(director, choreographer)

Kyla Piscopink’s dance career has taken her everywhere from NFL cheerleading to the Nutcracker—and pretty much everywhere in between. Somewhere along the way, in 2008, she founded Dance Key West and has served as artistic director ever since. With Dance Key West, Kyla has presented and performed her work at Lincoln Center, Dixon Place, Triskelion Arts, and all over the stages, streets, and beaches of Key West. Kyla is most passionate about dance’s ability to connect, heal, and transform, and that passion can be seen in the DKW outreach programs she has developed, including: The ReMARCable Dance Project, Telling My Story, Dance America, and BVMP Dance & Technique.

Kyla’s choreography credits include “OK Toilet Bowl”, (a children’s music video with STEVENSTEVEN, dir: Steve Burns), two musicals at The Studios of Key West: Prime Time (by Blake Hunter & Charles Lindberg, dir: Murphy Davis), and See Jane Run!, (by Maribeth Graham & Dana P. Rowe, dir: Murphy Davis), StylePointe (a New York Fashion Week event at Dixon Place), and Five Course Love at The Red Barn Theatre (by Gregg Coffin, dir: Moritz von Stuelpnagel).

Kyla is Pilates Mat certified, has a BA in Sociology from The State University of New York at Fredonia, and teaches Performing Arts/Dance at Grace Lutheran School in Key West. Kyla is proud to be a member of American Legion Unit 1280 Auxiliary in Cassadaga, NY and the Florida Keys Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Kyla lives in Key West with her husband, Dennis, and their two children, Hendrix & Polly. For more information, please visit: kylapiscopink.com.

(graduate director & professor, University of Alabama, founder/director of Wyoming Pathways from Prison, )

I am an anthropologically trained Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice who uses immersive ethnography and community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods to analyze intersections between violence, vulnerability, and criminal justice institutions. I am an author or editor of 16 book-length works and over 100 articles and technical reports, with this research supported by federal funders including the National Science Foundation, Census Bureau, Department of Justice, and Fulbright-Hays, international organizations such as UN Women, and foundations such as the Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Microsoft Philanthropies, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, the Correctional Education Association, and the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research. Results of these projects have been featured in national media outlets such as The Chronicle of Higher Education, PBS, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and The Nation. I speak five languages, have worked, lived in, or visited 46 countries, and live and farm on a self-sufficient, off-the-grid permaculture homestead.

I have led six distinct CBPR projects throughout my career:

1. Transformative Programs and Practices in Correctional Settings: I worked as a researcher and services provider for eight years (2012-2020) in more than 100 prisons and jails to explore how educational opportunities and therapeutic approaches can improve institutional social climate and post-release outcomes.

2. Wyoming Pathways from Prison: I founded and directed the national award-winning free college-in-prison program Wyoming Pathways from Prison (2012-2020). I held a Wyoming Department of Corrections Central Office staff badge while leading this work, which included interviews with over 300 currently and formerly incarcerated people and every correctional professional in the state.

3. Women of the Street: I collaborated with a Denver, Colorado women’s transitional housing facility for six years (2010-2016) of CBPR-driven ethnographic work, quantitative data collection, and more than two hundred in-depth interviews with street-involved women and the criminal justice and social services professionals with whom they regularly interact.

4. Feeding Fiji: I led a seven year (2007-2014) CBPR project in the Pacific Islands on market trade’s unification of ecosystems and ethno-linguistic groups via large-scale inter-island commerce organized and facilitated almost entirely by women. Working in conjunction with UN Women, I conducted extensive archival research, over 400 in-depth interviews with women market traders, and long-term ethnographic observations to produce numerous substantive technical reports.

5/6. Current projects: Since May 2021, I have facilitated multiple distinct CBPR projects with the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney’s Office and the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

(Telling My Story collaborator, Regional Director, South Carolina DOC)

I grew up in Wyoming, the fourth generation of Wyomingites. My parents ere school teachers and I am the third of four girls in my family. I graduated from the University of Wyoming with dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Sociology and Administration of Justice and a Master’s degree in Sociology. In my over 40-year career in the criminal justice system, I have had the opportunity to work in many different areas. I have been a police dispatcher, city police officer, detention officer/supervisor, victim-witness coordinator for the prosecutor’s office, Director of Victim Services for the State of Wyoming, and Deputy Administrator for the Wyoming Department of Corrections. I currently service as a Regional Director for the Department of Corrections in South Carolina where I oversee six prisons: three male institutions and three female institutions. Among my specific duties, both in Wyoming and South Carolina, I have been tasked with creating opportunities for women who are incarcerated to gain knowledge and skills to help them “grow and go” once they leave prison. The ideas for these opportunities have come from the women themselves by just asking and listening to what they tell us.

I have been involved in creating several opportunities for women in Wyoming and South Carolina, to included “Telling My Story,” and “Women’s Words/ Women’s Worlds (WoW), A Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program. In addition to working in the criminal justice system, I taught criminal justice, sociology, and women’s studies courses at the University of Wyoming, Laramie County Community College, and Park University. I retired from Wyoming in 2021 and joined the South Carolina Department of Corrections as the Region 3 Director.

In addition to work, I have been active in community civic organizations and volunteered for many community non-profit organizations and their boards working with women, children, and animals. I also played intramural sports in my communities, and coached high school volleyball. I am married to my best friend, Charlie, and together we share four daughters, nine grandchildren and two exceptionally spoiled dogs: Cooper Murphy and Cora Sioux.

(composer)

Keith Burnstein is a singer-songwriter, pianist, and film composer who pens timeless tunes. His is a new American songbook that draws as much from Tin Pan Alley as it does from modern geniuses like Jeff Tweedy, Amon Tobin, and Mose Allison. “The songs, while instantly familiar, remain very much their own creations” (Secret Sound Shop), “combining the bedroom intimacy of a singer-songwriter” (Seven Days VT) with the rich harmonic palette of jazz, electronic, and “world” music.

In his genre-straddling career, Keith has “road-dogged it” with New Orleans darlings, The Mumbles; funk legends, The Headhunters; collaborated with and produced Kristin Diable, and released six records as a leader. His most recent LP, Things That Are Heavy Make Me Feel Light, was made through a generous grant from The Threadhead Foundation, and is available via all major digital retailers.

Since 2015, Keith has been composing music for film, radio, stage, and small screen. Recent projects include 2018’s Emmy-winning documentary, Momentum Generation, Viola Lee’s ABC Series, The Last Defense, and the NPR series, Tripod. As this goes to press, Keith is thrilled to be composing music for the forthcoming docuseries, Eyes on the Prize 2, which will debut on HBO Max in 2024!

(dancer)

Kristen Huffman has been a performer and teaching artist with Dance Key West since 2017. Kristen is from Bowling Green, Kentucky where she began dancing at Dance Arts of Bowling Green. She trained with the Southern Kentucky Dance Ensemble, Atlanta Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. She has been fortunate to study with many renowned instructors and feels grateful to have the knowledge and understanding that has been taught to her at these schools during her most influential years. Her dance career continued at Western Kentucky University where she earned a BA in dance. There, Kristen was a member of the University Dance Company and the National Dance Educators Organization. She also had the opportunity to take her dance studies overseas to Civitavecchia, Italy and rehearsed and performed with the Balletto di Civitavecchia. Kristen has traveled with Dance Key West to NYC to dance in Dixon Place’s production of “Fast Forward”, as well as performed in many projects around Key West including film pieces, collaboration with painter Gary Welton at the Key West Gallery, and many performances and pop ups at The Studios of Key West.

Currently, Kristen lives in Key West, Florida. She loves to be on the water and works as a captain and mate here in the Keys in the winter and in Southeast Alaska as an eco-friendly fishing and hiking guide during the summer.

Kristen appreciates the discipline and work ethic that studying, performing, and teaching dance has instilled in her throughout the years. She admires her teachers and peers for their dedication to the art and hopes to inspire young dancers to reach for their dreams!

(dancer/choreographer)

A proud native of Long Island, New York, Jacqueline was introduced to dance at the tender age of seven. She became well versed in all styles of dance, as well as theater. She later graduated from Montclair State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Education.

Jacqueline is grateful to be able to travel the world and share her expertise at dance competitions as an adjudicator. She is currently a K-12 Dance Educator in NJ Public Schools. Jacqueline’s experiences have allowed her to not only advance her skills as a dancer but also as a well-rounded educator and performing artist.

Jacqueline has performed elite choreographed pieces by Bill T. Jones, Martha Graham, Jose Limon, David Parsons, Larry Keigwin, and Frederick Earl Mosley. She was the lead soloist in Martha Graham’s Daughters of the Night, performed at The Joyce Theatre, NYC and the lead actress in The Truth Urban Theatre Group’s production of Viva Africa. She has also appeared on Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It Netflix series as well as a dancer on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Good Morning America, and Live with Kelly and Ryan. Some of her commercial credits include performing with Cardi B, Demi Lovato, Rita Ora, and G-Eazy. She has walked in Brooklyn Fashion Week, performed in New York Fashion Week and can be seen in various commercials.

The last time Jacqueline was in Key West, she performed in the musical Prime Time, directed by Murphy Davis and choreographed by Kyla Piscopink. Jacqueline is thrilled to be back in Key West to perform for her 8th year with Dance Key West.

(dancer)

Angela Harriell is a choreographer based in Brooklyn, NY. She has choreographed for The Public Theater’s “Shakespeare in the Park”, as well as several productions at La Mama, Theater 80, Theater for the New City, The Kraine Theater, and Dixon Place. Her private/corporate show choreography clients include Vogue magazine, The BBC, Perrier, Yelp, Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot, Ricard, Flavorpill, The Hornblower, and Cointreau. She has set choreography for the live premieres of Banksy’s film “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, TNT Drama’s premiere of “Claws”, “Will” and “Animal Kingdom” and the premiere of the movie “Savages”. She has also created and choreographed shows and performances for multiple nightlife venues including The House of Yes, The Highline, Le Poisson Rouge, The Slipper Room, Verboten, The Diamond Horseshoe, Soho House, The Standard, The Dream Hotel, Webster Hall, Hudson Terrace, ZUMA NYC, Hudson Yards, and Bowery Ballroom. Angela has choreographed and curated the nightly dinner shows for Omar’s “La Boîte”, Motel 23, and set the choreography for a floor show for Virgin’s new cruise line, Virgin Voyages. She was granted a month long residency with Chashama, and created a show that resulted in 2 photo spreads in The Guardian. Her dance company, The Love Show NYC, has also toured their productions to Japan, Egypt, Italy and Mexico. Angela concepted and created a pop-up theater in a former Mrs. Field’s cookies in The Port Authority Bus terminal that ran for 7 months. She is currently in the process of concepting a new theater experience to open in Spring of 2024. Angela has been dancing with Dance Key West since 2012.

(choreographer)

Karli Scott hails from Ocean City, New Jersey where she immediately discovered her love of dance and movement through competition dance at a very young age. As she grew, she was given her first teaching/choreographing jobs in high school and realized her love for teaching and connecting with students. She was inspired to continue her studies throughout high school at Broadway Dance Center in New York City as a student in the Children and Teen Program where she thrived in Ballet, Contemporary, and Jazz. She strived to maintain her studies and teaching at her home studio in NJ all while traveling to New York on the weekends to train and perform. Through connections she made in New York, she had the ability to work with MSA Talent Agency which awarded her many performance opportunities via different platforms. With much help and support from family, friends, and teachers, she was inspired to apply to SUNY Purchase College and was ecstatic upon receiving a letter of acceptance. She then went on to pursue a BFA in Dance at SUNY Purchase College where she graduated Magna Cum Laude 2016. There, she had the wonderful opportunity to dance works by Bill T. Jones, Merce Cunningham, Rosalind Newman, and Kyle Abraham, as well as many student works. Karli is currently teaching and doing freelance dance work based in New York City and New Jersey. She is also currently pursuing her MA in Dance Education from Hunter College in NYC. She is so excited to be involved with Dance Key West and is constantly inspired by Kyla and her wonderful peers!

(dancer/choreographer)

Dawn “Cricket” Desmarais is a multi-genre artist who uses and fuses together movement, language, sound, and the visual to create art on pages, stages, walls & bases. She has performed theatrical & dance-based performances & shown work in multiple venues in Key West & New York, & is a company member of Dance Key West, & especially loves the outreach elements of the company’s repertoire. She is a prequalified for Art in Public Places artist with a mission to effect change by engaging viewers through their sense of pleasure and an invitation to reflect, dialogue, and move towards action. She has shown her work across the island with exhibitions that include the solo show “poetic just is: a tribute to the Cuban spirit” (2008) and “Blind Spots, (2019)” an installation about human trafficking, at The Studios of Key West,“ She was a New York Times Fellow (1997), Mission: Iconic Reef Fellow (2022), a Vermont Studio Center (1997) and a resident studio artist at The Studios of Key West from 2018-2020. She received an MFA from New York University, a Bachelor of Arts from University of New Hampshire, and a Bachelor of Science from the College of the Florida Keys in Marine Resource Management, & is an AAUS Scientific Diver, & a certified Yoga Instructor. She lives with her two teen daughters, two cats, & her dog in Key West, Florida & works at Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary & teaches writing, encaustics, & creative movement classes at The Studios of Key West. Special thanks to Kyla and Susan for inviting her into this important project to help give voice & movement to women who need their stories to be told to a culture that needs to better build empathy & understanding & huge shoutout to Darla & all the project’s authors for their courage & the honor of working with their stories.

(choreographer)

Cait Belland began her dance training at age four at The Coffee Mill Dance Studio in her hometown of Key West, Florida. She furthered her dance training in Jacksonville, Florida at various studios including the Florida Ballet and Orlando Ballet. She trained at Festival Ballet Providence in Rhode Island in their pre-professional and summer programs. Other summer programs Cait attended include: Orlando Ballet, The Rock School of Dance, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Kansas City Ballet, and The Nutmeg Ballet. She continued her studies and graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy, training under Katie Dorn, Rachel James, Jurijs Safonovs and Director, Joseph Morrissey. Her classical ballet performances include Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Don Quixote. She has also performed “Serenade” by George Balanchine and “Before Your Eyes’’ by Yoshito Sakuraba. Cait has worked with renowned dancers and choreographers including Shura Baryshnikov, Michael Spencer Philips, Pablo Francisco Ruvalcaba, Dillon Crossman, Wendy Whelan, Fana Tysfagorious, Shura Baryshnikov, and Sydney James Harcourt. She has also performed work by the late Paul Taylor, and has trained at Steps On Broadway and Gibney Dance in NYC. In 2019, Cait performed at Carnegie Hall to work choreographed by Loni Landon. In 2020 she performed at the New World Center in Miami, Florida to work choreographed by Katie Dorn. Cait is ignited by creating unique choreography and exploring the collaborating relationship of dance with other art forms. She graduated from the University of Florida cum laude in Spring 2024 with her BFA in Dance. She is currently pursuing her Master of Science in Management and will graduate in Spring 2025. While at UF, she has performed works by Xan Burley, Alex Springer, and Isa Garcia-Rose. Spring semester of 2023, she studied dance in Paris through the University of South Florida’s study abroad program, directed by Michael Foley. Cait is Assistant Director of Admission at Interlochen Center for the Arts, recruiting and promoting talented young artists. Cait is in her fourth year as a company member of Dance Key West. This year, she is excited to work with Kyla Piscopink as Co-Artistic Director, building upon the history of Dance Key West.

(dancer/choreographer)

Melissa Weber was born in North Haven,CT but started her serious ballet training when she moved to Boca Raton, Fl. Melissa received the majority of her early dance training with Boca Ballet Theatre under the tutelage of Jane Tyree and Dan Guin and at Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts under the guidance of Jeff Satinoff. Melissa’s first professional experiences were with Louisville Ballet in Don Quixote and in Christopher Fleming’s Nutcracker in Lakeland,Fl while still in high school. After graduation she attended Wright State University and danced with Dayton Ballet II. After spending two years in Ohio, Melissa joined Nashville Ballet as a trainee. Melissa joined Charleston Ballet Theatre where she danced soloist and principal roles for eight seasons. Ms Weber has performed many works by renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Marius Petipa, Lew Christensen, Christopher Fleming, Dermot Burke, Karen Russo, Jon Rodriguez, Paul Vasterling, Choo San Goh, Dan Guin, Jonathan Tabbert and Jill Bahr. Some of her favorite roles include The Mistress in Lew Christensen’s Con Amore, Lead Gypsy girl in Don Quixote, The Matriarch in Jill Bahr’sRite of Spring, Helena (Jill Bahr) and Hippolyta (Brett Raphael) in A Midsummer Nights Dream, Lady Capulet in Bahr’s Romeo and Juliet, Arabian in The Nutcracker, and the Lead Girl in Guin’s Ella Sang. Since moving to the Connecticut/NYC area Melissa has performed with Ballet Neo, Arch Contemporary Ballet, Benjamin Briones Ballet and performed with Armada Dance in New York Fashion Week’s “Style Pointe” was a soloist with Connecticut Ballet CT Theatre Dance Company as a Principal Dancer. Melissa has been featured in Jordan Matter’s Book, Dancers After Dark, danced in Cal Kehoe’s music video “Marilyn”, an extra for OneRepublic’s video “Connection” and danced in the “Corpse de Ballet” episode of CBS’s Elementary. Currently Melissa is dancing with Dance Key West, Thomas/Ortiz Dance and Sarah Berges Dance. Melissa is thrilled to be a part of Dance Key West’s “Telling My Story”.

(dancer)

Christina Johnson (aka CJ) fell in love with dance back in the 1990’s; in a far away land known as Oregon. She was studying fitness and entertaining the idea of being a “dancer”. CJ moved to Seattle where she cofounded Jerboa dance (www.jerboadance.com), and has dedicated her professional life to the arts ever since. She made the trek across the country, joining the NYC dance scene in 2005. CJ is proud to have been on stage with The Love Show, Shir Dance Theater, Tamara Sarri, Dance Key West, and more! Now you can find her traveling all over NYC and beyond teaching, performing, and playing with circus freaks. CJ is honored to be back at The Studios of Key West with this special opportunity to share these unique stories.

(choreographer)

As a professional ballet dancer, Morgan has performed with over 20 international companies spanning 6 countries, including Dance Key West. He grew up studying at Nan Klinger’s Excellence in Dance in Akron, Ohio then received his B.A. from Point Park University. He started his career with Texas Ballet Theater under world renowned director Ben Stevenson before relocating to NYC. He was a soloist with Connecticut Ballet for 8 seasons then joined East Coast Contemporary Ballet and Ballets With a Twist while simultaneously guesting as a principal dancer with Palmetto City Ballet and for multiple companies around the country. Morgan has also been fortunate to work with Lindy Mandradjieff and Deborah Wingert from the Balanchine Trust to perform over a dozen ballets by George Balanchine. Notable credits include a principal role choreographed by Broadway legend Ann Reinking, opening for Cyndi Lauper’s annual show “Home For the Holidays,” performing Bob Fosse’s “Dancin’ Man, Rich Man’s Fruge” and “Sing, Sing, Sing” staged by Charlotte D’Amboise. Others include a feature in National Geographic, posing for Jordan Matter’s “Dancers After Dark” and performing alongside the original Broadway cast of The Wiz for “Broadway Sings for Pride.” He’s performed in several web series and short films that have won numerous awards including being nominated at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and the first promotional dance film for New York City’s Office of Emergency Management. Annually, he tours North America as the Master Ballet Instructor for View Dance Challenge in Canada and the U.S. based Elevation on Tour. He also teaches for Dance Masters of America, judges for StarQuest International Dance Competition and the Long Island Dance Challenge, Wyoming State University’s Snowy Range Dance Festival, Baltimore’s Hippodrome Foundation summer program which offers free classes to underprivileged families.

Currently, Morgan lives in New York City and is the Dance Program Manager at Success Academy Charter Schools where he runs a network of over 45 teachers in 37 schools across four boroughs bringing specialized in-school dance programs to thousands of students.