“Hummel creates an affecting world. The results are enormously sophisticated. The choreography quivers with subtle emotions like the writing of Virginia Woolf.”

-Tobi Tobias, The Village Voice

Shannon Hummel (Choreographer/Artistic Director), “the modern-dance version of an eloquent short story-writer” (The New York Times) is a choreographer, arts educator and the Artistic Director of Cora Dance, a contemporary dance company performing her collaborative choreographic work. Sophisticated, inventive and accessible, Hummel's works are vivid explorations of the human condition. Her choreography lays bare the intimate underpinnings of relationships through her masterful direction of movement intention. Richly theatrical yet uniquely physical, she marries the abstract power of compelling dancing with narrative's concrete force of emotion, transporting audiences into undeniably distinctive yet compellingly familiar universes. Hummel, whose dances have been praised by critics across the country as “poignant and affecting,” “enormously sophisticated” and “as vivid and true as a Eudora Welty story” has had her work commissioned throughout the US by such institutions as Dance Theater Workshop/NY State Dance Force (NYC), Dixon Place/Mondo Cane! Commissioning Program (NYC), University of Maryland/College Park (MD), Marlboro College/Vermont Performance Lab (VT), Rhode Island College (RI), James Madison University (VA), Queensborough College (NY) among many others. Hummel’s choreography has been presented in NYC by The 92nd St. Y, BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, BRICstudio, Dance Theater Workshop, dancenow, Dixon Place, The Flea, La MaMa, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, HERE Arts Center, New Dance Alliance, Joyce SoHo, The Mulberry Street Theater, Huntington Arts Festival, among many other venues. She has received multiple grants, space grants and artist residencies most recently from Brooklyn Arts Exchange and Vermont Performance Lab. She is currently an Artistic Advisor to the Artist-in-Residence Program at BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange. The longtime co-curator (with Monica Bill Barnes) of the UnderExposed Festival for emerging choreographers at Dixon Place, Hummel currently curates, lectures and sits on panels for many institutions and is passionate about demonstrating and promoting the relevance and need of the arts in the lives of all people. Toward that goal, she developed The Crossroads Project in 2002. Using journal writing as an accessible entry point to movement, Crossroads gives those with no previous dance experience a personal connection to self-expression through live performance. Through Crossroads she has worked in small communities in Kentucky, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and New York. Hummel has been on the faculty of a plethora of arts institutions throughout NYC and Virginia - including her alma mater James Madison University - and is currently the Dance & Movement Specialist at the Poly Prep Lower School in Park Slope. She lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn with her husband, Greg McFadden, (who she thanks immensely for his patience and support during this process,) and their two-year old son, Henry.

Naoko Nagata (Costume Designer) started her career as a biochemist in Japan. Her evolution into costume making is a long story. With literally no formal training, Nagata's first costume was created for Jeanine Durning in 1998. From that moment, she has been creating for a diverse group of choreographers and dancers non-stop. She has collaborated with David Dorfman Dance, Bebe Miller, Reggie Wilson, Liz Lerman, Nora Chiaumire, Tiffany Mills, David Neumann, Gina Gibney, Nina Winthrop and many, many others. Working closely with collaborators, Naoko helps bring to life what she herself calls, "The creation of a shared dream." Currently she is working with Urban Bush Women and Jant-Bi for BAM Next Wave Festival.

Kelly Bartnik (Dancer) is a graduate of James Madison University where she earned her BA in Dance and BBA in Computer Information Systems. Since moving to New York, she has performed with the Wright Now! Performance XPerience, Melissa Briggs Dance, Shannon Hummel / Cora Dance and Carl Hancock Rux. Her own choreography has been presented at Dixon Place, Williamsburg Arts Nexus, the Publick Playhouse in Maryland, James Madison University, Brooklyn Arts Exchange/BAX, Joyce Soho, BRIC Studio, Dance Theater Workshop and Arena Stage in Washington DC. Kelly is a founding member of Forum, Inc., a multidisciplinary arts organization based in Washington D.C., as well as a video production company, Gk1 Productions. She is currently the co-director of BAXco, the teen repertory company in residence at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange. This is Kelly’s fourth year performing with Cora Dance.

Xan Burley (Dancer) a native Ohioan, graduated in August of 2007 from the University of Michigan with a BDA in Dance and a BA in English. Since her move to New York as an independent artist she has had the great pleasure of working with Daniel Charon, Sarah Council Dance Projects, DOORKNOB Company, Shannon Gillen, Meg Hebert Dance and is soon to be joining a project with Pocket Engine. Xan also co-produces alexanDance with Alex Springer, through which they have shown work at WAXworks, Solar One, Dixon Place, and Williamsburg FreeFest. They also create video shorts for youtube in their spare time.

Galois Cohen (Dancer) was born in New York and attended LaGuardia High School. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst she danced with the New York Dance Collective, Leap of Faith, Room Eleven Dancers and Rosa Mei Dance. She has been with Cora Dance since 2000.

Donna Costello (Dancer/Performers Liaison & Rehearsal Assistant), originally from New Jersey, is a dancer, performer and teaching artist living in Brooklyn. She is a founding member of Shannon Hummel / Cora Dance and has created and collaborated with Shannon for over 10 years. She also continues to be inspired by her ongoing relationships performing for Mollie O'Brien, Jiimena Paz and jill sigman/thinkdance. Donna has had the pleasure of working with a diverse group of choreographers in NYC including Barbara Mahler, Stephan Koplowitz, Melissa Briggs, Naomi Goldberg, Juliette Mapp, Kelly Bartnik and Pele Bauch among others. Recent projects not to go unnoticed have included blogging for jill, singing for Monica, Fünf 'n' Twisting for Anna, and teaching at DNA.

Erika Hansen (Dancer) Erika Hansen was born in a small town in Southeastern Wisconsin. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities with a BFA in Dance.

Nicki Marshall (Dancer) has been dancing, choreographing, and teaching in NYC since 2000, after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Mount Holyoke College. She has self-produced three evenings of work and has been presented at various venues throughout NYC including Dance Theater Workshop, Joyce Soho, BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, WOW Café Theater, Theater 80, BRIC Studio, and Galapagos Arts. She recently received a Space Grant from BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange with her collaborator, Helen Tocci. Nicki has been a member of Magbana Drum & Dance, Movement for the Urban Village Dance Company, Company Amy Cox and Maura Nyugen Donahue/In Mixed Company. This is her first season dancing with Cora Dance.

Tara O’Con (Dancer) is happily dancing for many choreographers here in NYC including mvworks/Megan Sprenger, Tami Stronach, and Third Rail Projects. Her own work has been presented at Dance Theater Workshop, as part of the Fresh Tracks Performance and Residency Program, The Chocolate Factory Theater, and by DanceNOW[NYC].

Katy Orthwein (Dancer) is a dancer, choreographer, and licensed massage therapist. In New York, Katy has performed with Dixie Fun Dance Theatre, jill sigman/thinkdance, Pele Bauch, and Lisa Gonzales. Katy’s work has been presented at Studio 303 in Montreal, Joyce SoHo Presents, the 92nd St. Y Fridays at Noon series, and Sentry Theater in Wisconsin. Her collaborative work with RedShift Dance has been presented throughout NYC and nationally in Georgia, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Connecticut. Katy holds a BFA in Dance from The Ohio State University (1999) and an Associate Degree in Occupational Studies from the Swedish Institute (2003).

Jesse Phillips-Fein (Dancer) is a Brooklyn native and grew up dancing at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange. She studied Dance & Cultural Anthropology at Smith College, The Laban Centre and Goldsmith's College in London, with Nia Love, Yvonne Daniels, Wendy Woodson, and Rosemary Butcher. Since returning to NYC in 2001, her work has been presented at BAX, BRICstudio, Dance New Amsterdam, Dixon Place, HERE Arts Center, and she received the Individual Artist and Community Arts Regrant from the Brooklyn Arts Council in 2005 and 2006. She has collaborated with Box By Three Dance Co, Adam Matta, State Eighteen, and performed for Layard Thompson and Cassie Mey. She teaches Middle & High School dance at the Brooklyn Friends School and the Sadie Nash Leadership Project.

Jennifer Schmermund (Dancer) holds an MFA in dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has been on the dance faculty at Marymount School of New York and Bucknell University where she has been both a commissioned guest artist and an adjunct professor. In addition to creating work as director of Fresh Blood Dance, she performs with Kimberly Young and the Extra-Sensory Pedestrians. Trained as a yoga teacher through Om Yoga and J. Brown at Abhyasa Yoga Center, she hopes to share more of her teaching.

Cynthia Thompson (Dancer) has enjoyed a career as a dancer, choreographer and educator that spans twenty-five years during which time she has been a major force in the development of the successful BA program in dance at James Madison University. Her long-time partnership with Kate Trammell in the duet company Thompson & trammel has shaped her professional career. The company has toured nationally and internationally to critical acclaim and has been awarded numerous grants and honors. Cynthia has been a guest artist with Cora Dance for the past two years.

Jessica Weiss (Dancer) was raised in Cheshire, Connecticut where she studied ballet and Doris Humphrey technique under the direction of Ernestine Stodelle. She studied dance at Sarah Lawrence College, the Limon Institute and the Tisch School of the Arts. In 2005, she finished a BA with Honors in Dance and Dance Writing from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU. She has performed with several New York companies, including Douglas Dunn & Dancers, Sue Bernhard/ Dance Works, Pam Tanowitz Dance and HT Chen and Dancers, and is currently performing with Liz Gerring Dance and dance by Alan Danielson.