professional showcase concert

BAIRA MVMNT PHLOSPHY is a multimedia dance theater company co-directed by Shaina and Bryan Baira. Central to BAIRA is the fundamental human necessity to be in relationship with others, as well as the importance of continuously nourishing our connection to self. We create and share our movement culture, artistry and collaborative methods – rooted in Bravery, Awareness and Adaptability – as our contribution to manifesting a listening world.

Co-Directors: BAIRA MVMNT PHLOSPHY 

Shaina and Bryan Baira (2023 Bessie Nominees for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer) are life partners, body-mind healing artists and founders/directors of BAIRA MVMNT PHLOSPHY. Shaina graduated with a BFA in Dance from the University of Iowa. She additionally completed studies in Religion and Philosophy at the New York All Faiths Seminary International where she was ordained as an Interfaith Minister, and where she began developing MVMNT PHLOSPHY; a synthesis of movement research, spirituality and cognitive inquiry. Bryan received his BFA in Dance from Wayne State University and has danced with Nicholas Leichter Dance, Brian Brooks Moving Company, David Dorfman Dance and Third Rail Projects. He is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Sound Designer/Singer-Songwriter with a passion for physicality and kinetic design. The two found each other 10 years ago both dancing in NYC and have since developed their choreographic voice and dance-theater pedagogy, creating performance and training that reaches audiences and dancers around the world. BAIRA is currently Artists-in-Residence at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts Downtown Detroit.

@baira_mvmntphlosphy 

Jon Chapdelaine is a Senior building his BFA Dance Major degree at Wayne State University. With a passion to artistically create, expression has taken many forms from dance, visual arts, and construction. Jon has trained on scholarship with Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Grand Rapids Ballet, Eisenhower Dance Detroit, Wayne State University and BAIRA MVMNT PHLOSPHY. Contemporary partnering has always been a backbone of his dancer studies, bringing him to New York for YAGP Finals, a feature of his co-choreographed work on Detroit Public Television, and performance with BAIRA MVMNT PHLOSPHY at CPR in New York. Jon has just finished development of his latest dance film in relation to his Senior Capstone Project titled “Soul: That which breathes”, which has been selected for the ACDA Screendance Festival Gala.

Artistic director, Tracy Halloran, earned her BFA in dance at Marygrove College and her MFA in Choreography at the University of Michigan. In 2014, she was named a Kresge Fellow in Music and Dance. She has worked as a performer, teacher, choreographer, and rehearsal director in the dance world. She is also the co-founder of Detroit Dance Exchange, a program established to help local choreographers exhibit and explore their own professional works. Halloran’s choreography blurs the lines between dance genres and styles by combining the movement techniques of modern, hip hop, jazz and contemporary. She uses the dynamics of motion and choreographic levels to create explosive and exciting movement phrases, which juxtapose the delicacy of human emotion. The past few years, Halloran was a finalist in the Michigan Dance Council’s prestigious Maggie Allesee Choreography competition. Tracy’s choreography was selected to perform at the Tanzhafen Festival in Linz, Austria in Fall 2023. Ms. Halloran is an accomplished teacher in ballet, modern, jazz, contemporary and flexibility and strengthening techniques. Her students have performed as Rockette’s, NFL and NBA dancers, also with American Ballet Theatre, Zurich Ballet, Disney World’s Beauty and the Beast, and Royal Caribbean. They are also dancing for choreographers like Andrew Winghart, Talia Favia, and Liz Imperio. She has been an instructor all over the MidWest. She is currently on faculty at Company C Dance Club in Toledo, Ohio and is a consultant for the U.S Rhythmic Gymnastics team, aiding the gymnasts and coaches in high level training to qualify for the 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games. 

ConteXture Dance Detroit is a non-profit dance company based in Detroit, that was founded in 2013 by artistic director, Tracy Halloran. It is a contemporary modern dance company that is interested in exploring cultural identity and the relationship between artistic expression and the human condition. Its concert works examine themes within human relationships in order to begin a dialogue on why and how we are connected to each other. ConteXture’s mission, as part of the burgeoning arts explosion in the city, is to explore and expand the urban dance identity of Detroit. Through advanced training and performance opportunities, ConteXture has developed a local corps of professional dancers in an effort to establish Detroit a nationally recognized center of dance. Over the last ten years, the company has performed at a variety of Michigan dance festivals including Oakland Dance Festival, Brighton Dance Festival, Detroit Dance City Festival, and MC3 showcase in Pontiac. In 2016 and 2017, the company traveled to New York City to perform at the international Dumbo Dance Festival. In 2016, they performed at the Detroit Institute of Arts in the Rivera Court as part of "Dance! American Art 1830-1960” exhibition. That same year, they were selected as one of four local dance companies to perform as part of the Detroit Music Weekend, along with a variety of national artists, including The Jackson and Jeff Daniels. The company has consistently performed at the Detroit Dance City Festival and was selected to perform at the Tanzhafen Festival in Linz, Austria in Fall 2023. 

Seyong Kim, an Associate Professor of Dance at Western Michigan University, holds an MA in Dance Education from NYU Steinhardt and an MA in Dance from Sung-Kyun-Kwan University (Seoul, South Korea). He is a CMA (Certified Movement Analyst) from Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, a RSDE (Registered Somatic Dance Educator), and a PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique) Certified Teacher. Seyong is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 of the American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum. Furthermore, he earned the Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University. Seyong has taught for Rutgers University, Kent State University, The University of Georgia, Randolph College, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Peridance, Steps On Broadway, Texas A&M International University, Middlesex County College, Libera University in Italy, World Dance Alliance-America (WDAA), American College Dance Association (ACDA), Cecchetti Council of America, Eisenhower Dance Detroit, Michigan Youth Arts Festival (MYAF), Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, National High School Dance Festival, Alabama Dance Festival, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Dance Now! Miami, West Hawaii Dance Theatre, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Ballet 5:8, Hamilton Ballet Theater, Charlottesville Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, and Ballet Preljocaj. As a professional dancer, Seyong has danced with the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, Albania National Ballet Theatre, Baltimore Ballet, Traverse City Dance Project, Neglia Ballet, TAKE Dance, and Oakland Ballet Company. In addition, his choreographic works have been internationally invited at Landestheater Coburg in Germany, Florence Dance on Screen Festival in Italy, International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City, Taiwan JueDai Taipei International Dance Festival, ProArteDanza in Canada, Seoul International Dance Festival in TANK, Lebanon International Dance Festival, Battery Dance Festival, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, American Dance Guild Festival, Lindenwood University, Cleveland Dance Festival, Richmond Dance Festival, Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, Chicago International Dance Forum, Detroit Dance City Festival, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Orlando Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival, Oklahoma International Dance Festival, Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival, Washington International Dance Festival, CrossCurrent Asian-American Dance Festival, Booking Dance Festival at Jazz in Lincoln Center, and Movement Research at the Judson Church. 

Thayer Jonutz performed as a fulltime company member with Repertory Dance Theatre before moving to Michigan, immersing himself in both historical and contemporary works.  Some notable choreographers that he has worked with are Douglass Dunn, Zvi Gotheiner, Daniel Nagrin, Bill Evans, Scott Rink, and Susan Hadley.  He has his MFA dance degree from the University of Michigan where he furthered his professional career performing with the Peter Sparling Dance Company. Jonutz began his professorship position at Oakland University in 2009 and has taught Modern dance technique, improvisation, composition, dance pedagogy, partnering and is the director of the student Repertory Dance Company.  

Thayer has guest performed and collaborated with a lot of companies during his time in Michigan.  These include Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Company, Rustic Groove, Agua Dulce Dance Theater, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble and Rebudal Dance.  Thayer has also co-founded three professional dance companies which have served as building blocks to his current ventures.  Mise en Place Dance, soduo, and Take Root enjoyed much success pushing the boundaries of technology and dance and performing in festivals in New York, unconventional spaces in Detroit, and a handful of international opportunities.  

Thayer is a comprehensively trained McEntire Pilates instructor.  Since gaining this life altering knowledge in 2013, Thayer has worked with a fascinating body of clients.  They have ranged from children to seniors, physical problems to neurological, chronic to acute pain, and novice to expert athlete.  This experience has enriched Thayer’s skill as a teacher, as a creative and as an overall human.  

Never satisfied, in response to the Pandemic shutdown, Thayer was inspired to fight for another University Degree.  Feeling called to become better equipped for lifelong caregiving for his Autistic twin boys, Thayer graduated with an Oakland University Accelerated Nursing Degree December of 2022.  He now works in what he calls, “the perfect trifecta”-Dance Professor, Pilates Instructor, and NICU Nurse.  

As an educator and artist Thayer has been and still believes strongly in a variety of influences.  Always open to new collaborative relationships, Thayer strives to continually stretch as well as challenge his comfort zone.  His current multiyear creative process on the solo concert Hammer and Nail has pushed Thayer outside the typical modern dance aesthetic and has merged acting, vocalization, sound engineering and integrative props to tell his Pandemic survival narrative.  Thayer is honored to have an excerpt of Hammer and Nail chosen as a finalist for this year’s Maggie Allessee Choreography Award.     

Amy Cadwallader - Artistic Director, Choreographer, Dancer

MFA, Dance

Amy Cadwallader is a dancer, choreographer, pole dancer, performer, improviser, and educator currently living in Ann Arbor, MI. As Artistic Director of Dance Uprising, Amy has invested in dance education with community classes for young children at the Ypsilanti District Library, Ann Arbor Public Schools, and creative movement classes for babies and toddlers. Amy has presented work this year with Shape // Matter Showcase, Sutte Dance, The Main Event, at Purdue University, and with The Precipitants. She has also performed with Terpsichore Collective, The Ann Arbor Aviary, and The Precipitants.

Jasmine Mejia is a New York City native, choreographer, and teaching artist. She is an Assistant Professor of Dance and Co-Director of H2 Dance Company at Hope College. She received an MFA degree in Dance with a concentration in Pedagogy from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, a BFA in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University, and graduated from Long Island High School for the Arts. Jasmine has performed at Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center as well as toured the states and performed abroad in Bulgaria, London, and Sweden as a company member of Von Howard Project, MADArt Creative, LMproject, and Jamal Jackson Dance Company. She has also worked with artists’ including Stefanie Batten Bland, Ronald K. Brown, Elizabeth Corbett, Leah Cox, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. Her choreography has been featured Off-Broadway and across the country at festivals, residencies, and events. Jasmine’s current research is focused on developing her teaching practice and movement method, Rhythmic Motion, as well as expanding her creative palette through screendance.