The School for Contemporary Dance and Thought presents WIP (works-in-progress), a performance series that showcases developing movement-based works on Sunday afternoons. WIP values sharing research and experimentation, rather than presenting finished works, and welcomes applications from emerging and established artists.
The curatorial team choosing WIP choreographers is composed of fellow dance artists located in the Pioneer Valley. We are looking to create performances showcasing a diverse range of established and emerging artists, as well as those local to the valley and beyond.
SPRING 2026 WIP Artists
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Celine Bassman is a Queens native and multidisciplinary dance artist, having earned her BA in dance and feminist, gender & sexuality studies from Wesleyan University. Fundamental to Celine's work is an understanding that everyday life is a site for choreographic inquiry. She is inspired by romantic ballet’s dream worlds, but prefers to disinherit ballet’s rules in favor of play, and postmodernism’s structural and corporeal sensibilities. Her work applies spatial patterns, repetition, and pedestrian choreographed phrase work. She has presented work at Arts on Site, Neville Dance Theatre (On Pointe Dance Festival), and Green Space (Fertile Ground). Celine has worked as an assistant choreographer for Bessie-award winning artist Douglas Elkins.
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Colby Connelly, from Middletown, CT, is a dance artist based in the Hartford area. Colby began her training at age 4, continuing through high school at Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, and college at University of Hartford- The Hartt School, where she received her BFA in Dance with an emphasis in Ballet Pedagogy. Following college, Colby taught at Joffrey Ballet School in NYC before relocating back to CT to teach at GHAA and various studios in the area. Colby has danced with Spectrum in Motion, Sonia Plumb Dance Company & as a collaborator with Body House. She is currently a resident artist with The Hartford Dance Collective & a dancer with IMMIX Dance Project. Her choreography credits include Hartford Gay Men’s Chorus, Real History Productions, collaborations with composers & is now presenting her own work.
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Mira Göksel (they/them) is an Interdisciplinary Movement Artist from Izmir, TR, currently existing on the land of the Massachusett and Pawtucket Peoples, colonially referred to as Boston, MA. They are a Choreographer, Educator, Rehearsal Director, casual Painter, and a cat Mom. Göksel's artistic practice is rooted in emotional, physical, and social instincts working hand in hand for the most organic outcome in all tenses of creation. They are forever committed to the nurturing of an inclusive space with an investment in mutual support, respect and harmony. Mira has most recently shared work at Subcircle Residency 2025 (ME), Boston Center for the Arts DanceLab Residency 2024/’25 (MA), Rhode Island Choreography Project 2024 (RI), ArtBeat Festival by the Somerville Arts Council 2024 (MA), Salem Arts Festival 2024 (MA), and one minute solos by Mobius 2024 (MA). They are currently the Rehearsal Director and Stage Manager for Laila J. Franklin’s BABYBABYBABY and have in the past worked as project support for original works by Simon Montalvo, Daniel Pelzig, and the resetting of Shelter by Jowola Willa Zolar with project lead Maria Bauman and faculty rehearsal director Leslie Koval, at their Alma Matter of Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
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Sarah Ana Malone is a multidisciplinary artist born in Guatemala and currently based in Massachusetts. Her artistic practice implements the building and breaking down of one's identity and ego through movement and visual arts. She received her BFA after completing three years of studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and finished her final year at Bennington College after UArts’ abrupt closure. Sarah has performed in works by numerous artists including Netta Yerushalmy, Gary W. Jeter II, Rena Butler, Katie Swords Thurman, Jesse Zaritt and Sidra Bell. In 2024, she performed with Philadelphia based dance collective Sharedelusion in their evening length work titled see me to see you. She has performed in multiple dance festivals including Battery Dance, New York and KYLD Inhale Performance, Philadelphia. Sarah hopes to continue performing, collaborating, and cultivating future choreographic endeavors.
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Madison McGain is a Brooklyn-based movement artist originally from Maui, Hawai'i. Since earning her BFA from Adelphi University in 2017, Madison has built a versatile freelance career on both the East and West Coasts. She has danced for Adaptations Dance Theater, Nicole Von Arx, Fullstop Dance, Caitlin Adams, and Randee Paufve and others. She is currently dancing with Taq Dance, a New York based, dance theatre company. As a choreographer, Madison's work has been presented at venues such as the Santa Cruz Museum of Art History, Greenlung Studio, The Craft NY, Arts On Site, and SafeHouse Arts. Most recently, she was a guest artist in residence at The Sable Project in Stockbridge, Vermont. In the spring Madison will be a guest choreographer for SEED, a process focused residency with Adaptations Dance Theater, where she will create a new work with their dancers. Madison's teaching has brought her to institutions like ODC (CA), Western Oregon University (OR) , Creature Space (NY), and Shawl-Anderson Dance Center (CA).
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Doron Perk is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher, living in Brooklyn. My work lives in the space between ballet foundation and contemporary research. His first evening-length work, “Grandfather Visit”, premiered in October 2022 and has since been presented at venues in NYC such as Judson Church and Westbeth, across the US, and internationally at the Mexico City Contemporary Dance Festival. Perk is the founder of More Fish Dance Company, a Bessie Award-nominated performer, Dance Magazine’s “Best Performers of 2016”, and an extraordinary ability in the arts visa recipient. He is a Gaga movement teacher, the creator of Super Chill Ballet and More Fish Partnering classes at Gibney Dance Center, and an adjunct professor at NYU Tisch. Before moving to the US, Perk performed with the Croatian National Ballet, Compañía Nacional de Danza (Spain), and the Batsheva Ensemble, dancing works by choreographers such as Nacho Duato, Johan Inger, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, and Ohad Naharin.
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Each season, WIP artists are selected by a rotating panel of peer artists. The panel selects a range of artists: established and emerging, local and visiting, who demonstrate a spirit of inquiry and experimentation. We have showcased artists ages 20-65, and focus on programming artists of color, and artists who identify as female, queer and non-binary. |
What is WIP?
The School for Contemporary Dance and Thought presents WIP (works-in-progress), a performance series that showcases developing movement-based works on Sunday afternoons. WIP values sharing research and experimentation, rather than presenting finished works, and welcomes applications from emerging and established artists. The curatorial team choosing WIP choreographers is composed of fellow dance artists located in the Pioneer Valley. We are looking to create performances showcasing a diverse range of established and emerging artists, as well as those local to the valley and beyond. Students are eligible to apply, but priority will be given to artists who are not currently enrolled in a degree-granting program. Preference will also be given to those who have not yet shown in the WIP series. We ask that works presented in WIP do not exceed 15 minutes. WIP is curated by a rotating team of working choreographers and movement artists.
BIG thanks to our past curators, Meredith Bove, Mary Beth Brooker, Dante Brown, Sofia Engelman, Lesley Farlow, Nikki Lee, Kate Martel, Katie Martin, Madison Palffy, Kate Seethaler, Cat Wagner, and Lailye Weidman! |
Spring 2023 WIP Photos:
Spring 2022 WIP photos:
Photos by Peter Raper from WIP XVIII (March 13, 2022)
Past WIP Choreographers:
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WIP I ARTISTS
Katie Swords & Jesse Zarrit Ellen Oliver Kate Seethaler Cookie Harrist & Delaney McDonough Leah Fournier |
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WIP II ARTISTS
Meredith Bove Madison Palffy Lailye Weidman Molly Tupper Shaina Cantino |
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WIP III ARTISTS
Katherine Adler Emily Craver/The Little Streams Mariam Dingilian Kristen Stake & id m theft able Mary Beth Brooker |
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WIP IV ARTISTS
Jessica Beliles Sofia Engelman Kelly Silliman/the tinydance project Michelle Huber and Kelsey Hobbs Meghan Carmichael |
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WIP V ARTISTS
Tatyana Tenenbaum Catie Leasca The Lovelies Angie Muzzy Robin MacRostie |
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WIP VI ARTISTS
Leah Moriarty Lauren Horn Alexander Davis & Joy Davis |
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WIP VII ARTISTS
Marsha Parrilla Katherine Adler Kate Martel Meghan Frederick/Practice Project Liz Kleisner |
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WIP VIII ARTISTS
s h i f t: Alexandra James & Dale O'Reilly Lesley Farlow Alta Millar Dana Duren Amelia Heintzelman |
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WIP IX ARTISTS
Charlotte Gibbons Ian Spak Juli Brandano Caitlin Canty Hollis Bartlett + Nattie Trogdon |
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WIP X ARTISTS
Gabriella Carmichael Tess O'Day Victoria Gonzalez Kelsey Saulnier Lena Engelstein + Kimiko Tanabe |
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WIP XI ARTISTS
Sara Gibbons Sarah Elizabeth Lass Tori Lawrence & Co Andy Russ |
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WIP XII ARTISTS
Nikki Lee + Lucille Jun Joya Powell of Movement of the People Dance Company Cat Wagner Stefanie Weber |
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WIP XIII ARTISTS
Laurel Snyder Izzy Thompson-Pomeroy Chloe London Janoah Bailin |
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WIP XIV ARTISTS
Rachel Sigrid Freeburg + Mike Marcinowski Danielle Davidson Kate Martel Bronwen MacArthur |
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WIP XV ARTISTS
Rebecca Pappas Meredith Bove Katherine Kain Barbie Diewald |
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WIP XVI ARTISTS
Barbara Mahler Dances Michelle Erard Ophelia Bryan Em Papineau |
