EMBODIED DECISION-MAKING THINK TANK 2025 – PARTICIPANTS
Organizer: JoAnna Mendl Shaw, The Equus Projects
JOAN BRADFORD
Joan Bradford is a choreographer, dancer, arts administrator, and teaching artist proudly born, raised, and still residing in The Bronx. Joan earned her BFA in Dance and minor in Theatre from Long Island University with awards in choreographic achievement and has since collaborated with Sydnie L. Mosley Dances, Alexandra Beller, Alethea Pace, MizantyMoves Dance Works, liryan movement, KamrDANCE, Praevado Dance Collective, and Mise en Danse throughout the tri-state and in residencies through Temple University, Penn State, Wilson College, Middlebury College, Dance Place, Double Edge, The Iron Factory, Gibney Dance, and Lincoln Center. Joan has shared her choreography at venues including Symphony Space, Triskelion Arts, Socrates Sculpture Park, Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture, Hunter College's Kaye Playhouse, The Old First Reformed Church, Atlas Studios, The Ritz Theater, Arts on Site, The Tilles Center, Pepatián: Bronx Arts ColLABorative, BAAD! (Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance) and The Knockdown Center. Joan has completed choreographic residencies with Lost Dog Dance Theatre in Lewes, England, with the Dancing Futures Residency presented by Pepatián and BAAD! under the mentorship of Sydnie L. Mosley and Alexandra Beller,and was a Fellow with the University Settlement’s Performance Project. Currently, Joan is a Wildlife Theater Performer The Wildlife Conservation Society at The Bronx Zoo, Co-chair of the Dance/NYC Junior Committee, Teaching Artist with the Bronx House Weinberg Senior Center, and Bronx Dance Fund Grantee. Joanbradford.com
MARGARET BRACKEY
Margaret Mighty Oak Brackey (she/her) is an NYC-based dancer/choreographer/artist. Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, she grew up studying Graham Technique, Ballet, and Dance Composition at Kanopy Dance Company. In 2022, Margaret graduated with a BFA in Dance from Adelphi University. Her Honors Thesis, “Birds Into Bodies: Synthesizing Research and Dance”, which mitigated bird/window collisions on campus, was awarded the Levermore Prize for Best Senior Thesis. Currently, Margaret is a performer with The Equus Projects, where her training in natural horsemanship and passion for improvisation come together. Since 2022, she is also a company member of the Anna Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble. A collaborative choreographer, Margaret has shown works around NYC and Wisconsin, and holds open monthly Playdays to generate new ideas. IG: @Margaret_Mightyoak
ROBIN COLLEN
Robin Collen (PhD, MS, CMA) is completing her 26th and final year on the faculty at SUNY Potsdam where she has served as the chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance and Associate Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. During her tenure she has taught modern dance, ballet, dance history, Pilates, yoga, improvisation, choreography, Laban Movement Analysis, and pedagogy. As a member of the New York State DanceForce she has been funded to support NY artists in dance residencies since 2013. Since 2015 she has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Dance Education where a recent endeavor was editing a special issue titled Mental, Emotional, and Physical Health and Wellness of Dancers https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15290824.2023.2233394. Robin is investigating next steps after retirement and plans to continue her study, practice, and teaching of yoga.
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SHANA CORRADA
A dancer/teacher/choreographer/director) , Corrada is a graduate of the University of South Florida Dance Department, trained at Alvin Ailey and with Joe Goode Dance Theatre, San Francisco. Her teaching primarily is in the magnet school system, where she was the first middle school teacher to complete the ABT® National Training Curriculum Certified Teacher Program, Primary through Professional (Level 7). She has taught and choreographed for lorida Atlantic University, University of Tampa, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg College, Patel Conservatory and Blake Performing Arts High School kept her in communication with educators at all levels of training. She co wrote the state tests for dance in the public school system including Middle School Dance Final Exams and Ballet 1, High School Final Exam and was instrumental in the creation of Race to the Top (RTTT) Art Assessments for the State of Florida. She is the founder and director of DANCE RISING TAMPA. Her passions include riding. As an equestrian, she schools her own German Riding Pony, Cornelius, in dressage. She is a regular equestrian competitor.
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SARAH FRANCE
Sarah France is a multi-disciplinary artist based in New York City who has extended her lifelong fascinations with movement and creativity into working as a professional figure skater, dancer, choreographer, aerialist, visual artist, author, researcher, musician and grant writer. She is currently a director, edge class instructor, choreographer and performer with the Ice Theatre of New York, and dances with The Equus Projects. Sarah began dancing at age three and figure skating when she was eleven - moving through space and the emotional expression possible in choreography have been a deep internal drive she has pursued throughout her life. Sarah holds undergraduate degrees in Art History and Biochemistry, majored in Visual Arts and Dance at the Perpich Center for Arts Education, is a US Figure Skating triple gold medalist, six time US Open Professional Championships competitor, and is internationally regarded for her deep knowledge of skating skill development and on ice choreography, having coached beginner through Olympic athletes. Sarah is proud to represent her intersectional communities as an LGBTQ+, neurodivergent and disabled artist. She began dancing with The Equus Projects in 2024.
JENNY GREENOUGH
Jenny-Marie Greenough, LAc, RYT. Jenny-Marie is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and spent the first part of her professional career as an officer in the Navy and then as a Program Manager for the Naval Sea Systems Command. She returned to school to study acupuncture and is a graduate of Pacific College of Oriental Medicine with an M.S. in Traditional Oriental Medicine and a Licensed Acupuncturist.
MATT HENLEY
Associate Professor of Dance Education, Columbia Teachers College
Matthew Henley, PhD, MFA is Associate Professor of Dance Education and Affiliated Researcher in the Arnhold Institute for Dance Education Research, Policy & Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. Henley’s research describes and measures the cognitive, social, and emotional practices associated with dance education. Henley's interests include enactive cognition in the arts, developmental and neuroscientific approaches to embodied knowing, research methods for pedagogy, and the pedagogy of research methods. Henley danced professionally in New York City with Sean Curran Company and Randy James Dance Works. Henley earned his doctorate in Educational Psychology: Learning Sciences from the University of Washington, and M.F.A. in Dance from the same institution. He is an Associate Editor of Journal of Dance Education and the co-editor of Dance Research Methodologies: Ethics, Orientations, and Practices.
Scholarly Interests: embodied, embedded, extended, and enactive approaches to cognition in dance; dance as a cultural technology for developing situated ways of being and thinking; kinetic research methods; and pedagogy of research methods
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JESS MICHAL
Jessica Michal is a dance artist based in the New York/New Jersey. She earned her BFA in Dance Performance from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts in May 2021. Jess works is the movement director of 530DancePhotography, co-produces the interdisciplinary collaborative music and dance festival known as When Waves Collide and teaches dance and yoga at numerous local studios in Central NJ. Jess started as a company member with The Equus Projects in 2022.
ROBERTA SAMET
Roberta Samet, she/her, lives in Brooklyn, on Lenape land. She is a long time dancer, psychotherapist, practitioner of Maitri Breathwork and an anti racist organizer. She originally studied dance with Alwin Nikolais/Murray Lewis and Charles Moore in New York City and performed with Tuffy Finley in San Francisco. She is currently performing with The Equus Projects and Alma Dance Company.