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Leonardo Sandoval (choreographer, dancer, artistic director)
Brazilian tap dancer Leonardo Sandoval has established a reputation in the tap world and beyond for his musicality, and for adding his own Brazilian flavor to tap. An artist-in-residence at the American Tap Dance Foundation, and a member of Dorrance Dance, he is in demand as a choreographer, solo dancer, jazz musician, and educator, touring across the United States and abroad. Leo has had his work, including several collaborations with composer Gregory Richardson, presented at venues including the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the National Folk Festival. A true dancer-musician, Leo’s artistry is rooted in America’s great jazz and tap dance heritage and in Brazil’s rich rhythmic and musical forms, with additional influences from contemporary and urban dances. |
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Gregory Richardson (musical director, artistic director)
Born to a family of musicians where everyone was expected to play and sing, Gregory Richardson is a composer and multi-instrumentalist and the co-creator of Music From The Sole, an Afro-Brazilian tap dance show that is currently in residence at Lincoln Center Education. He is the co-musical director of Dorrance Dance, with whom he has premiered original compositions at New York City Center on three occasions, most recently in collaboration with Bill Irwin. He has played with the band Darwin Deez at music festivals around the world including Glastonbury, Splendor In The Grass, Summer Sonic, and Donauinselfest. |
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Brittany DeStefano (dancer)
Brittany DeStefano is a multi-form dancer from upstate New York. She studied under the mentorship of Nicole Aravena and Derick K. Grant, and later became an alumni of The School at Jacob’s Pillow for their tap programs of 2012 and 2014. Currently, Brittany is working with New York City based companies, Caleb Teicher & Company, Leonardo Sandoval, Dorrance Dance and Dorrance Dance Second Company, where she’s had the privilege of performing at The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and Jacob’s Pillow. |
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Naomi Funaki (dancer)
Naomi Funaki is a tap dancer from Tokyo, Japan, currently living in New York as an IISP student of Steps on Broadway. She has performed with Caleb Teicher & Company and Dorrance Dance’s second company. She has danced at the first “Tap Family Reunion”, Vail Dance Festival, Fall For Dance (New York City Center), Works & Process (Guggenheim), Tokyo International Tap Dance Festival, and is an alumna of The School at Jacob’s Pillow tap dance program. |
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Andre Imanishi (dancer)
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Gerson Lanza (dancer)
Originally from La Ceiba, Honduras, Gerson first encountered tap dance after moving to New York City in 2001. Immediately after his first exposure to tap, he fell in love with the art form. He began his tap dance training under Omar Edwards at his studio “Harlem Tap,” located in the heart of New York’s Harlem neighborhood. He continued developing his craft after enrolling at the Harlem School of the Arts, under the instruction of Joseph Webb. He has since taught and performed across the US and internationally including in Brazil, Poland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Spain. Highlights include a 3-month European tour with the Cotton Club Show, in which he was feature as a soloist, and dancing with Jason Samuels Smith, Josh Johnson, and Leonardo Sandoval, among many others. |
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Jalen Saint Phifer (dancer)
Jalen Saint Phifer (Brooklyn, NY) was recognized for creating “impulses of musicality and rhythm” in Dance Spirit Magazine, and received a special mention in the New York Times for his stylistic contributions during Dormeshia Sumbry-Edward’s, Derick K. Grant’s, and Jason Samuels Smith’s Tap Family Reunion 2018. Initially inspired by DeWitt Fleming, Jr. and Jared Grimes, Jalen trained at the American Tap Dance Foundation and The School at Jacob’s Pillow, and has performed for over a decade, with the Dorrance Dance Second Company, Michela Lerman’s ‘Love Movement’, Wynton Marsalis, and more, at venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York City Center, and the Apollo Theatre. |
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Ana Tomioshi (dancer)
Ana Tomioshi is a Brazilian multi-style dancer. She has performed in some of the most important theaters, dance, and music events in Brazil, such as São Paulo Municipal Theater, Joinville Dance Festival and Rock in Rio. Ana is also a 2014 alumna of The School at Jacob’s Pillow’s tap program. She is currently living in Washington, D.C., and is a member of Sole Defined, a percussion and tap dance company. |
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Jose Carlos Cruzata Revé (musician)
José Carlos Cruzata Revé is a Cuban saxophonist from the city of Holguín, and studied at the National School of Art in Havana. He began his career as a member of several prominent Cuban jazz and salsa bands that played around the world, including with members of the famous orchestra of Juan Formel y Los Van Van, and with flamenco dancer Joaquin Cortez. José is currently teaching for the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance in New York City, where he is also working on his upcoming album, and collaborates frequently with Leonardo Sandoval and Gregory Richardson, including for their shows Music from the Sole and Partido, for which he also composed music. |
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Jennifer Vincent (musician)
Jennifer Vincent, bassist and cellist, has been an active force on the music scene in New York City for well over a decade. She plays and has played and toured with the likes of Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln, the famed Boy's Choir of Harlem, Willie Martinez y La Familia, Son Sublime, the Xavier Cougat Orchestra, the Roberto Rodriguez Septet, Carmen Lundy, Harry Whitteaker (longtime artistic director and keyboardist for Roberta Flack), Jon Hendricks, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and many other jazz and Latin notables. A classically-trained cellist at Oberlin Conservatory, Jennifer is equally comfortable in the jazz, Latin-jazz, and traditional Cuban musical idioms. Her bass teachers include jazz icon Ron Carter, Andy Gonzales, Ed Bennett, Buster Williams, and Cuban bass legend Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez of the Buena Vista Social Club, with whom she traveled to Cuba to study with. Jennifer delves into music that utilizes West African, Japanese, and Middle Eastern influences with artists such as Sogbety Diomande form the Ivory Coast, the Pan-Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, and Algerian pianist Maurice el Medioni's "Descarga Oriental", which won the 2006 BBC Music Award for Best World Crossover. |
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Josh Davis (musician)
Josh Davis is a multifaceted drummer, arranger and composer. Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Josh is based out of New York City where he plays drums, records, teaches and tours with many bands in varied genres. He has toured throughout the U.S., Japan and Europe, playing well-known venues such as: Carnegie Hall, The Blue Note, Smalls Jazz Club, Symphony Space, Sziget Music Festival, The Knitting Factory, Detroit Orchestra Hall, several Jazz Festivals and has appeared on MTV and VH1 and Time Out New York. He currently leads his own NYC-based jazz trio, which focuses on original compositions and arrangements of Jazz standards, as well as arrangements of classic Brazilian choros and sambas. Josh is also a music educator and private drum instructor throughout NYC and the surrounding areas. It is his belief that economic and educational disparity between peoples and communities must come to an end; especially in the case of children's access to fair education and technology. Josh is also music accompanist at the Joffrey Ballet School and the American Tap Dance Foundation in New York City. |
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Noé Kains (musician)
Noé Kains is a pianist and singer currently based in NYC. He studied at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, the UK, and Israel, and has appeared in solo recitals, chamber music, and concertos. Currently he is especially interested in Brazilian music, especially choro and maxixe, that have deep connections to dance, interests that he continues to explore with Music From The Sole. |
Guest artists & Collaborators
Kathy Kaufmann (lighting designer)
Kathy Kaufmann is a New York City native, resident designer at Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church and teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. She is a two-time Bessie recipient and was nominated for her work on Rebecca Davis’s Bloost Windku in 2015. She designs regularly for Dorrance Dance, Joanna Kotze, The Bang Group, Mariana Valencia, Rebecca Stenn, Ephrat Asherie Dance, and Mina Nishamura.
Kathy Kaufmann is a New York City native, resident designer at Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church and teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. She is a two-time Bessie recipient and was nominated for her work on Rebecca Davis’s Bloost Windku in 2015. She designs regularly for Dorrance Dance, Joanna Kotze, The Bang Group, Mariana Valencia, Rebecca Stenn, Ephrat Asherie Dance, and Mina Nishamura.
Damian Quiñones (musician)
Damian Quiñones is a singer/songwriter, musician, and teaching artist. He's written music for television and film and performs regularly with his bands, Damian Quiñones y su Conjunto, and Analog Experimental. He was awarded "best score" by the NYU Short Film Festival 2013 for his soundtrack to the film Flood by Katy Scoggin. Quiñones currently works as a teaching artist for Lincoln Center Education in NYC, and has worked for Casita Maria and Hunts Point Alliance for Children.
Damian Quiñones is a singer/songwriter, musician, and teaching artist. He's written music for television and film and performs regularly with his bands, Damian Quiñones y su Conjunto, and Analog Experimental. He was awarded "best score" by the NYU Short Film Festival 2013 for his soundtrack to the film Flood by Katy Scoggin. Quiñones currently works as a teaching artist for Lincoln Center Education in NYC, and has worked for Casita Maria and Hunts Point Alliance for Children.
Lucas Santana (dancer)
Originally from Pernambuco in the Northeast of Brazil, Lucas Santana started studying tap at 8 and has since appeared on some of the most important stages and TV shows in Brazil, including as part of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics celebrations. He is a frequent collaborator with Leonardo Sandoval both in Brazil and in the US, most recently appearing at the Yard in Partido. He currently lives in Florianopolis, where he teaches and performs as part of the Trupe Toe company, and continues to work with the group Afetos Sonoros in Rio. Lucas also holds a degree in philosophy from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Originally from Pernambuco in the Northeast of Brazil, Lucas Santana started studying tap at 8 and has since appeared on some of the most important stages and TV shows in Brazil, including as part of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics celebrations. He is a frequent collaborator with Leonardo Sandoval both in Brazil and in the US, most recently appearing at the Yard in Partido. He currently lives in Florianopolis, where he teaches and performs as part of the Trupe Toe company, and continues to work with the group Afetos Sonoros in Rio. Lucas also holds a degree in philosophy from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
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Gisele Silva (dancer)
Multi-form dancer Gisele Silva began her studies at the Dânia Amaral Space in Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo state, Brazil) and danced with the Ribeirão Preto Cia de Dança and Cia Pé na Tabua. In April 2017, she performed at the Rhythm Motion festival in New York, in choreography by Leonardo Sandoval, and in 2018, she moved to Los Angeles to join the Syncopated Ladies, directed by Chloe Arnold. With the group, she has appeared at venues including the Lincoln Center and the Apollo theater, as well as numerous music videos and commercial projects. She is also a regular guest artist with Music From The Sole. |
Serena Wong (lighting designer)
Serena Wong is a Brooklyn-based freelance dance and lighting artist. Her designs has been seen at American Ballet Theater, Fall For Dance at City Center, Danspace, and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Most recently she has designed for choreographers Gemma Bond, Caleb Teicher, Leonardo Sandoval, and Jaamil Olawale Kosoko. She enjoys biking, beekeeping, and bread baking.
Serena Wong is a Brooklyn-based freelance dance and lighting artist. Her designs has been seen at American Ballet Theater, Fall For Dance at City Center, Danspace, and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Most recently she has designed for choreographers Gemma Bond, Caleb Teicher, Leonardo Sandoval, and Jaamil Olawale Kosoko. She enjoys biking, beekeeping, and bread baking.