Alissa Elegant Dance
Performing Harbin, My Refuge
Choreography by Alissa Elegant

Alissa Elegant is a dance artist and emerging choreographer who produces thoughtful multidisciplinary work. She grew up dancing at the Oakland Ballet Academy under Ronn Guidi and performing roles with the Oakland Ballet Company. She spent a year in Beijing studying dance on a Fulbright Fellowship where she took classes at Minzu University (中央民族大学) and participated in field research alongside Chinese professors. She has set pieces on the San Francisco dance company World Dance Fusion and presented at the Association of Asian Performance Conference. She received her MFA in choreography from Temple University.

Website: Elegantdance.org

Awaken Dance Theater
Performing “Mother Earth: An Exploration of Climate Change.”
Choreography by Rebekka Nodhturft 

Rebekka Nodhturft is a current MFA candidate at Montclair State University. She studied at the Ailey School and Orlando Ballet, and performed with Jazz Roots, Momentum Dance, and internationally with Keen Dance Theater as a soloist. She founded Awaken Dance Theater in 2014 to create works with important socio-political messages.

Website: awakendancetheater.com ; Facebook: AwakenDanceTheater ;
Twitter: @awakendancethtr , Instagram: @awakendancethtr

Fast Forward is made possible, in part, with private funds from the Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and public funds from the NY State Council on the Arts with the support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the NY State Legislature.