A Choreography Showcase

Alexandra Bilodeau is a dance artist, educator, and yogi originally from Massachusetts and now based in Manhattan. She holds dual B.A. degrees in Dance and History from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where she received the Janet Seeley Award for her contributions to the dance department, and an MFA in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College. Her choreographic interests center around nostalgia, spectacle, humor, and memory. She has presented work at WAXworks, Small Plates Choreography Festival, Junction Dance Festival, Dance Bloc NYC, Spoke the Hub, and Greenspace. A dedicated educator, Alexandra has taught at private studios across New England and New York City, and she currently teaches Core Jazz at the Steffi Nossen School of Dance.

 Bridget Cronin grew up in Liverpool, NY where she received her dance training at the Dance Arts Center and Movement Studies. She has a B.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she performed works by Merce Cunningham, Camille A. Brown, Janis Brunner, Monica Bill Barnes and Ohad Naharin. Bridget has been a freelance dancer, teacher and choreographer in NYC for over a decade. She has presented her choreography at Ailey Citigroup Theater, Arts on Site, Buggé Ballet, Triskelion Arts, Riverdale Artists Workshop, Spoke the Hub (where she received Director’s Choice in 2017 and 2025) and as a guest artist at UMass Amherst and on faculty the New York State Summer School of the Arts. She has been dancing for Clymove Dance and Laura Halzack since 2021.

Melanie Holm, MANX Artistic Director (Co-Choreographer)

Melanie Holm, MANX Artistic Director, is a soprano, dancer, and choreographer reframing opera through a movement-driven lens. Melanie has presented her signature dance/opera works throughout the United States and Europe. Her work has been featured at National Sawdust, Triskelion Arts, The Tank, Take Root at GreenSpace, Bridge for Dance, SMUSH Gallery, and in guest appearances with Borne Dance Company and Reaction Dance Company. Melanie has completed artist residencies at Bearnstow (Mount Vernon, Maine) and Moulin Belle (Mareuil en Perigord, France). An alum of the DBR Lab at Arizona State University, Melanie holds degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (BM/Voice with a Dance Minor) and Arizona State University (DMA/Voice & MM/Opera Performance), where her graduate research focused on using Gaga Movement Language and Bartenieff Fundamentals to help singers develop deeper kinesthetic connections to their vocal technique.  

Courtney Murray, MANX Artist Collaborator (Co-Choreographer)

With her fiery artistry and passion for education, Courtney Murray has made a name for herself as a versatile choreographer and dancer in the New York City area. She has danced with Borne Dance Collective, Alma NYC, Rogue Dance CO., The Schiff Dance Collective, Blue Moon Dance Company, and Sammy J. Dance. Her choreography has been featured at the Boulder Creek Festival, Borne Dance Company, The Schiff Dance Collective, Blue Moon Dance Company, the Christopher Palacio Dance Project, and the Peridance Capezio Center’s Faculty and Student showcases. She was a featured spoken word artist and dancer for Borne Dance Company’s recent 10 Year Anniversary Show, and is currently a collaborator with the dance/opera fusion company MANX. She is a proud graduate of the Broadway Dance Center Professional Semester Program and Hunter College with a degree in Psychology. 

Julia Lawton is a New York-based dancer and choreographer, and the Artistic Director of Lawton Dance Collective. She graduated with her BFA in Dance from Adelphi University in 2024, where she performed works by choreographers including Paul Taylor, Orion Duckstein, and Frank Augustyn. Julia has danced professionally with Chutzpah Dance, SHIFT Dance, Arts, and Media, and currently with the Taylor Outreach Ensemble. She is the Taylor School Associate for the Paul Taylor Dance Company and a Community Director at Arts On Site. In her choreographic practice, Julia emphasizes creative investigation through collaboration and conversation with dancers. Her work has been presented at numerous venues, including Arts On Site, The Workroom Theater Northampton, American College Dance Association Northeast Conference, Adelphi University Scholarship and Creative Works Conference, 14th St. Y, The Emelin Theatre, The Tank, Balance Arts Center, Hofstra Choreography Seminar, and Mashup Dance International Women’s Day Dance Festival.  

COMPANY BIO: Lawton Dance Collective is a women-led contemporary dance company based in New York City. Directed by Julia Lawton, LDC’s focus is on the development and presentation of new choreography, through research-driven creative investigation. LDC is committed to fostering a positive creative environment for dance artists, emphasizing collaboration and open dialogue throughout every process.

Derick McKoy, Jr. (he/him), originally from Miami, Florida, is an award-winning choreographer, visionary entrepreneur, dedicated dance educator, and accomplished arts administrator. A Glorya Kaufman Scholar, he is a proud graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in Dance and holds a Master’s degree in Performing Arts Administration from NYU Steinhardt.

McKoy has toured nationally and internationally with prestigious companies such as Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Nimbus Dance, and Jeremy McQueen’s Emmy Award-winning Black Iris Project. He made a television appearance on the acclaimed FX series POSE, and debuted in opera with The Dallas Opera in their production of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. In 2025, he performed at the AFL-CIO Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference as part of Dancers Deserve Better (formerly known as Dancers of DBDT).

As a performer, McKoy has brought to life the work of an impressive array of choreographers including Alvin Ailey, Matthew Rushing, Crystal Pite, Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Dawn Marie Bazemore, Kameron Saunders, Alejandro Cerrudo, Marco Goecke, Norbert De La Cruz III, among many others.

His work as a choreographer and performer has earned Emmy nominations for WILD, a four-part film series by the Black Iris Project, as well as a Telly Award and Hermes Creative Award in choreography.

McKoy is the Founding Artistic Director & CEO of McKoy Dance Project (MDP), a contemporary dance company rooted in five core pillars of artistry, equity, education, wellness, and community. MDP exists as a platform to amplify and celebrate the voices of people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community, investing deeply in the dance field while building pathways of access and visibility. Under his leadership, MDP continues to expand its national footprint and evolve its mission-driven work through performances, residencies, educational initiatives, and community engagement.

Kat Reese – (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist working in the New York City and New Jersey areas. In her work, Kat often likes to explore themes of human connection and community through a wide spectrum of movement from the subtle to the explosive, as well as elements of improvisational scoring and real-time decision making. Kat has danced for numerous companies and choreographers in New York City including the Equus Projects, Brit Falcon, Monteleone Dance, and Salvatore LaRussa Dance Theatre, as well as the Jersey City based Kennedy Dancers Repertory Company, where she served as a dancer, rehearsal director, and guest choreographer. She has also presented and performed her own work in venues including Art House Productions, Dixon Place, Alchemical Theater Lab, and Triskelion Arts, and enjoys collaborating with her partner Zoltan Suhay on dance film creations as well. Kat has also taught classes and created choreography for dancers of all ages and experience levels over the last decade, and feels that dance, movement, and creativity are for everyone. Kat graduated summa cum laude with her BFA in dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

Kierstyn Edore (North Jersey) graduated from Montclair State University with her B.F.A. in Dance and a Minor in Psychology.  She is the director of Opus//The Company, which has presented work at Koresh Artist Showcase, 14th Street Y (NYC) at S.H.I.F.T. with One Day Dance, Montclair Dance Festival, Williams Center, and Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center.  She is a founding member of KM Dance Collective, and is currently dancing with Freespace Dance Company and Puluka Projects.  Kierstyn has performed for events including DUMBO Dance Festival, Whitewave Solo/Duo Dance Festival, APAP, Koresh Artist Showcase, the Capezio ACE Awards, NJPAC and Nimbus Emerging Choreographers, The Chita Rivera Awards, and American College Dance Association Showcase.  She has been a featured choreographer across school districts and dance studios for both concert and competitive work, and her student work has been presented at County College of Morris and Montclair State University.  Kierstyn has worked closely with renowned artists Stefanie Batten Bland, Leslie Kraus, Dan Safer, Yusha-Marie Sorzano, Dolly Sfeir, Jaclyn Walsh, and Christian von Howard.

Annie Doss began teaching at Steffi Nossen in 2006. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in
Dance from Marymount Manhattan College, studied at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and is
currently pursuing her MS in Movement Therapy at Pratt University. A Steffi Nossen alumna with
many performing credits, Ms. Doss has also presented her own choreography at the Theresa
Lang and Red Room Theaters, Dance Theatre Workshop (DTW), SUNY Purchase, and Peridance
Center. She is a founding member of DiMauro Dance and a Certified Pilates Instructor. In addition
to her role as faculty member and choreographer at Steffi Nossen School of Dance, Ms. Doss is
also a member of the Faculty at Trapeze School New York.