CURE-8 CHOREOGRAPHER BIOS

NATASHA ABU-FADEL

Natasha Abu-Fadel (she/her) earned her BFA in Dance Performance from UCO in 2018, exposing herself to many artists and performing in cities nationwide and abroad. She then attended the American Dance Festival Summer Intensive in Durham, N.C. In 2019, she was part of the first Embodiology Immersion in El Paso, Texas, focusing on improvisation for performance. Since then, freelancing has brought her such expansive and diverse opportunities in live performance, teaching, and behind the camera. Some of Natasha’s performances were with the Painted Sky Opera for Amahl and the Night Visitors, along with Paige Fischer’s The Four Seasons: A Modern Ballet and with Spark! Creative Lab’s Ditty Bops: The Art of Listening. Her choreographic works have been seen in collaborative productions for UCO's theater department Trojan Women 2.0 and Everybody. In Edmond North High School's musical productions Bright Star, Mamma Mia, Oklahoma!, and Chicago and in Southmoore High School’s musical Once Upon A Mattress. Her short film “X PAT BOND” in collaboration with Leandro Damasco Jr. and many Lebanese expats has attended the Lebanese International Film Festival in Beirut, Lebanon and kNOwBOX Dance Film Festival in Dallas Texas, Seoul South Korea, and Oaxaca Mexico. She is humbled to have this opportunity to explore the curiosities around the ways a people cope with being away from their homeland. With heaviness in her heart, she continues to experiment, research, discover and evolve her craft with like-minded artists.

jessica cajina

Jessica Cajina (she/they) Jessica Cajina is a Nicaraguan-American queer artist from Ardmore, Oklahoma. She graduated with a Bachelors degree in Musical Theatre and a minor in Dance Performance from the University of Central Oklahoma. Jessica has professionally performed with Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma and Southern Plains Theatre. She has taught master classes in Alaska, Texas, and all over Oklahoma. Jessica is also a past dancer for the Kaleidoscope Dance Company and is a current dancer with the Abstrakt Mindz Hip Hop Company. She has choreographed shows at the University of Central Oklahoma, credits including Rent, Sister Act, Goosebumps, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Milk and Honey. Her choreography has been featured and awarded at multiple dance competitions and national competitions. She has also had the opportunity to perform professionally in Los Angeles, Alaska, and New York City. Jessica is immensely grateful to continually share her art to the world and have the ability to inspire others with dance. She wants to thank her dad, mom, siblings, her partner Alex, Hui Cha Poos, Sheri Hayden, Ashley Tate, and Jeff Dismukes.

harper jewel harris

Harper Jewel Harris (they/them) is a multidisciplinary human, artist and teacher. Originally from Oklahoma City, OK, Harper attended and received their BFA in Dance Theatre from The American Musical Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles. Harper has performed and been a featured dancer in many stage and film productions, under the direction of Michelle Elkin, Laura Berg, Genevieve Carson and Tracy Phillips. Harper has performed at Carnival LA, Club Jete and Stomping Ground LA Voices Showcase. They have taught at Genesis Studios, The Nest & The House Dance Complex in Los Angeles. Harper recently set work on the collegiate company Kaleidoscope at the University of Central Oklahoma. Harper’s film and print credits include Adidas, Audible, American Tourister and Apple.

alex schooling

Alex Schooling (she/her) hails from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She started her training with Lancaster School of Ballet and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She went on to study at Butler University where she earned her BFA in Dance Performance with a minor in Peace nd Conflict Studies. At Butler, she studied choreography and composition under Susan McGuire and presented works in The Senior Choreography Showcase. Schooling went on to freelance in Portland, Oregon, where she participated in projects with Push/Fold and was a collaborating artist with The Holding Project, working on dance film. She was an original member of PDX Contemporary Ballet and choreographed on the company in 2015. In 2016, she joined Oklahoma City Ballet and has danced a wide range of repertoire from Alexander Eckman, Twyla Tharpe and Jessica Lang. At Oklahoma City Ballet, she has had the pleasure of being a part of the creation of many original works from artists including Rena Butler, Nicolo Fonte, Penny Saunders, Larry Keigwin and Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye. She presented works in Future Voices: A Choreographic Showcase in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Alex was commissioned by Central Oklahoma Ballet Theatre in 2022 and has since created four original works for the company. She loves experimenting, collaborating and spending her days working with dancers in the studio. Alex is endlessly awed by the process of artistic creation. She is continually inspired by the clouds

nathaniel tylor

Nathaniel Tylor (he/him) received his BFA in Dance Performance from the University of Central Oklahoma. He is trained in classical ballet, jazz, and modern dance. He has also been trained in African dance, Bharatanatyam, and aerial dance. Mr. Tylor has had the esteemed opportunity to present his own choreographic work at two American College Dance Association conferences where his work was selected for the Gala performance. He is also one of the few students who was selected for two consecutive years to present their own choreographic research at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research. He currently teaches across the Oklahoma City and Edmond area in Hip-Hop, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz, and Ballet. “As an artist I think it is important to represent the community that you come from. To be another face and voice amongst the people. Art in Oklahoma is making moves one step at a time, and I want to be a part of the innovation.”

CURE-8 PERFORMING ARTISTS

  • SHELBY BAILEY

  • PARIS CRISWELL

  • SAM CHAVEZ

  • BRI CLARK

  • PAIGE FISCHER

  • DAELAN GALINDO

  • BRIGITTE GOULART

  • RILEY HALL

  • SAMANTHA HAYNES

  • MEEGAN HERTENSTEINER

  • GRACE JACKSON

  • MIA JENSEN

  • EVELYN LEE

  • KAITLYN MURPHY

  • EMMA PALMA

  • DAKOTA ROSS

  • LYANNA SAITO

  • MORGAN SMITH

  • ANNA VELAZQUEZ

  • THEO WASHBURN

Cure-8 is presented in partnership with Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center and is made possible through a grant funding from OK Let's Dance, an initiative of the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, and is excited to serve choreographers across Oklahoma for its inaugural event in 2024. 


THANK YOU CURE-8 DONORS!

Larry Kegwin
Andrea Lodico
Justin Poos
Melissa Scaramucci
Ellen Gifford
Nicole Poole
Emily Claude