Dance & Choreography

The following dancers and/or choreographers have been selected by the editors.
Click on photo to view videos of phenomenal dance performances.

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Photo Credit: Richard Termine

Diana Byer is the September 2024 Featured Artist of the month. She is the founder and artistic director emerita of New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) and director of New York Theatre Ballet School. A former professional dancer, she was a long-time pupil and colleague of Margaret Craske, who was director of Ballet Instruction at New York Theatre Ballet School until her retirement. In 1989, Diana founded NYTB’s community LIFT program, providing dance classes, scholarships, and services to homeless and at-risk New York City children. She has received the Helen Wieselberg Award from the National Arts Club, a Humanitarian Hero recognition from Good Housekeeping Magazine for her ongoing work with LIFT, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Martha Hill Dance Fund. A feature-length film, documenting Diana Byer’s journey of LIFT was featured at the 2022 Tribeca Festival and has been nominated for a 2024 News and Documentary Emmy Award. ​

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Photo Courtesy: RammDance

Courtney Ramm is a dancer, choreographer and founder of RammDance, a nonprofit dance company that combines the beauty and discipline of classical ballet with the grace and aesthetic of the Isadora Duncan style of dance. Largely inspired by Nature, RammDance’s performances, workshops and retreats help bring the body, mind, and spirit back into alignment through the power of dance and movement. Courtney has danced professionally in New York City with companies including Dance Visions NY, IsadoraNOW and Dances Patrelle as well as with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, IONA Contemporary Dance Theater and Onium Ballet Project. Since 2014, Courtney has led wellness retreats in Hawaii, focusing on empowerment and transformation.

Photo Credit: Dan Demetriad

Nikki Feirt Atkins is the March 2020 Featured Interview of the Month. Nikki is a former dancer, pathologist, and founder and producing artistic director of American Dance Machine of the 21st Century (ADM21). Nikki studied ballet as a scholarship student at New Jersey Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet School in New York, where she performed briefly with the Joffrey Ballet. After a brief career as a professional dancer, Nikki went on to obtain her medical degree and became a practicing pathologist and researcher at Columbia University Medical Center. While working as a part-time pathologist in private practice, Nikki became involved in several dance projects, including The Jack Cole Project. In February 2012, Nikki founded ADM21, a New York City-based nonprofit dedicated to creating a living and vibrant archive of classic and current notable musical theater choreography. 

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Photo Credit: Barbara Todd

Anna Mayta is a dance improviser, choreographer and instructor. She graduated from Empire State College with a B.A. in Dance in Education and received a certificate to teach yoga from Svyasa Swami Vivekananda Yoga University in Bangalore, India. Anna has worked with many artists, both individually and as part of collaborative projects, including Gigi Oppenheimer (Duets: “The Wisdom Tree,” and “Inner Fire”), the D’amby Project, SolesBare Dance Collective, and The National Ballet of Zimbabwe. Currently, Anna directs her dance company, Mayta Fusion Dance, which is located in Mid-Hudson Valley, NY. Anna teaches, choreographs, and performs throughout New York, including New York City. She danced and choreographed a solo for the First Flamenco Festival, and she is an active participant in her community. 

Brianna Mercado is the October 2019 Featured Artist of the Month. Brianna is  a professional dance artist, teacher, choreographer, and speaker based in New York City. Her journey is a study in contrasts – having experienced the deepest challenges and the greatest rewards. Brianna survived life-threatening bone cancer at the age of 15, then went on to receive a full-ride scholarship to UC Berkeley. After graduation, she pulled up California roots for a move to the Big Apple and ignited a career as a professional dancer, only to find out shortly afterward that a second aggressive cancer had invaded her body at the age of 22. Brianna’s performance credits include: TEDx, Isn’t It Romantic, MUNY’s Jesus Christ Superstar, MUNY’s Aida, Fuerza Bruta: Wayra, & a PHISH concert performance. She is represented by McDonald/Selznick Associates Talent Agency and teaches weekly dance classes at Peridance Capezio Center in Manhattan.

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Photo Credit: Svelta Atanasova

Karen Bernard is the September 2018 Featured Artist of the Month. Karen is a cross-discipline performance artist, choreographer & founder of New Dance Alliance, an arts service organization whose mission is to actively promote emerging forms of innovative dance, music, video and interdisciplinary performance. She has been invited to tour in Portland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, St. John’s, Montreal, Toronto, Ottowa and Quebec City. Karen received a BAX 10 award for her invaluable service to artists in the founding and development of the Performance Mix Festival. She is a co-founder of E|MERGE Interdisciplinary Collaborative Residency at Earthdance.
Jennifer Dunning, a critic for the New York Times, has described Karen as a “spellbinding performer with unusual themes.”

Heather Harrington is the September 2017 Featured Artist of the Month. Heather is an award-winning dancer and choreographer. She has danced with several renowned companies, including the Doris Humphrey Repertory Company, the Martha Graham Ensemble, and many others. She ran her own modern dance company, Heather Harrington Dance Company, in New York City for nine years, performing nationally and internationally with a focus on site-specific dance. Heather  has received numerous grants for her work and has been a resident choreographer for the Yard’s Bessie Schonberg Choreographers and Dancers Residency, Kaastbann International Dance Center, and the Hotel Pupik series in Austria. Heather is currently an adjunct professor of modern dance and theory at Kean University, and she also teaches at Seton Hall University.