Mission
Gaspard&Dancers is an inclusive and diverse dance company founded upon a shared passion for versatile movement that is physically inventive, emotionally dynamic, and inspiring to people of all ages and backgrounds. Through the creation of repertoire, performances, lecture demonstrations, workshops, short and long-term residencies within the North Carolina community and around the globe, our main purpose is to expand the perspectives and creative potential of all who see and share in our world.
History
Gaspard&Dancers was founded in 2009 by former Pilobolus dancer Gaspard Louis. The company produces an annual performance season at Duke University in Durham, NC and has recently been presented at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts in New York City, Cape Fear Stage in Wilmington, NC, Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC, Bermuda, and across North Carolina as part of the NC Dance Festival.
Artistic Director
Gaspard Louis is the Founder and Artistic Director of Gaspard&Dancers (G&D). He received a BFA in Dance from Montclair State University and continued his dance studies on scholarship at Gus Giordano’s in Chicago and Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab in New York. Following his studies, he joined the New York based company called AllNations where he performed traditional dances from many parts of the world for US troupes across the globe. Subsequently, he performed and traveled worldwide with Pilobolus Dance Theater. He collaborated on the choreography of nine major dance works with the company and taught master dance classes both nationally and internationally. Gaspard received an MFA in Dance from the Hollins University/American Dance Festival Program and is the Director of ADF’s year-round creative movement outreach program which provides free dance classes to youth in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill community of North Carolina. Additionally, Gaspard has been a guest teacher and choreographer at numerous universities including North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), Duke, Elon, Montclair State, North Carolina Central, and most recently The Ailey School.
Dancers & Staff
Auriana Carrington (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) has been working as a dance professional since 2023. She earned a BFA in Dance from Slippery Rock University and also received the 2023 Outstanding BFA Award and Scholarship. From 2023-2025, she was with WhirlWind Dance Company (Columbus, Ohio) under Joshua Manculich as a main company dancer. Additionally, she has performed with Nolan Dance Collective (Pittsburgh, PA) under Haley Nolan. Since 2025, she has worked for Gaspard&Dancers (Durham, NC & NYC) under Gaspard Louis. Auriana has also performed work by Helen Simoneau, Hanna Elisabeth Bricston, Cameron McKinney, Elisa Alaio, Morgan Sandlin, Monique Haley, Jordan Lloyd, Grady Bowman, Lindsay Viatori, & Ursula Payne. She competed on S2 of NBC’s “World of Dance” and at the Universal Dance Association (UDA) Competitions. Additionally, she has performed at the American Dance Festival, American College Dance Association GALA, National Association of Schools of Dance, Dancewave Through College and Beyond NYC, and El Colegio Del Cuerpo (Cartagena, Colombia).
Khalid Dunton, a Washington DC/Maryland native, is a dance artist whose work bridges the realms of concert and commercial performance. A graduate of Montclair State University with a BFA in Dance and a Minor in Business, he has performed with Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater, McKoy Dance Project, Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Kyle Marshall, and The Black Iris Project in the Emmy Award–winning WILD: Bird of Paradise. He has taken on the role as rehearsal director and performer for Gaspard&Dancers. His artistry has illuminated stages from The Metropolitan Opera and The Joyce Theater to NJPAC, Jacob’s Pillow, and beyond such as London, Armenia, and Tbilisi, Georgia just to name a few. Within the midst of his career Dunton has trained and worked in the commercial dance industry alongside Dana Foglia, James Alonzo, and Yanis Marshall. While having embodied works by Martha Graham, Bill T. Jones, Stacey Tookey, and others in combination with commercial dance, Dunton continues to evolve—pursuing movement as both expression and exploration of the human experience.
Harris Kahler is a dancer born in Washington state and currently based in New York & New Jersey. He started training in dance in Spokane and graduated from Montclair State University in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Kahler has worked professionally with organizations including The Nutcracker Magical Christmas Ballet and Academy of Dance in Spokane. He also served as Dance Director for Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre’s production of Fiddler on the Roof. In addition to performing, he has also presented choreographic work through university & collaborative performance projects in and around New York. He has performed works by the Paul Taylor Dance Company and artists including Leslie Kraus, Brice Mousset, André Tyson, Roderick George, and Cameron McKinney. Before college, Harris graduated with honors from the Interlochen Arts Academy. He additionally attended summer intensives on scholarship with Oregon Ballet Theatre, Ballet Arizona, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.
Rayan Lecurieux-Durival (French Guiana, France) trained in The EPCC Les 3 Fleuves, the Conservatory of Larivot and Association De Danse Artistique Classique Et Modern’Jazz (ADACLAM). He moved to Paris and joined the Institut de Formation Rick Odums and was accepted in the Ailey School on scholarship for three years. Rayan has performed in the Black Iris Project movie “Wild,” an Emmy-nominated Dance Film series by choreographer Jeremy McQueen. He performed with Bill T. Jones at the Park Avenue Armory for the world premiere of “Deep Blue Sea,” and has performed with choreographers Christopher Huggins, Jennifer Muller, Jamel Gaines, Francesca Harper, Norbert De la Cruz III, Darrell grand Moultrie, Kevin Iega Jeff, and Ray Mercer. Rayan has performed with Le Jeune Ballet Jazz de Rick Odums, Le Jeunes Ballet Moderne de Rick Odums in Paris, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (as student), Axelrod Contemporary Dance Theater, Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet, Parsons Dance, Collage Dance Collective, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Jennifer Muller/The Work and Dance Lab NYC.
Frankie Lee III grew up in Raleigh, NC & is the founder & Artistic Director of FLEE DANCE, a two-time Isadora Duncan Award nominee, Webby Award winner & the 2022 Artist of Excellence Prism Award winner. He attended American Dance Festival (ADF) as a youth, then graduated from the High School & College Dance Program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. After receiving his BFA in Contemporary Dance, Frankie continued training at ADF, Springboard Danse Montreal, The Merce Cunningham Trust, The Dance Company Experience, Shen Wei Dance Arts & Alonzo King LINES Dance Center. This Frankie started dancing with Gaspard&Dancers in 2014 & has also danced with Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Oakland Ballet, dawsondancesf, Helen Simoneau Danse, Antonio Brown Dance, Justice Theater Project, Zaccho Dance Theater to name a few. Frankie is grateful to dance & share this opportunity.
Coco Petrin (Cicero, New York) earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a minor in Business, graduating summa cum laude from Montclair State University. Immediately post-graduation she became an apprentice with Jon Lehrer Dance Company. She has had the pleasure of performing the works of Christian von Howard, Yusha Sorzano, Andre Tyson, Tommie Waheed-Evans, Cameron McKinney, Gaspard Louis, Leslie Kraus, Jon Lehrer, and excerpts by Carolyn Dorfman. She has performed in numerous spaces such as the Brickhouse in Times Square, NY Fashion week, and Alexander Kasser Theatre. In her early years, Coco trained in various commercial and classical dance styles. She attended Chicago Hubbard Street Dance Intensive, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Intensive, Jon Lehrer Dance Intensive, Studio School Intensive, and Generation IV.
Giovanna Taddeo is a graduate from Point Park University with a Bachelors in Fine Arts in Modern Dance and a Masters in Elementary Education, Pre-K – Fourth Grade. Giovanna is a New York based dancer who dreams of sharing her life experiences through the medium of art. An aspiration she has is to travel the world and use dance as a form of communication. She has been lucky to work with so many talented people and wants to give a shout out to all of her mentors. Specifically, she is grateful to have worked with Jason McDole, Kiesha Lalama, Al Blackstone and Jolene Baldini. Giovanna wants to thank her family for supporting and giving her these opportunities, as well as sharing their unconditional love.
Syd Worthy is a freelance dancer and visual artist. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, now living in NYC, Syd is a recent graduate from Marymount Manhattan College (Spring 2023) where she received her BFA in dance with a concentration in choreography. Her dance training extends from primary school to a college level of professional training, studying techniques such as Ballet, Graham, Jazz, Horton, Contemporary, Hip Hop, and more. Syd has also had opportunities to perform works with many professional choreographers in the larger dance world. This includes individuals such as Andrea Miller-GALLIM, Sekou McMiller, Akira Uchida, Rodney Hamilton, William Isaac, Jennifer Freeman, Darshan Singh Bhuller, and Katherine Dunham. Currently, Syd is a performing artist in Kyle Marshall’s contemporary company KMC. She is super excited to explore the depths of her artistry by finding the intersections of dance, art, and spirituality.
Evan Lee Wilkins is a North Carolina Native that now calls NYC Home. He is a Graduate of The University of North Carolina School of the Arts High-school program. And is a recent Graduate of Marymount Manhattan College’s BFA program. While attending university he had the opportunity to perform works by José Limón, Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, Ming Yang, Larry Keigwin, And Michale Mao. Evan is excited about returning to G&D for another season.
Board of Directors
CHAIR
Robin Gallant, MSW
CO-VICE CHAIRS
Katherine Arnott-Maheu
Steven Silverleaf
TREASURER
Natalie Dunn
SECRETARY
Wendy Van Kleeck
MEMBERS
Linda Wishart
Tanika Martin
Anne-Lyne McCalla
FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Gaspard Louis
Advisory Board
Jodee Nimerichter
Jim Finch
David Liu
Art Waber