Since their discovery in 2009 by Charles Reinhart after the premiere of Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret, Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre has quickly become a beloved fixture in the contemporary arts scene in Miami. With a whirlwind success that has taken them from sold out performances at the prestigious American Dance Festival (ADF), The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami Dade County and most recently The Baryshnicov Arts Center NYC, the company is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the national dance scene.
Known for its diverse ensemble that consists of some of Miami’ s most brilliant performers and creators ranging in genres from theater, performance art, opera, drag, and contemporary ballet, RHDT has had the priviledge of performing 4 ADF commissioned pieces and premiering them at the festival as well enjoying unprecedented success in Miami. Their NYC premiere of Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret was said by Kayt MacMaster of BroadwayWorld.com to be “so innovative, searing and disturbing…” that it warranted “repeat viewings…” and their NYC premiere of Dining Alone was hailed by Deborah Jowitt as “earthy, poetic and beyond dada imaginative.”
Britney Tokumoto is originally from Honolulu, Hawaii and trained at Mid Pacific School of the Arts in Honolulu. She received her BFA in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College in 2012. Britney has also attended Springboard Danse Montreal in 2017 and performed work by Shannon Gillen and Ryan Mason. In New York City she worked with Bare Dance Company, Colectivo Dos Zeta, Denisa Musilova, Schoen Movement Company, Steps Ensemble, and Tami Stronach. Britney is currently collaborating with Adele Myers and Dancers, Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, and Ivonne Batanero (Greedy Pumpkin Head Projects).
Ivonne Batanero was born in Lima, Perú and received her BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She was commissioned by Miami Light Project in 2012 and 2013 to create work for the Here and Now program. In 2015, she toured Lima, Perú to create her first dance on film and present her solo work, I Think It’s In My Belly. Ivonne was a 2016-2017 recipient of the Miami Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs Dance Miami Choreographic Fellowship. Ivonne has been dancing with Rosie Herrera Dance Theater since 2011 and joined Adele Meyers and Dancers in 2016.
Shanaya Bright: Born in Bogota, Colombia and trained as a visual artist, musician and dancer Shanaya trained at the Escuela Ballet Classico Ana Consuelo Diaz and Ballet de Colombia. He later joined the company as well the Ballet Folklorico de Colombia where he toured internationally for 8 years. In the US he toured with the Ballet de Colombia and later settled in Miami where he freelanced as a dancer, choreographer and costume designer. He was a dancer in the infamous Las Vegas style spectacle Tropigala until the shows end in 2002 and then began to form his infamous drag persona- Shanaya Bright. Characterized by her elaborate and inventive costumes Shanaya Bright “the queen of costumes” is among Miami’s most treasured drag personalities. Shanaya is a frequent collaborator of Rosie Herrera where she contributes as a set builder, costume and wig designer and performer. www.shanayabright.com
Liony Garcia is originally from Isabela de Sagua, Cuba. He received his BFA in Dance performance from New World School of the Arts in Miami. He has danced with Freddick Bratcher and Company and Brigid Baker’s Whole Project. As a member of Los Angeles based repertory company BodyTraffic, Liony has premiered new work by choreographers Guy Weizman and Roni Haver (Club Guy and Roni). Liony is a founding member of Rosie Herrera Dance Theater and continues to create his own work throughout Miami. His new solo work “in Lieu of flowers” just recently premiered at the Miami Light Box to rave reviews.
Rudi Goblen is a Miami based writer, dancer, actor, and music producer. He was commissioned by Miami Light Project to create the solo performances Insanity Isn’t, Fair Welling, and PET. He is also known as an acclaimed B-Boy and along side his award winning crew Flipside Kings, has toured internationally competing, adjudicating, and teaching since 1994. In 2003, Rudi joined Teo Castellanos/D-Projects, and has since toured internationally. Rudi is a recipient of the Future Aesthetics Artist Re-grant (FAAR) funded by the Ford Foundation in conjunction with the Future Aesthetics Cohort, and the Miami-Dade County's Choreographers Fellowship Award. He has trained and worked with DV8 Physical Theater and Cirque De Soleil – and is a founding member of Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, Octavio Campos' Campostion Hybrid Theatre Works, and the interactive performance troupe Circ-X. He has released 4 instrumental albums, Tres, Soot, Untitled, and Sin Duda; and is currently the Assistant Director/Spoken Word coach for Piano Slam, a poetry writing competition that asks students to compose works of poetry inspired by their reactions to a selection of music.
Luis Alberto Cuevas hales from the Dominican Republic via New York City. Luis attended the BFA program at the New World School of the Arts and has worked with choreographers Peter London, Garth Fagan, Dale Andree, and Bill Doolin. Luis has had the privilege of performing with several companies including Gold Coast Theater Company, Momentum Dance Company, Feddrick Bratcher and Company, Teo Castellanos’ D- Projects, CircX, with director Heidi Marshall in a World Premiere original musical, with Rosie Herrera Dance Theater and most recently, in Diane Paulus’ Donkey Show as Puck/Dr. Wheelgood. As a Choreographer, Luis’ work has been presented by New World School of the Arts, Miami Dade College, The Emerging Choreographers Series, The Florida Dance Festival, The New World Symphony, and Thomas Amour Youth Ballet with The Dranoff International Foundation. Most recently he was commissioned by The Miami Light Project’s for the 2012 Here and Now Festival.
Felix Miranda: Born in Puerto Rico and trained in Ballet San Juan, Felix later joined the Compania de Danza Sarita Ayala where he worked as a dancer and singer. After a successful concert dance career he joined the ensemble of backup dancers for Charitin and Iris Chacon where he traveled the world for 10 years. In Miami he has danced for Univision and the popular Las Vegas style spectacle Tropigala for 12 years until it’s closing in 2002. He now freelances as a dancer, actor, singer and drag performer. He joined RHDT in 2011.
Gerardo Pilatti has been presenting his avant-garde performances in Miami since arriving from Argentina in 2002. As a performer he has worked with Octavio Campos and playwright David Rohn. Also an accomplished designer and makeup artist, he has designed wardrobe and makeup for the premiere of “1000 Homosexuals” at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts as well as productions for Miami New Drama in The Colony Theater on Miami Beach. He has developed a cult following for his original nightclub variety acts and is a founding member of Rosie Herrera Dance Theater.
Katie Stirman is a Miami Native whose dance career spans two decades. She has had the opportunity to perform in venues such as the Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Joyce Theater, Skirball@ NYU, the American Dance Festival 97’, 03’, 11,’ 12’, and the Adrienne Arsht Center: Ziff Ballet Opera House. She works collaboratively with artists, creating tailored experiences for each project. After grand successes working alongside other creators, she now focuses mainly on her own repertory. Katie is creating a series of immersive-meditative performances out in nature using textiles. This project launched with video stills published in “100+ Degrees In The Shade: A Survey of South Florida Art” from the first rendition of this piece, shot in the Catskill Mountains of New York and a performance with Bas Fisher Invitational: Weird Miami Bus Tour 2016 that toured its audience into the Everglades. Gladly diving into the intimate recesses of beauty this planet holds on the horizon, she seeks to deliver simplistic wonder back to those whom may have forgotten it’s marvels.
Leah Verier-Dunn holds a BFA in Dance from New World School of the Arts. She has danced for Keigwin & Co., Adele Myers and Dancers, Karl Rogers, and Bill Doolin, among others. Verier-Dunn is the co-Founder and Artistic Director of Moving Ethos Dance. She joined Rosie Herrera Dance Theater in 2011.
Simon Thomas-Train began dancing at Middlebury College, transitioning from an extensive background in competitive cross country skiing to graduate with a BA in Dance and Architectural Studies in 2009. Since then he has had the pleasure of working with Tiffany Rhynard/Big Action Performance Ensemble, Satya Roosens, Attack Theatre, Megan Bascom and Dancers, Alexandra Beller/Dances, Tiffany Mills and Company, Rosie Herrera Dance Theater, Red Dirt Dance, Vanessa Anspaugh, Pavel Zustiak|palissimo, Rosie Herrera Dance Theater, Boomerang, David Dorfman Dance and most recently with the Bessie-winning Then She Fell and The Grand Paradise, both by Third Rail Projects. He is the co-founder and co-artistic director of The Space We Make.
Loren Davidson recently assisted Jawole Willa Jo Zollar on Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music, a pivotal work performed in October 2016 at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY. She has recently finished a three-year Visiting Guest Faculty position at Florida State University where she taught Contemporary Technique, Cross-Training for Dancers, Pilates, Introduction to the Dance Profession, choreographed new work for the School of Dance and collaborated with local galleries to curate a monthly performance series involving students and local performers. Loren’s background includes the following: Contemporary, Repertory and Dance Conditioning Faculty at the American Dance Festival (NC, 2012-2015), Faculty and Assistant at Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp (CO,2013), Program Assistant for Dance in Paris (FSU, 2015- 2016), Pilates and GYROKINESIS Instructor (Balanced Body and GYROKINESIS, current), Member of the Board of Directors at 621 Gallery (FL, 2012-2016), Performer with Ellis Wood Dance (NY, 2004-2009), MFA in Performance and Choreography from Florida State University (FL, 2012), BFA in Performance from New World School of the Arts (FL, 2003), and a childhood full of incessant curiosity for movement, connectivity and the human experience. Loren joined Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre in 2017.
Cecilia Benitez was born and raised in Miami, Florida, where she currently resides. She earned her BFA in dance from Point Park University in 2020. In the spring of 2019, she studied abroad in Madrid, Spain at the Conservatorio de Danza Superior “María de Avíla”. Upon graduation she worked as a freelance artist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania performing with an improvisation-based company The Pillow Project under the direction of Pearlann Porter. She also served as the lead dancer and rehearsal director in the original production of “Milton” choreographed by Kaylin Horgan. Now a freelance artist based in Miami, she dances for Rosie Herrera Dance Theater while teaching, dancing, and choreographing for Syncopate Collective. Her dance films have been featured in both ScreenDance Miami and the 305 & Havana International Improv Fest. Her choreography has been commissioned by Miami Light Project’s “Here and Now” program, Pioneer Winter’s “Grass Stains”, and Bistoury Physical Theater and Film for the 305 & Havana International Improv Fest. When not dancing you can find her reading, biking, writing letters, or making Cuban coffee.
Claudia-Lynn Rightmire spends her days writing stories, drawing faces, and creating dances. Claudia-Lynn holds an Honors summa cum laude BA from Roger Williams University and is a certified health coach. Claudia has created and collaborated in many spaces, nationally and internationally. Currently, she moves with Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, David Dorfman Dance, INSPIRIT Dance Company, and Cortney Andrews. She has worked with New York City Children’s Theater, Third Rail Projects, Kinesis Project Dance, Moving Ethos Dance, Sarasota Contemporary Dance, and others. In 2021, she formed c/s movement projects alongside her partner, Simon Thomas-Train. Claudia is driven by storytelling, voice, and shadow.
Barbara Caridad Meulener was born and raised in Miami, FL. She attended Florida State University and attained her Bachelor in Social Work while performing seasonally on and off campus, including a rendition of “for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf”, directed by Giltrecia Head. Upon their return to Miami, Barbara is dancing with Pioneer Winter Collective and Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre. They have presented their work “The Body is the First Altar” in PWC’s Grass Stains and has recently premiered her first short, dance film “GOZA”. Barbara is devoted to discovering ways to use artistic creation as a catalyst and facilitator for social and political liberation.
Staff
David Ferri (Lighting Designer) has worked with prominent choreographers such as Pina Bausch, Shen Wei, Doug Varone, Yin Mei, Eiko and Koma, Jane Comfort, David Rousseve, Jody Sperling and Ballet Preljocaj. He has been the Production Manager for the prestigious American Dance Festival since 1996 training upcoming designers in America. Recipient of 1987-1988 BESSIE AWARD for his design of Doug Varone’s “Straits”, and 2000-2001 BESSIE AWARD for Sustained Achievement in Lighting Design. Mr Ferri is the resident Lighting Designer – Technical Director for The Vassar College Dance Department, Mr. Ferri was also resident lighting designer and technical director at PS 122 from 1985-1991. Mr. Ferri lives in New York between his travels and projects.
Tiffany Schrepferman (stage manager) Tiffany is a Production Stage Manager & Lighting Designer who is passionate about partnering with remarkable creators to bring their visions to life - be it on the stage, in a warehouse, deep in the forest, under a staircase, or in the middle of a pond. Tiffany holds a BFA in Dance from Belhaven University and has been touring nationally & internationally for the last dozen years or so. Along her travels, she has worked for the American Dance Festival at Duke University for over a decade, and also the University of the Arts seasonal Dance Series for many years. Some of the thrilling collaborators she has had the pleasure of working with include Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, Tulsa Ballet, Ad Deum Dance Company, Gaspard & Dancers, Amirov Dance Theater, Kate Weare Company, Sara Juli, METdance, Uptown Dance Company, The Project Dance Foundation, Hope Stone Dance Inc., Dance of Asian America, Dance Houston, TALK Dance, Vitacca Dance Project, Frame Dance Company, Aimed Dance, and many others. Tiffany’s great delight in her career is to partner with artists and creative minds of today to bring important voices into the light - making them seen and heard.
George Echevarria (graphic designer, photographer) is a freelance graphic designer and photographer. Haunted by capturing the ethereal, he always carries a camera. He enjoys shooting both film and digital. Born and raised in Miami, Echevarria grew up surrounded by the ocean and bananas. He spends as much time as possible on the beach.