GRACIELA PORTILLO (she/they) is from Denver, CO where she trained at Rocky Mountain Ballet Academy. She is a 2024 Juilliard graduate, where she performed works by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Shraiber, Hofesh Shechter, Ohad Naharin, Trisha Brown, Omar Roman De Jesus, and Jamar Roberts, among others. She has attended summer programs at b12, Orsolina28, Ballet Austin, and Houston Ballet Academy. Graciela often contributed to Student Choreographic Workshops and was selected to choreograph in Senior Production. She is also proud to have been Co-President and Treasurer for the Latin-American Students club in her last year at school.

JEEVIKA BHAT is a dancer and choreographer who explores the confluence of her cultures through a contemporary Indian medium. Her background is in Odissi, an East Indian classical dance form known for its nuanced storytelling and graceful fluidity, which she has been studying under the guidance of Guru Jyoti Rout for the past two decades. Academically, she is a graduate of UC San Diego, where she earned a BS in Mathematics with minors in Linguistics and Dance, and UC Irvine, where she earned an MFA in Dance. 

PRISCILLA has worked for a Dance BFA from NYU Tisch with a minor in Business of Entertainment, Media and Technology. Her choreographic work has been showcased at WestFest 2024, KnJ Theater, and Commons Exhibition. She has performed live at events such as the New York Fashion Week, Live Justice Awards, and Universal Studios CityWalk. Priscilla was featured on NBC’s World of Dance and has danced in Corazón Frio by Nezza. Her goal is to continue encapsulating the work of intertwining spiritual elation with intense technical demand through movement narratives. She’s interested in the dancer’s role as the physical historian and the power of endowment to convey the emotional spectrum of human life.

DUAL RIVET is a women-led dance company focused on creating and sharing highly physical contemporary dance to a wide audience. Based in NYC, Dual Rivet creates work for stage and film that exchanges a cinematic and visceral language to influence both platforms. Directors Jessica Smith and Chelsea Ainsworth have been making and presenting work since 2017. They have performed and set work at Festival PRISMA (Panama), Centro Cultural Los Talleres (Mexico), Barnard College/Columbia University, Sam Houston State University, Oklahoma International Dance Festival, Austin Dance Festival, Joe's Pub, West End Theatre, Kittery Maine, Musikfest Pennsylvania, Gibney Dance, Peridance Capezio Center, CreateArt, Arts On Site and many more. The company teaches a myriad of classes, throughout the United States and internationally, with an emphasis on contemporary partnering and floorwork. Dual Rivet is currently on faculty at The Juilliard School, Gibney, Peridance, SUNY Purchase, Marymount Manhattan College, and Adelphi University. The company hosts an annual choreography festival, MADE BY WOMEN, highlighting women choreographers and filmmakers from around the globe. For more info: www.dualrivetdance.com @dualrivet

JESSICA SMITH (she/they) is a New York City based dancer from New Orleans, Louisiana. She studied at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, London Contemporary Dance School, and received her BFA in dance from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. She has performed with companies such as Punchdrunk's Sleep No More NYC, Vim Vigor Dance Company, ZviDance and Kizuna Dance. She continues to teach and set work at schools, festivals, and training programs throughout the U.S. and internationally. Jessica was one of eight choreographers chosen for The Jacob's Pillow Ann and Weston Hicks Choreographic Fellowship in 2022. She was the Associate Director of Arts On Site NYC, a non-profit arts organization, for 4 years. Jessica is the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Dual Rivet, a highly physical contemporary dance company based in NYC. Jessica is currently on Faculty at The Juilliard School, Purchase College, Gibney and Marymount Manhattan College.

CHELSEA AINSWORTH is a graduate of the Dance Department of The Juilliard School.  After graduating she worked with Johannes Wieland/StaatstheaterKassel in Germany, Lorena Egan, Flexicure, Amber Sloan, Bryn Cohn + Artists and was on the modern/ballet dance faculty at Cap21 musical theater school and Chen DanceCenter. Currently she is dancing with The Bang Group, as well as ZviDance. She’s also the co-founder and Executive Director of Arts On Site, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting artists of all disciplines by offering affordable studio space and hosting monthly events to encourage community collaboration.  She also built and curates residencies at a retreat and residency center in the Shawangunk mountains in upstate New York. In 2020 she joined the Dance Advisory Board of Marymount Manhattan College.