MEET DANCE KERR - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Michael Anthony Kerr, MA
Michael Anthony Kerr founded DanceKerr & Dancers (a sponsored artist with Performance Zone Inc. dba The Field) in 2015. Mr. Kerr is pursuing doctoral studies as an Arnhold Fellow Recipient in the Ed.D Dance Education Program at Columbia University, Teachers College. He holds permanent NYS K-12 Teacher Certification in Dance and after a stellar twenty-five year teaching career with NYCDOE has recently retired to pursue new artistic endeavors. Mr. Kerr was awarded the Diana Domoracki-Kisto Dance Educator Award by the New York State Dance Education Association at the 2015 NDEO Conference. He is also a Dance Education Laboratory Ambassador. Throughout his dance teaching career in the private and public sector, Mr. Kerr has performed for a variety of choreographers and dance companies in the United States and Europe including Maher Benham's Coyote Dancers, Deborah Damast, Gemini Dance Theater, Floorplay Contemporary Dance Theater, Amy Kail, Dance Consort: Mezzacappa-Gabrian and Deanna Losi while teaching dance throughout the Tuscany region of Italy for several years. Since 2000, Mr. Kerr has been teaching dance to public middle schoolers at his former teaching post in Brooklyn, where he developed a sequential public middle school dance program, one of five NYC public school dance programs featured in the NY Emmy nominated documentary PS DANCE. His work as a dance teacher has been featured on News 12 Brooklyn, in NY Teacher-UFT news paper, in Dance Teacher Magazine (June 2017) and most recently in Don Rauf's book Exploring Theater: Choreography and Dance in Theater. During his tenure, Mr. Kerr has served as Chair of UFT/NYC Dance Educators, as a cooperating teacher for Columbia University Teachers College and New York University, served on the faculty of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL), the Dance Department at Mason Gross School of the Arts and Graduate School of Education at Rutgers. He has conducted workshops, served as a panel speaker, teaching artist, curriculum writer, guest lecturer and on the teaching faculty for such venues as DEL, NDEO, Dance Teacher Magazine's Annual NYC Teacher Conference, American Dance Guild, NYU, CW Post LIU, The Dalton School, Nimbus Dance Works, NJAHPERD, Accademia Dance Center in Siena, Italy, Young Dancers In Repertory and Dance On Camera Film Festival at Lincoln Center. Mr. Kerr is also an aspiring film actor and is thrilled to be choreographing contemporary dance once again since forming DanceKerr & Dancers.
Notable Press:
Dance Teacher Magazine Article
MEET THE DANCERS
Lilianne Gering
Lilianne Gering is a dancer, choreographer, dance educator and an arts administrator. She grew up training on Long Island and continued her dancing through the BA dance program at Muhlenberg College. She graduated in 2021 with degrees in dance performance & choreography, and arts administration. Some of her credits include work with Monica Bill-Barnes, Heidi Cruz-Austin, Jeffrey Peterson, and Shelley Oliver. She is currently a Pilates instructor and dance teacher in NY. Lilianne is thrilled to be joining DanceKerr and Dancers for her first season.
Ashley Hacker
Ashley Hacker is so excited to be dancing with DanceKerr & Dancers! Born and raised in upstate New York, Ashley began her endeavor as a life-long dancer at the age of 2 ½. She continued her dance studies as an undergraduate at The College at Brockport, SUNY where she earned a BFA in Dance, a BS in Psychology and a minor in Music. After graduation she made the move to the Big Apple to pursue her MA in Dance Education with a PreK-12 Dance Certification from New York University. Ashley continues to perform in NYC, holds certifications in Zumba, Strong Nation, Mobility Specialization and Yoga, and keeps up to date on dance research and education by attending and presenting yearly at national conferences. Currently she teaches dance at Poly Prep Country Day School to Middle School students in grades 5 through 8.
Lindsey Jones
Lindsey Jones is the Assistant Rehearsal Director of DK&D. She received her early dance training at O'Connell Dance Studio in Toledo, Ohio and later trained as an apprentice at the Performing Arts Center in Los Angles. Lindsey received her BA in Dance and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley and her MA in Dance Education with a concentration in Teaching in the Professions from NYU Steinhardt. She has performed with Aries in Flight in NYC and was previously involved with the Mandalone Project, Berkeley Dance Project and MixMatch Dance Festival in California. Lindsey was also the recipient of the Mask and Dagger Ward for extraordinary student contribution in Dance and Performance Studies.
Lexi Sim
Lexi began her training in Calgary, AB, Canada at Dance Explosions and at Central Memorial High School, where she graduated from the Performing Visual Arts Dance program. Lexi also pre-professionally trained with Alberta Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Joffrey Ballet, and Hubbard Street. She is a graduate of The Ailey School Certificate Program, class of 2021, where she was a member of the Ailey Student Performance Group and participated in the New Director’s Choreography Lab in New York. Since graduation, she has become a member of a few companies around New York. She has performed in Carnival Choreographers Ball, Fertile Ground, 7MPR, and Licon Center. Lexi is excited to be working with DanceKerr and Dancers.
Olivia Villalba
Olivia is a founding company member of DK&D who grew up in Stamford Connecticut where she has been studying dance since a young age. Olivia is a Hofstra University graduate where she received a B.S. in Dance Education K-12. She is a dance artist/educator who teaches ballet, tap, hip-hop, and jazz in a variety of studios in New York and Connecticut. Olivia also works with different studios to create outreach programs to bring movement classes into public schools. Olivia joined DanceKerr & Dancers in 2015 and is excited to continue to grow within the company.
Rian Wood
Rian Wood is a dance artist with an emphasis on performing. A native of Palm Beach County, Florida, Rian began her training at Dance Unlimited Studio of Dance Arts and trained at Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts, where she graduated as a dance major. She received scholarships to train at the Ailey School and with Big Muddy Dance Co. She went on to graduate summa cum laude from Florida State University with a BFA in dance and as a recipient of the honors medallion. Some of her credits include work by Tim Glenn, Francisco Graciano, and Peter Chu among others. Rian is so excited to join DanceKerr & Dancers this season.
SAVE THE DATE
DAMAST & KERR IN CONCERT
JUNE 22, 2023
ALVIN AILEY CITIGROUP THEATER
DETAILS TO BE ANNOUNCED.