Leadership

Dancers

Brandon Collwes joined the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in January 2006 and danced with them until 2011. He has been with Liz Gerring Dance Company since 2012, serving as rehearsal assistant. Brandon performs with Sally Silvers Dance and has worked as a guest artist with Stephen Petronio Dance Company. He has staged MCTrust “MinEvents” and co-staged Changing Steps at the University of Arts in Philadelphia. He co-teaches Cunningham Technique at DeWitt Clinton High School. Since 2020, he has collaborated with composer John King on “Sonic Gathering,” presented both virtually and in-person. He is also an abstract painter.

Cemiyon Barber, originally from Mississippi, graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Cemiyon has performed choreographic works by renowned artists such as Bill T. Jones, Kyle Abraham, Merce Cunningham, and George Balanchine. He has also showcased his work at various NYC venues including the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Triskelion Arts, and Arts on Site. In 2022, he co-founded Beyond The Black Box, an organization dedicated to empowering Black dancers. Cemiyon has also been featured in fashion publications such as VOGUE Russia and Numero Berlin and has appeared on TV networks like PBS and HBO. 

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Jay Beardsley (they/them) is a freelance artist, arts administrator, and educator. Jay's performance credits include Ballez, The Merce Cunningham Trust, Douglas Dunn + Dancers, Liz Gerring Dance Company, Tabula Rasa Dance Theatre, PERFORMA, Johnnie Cruise Mercer, and their own performance project Katerina & Jay. They have additionally collaborated with Sidra Bell Dance New York and MICHIYAYA Dance. Jay’s own work has been produced by Movement Research (NYC), Performance Mix Festival (NYC), Proteomedia (NYC), Dance Place (Washington, D.C.), and Dogtown Dance Theatre (Richmond, VA). Jay is a graduate of the Dance and Choreography department at Virginia Commonwealth University. jaybeardsley.com.

Mariah Anton-Arters is a New York-based freelance dance artist who graduated in 2019 from UNC School of the Arts with a BFA in contemporary dance. Prior to her attendance there, she trained in formal disciplines under Jo-Ann Hertzman. Mariah has been privileged to perform a wide range of works including pieces by Merce Cunningham, José Limón, Martha Graham, and more. Mariah frequently works with the Merce Cunningham Trust, while also working with Liz Gerring, Cornfield Dance, Dance Heginbotham, Christopher Williams Dance, Helen Simoneau Danse, Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects, Daniel Gwirtzman, The Moving Architects, and Skyla Schreter Dance, among others. 

Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, McCall Atkinson has studied dance for over 20 years. She began her training at The Minnesota Dance Theater and TU Dance Center. McCall has also trained at Alvin Ailey, Alonzo King Lines, and Dance Theater of Harlem as a scholarship recipient. She graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2020 with a BFA in dance and a minor in Psychology. During her studies, she trained at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts and performed a ballet work by Kinsun Chan. McCall has performed works by Ohad Naharin, Mark Morris, Sidra Bell, and Liz Gerring. 

Truth Colón is a movement artist, performer, and filmmaker based in New York. Originally from Las Vegas, she earned her BFA from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Before graduating in 2022, she began working for Liz Gerring. Since then, she has started in immersive events, been featured in fashion campaigns, appeared in music videos, and developed her individual work. She has performed across the country at venues such as Lincoln Center, La MaMa, the ICA in Boston, Baryshnikov Arts Center, the Watermill Center, the McKittrick Hotel, Trocha Gallery, and Philips Auction House. 

Current Collaborators

Maleek Washington is a performer, choreographer, and teaching artist. A Bronx native, he trained at Harlem School of the Arts, Broadway Dance Center, and LaGuardia High School, later attending The Boston Conservatory. He began his career with CityDance Ensemble before joining  Abraham.In.Motion for four seasons. Maleek made history as the first African-American male to perform in Sleep No More (Punch Drunk). He choreographed for rap legend Nas’ 2022 Big Nas Masterclass, assisted on Spike Lee’s Mont Blanc commercial, and performed with Sia, Phish, Rihanna, and NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar LIVE. A longtime member of Camille A. Brown and Dancers, Maleek was assistant choreographer for Porgy & Bess (Grammy Winner) and Fire Shut Up In My Bones at The Metropolitan Opera. Recognized at The White House, Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow, The Joyce Theater, and The Apollo, Maleek has been commissioned by renowned organizations and is a sought-after teaching artist. A 2022 Princess Grace Award Winner, 2021 Bessie Nominee, and Co-curator of the 2019 Bronx APAP Dance Festival, Maleek was an original cast member of the new hit Life & Trust. ***Liz would like to thank Maleek for his creative contributions to his role in Installation 2.8.25.


Victoria Keddie is an artist working within cross disciplines of sound, video, installation, and performance. Keddie is the Co-Director of E.S.P. TV, a nomadic TV studio that hybridizes technologies to realize synthetic environments and deconstruct the televisual for live performance. She co founded, UNIT 11,  a re outfitted ENG van, which acts as her own mobile studio for transmission based field work. Keddie is currently building a "Satellite Studio" in the Mohave desert for her work and research involving space junk.

Keddie has an MA from New York University and a BFA from University of the Arts in Philadelphia with a Mobility Fellowsip at the California College of Arts in San Francisco, CA. She has lectured and has been an invited guest artist at Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University, Bennington College, Hunter College, Cranbrook Academy, University of Oregon, Eugene, PNCA, University of Colorado, Boulder, NADA Art Fair, Museum of Arts and Design, IMDA/ Electra Festival, Wassaic Project, and Studio XX, Montreal. Keddie had taught (expanded) televisual broadcast at Marymount College and Pioneer Works. 

Keddie has performed and exhibited internationally at venues and festivals such as, The Barbican, Fridman Gallery, The Swiss Institute, Pioneer Works,The Kitchen, Museum of Moving Image, The Museum of Art and Design, Queens Museum of Art, Microscope Gallery, and Anthology Film Archives (NYC), Human Resources (Los Angeles), Lightcone, (Paris), Syros International Film Festival (Syros, Greece), Studio XX (Montreal), LOOP Festival (Barcelona), Pallas Projects (Dublin), Reykjavik Arts Festival (Reykjavik), General Public (Berlin), Axis Art Centre (Crew), The Independent Film Festival (Naples), Liste Art Fair (Basel), Seeing Sound Festival (Bath), and Daimon (Gatineau). Keddie has been artist-in-residence at Koneen Saatio, Yaddo, Wave Farm, Signal Culture, Pioneer Works, Storefront for Art and Architecture, and the Museum of Arts and Design.

Guest Artists

list of guest artists and productions they were a part of