Maria Gillespie (she/they) is a choreographer, performer, dance and somatic educator. She is a CLMA Laban Bartenieff Movement Analyst, certified Pilates teacher, and Associate Professor of Dance at UW-Milwaukee. She directs MG/The Collaboratory and Hyperlocal MKE, both dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration and improvised performance practice. Gillespie developed the community teaching project, Parts of the Whole-The Body is Home, to bring creative somatics, dance, and community building to system impacted youth. Her approach to community practices are based on the belief that liberation begins in the body. Gillespie has collaborated with artists Kevin Williamson, Nguyen Nguyen, Ginormous, Nirmal Raja, Lois Bielefield, Sonja Thomsen, Glenn Williams, Nathaniel Stern, Joelle Worm, Christal Wagner, Tim Russell, Devin Drobka, Barry Paul Clark, Mike Rea, and dozens of choreographers and composers to create collaborative performances. Gillespie founded and directed LA-based Oni Dance (2003-2015) and was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch". Gillespie's dances... "ricochet between vulnerability and strength with razor-sharp shifts in intensity and intent" (LA Times). Her work has been presented nationally and internationally including The Ford Amphitheatre, The Getty Museum, the Roy and Edna Disney/Cal Arts Theater (REDCAT), UCLA's Department of World Arts & Cultures, Cal Arts, The Fowler Museum, Highways Performance Space, Joyce SoHo and CounterPULSE. Gillespie has performed and taught in Beijing, Guangzhou, Tokyo, and Mexico City.  She has taught at numerous universities including UCLA Department of World Arts & Cultures, Cal Arts, Loyola Marymount University, Beijing Modern Dance Festival and was a choreographic and teaching resident in Mexico City with Apoc Apoc. Choreographic commissions include The Getty Center, Loyola Marymount University, Scripps College, Pomona College, Cal State Long Beach, Utah Valley University, University of Florida, and Santa Monica College dance departments. She is a grant recipient from The Wisconsin Arts Board, The Durfee Foundation, The Irvine Foundation, UWM’s Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, The Center for International Education, Office of Research and was a 2014 UWM Global Studies Fellow. She was a UWM Research Mentor of the year nominee for her commitment to undergraduate research and received the 2019 Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. She is a 22/23 Milwaukee Artist Resource Network mentor. onidance.org | hyperlocalmke.com

Kevin Williamson (he/him) is an Associate Professor of Dance at Scripps College. He is a Lester Horton Award recipient, Johnson Faculty Award recipient (research, teaching, and service), a Bates Educators Fellow, and Center Theatre Group Sherwood Award Finalist. His recent collaboration with filmmaker Taso Papadakis, “Safe and Sound,” received a “Best Short Film” award from Madrid Arthouse Filmfest along with an “Excellence Award” by LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival, official selections at Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival and Film Maudit 2.0 - Queer Film & Performance Series and received “Best of” nominations for Phoenix and San Francisco Indie Short Festivals. Performance and choreography works have been presented by DanspaceProject, REDCAT’s NOW Festival, Dixon Place’s HOT! Festival of Queer Performance, CounterPulse, LACMA, Austin’s OUTsider Festival, Minnesota Fringe, Diversionary Theater SD, and the Beijing Dance Festival. Choreography for theater and opera includes collaborations with Washington National Opera, Atlantic Theater Company, the Juilliard School, Geffen Playhouse, Yale Theater, and Opera UCLA; and commissioned works for CSULB, LMU, and AMDA. Kevin was a dancing member of David Roussève REALITY, Maria Gillespie's Oni Dance, LA Contemporary Dance Company/Kate Hutter, and Robert Moses' Kin. He has performed for David Gordon’s PickUpPerformance, Angelin Preljocaj and Julie Taymor for LA Opera, as a soloist in Bernstein’s MASS for the LA Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival and in works by Ryan Heffington, Cheng-chieh Yu, Victoria Marks, Heidi Duckler, Keith Johnson, and many more. He received his BA and MFA in Dance and Choreography from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance and is a certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst and yoga instructor and somatic dance educator.

Nguyễn Nguyên (he/him) is a choreographer, dance filmmaker, and educator based in Los Angeles. Nguyên was born in Vietnam and came to the United States as a refugee. His work has been presented throughout Los Angeles, the Guangdong and Beijing International Dance Festival in China, and the International Performance Arts Festival in Thailand. Nguyên is a founding member of Los Angeles Movement Arts, an interdisciplinary arts collective. Nguyên was a Regents Scholar at UCLA and graduated with a B.S. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and an MFA in Dance and Choreography at UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance. Nguyên was on faculty at Santa Monica College and Cal State LA. He has taught as a guest at UCLA, LMU, CSULB, RCC, University of Maryland, Montclair State University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and University of Iowa. He has worked with various artists including David Roussève, Cheng-Chieh Yu, Katsura Kan, Simone Forti, Taisha Paggett, Holly Johnston, Michael Sakamoto and Maria Gillespie. Nguyên is currently on faculty at RenArts Academy in Glassell Park and is a member of The Rock Collection.