K. Brown, and Paul Taylor. Since graduating he has performed with Andrea Ward, Bennyroyce Dance, Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance, Gabrielle Johnson + Artists, inDance (Hari Krishnan), & RyderDance. He participated in Spingboard Danse Montreal’s 2018 project, performing in original works by Maxine Doyle of Punchdrunk, and Emese Nagy of MA•ZE. Philip is an Artistic Associate of Bennyroyce Royon, having staged his work at Rutgers University and assisted him in processes & teaching at The Juilliard School, Ballet Hispánico, Joffrey Ballet School, Peridance Center, and Gibney Dance. As a creator, Philip maintains an ongoing choreographic research process, “Silhouette Series”, since 2019. Philip is excited to be joining the Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Company as a Guest Artist in 2023.

Mak Thornquest

MAK THORNQUEST (performer)(they/them) is a trans, Idaho-born dancer, writer, choreographer and first-generation college graduate. They received their BFA in Dance from the California Institute of the Arts in 2022 and has since relocated to New York City. Mak was a 2023 Artist in Residence with Ghostlight Residency (Los Angeles, CA) alongside their creative partner Max Martin, 2020 Artist in Residence at MING Studios (Boise, ID),and is a two time Alexa Rose Foundation grantee. As a company artist with Sidra Bell Dance New York, Mak performed in their Bessie Award nominated show IN | REP in October of 2022. In April of 2023, Mak debuted of their original work, an echo that doesn’t rhyme, in collaboration with composer Daniel Newman-Lessler, commissioned by Hear Now Music Festival. Notable performance credits include works by Trisha Brown, Danielle Agami, Peter Chu, Yusha-Marie Sorzano, and Merce Cunningham at venues including Arts On Site, Gibney, REDCAT LA, Los Angeles Dance Project, Hauser & Wirth, and the Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. They are immeasurably excited to join Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in 2024!

Wyeth Walker

WYETH WALKER (performer) is a dancer and choreographer, currently based in NYC. Raised in Virginia, he grew up training under Denise Wall, later graduating from USC Kaufman in 2022. While at USC, he had the opportunity to learn and perform work by Peter Chu, Bret Easterling, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, and Jermaine Spivey, among others. After graduating, Wyeth danced with RUBBERBAND in Montreal for three seasons. Since relocating to New York, he has performed in works by (All)Ways Dance Co and Marla Phelan.

Rosa Allegra Wolf

ROSA ALLEGRA WOLF (performer) is a world builder, sparking melancholic and electrifying truths through dance, choreography, and photography. Raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, Rosa received their early training at Sharron Miller’s Academy for the Performing Arts and the Lydia Johnson Dance School. Rosa is a 2024 New Choreography Grant recipient through the Eryc Taylor Dance Company and was a choreography fellow with MovingForwardDance run by Madi Hicks. Rosa graduated from George Mason School of Dance in 2023 with honors in choreographic excellence. Their creations weave in self-produced music, photography, collaboration, and deep breaths. Rosa has had the honor to perform with companies and artists including Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hardknocks, RogueWave Dance Company, Theatre in Quarantine run by Joshua William Gelb, Christina Robson, Joseph Hernandez, Heather Robles, Paris Cullen, and Sarah Zucchero. Having grown up inspired by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Rosa is thrilled to have joined the company in 2024.

Musicians

Julia Easterlin

JULIA EASTERLIN (Vocalist) is a vocalist and songwriter whose work has been recognized by TED, the GRAMMY Foundation, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and, through an unexpected series of events, T-Pain. Her solo work uses vocals, loop pedal, and stringed instruments of all persuasions to create lush sonic worlds bound together by the earthy storytelling of her upbringing on the Ogeechee river. She has collaborated with internationally renowned artists, including Jacob Collier, Vieux Farka Touré, Bobby McFerrin, and Kris Bowers. Her second studio album is currently in the works and is scheduled to be released in 2027.

Josh Hari

JOSH HARI (Bass) Josh Hari is an upright/electric bassist, musical director, producer, and bandleader whose career spans the breadth of American music. Raised between Guadalajara, Mexico, and Oakland, California, he became musical director of San Francisco’s Lorraine Hansberry Theatre at 19 before attending Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship. Over two decades, Hari has performed, toured, and recorded with artists including Herbie Hancock, Phife Dawg, Terence Blanchard, Fatoumata Diawara, Nick Hakim, Amber Mark, and many others. He has performed in more than 50 countries and represented the US State Department on cultural-diplomacy tours. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Jehbreal Jackson

JEHBREAL JACKSON (Vocalist) (a.k.a Dr. Angel) is an artist, dramaturg, scholar, and organizer. She danced professionally with Dance Theater of Harlem, is a vocalist with Samora Pinderhughes’s Healing Project choir, has served as assistant dramaturg under Julia Reinhard Lupton for UC Irvine’s Shakespeare festival, and as primary dramaturg for Niala Telfar’s “ICON” and Tethered Resident’s evening length work Images. As a published scholar, Jehbreal researches the histories and theories of ballet, ritual dances of the African diaspora, music, and race, and as an organizer, Jehbreal works as a core leader with Qween Jean and her Black Trans Liberation Kitchen.

Asher Kurtz

ASHER KURTZ (Guitar) is a guitarist, record producer, improviser, and mix engineer originally from Dallas, TX. After performing in NYC and abroad for 13 years, he’s shared the stage and screen with artists such as Moses Sumney, St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow, Terrace Martin, Dawn Richard, Lenny Pickett & the SNL House Band, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Maggie Rogers. Asher has also been a part of sound installations at MoMA (with Shana Moulton), The Shed (The Sonic Sphere), (Lincoln Center (with Angélica Negrón), and The New Museum (with Ragnar Kjartansson).

Frankie Leroux

FRANKIE LEROUX (Percussion) is a Puerto Rican multidisciplinary artist, producer, and educator whose work spans music, visual storytelling, live performance, and community-centered art. A longtime collaborator of Samora Pinderhughes and member of The Healing Project, he has contributed to recordings, exhibitions, and performances. His work with the project includes producing “Star Blooded Work Song” contributing to its 2022 exhibition at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and performing in The Baldwin Essays: As Much Truth as One Can Bear at The Apollo. Through Street Studio, Leroux transforms public spaces into collaborative music studios centered on songwriting and community.

Nio Levon

NIO LEVON (Vocal Director) Nio Norwood-Nkusudi, also known as Nio Levon (she/they), is a multidisciplinary artist and the Vocal Director for Samora Pinderhughes and the Healing Project Sound. Born into a jubilant, artistic and musical Black American family, Norwood’s love for the arts was cultivated very early in life alongside their passion for abolition and justice reform. After graduating from Duke Ellington School of the Arts and studying Musical Theater at Berklee College of Music, Norwood has collaborated with inspired artists and collectives including Meshell Ndegeocello, Jon Batiste, Elena Pinderhughes, Sam Smith, YEBBA, Broadway Inspirational Voices, Son Lux and more. Their creative work centers marginalized communities, using music and storytelling as tools for advocacy, cultural expression, and social change.

Chris Pattishall

CHRIS PATTISHALL (Music Director & Keyboards) is a pianist/composer/producer known for his wide stylistic breadth, meticulous sense of detail, and an inclination towards the surreal. Chris is a featured performer on a wide range of recordings, including the film scores of Knives Out, Nightmare Alley, and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Chris co-composed the score to the Emmy-winning documentary Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project. His 2021 release Zodiac — a reimagining of the Zodiac Suite by pioneering yet under-appreciated pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams — was called “a startling achievement” (NY Times) and “a hell of a debut album” (Stereogum).

Schadrack Pierre

SCHADRACK PIERRE (Vocalist) Schado is a singer-songwriter from Trenton, NJ, by way of Haiti. A graduate of The New School, he draws from his eclectic upbringing, deep love of Haiti, and studies in jazz and contemporary music to cultivate a sound that feels both unique and familiar.

Schado has had the opportunity to perform as a supporting vocalist alongside artists such as Alicia Olatuja, Yebba, Stormzy, Lawrence, among many others. In 2025, he released his debut single “Dark Ones” which is love letter to all Black people. With a passion for authentic connection Schado continues to carve out his place in the musical landscape.

Collaborators

Samora Pinderhughes

Pinderhughes is a graduate of The Juilliard School and is currently getting his Ph.D. at Harvard University in the Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry program under the direction of Vijay Iyer.

Shayla-Vie Jenkins

SHAYLA-VIE JENKINS (Rehearsal Director) is a performer, choreographer, educator, writer, and proud mother. From 2005–2016, she was a member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, during which the company received Bessie Awards for Chapel/Chapter (2007) and D-Man in the Waters (2013). She has taught for the company and restaged notable works at universities and dance festivals nationwide. Jenkins has also worked with choreographers Bebe Miller, Moriah Evans, Faye Driscoll, Okwui Okpokwasili, Susan Marshall, Sage Ni’Ja Whitson, Yara Travieso, and Yanira Castro, among others. She performed in the Merce Cunningham Trust’s Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event at Brooklyn Academy of Music, and has danced in reconstructions of works by José Limón, Yvonne Rainer, and David Gordon. She received a 2025 Viola Farber Award for performance from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. In 2023, Jenkins was awarded a Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Project Grant for her site-specific work, On Buried Ground, which honors the lives of freed and enslaved congregants at the historic Christ Church of Philadelphia, PA. The work premiered in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in 2024. Jenkins holds an MFA in Choreography and Performance from Smith College and a BFA from the Ailey/Fordham program. Jenkins was an Assistant Professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and currently serves as Co-Artistic & Associate Director and Artist in Residence in the BFA Dance Lab at Bennington College. She has been a Trustee of the Merce Cunningham Trust since 2020 and writes with thINKingDance, a Philadelphia-based writing collective.

Liz Prince

LIZ PRINCE (Costume Designer) designs costumes for dance, theater and film and has had the great pleasure of designing for Bill T. Jones since 1991. Her work has been exhibited at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Rockland Center for the Arts and Snug Harbor Cultural Center. She received a 1990 New York Dance and Performance Award (BESSIE) and a 2008 Charles Flint Kellogg Arts and Letters Award from Bard College. She teaches costume design at SUNY Purchase College Manhattanville College, and Sarah Lawrence College.

Khari Walser

KHARI WALSER (Assistant Costume Designer) is a New York City based costume designer/artist and is excited to assist Liz Prince in this production. He is a 2017 graduate of the fashion design program at Syracuse University School of Design and will be a 2027 graduate of the Sarah Lawrence College Theater MFA program. He has spent the last eight years working professionally in the fashion industry. His work in costume design includes Sarah Lawrence College Theater Department’s productions of The Skriker (2025) and Company (2026), along with The Gallery Players’ production of Fences (2024), and Origin Theatre Company’s Off-Broadway production of Misterman (2026).

Serena Wong

SERENA WONG (Lighting Designer) is a Brooklyn-based freelance lighting designer for theater and dance. Her designs have been seen at Seattle Repertory Theater, The Ford, Lincoln Center, New York City Center, the Joyce, and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, among others in the US and abroad- including, oddly enough, a Celebrity cruise ship. Most recently she has designed for choreographers Baye & Asa, Celia Rowlson-Hall, LaTasha Barnes, Kyle Marshall, Caleb Teicher, and John Heginbotham. She enjoys biking, baking, and pottery.

New York Live Arts Production Staff

Kyle Maude, Producing Director & COO

KYLE MAUDE (Producing Director & COO) graduated from Drake University with a B.F.A. in Theatre. She has worked with Ballet Tech/Feld Ballets New York, The Royal Ballet School of London, Buglisi-Foreman Dance, and Lesbian Pulp-o-Rama! Ms. Maude joined the Company in 2003 and served as the Company’s Production Stage Manager for ten years, then Director of Producing and Touring for three years before becoming Producing Director for New York Live Arts in 2016.

Eric Norbury, Production Stage Manager

Sydney Starks, Production Stage Manager

Dylan Richmond, Company Manager & Live Gallery Producer

DYLAN RICHMOND (Company Manager & Live Gallery Producer) is a choreographer, dancer, researcher, and poet from the Connecticut shoreline. He graduated cum laude from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in Dance and English where he received the President’s Award. Dylan has presented work and/or performed at TOTAH, WestFest, NYU Tisch, The Tank, Bowdoin College, Bates College, and the Grand Ole Opry; and lectured at Yale University, UCLA, and Connecticut College. His writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, published in journals, and was awarded the 2021 prize in excellence from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalism. Dylan joined New York Live Arts and the Company in 2024. IG: @choreopoet

LMCC Production Staff

Moe Yousuf, CEO & Artistic Director

Moe Yousuf, President and CEO of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), builds partnerships across the arts, civic, and business sectors to support artists and strengthen New York City’s cultural life. At LMCC, he leads the organization’s mission to support artists and engage the public through free and accessible cultural programming across Manhattan and at the Arts Center at Governors Island, including the acclaimed River to River Festival, artist residencies, and a robust regranting program.

Moe has held leadership roles at institutions including BRIC Arts Media, Abrons Arts Center / Henry Street Settlement, and Target Margin Theater with a focus on values-driven leadership, innovation, and building sustainable models in the arts, where he successfully developed programs, managed multi-million-dollar budgets, and fostered partnerships. He has overseen the disbursement of public and private funding to hundreds of artists and organizations and has worked with top corporate partners and government agencies to expand funding opportunities and bring cultural programming to communities across New York City.

At LMCC he is advancing the Arts Center at Governors Island as a cultural hub that uses the arts to engage the public imagination around climate, art, and the systems change needed to build a more sustainable and inclusive future. He has served on grant panels, juries, and advisory groups for the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, ART/NY, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, HERE Arts Center, WP Theater, Silk Road Rising, and many others.

He currently serves as co-chair of New York Grantmakers in the Arts (NYGIA), sits on the committee for The New York Community Trust’s Helen Merrill Award, Art Omi Pavilions Advisory Board, and serves on the board of The Chocolate Factory Theater.

He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Emma Montoya Hills, Chief Operating Officer

Emma Montoya Hills (she/her) is an arts administrator and cultural leader with over a decade of experience. Based in Brooklyn, she focuses on bringing ambitious artistic projects to life through robust organizational support. As Chief Operating Officer at LMCC, Emma drives strategic planning and operational execution to strengthen the organization’s infrastructure, expand programming, and broaden support for artists across New York City.

Her earlier career includes senior operations leadership at BRIC Arts Media as Director of Operations and at Theatre Row as General Manager, where she oversaw cross-functional teams and developed systems to advance institutional growth and operational effectiveness. She has also been an integral member of the operations and production teams at HERE Arts Center, Prototype Festival, Jujamcyn Theaters, and Steeldeck NYC.

Grounded in her personal practice as a visual artist and a background in the performing arts, Emma brings a creative yet practical sensibility to her work. She is committed to the belief that art is fundamental to building strong, connected communities. At the heart of her work, Emma brings the conviction that resilient cultural institutions are essential to a thriving ecosystem where artists can flourish.

Emma holds a B.A. in American Studies from Yale University, with a concentration in placemaking and the role of cultural expression in civic life.

Brandon Cournay, Programming Producer

Brandon Cournay is a Brooklyn-based creative leader and entrepreneur working at the intersection of performance, education, and arts administration. He currently serves as Executive Director and Producer of Dance Heginbotham and is the Founder, Executive Artistic Director of Dance Device Lab, an organization dedicated to delivering innovative educational experiences to dance studios nationwide, and an Assistant Line Producer at Lincoln Center.

His previous roles include Managing Director and Associate Artistic Director of KEIGWIN + COMPANY and Company Manager for Camille A. Brown & Dancers, along with positions at Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, Cornfield Dance, and The Current Sessions.

Originally from Walled Lake, Michigan, Brandon earned his BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School. His performance career spans international stages and includes work with Mark Morris Dance Group, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Morphoses, KEIGWIN + COMPANY, among others. He has also contributed to a wide range of creative projects across theater, opera, television, film, and dance.

Drawing on his multifaceted experience as both an artist and administrator, Brandon brings a holistic perspective to his work—shaping strategic, collaborative, and financially sustainable models for contemporary arts organizations.

Benjamin Papac, Events Coordinator

Benjamin Papac (he/him) Benjamin spent the first decade of his career in the performing arts, appearing in more than 60 episodes of tv, one Sundance Festival film, and most notably, as Albus Potter in Harry Potter & the Cursed Child (San Francisco, 2019 – 2022)

After moving to New York in 2022, Benjamin briefly pivoted to web development for John Deere’s Intelligent Solutions Group before returning to his artistic roots as the Production Coordinator for LMCC. Benjamin is thrilled to bring his unique combination of skills to LMCC’s climate oriented events.

The River To River Festival

LMCC's River To River Festival is downtown New York City’s summer arts festival celebrating artistic and creative diversity across disciplines, with live performances and exhibitions. The festival was created in the aftermath of 9/11 to heal and celebrate New Yorkers’ resiliency through the power of art. Since 2002, hundreds of thousands of attendees have experienced the work of hundreds of artists and performers. River To River is a celebration of what is possible when artistic creativity, cultural institutions, civic bodies and corporate entities come together in mutual support.

LMCC

Since 1973, LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) has supported artists across New York City. As an arts council, we fund, develop, and present work from neighborhood-based projects to major public programs that help define the city’s cultural and civic life. We make the arts accessible to all New Yorkers.

Leadership

Board of Directors

Board of Directors
Craig Schwitter, Board Chair
Bennet Dunkley, Vice Chair
Eric Munson,Treasurer
David Quenemoen, Secretary
Geoffrey Boulter
Jennifer Czubaja
Bruce Ehrmann
Ekene Ezulike
Francis Greenburger
Terry Hudak
Anita Laremont
Joshua Lluch
John McGinley
Adam Meister
Eddie Opara
Nazli Parvizi
Sharon Ullman
Anna Raginskaya
Ned Rosenman
R. Sarah Richardson
Sujohn Sarkar
Hal Stein
Michael Ventura
Thea Wittich
Jolene Yeats

Board Emeritus
Flory Barnett, Director Emeritus in Memoriam
Jenny Dixon, Director Emeritus
Timur Galen, Chair Emeritus
Charles J. Maikish, Chair Emeritus
Edward J. McGuire, Jr., Esq., Director Emeritus
Cherrie Nanninga, Chair Emeritus
Liz Thompson, Director Emeritus

Staff

Artistic Programs
Brandon Cournay, Programming Producer
Esther Nguyen, Program Manager, Artist Programs
Lauren Slone, Grantmaking Specialist
Lillian Osei-Boateng, Grantmaking Specialist
Morgan Williams, Administrative Assistant

Marketing & Communications
Chris Kam, Director of Marketing & Communications
Elana Engelman-Lado, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager
Emmett Levy, Marketing Coordinator

Development
Kurt Clare, Director of Individual Giving
Runa King, Senior Development Manager
Leo Egger, Development Assistant

Finance & Operations
Shushant Taladhar, Director of Budget & Finance
Kelsi Ford, Operations Manager
Cindy Mallorca, Finance Manager
Benjamin Papac, Events Coordinator

New York Live Arts

New York Live Arts, guided by the leadership of visionary artist Bill T. Jones, collaborates with boundary-pushing artists, advocates for their vision, and fortifies a creative future. Located on West 19th Street in NYC, New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for performance, artist services, and live gathering. The organization commissions, produces, and presents innovative movement-based artistry and is home to the historic Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company.

Leadership

Board of Directors

Board of Directors
Alan D. Marks, Chair
Helen Haje, Vice Chair
Wade Turnbull, Vice Chair
Darnell L. Moore, Treasurer
Aimee Meredith Cox, Secretary
Kim Cullen, Executive Director & CEO, Ex-Officio
Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director, Ex-Officio
Bjorn Amelan
LaToya Ruby Frazier
Emma Friedman-Cohen
Linda Genereux
Stephen Hendel
Charla Jones
Colleen Keegan
Amy Newman
Randy Polumbo
Ellen M. Poss
Matthew Putman
Jane Bovingdon Semel
Ruby Shang
Catharine R. Stimpson

Board Emeritus
Derek Brown
Terence Dougherty
Eleanor Friedman
Richard H. Levy

Staff

Programming, Producing, and Engagement
Kyle Maude, Producing Director & COO
Hannah Emerson Jernigan, Producer
Dylan Richmond, Company Manager & Live Gallery Producer
Tricia Navigato, Producer, Independent Works & Community Engagement

Production & Operations
Chanel Pinnock, Director of Production & Operations
Leo Janks, Lighting Manager
James Bennett, Audio/Video Manager
Sydney Starks , Production Stage Manager
Kiara Brown, Production Manager
Ren Hughes, Operations Coordinator
Adalid Nunez-Mendoza, Custodial Assistant

Creative Director
Bjorn G. Amelan

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Shayla-Vie Jenkins, Rehearsal Director
Ryan Charles-Marc, Barrington Hinds, Camille Phelps, Justin Rainey, Babou Sanneh, Hannah Seiden, Philip Strom, Mak Thornquest, Wyeth Walker, & Rosa Allegra Wolff, Performers

Communications
Tyler Ashley, Director of Communications
Jonathan Fahoury, Digital Marketing & Design Manager
Taylor Adams, Communications Manager
Pentagram, Pro-Bono Branding

Development
Alexandra Burke, Development Director
Felix Reyes, Institutional Giving Manager
Emily Young, Individual Giving & Special Events Manager
Janelle Charon, Live Core Development Associate

Finance
Nupur Dey, Chief Financial Officer
Manathus Dey, Finance Associate

Front of House
Johnny Mathews, Front of House Assistant
Julia Antinozzi, Danielle Chu, Truth Colon, Nyles Emile, Ishmael Gonzales, Cove Haselton, Campbell Ives, Ke’Ron Jamaul, Salma Kiuhan, Belle Le, Paulina Meneses, Cristina Moya-Palacios, Jailyn Phillips-Wiley, Annabel Sexton-Daldry, Artie Ticknor, Kiara Williams & Jessica Ziegler, Front of House Staff

Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist
Joanna Kotze

Human Resources
ADP TotalSource

Legal Services
Lowenstein Sandler, PC, Pro-Bono Counsel

Funding

Support for New York Live Arts is provided by the Alex Katz Foundation, Albertine Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ed Bradley Family Foundation, Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Ford Foundation, Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Jerome Robbins Foundation, Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Lambent Foundation, Marta Heflin Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Muriel Pollia Foundation, National Performance Network, New England Foundation for the Arts, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, San Francisco Foundation, Scherman Foundation, Simons Foundation, Studio Institute, The Poss Family Foundation, The Semel Charitable Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Tides Foundation, Wege Foundation, and Wolf Kahn Foundation.

Public support for New York Live Arts is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council with special thanks to Manhattan Borough President Hoylman-Sigal and City Councilmember of District #3 Carl Wilson, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

Corporate support for New York Live Arts is provided by Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

Battery Park City Authority

Established in 1968, The Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority is a New York State Public Benefit Corporation charged with developing and maintaining a well-balanced, 92-acre community of commercial, residential, retail and open space, including 36 acres of public parks, on Manhattan’s Lower West Side. For more info visit: bpca.ny.gov.

Leadership

Programming & Production Staff

NOTICE OF FILMING AND PHOTOGRAPHY | September 10, 12, 13, 2026 | Robert F. Wagner Jr Park, Battery Park City
By entering an event or program of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), you are entering an area where photography, audio and video recording may occur. Your entry and presence on the event premises constitutes your consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded and to the release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction of any and all recorded media of your appearance, voice, and name for any purpose whatsoever in perpetuity in connection with LMCC and its initiatives, including, by way of example only, use on websites, in social media, news and advertising. By entering the event premises, you waive and release any claims you may have related to the use of recorded media of you at the event, including, without limitation, any right to inspect or approve the photo, video or audio recording of you, any claims for invasion of privacy, violation of the right of publicity, defamation, and copyright infringement or for any fees for use of such record media. LMCC maintains the right to modify, crop, or alter any recorded media from this event. You understand that all photography, filming and/or recording will be done in reliance on this consent. If you do not agree to the foregoing, please do not enter the event premises.

Curriculum IV: Spin and Spin! Turn! Turn! Turn!

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A Note from Bill T. Jones

A Note from LMCC CEO & Artistic Director, Moe Yousuf

Support LMCC

Company History

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Composer

Read More

Performers

Portraits by Stephanie Crousillat

Ryan Charles-Marc

Barrington Hinds

Camille Phelps

Justin Rainey

Babou Sanneh

Hannah Seiden

Philip Strom

Mak Thornquest

Wyeth Walker

Rosa Allegra Wolf

Musicians

Julia Easterlin

Josh Hari

Jehbreal Jackson

Asher Kurtz

Frankie Leroux

Nio Levon

Chris Pattishall

Schadrack Pierre

Collaborators

Samora Pinderhughes

Shayla-Vie Jenkins

Liz Prince

Khari Walser

Serena Wong

New York Live Arts Production Staff

Kyle Maude, Producing Director & COO

Eric Norbury, Production Stage Manager

Sydney Starks, Production Stage Manager

Dylan Richmond, Company Manager & Live Gallery Producer

LMCC Production Staff

Moe Yousuf, CEO & Artistic Director

Emma Montoya Hills, Chief Operating Officer

Brandon Cournay, Programming Producer

Benjamin Papac, Events Coordinator

The River To River Festival

LMCC

Leadership

Board of Directors

Staff

New York Live Arts

Leadership

Board of Directors

Staff

Funding

Battery Park City Authority

Leadership

Programming & Production Staff