Dominic Roberts (he/him) identifies as an Afro-Latino American from Atlantic County, New Jersey. He is a recent graduate of the Ailey/Fordham Program where he was a recipient of the BNY Mellon scholarship. While in New York he has had the opportunity to perform works by Alvin Ailey, Jose Limon, Kyle Abraham, Tamisha Guy, Hope Boykin, and others. He has had the privilege to participate in the Jacobs Pillow Contemporary Ensemble. Performing works by Jennifer Archibald, Jessica Wright and Crystal Pite. He has attended Springboard Danse under the direction of Alexandra Wells where has performed works by Maxine Doyle and Majella Bess. His mission is in using dance as a tool for activism and to bring accessibility to the art form. He hopes to continue this journey of carving through space and creating meaningful work that offers society hope.

Brett Dalis is a NYC-based dance artist and choreographer. A current senior in the Ailey/Fordham BFA program, Dalis has had the pleasure of performing alongside the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) in their 2024 and 2025 New York City Center seasons in Alvin Ailey’s “Memoria”. He has been seen with Eglevsky Ballet in the principal roles of Solor in “La Bayadère”, James in “La Sylphide”, and The Prince in “The Nutcracker” and has performed works by choreographers including Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Takehiro Ueyama, David Parsons, Adrienne Hurd, Maurice Brandon Curry, and Pedro Ruiz. In his summers, Dalis has trained with the Dutch National Ballet Academy, Canada’s National Ballet School, Ellison Ballet, and Parsons Dance. He has produced work for national and international choreography competitions including New Century Dance Project and the Prix de Lausanne Young Creation Award, most recently debuting his work “TKO!!” at The Ailey School this past October. Insta: @brettdalis

Faride Henaine Gutiérrez is a dynamic modern-based dancer, multidisciplinary artist, and cultural creator with roots in dance and sideshow circus techniques. Influenced by Modern, Contemporary, House, Voguing, and Sideshow, her work reflects the bold energy of New York City’s underground dance scene. She has performed nationally and internationally in Mexico, Sweden, and New Orleans and New York at venues like The Joyce Theatre and Coney Island USA. Faride’s innovative fusion of sideshow and dance, along with her collaborations across artistic mediums, marks her as a proud emerging Latinx artist reshaping the future of performance.

Emil Marti was born in Armenia and started training in Latin ballroom dance, competed nationally and internationally and has been awarded US National Champion with his dance partner. He then began training Horton technique intensively with Jolea Maffei. His movement draws inspiration from his dynamic Latin dance background and his developing ballet technique.

Barbara Monteiro (Fort Lauderdale, FL) began her training at Boca Ballet theatre and The Art of Classical Ballet, later graduating from Dreyfoos School of the Arts in 2019, where she performed works by Solomon Dumas, Freddie Moore, Salim Gauwloos, and Branndi Lewis. Monteiro is a second-year student in the Scholarship program at the Ailey School. 

Kasey Orava is a London-born, US-raised, freelance dancer and choreographer. Kasey graduated summa cum laude with a dual degree in dance and visual arts (film/photography) from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program. She received her classical ballet training in the Washington School of Ballet’s professional division and supplemental training with Jacob's Pillow, Ballet BC, Company Wayne McGregor, and Ballet X, among others. Kasey has danced professionally with a number of project-based concert dance companies in addition to independent commercial dance projects. Most recently, Kasey danced in “Unchainable Voices,” by Vernard J. Gilmore, alongside other members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Her performance experience more broadly includes repertoire by talented choreographers including Jennifer Archibald, Hope Boykin, Crystal Pite, Fernando Hernando Magadan, Jessica Wright, Medhi Walerski, Ihsan Rustem, and Brice Mousset. In September 2025, Kasey was named a Harlem Stage “WATERWORKS” Choreography Fellow, in partnership with Alvin Ailey, to create an original ensemble piece, “Love Exists at the End of the World,” for debut in the spring. Kasey is excited to perform with Maffei Dance Company.

Autumn J. Rodrigue is a Miami native currently based in New York City. She began her dance training at Miami City Ballet, where she developed a deep appreciation for the Balanchine technique. Her passion for dance led her to continue her studies at New World School of the Arts, and later as a Presidential Scholarship recipient at the California Institute of the Arts, where she graduated with a BFA in 2024.

During her time at CalArts, Autumn spent a year studying abroad in South Korea under the direction of Shin Chang-ho at the Korea National University of the Arts, further enriching her artistic development. Following the completion of her undergraduate studies, she was accepted into The Ailey School, where she is currently a scholarship student.

Autumn has performed works by renowned choreographers including Ohad Naharin, Robert Battle, Paul Taylor, Donald Byrd, Micaela Taylor, Christopher Huggins, and the duo Mike Tyus and Luca Renzi.

Rehearsal Director

Leslie Plummer, a native New Mexican, learned classical ballet from Patricia Dickinson-Wells and performed with New Mexico Ballet Company.  She furthered her education at summer intensives with ABT and the Ailey School.  Leslie received her B.A. in Dance from the University of New Mexico.  Leslie moved to NYC in 2010, where she was a founding member of Oui Danse with Artistic Director, Brice Mousset, until 2015.  She met Jon Ole Olstad, Norwegian choreographer and dancer, in 2016 and began assisting and collaborating with him on various creative projects in the US and Europe, including “Dancing in the Wild."  Leslie is a certified GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® pre-trainer at the Movement Lab in Albuquerque, NM.  She is excited to join SoulSkin dance for her second season.

Andrea Dusel was born in Wyoming and has been dancing since the age of five. She holds her BA in Dance from UNC Charlotte and her MS in Exercise Science from Pennsylvania Western University. Andrea has been fortunate to perform in beautiful locations around the world including New York, Mexico, and Copenhagen. Andrea is a soloist and aerialist with Dzul Dance, which she joined in 2019.  She joined SOULSKIN Dance in 2022.

Andy Santana is a New Jersey–born contemporary dance artist based in New York City. He holds a BFA from Rutgers University and completed his training abroad at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in collaboration with Hebrew University. Andy has performed extensively as a freelance artist with leading companies and institutions including White Wave Dance Company, the Merce Cunningham Trust, Abarukas, and Shen Wei Dance Arts. He was a featured dancer in the three-year Swiss/German tour of Touch Isolation, a dance-theatre work by Basel duo Marcel Schwald and Chris Luenberger. In addition to his performance career, Andy is a highly regarded Sculpt, Pilates, and Barre instructor, currently teaching at Equinox, FuzeHouse, and through his private practice. Anduy joined SOULSKIN in 2026.

Barbara Koch Dancer/ Choreographer / President of Alchemy Arts Collective

Barbara was born in Muncie,Indiana. She attended high school at North Carolina School of the Arts and went on to receive her BFA from CAL ARTS. She trained in London at London Contemporary Dance School as a recipient of an exchange scholarship. 

Bella Lewitzky, Stefan Wenta, Zvi Gotheiner and Shelly Senter were influential mentors and teachers.

Barbara has worked with Tandy Beal, Lula Washington Dance Theater, Chen and Dancers and was a member of ZVI Dance in NYC for over a decade. She is currently a member of SOULSKIN and has worked with them since 2017. She co created The Golden Mean with Adrianna Thompson for SOULSKIN in 2019. This creation celebrated the 100th Anniversary of The Bauhaus Art movement. Barbara has been an independent choreographer since the mid 90s. Her work is based on the concept of inter disciplinary collaboration and has been presented in India, Joshua Tree, LA, Nepal, NY, and San Francisco.

She is one of the founding members and President of Alchemy Arts Collective which is non profit multi media arts collective based in Joshua Tree, CA. Barbara is also currently working for Mill-Tree, a veterans community group based in the High Desert. She was the choreographer of Tapestries of Transformation which Mill Tree staged and performed at The Retreat Center in Joshua Tree in the Spring of 2024.

Her work is driven/inspired by the human condition, nature, what shifts us, wounds us, silences us, the unseen and that which brings us to our knees.

Sophia Rumasuglia is a Bay Area native that has performed professionally with Joffrey Ballet in New York, Ballet Austin, Bay Pointe Ballet, Ballet Bernansconi, No Strings Attached, and Metamorphosis Ballet.   She also received her BFA from St. Mary’s college, and is a certified yoga and GYROTONIC® trainer. She has been with SOULSKIN Dance for the past six years, including several works in correlation with Alchemy Arts Collective. She joined SOULSKIN in 2020.

Montes De Oca is a Dominican Republic native and a Rutgers University alum holding a BFA in Dance. He has performed works by Bill T. Jones, Darrell G. Moultrie, Frederick E. Mosley, George Balanchine, Maxine Doyle, Keith Thomson, Maxine Steinman, Randy James, and many others. Montes de Oca is a former Ballet Hispano’s BHdos dancer, and currently is a member of the Company of Collaborative Artists under the direction of Camille Moten.

Federico is originally from New Mexico, where he began his dance journey as a teenager under the guidance of Michele and Kevin Self. His early formation in ballet led him to summer programs at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and The Rock School, among others. While earning a degree in opera performance at New Mexico State University, Federico continued to perform with the university’s contemporary dance company. Immersed equally in voice and movement, his training cultivated a deep sensitivity to musicality, breath, and emotional nuance, guiding his transition into modern and contemporary dance. After relocating to New York City in 2012, Federico began dancing with Dzul Dance and has since performed

RJ Carrier Duquette is a contemporary and heels dancer, cabaret artist, and movement educator based in New York City. Originally from New, Baltimore, MI, and a former software engineer, he now teaches Pilates and The GYROTONIC®️ Method - integrating principles of alignment and breath to nurture the joy of movement in others. In 2025, RJ began working with SOULSKIN Dance as a dancer, website designer, and social media manager, bringing his full toolkit to support the team and aid others in creating art.