Canadian dance artist Maddie Hanson is a graduate of The Juilliard School in New York City, accepted at the age of 16. Maddie is fortunate to have danced for Dana Foglia, Tony Testa, Chonique Sneed, and Willdabeast Adams, and has had the opportunity to work with Helen Simoneau (HS Dance), Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Stefanie Batten-Bland and Roy Assaf. She has performed repertory by Martha Graham, José Limón, Mark Morris, Crystal Pite, Jirí Pokornÿ, and RUBBERBANDance Group, and is currently a company dancer with Wyckoff Collective. Her choreographic work has been presented at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, DUMBO Dance Festival, and the APAP Conference.

She was commissioned for MOVE(NYC)’S 2019 Young Professionals Program, Joffrey Ballet School’s 2019-2020 Emerging Choreographer Series, and is a recipient of the 2019 Dance Ontario Creative Partnership. In 2020, she was awarded a CreativAction Open Space residency at The National Ballet of Canada, and was selected as a 2020 Emerging Choreographer with Springboard Danse Montréal. Most recently, she created a short film for BalletX’s 15th Anniversary Season, and will work on commissions with DART DSP (Berlin), Kit Modus and Company | E in Spring 2021. Maddie is represented by bloc NY.

Ms. Hanson's work is titled CURRENT. CURRENT is a new creation that explores our relationship to water, bodies of water, and specifically addressing rising sea levels as a result of climate change. Up to 60% of the human body is made of water, so we have a deep, inherent connection to this aspect of our world. This connection and dependence on water, but also the dangers of it in regards to sea levels rising, poses a tension and an immediacy that will be addressed through movement.

Why I applied for NEXT:Warmer: I applied for NEXT:Warmer because I was excited by the theme of climate change and the environment. It is an incredibly important and relevant issue affecting social, political and economic dimensions of life for everyone. I believe it is important to use our work to support purposes like these, and that art has the power to continue to elevate the issue for people, and offer new perspectives on it. I was also drawn to working with Company | E in their approach to work and how the company contributes so widely to the community.

Emese is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, currently living in Münich, Germany.She participated in La Biennale di Venezia as an Emerging Choreographer in 2020. She was also an Emerging Choreographer at Springboard Danse Montréal in 2018. In 2019 she was invited by Bad Lemons and Hier Jetzt Festival Munich, to create a piece for the festival. In 2019 she was given the Eötvös Scholarship from Tempus Foundation that let her spend 3 months in Israel reseraching improvisation and working with several choreographers.

Emese has been working as a creator since 2014. Since then she has staged several dance pieces in various venues and festivals in Hungary and abroad. These include performances in Springboard Danse Montreal, Hier Jetzt Festival München,Agitart Festival Figueres, 10 times 6 Festival Berlin, DanceLab Festival in Skopje, the Antré series of Workshop Foundation Budapest, Sziget Festival Budapest, OFF program of Pécs National Theater Festival, Thelater Szeged, NEXTFESZT, Mu Theater Budapest and Trafó House of Contemporary Arts. Emese is a dancer, choreographer.

She was born in Hungary 1989, trained at the Hungarian Dance Academy. She participated in various dance companies around Budapest, such as Mu Terminal and Budapest Dance theatre and DART before co-creating /MA•ZE. She is also a freelance dance artist and has worked with several choreographers creators such as Hiroaki Umeda, Yaniv Cohen,Yaniv Avraham,Guy Shomroni, Jack Gallagher, Máté Mészáros, Lior Lazarof,Krisztián Gergye, Ádám Fejes, János Feledi and László Fülöp to name a few.

Ashley Lobo is considered to be a spearhead of international dance in India. His career in performing arts comprises of over 35 years of performing, choreographing, and teaching - in India and overseas. He trained in Australia at the Bodenweiser Dance Centre and at Sydney Dance Company.

He is the Founder & Artistic Director of The Danceworx Performing Arts Academy (TDX), considered to be a leading institute for learning international dance in India with studios across New Delhi, NCR and Mumbai.

He is also the Founder & Artistic Director of Navdhara India Dance Theatre (NIDT), one of India’s premier artistic contemporary dance companies that has toured extensively with their work, performing in USA, Canada, South Africa, Germany, Poland, Israel, Turkey, China, Bahrain, Taiwan and Mexico.

Ashley is renowned for his Prana Paint™ technique, a unique sensitizing approach developed by him that explores movement through yoga, breath, connectivity and touch. This notable technique has put him on the international map and led to him being invited to teach and choreograph dance companies overseas. In 2017, he was invited to create a full-length contemporary dance work for The Ballet Chemnitz in Germany. In 2018, he worked with Zawirowania Dance Theater in Poland on a contemporary dance collaboration. In 2019, he created a full-length contemporary dance production “Yama” for the Linz Ballet, TanzLin.z in Austria. Next year he has been invited back to Austria to create a new work with them based on Buddha.

Ashley has choreographed extensively for stage and cinema, with over 30 feature films and as many stage productions to his credit. His choreographic style has a strong influence of cinematic techniques combined with clear narrative. In film and stage, he is known for producing work with a uniquely strong sense of connection, which he has developed through his Prana Paint™ technique.

Ashley has also been a judge on India's Dancing Superstar, a competitive dance reality programme on Star Plus, a premium Indian TV channel.

Robert Rubama (They/He) is a Brooklyn-based dancer & choreographer. They graduated from George Mason University with a BFA in Dance and is currently pursuing a BA in Social Media Management from Point Park University. He has been able to work with dance companies such as Agora Dance, Haus of Bambi, Groundworks Dance Theater, PrioreDance, and Carolyn Dorfman Dance. Along with these companies, Robert has had the opportunity to perform works by Yin Yue, Andrea Miller, Dianne McIntyre, Ivan Perez, Mark Morris, Soon Ho Park, and Nick Pupillo.

They are the Founder & Artistic Director of Terre Dance Collective. This creative outlet has provided them the opportunity to present choreography in Ohio, New York, Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C, and virtually. Robert is also a collaborator with his partner Jonathan Colafrancesco in their project Kroma. They are also a collaborator with LaneCo Arts.

As a mover/maker, I explore softness to connect with yourself & those around you, a way to heal and navigate trauma, and as a medium to express oneself. This exploration has manifested itself via a series of movement improvisation classes, my solo improvisation practices, and I use it as a basis for all of my choreographic work. Softness is the quality of being easy to mold. It is the ability to remain open and malleable. Softness is a way to adapt, adjust, flow, and breath through any situation, whether beneficial or adverse.

Rayven is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She began her dance training at the University North Carolina School of the Arts preparatory program. She was later accepted into their higher education program where she studied dance and received her high school diploma.

Rayven has performed choreographic works by Juel D. Lane, Jose Limon, Tommie Waheed-Evans, Royce Zackery, T.Lang and Jamal Story. She has trained at the American Dance Festival, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and received a scholarship to attend Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s summer intensive.

She has choreographed works selected to be performed in the Howard University Spring Dance Concert. Rayven is a graduate of Howard University where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Currently, she is a company member with B.Moore Dance company.