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.

Robin M Trainer, PT, DPT, NCPT
Owner, Core Balance PT & Pilates, LLC

Robin Trainer has over 50 years of experience in movement and physical therapy. She earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College of Virginia in 2014 at age 49. She began her career working with geriatric patients in skilled nursing facilities before transitioning to outpatient therapy in 2016. There, she trained under mentor Tim Wittenauer, PT, MPT, CFMT, and advanced her manual therapy skills through the Institute of Physical Arts.

Robin’s movement journey started at age 9 with ballet. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Dance from Shenandoah Conservatory and performed professionally with the St. Louis Ballet under the direction of Ludmilla Dokoudovsky and Antoni Zalewski. After returning to Richmond, she taught pre-professional ballet and became a certified Pilates instructor. In 2022, she earned a comprehensive rehab-level Pilates certification from Polestar Pilates.

At Core Balance PT & Pilates, Robin integrates her extensive dance, Pilates, and clinical expertise to guide clients toward improved mobility and function. Her teaching emphasizes kinesthetic awareness and personalized movement training. Outside of work, Robin enjoys time on the James River with her husband Richard, cherishes moments with her four children, son-in-law, and three grandchildren, and pursues continuing education to deepen her understanding of efficient movement.

Scott Putman

Scott Putman is the creator of the Elemental Body Alignment System© (EBAS) and Fundamental Conscious Movement (FCM); both of which weave Traditional Chinese Medicine, Thai Yoga Bodywork, Dance Science and Quantum Physics to support a holistic approach to the remapping of neural muscular pathways, opening and expanding greater range of motion and qualitative expression while encouraging a more authentic and deeply aware holistic movement practice. These conscious movement practices underscore both the technical and choreographic intentions behind the training of the body and development of the creative practice of choreography. Putman shares EBAS and FCM internationally and throughout the USA, Australia, Italy, Romania and the UK. Scott’s choreographic work has been presented both internationally and nationally with both contemporary ballet and modern companies. In the fall of 2013, Putman was honored by the U.S. State Department and Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, traveling to China where he taught master classes in EBAS and Contemporary Modern Technique at Beijing Normal University, Daqing University as well as for Beijing’s premier contemporary modern company, LDTX. He has received awards for his work, including the distinguished Theresa Pollack Excellence in the Arts Award in Dance for his work with Amaranth, and the National Choreography Plan Award for exceptional choreography from RDA, Pacific. Putman received his MFA from the University of California, Irvine, where he was a Chancellor's Fellow and William Gillespie Scholar, as well as his BA from Columbia College, Chicago. Scott Putman is extremely grateful for a twenty two year relationship with VCU Dance + Choreography and has immense gratitude for all of the students who in fact were the real teachers. 

Learn more about EBAS here.

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.

Johnnie Mercer

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.