Keep Moving
EXTENDED! Streaming event through March 14 conceived and created by Monica Bill Barnes and Robbie Saenz de Viteri
in collaboration with performers Manuela Agudelo, Olivia Brown, Kai Chen, Anakeiry Cruz, Sarah Isoke Days, Katherine De La Cruz, Grace Deane, Nadjie Forte, Reagan Gordon, Kathryn McKenzie, Naja Newell, Esther Nozea, Amanda Konstantine Perlmutter, Julieta Rodriguez-Cruz, Lina Sierra, and Jessica Son
Keep Moving is a theatrically innovative and heartfelt look into how one group of women preserve their identities as artists and dancers during a time when there are no studios or theaters to move in. Structured in chapters, the visual podcast merges choreography from the cancelled premiere of Monica Bill Barnes & Company’s The Running Show (due to COVID restrictions) with performance footage, recorded interviews, self-taped personal reflections, at-home rehearsals, and phone conversations. The chapters vary in length from a 4-minute video to a 22-minute audio clip that could be paired with a walk outside or preparing dinner. Each chapter responds to the underlying and challenging question of how dancers, women who work so hard to keep moving, find a way forward while live performance is on pause.
The Keep Moving team includes Editorial Adviser Robyn Semien (This American Life), Associate Producer Elizabeth Furman (Days Go By), Web Designer and Creative Consultant Indah Walsh (Indah Walsh Dance Company), and Rehearsal Director Flannery Gregg (Little Women).
Keep Moving was originally presented and commissioned by American Dance Festival with the support of Jody and John Arnhold/Arnhold Foundation.
Keep Moving is made possible with generous support from Howard Gilman Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund in The New York Community Trust, SHS Foundation, Dance/NYC, Harkness Foundation for Dance and Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, The WP Theater, Maira Gerlich and the entire staff of New York Physical Therapy, Carol Walker and the dance department at Hunter College.
Monica Bill Barnes
(MBB & CO. ARTISTIC DIRECTOR / CHOREOGRAPHER / PERFORMER, She/Her) is a choreographer, performer, and the Artistic Director of Monica Bill Barnes & Company. Barnes founded MBB&CO in 1997 with a collection of solos that could be performed anywhere. In 2013, MBB&CO gave itself the challenge to “bring dance where it doesn’t belong” and has been striving to follow this self-imposed motto ever since. The company has performed in venues ranging from Upright Citizen’s Brigade to The Sydney Opera House and has been presented in more than 100 cities throughout the US and internationally. Barnes has worked in film, theater, and set over 30 different works on college students all over the country. Recent company projects include The Museum Workout, a guided exercise tour of art museums made in collaboration with the author/visual artist Maira Kalman; Happy Hour, an immersive office party dance show; Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, a show that combines radio and dance in collaboration with Ira Glass; and The Running Show, a new touring show inspired by the company’s award winning off-Broadway production that turns dance into a live sporting event. Within each of these new contexts and borrowed environments, the company’s work constantly find humor in our awkward, everyday triumphs and failures.
Robbie Saenz De Viteri
(MBB & CO. CREATIVE PRODUCING DIRECTOR / PERFORMER, He/Him) began working in theater as an audio script assistant to Anna Deveare Smith. He has created performances and toured productions throughout the world with the Obie Award winning Nature Theater of Oklahoma. He has created, produced, and performed in Happy Hour, The Museum Workout, and One Night Only with Monica Bill Barnes & Company. Some of his other favorite projects include producing This American Life Episode 528, “The Radio Drama Episode” live on stage at BAM, directing Rachel Bonds’ Michael & Edie, and creating and performing The Spiritual Life of Modern America, a collaboration in Norway based on the experiences of foreigners traveling in America today.
Manuela Agudelo
(PERFORMER) is a Colombian dancer and choreographer who uses traditional folk dance such as cumbia as well as street styles from the city where she grew up in, NYC. Her focus is her matrilineal ancestors and how she can tell the story of powerful women through movement. She has a degree in Performance Art and another in Social Justice from CUNY Baccalaureate School for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies. She is an activist advocating for black and brown liberation through the medium of dance and community organizing. She is currently a dancer for Kim Elliott Dance.
Olivia Jenna Brown
(PERFORMER) is a Philadelphia-based dance artist from the East Village in Manhattan. She is currently a lead children’s teaching artist at University City Arts League, as well as a member of Poético Dance Collective. After receiving her Bachelors in Dance from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College in 2019, Olivia has performed with professional dance companies including VLDC and Monica Bill Barnes & Co. Olivia’s perspective of dance is inspired by her training at Alvin Ailey, as well as by the somatic methodologies of postmodern choreographers Nancy Stark Smith and Trisha Brown. In her choreography and dance filmmaking, Olivia employs a meditative, site-specific approach to explore themes of nature, group dynamics, and Judaic culture. Olivia passionately believes that movement can be a transformative tool by which to radically imagine and embody positive change in the world.
Kai Chen
(PERFORMER, She/They) is a 20 year old Dance Major at Hunter College, with plans to pursue “something dance related” when they graduate. They’ve had the pleasure of working with MBB&Co a number of times previously, including at New York City Center for Fall for Dance. Kai is currently trying to survive a global pandemic by finding space where there isn’t. They will be virtually presenting their original choreographic work early December 2020 at Hunter College, featuring bathtubs, showers, and lots of dancing.
Anakeiry Cruz
(PERFORMER) is a dancer based in NYC, born in the Dominican Republic and raised in the Bronx. She is currently a junior in college studying dance and journalism. She has trained at the Martha Graham School, NYU Tisch Pre professional program, City Center and Broadway Dance Center. Some of her credits include: New York City Center, The Joyce, Kaye Playhouse. Anakeiry wishes to be part of a contemporary/modern company in the future while still using her passion for writing to be an advocate for the arts.
Sarah Isoke Days
(PERFORMER) is performance artist and creative director based in Brooklyn. She is currently double majoring in Dance and Africana, Puerto Rican & Latino Studies at Hunter College. SarahIsoke has trained at Brooklyn High School of the Arts, Earl Moesely’s Institute of the Arts, and The Ailey School and has performed work by David Parsons, Kyle Abraham, Larry Keigwin, Obediah Wright, and Monica Bill Barnes & Company. In this season of her life, serving her community is her primary mission. She aims to use her talents to benefit differently abled communities such as the deaf and blind; creating visual and performance art that matters.
Katherine De La Cruz
(PERFORMER) is a movement artist based in Brooklyn NY. She recently graduated from Hunter College with a double major in Anthropology and Dance. At Hunter college she danced in repertoire works by Larry Keigwin and Blakely White-McGuire. She danced at The New York City Center during the 2019 Fall for Dance Festival in “The Running Show” by Monica Bill Barnes & Company. She is passionate about choreographing and created the works “ Autumn Heat” as well as “Pixel Element.” The latter was not performed due to COVID 19. Katherine’s new found love is dance film which led her to create the film “En La Luz.” Katherine aims to use her knowledge of dance as well as her Anthropology background to continue to create work that offers a space for both confronting political and social issues, as well as offering perspectives on internal healing processes.
Nadjie Forte
(PERFORMER) is a Florida born dancer and actress. She recently graduated CUNY Hunter College where she majored in both Sociology and Dance. She has performed and been an assistant stage manager at the Wick Theatre and has also performed works by Doug Varone and Sondra Bonito. In the recent year, she has had the opportunity to work closely with the Monica Bill Barnes Company and performed at the New York City Center for the Fall for Dance 2019 Festival. Given her dance experience and academic achievements, she has obtained a well-rounded view of performance and dance management. Her recent project includes a podcast addressing issues within politics and pop culture with a young black perspective.
Elizabeth Furman
(ASSOCIATE PRODUCER) first met Monica as a young dancer at Bates Dance Festival in 2010. Ten years later she is thrilled to be part of the team after reconnecting with the company in 2017. As an administrative and production assistance Elizabeth has supported Happy Hour, One Night Only, The Museum Workout, and The Running Show both in NYC and on tour globally and nationally. As associate producer Elizabeth has supported the company’s site-specific show Days Go By at Brookfield Place, and Keep Moving their first ever virtual experience. Elizabeth loves bringing the company’s work to new audiences and has truly enjoyed watching this cast from Hunter College perform over the last two years. As a performer Elizabeth creates worlds for distinct characters to inhabit. Her most recent collaboration “once she lived in a 4th floor walkup” was part of the 2018 All Over Westbeth Site Specific Festival. Elizabeth holds a BA in Dance and English from Kenyon College.
Reagan Gordon
(PERFORMER) is currently studying both dance and media at Hunter College in NYC with a MUSE arts scholarship. Reagan grew up training in ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, tap, and hip hop at Hudson Valley Conservatory under the direction of Samuel E. Wright, Amanda Wright, and Pamela Murphy. After high school, Reagan continued her training at various studios in the city such as Broadway Dance Center and Peridance Center, while also minoring in dance at Hunter. Reagan has been able to perform in various full-length shows directed by Dee Kelly for the New Rose Theatre, including Peter Pan, Cinderella, Matilda, and an annual Nutcracker. She has also performed as an apprentice for Valley Contemporary Dance Company in their production of The Giving Tree, under the direction of Paige Cummings. Reagan’s biggest accomplishment so far is performing in an excerpt of Monica Bill Barnes and Company’s “The Running Show” at New York City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival. In addition to training and performing, Reagan also choreographed/danced in the music video for A Fragile Tomorrow’s “How Do You Dance to It?”, substitute teaches at Hudson Valley Conservatory, and assists classes for The School at Peridance.
Flannery Gregg
(REHEARSAL DIRECTOR, She/Her) is an NYC based dancer, rehearsal director and choreographer who choreographed her first pieces as a 4 year old, using her parents’ coffee table as a stage and Ravel’s Boléro as the soundtrack. Since the coffee table stage, she has collaborated with composers, visual artists, directors, and filmmakers. Last year, she was Rehearsal Director and performed in Monica Bill Barnes & Company’s productions of The Running Show (included in New York City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival) and Day’s Go By (a show in and about a mall). In 2018, she worked alongside Monica as Associate Choreographer on the feature film Little Women, where you may have also seen her kicking, stomping, laughing, and bumping into Saoirse Ronan (credited “Beerhall Dancer #1). Since 2017, Flannery has acted as the movement director of New York University’s student-created Reality Show, staging performances at the Barclays Center, Radio City Music Hall, and NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Flannery’s first time working on Broadway (and with pierogis) was as Assistant Choreographer to Sam Pinkleton on Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. Flannery’s second time working on Broadway, as Associate Choreographer with Sonya Tayeh on Sing Street, was cut short as the Covid-19 pandemic brought show business to a halt. Born and raised in San Diego, Flannery got her BA in World Arts and Cultures from UCLA. She currently lives in Hell’s Kitchen spending most of her days dancing on her roof, riding her bicycle, and missing rehearsal studios terribly. She is thrilled, however, to occupy Zoom rooms as Rehearsal Director for Keep Moving. 5-6-7-8!
Kathryn McKenzie
(PERFORMER) is a movement artist based in the Hudson Valley. She holds a BA in Dance from Hunter College. There she performed choreography by Vicky Shick, Doug Varone, and Merce Cunningham. Kathryn’s choreography for the music video Ice Moon, by The Next Great American Novelist, won Best Music Video at the Harlem International Film Festival and has been screened at many others. She currently dances with NK&D / a movement company and is exploring motion through acro yoga, rock climbing, and juggling.
Naja Newell
(PERFORMER) is an artist and storyteller. Gravitating to human connectivity, she pushes boundaries to tell stories through different mediums, specifically dance and film. Though Naja has been featured in music videos for artists such as Kranium, she deeply enjoys being behind the scenes. She has directed and produced “A Thousand Words”, a documentary featured in CUNY Film Festival 2019, nominated for Best Screenplay and Best Documentary, as well as, HK/NY Exchange Film Festival. She has also produced several videos for Business Insider surrounding dance, travel, and food. Her aspirations are to continue to bring forward authentic stories that help change perceptions; to connect people cross-culturally, religiously, ideologically, and racially.
Esther Nozea
(PERFORMER) was born in Queens, NY and grew up in Valley Steam, NY. She is currently a senior at Hunter College pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a minor in Psychology. Esther began dancing at the age of six and began her formal dance training once entering college where she performed works by Alwin Nikolais, Kyle Abraham, Blakeley White-McGuire, Monica Bill Barnes & Co., and others. Esther has trained at schools including the Martha Graham School, Peridance Capezio Center, and Broadway Dance Center while receiving additional training from summer studies with Movement Migration and Parsons Dance. Esther has performed in theaters such as New York City Center and the Kaye Playhouse and hopes to continue her journey after college as an aspiring dance artist.
Amanda Konstantine Perlmutter
(PERFORMER) is a performer, dance educator, and choreographer. Amanda earned her AS in Visual and Performing Arts from Queensborough Community College and her BA/MA in Dance Education from Hunter College. She has performed in over 30 US states while on tour, as well as trained and performed in various parts of Europe. She has been a featured dancer in several music videos, as well as featured in various popular TV shows as a tattoo model – breaking the stigma against tattooed dancers/dance educators on a large scale. Amanda has completed her 200 Hour Vinyasa Yoga certification with Yoga Alliance. She has taught at both recreational and competitive studios, dance camps, private and public schools, as well as choreographed court dances for weddings and Sweet Sixteens.
Julieta Rodriguez-Cruz
(PERFORMER) a Bronx native, began dancing at the age of 17. Julieta is currently a dance major at hunter college, where she began her intensive training and gained an interest in choreographing and lighting design. Apart from dance, Julieta also has a keen interest in the natural sciences and has been exploring the connections of her two interest through the lens of choreography. Outside of her studies, she had the honor of performing with the Monica Bill Barnes Company on multiple occasion, including the 2019 Fall for Dance festival. This past summer she participated in the Dance your Bronx Up project with Pepatian under the mentorship of Alethea Pace. Through these turbulent times, Julieta is unsure of what the future holds, but she is sure she wants to continue to grow along side her craft.
Robyn Semien
(EDITORIAL ADVISOR) is a longtime staff producer, editor and reporter at This American Life. She got her start in radio unconventionally, editing the Showtime docu-series This American Life made. Which is how she began her career in journalism and transitioned to radio. Robyn has since won two Peabody Awards for her work as a producer on the Harper High series and reporter/producer on Anatomy of Doubt which led to the Emmy nominated Netflix Series, Unbelievable. Robyn loves dance. Before anything else, she’s a dancer. It’s how all stories, including radio, make sense. In her mind, at least.
Lina Sierra
(PERFORMER) is a striving performer. She graduated from Hunter College with a bachelor’s degree in Dance and a minor in music. Currently, Lina intends on continuing Graduate School to pursue a degree in Dance Education at Hunter College. She had the opportunity to work with Monica Bill Barnes Company in three performances, at Hunter College, Brookfield Place and the 2019 Fall for Dance Festival. She is a Dance Choreographer/mentor for her community church. She aspires to become a professional dancer/Dance Educator. Lina is a new choreographer and hopes to continue this phenomenal journey and hopeful to see what lies ahead.
Jessica Son
(PERFORMER) is originally from Laurel, MD and currently pursuing her Masters in Dance Education at Hunter College. She holds a BFA from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in New York City, where she graduated summa cum laude with a double major in Dance and Psychology. Ms. Son found her passion for teaching at The Ailey School as a creative movement instructor in the First Steps program and a Horton instructor in the Junior Division program. As an artist, she has performed works by Jamar Roberts, Stefanie Batten Bland, Christopher Huggins, Jae Man Joo, Jacqulyn Buglisi, and Alvin Ailey. Professionally, Ms. Son was a dancer with Mook Dance Company in 2017-2019 and is currently performing with Monica Bill Barnes & Company.
Indah M. Walsh
(WEB DESIGN & CREATIVE CONSULTANT) is a choreographer, performer, dance educator, and administrator. She has danced in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and across the US. Indah earned a BFA in dance from Purchase College Conservatory of Dance in 2008 and a MFA in dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2014. As a choreographer, Indah Walsh was awarded a Creative Engagement Grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2017. Indah is currently Adjunct Faculty at NYC Tisch School of the Arts.
