ABOUT NEW YORK THEATRE BALLET Diana Byer (Founder and Artistic Director)

With its ever-expanding repertory, New York Theatre Ballet’s cutting-edge programming brings fresh insight to classic revivals paired with the modern sensibilities of both established and up-and-coming choreographers. Going strong after 40 years, New York Theatre Ballet’s diversity in repertory explores the past while boldly taking risks on the future.

Brendan Drake is a Brooklyn based interdisciplinary artist who uses theatricality and disparate dance forms to create performance spectacles. He was a 2017/18 Fresh Tracks Artist through New York Live Arts and the recipient of a 2015 CUNY Dance Initiative Grant through Baruch College. His recent work has been presented at Brooklyn Studios for Dance,​ ​​HERE, La MaMa, Gowanus Loft, the CURRENT SESSIONS, Industry City Distillery, Joe’s Pub, Museum for the Moving Image and No Theme Festival (Poughkeepsie, NY). In addition to his work for the stage, Brendan choreographed the fall 2014 “Equality = Love” campaign for Adidas Originals/Pharrell Williams and served as movement coordinator on editorial shoots for Vogue and Elle Magazines. Brendan received his BFA in Dance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Marion Spencer is a New York- based dance artist. Her work has been presented by Gibney’s WORK UP 4.0, Triskelion Arts, Movement Research at the Judson Church, and the Domestic Performance Agency. Since moving to New York, Marion has collaborated and performed with Athena Kokoronis, Kinesis Project Dance Theatre, Stephan Koplowitz, Annie Kloppenberg, Carte Blanche Performance, Shaun Irons & Lauren Petty, Vanessa Justice, and apprenticed and performed with David Dorfman Dance. In addition to performing and making, she also teaches dance at Gibney, Dancewave, Greenwich Country Day School, and Girls Preparatory Charter Middle School. www.marion-spencer.com

Ishmael Houston-Jones (curator): choreographer, author, performer, teacher, and curator. His​ ​improvised dance and text work has been performed in New York, across the US, and in Europe,​ ​Canada, Australia, and Latin America. He and Fred Holland shared a New York Dance and​ ​Performance “Bessie” Award for Cowboys, Dreams and Ladders. He was awarded his second​ ​“Bessie” Award for the revival of THEM, his 1985/86 collaboration with writer Dennis Cooper​ ​and​ ​composer Chris Cochrane. He curated Platform 2012: Parallels and Platform 2016:​ ​Lost & Found,​ ​both at Danspace Project. He has received a 2016 Herb Alpert, a 2015 Doris Duke Impact and a​ ​2013 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Artists Awards. In 2017 he received a third “Bessie” for​ ​Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other Works by John Bernd.