Donna Uchizono Company
Staff
Anh Vo - Development Director
Anh Vo is a Vietnamese choreographer, dancer, theorist, and activist. They create dances and produce texts about pornography and queer relations, about being and form, about identity and abstraction, about history and its colonial reality
Ami Scherson - Company Manager
Ami (ah-mee) Scherson (she/her/hers) is a Queens, NY based arts administrator, musician, and facilitator. Ami is committed to creating equitable and inclusive arts spaces through her professional and personal work. She co-chaired the 2021 Dance/NYC Junior Committee, a proactive committee of emerging leaders in the dance and nonprofit community by initiating projects in research, advocacy, and career development in New York City. In her freetime, Ami cares for herself by taking dance classes, cooking Japanese food, and taking care of her plants.
Former Staff
Benedict Nguyen - Managing Director
Benedict Nguyen is a dancer, writer, and scholar based in the South Bronx. In addition to their work for Donna, they also support Jennifer Monson/iLAND. They are a member of the National Center for Choreography (NCCAkron)'s inaugural dance-writing laboratory. Their writing on dance has appeared in Dance Magazine, In Dance, Critical Correspondence, and the Brooklyn Rail.
Annie Heath - Administrative Intern
Rochester native, Annie Heath, is a creative researcher, choreographer, and dancer. Her collaborative, project-based company, Heath in Progress, has presented work in Massachusetts, Vermont and Israel, as well as venues in NYC like TADA! Youth Theater, Triskelion Muriel Schulman Theater, West End Theater and Alchemical Theater Laboratory. Annie has performed works by Gabriella Carmichael, Pavel Machuca-Zavarzin and Matthew Westerby Company since moving to NYC. Currently, Annie is the Administrative Assistant for Patrica Noworol Dance Theater, Operations Manager at Dancewave and an administrative intern for Donna Uchizono Company. Annie hopes that through her love of creating and traveling, she can better understand the diverse peoples that build a community, nation and world.
Natasha Frater - Archival Project and Research Assistant Intern
Natasha Frater began dancing at the age of four in her home city of London in England where she trained in a range of styles including Modern, Jazz, Hip Hop, African, Contemporary and Ballet dance. At the age of sixteen she joined the Brit School for Performing Arts in order to take her dance training more seriously where she was awarded a Gold Jazz Award. From there she went onto City and Islington College where she obtained an A level in Dance. In 2015 she graduated from Bath Spa University with a Bachelor
of Honours Degree in Dance with History having spent a semester studying as a Dance Major at Columbia College Chicago. The following year she moved to New York City to further her training on the Seminar Program at the International Dance School Peridance Capezio Center. Her professional work includes dancing with companies such as Novato, Angol 2, KPC and in music videos like Hang, Love Sick and Reminiscing in addition to commercial and editorial modelling. You can find out more about Natasha at: http://www.natashafrater.com/
Janel Brown - Archival Project and Administrative Intern
Janel Brown has always been passionate about dance. For several years she competed with a studio in her hometown of Union, NJ and performed in concerts and theatrical productions at her high school. During her undergraduate career, Janel has performed in multiple ensembles and attended the American College Dance Association’s Northeast Conference. Currently, she is pursuing a Linguistics B.A. at Montclair State University, working as the office assistant for Carolyn Dorfman Dance, and interning with Dance New Jersey.
Alexandra Lance - Joyce Rehearsal Intern
Alexandra Lance is a dance performance artist based in New York City who began training in Houston, TX with Kingwood Dance Theater under the direction of Sheryl Rowland. She graduated spring 2018 from Florida State University with a BFA in Dance and a BS in Marketing. Alexandra’s movement aesthetic and choreography illustrate her rigorous ballet and modern training along with elements of improvisation and more experimental practices. Alexandra has performed professionally with NobleMotion Dance in Houston, TX and most recently with Sarah Rose and Dancers in NYC on the piece 90 Minutes at the Urban Garden Room. In addition, she is the Company Manager for DanielRose Projects and has worked administratively for MANCC (Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography) and Axis Connect.
Jessica Autumn Ziegler - Administrative Intern
Jessica Autumn Ziegler is a Chicago native and recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she received her BFA in Dance with highest honors and her 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification under the direction of Linda Lehovec. While in college, Ziegler was fortunate to perform in works by Abby Zbikowski, Jennifer Monson, José Limón reconstructed by Roxane D’Orleans-Juste, Linda Lehovec, and Endalyn Taylor, among many others. In addition to performing, Ziegler finds purpose in her roles as a teacher, choreographer, film-maker, and arts administrator. (Photo: Elliot Emadian)