SATURDAY November 8TH

Show 2 - 3:00 pm  

Meet the Artists

NATYA NIRVANA

SUKANYA CHAND is a dance practitioner who specializes in Bharatanatyam and Odissi- two of the eight Indian Classical Dance forms. Bharatanatyam originated from Southern India that embodies strong linearity and power while Odissi is from Eastern India that showcases circularity and isolations. Sukanya received her dance foundation in India and she explored the basics of Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Flamenco, Theater, and Modern dance when she moved to US. She enjoys choreographing solo and collaborative pieces that highlight the elements of Indian Classical, folk dances, creating traditional and contemporary pieces. She has produced a variety of performing arts events, creating cultural awareness, integration, enriching, and entertaining the Central Ohio community. She gives workshops and master classes through her dance company Natya Nirvana and is an instructor at MUCAI Academy in Worthington, Ohio.

RENEE CLIPPINGER has been dancing since the age of three, starting her training at Midwest School of Ballet in Amherst, Ohio. She grew up training there in ballet, contemporary, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, and hip-hop, while competing as a member of their company team for 8 years. Her choreographic journey began there at the age of 14. Renee is a recent graduate of The University of Akron, earning her Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a business cognate and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. In the dance program at UA, she had the opportunity to perform in numerous works as a member of The University of Akron Dance Company. She also was an active member of Terpsichore Dance Club at UA serving as its President. Through Terpsichore, she had the opportunity to choreograph and perform in various works for their Underclassmen Showcase, Fall into Dance, and Spring into Dance concerts. She recently presented work representing The University of Akron at the American College Dance Association Conference. Outside of UA, she performed in CDF Akron with FRTRSS Dance Theatre and had the opportunity to be a Seasonal Trainee with The Movement Project. Her work has been presented at Cleveland Dance Fest, at CONVERGENCE: Cleveland Dance Project’s Community Collaborative Show, and at Summit Artspace. She currently works as a freelance choreographer while pursuing her PhD in Psychology at The University of Akron.

https://reneeclippinger.wixsite.com/reneeclippinger

HONORA DANCE

IRENE HONORA received her BFA at Ohio University in 2014. Her most recent choreographic work debuted at Honora Dance's CONTACT in winter of 2022, and was jointly created with Ashley G. Herron. Irene’s previous work has been performed all over Cleveland with The Movement Project’s past SummerWorks shows and Pilgrim Church shows, Cleveland Dance Fest 2017, 2019, and 2021, dotdotdot’s artist series 2017-2019, and Ohio University’s Senior Dance Concert tour in Dayton and Cleveland Heights. She had the pleasure of interning with The Movement Project in 2014 during creation of the work Two Kinds of Light and performing in Gladys Bailin’s Newspapers at Ohio University. Irene became a company member with The Movement Project from 2015-2019, and has performed with the company numerous times. Irene is also interested in dance medicine and presented research on snapping hip syndrome at the annual International Association of Dance Medicine and Science's meeting held in Basel, Switzerland in the fall of 2014. Teaching is also a passion of hers, and Irene was honored to work with apprentices at the Center for Arts-Inspired Learning's Artworks program during the spring of 2015, as well as teaching for The Movement Project's summer intensives. In 2014, Irene spent the summer working and teaching in Salida, Colorado, at Salida Dance Studio’s summer program. From 2017-2019, Irene co-founded and ran Cleveland art series dotdotdot. Currently, Irene has expanded into project-based work under her own Honora Dance, LLC.

LUCY DILLON is a dance artist investigating the utility of movement for claiming embodied agency. She has an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University and a BFA in Dance Performance from UC Irvine. Lucy has shown her work in dance festivals across the country – including: KoDaFe at Ailey Citigroup Theater in New York, Dance City Festival in Chicago, Berkeley’s Broad Statements Festival, Ohio Dance Festival, and Cleveland Dance Festival. She has been an artist-in-residence at Levy Dance, Iowa Choreography Festival, and SAFEhouse Arts. As a performer, Lucy danced professionally with Malashock Dance Company (San Diego, CA), Polaris Dance Theater (Portland, OR), and Call It Art (San Francisco, CA). She currently dances with Abby Z & The New Utility (Columbus, OH). Lucy created choreography for dance majors at The Ohio State University, bringing one of her works to American College Dance Association’s Midwest Conference, and for Denison University’s Dance Company. In 2024, she participated in the ATLAS choreographic training program at ImPulsTanz. Lucy’s work urgently seeks resilience, intimacy, and vulnerability.

https://lucy-dillon.com/

HIXON DANCE Hixon Dance is a modern dance performing ensemble founded in 2007 by Sarah Hixon that is active in the performing arts throughout Ohio and beyond. The company regularly collaborates with other artists—especially musicians—and experts in other fields to inspire, create, and produce new work. The company is committed to a multidisciplinary creative process and is known for presenting impactful works that are accessible to audiences, specializing in creating work to music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Past collaborators include The Columbus Symphony Orchestra, The Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble, Opera Project Columbus, The Worthington Chamber Orchestra, and others. They have recently worked with composers Jacob Reed, Lauren Spavelko, Michael Rene Torres, and award-winning poet Maggie Smith. Hixon Dance has been a mainstay of the Columbus dance community for almost 20 years, participating in a wide array of community-centered performances including the Columbus Dances series, GCAC's New Choreography Project, Columbus Summer Dance Festival hosted by The Ohio State University, Vox Novus, Global Water Dances, OhioDance Festival, Ten Tiny Dances, Cleveland Dance Festival, and others. They host City Dance Showcase, an annual presentation of local independent dance makers. Education and outreach are a central component of the company’s mission, and we strongly believe that the performing arts enrich our community. They offer noncompetitive and inclusive classes for ages 2 through adult at their studio in Clintonville, OH. They have been featured in The Columbus Dispatch, The Columbus Underground, The Columbus Alive!, The Clintonville and Worthington Spotlight, LifeLine Columbus, and other publications. 

SARAH HIXON is a choreographer, dance educator, and artistic director of Hixon Dance. The company is known for its collaborations with other artists, especially musicians, and for presenting impactful and accessible performances. Ms. Hixon studied choreography with Doug Varone, Bebe Miller, David Parsons, Susan Rethorst, Vera Blaine, Susan Shields, and others. She trained at The Washington Ballet, American Repertory Theatre, and The Milwaukee Ballet, among others. She holds a BFA in Dance from George Mason University and an MFA in Choreography from The Ohio State University. Hixon’s award-winning choreography has been presented at The Wexner Center for the Arts, The National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., Joy of Motion, The Short North Stage, The Lincoln Theatre, The Fairfax Center for the Arts, The Pivot Center, and others. She has worked with Opera Project Columbus, the Worthington Chamber Orchestra, CATCO is Kids, Vox Novus, COSI, and many collaborators throughout the region. Recent collaborative partners include The Columbus Symphony, The Movement Project, poet Maggie Smith, and composer Michael Rene Torres. She has received special commendations for her work from Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and Ohio House Representative Beth Liston. She has taught at several universities and pre-professional schools throughout Washington, D.C., and central Ohio including the OSU Department of Dance, BalletMet Columbus, New Albany Ballet Company, Wittenberg University, George Mason University, and The Peabody Institute among others.

www.hixondance.com

MARISSA STOLT is a Senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying Dance, Economics, and Mathematics. She has performed in numerous UW-Dance Department Concerts, the American College Dance Association Festival (ACDA), and Dance-Form's International Choreographers' Showcase as a member of the Jin-Wen Yu Dance Company. Her choreography has been selected to perform in UW-Dance Department Student Concerts, ACDA, and most recently, the Cleveland Dance Festival. Beyond the stage, Marissa is committed to mentorship and leadership within the dance community. She serves as a peer ambassador for UW-Madison, leading prospective students through auditions and demonstrations, and as the president of the Dance Department Student Organization, working to create professional opportunities for students and boost department engagement. She plans to continue dancing and creating after graduating next May.

ELIZABETH POLLERT is a Cleveland-based creator, performer, and dance educator, and works as an independent artist with area choreographers, movers, and multi-genre makers. She has performed and choreographed both in the U.S. and abroad, including France, Canada, China, India, and Easter Island(Chile). In the U.S., Pollert has performed and choreographed for Cleveland Public Theatre’s DanceWorks series, Playhouse Square, the Cleveland Art Museum, and IngenuityFest, Cleveland, OH; International Performing Arts for Youth Conferences, Philadelphia, PA; Lose Your Marbles Festival, Akron, OH; WOW Festival, San Diego; and Charlotte International Arts Festival, North Carolina. Additionally, she has toured with the children’s show What Do You Do With An Idea? Pollert spent 16 seasons with Inlet Dance Theatre, Cleveland, where she served as a performing company member, education coordinator, and instructor and choreographer for Inlet’s education programming. Pollert has been a recipient of The Movement Project’s Space connect grant, a selected choreographer with the Cleveland Dance Project and a collaborator with Elu Dance, the Blissed Out Human Collective, and Ajayi Dance. Currently, she’s a Guest Assistant Professor at Kent State University, serves as a guest teacher for local companies, is a touring artist for Australian Polyglot Theatre’s Ants and Bees productions, and is creating her own work. She is passionate about making dance accessible to all ages and backgrounds and creating work that invites people to explore the world through embodied experiences. Elizabeth recently earned a MFA in Dance from Bennington College.

CHRISTI CAMPER MOORE is an Associate Professor of dance and Head and Graduate Chair of arts administration. She has a diverse background as a dance educator, administrator, and choreographer and has been teaching dance for over 25 years. She currently teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses at Ohio University including contemporary modern technique, dance composition, dance pedagogy, arts management, and an array of seminars, independent studies, and tutorials. Her professional choreography, deeply intertwined with her pedagogical practice, has been presented at venues in Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Most recently, her work, the willow’s branches, was selected for the OhioDance Professional Choreography Concert (April 2025) and she was commissioned to set a new work, Contended Convergence (2023), for the Charleston Ballet (WV) and in collaboration with the Beo String Quartet. Christi’s scholarship focuses on pedagogy; she explores how dance training, curriculum, and community shape a student’s identity within the context of their studies. Christi contributes to the field through original research, international presentations, and publications. She is published in various outlets including Research in Dance Education, Journal of Dance Education, Dance Education in Practice, Dance Teacher, and the American Journal of Arts Management. Christi is passionate about teaching the next generation of artists and has received a Cutler Scholars Outstanding Mentor Award (Spring 2024) and a University Professor Award (2022-2023). She holds a Ph.D., Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies, M.A., M.Ed., and a B.F.A. in dance performance and choreography.

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