The Davalois Fearon Dance (DFD) Arts & Social Justice program is designed for college students and recent graduates to develop the community, resources, and skills necessary to navigate and combat racial and social justice issues in the field of dance. The 3-month pilot program will be for an invited cohort. It is designed to give participants an overview of race-related to the dance world and academia, the business side of dance, and arts and social justice best practices. As a part of this program, students will directly interface with DFD’s social justice initiative, Time to Talk Initiative, which in conjunction with the choreographic work, provides the community with resources and ways to take immediate and long-term action.
Meet the Inaugural Class of Mentees
Devonna Curtis is a senior dance major at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. She is excited to see where her future goes and is honored to be under the mentorship of Davalois Fearon.
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Elinor Kleber Diggs is a dancer, choreographer, and activist from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She graduated from Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and is in her junior year in the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase. |
Kassi Ellen is a 22yr old recent SUNY Purchase graduate with a BFA in Dance and a Minor in Socio-Cultural Anthropology. Kassi is looking forward to continuing her movement exploration in challenging the high-art low-art divide in dance. She is also currently teaching hot yoga and youth dance classes back home in the Chicago Land Area.
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Sophie Ortiz is a dancer and performance artist based in New York, originally from San Francisco. She’s currently working towards her BFA in dance performance with a minor in anthropology from Purchase College. She’s excited to be a part of the DFD Mentorship program and is hoping to learn and gain a broader perspective of the arts and their relation to social change.
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Meet the Mentors
Davalois Fearon, a 2017 Bessie awardee and a 2021-22 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow finalist, is a critically acclaimed choreographer, dancer, and educator. Born in Jamaica and raised in the Bronx, her choreography is said to embody a “tenacious virtuosity” honed over 12 years with the Stephen Petronio Company (2005–2017) and now reflected in her work as founder and director of Davalois Fearon Dance (DFD). Established in 2016, DFD pushes artistic and social boundaries to highlight injustice and inequality and spark vital conversations about change. Fearon’s work has been presented nationally and internationally, including at New York City venues such as the Joyce Theatre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Among many others, she has completed commissions for the Bronx Museum of the Arts and Barnard College. Her abundant honors and awards include DanceNYC’s Dance Advancement Fund Award, and grants from the MAP Fund and the Howard Gilman Foundation.
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Jen Nagilla (Mentor) is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Handyman Roy LLC which specializes in restorations, enhancements and remodeling for residential commercial and industrial properties. Jen is focused on workforce development, sustainability, and civil rights. With beginnings in the NAACP as a youth council member Jen has leveraged her community organizing, advocacy and strategic implementation capacities during her role as the Advisor to the New York State NAACP Youth & College Division where she provided support and working partnerships with all youth councils and college chapters.
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Elissa Buxbaum is the author of diversity, equity and inclusion resources and programs utilized by 100+ colleges and universities. Buxbaum spent the past 15 years developing and implementing diversity training curriculum and campus climate policy in student affairs, academic affairs and other university operations/employee support services.
Currently, as National Director for ADL’s college and university division, Elissa manages a team across 7 agency divisions and 25 satellite offices. She designs holistic solutions to bias and hate through educational programs and legislative advocacy. Most notably, she is the author of the Hate/Uncycled model, has submitted congressional testimony on campus free speech and collaborates with Cleary, the FBI and the U.S. Government Accountability Office for hate crimes/bias incident reporting standard practices. |
Njeri Rutherford is a dance artist, arts administrator, scholar, and entrepreneur from Detroit, MI. After receiving her B.A. in Dance and Communication Arts from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC, Njeri relocated to New York City to pursue her career as an artist. Njeri has danced professionally for Davalois Fearon Dance, Dance The Yard, The Wanda Project, and O’Toole and Dancers. She has choreographed and performed in many notable venues including Charlotte Dance Festival, Dixon Place, and BRIC. As an administrator Njeri has gained experience in fundraising and project management and has worked for Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Yard, Ephrat Aesherie Dance, Davalois Fearon, and Movement Research. Njeri is passionate about bridging the gaps between Black and artists of color and proper funding, resources, and notoriety. Njeri is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Michigan where she is pursuing her Masters degree in Dance.
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