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.

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.

Kevin LaMarr Jones
Artistic Director, Claves Unidos

Since graduating with a B.F.A. in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University (2008) and B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Richmond (1994), Kevin LaMarr Jones has become a graphic designer, dancer, choreographer, and producer based in Richmond, Virginia.

Jones’ dance portfolio includes work as a company member with the Latin Ballet of Virginia, as well as the founding Artistic Director of CLAVES UNIDOS dance community. His  choreographic, teaching, and performance work centers around what he has coined, African Roots Reunion™, a blending of various dance genres with African influences, as well as,  ‘Menco Reunion™, an approach to embracing Flamenco from an African Dance perspective.

Kevin began cultivating embodied dance knowledge at his parents' long-standing night club, Meljo's Restaurant in Freeman, Virginia, where he would create dances inspired by Soul Train broadcasts, music videos, and the birth of Hip Hop. He credits this opportunity, to explore movement independently from a young age, as the foundation for his creative aesthetic and his anti-biased approach to dance.

Jones studied West African dance with Sister Faye Walker and Judy Lynn Edwards. He stirred his passion for flamenco through teachers such as Ana Ines King, Anna Menendez, Antonio Hidalgo Paz, Miguel Vargas and other renowned flamenco artists through travels to New York, Washington DC, Jerez de la Frontera, Madrid and Seville. He has studied Afro Cuban dances with Ifé Michelle Milligan (Orisha), Alberto Limonta Perez (Rumba) and other leading instructors in workshops between Miami, Washington, D.C., New York, and Barcelona. He has studied salsa and partner dancing with artists including Edwin Roa, Steve Greene, Boris Karabashev, and Yamil Boo.  He performs regularly with Semilla Cultural, a Puerto Rican Bomba cultural ensemble. He is also a founding member of Black Flamenco Network, a global collective of Black and African-descended flamenco practitioners and aficionados.

Jones’ choreographic and community-based framework features what he calls a "dance reunion" of movement and musical genres of African influence.  As an artist, his goals are to remove biases encountered in both dance and larger society to create a re-balanced, decolonized, and ethnically equitable world; to communicate with, through, and beyond cultural perspectives to express the shared human experience; and to demonstrate that the African Dance continuum is accessible, diverse, rich, contemporary, and ever-evolving.

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.

Shannon Hummel & Cora Dance

Shannon Hummel is the Founder and Director of the Professional Company Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance (SH/CD). She is a choreographer, educator, and nationally recognized advocate for equitable access to dance. As the Founder of Cora Dance, Hummel has spent nearly 30 years creating emotionally resonant choreography, founding two schools for dance, and developing equity-driven education programs. Her professional company, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance, is known for bringing elegant, accessible performance into community spaces where dance is often limited, while also being presented at major venues such as BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Brooklyn Museum, New York Live Arts (NYLA), among others. Described by The New York Times as “poignant, funny, and remarkably assured and perceptive,” “a rare gem,” and “vivid and true,” as well as being a Top 10 Critics Pick for Dance, she has received numerous accolades, including a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award Citation for Service to the Field of Dance in 2019 and being named an Extraordinary Woman of Brooklyn by District Attorney Charles Hynes in 2011. She has taught and developed dance programs across the country—from major universities like James Madison University (her alma mater, where she was named Distinguished Alumni of the School of Theatre and Dance in 2000) to youth studios. She spent a decade shaping young artists and programming at BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Poly Prep Country Day School and Queensborough College in NYC and has been a guest speaker and panelist for organizations such as the American Dance Festival NY-Intensive, American College Dance Association, Movement Research, New York Live Arts, BAX, and the Poverty Studies Program at Washington & Lee University among others. In 2009, she founded Cora Dance Brooklyn, followed by Cora Dance Alleghany in 2020—youth arts centers modeled after the inclusive creative practices inherent in her work as a choreographer and dedicated to providing high-quality, pay-what-you-can dance education in communities facing barriers to access. Under her artistic leadership, Cora has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Virginia Commission for the Arts, among other support. Hummel primarily splits her creative time between Clifton Forge, VA; Richmond, VA; and Brooklyn, NY.