Xavier Pierce is an highly respected acclaimed lighting designer whose work spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theatre, opera, and dance. His designs have been seen at leading institutions across America including the Public Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre ,Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The Goodman Theatre ArenaStage, Seattle Repertory Theatre ,American Conservatory Theatre , American Repertory, the Alley Theatre.

William Whitener performed worldwide and on Broadway with The Joffrey Ballet, Twyla Tharp Dance, Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, New York City Opera and Martha Clarke’s Garden of Earthly Delights. He choreographed over sixty dances for Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Ballet Hispanico, Seattle Repertory Theater, Seattle Opera and John Curry’s Ice Theatre. For Williams's full bio, please visit the School of Dance website.

My research is rooted in the interconnections of American contemporary performance, cultural and personal histories. I approach performance as a means of re-framing perspectives, creative practice, linking the arts and social change, and blurring the lines between performer and audience. I draw inspiration from my upbringing to create original works that allow for moments of recognition and transformation. 

Ms. Hunter gained experience working nationally and internationally as a performer, choreographer, and stage manager for Starr Foster Dance Project, K Dance in association with “Yes, Virginia Dance,” Ground Zero Dance Company, Amaranth Contemporary Dance, and Dim Sum Dance. 

Ms. Wilkes’s research explores how contemporary dance, theatre, and film can intersect to reflect relevant topics and spark viewer curiosity/engagement. As an educator, Ms. Wilkes works to empower students through creative collaboration and uplifting dance practices.

Ms. Love’s research centers on the dispersive social fields of the black Atlantic. Her current research investigates the displacements and refiguration of bodily gestures across varying elemental and ecological registers as techniques of memory, encodings of turbulent geographies, and castings of alternative time horizons.