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 became 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. His passion for dance has continued to lead him to work with local dancers and musicians. Additionally, Gaspard has been a guest teacher at Duke, Elon, and North Carolina Central Universities.
Dancers & Staff
Mia Crider (Holly Springs, North Carolina) trained at Holly Springs School of Dance (HSSOD) and Holly Springs High School. As of May 2024, Mia has earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a minor in Business, graduating summa cum laude from Montclair State University. She has performed in works by Christian von Howard, Brandin Steffensen, Maxine Steinman, Michelle Manzanales, Shen Wei, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Abdel R. Salaam, Doug Varone, Gaspard Louis, and Jenna Riegel. Mia has returned to HSSOD to set choreography and teach a variety of styles, including ballet, jazz, modern, and contemporary. For the past three summers, Mia has attended the American Dance Festival Summer Dance Intensive to grow her technique and further her knowledge.
Alexis Cruz-Castro (Caguas, Puerto Rico) received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Montclair State University in spring 2024. He attended CoDa21, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, School for the Performing Arts, and Ballet Forte, where he trained in Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz, Tap, Hip-Hop, and Musical Theater. He has performed in Democracy by Doug Varone, Caught in the Rapture by Tommie-Waheed Evans, Pippin directed by Peter Flynn, Without Home by Yusha Marie-Sorzano, Jump, Jive, & Wail by Christian von Howard, and With Wine and Sugar by Maxine Steinman. He choreographed La Espera and Adiós, presented in Montclair State University.
Khalid Dunton was born and raised in Washington DC/Maryland. In 2020, Dunton completed his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance as well as a Minor in Business from Montclair State University. Dunton has performed with dance companies such as Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater(2021), McKoy Dance Project(2022), and Carolyn Dorfman Dance(2021-2023). During 2021, Dunton worked as a professional dancer in the iconic Black Iris Project which received a New York Emmy Award for WILD: Bird of Paradise. Dunton has had the privilege of performing works by Martha Graham, Stacey Tookey, Juel D. Lane, Bill T. Jones, Carolyn Dorfman, Danial Shapiro and Joanie Smith, Maxine Steinman, Christian von Howard, Earl Mosley, and many more. Dunton has performed in numerous spaces such as the Joyce Theater, Alexander Kasser Theater, Bryant Park, New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), UTC Fine Arts Center and more. Showcasing his diversity, Dunton had the opportunity to work with celebrity artist Todrick Hall, featured as a dancer in his music video WIG. Dunton has trained and worked in the commercial dance industry alongside Dana Foglia, James Alonzo, and Yanis Marshall.
Ian Kell was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. Ian holds a B.S. in Marketing from the University of South Carolina where he minored in dance and received collegiate and professional training in contemporary, hip hop, ballet, modern and jazz styles. He has worked professionally in Columbia since 2022 as a company member with Unbound Dance Company, under the Direction of Caroline Lewis-Jones and Morgan Holton, and a guest artist for Anne Brodie’s Carolina Ballet. Ian received additional training at the American Dance Festival Summer Intensive where he trained with Monique Haley and Brenna Monroe-Cook, as well as performed and collaborated in works with Jenna Riegel and Xián Martinez. He also trained with David Dorfman Dance at their Emerging Artist Winter Intensive. Ian is the Founder of CREATIAN, a creative direction and community building platform centered on the collaboration between creatives in all artistic mediums.
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.
Claire Schiffer was adopted from South Korea and grew up in Florida. She graduated from University of North Carolina School of the Arts high school program in 2021 and continued her training there, receiving her BFA in Contemporary Dance this spring. She has had the privilege of performing works by Robert Battle, José Limón, Trisha Brown, Igal Perry, Jim Vincent, Juel D. Lane, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Ashley Lindsey, Dwana A. Smallwood, Amyia Burrell, and Gaspard Louis. Elsewhere, she has worked with Jennifer Archibald, Sidra Bell, Betsi Graves, Antoine Vereecken, and Jon Lehrer. She has also trained with BODYTRAFFIC, A.I.M., Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and at The School at Jacob’s Pillow and UNCSA’s Professional Studies Program. In addition to dancing, Claire is a certified Classical Pilates Mat Instructor, held leadership positions in Student Government Association, and was the founder of the first Asian student organization at UNCSA, Asians Come Together. Claire is extremely grateful to be joining G&D this season.
Auriana Stewart (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) holds a BFA in Dance from Slippery Rock University and is the recipient of the 2023 Outstanding BFA Award and Scholarship. She has worked professionally for two seasons as a “Mover Maker” with WhirlWind Dance Company (Columbus, Ohio) under Joshua Manculich. Carrington was a competitor on Season 2 of NBC’s “World of Dance” and at the Universal Dance Association Competitions. Recently, she performed at the American Dance Festival (ADF), American College Dance Association (ACDA) GALA, National Association of Schools of Dance, Dancewave Through College and Beyond, Koresh Artist Showcase, and El Colegio Del Cuerpo (Cartagena, Colombia). Carrington has performed works by Hanna Elisabeth Bricston, Helen Simoneau, Cameron McKinney, Joshua Manculich, Monique Haley, Jordan Lloyd, John Litzer & Cody Szarko, Elisa Alaio, Grady Bowman, Lindsay Fisher Viatori, Ursula Payne, and more. She attended the 2023 ADF Summer Intensive, ACDA Conferences, WhirlWind Workshops, and SpringboardX to further her training.
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.
Andréa Ward was born in Boston, MA where she graduated from the Boston Arts Academy in 2018. She is a graduate of Montclair State University with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography as well as a minor in Business Administration. Immediately post-graduation, Andréa was accepted into the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company as a company apprentice and was promoted to a full-time company member within two months. During this time, Andréa pushed to maintain her training in the commercial dance field. She has performed and worked with many choreographers throughout the East Coast and has shared the stage with local and global music artists. Her dance training includes ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop, heels, African, contemporary, musical theatre, and more. She has also attended and trained with institutions such as Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts, José Mateo Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and Debbie Allen Dance Academy LA.
TJ Warren was raised in Camden, SC, where he first developed a passion for dance and theater. His passion led him to train at the Freed School of Performing Arts in Sumter, SC, where he studied until graduating from high school. Warren holds a B.A in Dance Performance and Choreography with a cognate in Education from the University of South Carolina. He began his professional career as a company member of Unbound Dance Company located in Columbia, SC, under the direction of Caroline Lewis-Jones and Morgan Holton. In university, Warren has worked with, and been in works of, Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Colin Connor, and Peter Powlus. Warren has trained at several prestigious intensives, including New Dialect, as well as the American Dance Festival Summer Intensive, working with Joy Davis, Brenna Monroe-Cook, Verena Pircher, and creating work in collaboration with Jenna Riegel. Additionally, he trained with David Dorfman Dance at their Emerging Artist Winter Intensive. Warren aspires to continue spreading joy and conveying important messages through dance and choreography.
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
Art Waber
Linda Wishart
Tanika Martin
Anne-Lyne McCalla
FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Gaspard Louis
Advisory Board
Jodee Nimerichter
Jim Finch
David Liu