HATCH
DANCE

Native to St. Paul, Minnesota, Berit Ahlgren gained her foundational dance training from Minnesota Dance Theater and received a BFA in Dance from St. Olaf College, where she also studied biomedical studies. Ahlgren was a founding member of TU Dance under the artistic directorship of Toni Pierce-Sands and Uri Sands, and performed with the company between 2006—2016. Receiving Metropolitan Regional Arts Council’s Next Step Grant in 2011, Ahlgren traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel to study the Gaga Movement Language, and subsequently moved to Israel to pursue teacher certification between 2011— 2012. Ahlgren earned her MFA in Dance from Tisch School of the Arts in 2016, and has since been on faculty at the University of Minnesota and Winona State University, performing with independent choreographers between Minneapolis and New York, and choreographing her own body of work for both stage and camera under her dance organization, HoneyWorks. Berit collaborated with Helen Hatch in 2020 to create “Live @ The Shed”, now an annual, summer, outdoor dance event featuring the collaborative choreography of Ahlgren and Hatch. In addition to collaborations with Hatch Dance, HoneyWorks has been featured at  The Cowles Center (2020/21) and the Southern Theater (2023). Ahlgren has had the great pleasure as a dancer to work with Crystal Pite, Ohad Naharin, Netta Yerushalmy, Dimitri Chamblas, Gregory Dolbashian, Dwight Rhodan, Lise Houlton, Ashwini Ramaswamy, Carl Flink, and Helen Hatch among others. In addition to her work as performer and choreographer, Berit opened Sunna, a Pilates and Yoga studio in NE Mpls, in April 2024, and teaches daily classes in Vinyasa Yoga, Pilates Reformer, and the Gaga Movement Language.

Helen Hatch is a dancer, choreographer, and director based in Minneapolis. Named as one of Minnesota Monthly’s “10 Artists to Watch” in 2012, Helen was a member of Minnesota Dance Theatre from 2011-2017, dancing an eclectic range of repertoire while also creating her own work. Since then she has worked with various artists in the Twin Cities on projects as a performer, choreographer, and producer. Helen is a graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA program where she was awarded Dance Departmental Honors. Her choreography has been presented at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, the 2011 Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Festival, 2014 MN Fringe Festival, The Southern Theater, throughout Mexico and Guatemala by the Juntos Collective, and commissioned by Minnesota Dance Theatre, Saint Paul Ballet, Mareck Dance, Penelope Freeh, Aveda, and The Cowles Center. Helen is the Founder and Director of Hatch Dance, whose debut performance Isotope was named a “2018 Top Ten Twin Cities Dance Performance” by the Star Tribune. Helen has taught extensively throughout the Twin Cities and is a teaching artist at Saint Paul Ballet and Community Movement Collective. www.hatchdance.com

Joe Strachan is a pianist based in Saint Paul. Joe's career includes accompanying dance, performing on synths and electronics, and composing for a diverse range of collaborations in dance and theater. Recent work includes touring with Craig Finn, and Mixed Blood Theater, as well as performing locally with ThoughtCast, Little Boat, the Interstellar Cowboy band, Wheel Eternal, Charanga Tropical, and Superbus Maximus. Joe’s work has been recognized with awards such as the Next Step Fund (2020).

As of late Spring 2024 - Brandon Anderson Musser is a son of a saxophonist truck driver and a union head nurse, born 1989 near present day Pittsburgh, PA. He is primarily working with music and sound for dance and theater.  He prioritizes projects that possess self awareness, tenderness, humanity, and that strive for reformation. He is the Producing Artistic and Music Director of Doma Dance Theater. Notable credits reflect service as artistic associate to Alexandra Bodnarchuk Dance Projects, company composer and sound designer to the Taja Will Ensemble, and creative technical work for Hatch Dance. Most recently he is collaborating with Marcela Michelle. Occasionally he creates solo work.

Adeline Beck was born and raised in the Twin Cities. She began her dance training at Creo Arts and Dance Conservatory under the direction of Christa Anderson-Hill, where she trained in a variety of styles. Throughout her time at Creo, she had the privilege of performing the lead roles of The Little Girl, and The Nutcracker's Gold Fairy and Rat Queen. Beck has attended numerous intensives within the U.S, and also abroad in Israel at the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. While in Israel, she learned repertoire from KCDC’s main company, as taught by company members. Additionally Beck has worked with notable choreographers Berit Ahlgren, Helen Hatch, Darrius Strong, and Jolene Konkel. Beck is currently apprenticing with StrongMovement and Concerto Dance. Beck has also worked alongside Darrius Strong as assistant movement director for Alice In Wonderland at the Children’s Theater Company. Beck is currently in a gap year developing her dance technique, working, teaching, performing, and exploring her interests and hopes for the future. In the fall, she will be attending Chapman University in Orange County, California to receive a BFA in Dance. After college, Beck would like to dance abroad professionally.

Jeremy Bensussan is a performer in the Twin Cities. He earned a BFA in Dance from the University of Minnesota in 2010. Jeremy has danced extensively with Minnesota Dance Theatre, Flying Foot Forum, and Out on a Limb Dance Theater Company. Other companies include Keane Sense of Rhythm, Eclectic Edge Ensemble, Christopher Watson Dance Company, and others. New York dance credits include Dusan Tynek Dance Company and The Bang Group. Regional musical theater credits include Fiddler on the Roof (New York), 9 to 5 (Ohio), Annie Get Your Gun (Wisconsin), French Twist (Minnesota), Heaven (Minnesota), La Cage Aux Folles (Minnesota), and CATS (Rhode Island).

Ernest Bisong (M.M.) is a Nigerian born violinist and violist.He has since studied classical violin with many notable tutors including Sir Godfrey Amoah (Ghana), Thomas Kanitz (German cellist and co-founder of the Reger String Quartet), Rachel Barton-Pine (U.S.A.) and Daria Adams (St. Paul Chamber Orchestra). In July of 2013, he became the first Nigerian to obtain performance certification from the Associate Board of the Royal School of Music (ABRSM) in London with a distinction. Alongside his mainstream classical training, Ernest found an appreciation for contemporary musical styles and thus began an exploration of the jazz genre. He was awarded a scholarship to complete his masters at McNally Smith College of Music where he studied fiddle music with Randy Sabien and jazz improvisation with Pete Whitman. Ernest has played on many stages, including at the First Lagos Jazz Festival and at SXSW in 2012. Ernest has opened for such acts as Richard Bona, Mike Stern, Marcus Johnson, Marsha Ambrosius, and the illustrious Anita Baker. Today, he is a teaching artist with Walker Music Music Academy where he works as a teaching artist and curates the Rondo Community Music Series. He was a MacPhail Global Music Initiative Grant recipient from 2021 to 2022 and holds a teaching license from the University of St. Thomas with which he teaches music in the Minneapolis Public School District.

Colin “BzyChln” Edwards

Born and raised Saint Paul, Mn

Director of meridian movement co.

Dancing since the age of 14, he’s trained in several styles ranging from ballet, modern and African  to street styles such as breaking, krump and popin. With starting studies at SPCPA & TU he now’s performing at every major Venue from First ave to the Walker from the Ordway to Orchestra Hall and everything In between. His movement is a melding of open based modern in combination with Popin’ sub genre “Waving”, studying directly from the creators. Dedicated to the culture of hip hop and its motto of each one, reach one, teach one. 

Non Edwards is a dancer, choreographer, and fitness/movement trainer, located in the Twin Cities since 2009. A 2020 McKnight Dancer Fellow, Non has worked across a range of style and genre, performing modern, postmodern, improvisation and performance art in galleries, theaters, video, and DIY and public spaces. This is Non’s second collaboration with Hatch Dance and HoneyWorks. As a choreographer, Non creates situations for performers to exercise agency and audience to connect to their own bodies, often working at the intersection of dance with other forms. Also an independent GYROKINESIS® Method Trainer and staff at Sunna Space, Non guides clients - seniors, professional dancers, average people, and evolving bodies - to move with less pain and greater strength, connection, and pleasure.

Kaitlyn Hawkins is a freelance dance artist and choreographer who likes to research an endless list of questions with movement and conversation. She holds a BFA in Dance and BS in Health & Wellbeing Sciences from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and has completed a certificate in Contemporary Dance from Gibney’s Independent Training Program. Kaitlyn has performed with TU Dance,  Shapiro & Smith Dance, Christopher Watson Dance Company, Honeyworks, Contempo Physical Dance, Doma Dance, Black Label Movement, and was a part of the 2022 SHED project with Honeyworks and Hatch Dance. She has presented work in Minneapolis, MN and Brooklyn, NY, and participated in Black Label Movement’s Movers Make showcase and the Candybox Dance Festival.

Toivo Hannigan is a guitarist, composer, producer and software engineer based in Minneapolis Minnesota. After Graduating From Berklee in August 2020, Toivo moved back to the twin cities where he furthered his career as a freelance musician. Toivo regularly performs with bands/artists including, but not limited to Jake Baldwin, JT Bates, Bryan and the Haggards, and Larry Wish.

Gemma Isaacson is a Minneapolis-based dance artist originally from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. She began her professional performance career at the age of 17 with Minnesota Ballet before attending the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance in 2014. Throughout the course of her freelance career, Gemma has originated roles in works by notable local, national and international choreographers across genres, including Patrick Acogny (Contempo Physical Dance), Berit Ahlgren (HoneyWorks), Dimitri Chamblas, Karen L. Charles (Threads Dance Project), Non Edwards, Eric Sean Fogel (Minnesota Opera and Portland Opera), Nildinha Fonsêca (Contempo Physical Dance), Jennifer Glaws (Jagged Moves), Helen Hatch (Hatch Dance), Jennifer Ilse (Off-Leash Area), Nic Lincoln, Alanna Morris (I A.M. Arts), Valerie Oliveiro, Kerry Parker, Stuart Pimsler (Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater), Ashwini Ramaswamy (Ragamala Dance Company), Marciano Silva dos Santos (Contempo Physical Dance) and Heidi Spesard-Noble (Minnesota Opera). Since 2020, Gemma has created and performed her own work at the Off-Leash Art Box (Minneapolis), The Shed (St. Paul), Tofte Lake Center (Ely), and DIY spaces around the Twin Cities. In 2021, she was selected for the National Emerging Artists Program Residency at Tofte Lake Center.

Annika Johansson is a dance artist from Minneapolis, Mni Sota Makoce. They create dance for both theaters and public spaces and have shown work at the Casket Arts Building, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Red Eye Theater's Works in Progress, and ARENA DANCES' Candy Body Dance Festival. They are passionate about collaboration and investigating process and bring the same curiosity to projects of all scopes. When citing their experience as an artist and body, they return to thank the trans and queer elders and friends who helped them ask questions and discover their truest self.

Juliana Johnson (she/her) is a versatile creator and performer from the Twin Cities. Having graduated from Fordham University Lincoln Center in NYC, she holds degrees in both dance and visual art, which have served as the foundation for her diverse artistic endeavors as a dancer, choreographer, and director. Juliana's professional focus lies in collaborative and theatrical realms, leading her to work with companies including Hatch Dance, HoneyWorks, Sod House Theater, TU Dance, Minnesota Opera, and Kinematik Dance Theater. Her creative output spans across performance and film projects, working alongside dancers, musicians, singers, actors, and visual artists. Her work and practice are deeply rooted in exploration, embodiment, and connection, which she explores through various technical modalities, improvisation, and a spirit of playful experimentation.

Cellist and composer Michelle Kinney is most inspired when working in improvisational cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary contexts. Recent collaborative creations for dance include Ananya Dance Theater, Black Label Movement, BRKFST, Laurie Van Wieren; and for theater, Kevin Kling, Michael Sommers, Theater Latté Da, and Marya Hart’s Fidgety Fairy Tales. Michelle also performs her original music with many bands (currently Crime Family and Stylites) and is a regular contributor to some of the Twin Cities’ most interesting music projects led by genre-pushing artists such as Zeitgeist, Mary Ellen Childs, Chastity Brown, Douglas Ewart, Aby Wolf, Nirmala Rajasekar and Dylan Hicks. Michelle has been recognized for her work by The McKnight Foundation (Composer Fellowship), Two Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Next Step Fund grants, The Bush Foundation (Bush Artists Fellowship), The Jerome Foundation, MN State Arts Board (with Jelloslave), NEA/Rockefeller, Harvestworks/Studio Pass, and American Composers Forum. More at michellekinneymusic.com.

Kendall Kramer is just shy of 5'3, and possibly addicted to both peanut butter and frequent flyer airline miles programs. She is grateful to be back on stage with Hatchdance and Honeyworks for In C! Kendall has been a Minneapolis-based dancer and choreographer since returning home in 2019. You can be sure to catch her creating in unconventional capacities. Notably, she co-produced Crude Tuesday, a feedback based program for works-in-progress. Her longest running project, #betches, has been opening its doors almost monthly for a year and a half; it is a cabaret combining dance and burlesque that parodies itself. Kendall's dance films have been featured at Amalgama Film Festival in Portugal, and Dance Camera North in MN. Kendall loves to teach and foster creative space - you can find her classes at Zenon, MDT, Hot House, and online for virtual mat Pilates.

Jordan Lovestrand was a dancer for Ate9 Dance Company from Fall 2018 - Summer 2023. He returned to MN in the Fall of 2023.

Hannah MacKenzie-Margulies (she/her) is a multidisciplinary dancer, choreographer, and educator based in Minneapolis. A native of Lexington, Massachusetts, Hannah began her training at the Lexington School of Ballet and the Boston Ballet School before attending the Joffrey Ballet School’s post-graduate trainee program. She has performed with the Harford Ballet, Ballet Verité, Ballet Concerto, Charleston Ballet Theatre, and Borealis Dance Theatre and is a founding member of sub.set dance. Hannah is a graduate of Reed College and an alumna of the Vertigo International Dance program. Her work has been presented at the Walker Art Center, Manhattan Movement Arts, Ten Tiny Dances, TBA: The Works, the Northwest Film Center, hq pdx, SpectorDance, and ODC’s Studio B. Hannah is also an accomplished lindy hop and authentic jazz dancer and teacher—find her at hannah-mm.com.

Sarah McCullough (she/her) is a Minneapolis-based movement artist and educator. Originally from Virginia, she attended James Madison University as a Madison Achievement Scholar, and earned her BA in Dance and Mathematics. As a student, she performed works by Doug Varone, Netta Yerushalmy, Christopher K. Morgan, Rubén Graciani, and others. Since joining Minneapolis’ dance community in 2018, she has had the pleasure of performing in works choreographed by Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Berit Ahlgren, Carl Flink, Helen Hatch, Marisol Herling, Mathew Janczewski, Taja Will, and more. She has toured with Minneapolis based dance companies Black Label Movement and ARENA DANCES to the greater Minnesota area, Florida, and New York. She is a highly collaborative artist who is passionate about aliveness in performance, and seeks to perform works that center humanity, complexity, and play. Alongside her performance work, Sarah is an educator in contemporary forms. She teaches ongoing contemporary classes at Zenon Dance School, Hothouse, and the Arena. Sarah has offered classes at the Limón Twin Cities Intensive, ARENA DANCES' Instinct Intensive, The University of Winchester (UK), North Carolina State University, and several high school dance programs throughout the Twin Cities.

Blake Nellis is a published fine art photographer, educator, choreographer and performing artist. His work is deeply rooted in human connection, physical touch and nature. He graduated from Luther College with a degree in Theater/Dance. Blake is a 2021 MN State Arts Board Individual Support Grant recipient as well 2019 & 2015 recipient of the MN State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant (Photography & Dance respectively). Blake received the Artist Initiative Grant in 2019 to create and publish a 200 page fine art book titled Skin.Rock.Bone. This series explores the visual and somatic experience of being naked and human among nature. He has also received funding from the Jerome Foundation, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, thanks to voters like you! His photographic work has been seen in SHOTS magazine, The Soap Factory, Homewood Studios, Squirrel Haus Arts Gallery, The Tek Box Theater, and The Great Minnesota Get Together. He has performed at the Walker Art Center, Patrick's Cabaret, The Artbox, Red Eye Theater, Ritz Theatre, TEK Box, Bryant Lake Bowl Theater, Luther College and more.  His teaching pedagogy is driven by humor, honesty, empathy and open-mindedness. www.blakenellis.org

Trevor Peterson is a Minneapolis native who has performed at local and national venues including First Avenue and Madison Square Garden. Primarily a bassist, he has toured nationally and internationally with bands including Chastity Brown, King Pari, Velvet Negroni, Honey Butter, Tickle Torture, and many others.

Arcelia Y. Rivera grew up dancing at St. Croix Valley Dance Academy in Baldwin, Wisconsin. In 2021, she graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato with a BFA in Dance under the instruction of Julie Kerr-Berry, Daniel Stark, Allison Doughty Marquesen, Melissa Rosenberg, Ruben del Valle Jr., Joe Crook, and Karla Grotting. At MSU, Mankato, Arcelia trained in contemporary/modern, ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, and musical theater. Her choreography was competitively selected to be performed in the Fall 2018, Spring 2019, and Spring 2021 Dance Concerts at MSU, Mankato with two of her works receiving awards for Outstanding Choreography. After graduating, Arcelia performed in Valleyfair's premiere season of their dance show, Neon Nights. Since then, she has performed with Contempo Physical Dance (in work by renowned Brazilian choreographer, Mário Nascimento), Flying Foot Forum, and 8:20 Dance Company. Arcelia’s choreography was also recently highlighted in 8:20 Dance Company’s 2024 show, Pieces of Me. This is her first performance with Hatch Dance and HoneyWorks.

Amanda Sachs is a freelance artist based in Minneapolis, MN. Originally from New Jersey, Amanda studied R.A.D. before moving to San Francisco for the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program. In 2014, Sachs joined The Francesca Harper Project in NYC where she performed in notable theaters such as The Joyce, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Amanda toured internationally with Metamorphosis Dance from 2013-2017. She joined TU Dance in Minnesota and was a company member from 2017-2020. During her time with the company she performed notable works, including Alvin Ailey’s solo Witness and Night Creature, and Walking with Pearl: Africa Diaries by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. She is an original member of Come Through, an evening-length collaboration with GRAMMY-winning musician Bon Iver and TU Dance, which toured across the nation. In 2021, she joined NW Dance Project in Portland. With NWDP, Amanda performed works by Ihsan Rustem, Yin Yue, Joseph Hernandez, Sarah Slipper, and Luca Veggetti, and toured internationally. Currently she is a guest artist with the Lyric Opera, Helene Simoneau Danse, and PARA.MAR Dance Theatre. Locally, Amanda premiered in Ashwini Ramaswamy's Invisible Cities and Ben Frost’s Cold Air Rises as part of The Great Northern Festival in January 2023. She also performs throughout the Twin Cities with Honeyworks and Hatch Dance. Amanda received an MSAB Creative Individuals grant to tour a duet across greater Minnesota in collaboration in July 2024.

A leading practitioner of experiential mechanics, Joe Tennis is an improviser and moment maker. His movement expression and choice making is rooted in abundant curiosity. Engined by discovery, he is viscerally compelled to movement through experiencing it. He has been described as “unapologetically youthful” and been told he has a “cinematic sensibility”. Joey has done a load of dancing in the past and intends on doing loads more in the future, but he’s mainly interested in the dancing that happens in the moment. He’s been deep in research of improvisation in service to attunement, the mechanics of intuition through floorwork and the prolonged effects of subtle integration. Tennis dances to find, not to show.

Genevieve Waterbury is an artist based in Minneapolis. Originally from Colorado, she spent her childhood in the mountains and the studios at Boulder Ballet before studying dance at Colorado State University. Genevieve then joined Nevada Ballet Theatre in Las Vegas where she collaborated annually with Cirque du Soleil. These years sparked an interest in dance theater, prompting her move to New York City. Dancing highlights in NYC include a residency at Kaatsbaan with Kogut Butoh, a lead dancing role in RED, a New Musical, dancing and modeling in New York Fashion Week for JAHNKOYxPUMA, and several seasons as a company member with nathantrice/RITUALS. Since moving to Minnesota, Genevieve has performed with Hatch Dance, Honeyworks, Jagged Moves, Ballet Co.Laboratory, Christopher Watson Dance Company, and Sod House Theater. She’s had several opportunities to share her choreography as well, presented by Ballet Co.Laboratory, Christopher Watson Dance Company, The River’s Edge Series and The Soiled Dance Series. Genevieve teaches open ballet classes around the Twin Cities and private lessons in the Gyrotonic Method at Sunna.

Stephanie Wieseler is a saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer based in Minneapolis, MN. She has toured nationally and internationally as a saxophonist with Grammy-winning indie band Bon Iver in 22, A Million, performing at the Hollywood Bowl and other notable venues. Stephanie is an alumna of the Disneyland All-American College Band and New England Conservatory. She performs with the JazzMN Orchestra and several other small groups and original projects, most recently Society of Chemists and Heavy Metal Brass Band.