XAN BURLEY (she/her/hers; MFA) is a partner, parent, choreographer, performer, and teacher currently living and working in Gainesville, FL as Assistant Professor in Contemporary Dance Practice at the University of Florida. She was based in Brooklyn, NY from 2007 to 2018, where her choreographic research with partner Alex Springer still takes place alongside their multi-disciplinary collaborators. Her choreography with Springer has been presented by the American Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, Center for Performance Research, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Danspace Project, and New Dance Alliance Performance Mix Festival, among others. Burley and Springer have received notable residencies and awards including the Taipei Artist Village International Residency, the Croft Rootstock Residency, the Marble House Project, Jacob’s Pillow Research Fellowship, CPR’s Technical & Production Residency, and the University Settlement Artist Residency. They have also been commissioned to create dances for schools and repertory companies across the U.S., including Santa Fe Community College (FL), Zenon Dance (MN), the Collective (MD), Emory University (GA), and the University of Michigan (MI), among many others. Burley has performed nationally and internationally with artists and companies such as Doug Varone and Dancers (2012-2017), Shannon Gillen/VIM Vigor (2008-2012), Chris Aiken, Nancy Bannon, Jeanine Durning, Angie Hauser, Shannon Hummel, Tami Stronach, and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. She has enjoyed teaching at various professional and collegiate institutions such as Gibney, freeskewl, the Bates Dance Festival, SUNY Purchase, the University of Maryland, Wesleyan University and Smith College. She frequently collaborates with engineers, architects, and learning analysts on pedagogical research projects and has presented at the Dance Studies Association Conference (2019, 2021) and a National Dance Education Organization Special Topics Conference on Dance and Data. She co-authored a paper “From Value Stream Mapping to Choreographic Tension Mapping: Preliminary Results and Insights from an Exploratory Study,” which has been accepted for publication as a featured article in the Journal of Dance Education. Xan is so excited to be back in Jacksonville sharing a new group work in the Women Arts Exchange. www.xanandalex.com
Originally from northern New Jersey, SAMANTHA 'SAMI' COPLON, is a freelance dance performer, choreographer, collaborator, and educator currently based in NYC. Her training began at the Dance Academy of North Jersey (DANJ). She then earned her BFA in Dance from the University of Florida and lived in Florida for five years. As a performer, she has had many performance opportunities such as GROWorks (Brooklyn, NY), Women Arts Exchange (Jacksonville, FL), NewGrounds Dance Concert (Tampa, FL), various UF student and faculty concerts (Gainesville, FL), ACDA Southeast Region (Tallahassee, FL), and two Capezio A.C.E. Awards (NYC). She has had the opportunity to work with many incredible artists such as Doug Varone, Dante Puleio, Xan Burley, Alex Springer, Elizabeth Johnson, Jason Luks, Jaclyn Walsh, Angelica Stiskin, Terk Waters, Ashley Lindsey, and more. Along with those artists she has had the opportunity to work with Doug Varone and Dancers, Gaga People, Limon Dance Foundation, and more. As a choreographer, Sami’s choreographic work "[R]etrospective [E]xperience [M]odulated" premiered in the 2021 embodied Dance Showcase at the University of Florida, and was presented again at the 2022 NewGrounds Dance Concert in Tampa, FL. Additionally, she premiered her solo work "the woman | the tree" in 2023 at Women Arts Exchange in Jacksonville, FL. That work was then showcased at the 2023 NewGrounds Dance Concert. Her most recent work, "Unfinished, yet somewhat Complete", co-choreographed by Lauren Cadle, premiered at the 2024 GROWorks in Brooklyn, NY. Sami is incredibly excited to be returning to WAX this year and premiering a new solo work. Follow her company account @copedance on Instagram.
JULIANNA RAIMONDO (she/her) is a DMV-based dancer, choreographer, educator, and administrator. Julianna grew up in Jacksonville Beach, Florida and was a student at Nancy Dance Studio until age 13. She graduated from James Madison University (’20) magna cum laude, receiving her B.A. in Dance with a minor in theater. During her undergraduate career, Julianna was a member of the Virginia Repertory Dance Company, performing and teaching in studios and schools throughout VA. She currently dances with DC-based contemporary/modern companies including GRIDLOCK Dance and UpRooted Dance. Julianna teaches all genres of dance and choreographs for the competitive team at The Newman Dance Center in Annapolis, MD and is also a guest artist for Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Julianna presented choreography in both the 2021 and 2022 Richmond Dance Festivals. Most recently, she presented new work in the 2022 Coalescence Showing and was also a choreographer for NACHMO 2023, and after adjudication her work was selected to perform in the Atlas Intersections Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. Administratively, Julianna serves as the Communications Manager for Dance Place in NE Washington DC. She is ecstatic to continue laying down roots in the DMV dance community and beyond, and is always reaching for opportunities to connect and share art, whether that be through education, administration, performance, or creation.
EMILY CARGILL + DANCERS, now in our 10th season, is dedicated to expanding the presence of contemporary dance in the city of Jacksonville and beyond. Our goal is to share our work with audiences in other cities while also raising the standard of professional dance in our local community. At ECD, we strive to create performances that push artistic and physical boundaries, exploring movement that is daring, authentic, innovative and personal. Our founder and Artistic Director, Emily Cargill, fosters a collaborative environment where ideas are constantly exchanged between herself and the company members. Together, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of dance-making and creating a meaningful impact in the world of performing arts. ECD's work has been produced all across the nation in festivals and cities such as NYC, Boston, Detroit, Charlotte, Atlanta, Boulder, Tampa, Tallahassee, Richmond and Jacksonville. We are thrilled to be hosting the 2nd Annual Women Arts Exchange and are dedicated to empowering and highlighting the phenomenal female creators that live and work in Jacksonville and beyond!
ANDIE KNUDSON is a dance artist, choreographer, videographer, dance educator, and arts administrator currently based in Atlanta, GA. Andie’s dance career has been marked by a wide range of experiences, such as performing the iconic works of Bill T. Jones and José Limon and growing under the mentorship of esteemed improvisation artists such as Nancy Stark Smith. Her dedication to the art form has taken her to various corners of the world, including a summer in France working with Oriantheatre’s Paris Summer Academy and her time with staibdance in Sorrento, Italy. In addition to her performance and training endeavors, Andie has crafted compelling works for productions like Fly On A Wall's 2023 production of "Excuse The Art," the Fall for Fall Dance Festival, AM Collab, and Rise City Dance. In 2023, Andie embarked on a new chapter in her career, taking on the role of Assistant Director and Company Member with EXCAVATE BODY - a role that allows her to stretch her artistic depth and contribute to the development of the company's vision. Apart from her performance career, Andie has worked for 10+ years as a Dance Educator and is passionate about empowering her students' creative agency through dance curriculum. As a videographer, Andie spent the summer of 2019 working at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival as a Video Documentation Intern and has filmed for The Atlanta Opera, staibance, Dance Canvas, Fly On A Wall, and others.
BLISS KOHLMYER (Co-Artistic Director of project agora, 2010-2020) was in residence at the prestigious Bates Dance Festival Summer ’15, premiered the work Threshold, Suspended… at the San Francisco International Arts Festival, performed at Dance Gallery and Breaking Ground, Summer ’16 performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, created Connective (T)issues at DZINE in San Francisco, and most recently created the film Heavy Hopefulness with Péndulo Cero Danza Contemporánea. Her collaborative work with pianist Svetozar Ivanov (Sound Moves Duo) has been presented in Florida, New York, Michigan, Colorado, England, Austria, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. Gega New released a DVD of Sound Moves Duo’s Perpetual Tango January 2018 and excerpts of this work have continued to be presented in various forms at universities throughout the country and online performances, notably True Art TV in London. Bliss’ choreographic work has been commissioned by LINES Ballet Summer Program, Dickinson College, Florida State College, Loyola Marymount University, Jacksonville University, Florida Dance Festival, Sam Houston State University, SUNY Fredonia, Beijing Normal University, Moving Current Dance Collective, Jacksonville Dance Theatre, Péndulo Cero Danza Contemporánea (Mexico), Tampa City Ballet, Robert Moses’ Kin (San Francisco), and Sarasota Contemporary Dance Company, among others. Her tutorial on “Dance Making and Watching” was published by Human Kinetics in 2021. And, her collaborative film, Murmurs of the River, premiered March 2023. This work has been accepted to numerous film festivals. Recently, she collaborated with Betsy Miller Dance Projects for a new solo to be premiered in 2024. In New York City, she danced and toured internationally with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the Sean Curran Company. In San Francisco, she danced with Janice Garrett and Dancers, Robert Moses’ Kin, and the San Francisco Opera Ballet, among others. She received her MFA in Dance from the University of Washington in 2011 and is currently an Associate Professor of Dance at the University of South Florida.
