Show 1 Artists
Show 1 - Friday November 13th
8:00 pm
ANGELINA DIFRANCO
2026 LINK Choreographer
Angelina DiFranco is a dance artist, writer, and choreographer. She graduated from Kent State University with honors in May 2023 and holds a BFA in dance and a BA in English with a concentration in professional writing. She has trained with Deeply Rooted, Koresh, Visceral, and the LA Contemporary Dance Company, has participated in residencies with choreographers such as Dianne McIntyre, Amy Hall Garner, Hope Boykin, Stefanie Batten Bland, and Dominic Moore-Dunson, and has danced professionally with InPulse Dance and MoJo Co.Lab. Angelina is in her fifth season with the Dancing Wheels Company, where she has toured internationally, choreographed repertoire, earned the Physically Integrated Dance Teacher Certification, and stepped into the role of Assistant Rehearsal Director. Alongside her work as a performing artist, Angelina teaches at Studio J and Cleveland Dance Project. She has also taken part in See Chicago Dance’s critical writing fellowship and has been published in See Chicago Dance, Luna Negra, Brainchild, Arts Air, and The Movement Project Blog. As a choreographer, she has won Best Overall at the Kent State Film Festival and Best Experimental Film at the Highland Square Film Festival. Angelina’s choreography has been performed at Cleveland Dance Fest, Cleveland’s Museum of Contemporary Art, OhioDance Festival, CDF Akron Series, RADFest, Small Plates Choreography Festival, River Dance Festival, and Playhouse Square’s Dance Showcase. Most recently, she was the 2026 LINK Resident with The Movement Project and NCCAkron. Currently, Angelina is setting new work on the Dancing Wheels Company, Studio J, and Firestone Akron School for the Arts.
*TMP’s LINK Choreographer Residency in partnership with NCCAkron, supports choreographers in their creative process while fostering connections across Northeast Ohio and linking the artistic communities of Akron and Cleveland.
Photo Credit: Black Valve
DOMINIC MOORE-DUNSON
Named one of Dance Magazine’s 2023 “25 to Watch,” and 2025 Lloyd Richards New Futures Fellow (SDC Foundation) Dominic Moore-Dunson is an award-winning choreographer, performer, and storyteller based in Akron, Ohio. His work blends contemporary dance, physical theater, live music, and text to explore themes of race, identity, memory, and belonging through what he calls Urban Midwest Storytelling—narratives shaped by growing up Black in post-industrial America.
Dominic is the writer, director, and choreographer of inCOPnegro: Aftermath, a podcast and dance-theater work examining the long-term impact of police violence on Black communities; The Remember Balloons, an intergenerational family performance about memory, loss, and Alzheimer's; and The Block, a digital substack essay series combining personal narrative, satire, and movement to reflect on the creative realities of Black working artists.
His work has been presented nationally and featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Akron Beacon Journal, and on PBS Western Reserve. A 2024 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award recipient, Dominic creates immersive, multidisciplinary performances that spark dialogue, healing, and joy—continuing a legacy of storytelling that moves both people and systems.
Megan Davis Bushway, Kelly Hurlburt Hines,
Chloe Napoletano, and Rowan Salem
Between 2018-2023, the four of us you’ll see on stage tonight went through a life transition that is at once both relatively ordinary and utterly extraordinary: we became mothers. We’ve all had different experiences carrying, birthing, and raising children, but each one of us would say that motherhood has changed us in dramatic, sometimes startling, ways that impact every part of our lives, including our creative work. At times, the identities of mother and artist can seem at odds with each other, because we’ve been told that both of these roles require complete devotion at the expense of self. Inside Voices is the result of not choosing between artist and mother, but recognizing that these identities are interwoven. Choosing to comb through, follow, drop or braid the threads of these identities is our daily work in the studio and while holding our children. This work was created through a process that embraced the practical considerations of our lives with young children, viewing interruptions, schedule changes, limited time, and our postpartum bodies not as things to be resisted, but assets to the process. Each of us developed solo material, working wherever and whenever we could, and came together to connect the pieces and create one cohesive evening of dance, text, and song. Our goal throughout the process has been to explore the highs and lows of motherhood together, and we are grateful you are sharing this journey with us.
JOEL K. LINEBACH & BIRD THURMAN
Bird Thurman is a Chicago native with a passion for both movement and mechanics. They earned a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University, where they also minored in dance. After graduating, Thurman switched gears from engineering to join Inlet Dance Theatre as a company member. Their love of physics spills into their dance space, especially during partnering, as the human body can do amazing things with the right mechanical advantage.
Joel K. Linebach is a choreographer, performer, educator, and PhD candidate in Plastic Engineering based in Northeast Ohio. Since earning his MFA in Contemporary Dance from CWRU, he’s created and presented new work across the Midwest and beyond, including PHASIC at the 2025 Cleveland Dance Festival and en vie après in Chicago. He is currently a company member with Inlet Dance Theatre.
Linebach and Thurman met in 2024 and instantly clicked. They’ve been creating work together since 2025, showcasing their athleticism, tenderness, and humor in Cleveland, Akron, and Columbus. Notably, Thurman and Linebach performed their premiere duet, Cairn, in New York City this past February as part of the 2026 SoloDuo Dance Festival.
“Thurman and Linebach have a strong, intuitive connection. They share a nice, playful tone with their physical rapport and responsiveness to one another, creating a sense of trust and attentiveness that’s engaging to watch.” - Anna Sperber
“A most delightful surprise - Linebach and Thurman’s debut work, Cairn, inspired by human-stacked stone memorials and navigation markers, employs their full arsenal of non-traditional partnering to wow many in the audience.” - Steve Sucato
Photo Credit: Kiersten Conway
MIRANDA NICHOLS BRASETH
Miranda Nichols Braseth is a Pittsburgh based choreographer, dance educator, and performer. Her work looks at the repetitive, athletic nature of dance and performance, and attempts to display the rigor of creating the performance act. Miranda is an adjunct professor at Seton Hill University and Point Park University, and teaches at several studios in the Pittsburgh area. Since 2018 she has danced in several works with Attack Theatre, and continues performing with the company today. Miranda holds an MFA in Dance from UW-Milwaukee, and a BFA in Dance and English Literature from Marymount Manhattan.
Photo Credit: Jake Braseth
NATYA NIRVANA
Sukanya Chand is a dance practitioner who specializes in Bharatanatyam and Odissi. Sukanya enjoys choreographing solo and collaborative pieces that highlight the elements of Indian Classical, folk dances, creating traditional and contemporary pieces. Performances, master classes, workshops are provided through her dance company ‘Natya Nirvana’ with the mission to educate, enrich the Central Ohio community through arts education while creating multicultural awareness and cultivating local talent. She is currently an instructor at MUCAI Academy in Worthington, Ohio.
Priyanka Raghavan began learning Bharatanatyam at the age of 7 under the guidance of Guru Smt.Padmini Ramachandran. She is an Audition Artist at Chandana Doordarshan and has been awarded prestigious awards like “Kishore Prathibhe” and “Aryabhatta Award”. She has also won several prizes in various competitions and performed widely as a solo artist and in group all over India and US.
Brinda Ramasubrmanian, well-versed in Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, and Kuchipudi- each known for its unique history, intricate footwork, and expressive storytelling through gestures and facial expressions. Brinda is a the founder of Nrithyanjali Dance School. She finds immense joy in teaching, molding the next generation of dancers with patience, precision, and a deep understanding of the art. The mission of Nrithyanjali is to build a nurturing environment where students not only excel in dance but also gain an appreciation for the rich cultural heritage of India.
Photo Credit: Black Valve
ALISHA JIHN | 靳書怡
ALISHA JIHN | 靳書怡 (she/her) is a dancer, maker, and board-certified dance/movement therapist. Her choreography is grounded in ideas of hybridity and intercultural experiences reflective of her identity as a Taiwanese-American raised in the Midwest. Alisha has presented her work at the Asia Pacific Dance Festival (Honolulu, HI), RADFest (Kalamazoo, MI), Dance City Festival (Detroit, MI), Cleveland Dance Festival (Cleveland, OH), OhioDance Festival (Columbus, OH), and DanceLAB MKE (Milwaukee, WI). Alisha is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Dance at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She previously taught at Denison University and facilitated dance for memory care with Perennial Movement Group (Columbus, OH). She is a recipient of the 2026 Individual Excellence Award in Choreography from the Ohio Arts Council. She was a Fulbright Fellow in Taiwan researching cross-cultural approaches in dance/movement therapy. Alisha holds degrees from St. Olaf College, Columbia College Chicago, and a MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University.
THE MOVEMENT PROJECT
The Movement Project was founded in 2009 by Megan Gargano and Rebecca Leuszler with the goal of supporting professional dance in Cleveland. Since then, TMP has expanded across Northeast Ohio, deepening its investment in artists and communities in both Cleveland and Akron.
Since launching its first full season in 2013, TMP has produced over 40 evening-length concerts, created more than 60 new works, and premiered six original dance films, performing throughout Northeast Ohio and beyond at venues including Cleveland Public Theatre, Sandefur Theatre, Playhouse Square, and Dumbo Dance Fest (NYC).
In 2015, TMP launched The Artist Fund to increase direct support for dance artists. Today, over 60% of TMP’s operating budget is dedicated to paying artists. In 2016, TMP founded Cleveland Dance Fest (CDF), an annual festival supporting and presenting choreographers and dance artists.
TMP’s presence in Akron has continued to grow through longstanding partnerships with Miller South School for Visual & Performing Arts and Firestone CLC. In 2023, TMP became a Pathway Partner with the College & Career Academies of Akron through Akron Public Schools, and in 2024 launched the CDF | Akron Concert Series.
In January 2026, TMP moved into its new home at The Dance Hub in Cleveland’s historic Twist Drill Building, creating a dedicated space for Northeast Ohio’s dance community to train, rehearse, perform, and gather. Today, TMP continues to build a thriving and connected dance ecosystem across Northeast Ohio through performance, artist support, education, and community engagement.
Guest Choreographer: Victoria Lynn Awkward is a multidisciplinary creator, educator, producer, and the Director of VLA DANCE. She pursued her multiple interests at Goucher College and graduated with high honors in Dance, Visual Art and Secondary Education. As the Director of VLA DANCE she is currently directing projects: “For Nina” - a multidisciplinary show celebrating the lineage of Nina Simone, “In The Space Between” - a production where dance, textile, and audio brings audiences into a world of queer imagination, and “Harnessing our Gardens” - a book celebrating the stories of Black femme movement artists. Notably, Victoria is a Brother Thomas Fellow as well as a recipient of the Queer (Re)public Theater Offensive Residency. Additionally, Victoria is a producer of Performance and Live Art for MoMA.
Photo Credit: Black Valve