Lou Mandolini

Lou (Lindsey) Mandolini is nonbinary professional dancer, choreographer, and performance artist based in Brooklyn, New York. They began their formal training in Chicago at the Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance and graduated from the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts High School Program. Mandolini went on to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where they graduated with high honors receiving a BFA in Dance and a minor in Art History. They have been a company member and dancer for New York-based choreographers Hee Ra Yoo (Yoo & Dancers), Regina Nejman (Regina Nejman & Company), … Continued

Sophie Ortiz

Sophie Ortiz works together with Taylor Jones in WillCheer4Beer. They met through a New York City queer non-profit adult charitable cheerleading organization. As ‘main’ and ‘side’ bases, they’ve performed in queer nightlife, honing skills in tumbling, stunting, dance, parkour, and virtual design. With infectious glee and iconic wit, they’ve built a community, exploring cheer’s ties to drag, performance art, dance, martial arts, gymnastics, and sex work. Their collaborative, DIY performances offer an ethnographic view of cheerleading, challenging media stereotypes, gender perceptions, national identity, and the sport’s kinesthetics.

Carolina Oliveros

Carolina Oliveros is a singer and musician born in Barranquilla, Colombia, and now based in New York City. She performed the traditional music of the Colombian Caribbean coast with “Las Cantadoras del Rio,” investigating and researching the multitude of rhythms in the bailes cantados (sung dances) of the region, including bullerengue, tambora, gaita, and millo. In NYC she records, performs, and tours with groups she formed, including: “Carolina Oliveros y la Nacíon,” “Bulla en el Barrio” and “Combo Chimbita,” She is currently working on several new musical projects underlined by her indigenous and Afro-descendant musical roots.

Kaoru Watanabe

Acclaimed composer and instrumentalist Kaoru Watanabe’s work is grounded in traditional Japanese music while imbued with contemporary jazz, improvisation, and experimental music elements. His signature skill of infusing Japanese culture with disparate styles has made him a much-in-demand collaborator working with such iconic artists as Wes Anderson, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Laurie Anderson, Jason Moran, Yo-Yo Ma, Japanese National Living Treasure Bando Tamasaburo, Silkroad Ensemble, and Rhiannon Giddens. A trained jazz musician, he lived in Japan for a decade to connect with his heritage. While there, he became the first American to become a performer and Artistic Director of the iconic taiko drumming ensemble Kodo.

Denisa Musilova

Is a performer and choreographer; a 2023 Baryshnikov Arts Center Artist-in-Residence, a 2019 New Dance Alliance LiftOff Resident Artist, and a recipient of the 2022 Watermill Center Alumni Mini-Retreat, having performed at the Watermill Gala in 2019. Her newest work, POOL, was commissioned and presented at the Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival and the Voices International Theater Festival in June 2023. She has also presented works at The Tank, Dixon Place, La MaMa, NY Butoh Festival, 92nd Street Y, LATEA Theater, Next@Graham, Czech Center NY, Triskelion Arts, SOAK Festival, Venuše ve Švehlovce Theater, and Theater Akropolis Prague. As a performer, … Continued

Thea Little  

Born and bred in NYC, is a Brooklyn-based performer, choreographer, musician, composer, and director. She performs solo works that are influenced by performance art and music, and she choreographs collaborative group dance-theater works. She has presented her music compositions and choreography throughout the United States, Belgium, Austria, France, and England. Thea has been composing music since she was 5 years old and she has made music for her own choreography as well as for Joya Powell: Movement of the People Dance Company, Gerard and Kelly, Karen Harvey Dances, and LEIMAY. In 2005 Thea was Music Director to Shen Wei Dance … Continued

Derek DiMartini

Derek DiMartini hails from Oakland, California.  He likes to view dance as an extension of his passion as a creator and a performer.  He has been an ensemble member in since January 2015, and has been teaching The Leimay Ludus Community Class since Summer 2016.  In New York, his work has been performed with Mare Nostrum Elements, as well as at LEIMAY SOAK, WAXworks and Marie-Christine Giordano Salon. He has also worked with SumBones Collective and has had the opportunity to perform the works of Merce Cunningham, Ohad Naharin, Akram Khan, Reggie Wilson, and Trisha Brown.  Derek graduated from Yale … Continued

Georgia b. Smith

Georgia b. Smith is an interdisciplinary artist who primarily creates sculptural and dance/performance art work. Georgia b. was a member of the LEIMAY ensemble as they premiered “Borders” at BAM Fisher in 2016.  She has a MFA from the University of Michigan where she launched her series Plastic Abodes and Cavernous Bodies. Georgia b. was the artistic director of  NOT for reTALE which showed work at CAVE. Georgia’s work in NOT for reTALE exemplifies how her work incorporates sculpture as an extension of the bodies on stage.

Drew Sensue-Weinstein

Drew is a multidisciplinary theatre and sound artist, serving as one of three composers for A MEAL. His work often involves the integration of electroacoustic sound with music and live performance to create a heightened sensory experience for audiences. Drew co-created and directed SYNTHESIS, performed as part of LEIMAY’S SOAK 2017; he also produced LEIMAY’s FRANTIC BEAUTY (BAM) and KALAVINKA, LEIMAY’s gala event honoring Meredith Monk. As a designer and composer, Drew’s work has been experienced in New York at HERE, The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, and Abrons Arts Center and in DC at Anacostia Arts Center (DC), … Continued

Jeremy Slater

Jeremy Slater is an artist born in Wallingford, England who now lives in Williamsburg Brooklyn. He is a sound artist essentially, but also works with video and sound in performance and installation settings doing interactive and ambient-reactive installations. Otherwise known as ( ) Jeremy Slater uses his laptop computer to create a variety of sound, image, and interactive work. He was one of the 1999 recipients of the Computer Art Fellowship from New York Foundation of the Arts (NYFA) and has exhibited and performed nationally and internationally. www.jeremyslater.net.