2026-2027Choreographers

Angelica Burgos is of Dominican-Armenian heritage. She has received an M.F.A. in choreography from Jacksonville University in Florida, she also has a Bachelor of Arts degree from LEAP Program with Saint Mary’s College of California, and is an ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed all of ABT Teachers National Training Curriculum. Over the 16 years of her performing career, she danced with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago under Gerald Arpino, Sacramento Ballet under artistic directors Ron Cunningham and Carinne Binda, Ballet Hispanico under founder Tina Ramirez and in the West Side Story on Broadway revival in 2010. She has worked with artists such as Pedro Ruiz, Margo Sappington, Ramon Oller, John Clifford, Annabelle Ochoa Lopes, Val Caniparoli, Trey McIntyre, Septime Webre, Dwight Rhoden, Graciela Daniel, Sergio Trujillo and Ron Cunningham.
Additionally, she has taught for Western Kentucky University for three years and University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University. Burgos’ choreography has been commissioned by the Western Kentucky University spring performance and Virginia Commonwealth University Freshman Repertory course show, University of Richmond, Fullerton University, and Duke University Dance Program. Her choreography has competed at the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Youth America Grand Prix and Universal Ballet Competition. Burgos’ television credits include PBS’ Setting the Stage, 2007; NBC’s 20th Hispanic Heritage Awards; and PBS’ documentary Pedro Ruiz Coming Home, 2011. She is also fluent in Spanish, Russian, Armenian, and English languages.

Photo credit: Megan Garrison

Charlotte Boye-Christensen, a native of Copenhagen, received her formal training as a choreographer and performer in Copenhagen, London and in New York. Charlotte has been commissioned to choreograph for companies and institutions nationally and internationally, including Danish Dance Theatre, Singapore Dance Theatre, Ballet West, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet de Camaguey in Cuba, The European Dance Development Center in the Netherlands, The National School for Performing Arts in Denmark, London Contemporary Dance School, Nanyang Academy of the Arts in Singapore, The Bauhaus in Germany, The Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Tokyo, The Alliance Francaise in Singapore, The New Opera House in Copenhagen, the Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Seoul International Dance Competition, Tisch School of the Arts in New York City, Princeton University and other institutions across the US and the world.

Charlotte was the Artistic Director of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company for 11 years from 2002 to 2013. In this time, she created 22 new works on the company and commissioned the work of renowned choreographers, including Wayne McGregor, John Jasperse, Bill T. Jones, Alicia Sanchez, Susan Marshall, Johannes Wieland, Karole Armitage and more. She toured with the company to 35 plus cities across the country and facilitated residencies at Tisch School of the Arts in New York City, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts in Arizona and more.

In 2013 Charlotte founded NOW-ID with architect Nathan Webster. The company produces design driven, interdisciplinary work for/with unique spaces, with contemporary dance at the works’ core. The company has created several site-specific productions, events, workshops/symposiums, and films, and has toured nationally and internationally to critical acclaim. NOW-ID has forged partnerships with organizations that include Arts Access Victoria in Australia, The Australian Arts Council, The Copenhagen Opera Festival, Utah Museum of Contemporary Arts, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Figura Music Ensemble, and The BBOY Federation, as well as with the University of Richmond, the University of British Columbia, and several other academic institutions. The company is currently based out of Vancouver, Canada.

In addition to directing NOW-ID, Charlotte was Associate Director of the School of Theatre and Dance at Texas Tech University for four years where she created a new BFA degree in dance with a focus on interdisciplinary performance and choreography. She also directed the Dance Department at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, as an Artist-in-Residence and Visiting Associate Professor helping to refocus the Dance Curriculum and move the Department from the historic Kerry Hall to the main campus.

Charlotte is the recipient of several awards and grants for her choreography, including awards from The National Foundation for the Arts in Denmark, Canada Council for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, a Fulbright, the Choo-San Goh Award for Choreographic Excellence, and more. She is excited and honored to be returning to work with the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Richmond in connection with the 40th anniversary of University Dancers.

Photographer: David Newkirk

Peter Chu (he/him) is an award-winning multi-faceted movement artist, embodying roles from director, choreographer, stager, mentor, educator, and performer. His ongoing curiosity informs his voracious appetite for learning across contexts, and his compassion leads him to generously share his wide range of experiences and knowledge with others. Chu’s passion for the arts and entertainment drives his vivid imagination and creativity throughout his work. As a biracial Asian American born in the Bronx and raised in Cocoa Beach, Peter often craved a deeper understanding of his Chinese identity. From a young age, his interest in Traditional Chinese Medicine was a gateway to that. Since then, his mere interest evolved into a deep fascination that influenced and continues to inform his values as a human and creator. In addition, being raised by his mother, a music therapist, profoundly influenced his rhythmic and musical approach to making. All these interests and experiences are central to Chu’s healing approach to the creative process and how he guides and creates movement experiences and spaces. Chu’s career spans over three decades across both concert and commercial dance industries, nationally and internationally, pre-professional to professional, and beyond. Some notable credits include performing with Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Crystal Pite’s Kidd Pivot, and Celine Dion’s A New Day, and choreographing for Ballet Augsburg, Cirque du Soleil, DART Dance Company, Gibney Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and more. Additionally, Chu finds great pride and belonging in his project-based company chuthis., where he feels free to explore the deepest parts of his identity and artistry as a director, choreographer, and educator, with his team. Currently, Chu is based in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and travels frequently pursuing various freelance choreographic commissions and teaching experiences. https://www.peterchuthis.net/

Photo credit: Sacha Grootjans

As a Puerto Rican contemporary dance artist in the diaspora Alicia Díaz’s work speaks to issues of memory, colonialism, and the legacy of slavery. Her innovative collaborations with percussionist Héctor “Coco” Barez engaged Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba as a point of reference to investigate embodied forms of resistance, healing, and liberation. She directed the dance film, Entre Puerto Rico y Richmond: Women in Resistance Shall Not Be Moved, weaving stories of anti-colonial and feminist activism through the history of tobacco in Puerto Rico and Virginia, receiving numerous awards including Vanguard Award for Outstanding Experimental Film at The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, Best Experimental Film at the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival, and 1st Place Original Music at the Utah Dance Film Festival. Alicia was recently featured in the ground-breaking book, Inhabiting the Impossible: Dance and Experimentation in Puerto Rico (University of Michigan Press), and was part of la convivencia the first residency of movement-based Puerto Rican artists at MANCC, the renowned national center for choreography at Florida State University.

Alicia has performed with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Andanza: Puerto Rican Contemporary Dance Company, Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre, Maida Withers Dance Construction Company, Sally Silvers, Marion Ramírez, and Alejandra Martorell amongst others. She has co-directed Rubí Theatre, a Latinx, intergenerational theater ensemble; en la brega dance company, with Puerto Rican dance artist Ñequi González; and Agua Dulce Dance Theater, with movement artist Matthew Thornton, creating works for concert dance, museums, and site-specific locations. Her choreographic work has been presented in the USA, Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Argentina, and Mexico.

Alicia holds an M.F.A. in dance from GWU. She joined UR in 2011 where she teaches contemporary dance, improvisation, choreography, and community-engaged courses centered on dance for social change. She is deeply engaged in interdisciplinary collaborations engaging the arts in the urgent fight for climate justice. She received the 2020 Community-Engaged Scholarship Award from the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, recognizing her work with the Tucker Boatwright Festival: Dancing Histories, This Ground’s commission of Brother General Gabriel, co-directed by Free Bangura and MK Abadoo, and the collaborative video project "Knowledge of This Cannot be Hidden" Westham Burying Ground Commemorative Act, on the history of the unmarked burial ground for enslaved people at UR. Alicia serves on the Board of Pepatián: Bronx Arts ColLABorative, an organization that supports Latinx, Black, Afro-Latinx, Caribbean, Latin American, and indigenous artists. 

A native of Puerto Rico, Eric Rivera earned an M.F.A. in choreography from SUNY Purchase College. During his performing career, he danced with Ballet Hispanico of New York for 13 seasons, where he helped create over 20 original works. He performed with Minnesota Ballet as a principal dancer, Ballet Theater of Pennsylvania, Ballet Teatro Municipal de San Juan P.R., Danza Jazz de San Juan, and West Side Story’s European tour. He has appeared as a guest artist in companies such as Connecticut Ballet, Thomas Ortiz Dance, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, Bradley Shelver Contemporary Dance Theater, Westchester Ballet, and Brooklyn Ballet. Eric had the pleasure of performing choreographies of Ann Reinking, Mark Morris, José Limon, Kenneth McMillan, Margot Sappington, Graciela Daniel, Kevin Wynn, Vicente Nebrada, Talley Beatty, and George Balanchine.

His works have been presented by Ballet Contemporáneo de Camagüey in Cuba, EDANCO Dance Festival in the Dominican Republic, Ciudad Interior in Mexico, Dance Iquail, Ashani Dance, Convergence Ballet, Owensboro Dance Company, CSU Fullerton, University of Mississippi, Western Kentucky University, University of Richmond, Orange County College, Purchase College, Goucher College, W&L University, Jacksonville University, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, L2 Dance Theater, New England Dance Theater, ACDA South, ACDA Baja Region, ACDFA Gala at Little Rock, AR, NY Summer Stage, and the show They Called it Rock. His television appearances include PBS’ Setting the Stage, NBC’s 20th Hispanic Heritage Awards, Hispanic Day Parade with Brenda Blackmon, Puerto Rican Day Parade with Ernie Anastos, and the documentary Pedro Ruiz Home Coming, among others.

Mr. Rivera is the recipient of Best Ballet choreography 2019 and Best choreographer of the year 2021 by RVA Dance Awards. In his creative work, as well as in his teaching, he is continuously exploring ways in which to share his Hispanic heritage. Mr. Rivera is an ABT Certified Teacher who has completed the ABT Teachers Training Intensive in Primary through level seven of the ABT National Training Curriculum.

Photo credit: Katelyn Hundley

Kara Wilkes (Durham, North Carolina) is a freelance choreographer, educator, visual artist and filmmaker. Her expertise in classical and contemporary ballet is supported by her twenty-year career performing with Milwaukee Ballet Company, Ballet Victor Ullate, Charlotte Ballet, and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Kara has danced leading roles in works by Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Alonzo King, Nacho Duato, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Dwight Rhoden, George Balanchine, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Nicolo Fonte and others. She has been named one of “25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine and one of “12 Standout Performances of 2015” by Pointe magazine; in 2016, she performed in the TEDWomen Conference in San Francisco. She has been the rehearsal director for LINES and continues to teach workshops and répertoire for the organization. In 2019, Kara earned her MFA in Dance from Hollins University and has since been on dance faculties at Florida State University, Wake Forest University, Mills College, and Santa Clara University. Kara was a 2026 Artist-in-Residence at Surel’s Place (Boise, ID) and has been a Toulmin Choreography Fellow through NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts and National Sawdust (2022-23). She has been the resident choreographer for Chautauqua Dance since 2023 and recently created works for Ballet Idaho Training Program, The Tallahassee Ballet, University of Oklahoma, Traverse City Dance Project, SUNY Purchase, Texas Christian University, the USC Kaufman School of Dance, and COCA (Center of Creative Arts) in St. Louis. https://www.karawilkes.com/

Photo credit: Justin VanWeest

Agua Dulce Dance Theater

Ephrat Asherie

Robert Battle

Stephanie Batten Bland

Charlotte Boye-Christensen

Jacqulyn Buglisi

Chris Burnside

Deandra Clarke

Sean Aaron Carmon

Frank Chaves

Diane Coburn Bruning

Patrick Coker

Jean Paul Commelin

Myra Daleng

Alexandra Damiani

Robert Dekkers

Andrea Del Conte

Norbert De La Cruz III

Alicia Diaz

Barbara Duffy

Pamela England

Starr Foster

Nicolo Fonte

James Frazier

Tiffani Harris

Bill Hastings

Willie Hinton

Rebecca Hodal

Gerri Houlihan

Steven Iannacone

Larry Keigwin

Juel D. Lane

Abdul Latif-Dulie Dules

Jason Luks

Stephanie Martinez

Jenna McClintock

Trey McIntyre

Christopher K. Morgan

Miguel Pérez

Peter Pucci

Scott Putman

Kanji Segawa

Susan Shields

Billy Siegenfeld

Gusti Sudarta

Matthew Thornton

Nathan Trice

Takehiro “Take” Ueyama

Kim Urba

Anne Van Gelder

Doug Varone

Christian von Howard

Jill Brammer Ware