MY SUNFLOWER HAT New Mexico Dance Project Founded in 2019 by husband and wife team Scarlett Wynne and Erik Sampson, NMDP produces original concert works, performance installations, and short films that focus on capturing the imagination and inspiring curiosity. The company exists to widen the spectrum of how dance is accessed and experienced by its audience; emphasizing the art of storytelling as a means of bridging the divides brought on by cultural, racial, and social differences. New Mexico Dance Project is a contemporary dance company based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Scarlett Wynne, Choreographer/ Artistic Director NMDP Scarlett has over ten years of professional experience in the performing arts industry as a dancer, choreographer, and instructor. She holds her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and has worked with companies across the country such as The Georgia Ballet, Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre, Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet, Wonderbound, and The Big Muddy Dance Company. Currently, Scarlett is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the New Mexico Dance Project and serves as Resident Choreographer and Instructor with the New Mexico School for the Arts (Santa Fe, NM). Erik Sampson, Dancer/ Executive Director, NMDP Erik has worked professionally as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer since 2010 and holds his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance. In 2014, Erik’s passion for youth development and community impact lead him into Education resulting in the founding of the Arts Immersion Program in 2014, later known as the Immersion STEAM Schools. In 2019, Erik returned to the stage with New Mexico Dance Project and currently serves as the company’s Executive Director. Spencer Olsen, Musical Collaborator Spencer, is the Art Director of Meow Wolf Las Vegas, at AREA15. With a background in mural painting and graphic design, and now focusing on approachable, tactile new-media, Olsen has led several acclaimed collaborative installations. He first caught the attention of Meow Wolf at his 2015 exhibition, "FURTHER LANDS“, and again for his collaborative installation at Life is Beautiful in 2017, called “WORMHOLE.” Before Meow Wolf, Olsen was the lead Visual Designer for graphic mural company, Walls360. Known for his unique aesthetic and perspective, he has collaborated with several renowned hotels and bands such as The Cosmopolitan, MGM, A Perfect Circle, The Killers, and The 1975. Originally from Las Vegas, Olsen currently resides in Santa Fe. UPRISE Melissa Briggs-Bransford Melissa Briggs-Bransford, Choreographer Melissa has worked as a choreographer and dance educator for over 20 years, in New York City, across New England, and in New Mexico. She holds an MFA in Dance from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts and a BA in Sociology/Theater from Smith College. Melissa’s work has been presented at venues throughout the New York metropolitan area, in Mexico, and here, both in Albuquerque (North 4th Theater, UNM) and Santa Fe (CCA Santa Fe, James A Little Theater, and numerous public sites). She has enjoyed Artist Residencies from The Joyce Theater Foundation (NYC) and The Yard (Martha’s Vineyard, MA), among others, and has an ongoing collaboration with JoAnna Mendl Shaw and The Equus Projects/Onsite NYC. Melissa is fasciated by the intersection of space, design, and storytelling that occurs in site-specific performance work; her most recent projects were created for parking lots and churches. She is currently on dance faculty at UNM, ArtWorks, NDI New Mexico, and also teaches yoga locally. Maia Cortissoz, Dancer Maia began her dance training at the age of four with City in Motion Dance Theater in Kansas City, Missouri. At the age of 8, she joined City in Motion's Children's Dance Theater under the direction of Kathleen Kingsley. In her teen years, she was made an apprentice company member with City in Motion's professional performing company and eventually joined the company in 2003 for several seasons. Maia also trained with Westport Ballet Theater in Kansas City, Missouri, with the late Shirley Weaver of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In addition to performing with City in Motion, Maia has also performed with Kacico Dance and AHA! Dance Theater, as well as danced in the works of several Santa Fe, based choreographers. She is currently the VP of Strategy & Grants Management with Growing Up New Mexico: The Early Childhood Partnership. Laura Elaine Garrett, Dancer Originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the Co-Artistic Director and the Ballet Instructor at Moving Arts Española. She is a graduate from Goucher College (2020) where she earned a BA in Dance and Spanish with Cum Laude honors. She is a dedicated choreographer, dancer, videographer, and curator. Her work, Junto a ti, was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa Brooke Pierce Award in the Fine Arts and was chosen to perform in the American College Dance Association’s National Gala. As a performer, she has danced in works by Karole Armitage, Charlotte D’Amboise, Ann Reinking, Yin Yue, and more. Ariel Gottschall, Dancer Ariel began her classical ballet training with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Upon graduating from the contemporary dance department of the University North Carolina School of the Arts, she continued her formal training at S.U.N.Y. Purchase. Lar Lubavich, Buglisi Dance Theater, Doug Varone and Dancers, and Moving People Dance Theater are among the artists Ariel has studied and danced with. Since returning to her hometown, Ariel has devoted herself to creative community projects with the sole purpose of promoting performing arts for the people. Molly Rose, Dancer Molly Rose is a native New Mexican, and somatic movement educator. As a professional dancer, choreographer, and facilitator of classical and contemporary pedagogy, she has worked professionally for over 36 years throughout the United States, dancing works including the repertoire of Balanchine, Arthur Mitchell, Petipa, Fokine, Agnes DeMille, Lew Christenson, Fleming Flindt, Bournonville, James Clouser, Brenda Way, Alonzo King, Mark Morris, Maria Benitez, Soto Hoffman, and Anna Halprin. Her roles in over 40 Operas, her innovative work in new contemporary west coast works met and helped shape her congruence as a somatic ecologist. Her choreographic work appeared for the Met, PBS ‘great Performances’, on 60 minutes, on beaches, hospitals and museums; including 14 seasons with Santa Fe Opera. As a Tamalpa Practitioner of expressive arts, Molly offers ritual workshops in Body Mythology, somatic training, and private Pilates coaching through her studio SOMA in Santa Fe, on the land of the Tewa peoples. She is a founding member of the new dance collective MoveWest; her passion is in the ecological necessity of creativity as our cultural evolution. BASKETWEAVER SOLO Dancing Earth Creations Co-Choreographed by Rulan Tangen Anne Pesata, Dancer/Co-Choreographer Anne is Jicarilla Apache from Dulce, New Mexico. She has been dancing her stories with the indigenous contemporary dance company Dancing Earth since 2012 and has since traveled with the company to 4 different countries and 8 states across the US, with notable performances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, DC), Wellington Opera House(Wellington, NZ), and the Ordway Theater (Minneapolis, NM). She has also performed original work alongside the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra and performed as a dancer with the Santa Fe Opera in the 2018 production “Dr. Atomic”. Her renowned “Basketweaver” solo has been academically reviewed by Ph.D. candidate from UC Berkeley, Tria Andrews, and featured in numerous national dance festivals and choreography showcases. CREATRIX RE-EMERGENCE Rulan Tangen Photos by Randi Lynn Beach Rulan Tangen, Founding Artistic Director, and Choreographer Dancing Earth Creations Dancing Earth creative hubs are in the homelands of Ogaa Po’ogeh - unceded occupied Tewa lands known as Santa Fe, NM, and Yelamu - unceded occupied Ohlone lands known as San Francisco, CA. These lands have been sung and danced into renewal since the beginning of time by these original peoples of these lands - past, present, and future. With love, I give contemporary dance as my offering to thee lands, to grow respectful, reciprocal, and creative relationships with community and cosmos upheld by these original cultures where we make relationships with people and place PROM.E.NADE BEING SEEN PERFORMANCE PROJECTS Being Seen Performance Projects is work Christiana Barnett-Murphy makes with her creative collaborators. Christiana Barnett-Murphy, Choreographer/Dancer Christiana is a recent transplant to Santa Fe and is so grateful to now live in the Land of Enchantment. She began her training at an early age, primarily in Ballet and Modern. She began her professional dance career at age sixteen and has performed in works by Andrea E. Woods Valdes, Ava Lavonne Vinesett, and Dendy Dance Theater among others. The majority of these performances took place at Duke University and The University of North Carolina. Christiana attended the American Dance Festival for six summers as a student and during the summers of 2012-2016, Christiana was the teaching assistant to ADF faculty member, Jesse Zaritt. Christiana continues to choreograph her own work which has been showcased in Tobacco Road Dance Productions, Durham ArtWalk, and the Durham Arts Council’s Centerfest among others. In 2013 she received the Durham Arts Council’s Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artist grant which supported her solo work, BURNING. Christiana holds a B.A. in Theology with a concentration in Counseling from The King’s University. Christiana actively works at bringing dance to populations who would not ordinarily be able to engage with it and seeks to foster human connection in all her work. Sam Italiano, Dancer Sam Italiano was born and raised in Colorado, studying under the direction of Danielle Heller, exploring a variety of styles of dance including ballet, ballroom, jazz, modern, and tap. Studying with Gene Medler at Elon University, her love of tap dance outshined all other styles, and she has continued to keep dance in her life.