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2023 Queensboro Dance Festival Participants

Get to know the dance companies on tour with us this summer! Click on a company photo to learn more.

Taplife Company

#Taplife Company

Home neighborhood: Howard Beach
Bio: Anthony Lo Cascio is well known for his role in Tap Dogs. He's opened for Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire. With many years on the convention ircuit, 20+ years as a competition judge and a lifetime in dance studios, he has much to share & offer.
Dance style: Tap Dance
Favorite Queens spot: Papazzio in Bayside!
Photo credit Raleigh Bowker

Ayazamana Dance Group

Ayazamana Dance Group

Home neighborhood: Long Island City
Bio: Jose Rivera was born in Quito, Ecuador and began to dance traditional dances from Ecuador at the age of 15 with the Virginia Rosero Dance Company, a well know dance group. In 1992, Mr. Rivera migrated to the United States and founded the Ayazamana Dance group.
Dance culture: Ecuadorian Folkloric
Favorite Queens spot: The parks!
Photo credit Mariela

Barbara Mahler's Dances

barbara mahler's dances

Home neighborhood: Jackson Heights
Bio: Barbara Mahler is a movement educator, a master teacher of Klein Technique, a choreographer, dancer, zero balancing. She has been teaching and active in the dance community for over 40 years, and has traveled extensively in all of the above capacities. She is currently on contract with Movement Research, NYC.
Dance style: Modern
Favorite Queens spot: The waterfront
Photo credit Julie Lemberger

CarNYval Dancers

CarNYval Dancers

Home neighborhood: Jamaica
Bio: Kiara Paige is a Professional Dancer, Dance Educator & Choreographer with over ten years of experience in performing professionally. Her passion lies in dances from the AfroCaribbean diaspora. She is the Founder/Artistic Director of her dance company, CarNYval Dancers as well as the Founder of her newest project, Kulture Kave.
Dance culture: Afro-Caribbean
Favorite Queens spot: Atlas Park
Photo credit S.Andino Photography

Chieh & Yoyo

Chieh & Yoyo

Home neighborhood: Elmhurst
Bio: Chieh Hsiung, winner of the Breaking Glass Project: The Emerging Choreographer “Under the Dining Table" at Alvin Ailey Theater; Concert TV series Movement instructor in Taiwan. Chieh’s work demonstrates a variety of robust skills and training, though her priority is collaborating with visual artists and musicians from all backgrounds to create more compelling and immersive experiences.
Dance style: Contemporary
Favorite Queens activity: Jogging from Elmhurst to LIC, and grabbing a beer at a local brewery
Photo credit June Padila

Cole Collective

Cole Collective

Home neighborhood: Astoria
Bio: Nicole Ohr is a professional tap dancer based in Astoria, Queens. She was tap dance captain of Undertoe Dance Project and was a member of Germaine Salsberg’s Les Femmes. Currently, Nicole is artistic director of Cole Collective, a tap dance company founded in 2014, and the producer of Dance Astoria.
Dance style: Tap Dance
Favorite Queens activity: Jamming at The Ditty in Astoria on Wednesday nights!
Photo credit Josef Pinlac

Cucala Dance Company

Cucala Dance Company

Home neighborhood: Jamaica
Bio: Cucala Dance Company was formulated by four awesome people from a variety of backgrounds: Andre Irving (Jamaica), Kalliopi Siamidou (Greece), Gabriela Nunez(Puerto Rico), Paul Gonzalez (Ecuador/PuertoRico). Dance is unity, it brought us all together & we want to share that unity with you.
Dance style: NY Style Salsa/Salsa On2
Favorite Queens activity: Our monthly events at Cucala Dance Studio in LIC!
Photo credit Vanessa Garcia

Dahyun Kim

Dahyun Kim

Home neighborhood: Long Island City
Bio: Dahyun Kim is a choreographer from Seoul, South Korea. She has received her BA in Dance and Kinesiology at Penn State University, and MFA in Dance & MA in Dance Education at NYU. She is a creative mind that is dedicated to movement and cultural research.
Dance Style: Contemporary fusion
Favorite Queens spot: Gantry Plaza State Park for a picnic!
Photo credit Yasmeen Enahora

Drye Marinaro Dance Company

Drye/Marinaro Dance Company

Home neighborhood: Forest Hills
Bio: Drye|Marinaro Dance Company was established under the direction of Jamie Drye and Francesca Marinaro. DMDC has presented at Fresh Series, Jennifer Muller’s Hatched, Winthrop University, and Philadelphia Fringe Festival. They have self-produced shows at NYC venues, including Dixon Place, Playroom Theatre, Club Nublu, Caveat NYC, Abrons Arts Center and NYLA.
Dance style: Contemporary Fusion
Favorite Queens spot: Fresco Cantina in Astoria
Photo credit Cathryn Lynn

Flamenco latino

Flamenco Latino

Home neighborhood: Jackson Heights
Bio: Aurora Reyes is a respected flamenco dancer, choreographer, and teacher in the Flamenco communities of Spain and New York. She is of Spanish descent, which inspired her inquiry into flamenco. Aurora’s collaboration with composer Basilio Georges produced Flamenco Latino, a NY-based Flamenco dance company, fusing Flamenco and Afro-Caribbean traditions.
Dance culture: Flamenco
Favorite Queens activity: Walking to Farmer’s Market on 78th Street in Jackson Heights on Sundays
Photo credit Eric Bandiero

Gotham Dance Theater

Gotham Dance Theater

Home neighborhood: Woodside
Bio: Marc Nuñez is Filipinx-American founder/director of Gotham Dance Theater (GDT). GDT Grants/Awards: NYFA Queens Arts Fund (2023), Queens Council on the Arts Grantee (2021-22), Queensboro Dance Festival (2015-2022), City Artist Corps Grantee (2021), Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (2022 Official Selection), Boundless in Brooklyn 48-Hour Film Contest Winner (2017).
Dance style: Street Jazz, contempoaray, hip-hop
Favorite Queens spot: Queens Night Market
Photo credit Mike Esperanza

Jiva Dance

Jiva Dance

Home neighborhood: Long Island City
Bio: Sonali Skandan's work has been described as a "compelling" and a "riveting" visual of the “sculptural and rhythmic aspects of Indian dance." She has toured internationally as a soloist and with her ensemble, Jiva Dance, an award-winning company that creates work that shifts between a classical and modern space.
Dance culture: Bharatanatyam
Favorite Queens spot: MoMa PS1
Photo credit Jessica Perez

Taplife Company

#Taplife Company

Home neighborhood: Howard Beach
Bio: Anthony Lo Cascio is well known for his role in Tap Dogs. He's opened for Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire. With many years on the convention ircuit, 20+ years as a competition judge and a lifetime in dance studios, he has much to share & offer.
Dance style: Tap Dance
Favorite Queens spot: Papazzio in Bayside!
Photo credit Raleigh Bowker

Ayazamana Dance Group

Ayazamana Dance Group

Home neighborhood: Long Island City
Bio: Jose Rivera was born in Quito, Ecuador and began to dance traditional dances from Ecuador at the age of 15 with the Virginia Rosero Dance Company, a well know dance group. In 1992, Mr. Rivera migrated to the United States and founded the Ayazamana Dance group.
Dance culture: Ecuadorian Folkloric
Favorite Queens spot: The parks!
Photo credit Mariela

Barbara Mahler's Dances

barbara mahler's dances

Home neighborhood: Jackson Heights
Bio: Barbara Mahler is a movement educator, a master teacher of Klein Technique, a choreographer, dancer, zero balancing. She has been teaching and active in the dance community for over 40 years, and has traveled extensively in all of the above capacities. She is currently on contract with Movement Research, NYC.
Dance style: Modern
Favorite Queens spot: The waterfront
Photo credit Julie Lemberger

CarNYval Dancers

CarNYval Dancers

Home neighborhood: Jamaica
Bio: Kiara Paige is a Professional Dancer, Dance Educator & Choreographer with over ten years of experience in performing professionally. Her passion lies in dances from the AfroCaribbean diaspora. She is the Founder/Artistic Director of her dance company, CarNYval Dancers as well as the Founder of her newest project, Kulture Kave.
Dance culture: Afro-Caribbean
Favorite Queens spot: Atlas Park
Photo credit S.Andino Photography

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