GUEST ARTISTS

Marisol Betancourt-Sotolongo
Artistic Director, Latin Ballet of Virginia 

Marisol Betancourt-Sotolongo, Artistic Director of the Latin Ballet of Virginia (LBV), began her dance training at age three under the mentorship of the company’s founder and Director Emerita, Ana Ines King. She became a member of the Junior Company at age six and performed the lead role of Little Maria in The Legend of the Poinsettia. By age 13, Marisol had begun training with LBV’s Professional Company.

She has performed numerous solo roles since 2012, when she was selected as a principal dancer for LBV’s World Premiere of El Pintor, produced by Antonio Hidalgo and Ana Ines King. That same year, Style Weekly recognized her as one of their annual “16 under 16.” Marisol has also shared the stage with renowned Cuban percussionist Melena, “La Rumbera,” in MELENA: A Cultural & Musical Journey into My Afro-Cuban Roots.

Although trained in many dance styles, Marisol’s fierce pride in her Cuban heritage is reflected in her passion for Orisha Dance, Salsa, Rumba, and Flamenco. Guided by Ms. Ana’s example, Marisol nurtures the next generation of dancers at her alma mater, the School of the Latin Ballet of Virginia, where she serves as a faculty member and Junior Company Director.

Beyond the studio, she has worked with children and families through the Youth Care Worker program at Southwest Key Programs (SWK), providing guidance, mentorship, and a safe, supportive environment for youth development.

As Artistic Director, Marisol serves as répétiteur for LBV’s company and school of dance, preserving and reproducing the original choreography of Ana Ines King and international collaborators. In this role, she continues to honor and expand the legacy of LBV’s original productions. Marisol was named Artistic Director of the Latin Ballet of Virginia in 2022.

Learn more about LBV here.

Shane O'Hara

Shane O’Hara has shared his movement art form with audiences throughout the United States and the world including concerts in Lisbon, Athens, Krakow, Rio de Janeiro, Chengdu, China, New York, and Washington, D.C.  He has taught in residencies in Poland, Denmark, Portugal and Germany. He also was a guest instructor at Pro Danza Italia Summer Workshop in Tuscany, the Florida Dance Festival, and at the White Mountain Summer Dance Festival. O’Hara has received grants from the USIS/American Embassy, Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, the Arts Council of the Valley and the Virginia Commission for the Arts as well as a Fulbright Fellowship to Portugal. Currently he is on the roster of the Fulbright International Specialist program.  O’Hara was named JMU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts Madison Scholar in 2010 and received JMU’s Provost Award for International Education in 2014.

O’Hara works professionally setting commissioned dances throughout the U.S., performing a concert of dance master Daniel Nagrin’s solo works entitled The Nagrin Project and touring as Shane O’Hara * Solo Dance.  Recent artistic activities for Mr. O’Hara include performances in the JMU New Dance Festival, Dance Place in Washington, D.C., Dogtown Dance Theatre in Richmond, and the Dancing Rebels National Conference in Saratoga Springs. In 2014 and 2017 he was an artist in residence in Rio de Janeiro and Victoria, Brazil.  

In 2007 O’Hara presented The Nagrin Project at the Centre de National de la Danse in Paris. He worked closely with dance master Daniel Nagrin for over 25 years and has been working with the Daniel Nagrin Foundation in developing projects related to the dances of Mr. Nagrin and his teaching philosophies. In 2015 he was commissioned to set Daniel’s solo ”Path” on San Francisco dance artist Christy Funsch. In 2018 he set Daniel’s solo “Indeterminate Figure” on dancer and former Jose Limon Dance Company member Paul Dennis.

Future creative projects for Professor O’Hara include continuing to direct the JMU London Summer Intensive on Contemporary Dance and Performance and developing international dance exchange residencies in Brazil, Martinique, and Winchester, England. Mr. O’Hara is a Professor Emeritus of Dance at James Madison University and is also a RYA 200 / 500 hour certified yoga teacher.

Marquise Hitchcock

Marquise Hitchcock is a multi-hyphenate dancer seen on stages and screens across the nation. Notable credits include performing in the Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes. He made his National Tour début as the iconic bird soloist in The Lion King followed by his Broadway début in The Lion King.

Marquise’s regional credits include Seaweed in Hairspray, Ian in Silueta: A New Musical, C.C in Dreamgirls, Richie in A Chorus Line, and Sagramore in Camelot. He has also performed live as part of LGBTQ+ pride events for both Netflix and Billboard. Marquise’s performance credits are not limited to the stage- he also performed as dancer Michael in FX’s POSE.

Marquise is also an award-winning choreographer and a recipient of the Professional Advancement Award in Dance provided by the prestigious School at Jacob’s Pillow. He has performed works by some of the industry’s most influential choreographers like Judith Jamison, Kyle Abraham, Arthur Mitchell, and George Faison. Some of his choreographic credits include Tituss Burgess’ Take Me to the World: An evening at Carnegie Hall, Titus Burgess’ “Dance Mf” music video which he also performed in, and Broadway Cares. He is currently on faculty at Rutgers University as the Professor of Dance of the African Diaspora.

Shannon Hummel & Cora Dance

Shannon Hummel is a professional choreographer, arts educator, and the Founding Artistic Director of Cora Dance. Hummel established her celebrated professional company, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance, in 1998; a home for her company and its pay-what-you-can dance education arm in Red Hook, Brooklyn in 2009; and spearheaded the establishment of a permanent home for the organization in 2018. Driven to create access to dance for all people, Cora strives to make exceptional work and provide exceptional experiences in dance by supporitng and celebrating the talent in communities where people are often impeded from having on-going quality access to the art-form.

In the first 15 years of her career, she was repeatedly critically acclaimed by Style Magazine, Village Voice, Richmond Times Dispatch, and The New York Times where she has twice been a Top 10 Critics Pick for Dance and had her “finely wrought dances” called “poignant, funny, vivid and true, remarkably assured and perceptive” and “a rare gem.” Since opening Cora as a home space to merge her interests in choreography, education and serving her community of Red Hook, Brooklyn, she has evolved to become equal parts professional artist and community arts advocate, sharing her work as much in church basements, public parks and community spaces as on some of the country’s finest stages. While her choreography has been presented in over 30 NYC venues including the 92nd Street Y, BAM, BAX, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Danspace Project, La MaMa, LMCC, NYLA, among others, in the past 10 years she has come to be best known for hearitly rooting her work in the Red Hook, Brooklyn community and creating accessible grassroots performances in “everyday” and off-the-beaten-path places across the US, most extensively in KY, NY, NJ, OK, VA, VT and WV. 

Hummel has been an educational advisor, mentor and/or faculty member for hundreds of institutions including her alma mater James Madison University; enjoyed significant residencies in support of her choreography from Vermont Performance Lab, BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange among others; and taught/lectured widely at American Dance Festival, ACDFA, NYLA, Rutgers, William & Mary, Marlboro College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Washington & Lee, among others.  She is most proud to be single mom to her 13 year old son, Henry.

Learn more about Cora Dance here.