Guest Collaborators
 

​KAYLA FARRISH (Choreographer, She/Her),  is a Black American Director merging dance-theater, filmmaking, narrative, and sound score. She captures ranging identity, the mythical dualities of history and present survival, and powerful dreaming lending to liberation.  She is currently a NEFA National Dance Project Grantee for her project “Put Away the Fire, dear” currently on tour and the recipient of the Ellis Beauregard Contemporary Dance Award. She has been commissioned by Limon Dance Company, ODC Theater, Louis Armstrong House Museum, Blacklight Summit, Harlem Satage and beyond.  She creates live works, films, site-specific/immersive, and collaborations with musicians and other artists. Presenting spaces include Lincoln Center, Park Avenue Armory, Symphony Space, and National Sawdust, among receiving support from Watermill Center for the Arts, Armstrong Now, Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, Baryshnikov Arts Center, La Mama Theater, and others. She is excited to create more, and continue to be a part of radical movements of freedom and humanity.

ALEX MACKINNON (Composer, He/Him), is a drummer/composer from Piermont, NY now based in Brooklyn.  He has performed at Carnegie Hall, National Sawdust, Webster Hall, The 92nd St Y.  He has worked consistently as a dance accompanist for over 15 years playing classes of all styles. He has composed music for choreographers including Kayla Farrish, Giada Matteini, Betsy Coker, Selina Chau, and more.  As a drummer he has worked groups such as Layerhythm, That Shuffle, Clay Haynes, The Fine Machines, and Randy Johnston.  You can find his original music at  Alexmakesmusic.bandcamp.com and thewhistleblowers.bandcamp.com as well as on all streaming services.

MICHAEL SCALES (Pianist, He/Him), is a musician for dance in New York City, where he serves as pianist at New York City Ballet, the School of American Ballet, and formerly at American Ballet Theatre and New York Theatre Ballet. Michael is pianist for Vail Dance Festival, and has collaborated with Martha Graham Dance Company and Limón Dance Company. Michael has performed at numerous venues around New York City including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, NY City Center, the 92nd Street Y, Rockefeller Center, and in halls across the country and internationally. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with Dr. Maria Asteriadou, and a Masters of Music degree from James Madison University, where he studied with Dr. Lori Piitz. 

DOUGLAS PERKINS (Drummer, He/Him), is a GRAMMY nominated percussionist, producer, and conductor who has performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the heart of the Alaskan Tundra. He founded the percussion quartet So Percussion and the Meehan/ Perkins Duo. Perkins is the Director of Percussion at the University of Michigan.