2026 Cre8dance choreographers

Alexander Anderson (@zanderander) is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, and stager based in New York City. Originally from South Florida, he graduated from the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in 2010. He was then accepted into The Juilliard School, where he graduated with a BFA in Dance. During his time at Juilliard, Alexander performed works by renowned choreographers such as Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Pina Bausch, Jirí Kylián, and Alexander Ekman. His early choreographic creations earned him selections for “Choreographic Honors” at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. He was also honored with the 2012 Dizzy Feet Foundation Scholarship Award and the 2013 Princess Grace Foundation Scholarship Award.

Post-graduation, Alexander joined Nederlands Dans Theater 2, progressing to the esteemed Nederlands Dans Theater 1 in 2017. His standout performance in Crystal Pite’s “Solo Echo” garnered critical acclaim, earning him Dance Europe Magazine’s critic’s choice for 'Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer' in 2019. In 2020, Alexander became an Artistic Associate at Gibney Company, where he was later named the Inaugural Choreographic Fellow, premiering a new work in the “Gibney Fellow” program in 2022.

Alexander's passion for dance extends beyond performance. In March 2024, Alexander self-produced his show “Falling Elsewhere” in New York City. He also appears in the Paramount feature film “Smile 2”. As a stager, he has staged Edward Clug and Marco Goecke’s productions, including Goecke's critically acclaimed “Midnight Raga,” which won the Gouden Zwaan for the most impressive dance production in 2017.

Alexander has served on the faculties of the Ailey Fordham BFA (Professional Division), Peridance, Steps On Broadway, Gibney Dance, School of American Ballet (SAB), and ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. He has received choreographic commissions from Ballet Austin II, Peridance (Youth Ensemble), Houston Contemporary Dance Company, Buglisi Dance Theater, SFDanceworks, The Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Create Summer Intensive), Owen/Cox Dance Group, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Springboard Danse, and The Juilliard School Summer Intensive.

 Is a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for the Creative & Performing Arts (CAPA) where he received his early training as a dance major, and was appointed the position of Dance Captain entering his senior year. Upon graduating from CAPA, Jameel was presented with the Dance/Humanitarian/Congeniality award presented by LaDeva Davis. Jameel is  a recipient of the 2023 International Choreographer Award presented by XING Dance Theater. In his developmental years, Jameel attended "Eleone Dance Unlimited" as a scholarship student and was appointed the title of dance captain for the training company "Eleone Connections”. Jameel has also had the opportunity to attend "The Rock School for Ballet" as a full scholarship student & other local dance intensives such as “Dance Creates New Stars (DCNS)”, and Anthony Burrell’s “Breaking Barriers”. After graduating from CAPA, he then went on to continue his training at Rutgers University (Mason Gross School of the Arts), majoring in Dance Education. Following his duration at Rutgers University, Jameel went on to become a touring company member of “Eleone Dance Theater” in 2014. Shortly after his occupancy at Eleone Dance Theater, in the year of 2016 Jameel began his tenure as a company member of Philadanco. Throughout his career thus far, Jameel has been able to work with a vast amount of choreographers such as Anthony Burrell, Sean Bankhead, Ronald K. Brown, Thang Dao, Daniel Ezralow, Jeremy Green, Rennie Harris, Christopher Huggins, Jaquel Knight, and Tommie Waheed-Evans. Jameel has taught numerous masterclasses, spoken on panel discussions, and even re-stage classic works such as Talley Beatty’s “A Rag, A Bone, and a Hank of Hair”. As a result of his years training extensively in various styles of dance, Jameel has been able to gain commercial dance experience performing alongside artists such as BIA, Cardi B, Ciara, Megan Thee Stallion, Bobby Shmurda, Lil Yachty, Queen Latifah, Victoria Monet and XSCAPE. Jameel has also had the opportunity to choreograph for Philadelphia’s annual 6abc Thanksgiving Day Parade & the 2021 Made in America Music Festival. Aside from his professional endeavors, Jameel has extensive experience in collaborating with the School District of Philadelphia using dance as a way to contribute to the artistic & communal endeavors amongst the youth in the city. He currently teaches at several dance schools and is working on furthering his artistic abilities as a freelance artist while also venturing into a new entrepreneurial journey with his new production company “M3 (ME)” Productions, which serves as parent company to MOVE Dance Collective. The purpose of MOVE Dance Collective is to serve as a project-based dance company that gives local artists of Philadelphia the opportunity to showcase their talent on a national & international scale. Since the company’s inception (under the direction of Jameel Hendricks), the company has presented works at the 2023 XING CityDance Festival (Washington DC), the 2023 & 2024 Men In Dance Festival (Seattle, WA), the 2025 DanceCanvas showcase (Atlanta, GA), and the 2025 Let’s Dance International Frontiers Festival (Leicester U.K.)

Xavier Nuñez is a Puerto Rican born dancer and choreographer and a Company Artist with the The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. He came to dance through an outreach program, where he discovered a love for ballet and storytelling. Alongside performing, he creates original work for stage, film, and commercial projects and is the co-founder of Action Lines, a production company where dance drives the storytelling. His work focuses on movement-driven narratives that present ballet through a modern, cinematic lens while exploring themes that connect to a broader human experience.

 Polish native Julia Weber is a New York–based choreographer and performer and a graduate of The Juilliard School. Her work has been recognized for its strong compositional voice and emotional rigor. At Juilliard, she choreographed works for Choreographers and Composers (2022) and Senior Production (2025), and was selected for Juilliard Choreographic Honors in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

In 2024, she performed R.O.S.E. by Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar with LEV Dance Company at the Park Avenue Armory. In 2025, Julia choreographed a new work for New York City Ballet through the New York Choreographic Institute and created a three-movement piece for the Traverse City Dance Project.

Julia’s choreography has been presented at the DUMBO Dance Festival, SoloDuo Dance Festival, and the Young Choreographer’s Festival at the Joyce Theater in New York City. In 2026, she was selected as an Emerging Choreographer for Springboard Danse Pittsburgh.

She is the recipient of the Hector Zaraspe Prize for Choreographic Promise, multiple first-place awards at the Polish Choreographic Competition (ZAiKS), and honors from the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

Madison Russo began her training in West Palm Beach, FL at Ballet East under Marcie Russo, Doreen Cafarella, and Chelsea Nasby. She received numerous awards from 2014–2015 at the Youth American Grand Prix, American Dance Competition, and the Indianapolis International Ballet Competition, where she earned a short-term scholarship to study at the Houston Ballet Academy. She joined the Houston Ballet Academy's year-round program on full scholarship in 2015. In 2017 she received a contract with Houston Ballet II, and in 2018 an apprenticeship with the Houston Ballet. Russo was promoted to Corps de Ballet in 2019 and joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in 2024. She has performed Corps and Soloist roles at both companies in many major productions, while also choreographing a work for Houston Ballet's Elle Emerge gala in 2018, two commissioned works on Houston Ballet II in 2021 and 2023, and Just Dance for Pittsburgh Ballet's annual Hartwood Acres performance in 2025.

  Christian Denice is a Los Angeles–based dancer and choreographer whose performing career includes River North Dance Chicago, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, and Andonis Foniadakis Dance Company in Athens, Greece. His choreographic work explores the complexities of the human experience, using dance as a vehicle for reflection, sensation, and connection. As an international choreographer, he has created works for Cincinnati Ballet, BalletX, Chamber Dance Project, Ballet22, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Odyssey Dance Theatre, DanceWorks Chicago, Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, Missouri Contemporary Ballet, MADCO, Eisenhower Dance Detroit, Houston Contemporary Dance Company, Kit Modus, Dance Lab New York, and others. He recently created his first full-evening original narrative ballet for Marigny Opera Ballet, premiering this December and was the Choreographic Fellow for BalletX, and he premiered a new work for the company with original score by Philip Daniel. Christian has held residencies nationwide at institutions including Kennesaw State University, UNCSA, Interlochen, Georgetown University, and Western Michigan University. He won the 2015 Echo Choreographic Competition, was selected for Joffrey Academy’s Winning Works in 2016, continues to collaborate with Andonis Foniadakis, staging his works internationally, and recently served as répétiteur and rehearsal director for ISHIDA Dance.

Ande Godwin is originally from Dallas, Texas, where she began dancing at two years old. She attended Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in the dance conservatory. To further her education, she attended Chapman University as a Dance BFA major and nutrition minor. 

Ande has worked with notable choreographers such as Kaili Bright, Gheremi Clay, Megan Doheny, Matthew Fata, Will Johnston, Ali Pfleger, Dwight Rhoden, Jonathan Sison, Ido Tadmor, and Azuki Umeda. Building on these collaborative experiences, Ande has brought her versatility and artistry to a wide range of performances including World of Dance, ACE Awards, International Women’s Day by Mash-up Dance, Choreographer's Cup, Clay Collective Collision Show,  The Get Down, Reconstruct Dance Exhibition, Body Rock, & when the heart opens, How I Became Kinder & Kinder and is currently a company member of Authenticity Dance Company and Clay Collective. 

In addition to performing, Ande has presented her own choreography at events such as the Laguna Dance Festival AAPI Art Walk, Joffrey Ballet School Dallas, & when the heart opens, Reconstruct Dance Exhibition, Journey Dance Awards, Intrigue Dance Intensive, and Neovate Dance Experience. 

Ande looks forward to continuing to share her passion for dance on and off the stage as a professional dancer, choreographer, and educator.

Growing up in Mount Dora, Florida, JoAnna Schmidt always found joy in dancing to music. At age seven, she started lessons with Central Florida Ballet, and continued training there until graduating high school. She also trained in summer programs with Miami City Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet Academy, and Jacob’s Pillow. In 2010, JoAnna moved to Pittsburgh to join the graduate program of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s school. Two years later, she joined the company and was promoted to the Soloist rank in 2018. She’s had the pleasure of dancing lead roles in works such as Rubiesby George Balanchine, Dupuis le Jour by Gemma Bond, Sounds of the Sunby Jennifer Archibald, 1st Flash by Jorma Elo, and others. During this time, she also began exploring her voice as a choreographer. Since then, JoAnna has enjoyed creating works for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, PBTS, Texture Contemporary Ballet, Confluence Ballet Co., and others.

Maté Szentes is originally from Budapest, Hungary and began his training at the age of six. He studied at the Hungarian Dance Academy while attending summer programs at North Carolina Dance Theater in Charlotte, NC.

Upon graduation he joined the Hungarian National Ballet where he danced for 3 years performing corps de ballet and soloist roles in the company’s many classical and contemporary productions. In 2012 he moved to California and joined the Sacramento Ballet as a company artist and continued expanding his repertoire. Mr. Szentes relocated to the east coast in 2015 to join the Richmond Ballet where he danced principal and soloist roles. Besides dancing classical ballet’s most famous roles he had the opportunity to dance many of George Balanchine’s works and worked with world renowned choreographers such as Ma Cong, Val Caniparoli, Mariana Oliveira, Melissa Barak, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa, Nicolas Blanc among many others. Since 2021 he’s a freelance artist while maintaining a guest principal dancer status with American Contemporary Ballet. He’s been part of over 40 world premieres of new works that have been created on him - many of them as a soloist or in a lead role.

He started choreographing in 2016 and so far his works have been performed by the Los Angeles Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Barak Ballet, Ballet Orange County and other independent and project based companies.

Mr. Szentes was a finalist at the Palm Desert Choreography Festival in 2022 and 2023 and his works were also invited to be performed at the North Coast Dance Festival in Michigan and at Balletfest in Long Beach, CA.

As a guest teacher he has been working internationally with schools and companies alike, most notably with Norwegian National Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, National Ballet of Canada and Accademia La Scala in Milan, Italy among many others.

  Autumn Wolfe is a senior dance major at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA obtaining her BFA in 2026, along with a Master’s in Business Administration and minor in Business Management. She is from Morgantown, WV where she grew up training at Morgantown Dance Studio. Her additional training includes Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Giordano Dance Chicago, Peridance Capezio Dance Center, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, and more. Autumn has had the opportunity to perform repertory work from Akira Uchida, Jae Man Joo, Crystal Pite, Nacho Duato, Martha Graham, Juel D. Lane, Roderick George, and Kyle Abraham, as well as dance in a music video for the British Composer, Oliver Davis. She choreographed a piece entitled Divine Rupture, in which she was the recipient for the Outstanding Choreography Award from the Tomayko Foundation. Autumn enjoys a variety of creative expressions, and she is excited to contribute inspiration, inclusivity, and possibility through her creative endeavors.