Adanna Eziri is a writer, filmmaker, and prop/set designer based in Chicago.

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Ali Lorenz 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.

 

Ashley Deran (Producer) 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.

 

Dani Oblitas 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.

 

Domenico Pontoriero is an accomplished composer and pianist with many of his works released under the moniker "Boy in the Rain." Becoming is his first film project.

 

Residing in Atlanta, GA, Elizabeth Sears teaches GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® at Grant Street Studio, the studio she founded in 2021. Sears has danced with contemporary dance companies in Atlanta over the past several decades. Her academic background, training in the GYROTONIC® method, being a mother of two children and a cancer survivor have all shaped her concept of dance and how she uses it to speak to the world. Forthrightness, empathy and strong energy permeate her work. Sears has a BA in Philosophy from Emory University.

 

Emily Loar (Producer) is a Chicago-based dance artist and writer. A BFA graduate of Columbia College Chicago, Loar is the current Co-Artistic Director of Project Bound Dance, a collaborative performance project between her and long-time collaborator Ashley Deran. Beyond teaching, dancing, and performing, Loar is an organizer and producer of #The1HourProject, a collaborative endeavor that invites dance and video artists to create a 60-second dance film in unique Chicago spaces, and Short Stack: Chicago’s Tiny Dance Film Festival.

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Hanna DiLorenzo is a multidisciplinary freelance dance artist originally from Rochester, NY. She began her formal training at The Draper Center for Dance Education, formerly the school of the Rochester City Ballet. Later, she attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she earned her BFA in Contemporary Dance, and completed her academics early before moving to Chicago to join the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Professional Training Program (HS Pro). There, she completed her degree while performing alongside the main company, and was honored with the 2019 HS Pro Emerging Choreographer Award. Now based in Chicago, Hanna moves fluidly between roles as a performer, choreographer, rehearsal director, and collaborator. She is a company member with Boykin Dance Project, a founding member of Little Fire Artist Collective, and dancer, choreographer, and rehearsal director for Niko8 Performance. Her freelance work has led her to perform pieces by artists including Braeden Barnes, Abdiel Figueroa Reyes, FLOCKWORKS, Alicia Johnson, Brian Martinez, Jessi Stegall, and Justin Rapaport, and she was also a cover for Robyn Mineko Williams’ Echo Mine. Hanna’s choreographic voice is grounded in a desire to challenge convention—crafting work that moves with cinematic clarity while using staging and lighting as expressive tools. Her choreography has been presented by Chicago Live, Highland Park High School, HS Pro, Little Fire Artist Collective, Niko8, and See Chicago Dance. Most recently, she was selected as one of six choreographers for New Dances 2025, a collaboration between DanceWorks Chicago and Thodos Dance Chicago, where she premiered her newest work Behind Closed Doors. Rooted in community and collaboration, and driven by an ever-evolving curiosity for how movement can shape experience, Hanna continues to expand her artistic practice through performance, education, and creative leadership.

 

Helen Lee 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.

 

Jamila Kinney is ever evolving in this space time continuum. As a movement creator and somatic movement practitioner, Jamila creates performances rooted in spirit, exploring the inner landscapes of self, others and nature.

 

Jorie Goins is a dancer based out of Chicago, Ill. Jorie earned a bachelor's degree in journalism with a minor in dance from Northwestern University in 2016. While at Northwestern, Jorie was a member of Tonik Tap, Northwestern's premiere tap dance company where she choreographed five original pieces. Jorie has danced with Noumenon Dance Ensemble, Praize Productions' Rize Pro-Elite company, and as a guest performer with Chicago Tap Theatre. She has performed works choreographed by Brenda Bufalino, Rich Ashworth, Mark Yonally, Nicole Clarke Springer and April Torneby. In 2023, Jorie graduated with her Master of Science in Leadership for Creative Enterprises from Northwestern University. As a communications director, dance performer, teacher and choreographer, Jorie continues to use her dual passions for writing and dance to help shape and craft the narratives she wishes to see in the world.

 

Jumana Radi is a screenwriter and director whose works center on visually-poetic, emotionally-resonant narratives about womanhood, identity, and personal transformation. She wrote 'The Keyboard', an experimental short film that explores grief and self-worth through symbolic imagery, and co-wrote the experimental short 'Halal Dreams'. Both New York-based films have garnered international recognition for their evocative storytelling and visual boldness. Radi is the director of 'Birth', a poetic dance micro-short shot in New York, that celebrates the various dimensions of womanhood and birthing. She's currently in post production for her second experimental short film, 'Age Is Just a Number', a dance-driven poetic film exploring women's relationship with time and age. Based in Dubai, Radi serves as Executive Producer at the global production house electriclimeº, where she leads the Middle East team that produces highend, cinematic branded content and commercials. She holds a master’s degree from Sorbonne University and earned her undergraduate degree from the American University of Sharjah, where she began developing her voice, deeply invested in women-focused poetry and stories.

 

Kait Dessofy 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.

 

Kaitlyn Katzung (she/her/they/them) is a dancer, actor, photographer, and videographer. Passionate about the performing arts and media, she strives to make the arts more accessible by presenting them digitally so they can be seen by wider audiences. Kaitlyn is so grateful for being given the opportunity to work with amazing artists to bring this video to life, and to see the other films by very talented creators in a unique festival. They would like to thank their 1 Hour Project collaborators, friends, family, and mentors for their support.

 

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. Since moving to Chicago, Kathryn has had the distinct pleasure of working with Esoteric Dance Project, assisting with their creative process during their residency at the Chicago Cultural Center, as well as performing in two world premieres for EPD’s winter concert Shift/Ed. As a member of Salty Lark Dance, Kathryn had the opportunity to dig deep into her background in modern dance, marrying Laban movement analysis with somatic integration. Performing in and around the Chicago area, she found this experience to be extremely fulfilling and is very happy to be able to bring her background to her work with Project Bound Dance.

 

kt williams is a contemporary dance artist, choreographer, dance filmmaker, and Safety Release Master Teacher based in Chicago, IL. kt has had the pleasure of creating dance films for Project Bound’s The One Hour Project and for Evanston Dance Ensemble, along with her own independent projects, which have been presented in festivals across the U.S. and internationally. In addition to dance film, kt choreographs collaborative, independent dance projects under the name, “kt williams + artists” where she explores definitions of virtuosity and how physically rigorous movement, improvisation, and conceptual experimentation can dynamically coexist. Her independent projects exist as both live and digital works, equally engaging with themes of healing, transformation, and human connection. She is also the co-founder and co-artistic director of the collaborative duo, “DanSeries Collective,” where she co-creates site-specific dance works that intersect with immersive platforms, making dance visible in unexpected and public, non-traditional spaces. kt has performed in dance projects by Renay Aumiller, Stefany Cotton, Michael Estanich, Sara Hook, Megan Rhodes, Lucy Riner, and B.J. Sullivan, and currently, she performs with RE|Dance Group in Chicago, IL. kt earned a BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she received the Donald Carducci Memorial Scholarship Award for overall excellence in dance performance. She earned an MFA Dance (Choreography) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she studied Safety Release (SR) technique intensively and worked closely alongside B.J. Sullivan, the founder of SR. Currently, kt is on faculty in the Dance Program at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL.

 

Laura Sáenz is an interdisciplinary teaching artist, cultural researcher, and facilitator from Mexico City, Mexico with a BFA in Visual Communications and Dance/Choreography.  She lives and works in Chicago developing arts-integrated learning experiences for youth in Chicago Public Schools with CAPE (Chicago Arts Partnership in Education), designs Latin American community research for her independent company Bilingual Bolero, co-creates movement for film and performance, and is a bilingual story facilitator for StoryCorps - a national oral history organization. She lived for a decade in Istanbul, Turkey where she gave birth to her two sons, taught yoga at a public university and received a grant to research motherhood, femme art spaces and post-partum health. In 2024, she was chosen as a Community Storyteller by Full Spectrum Features to tell the story about the impact of arts-integration on her students in Little Village through a short film incorporating movement and animation. Laura hopes to expand this into a longer film in the future to speak to the importance of the arts in education for all children and especially its power to heal and provide a sense of belonging for new immigrant and refugee communities.

 

Lauren Reed graduated from Butler University with a BFA in Dance Performance. Upon moving to Chicago, Lauren trained in Lou Conte’s scholarship program and participated in summer programs including Springboard Danse Montréal, Luna Negra Dance Theater, and SpringboardX. Lauren has danced professionally with Project606 Dance, Aerial Dance Chicago, Ensemble180, and is currently dancing with Still Inspired and Ishti Collective. Performance credits include Jessica Miller Tomlinson Choreography, Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, Jin Wen Yu, and Todd Rhoades. She has choreographed for Momenta Dance Company, Project606 Dance, Aerial Dance Chicago, Knox College, and independent pursuits. Lauren has taught various styles in dance studios, schools, and after school programs for over 10 years. She is an enthusiastic educator who values imagination, presence, and play; she believes that dance is a thrilling way for children and adults alike to become more fully human. Lauren has a passion for exploring social dance communities and is an avid Lindy Hopper. Lauren is a professional grant writer and arts administrator, and has been running a youth development program called Teen Leaders Club since 2013.

 

Lena Gao is a dance artist based in Chicago. With inspirations from underground club culture, movies, and drag performances, Gao’s artistic practice focuses on street and club dance, primarily waacking. She was trained by princess lockeroo and was involved in the New York waacking group 'punk something'. From Lena: “I believe dance is a transformation and expression of our soul. Over many years of dancing, I have felt my inner self get a chance to break through and be seen by the world.”

 

Mandy Milligan graduated from University of Cincinnati Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Ballet performance. She received additional training at the Graham School for Contemporary Dance, Beijing Dance Academy, Dance Works Chicago, Interlochen Center for the Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and Perry-Mansfield. She has worked with companies from all over the midwest such as Mamluft & Co., Dance Kaleidoscope, Winifred Haun & Dancers, Simantikos Dance, Cocodaco Dance Company and Kanopy Dance Company. Mandy is currently Rehearsal director and dance artist with Darvin Dances. She is also the founder/director of Mandy MIlligan Movement Project. Since moving to Chicago in 2017 her choreographic work has been shown at the Links Hall, Pleasant Home, Dance Chance, Going Dutch Festival, First Draft, The Garage at Dovetail Studios and RADfest.

 

Maya Paletta (she/her) is a multi-hyphenate performing artist originally from the Pacific Northwest. Choreography credits include an apprenticeship with RIPPLEFFECT Intensive debuting her piece 16+8, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble’s Body Passages Showcase featuring her piece An Old Man’s Requiem, and Danceworks Milwaukee's Get It Out There! Showcase debuting her piece Tic Tic Tic. Paletta has had the honor to dance and choreograph for a myriad of companies across the Midwest including Symbiosis Arts, Water Street Dance MKE, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre. Chicago theatre credits include Queers and Fears (Yas, And! Comedy), Refracted Light (Eclectic Full Contact Theatre), The Distrikt of Lake Michigun (Stage Left Theatre), The Mannequin's Ball (Trap Door Theatre), and Dames at Sea (Citadel Theatre).  Thanks to her mentors, family, friends, and all who support the arts! www.Mayapaletta.com

 

Noelle Kayser is an award-winning choreographer, director, and multi-disciplinary performer based in Chicago. She is the inaugural resident choreographer for Open Space, a Whim W’him Choreographic Shindig Recipient, and a BalletX Choreographic Fellow. Noelle has created work for companies including Dance Aspen, DanceWorks Chicago, MADCO, Visceral Dance Chicago, and SALT II among many others. She served as a guest Ballet Mistress at the Lyric Opera, was the founding rehearsal director and administrator for PARA.MAR Dance Theatre, named a 2022 Dance Magazine Top 25 to Watch, and named one of NewCity Magazines, “The 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago” In addition to her choreographic work, Noelle has performed works by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, Ihsan Rustem, Wen Wei Wang, Danielle Agami, Robyn Mineko Williams, Kevin O’Day, and Alice Klock, among many others. She has had the privilege of dancing with companies such as NW Dance Project, LED Boise, Open Space Dance, and Visceral Dance Chicago among others. She has taught for organizations such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Goodman Theatre, and Visceral Dance Chicago. Noelle has narrated 16 audiobooks for Audible, appeared in advertising campaigns, and acted in stage productions at The Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and The Alliance Theatre among others. Most recently, she won the 2024 Jeff Award for Best Ensemble for her performance as Selene in The Penelopiad at The Goodman Theatre, and starred in Anna Long’s short film Death in the Desert, which won Best Short Drama at the Breckenridge Film Festival.

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Paula Gelly was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil. With a larger than life love for dance, Paula Gelly is also a self-taught musician, guitarist, and vocalist. At 18 she was accepted as an Alvin Ailey Dance scholarship student, and performed professionally on Broadway (Fosse, Sweet Charity). Through Ford Models, Gelly has appeared in a number of commercials and photo editorials, and has worked on over 27 plays and films.

Her 2016 self-produced, directed, and featured performance debut film "The Story Of The Little Girl Who Loved Butterflies" has been awarded Best Film in 5 countries and selected to 18 festivals. Paula Gelly continues to write, and is working on multiple books, a feature film script, a documentary, and a musical.

Her experimental short film Porcelain is an effort to unite the talents of phenomenal Brazilian artists who she has always admired.

 

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.

 

Phill Wood, also known as Phree, is a visual and movement artist born and raised in Indianapolis Indiana, currently residing in Chicago Illinois. Works as the rehearsal director and educational outreach coordinator for Chicago Dance Crash. He has also worked with The Lyric Opera, Marriott Theatre, and many other local artist organizations and professionals. Current is an Individual Artist Program 2025 and Creative Accelerator Fund recipient. He was also awarded with the Chicago Dancemakers Forum 2024 Lab Artist Program, a Ragdale Foundation sabbatical residency, and an IAP grant in 2023. Phill’s dance work is primarily shown using the dance styles of Breaking, Hip Hop, House dance, Modern, and Contemporary. This work is showcased through live performances, competitions, choreography, and digital media. In addition to dance work, Phill also directs films, teaches dance,  and edits videos. He produces art that is multifaceted and presents it as a means of self expression but also to inspire social change within his audience.

 

Prateek Reddy Gunnam is a creative currently located in Chicago, IL.

 

Born in Batam, Rendro Aryo is an award-winning Indonesian Film Director and founder of independent production company Cahaya Films.
In 2019, Rendro founded independent production company Cahaya Films. Rendro continues to actively make short films, documentaries and commercial advertisements. Rendro is currently preparing his first feature film.

 

Saba Khatami is a London-based dance artist and film director born and raised in Iran. Her work blends choreography and visual storytelling to explore themes of identity, memory, and connection to place. Based on her lived experience of growing up in a country where dance is banned, her films often reflect on the complexities of self-expression and cultural displacement. Saba holds a BA in Theatre and an MA in Dance from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. Her films draw from personal and collective histories, often engaging with urban landscapes and embodied narratives.

 

Sarah Morimoto 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 working with Project Bound Dance for another season.

 

Stephanie Rankin is a dancer, choreographer, administrator, and educator. She holds a Bachelors of Arts from Hope College (MI) in Dance Performance /Choreography and Communication and a Masters in Arts Administration from Drexel University (PA). Stephanie has taught, choreographed, and produced shows throughout Chicago and the US.  Currently she is the Major Gift’s Program Coordinator for Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a member of the RADFest Steering Committee and Film Dance adjudicator, Board Member for Currents Dance Company, a collaborator and choreographer for Strike Time Dance Company at Hope College, iDANCE’s Repertory Director, a dancer for Kim Baker Choreography, recent rehearsal director and dancer for The Rooted Space Dance Company, and is slowly developing a dance film series around the concept of home.  She lives in Chicago (right by the lake), enjoys upcycling furniture, visiting thrift stores, collecting 70s folk rock vinyl, traveling, and muffins.

Stacy DeMorrow earned her bachelor’s degree in dance from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.  During her studies there she performed works by Billy Siegenfeld, Susan Marshall, Mary Anthony, and spent a month teaching dance in Thailand as part of the Thailand Project, a mission to use higher education as humanitarian aid. Living in Chicago the last ten years Stacy has performed for Perceptual Motion Dance Company, We Stand Sideways Dance, Mordine and Company Dance Theater, Montom Arts by Monica Thomas, Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre, and RE|dance Group.

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