Musical Theatre | Accompanist
Alex Wakim’s music scoring is currently featured in the National Portrait Gallery (through 2023), DOC NYC, New Orleans Film Festival (Glen Eden, dir. Rebecca Blandón), RAINDANCE Film Festival, (Frayed Roots, dir. Nay Tabbara) and more.
Wakim’s broad experience includes music directing and performing piano, serving as Associate Musical Director of the Big Apple Circus (2021), Musical Director of Madame Mathieu’s Soiree, the Friends of NAAP Cabaret. He is a frequent guest artist with the Kansas State University Orchestra, and more.
In addition to his film scoring work, Wakim has developed two successful shows: Dust and Ions, a concert experience through the stars, based on his album and featuring poetry and dance (currently being co-produced with 2500 Productions at The Tank NYC in December 2022), as well as An American in Beirut, a musical exploring epigenetic trauma and healing. Both have had sold out shows across the country. Wakim is based in NYC and collaboration is key to Wakim’s approach to creating. He has orchestrated for composer Oleksa Lozowchuk on Sony’s top game, Horizon, Forbidden West. For more, check out alexwakim.com
Dance Theatre: Afro-Latin Immersion | Creative Team Member
Born and raised in Peru, Akasia Ruthy Inchaustegui has worked with names like Madonna, Janet Jackson, Prince, Maxwell, P¡nk, Gloria Estefan, Santana, Mariah Carey, Celia Cruz, Puff Daddy, Cirque du Soleil, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift. Notably, she landed the role of the main stunt double of Halle Berry on Catwoman. Some of her TV appearances include Dancing with the Stars, The Grammys, The Late Show with David Letterman, MTV American and European Awards, VH-1 Music and Fashion Awards, American Music Awards, Latin Billboard, Saturday Night Live, Miss Universe, The Soul Train Awards, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Chris Rock and more. Not limiting herself to just the commercial dance world, Akasia was also part of the original cast of the Broadway show Mambo Kings as well as the hit off-Broadway production of De La Guarda. Cirque Du Soleil enlisted her expertise and skills for their MJ Immortal World Tour. As a choreographer, she has been able to bring her expertise into film, theater, stage, live shows, video and artist development, with projects such as High School Musical of China, I Am Somebody, Go For It, and the Latin Music awards. Her choreographic credentials also include Soul train awards, P¡nk’s tour “Funhouse”, The Bonesetter’s Daughter at the San Francisco Opera house, Spoleto Festival, Miss Angola, Miss Tourism, Latin Billboard awards, Asia’s Top Pop Stars, Jolin Tsai’s world tour, and Double It at the Baruch performing art center. In 2019, she served as Assistant Director of the production Dragon Spring – Phoenix Rise at The Shed NYC. Most recently, Akasia has been working as the Associate Choreographer for the TV show Evil and Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner, an ongoing project since the pandemic, scheduled to open in Brisbane, Australia next year. Akasia is grateful for the opportunity to bring her expertise to Jacob’s Pillow and to be working alongside her mentor Maria Torres.
CONTEMPORARY | GUEST CHOREOGRAPHER
Sidra Bell is the founder of Sidra Bell Dance New York, a choreographer and educator who is currently a Master Lecturer at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, an Adjunct Professor at Alonzo King LINES Ballet | Dominican University of California, and an Adjunct Professor at Ball State University in Indiana. She is an alum of The School at Jacob’s Pillow 2005 Choreographers Lab program. Bell has been an Artist in Residence at University of Oklahoma (Brackett Distinguished Visiting Artist Chair), Harvard University, and an Adjunct Professor at Georgian Court University, Marymount Manhattan College and Barnard College. She received a BA in History from Yale University and an MFA in Choreography from Purchase College Conservatory of Dance. She is the founder and Creative Director of the award winning MODULE Laboratory, a New York City based immersive platform for movement and theater artists. Bell has won several awards, notably a First Prize for Choreography at the Solo Tanz Theater Festival in Stuttgart, Germany and a National Dance Project Production Award from the New England Foundation for the Arts. In 2017, Mayor Thomas Roach, of White Plains, NY, proclaimed February 3rd, Sidra Bell Day. Her work has been seen throughout the United States and in Denmark, France, Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, China, Canada, Aruba, Korea, Brazil, and Greece. Bell has created over 100 works notably for BODYTRAFFIC, Ailey II, The Juilliard School, Whim W’Him, Boston Conservatory at Berklee College, River North Dance Chicago, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Sacramento Ballet, Boulder Ballet, New Dance Partners Kansas City, Ballet Austin, Springboard Danse Montréal, and Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet School, among many others. Bell was the first Black female choreographer commissioned to create work for New York City Ballet, where she created two works for film and the Lincoln Center stage (Fall Fashion Gala 2021, and Innovators & Icons Program). www.sidrabelldanceny.org
Contemporary | Guest Artist
Led by Antoine Vereecken
Wayne McGregor CBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) is a multi-award-winning British choreographer and director. He is Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor, encompassing creative collaborations in dance, film, music, visual art, technology and science; a touring company of dancers Company Wayne McGregor; and learning and research programmes. Wayne McGregor is also Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet, Director of Dance for the Venice Biennale until 2024, and is regularly commissioned by, and has works in the repertories of the most important ballet companies around the world including Paris Opera Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. He has choreographed for theatre, opera, film: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sing, Mary Queen of Scots, music videos: Radiohead, The Chemical Brothers, fashion: Nick Knight for SHOWstudio, Soma for COS, Gareth Pugh at London Fashion Week, campaigns: Selfridges, Boots No 7, and TV. McGregor is Professor of Choreography at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, has Honorary Doctorates from Plymouth University, University of Leeds, University of Chester, University of the Arts London, and is an Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association. He has won four Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards, two Time Out Awards, two South Bank Show Awards, three Olivier Awards, a Prix Benois de la Danse and two Golden Mask Awards. In 2011 McGregor was awarded a CBE for Services to Dance and in 2021 was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Prix de Lausanne.
Antoine Vereecken
Born in Gent, Belgium, Antoine Vereecken trained at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp. From 1993–1997 he performed with les ballets C de la B. In 1997, he joined Danse de la Renaissance in Frankfurt and later joined the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Israel. From 2001-2003, Vereecken performed with the Richard Alston Dance Company and danced for Company Wayne McGregor, from 2004–2011. Since 2011, he has been the Principal Restager at Studio Wayne McGregor and has worked on projects including the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and opera Dido and Aeneas (La Scala), as well as re-staging McGregor’s repertoire with companies including National Ballet of Canada, The Bolshoi Ballet, The Mariinsky Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 2012 he won the Isadora Duncan Award for his re-staging of Chroma at the San Francisco Ballet.
Contemporary | Guest Choreographer
Rena Butler is originally from Chicago, IL. Butler has previously performed with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, AIM by Kyle Abraham, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, David Dorfman Dance, Manuel Vignoulle M/motions, Kevin Wynn Collection, and Pasos Con Sabor Salsa Dance Company. She is a recipient of the 2019 Princess Grace Foundation Award for Choreography. Butler has created works for various companies and institutions, including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, BalletX, Whim W’him, Boston Dance Theater, TedXChicago Virtual Salon 3.0: Design Your Life, Charlotte Ballet, The Juilliard School, Gibney Company, and for famed ballerina Michaela DePrince, among others. She has served as an adjunct professor for New York University Tisch School of the Arts for Dance, and currently serves on the Artistic Advisory Council for Dancewave NYC. Rena is currently Gibney Company’s inaugural Choreographic Associate and the featured cover story for Dance Magazine‘s November 2021 issue.
Dance Theatre: Afro-Latin Immersion | Music Director
Jaime Lozano was born in Monterrey, Mexico. He is an accomplished musician, vocal coach, composer, arranger, orchestrator, musical producer and musical theatre director considered by Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda, as the “next big thing” on Broadway. Jaime is one of the five artists selected for the 2020-2022 Joe’s Pub Working Group residency and one of the artists selected as part of The Civilians R&D Group 2020-2021. A JACK Residence Artist 2021. Selected works: Tlatelolco, Myths, The Yellow Brick Road (Off-Broadway and National Tour), Carmen La Cubana (European Tour), Children of Salt (NYMF 2016 Best of Fest Production), A Never-Ending Line (Comédie Nation in Paris, France and Off-Broadway), Savage (University of Alabama at Birmingham), Present Perfect (Live & In Color). Albums: Tlatelolco (producer, composer, lyricist), Carols for a Cure 2010 (arranger, orchestrator), R.Evolución Latina’s Dare to Go Beyond (arranger, orchestrator, music director), Florencia Cuenca’s Aquí – Los Nuevos Standards (producer, arranger, music director), Doreen Montalvo’s American Soul / Latin Heart (producer, arranger, orchestrator, music director), A Never-Ending Line (producer, composer, arranger, orchestrator), the last two released by Broadway Records. Director: The Last Five Years (Spanish World Premiere), Into the Woods, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Fantasticks, Jekyll & Hyde (Mexican World Premiere), Songs for a New World (Spanish World Premiere), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; as well as his very own works Tlatelolco, Myths and Con Amor…Isa Colibrí. Jaime has performed sold-out shows at Two River Theater, Joe’s Pub, The Green Room 42, and Feinstein’s/54 Below. with his concert, Jaime Lozano & The Familia: Songs by an Immigrant, which features an all-Latino lineup of Broadway stars. The album features collaborations with Raul Midón, Alex Lacamoire, Mandy Gonzalez, Mauricio Martinez, Gaby Moreno, Antonio Sánchez, among others; and with liner notes by Lin-Manuel Miranda and is available at Broadway Records. He is a teacher and activist for the New York City based not-for-profit organization R.Evolución Latina. He has a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Music & Composition from Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León; MFA: NYU/ Tisch, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program; part of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Mex-Am Cultural Foundation Grant recipient. Jamie is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, AFM Local 802, BMI and GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY voting member. www.jaimelozano.net Twitter/IG: @jaimelozano
Musical Theatre | Creative Team Member
Brisa Areli Muñoz is a Chicane theatre director, cultural worker, and educator based out of Brooklyn, New York by way of the Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Muñoz has directed and facilitated work for the Actionplay, American Repertory Theater, Arts Emerson, Atlantic Pacific Theatre, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, BRIC Arts Media, Carnegie Hall, Center Theatre Group, CUNY Creative Arts Team, Hi-ARTS, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, New York City Center, New York City Children’s Theater, New York City Department of Education, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Oye Group, REDCAT, Sojourn Theatre, The Civilians, The Public Theater, Thirteen O’Clock Theatre, Vital Theatre, and Yale Repertory Theatre.
Dance Theatre: Afro-Latin Immersion | Creative Team Member
“Monstrito” Percussionist started playing at a very young age and since then has never stopped the interest of playing professionally. Abrantes has played in many venues such as Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts MidSummer Night Swing event, Summerstage NYC, Carnegie Hall, and even outside of the United States in places like the French Caribbean, and Paris, France to name a few. Today, Abrantes plays with many artists including eight time Grammy Nominee Bobby Sanabria with his Multiverse Big Band on Congas, four time Grammy Award winning Singer Willy Torres y su Orquesta, Chris Washburne and The SYOTOS Band, Musical Director in Bombazo Dance Co directed by Milteri Tucker Concepcion and Abrantes is also a leader himself, of his own band…Oreste “Kidd Ore” Abrantes Jr Y Su Orquesta!
Dance Theatre: Afro-Latin Immersion | Creative Team Member
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Milteri Tucker holds degrees in Dance, Biology, and Chemistry as well as a Masters Degree in Dance Education from New York University. She is the founder and artistic director of Bombazo Dance Co. Ms. Tucker has apprenticed and performed with Bomba elders and distinguished families in San Juan, Santurce, Loíza, Cataño, Ponce, Mayagüez and Arroyo, Puerto Rico. As an educator and master Bomba dancer, she lectures on dance technique, figure and timing, across the United States and the world. Milteri has worked with dance companies and choreographers in Puerto Rico, throughout the Caribbean and the United States. She’s performed and showcased her work at New York City Center, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture, BAAD!: Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Thalia Spanish Theater, Castillo Theater, El Museo del Barrio, Julia de Burgos Cultural Center, the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts and STEPS. Theater credits include The Perils of Chencha, written and directed by Anita Vélez Mitchell; YES I YES, written by Yolanda García Serrano, directed by Noelle Mauri; Amor Latino written and directed by Angel Gil Orrios; La Negra Más Bella and Llamada/Rally Cry, written and directed by Nancy Nevarez; and Lulu En La Habana, written by Ntozake Shange and directed by Carla Pinza. She portrayed Josephine Baker in Macy’s Herald Square’s tribute, First Diva: Josephine Baker in 2007. Milteri performed in Broadway’s Easter Bonnet competition at the Minskoff Theater in 2011. A member of Maria Torres Emerging Artist Foundation (MTAEF), Tucker was a featured dancer at the Latin Billboard Awards for Puerto Rican recording artist Don Omar in 2013, by choreographer and mentor Maria Torres. In 2019, Milteri represented Bomba Puertorriquena in Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights movie. In addition to her choreographic and artist work, Milteri is the visionaire and author of the first bilingual (Spanish and English) children’s book on Bomba titled Bomba Puertorriquena. She is the CEO of the first international Caribbean dance line of skirts, Bombazo Wear: Bomba Caribbean Skirts.
Dance Theatre: Afro-Latin Immersion | Creative Team Member
Dwayne Beach, an interdisciplinary artist, Violist, Violinist, Singer-Songwriter, Ballroom Dancer, and Belizean American, is the first afro-latino and black musician to have played in the Sarajevska Filharmonija, the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina. After being offered a seat in the orchestra in 2017, he had the chance to perform at the Opera House at Katara Cultural Village in Doha, Qatar, Bosnia’s Nivea Fashion Week, and for the House of Grimaldi of Monaco. He has also made appearances performing in Italy, Serbia and all around the United States. Ballroom dance offered Dwayne a very competitive environment. He won various championship level ballroom/latin dance competitions, notably in the collegiate and professional circuit, District of Collegiate Dancesport Invitational (DCDi) 2013, Harvard Invitational 2014, Caribbean DanceSport PR 2014, and Mid Atlantic National Championship 2015. As of present, he has been working to invite ballroom into other traditional styles he has been practicing. Through working with Maria Torres Dance Company, and choreographers like Wayne Daniel and Princess Lockerooo, he has been doing roots work incorporating African dance, Afro-Cuban, Orisha Dance and Waacking into his movement vocabulary for his works. During the civil discord brought to the mainstage by the pandemic, he lent his creative voice in his first politically driven Black Lives Matter (BLM) anthem Right to Liberty, which has been played on over five international stations, for which he latter developed a dance video celebrating black and african excellence in the diaspora. Recently, he had the most successful respect with his interdisciplinary display in his unique performances with Ode to The Black Fiddler Festival 2021 displaying compositions of his own, the release of an epic cover of Annie Lennox’s Sweet Dreams and had the opportunity to compose a composition titled Esperanza Viva for award winning Choreographer Maria Torres for her namesake dance company. This year also afforded Dwayne multiple grants from City Artist Corp and New York Foundation of the Art to support his upcoming works.