About
Momentum: Choreographic Mentorship is a five-month program for emerging artists, both from within and outside of academia, to create artistic works in the Tampa Bay Area. This mentorship offers budding artists the opportunity to receive creative, financial, and administrative support toward a fully produced weekend of performances.
We are accepting applications for the 2024 mentorship now through March 29th. Artists will be chosen by April 5th.
Artists will:
• Receive one-on-one mentoring with projectALCHEMY artistic director Alexander Jones
• Learn about budgeting and funding their work
• Learn about marketing as it relates to their creative work
• Access to Rehearsal space
• Have access to peer dialogue to help aid the artistic process
• Engage and expand their artistic footprint in the community via artist talks and web postings
$200 stipend towards artistic work
• Receive full technical support for their new work
• Present 2 nights to debut their work
The Momentum Artist Cohort
Introducing the 2024 Artists of Momentum: Choreographic Mentorship
Rya DeMulder
Rya DeMulder is a multidimensional artist, composer and performer originally from upstate New York. Her early life was immersed in the performing arts and she finished three years of a theatre degree before transferring to pursue a BFA in Visual Arts from SUNY Purchase College. Rya has always been drawn in spirituality and psychology and attempts to convey both the darker and lighter aspects of the human existence in all her work. Drawing from her rich creative history and her own emotional healing journey, Rya aims to create immersive and imaginative work that ultimately awakens the viewer to a deeper aspect of themselves.
Nicolás Andrés Rodríguez Cruz
Nicolás A. Rodríguez Cruz was born and raised in Cali, Colombia, where he began his dance training at the age of 10 in a variety of styles, including Salsa, Ballet, Modern, and various Hip-Hop styles. In Cali, Nicolás performed Modern and Jazz works by renowned Colombian artists such as Edwin Quintero and Daniela Chavarría, and participated in different competitions in Colombia, Costa Rica, and the United States.
In 2018, Nicolás moved to Tampa, FL to attend the University of South Florida. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Marketing in 2021, and a BFA in Dance Performance in 2023. In his time at USF, Nicolás has worked in both Ballet and Modern pieces by choreographers such as Andrew Carroll, Michael Foley, Stephanie Martínez, among others. Additionally, he has participated in dance films by choreographers like Jeanne Travers and Paula Nuñez. Nicolás has also made several of his own works, exploring movement through an interdisciplinary lens, combining dance with disciplines like business, film, and visual arts.
Olivia Schmiedeke
Olivia, a passionate student studying dance at the University of South Florida, finds herself enchanted by the beauty of movement and expression in dance. Whether it’s the graceful sway or the energetic beats, Olivia pours her heart into every step, practicing hard and always seeking to improve. Her passion for dance drives her ambition, and she dreams of taking her skills to Amsterdam after graduation. Olivia looks forward to connecting with other artists, sharing ideas, and creating breathtaking performances that bring people together through the universal language of dance. The prospect of collaborating with diverse talents and sharing her art on an international stage fills her with immense excitement and anticipation.
Alyssa Braud
Alyssa Braud is a modern and contemporary choreographer and dancer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She has dedicated her life to two careers, teaching students with Visual Impairments, and freelance dancing. Throughout her career, she has danced with companies like Of Moving Colors in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Tennessee Ballet Theater in Memphis, Tennessee that aim to bring people’s life stories to the stage and community. In 2019, she had the pleasure of performing in the streets of Sant’Agata, Italy through the Staib Dance summer intensive. In 2022 and 2023, Alyssa choreographed works for Tennessee Ballet Theater's spring performances. Recently, she created a piece for MicroWIP @theHAT and the completed work will be performed as part of Sarasota Contemporary Dance's in studio series this coming season. Throughout each of Alyssa's choreographic pieces, the breath and flow of energy helps connect the audience to their own emotions and experiences. In 2023, she created Saoirse Movement, meaning Freedom Movement, to find the freedom, beauty, and breath with everyday movement through dance.
meet The artists of Momentum: Choreographic Mentorship 2023
Olivia London
Olivia has danced since her childhood in Jacksonville, FL when her grandmother wisely remarked, “she’ll never be a prima ballerina, but she’d make a great showgirl.” Despite that early confidence booster and a memorable high school performance of “Hey Big Spender,” Olivia danced less frequently beyond her teens. Then, while in Boston pursuing a graduate degree in public health, she fortuitously tried an improvisational dance class. From the first wiggly roll across the floor, she knew she was in love. Rather than focusing on the pursuit of technical mastery, she could explore movement for the sake of curiosity and authenticity, collaborating with other people eager to create unpredictable things together. Her devotion to improvisational movement and composition grew, along with her belief in the insight of a favorite instructor, that you should approach movement to be interested, not to be interesting. Olivia’s deepest interest is in how people move and express themselves physically, especially when they don't think they can “dance.” With that foundation, she went on to teach workshops with the Movement Arts Collaborative in South Carolina and has been an avid learner of many dance styles. Now, living, working, and dancing in St. Petersburg, she’s convinced she wasn’t put on earth to be exceptionally good at things, just to love doing them. Hopefully, she can model and expand opportunities where others will feel that way too.
Sydney Lemelin
Sydney Lemelin was born in California under a libra moon. She holds a BA in Dance and BS in Information Science from the University of Maryland, College Park (Go terps). She has enjoyed dancing with Moving Ethos, BANDportier, Heart Stück Bernie, PEARSONWIDRIG DANCETHEATER, Britta J. Peterson, Jo Lloyd (Melbourne, AUS) and Orange Grove Dance. She has presented work at Sarasota Contemporary Dance’s Rising Choreographers Showcase, Dance Place, Baltimore Theater Project, The Clarice Center for Performing Arts, and more. She spent a post-bacc year in rural Vermont helping open The Field Center, an interdisciplinary performing arts center. A fan of finding the edges, Sydney relocated from Vermont to Southern Florida In 2022, and now works as The Ringling’s Performance Producer at The Historic Asolo Theater.
Delaney Hatfield
Delaney Hatfield is originally from Pasadena, Maryland, and moved to Tampa, Florida in 2019 for her studies. She has always had multiple creative interests, beginning with art at a young age and starting her dance training at the age of 10 at Dancers Dreams Dance Studio in Pasadena, MD. She is currently pursuing a B.F.A. in Studio Art with a minor in Psychology at The University of Tampa and is on track to graduate in May of 2023. She primarily works in the medium of paint but enjoys combining photography and dance into her work. Her current body of work explores the realm of kinesthetic identity through the consequences of fabric material and movement.
Delaney has exhibited work at the University of Tampa's Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition in both 2021 and 2022, receiving an honorable mention award in 2021. She has also exhibited in the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art's Undergraduate Juried Exhibition in St. Joseph, Missouri in 2022. Additionally, she received the 2023 Gasparilla Festival of the Arts Board of Directors Collegiate Scholarship. She has long-term goals of sharing her passion for communication between visual arts and dance with others, as well as continuing to create interdisciplinary work with dancers.
Autumn Christian
Autumn Christian is an 18 year old dancer based in Central Florida, spending a majority of her years training in Orlando with choreographers such as Dawn Branch, Aretuza Garner, and studio In Motion Dance Project. She found her love for choreography early on and had several opportunities to work with other dancer’s during her time as a Maintenance Choreographer at In Motion Dance Project as well as an apprentice for Dawn Branch Works. Autumn Is currently studying at the University of South Florida as a dance major with a Modern Dance concentration. Recently, she was selected as a choreographer for the USF Student Dance Concert being one of the only three freshman chosen. She hopes to continue her journey as a choreographer, working with and learning from as many people as she can.
meet The artists of Momentum: Choreographic Mentorship 2022
Kinsey Vaughen
Kinsey Vaughen is a current senior at Florida Southern College with a major in dance performance and choreography and a minor in exercise science. She is graduating in December of 2022 and plans to continue her passion of dance and choreography after school. Kinsey is from Spring Hill, Tennessee and grew up dancing from the age of three years old. Her favorite styles include contemporary, jazz funk, tap, hip hop, musical theater, and heels. She has performed for multiple Florida Southern Dance shows, assisted So You Think You Can Dance Dancers at the convention Excel in Motion, and has choreographed school musicals and operas. Most recently, one of her own works was chosen to be showcased at the American College Dance Association at Florida State University. Kinsey has always loved performing, but she has found a recent spark with choreography, and she is so excited to explore more of it through Momentum.
Ambar Cesari
Ambar Cesari is currently a Senior student and will be graduating from Osceola County School for the Arts (OCSA) in spring of 2022. She has been dancing since the age of 5 and has studied in ballet, modern, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical and musical theater. She was introduced to the art of choreography at the age of 14 and has gotten lots of recognition from her pieces and projects. The art of dance became her passion and decided to go to high school and learn more about it, starting her high school experience in dance major in 2018. She has trained in ballet, contemporary and modern dance for the last 4 years, and while at school, she has been introduced more into the choreography world. Ambar created her first project as freshman, in high school, and ever since, every year she has been involved in projects collaborating and choreographing for musical shows, teachers, other students and for her own performances. Also gaining other people’s trust with her work, she has been involved in choreographing for main stage performances for non dance majors. Ambar was a student choreographer for her school's entry for the Florida Dance Performance Assessment (FDPA) and the performance has won a superior ranking.
Khasilan
Tampa Bay Area-based director and dance artist, Si Renaissance (Sai) has been evolving his craft continuously for the past 12 years. Originally a solo improvisational dancer, he extended his reach branch by branch to incorporate various styles, mediums, and inspiration into his realm as an artist. He combines multiple dance styles with storytelling via screenwriting, acting, sound design, and effects to bring his inner world outwards. His themes intuitively explore the duality and dichotomy of the boundless human experience.
Meet The artists of Momentum: Choreographic Mentorship 2021
Kayla Gupta
Kayla Gupta (BA) earned her degree in dance from The University of Tampa, focusing on a Brain-Compatible Dance Education curriculum. She has studied with artists such as Luba Gulyaeva, Maurice Brandon Curry, and Theresa Stone. Kayla has performed professionally with the New Jersey Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, the American Youth Dance Company, the Bolshoi Ballet Summer Intensive and multiple New Jersey / New York based production companies. Kayla has also had the opportunity to choreograph for multiple University of Tampa dance concerts, where she was able to work closely with faculty mentors to evolve her own choreographic process.
Shannon Smyth
Shannon Smyth has been dancing since the age of 2. She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, jazz funk, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, heels and Musical theater. Her choreography has won numerous placements and top awards at competition. Shannon has performed in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, danced in the parade at Disney World, background for American Idol contestant Tyler Rayn, Vanderbilt Dance Theater and headlined World of Dance Orlando with Motiv Crew. She has assisted master choreographers from So You Think You Can Dance such as Lauren Froderman, Mollee Gray, Laura Edwards, Adi Chike Torbert and Ellenore Scott with Excel in Motion Dance Convention.
Shannon attended The Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts on Scholarship. She had the privilege to be accepted to the work Study program at Millennium Dance Complex Nashville and is on staff with Envision Dance Company (TN) where she teaches and choreographs for their competition team.
Shannon is currently attending Florida Southern College on academic and dance scholarship. She is pursuing her B.F.A in Dance Performance and Choreography.
Shannon splits her time residing in in Spring Hill, TN and Lakeland, FL.
Emily Goonan
Originally from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Emily Goonan began her training at the Jean Wolfmeyer School of Dance under the direction of Jean Wolfmeyer and Crystal Kay-Curkeet Lavallee. She graduated with a B.A. and B.S. in Dance and Psychology with a Human Services Emphasis at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in May of 2017. She studied with Michael Estanich, Jeannie Hill, Joan Karlen, Pamela Luedtke, Amy Beversdorf and Patrick Strong. Currently, Emily is in St. Petersburg Florida, training at A & G Dance Academy and Academy of Ballet Arts Inc.
Emily participated in workshops with Eddy Ocampo, Rennie Harris, Brenda Bufalino, Tania Perez-Salas, and Larry Keigwin. She also trained at Point Tap Festival with Max Pollak, Olivia Rosenkrantz, Lynn Schwab, Mark Goodman, Mark Yonally and Katherine Kramer.
Emily was in student and faculty performances while being at university and presented her choreographies: Conference Room, Hindered Attention, and Boom Knock Knock Slap Cough. Emily also made Hindered Attention: On Screen as her first video dance.
Deisha King
Deisha A. King was born on traditional Seminole-Tequesta homelands(Plantation, Florida). Deisha credits the beginning of her dance education to On Your Toes in Broward County and Dance Attack Dance Studio in Miami-Dade County, where she trained in ballet, jazz, hip-hop, acro, ballroom and contemporary forms. At the age of 14, she was a semifinalist as a member of Twitch dance group on Paula’s Adul’s” Live to Dance”and also won Univisions’ “Sabado Gigante.”
Her training led her to the University of South Florida, where she received her BFA in Dance and minor in Nutrition. Deisha was awarded talent based grants that allowed her to supplement her training during summers at Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, and the American Dance Festival at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Deisha was chosen to be 1 of 12 representatives invited by Beijing Normal University (BNU) and Chinese government to participate in the Creative International Dance Conference and Festival in 2015.
While attending USF, Deisha has worked closely with -- and performed works by -- Robert Moses, John Parks, Alex Ketley, Gesel Mason, Alonzo King, Gierre Godley, and Kevin Iega Jeff, among others.
Inspired by her Senior advocacy project at USF, Deisha has developed a passion for community outreach and engagement through the arts. Upon graduating from USF in 2018, Deisha joined Tampa City Ballet for 2 seasons and partnered with the Straz Center for the Performing Arts where she teaches dance education to underserved partnership schools and community organizations.
Deisha is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and Black Dance Change Makers, an online social platform helping to sustain and connect black creatives globally. She is always looking for professional development opportunities. Currently, Deisha is exploring the intersection of holistic wellness and movement as a healing modality. Deisha is excited to see where this journey will take her as a performer, choreographer and educator. She thanks God for the gift of dance and for the unwavering support of her village of family and friends.
Meet The artists of Momentum: Choreographic Mentorship 2020
April Newcity
April earned her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology at the University of South Florida in 2017 with a focus in Cultural, Linguistic, and Visual Anthropology. There she conducted research involving movement analysis cross-culturally, as well as focusing her studies on the African American Diaspora in modern day literature. She was also student choreographer at the University of South Florida staging two works in 2016 and 2017.
As she continued her education, she explored the incorporation of culture, literature and dialogue in her movement research and choreography. She later received a Flash Fiction Award for her writing. Her work was also featured in American Stories, a collaborative book written by the University of South Florida’s students and faculty, featuring the lives of various refugees currently living in the Tampa Bay area. The book was later published by the Hillsborough County School District, assisting as a learning tool for CARIBE’s English-language classes, providing refugees with informational texts that are culturally relevant. April wishes to continue sharing her artistic work, using an anthropological perspective as a platform to challenge cultural norm and advocate diversity.
Renée Williams
Renée Williams is a native of St.Petersburg Fl. She started her classical training at the Academy of Ballet Arts and Pinellas County Center for the Arts under the direction of Suzanne Pomerantzeff and Patricia Parks-Paige. She will graduate with her Bachelors in Fine Arts from the University of Florida's New World School of the Arts in April of 2020. Renée has performed works by Ohad Naharin, Robert Battle, Eric Wagner, excerpts from Alonzo King’s works and more.
Mads Waterman
Mads Waterman is a dance teacher, choreographer and performer currently studying at the University of Tampa for their Bachelor of Arts in applied dance with a focus on Anne Green Gilbert’s principles of Brain Compatible Dance Education. They have choreographed work for the University of Tampa’s Fall Dance Happening and the American College Dance Association. They have over 15 years of performance experience, and have performed works by artists such as Nick Blaylock and Alex Jones. In their final year of their degree, they are currently researching how dance can be used as a tool for activism.
Meet the Artists of Momentum: Choreographic Mentorship 2019
Rachel Lambright
Rachel Lambright is a graduate of the University of South Florida, earning a BFA in Dance Performance with a Modern Dance concentration. During her undergraduate career, she presented original choreography and performed in works by national and international dance artists alike, such as Ohad Naharin, Robert Moses, John Parks, Bliss Kohlmyer, Jeanne Travers, and Andee Scott. She has presented choreographic work in SCD’s “Voices” productions showcasing rising choreographers as well as in St. Petersburg, FL, as part of MOMENTUM: Choreographic Mentorship, curated by Alex Jones of projectALCHEMY. Rachel continually finds joy in pursuing her interest in dance film, bringing honesty and emotion to the forefront. Her film “Introspection” is an official selection of Austin Dance Festival 2020. She is grateful for another year of growth with SCD as she continues to develop her artistry.
Luis Torres
Hi my names Luis and I’m from California I like to challange the norms or the social world . Also I am what I call a fusion dancer, I don’t limit myself to one style, I like to mix and integrate several styles into one dance to creat art. I quote I’d like to share is, “A lotta people will tell you, you can't do something
But the reality of the situation is they can't do it” -Jabbar Hakeem.
Dakota Kuharich
Dakota Kuharich {BA} is a performer, instructor, and creator in the Tampa Bay Area. Originally from Litchfield, CT, Dakota attended the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts where she spent her four years of high school as a Musical Theater Major studying acting, voice, and all styles of dance. Dakota is a graduate from the University of Tampa where she was able to explore her passion for movement as an Applied Dance Major through performance and Brain Compatible Dance Education. She has been given multiple opportunities to choreograph and perform for the University of Tampa’s Dance Program and Theater Program.
Post- Momentum 2019, Dakota continues to teach Brain Compatible Dance Education at various studios around Tampa Bay, including The Patel Conservatory and Tampa Preparatory School, and has joined contemporary company Moving Current Dance Collective in Tampa, FL as a dancer. She has enjoyed moving and collaborating with new and old artists around the Tampa Bay Area, as well as, guest choreographer's from Orange Grove Dance Company from Washington, D.C.
Dakota has been able to share more of her choreography around Tampa Bay in the Thesis2020 Showcase this past January! In addition, she looks forward to performing in the new year with fellow dancers from the University of Tampa in the Beacon 2020 Performance in St. Petersburg, FL and at the WAXworks Showcase in NYC.
Dakota is extremely honored to have been a part of Momentum2019; for she believes it was a strong force jump starting her professional dance career via networking, collaboration, and encouragement post-university.
Photography by Denzel Johnson-Green