Guest Artists

Hallie Chametzky is a movement artist, writer, and archivist. Her choreographic work investigates assumptions about historical and contemporary women and the forces which shape their lives. Jewishness is also central to her work, and leftist activism central to her Jewishness. Hallie’s choreography has been presented by University Settlement, Undiscovered Countries, The Craft, and others. She is an Artist in Residence at MOtiVE and was a 2021-22 University Settlement Performance Project Fellow.

Hallie currently performs with Stephanie Saywell, Mystical Feet Company, and Bluebird Theatre Company. Previous performance includes The Final Veil, Snap Soup Dance Company, and works by Merce Cunningham, Liz Lerman, Helen Simoneau, x, Karen de Luna, and Eric Rivera.

Hallie’s poems have appeared in Nimrod, Mouse Magazine, and Gigantic Sequins, and dance writings in The Brooklyn Rail, In Dance, Dance Magazine, Contact Quarterly, and Culturebot, among others. She has held dance archiving roles at the Library of Congress, Jacob’s Pillow, and Dance/USA. Hallie holds a BFA in Dance & Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Learn more about Hallie Chametzky here.

Courtney J. Cook is a Virginia Native now residing in Brooklyn, NY. She is a graduate of the Virginia Governor’s School of the Arts and holds a B.F.A in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is now Associate Artistic Director, BOLD facilitator, and performing company member with Urban Bush Women, a company member with MBDance (Maria Bauman), and was a featured artist with Marguerite Hemmings (we free). She is honored to be a recipient of the 2018 “Bessie” Award for Outstanding Performance for her work with all three of these organizations. As a creator, she has had the privilege of performing her solo work, “PoolPITT”, as a featured artist in ModArts Dance Collective’s Collective Thread ‘17,  the Estrogenious Festival ‘17, curated by Maura Donohue, and BDAC’s Creative Emancipation Collaboration, curated by Ebony Noelle Golden. She also has been able to create in collaboration with interdisciplinary artists Tendayi Kuumba and Greg Purnell (FLUXX) exploring movement, sound, theater, and visual art. In 2022, Cook was involved as performer/choreographic collaborator and vocalist in Cannabis! A Viper Vaudville, created by Baba Israel and Grace Galu Kalambay (Soul Inscribed). Recently, she made her debut performance with Houston Grand Opera as a dancer, commissioned with Urban Bush Women,  in the World Premier of their latest Opera,  Intelligence.

Learn more about Courtney J. Cook and Urban Bush Women here. 

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.

Photo by Hunter Carrico Photography.

Learn more about Cora Dance here.

Johnnie Mercer (a native of Richmond, Virginia, a graduate of the Appomattox Regional Governors School, and a BFA graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Dance and Choreography) is a maker, freelance-performer, educator, and artistic entrepreneur based in New York City. As the Choreographic/Company Director of Johnnie Cruise Mercer/TheREDprojectNYC, his work has been presented/commissioned/shared at The Center for Performance Research-CPR, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!), The Dance Place of DC, Gibney: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, Judson Church Movement Research, Greenspace, The Bolls Theater of Detroit, The Jamaica Performing Arts Center, 92Y Harkness Dance Center, The Billie Holiday Theater (RestorationARTS), York College’s The Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center, NYU Tisch School of Dance, Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX), NYU Skirball's AUNTS, the NADA Conference, as well as recently at the 2018 Fusebox Festival where he received the 2018 Austin Critics Table Award for Best Toured Performance 2018. As an artistic leader/educator, Mr. Mercer facilitates and teaches within the New York Public School system through The Leadership Program- a mentorship based organization that uses art to foster/engage conversations on self and managing success. Mercer has also been on teaching faculty/a guest artist at The American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, NYU Tisch Summer Dance Program, Gibney, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Desales University, Muhlenburg College, and the University of Texas at Austin (in residence as their 2016 Vangaurd Choreographer). Johnnie is currently a 2018 Choreoquest AIR at RestorationARTS , and an inaugural recipient of 2018 Partnership Residency at the Stephen Petronio Residency Center (in collaboration with Danspace and DanceForceNYC). 

Learn more about Johnnie Mercer and TheREDProjectNYC here.

Teresa Ofoia is an American dancer, choreographer, and musician born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Raised outside of Richmond, Virginia, Teresa was heavily influenced by cultural arts inclusive of dance, fashion, and photography.  With the support of her family, at the young age of 19, Teresa moved to the city of Los Angeles.  There she began focusing on her passion for dance and choreography.  

After relocating to Los Angeles, Teresa’s led her to work alongside several powerhouse artists such as Chris Brown, Ariana Grande, Meghan Trainor, Doja Cat, and Dua Lipa.  As Teresa excelled in her craft, she spent the next few years performing in countless award shows, tours, global campaigns, music videos, and live performances.

In a span of just a few years, Teresa’s talents have brought her to countless stages and stadiums across all corners of the globe. As of 2023, she continues to expand her talents through dance, fashion, and curating partnerships with brands and artists. Teresa’s future plans include continuing to design for her fashion brand as well as expanding her talents into music and film. 

Eric Rivera earned his MFA in Choreography from SUNY Purchase College. During his performing career, he danced with Ballet Hispanico of New York for 13 seasons, where he helped create over 20 original works. He performed with Minnesota Ballet as a principal dancer, Ballet Theater of Pennsylvania, Ballet Teatro Municipal de San Juan P.R., Danza Jazz de San Juan, and West Side Story’s European tour. He has appeared as a guest artist in companies such as Connecticut Ballet, Thomas Ortiz Dance, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, Bradley Shelver Contemporary Dance Theater, Westchester Ballet, and Brooklyn Ballet. Eric had the pleasure of performing choreographies of Ann Reinking, Mark Morris, José Limon, Kenneth McMillan, Margot Sappington, Graciela Daniel, Kevin Wynn, Vicente Nebrada, Talley Beatty, and George Balanchine.

His works have been presented by Ballet Contemporáneo de Camagüey in Cuba, EDANCO Dance Festival in the Dominican Republic, Ciudad Interior in Mexico, Dance Iquail, Ashani Dance, Convergence Ballet, Owensboro Dance Company, CSU Fullerton, University of Mississippi, Western Kentucky University, University of Richmond, Orange County College, Purchase College, Goucher College, W&L University, Jacksonville University, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, L2 Dance Theater, New England Dance Theater, ACDA South, ACDA Baja Region, ACDFA Gala at Little Rock, AR, NY Summer Stage, and the show They Called it Rock. His television appearances include PBS’ Setting the Stage, NBC’s 20th Hispanic Heritage Awards, Hispanic Day Parade with Brenda Blackmon, Puerto Rican Day Parade with Ernie Anastos, and the documentary “Pedro Ruiz Home Coming,” among others.

Mr. Rivera is the recipient of Best Ballet choreography 2019 and Best choreographer of the year 2021 by RVA Dance Awards. In his creative work, as well as in his teaching, he is continuously exploring ways in which to share his Hispanic heritage. Mr. Rivera is an ABT Certified Teacher who has completed the ABT Teachers Training Intensive in Primary through level seven of the ABT National Training Curriculum.