Bodytraffic (US)

BODYTRAFFIC

BODYTRAFFIC bursts with “invention, attitude and urban edge” (The Boston Globe) and “sheer animal magnetism” (San Francisco Weekly). Founded in 2007 by Lillian Rose Barbeito and Tina Finkelman Berkett, BODYTRAFFIC has surged to the forefront of the concert dance world, recruiting great talent from around the globe to create world-class contemporary dance by distinctive choreographic voices.

The company was named “the company of the future” by The New York Times, and “one of the most talked-about young companies, not just in L.A but nationwide“ by the Los Angeles Times. BODYTRAFFIC’s growing repertory includes master works by international choreographic superstars. The company is known for its emotionally charged and technically virtuosic dancers, who aim to touch, inspire and entertain audiences throughout the world.

Through performance, education, and outreach, BODYTRAFFIC has shared its love of dance throughout the world.  In 2015, BODYTRAFFIC was selected by the Obama Administration to be cultural ambassadors for the United States via DanceMotion USA℠, a dynamic cultural diplomacy program that supports United States foreign policy goals by engaging international audiences through educational opportunities, cultural exchange, and performance. BODYTRAFFIC has since served as cultural ambassadors for the United States in South Korea (2016) and Algeria (2017, 2018).

The Company

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Tina Finkelman Berkett

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Guzmán Rosado

COMPANY MEMBERS
Katie Garcia, Pedro Garcia, Alana Jones, Tiare Keeno, Ty Morrison, Joan Rodriguez, Jordyn Santiago, Whitney Schmanski 

GENERAL MANAGER
Callen Gosselin

DANCE CAPTAIN
Tiare Keeno

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Michael Jarett

REPRESENTATION
Margaret Selby
President, Selby/Artists Mgmt
212.382.3260   mselby@selbyartistsmgmt.com

Tina Finkelman Berkett, Artistic Director

Tina Finkelman Berkett, Artistic Director and a Founder of BODYTRAFFIC, is an influential dance leader and community builder, producing original, compelling repertoire and sharing a new vision of dance across the U.S. and around the world. Tina grew up in New York City attending Stuyvesant High School of Math and Science and graduating summa cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University with a double major in Mathematics and Economics.  Her love of dance was ignited by her teacher and mentor, Michele Cuccaro Cain.

Tina’s professional dance career began at Aszure Barton & Artists, a distinguished contemporary dance company where she quickly became a featured dancer and then Barton’s assistant, teaching both in the U.S. and abroad. A true highlight of Tina’s career was being a founding member of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Hell’s Kitchen Dance and touring internationally alongside Mr. Baryshnikov himself.  Tina began her interest in arts administration when she served as the company’s dancer liaison.

In 2007, Tina relocated to Los Angeles and launched BODYTRAFFIC with Lillian Barbeito. Now serving as the company’s sole Artistic Director, Tina is focusing on re-envisioning and revitalizing BODYTRAFFIC.  With her deep commitment to taking the company to new heights, she is curating and discovering exciting choreographers and programming challenging programs that audiences enjoy, seeing incredible dancers doing their best work. “BODYTRAFFIC is a home for dancers, choreographers, and dance-lovers of all ages.  We’re excited about the future and touring again!”

Guzmán Rosado, Associate Artistic Director

Guzmán Rosado started dancing at the International School of Dance of Carmen Roche Scaena in Madrid on a scholarship sponsored by the Ministerio de Cultura de Madrid. Guzmán danced with Ballet Joven de Carmen Roche until 1999, when he was offered a scholarship to attend the School of American Ballet (SAB). After his time at SAB, Edward Villella invited him to dance with Miami City Ballet. From 2002 to 2007, Guzmán danced with Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporaneo. In 2007, with André Mesquita and Teresa Alves da Silva, Guzmán co-founded Tok’Art, a cultural platform.  He has performed extensively as a guest artist throughout Europe.  He teaches ballet, yoga, and movement workshops. Guzmán is also currently BODYTRAFFIC’s resident filmmaker and has won awards for his film work. Guzmán joined BODYTRAFFIC in 2012.

Baye & Asa, Choregraphers of The One to Stay With

Baye & Asa is a company creating movement art projects directed by Amadi ‘Baye’ Washington & Sam ‘Asa’ Pratt.  Individually we have performed with Akram Khan Company, Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More, Abraham in Motion, David Dorfman Dance, Gallim, Kate Weare Company, and The Francesca Harper Project.  We’ve presented our stage and film work internationally and we are one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch for 2022. We are currently artists in residence at the 92nd Street Y, and working on commissions for Pioneer Works and The Martha Graham Dance Company.

CHOREOGRAPHER’S NOTE:

The One to Stay With was created in response to Patrick Radden Keefe’s “Empire of Pain.” His book chronicles the Sackler family’s rise to power and their central role in the opioid crisis.

The Company is incentivized towards perpetual growth.

The Company develops relationships with politicians and regulatory agencies, lobbying for legislative language that protects their constant growth.

The Company language is parroted until fabrication becomes fact.

The Company’s profit margins are built on theft: of natural resources, human labor, and life.

 You don’t make a billion dollars, you steal a billion dollars.

Alejandro Cerrudo, Choreographer of PACOPEPEPLUTO

Alejandro Cerrudo is a Chicago based choreographer born in Madrid, Spain. His professional career includes work with Victor Ullate Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater 2 and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC). Cerrudo became HSDCʼs first-ever Resident Choreographer in 2008 and held that position until 2018.

Cerrudo’s body of work has been performed by over 20 professional dance companies around the world. In March 2012, Pacific Northwest Ballet invited Cerrudo to choreograph, upon receiving the Joyce Theater Foundationʼs second Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance, his first work for the company, ” Memory Glow”. Additional honors include an award from the Boomerang Fund for Artists (2011) and the Prince Prize for Commissioning Original Work from the Prince Charitable Trusts (2012) for his acclaimed, first evening-length work, “One Thousand Pieces”. In 2014 he was awarded the USA Donnelley Fellowship by United States Artists. Also, Mr. Cerrudo was one of four choreographers invited by New York City Balletʼs Wendy Whelan to create and perform original duets for “Restless Creature. In 2017 Cerrudo was invited by Daniil Simkin to choreograph a site- specific performance for the Guggenheim Rotunda, a Works & Process Rotunda Project commission, featuring Daniil Simkin and original costumes by Dior. Cerrudoʼs “Sleeping Beauty”, created with Ballet Theater Basel in 2016, was nominated as “Production of the Year” in Switzerland in the “Tanz, Jahrbuch 2016” by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

In 2020 Cerrudo was appointed Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Resident Choreographer, with that, he became the first artist in the company’s history to have the honor of holding that title.

Matthew Neenan, Choreographer of A Million Voices

Matthew Neenan began his dance training at the Boston Ballet School. He later attended the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and the School of American Ballet in New York. From 1994-2007, Matthew danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet where he was also named Choreographer in Residence. Matthew’s choreography has been featured and performed by the Pennsylvania Ballet, BalletX, The Washington Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Ballet West, Ballet Memphis, Milwaukee Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Met, Oklahoma City Ballet, Juilliard Dance, New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute, Sacramento Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Indiana University, Opera Philadelphia, and LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts (NYC), among others. He has received numerous awards and grants for his choreography from the National Endowment of the Arts, Dance Advance funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Choo San Goh Foundation, and the Independence Foundation. Matthew has been honored to receive the New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute’s Fellowship Initiative Award and fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. In 2005, Matthew co-founded BalletX with fellow dancer Christine Cox and is now the resident dance company at the prestigious Wilma Theatre.

CHOREOGRAPHER’S NOTE:

A Million Voices is inspired by the great music of Peggy Lee. Lee’s music, in response to the political climate of her time, reminds us that even during dark times, life is worth enjoying.

Micaela Taylor, Choreographer of SNAP, BODYTRAFFIC Artist in Residence

Micaela Taylor is a dancer, choreographer, and the Artistic Director, Founder, and Choreographer of the TL Collective. Trained in hip-hop and ballet, she has created her own dance genre called Expand Practice, exuding emotion from the core, and creating varied physical shapes and textures as expressions of one’s authentic self. Her quirky style of exaggerated facial expressions, gesture, and athletic theatricality sets her work apart. Taylor created her own technique and is building The TL Collective all from the ground up. She received the Inaugural Springboard EMERGE Choreographic Award, was named in Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2019 and graced the cover of Dance Magazine in April 2020. A millennial herself, Taylor is a role model and influencer to aspiring BIPOC artists and is creating groundbreaking work that introduces commercial styles to concert dance. Taylor’s work has been presented at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Broad Stage, Ford Amphitheatre, Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, and more. Alongside the launch of her company, Taylor has been commissioned to choreograph and teach by Rambert Dance Company, The Getty Museum, BODYTRAFFIC, Springboard Danse Montreal/Gibney Dance Company, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, B12 Festival Berlin, Carlos Acosta’s Acosta Danza, and more. Upcoming commissions include Martha Graham Dance Company and a co-commission by Jacob’s Pillow and American Dance Festival.

CHOREOGRAPHER’S NOTE:

SNAP is inspired by the ethnically diverse, yet isolating crowds of Los Angeles. It urges audiences to “snap out of” social pressures to conform, and to connect with their individuality as well as with people around them.

Katie Garcia, Dancer

Katie Garcia originally from Miami, Florida, graduated from The Juilliard School in 2017. She also trained at New World School of the Arts, Dance Town Studios Miami, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Springboard Danse Montréal. After graduation from Juilliard, she was a member of Parsons Dance for two and a half years and performed in her own collaborative works.  Katie has taught master classes at such institutions as Yale University, New York University, Akron University, Florida State University, and Hunter College. In pursuing her passion for community outreach, she participated in GLUCK and TAP for Life, programs allowing her to perform in NYC and Miami hospitals and wellness centers. In 2016, she orchestrated a project in Botswana, where she taught dance and special education movement therapy classes for children. She has also presented her co-produced dance films with Joan Rodriguez at the Blacktinx Dance Festival, Solo Due Dance Festival, Dumbo Dance Festival, and at a NYC art gallery with mixed media artist, Anna Khachatryan.

Pedro Garcia, Dancer

Pedro Garcia began his studies at the National Conservatory of Lisbon, working with teachers including Mikahall Zavialova, Irina Zavialova, Catarina Moreira, and José Luís Vieira, among others.  In 2014, he won the 3° prize at Tanzolymp Competition in Berlin.  He received his diploma in 2015 and continued on to earn a degree from School Superieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower.  Pedro joined the junior ballet Rosella Hightower DNSP3 for one year and then went on to join the Ballet Nacional de Marseille, where he worked with Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten until 2018. In 2019, he joined Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporaneo, under the direction of Vasco Wellenkamp. Most recently, Pedro has worked with choreographers Nelia Pinheiro and André Mesquita, and joined Quórum Ballet for one season where he worked with Daniel Cardoso and Lior Tavori.

Alana Jones, Dancer

Alana Jones is a Houston native. She is a founding member of Vitacca Dance Project under the direction of Kelly Ann Vitacca and trained under Ballet Master Phillip Broomhead while attending the High School of Performing and Visual Arts. In 2014, Alana was accepted on scholarship and trained with American Ballet Theatre and Dance Theatre of Harlem. Thereafter, Alana was accepted on scholarship to SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, where she received her BFA. While at Purchase, she was invited into the ballet concentration where she performed and studied works by George Balanchine, Norbert De la Cruz, Michelle Ulerich, and Colby Damon. She has also trained with Ballet X, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance, and Arts Umbrella.  Alana earned her BFA and began her professional career with Visceral Dance Chicago.

Tiare Keeno, Dance Captain, Dancer

Tiare Keeno received her BFA from The Juilliard School in 2016.  While at Juilliard, she worked with choreographers Camille A. Brown, Kyle Abraham, Kate Weare, and Brian Brooks. She also performed repertoire by Jíri Kylián and Twyla Tharp, as well as lead roles in Martha Graham’s Dark Meadow and José Limón’s Missa Brevis. After graduation, Tiare was a company member of Nevada Ballet Theatre and worked in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil. She attended Springboard Danse Montreal, where she performed works by Aszure Barton, Spenser Theberge, RUBBERBAND Dance Group, and Kidd Pivot. She has been a faculty member of FRESH Dance Intensive in Canada and is currently a member of Share the Movement, an organization aiming to increase diversity in the professional dance community through educational and financial support to young BIPOC artists. In 2017, Tiare moved to Macau, China to appear in a cirque show with MGM’s ScenoPlus Productions. Upon returning to the US, she performed in Al Blackstone’s Freddie Falls in Love at The Joyce Theater. Tiare joined BODYTRAFFIC in 2019.

Ty Morrison, Dancer

Ty Morrison from the greater Boston area, dedicated 13 years of his life to versatile dance training at The Gold School Dance Art under the direction of Rennie Gold. Ty received a BFA in Contemporary Dance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee on full scholarship. During his time at The Boston Conservatory, he worked with and performed works by such acclaimed choreographers as Darrell Moultrie, Catherine Coury, Bradley Shelver, Adrianne Hawkins, and Martha Nichols. Immediately after graduation, he was featured in on-site dance film productions with choreographers Roderick George, Ashley Lindsay, and Antonio Brown. He has had the honor of being a guest artist with The Limón Dance Company and an active artist with a little house dance company.

Joan Rodriguez, Dancer

Joan Rodrigues was born in La Habana, Cuba where he graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Arte with the “Best Graduate of the Year” award. His professional career began with DanzAbierta, and he went on to join Malpaso Dance Company. He became a political refugee in 2017 and relocated to Arizona, where he focused on creating, teaching, and producing multimedia projects. He has also served as a Guest Artist in Residency for universities and arts centers throughout the U.S. and has received awards in several dance competitions. In 2019, he joined Parsons Dance and choreographed an original work for the company as part of the 2019 GenerationNow fellowship program. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Joan has focused on freelancing in dance, teaching and videography.  Joan has also showcased his own collaborative works at the Blacktinx Dance Festival, the Solo/Duo Dance Festival, and at NYC art galleries as part of mixed media performances.  He has taught guest classes at The Juilliard School, New York University, Gibney Dance, Yale University, Hunter College, Akron University, and RWU. He was recently commissioned as a choreographer by Connecticut Ballet for their “Ballet Under the Stars” 2021 summer program.

Jordyn Santiago, Dancer

Jordyn Santiago is from North Carolina and is a Los Angeles-based dancer and choreographer who studied at The Dance Theatre of Jacksonville before continuing to train throughout the U.S and in Israel and Europe.  She has danced for Ate9, Freemove Dance, tedted Performance Group and Mg+artists.  In 2021, Jordyn performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in a production of the opera Prism, under the direction of Beth Morrison Projects.  She has toured as a backup dancer with the Los Angeles band Half Alive in a piece choreographed by The JA Collective and has created new works with Bryan Arias for the Arias Company.  Along with choreographers Dana Wilson, Ebony Williams, and Christopher Scott, she appeared in the recent film production of In The Heights.  Jordyn has taught at highly respected institutions and collectives like Peridance Capezio Center, Brickhouse, and The University of the Arts.  Most recently, she was a guest artist with Ate9 in its premiere of Joy at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Whitney Schmanski, Dancer

Whitney Schmanski received a BFA from The Juilliard School in 2016 and is currently an MFA candidate at UC Irvine. A performer, choreographer, and movement educator, she has performed works by such revered contemporary choreographers as Merce Cunningham, Jirí Kylián, Kyle Abraham, Camille A. Brown, Peter Chu, Kate Weare, Eliot Feld, and Bobbi Jene Smith.  She danced with Brian Brooks Moving Company in performances at the 2015 Chicago Dancing Festival and the Hudson Valley Dance Festival and has appeared with MOMIX.  Whitney is enthusiastic about exploring the profound connections between the mind and body, especially within the realms of science, somatic practices, and storytelling.

Pia Lo

Pia’s critiques, interviews and essays have been published in Dance International, The Dance Current and Bachtrack magazines, and on her website, GlobeDancer.com. She has had the privilege of visiting dance companies including the American Ballet Theater, National Ballet of China, Bolshoi Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, and others, to watch rehearsals, spend time with dancers and take the occasional company class. These days you can see her moderating dance talks for performances in the city including those presented by DanceHouse and Ballet BC. She is interested in telling stories from the perspective of the artists, and enjoys learning a variety of dance to understand how dance expresses different voices and cultures.