SADC Virtual Major Dance Concert: May 9 Choreographers

From May 7-9, 2020, SADC will be embarking on its first virtual dance concert. The concert will be running for three nights, each night featuring eight different choreographers. On May 9, the featured choreographers will be Rafael Cañals Pérez, Austin Coats, Liviya England, Maxine Zeliha Flasher-Düzgüneş, Israel Harris, Troy Kelley, Taylor Stansfield, and Kellyn Thornburg. 

Rafael Cañals Pérez: 

Rafael Cañals was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 2016, he joined the local company CoDa21, where he worked in productions such as Romeo & Julieta (Gina Patterson), Flesh (Ivan Pérez) and Rassemblement (Nacho Duato). He also worked with international professionals like Maša Kolar, Milan Tomášik, Fernando Troya, Gina Patterson among others. In addition, in April 2017 he traveled to Havana, Cuba performing at the Cuban Arts Factory and the Mella Theater. He has attended abroad summer and winter courses training with Andrea Miller, Jenniffer Archidbald, Shannon Gillen Lipinski and Jonas Örknér. In 2018 he moved to NYC to pursue an MFA in Choreography from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Rafael has a BFA in Public Relations and Advertising with a Journalism minor from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus and is currently a member of Boca Tuya under the direction of Omar Román De Jesús.

Austin Coats: 

Austin Warren Coats is an interdisciplinary artist with a bachelor’s degree in Dance Studies from Kent State University. Originally from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, he attended Kent State University to receive formal dance training and graduated magna cum laude. He has had the honor to work with artists such as Silvana Cardell, Angela Luem, Catherine Meredith, Jess Pretty, Jamal White, and Ronald K. Brown. Through scholarships he has attended summer intensives from The Joffrey Ballet School, Ruth Page Center of the Performing Arts, and Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence, A Dance Company dance intensive and workshop series. Coats also has many interests in the arts including fine art, dance, and fashion design. He is a published illustrator in college publications and illustrates for various dancers’ projects. Coats now works to attain his Master’s at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His life goal is become a choreographer and artistic director.  

Liviya England: 

At thirteen, Liviya England began studying ballet under Lise Houlton (ABT) for Minnesota Dance Theatre. Pairing her classical background, Liviya was introduced to contemporary and jazz at St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. For three summers, Liviya attended The Ailey School where she delved into the codified modern techniques of Horton, Graham, & Dunham. Liviya was a recipient of the Oprah Winfrey Foundation Scholarship, and offered a position to attend the school year round. Thus, at sixteen, Liviya ventured to New York to continue a pursuit in modern dance. Her academics with Professional Children’s School were funded by the Toulmin Scholarship, an opportunity granted to only one artist. Liviya’s currently earning her BFA in Dance at NYU and minoring in Social and Cultural Analysis. While in college, Liviya performed in Italy and Barcelona with Tuscana Dance Hub. As a SADC member, she performed the works of Wayne McGregor, Sidra Bell, and Betsy Coker. 

Maxine Flasher-Düzgünes: 

Maxine Flasher-Düzgünes graduates with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Minor in English and American Literature (magna cum laude). At NYU Tisch, she danced in the works of Sidra Bell Dance NY, Lar Lubovitch, Wayne McGregor, Trisha Brown, NiNi Dongnier | Field Motion, Aaron Samuel Davis, and Cari Ann Shim Sham*, among others. Maxine has guest performed for Eclipse Dance Theatre, CALI & Co Dance/Matt El Music, and Logos Dance Collective. She supplemented her training at SF Conservatory of Dance, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, FACT/SF (Countertechnique), and Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, performing the works of Ohad Naharin, Christian Burns Amy Seiwert, Eléonore Valère Lachky, and Vittoria De Ferrari Sapetto. This year she spent conducting research and premiering work for a collaborative, interdisciplinary thesis entitled strikethrough, on the use of erasure in choreographic script. She was thrilled to have her dance film, (v.) - to situate in a particular place, screened in January at the SzólóDuó International Dance Festival in Budapest. In May, she publishes her first novella, through Eileen with VerbalEyze Press.

Israel Harris: 

Israel Harris was born in Guatemala and raised in Bellevue, WA with his two older siblings. He began dancing at the age of ten at Backstage Dance Studio under the direction of Marty Roberts. After his eight years of training, Israel maintains a close relationship with the studio and Mrs. Roberts, and works as a guest/substitute instructor when he is back in the Seattle area. His professional career started at the age of 16 when he was given the opportunity to dance lead in a music video for the band Train, and more recently, was chosen to dance as a guest company member with the Sean Curran Dance Company. He has also worked with Lar Lubovitch, the Wayne McGregor company, and Ron K Brown/Evidence during his last year at NYU Tisch Dance. Israel will be graduating with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Psychology and a minor in Hebrew and Judaic Studies.

Troy Kelley: 

Troy Kelley is from Stamford, CT, where he began his dance training at Connecticut Ballet Center with Brett Raphael, and Stamford Ballet with Heather Hawk. At NYU, Troy has worked with Trisha Brown, David Dorfman, and Arnie Zane/Bill T. Jones companies to perform their repertoire at the Tisch Dance Summer Festival 2018. He has studied at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance creating works under the guidance of Eleonore Valere Lachky, and Vittoria De Ferrari Sapetto. As part of Second Avenue Dance Company, Troy has worked with Evidence Dance Company performing Upside Down, Lar Lubovitch’s Marimba, and Wayne McGregor’s FAR. In spring 2020, Troy worked with Wendy Perron in a reconstruction of Trisha Brown’s Splang. In October 2019, he choreographed the trio SUUBNLIMNATLWYNVECNSABMGOUSBCNSCS on the company. Troy attends NYU and is a BFA 2020 candidate in Dance at Tisch School of the Arts and BA 2021 in Computer Science at The College of Arts and Science.

Taylor Stansfield: 

Taylor Stansfield, a Wilmington, North Carolina native, began dancing as a toddler, but her actual training started at age 12 with Impulse Dance Project. There she trained in contemporary, ballet, and jazz, in addition to various other genres of dance as well as performing works by the artistic directors and fellow students. At age 17, she was able to attend The Summer Dance Sessions in Berkshire Hills, MA and study with the extensive faculty. Taylor is now finishing her final semester at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in pursuit of a BFA in Dance. Throughout her studies, she has performed works by Ron K. Brown/EVIDENCE, Betsy Coker, and her fellow Second Avenue Dance Company members, as well as creating several of her own works. Taylor is eager to start freelancing and present work in the city, as well as begin auditioning for companies and shows.

Kellyn Thornburg: 

Originally from North Carolina, Kellyn Thornburg is a dancer, choreographer, and educator living in New York City. After earning her BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, she has had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Linked Dance Theatre, MElder Movement Art and John Selya. She has also performed works by Ohad Naharin, Lar Lubovitch, Lucinda Childs, Merce Cunningham and Helen Simoneau. Her choreography has been featured as a part of Awakening Movement (2016-17), Linked Dance Theatre’s “Beloved/Departed”(2018) and “Remembrance,” (2019) and in “Noirtown” an Immersive play apart of the RAVE Festival (2019). Kellyn is currently studying at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she will graduate in 2020 with her Master’s in Fine Arts with a concentration in Choreographing for Site Specific and Immersive Theater.