TULI BERAT (She/they) is a Bengali-American movement artist, educator, choreographer and producer. They stay curious and are always open to collaborate with artists of any kind!

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ABBY DARROW is a dance artist, choreographer, and painter hailing from Chicago, IL. Abby completed both her undergraduate and graduate studies at Loyola University Chicago, earning a Bachelor of Art in Dance, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing, a Master of Business Administration, and a Master of Science in Marketing. 

Abby's most recent collaboration includes the premiering of her choreographic work "(First) of the Month" with MOMENTA Dance Company in 2024. This work is preceded by her collaborations with Common Conservatory in 2022, LOUDBODIES in 2021, and extensive work with Loyola Dance Theater and the Loyola Department of Fine and Performing Arts from 2018 to 2020. Abby has also performed in the American College Dance Association’s Gala Concert and the Going Dutch Festival. 

 

ASHLEY DERAN (she/her) is a Chicago-based dancemaker, teaching artist, and photographer who received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from Western Michigan University. In 2013, she founded Project Bound Dance and her work with co-director Emily Loar was selected as one of the "Top 10 Performances of 2019" by SeeChicagoDance. Most recently Ashley’s choreography has been presented by Momenta, CPR Inhale Movement, COMMON conservatory, Chicago’s Dance in the Parks, Harvest Contemporary Dance Festival and Death’s Door Dance Festival in Door County. She is also a producer and collaborator with #The1HourProject - a collaborative endeavor that gives Chicago artists 60 minutes to create a 60 second dance film in unique spaces and places. Ashley is currently on staff at Rise Dance Center. She is endlessly thankful to family, friends, and the dance community that have continued to support Bound over the past decade.

 

KAIT DESSOFFY wears many hats in the dance community including dancer, choreographer, administrator, and teacher. They grew up dancing recreationally in Cleveland, Ohio, studied theater at Loyola University, and somehow managed to (literally) wiggle their way into a bunch of cool dance projects over the last 8 years. Most recently Kait has danced with Thwack Dance, Synapse Arts, Valerie Alpert (VADCO), LOUD Bodies, and Meadows Dance Collective. Kait is super grateful for the expansive variety of projects they've gotten to work on over the years, and is excited to add the One Hour Project to that list! When Kait isn't dancing they enjoy riding their bike, listening to podcasts, and bringing up feudalism unnecessarily in casual conversation.

 

TINA DIAZ, originally from New York, graduated with a BFA in Dance and a Minor in Psychology from SUNY Purchase. Upon graduation, she was awarded Purchase Colleges’ Outstanding Senior Award for her excellence in academics and artistry within the dance conservatory. Tina has performed in works by choreographers such as Merce Cuningham, Jose Limon, Andrea Miller, Hannah Garner, Nicole Wolcott, and Chih Jou Cheng and has worked with companies such as A-Y/dancers, RAWdance, MEAGmove, Common Canvas, The Rooted Space Company, Moonwater Dance Project, Nexus Performing Arts, and Purus Motus. She is a current a company member with Chicago Dance Crash. Her choreography has been shown at New York Live Arts, Arts on Site (NYC) and Downtown Art (NYC). More recently, she was commissioned to create new works for New Dances, Dance in the Parks, Evanston Dance Ensemble, The Seldoms, and Little Fire Artist Collective. 

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REIGN DROP is a trans dancer, choreographer, and Co-Founder of We Are Collective. Over the last eight years, they have grown roots in the Chicago dance community focusing on creating sustainable and accessible dance spaces for all ages. They research contemporary movements that demonstrate autonomy, liberation, and connection. In the community, they have led an Improvisers’ Jam for Chicago Dancemakers Forum, performed for Alix Shilaci and Erin Killmurray, presented work at j e l l o dances, created work for Synapse Arts New Works, have choreographed for New Dances, and the iconic Chicago drag queen Shea Coulee’s "Rewind" music video. Their newest role includes being Dance Captain for Queer Dance Freakout, the largest trans dance organization in Chicago which aids them in their mission to be heard—to share their story—to honor the stories of all magical trans people. 

 

KATHRYN HETRICK is a Chicago based performing artist. Graduating from the dance program at Western Michigan University, she had the opportunity to perform work by noted artists Alonzo King, Lori Eisenhower, John Lehrer, Michael Foely, and Ginger Thatcher. In her nine years living in Chicago, Kathryn has had the distinct pleasure of working with many artists in the area. Past collaborators include Esoteric Dance Project and Salty Lark Dance. Aside from her continued partnership with Project Bound Dance, Kathryn can also be seen performing the Same Planet Performance Project.

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ANNIELA HUIDOBRO CASTRO is a Mexican dancer, choreographer and dance educator. Graduated from the Mazatlan Professional Dance School (EPDM). She received the PECDA Morelos Grant in 2015 and 2018 (Mexico) and IBERESCENA Grant in 2021. She has 10 years of experience and has performed and taught workshops in different countries such as Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, United States and different states of Mexico. She currently resides in Chicago, teaching dance classes in different schools and Cultural Centers in the Chicago area. She has taught workshops to the dance community at the University of Chicago, performed at the Delve Dance Showcase (Chicago) and at the Newport Dance Festival in Newport, RI (2023-24). She is a dance artist interested in creating environmental awareness.

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PEYTON JONES is a dance artist and teacher in Chicago. She holds a BFA in dance from Cornish College of the Arts. She is currently in the CPS teacher residency program to earn her Masters in Elementary Education with a dance connection at Loyola University. She has had her choreographic and dance film work presented in Seattle and Chicago and has danced with Darvin Dances and Fever Dream Dance Collective. You can see some works in progress of her project Dream Escape at Delve Dance Chicago (6/23/24) and Tin Can at Bim Bom (7/19/24). Peyton strives to put humanity and empathy at the forefront of her teaching, performance, and choreography. 

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EMILY LOAR (she/they) is a dance artist and improviser living in Chicago, IL. A BFA graduate from Columbia College Chicago, Loar has presented original and commissioned dance work across the midwest and has performed with dancemakers and choreographers including Peter Carpenter, Lydia Feuerhelm, Kasey Foster, Erin Kilmurray, Jonathan Meyer and Julia Rae Antonick of the dance company Khecari, and Kinnari Vora (Ishti Collective). Loar is among the first cohort of teachers certified as an Essential Level Teacher of Spiral Body Techniques™, the dance and movement framework developed by choreographer Molly Shanahan. Emily Loar is a founding member of Project Bound Dance and current Co-Artistic Director alongside collaborator Ashley Deran.

Helen Lee (they/she) is a Queer Korean American artist born and raised in Chicago by South Korean immigrants. They received their BA in Dance at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and their MFA in Performance at SAIC. They are the Artistic Director of Momentum Sensorium, formed in 2007. They are currently looking at the entanglement of grief and joy. They love nature and study plant medicine.

 

ALI LORENZ (they/she) is a cross-disciplinary artist working and living in the land of the Council of Three Fires; stolen land known today as Chicago. Ali holds a BFA from the University of Utah in Modern Dance where they had the pleasure of performing original works by Anouk Van Dijk and Stephen Koester. She has presented work through Queer Spectra Arts Festival, Deseret Experimental Opera, and Short Stack Film Festival. While in Chicago, Ali has performed with Amanda Maraist, Khecari, Common CANVAS, and has joined two Embodied Research Projects supported by Lucky Plush Productions. Alongside art-making, Ali works with local queer businesses, tries to keep 40+ houseplants alive, and cuddles her pets. This is Ali's second season with Project Bound Dance.

 

CHRISSY MARTIN is a transdisciplinary performance artist and movement educator with roots in contemporary dance forms, contact improvisation, Afro-Caribbean dance, postmodern experimental music, vocal jazz, and physical theater. Chrissy blends contemporary dance and language/voice to rigorously examine her intersecting queer and neurodivergent identities. Martin is an avid member of the global contact improvisation community and has facilitated and taught workshops across the Midwest. She has performed with Sarasota Contemporary Dance, Muscle Memory Dance Theatre, Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, Dead White Zombies, BodyCompass Dance Projects, and Ayako Kato/Art Union Humanscape, and has performed works by Jeanine Durning, Jenna Riegel, and Jawole Jo Willa Zollar. Somatic practices such as Pilates, GYROTONIC®Expansion System, Body Mind Centering® and Laban/Bartenieff Fundamentals inform Chrissy’s integrated movement style. She has taught dance and somatics at Cleveland State University, Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University, and is currently an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University. chrissymartinmakes.com

 

SARAH MORIMOTO (she/her) is a Chicago performer. She graduated from Northwestern University in 2016 with degrees in dance and chemistry. Throughout her training, Sarah has worked with and performed works by several Chicago artists including Jeff Hancock, Lizzie Leopold, Laura Wade, Maray Gutierrez, Robyn Mineko Williams, Joseph Caruana, and Riccardo Battaglia. Professionally, Sarah has had the opportunity to work with Joel Hall and Hanna Brictson and Dancers. In addition to performing, Sarah has also choreographed and performed works at The iO Theater. She also has set works on several youth companies in the city and suburbs. Sarah is excited to be returning for another season.

 

DANI OBLITAS (she/they) is a dance artist and educator currently based in Chicago, IL. Dani is passionate about the intersections between movement, sovereignty, environment, and justice, as well as making movement accessible to all. Since graduating from St. Olaf College, Dani has worked with Liz Sexe Dance, KLJ Movement, We Are Collective, 773 Dance Project, Sildance/Acrodanza, Helen Lee, and Albany Park Theater Project. She is currently a Teaching Artist for NorthShore EliteTalent, IdeaBox Integrated Arts, ArtsXChange, and teaches adults at Groove Chicago.

 

ALY HEINTZ RADDATZ (she/her) is a versatile dancer from the Chicagoland area. A graduate of the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, she received her BA in Dance Teaching & Choreography, as well as a minor in Arts Management. After a break from the studio and stage, she returned with a renewed sense of self and artistic curiosity in 2023. Since then, she has participated in 1 Hour Project as a video artist, joined Outlet Dance Company, ran away with the Triton Toupers Circus (adding aerial arts to her skill lineup), and is premiering work for the first time at Elgin Fringe Fest this fall. Finding her new creative voice as a more mature artist has challenged her to redefine what it means to be a “professional artist,” and all of her creative endeavors explore this topic. When she’s not dancing, you can find her building businesses, playing guitar, training her Australian Shepherds, or building Legos with her husband, Patrick. 

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LUCY VURUSIC RINER (she/her) is a Chicago native that has been dancing, creating and teaching in this beautiful city for 30 years. Lucy started RE|Dance Group, with her artistic partner Michael Estanich, in 2009. Lucy received her BS Degree in Dance Education and Performance from Illinois State University in 1996. In 2005, Lucy completed her Masters Degree in Education from National Louis University and also received the Midwest Dance Teacher of the Year award from the American Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Lucy has been a member of Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak, RTG Dance Company and Matthew Hollis’ “The Power of Cheer.” She has also been part of the community casts of White Oak Dance Project and David Dorfman Dance. Lucy was the Director of Dance at Oak Park and River Forest High School from 1998 to 2012. In 2012, Lucy joined the dance faculty at New Trier High School. Creative partners, Lucy Vurusic Riner and Michael Estanich, established RE|Dance Group in 2009 as a means to explore long distance collaborations and present dance theatre works that examine the many facets of human relationships. 

 

EMMACATE SAUER is a multi-disciplinary storyteller who plays in the worlds of dance, theater, and

speculative fiction. They are a recent graduate of Oberlin College (BA Dance, Creative Writing)

where they fell deeply in love with collaborative theater-making and speculative world building.

They find inspiration in the unseen and unsaid, seeking to expand and lay bare (or further

complicate) moments of fleeting (or long-lingering) discomfort between people and their

environments. Lately, as a direct result of these proclivities, they are simply bursting at the seams

with rat facts.

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HANNA SWARTZ is a Chicago-based movement artist who holds a BFA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago. After more than a decade of ballet and jazz training in their home state of Missouri, Hanna studied contemporary dance and choreography at the Boston Conservatory before moving to Chicago in 2018 to continue their education at the Dance Center of Columbia College. Hanna has danced professionally with Hedwig Dances, Thodos/DanceWorks Chicago (New Dances), Khecari, GenderFucked Productions, and is currently collaborating on projects wirh We/Are Collective and Synapse Arts. They have presented new choreographic works & taught classes in Chicago, and maintained a practice of movement improvisation with the goal of constant rebirth and curiosity. 

 

TIMOTHY TSANG is a queer Chinese-American dance educator, performer & choreographer. Born in Chicago, IL, Tsang began his dance journey in Shanghai, China, where he started taking classes in various street dance styles at a local studio. After a decade in Shanghai, he returned to the Chicagoland area to complete high school and obtained his BA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago. Notably, he has set choreography for Esoteric Dance Project, Mordine & Company Dance Theater, and Evanston Dance Ensemble, presenting his works at venues such as the Auditorium Theatre, Links Hall, Fulton Street Collective, Studio5, and the Edge Theater. Many of Tsang’s choreographic endeavors since have centered around inquiries into identity, contributing to a deeper connection with cultural narratives that shape his identity as a queer Chinese-American artist. Currently, Tsang is a graduate student at the University of Michigan, focusing his studies on exploring the intersections between cultures, identities, and dance, with the goal of further developing a multidisciplinary practice and refining his voice as a Queer Chinese-American artist.

KINNARI VORA shares stories of universal human conditions and emotions through movement, meditation, and theatrical practices. Her contemporary works are rooted in Bharatanatyam, various Indian folk dances, kalaripayattu martial arts and recently contemporary dance. Her works are guided by ancestral wisdom, collaborative communion, communal healing rituals and interconnectedness. Kinnari is co-founder and artistic co-chair of Ishti Collective, a dancer collaborator with Surabhi Ensemble. Her works have been presented at The Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Dance City Festival, Pivot Arts Festival, Ragdale Foundation, World Music Festival, Elevate Chicago among others; and has toured internationally to Mexico, Vietnam, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Israel and Poland. She is a 2022 Chicago Dancemakers Lab Artist and a 2022-23 resident artist at High Concept Labs.

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PHILL WOODS, also known as Phree, is an multidisciplinary visual and movement artist originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently based in Chicago, Illinois, he is entering his third year as a company member with Chicago Dance Crash. Phill has had the opportunity to collaborate with esteemed organizations such as The Lyric Opera, Lollapalooza, and Marriott Theater, as well as numerous local artist groups and professionals. Committed to visibility and community engagement, Phill received the 2024 Individual Lab Artist Grant from Chicago Dancemakers Forum. As a primarily self-trained artist, his expression is predominantly showcased through Breaking, Hip Hop, and House dance styles. Additionally, he has extensive training and performance experience in Modern, Tricking, and Contemporary dance. Phill is dedicated to sharing his passion for creativity and artistic freedom, aiming to inspire social change through his work.

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