*Original photo by Jim Coleman
SFD+I PERFOMANCE COHORT SHOWCASE
New works by
JOSEPH HERNANDEZ, PEGGY PIACENZA, ELLIE SANDSTROM, AND BENNYROYCE ROYON
Aug 1 | 7:30 PM
Aug 2 | 2 PM + 7:30 PM
12th Ave Arts Mainstage |1620 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
Presented through the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation featuring the SFD+I 2025 Performance Cohorts.
*Individual tickets go on sale about 6 weeks before performances.
Four talented choreographers create bespoke works for the next generation of dance talent during the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation!
Performance Cohort Showcase | Joseph Hernandez, Peggy Piacenza, Bennyroyce Royon, and Ellie Sandstrom
Velocity Dance Center presents the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation Performance Cohorts: Showcase, with works by renowned choreographers Joseph Hernandez, Peggy Piacenza, Bennyroyce Royon, and Ellie Sandstrom. The performances are a culmination of two to three weeks of intensive training and rehearsal for dancers across many backgrounds and skill levels during the festival. Sharing the stage are advanced students from across the US in the Professional Cohort, and adult dancers in the Beginner and Intermediate Cohorts. The Performance Cohorts Showcase is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in Seattle’s vibrant contemporary dance scene, and witness Seattle’s up-and-coming talent.
ARTIST BIOS
JOSEPH HERNANDEZ
BENNYROYCE ROYON
PEGGY PIACENZA
ELLIE SANDSTROM
PERFORMANCE AT SFD+I
The Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation is a vibrant month-long immersion in the Seattle dance community, and a chance to explore with dance practitioners experimenting at the leading edge of dance technique, creative practices, and dance improvisation. Grounded in SFD+I’s nearly 30 years of community-building and intergenerational collaboration, this festival is a gateway for new dancers to connect with artists making work in the Seattle dance and improvisation community, and a chance for Seattle-based artists to train and research with internationally renowned artists.
During our Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation, Velocity also presents work by local and visiting faculty members. These presentations range from work-in-process sharings to larger scale productions, and are often one-night-only presentations. We also commission artists to work with participants to create new work that is shared during the festival.
PROGRAM SUPPORT
The Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation is made possible with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and the King County Festival and Events Fund. It is also supported by our community of individual donors, community partners, and arts advocates.
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION
12th Ave Arts is fully accessible for wheelchairs and walkers. The lobby and bathrooms are at street level, and seating is available without the need for an elevator or stairs. The venue is also equipped with an Assistive Listening Device.
Joseph Hernandez is a choreographer and writer based in Seattle, Washington. His work as a choreographer has been presented with critical acclaim by such organisations as The Joyce NYC, Festspielhaus Hellerau, The Semperoper Dresden, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Theatre St. Gallen, and Whim W’Him Contemporary Dance Seattle, and the Staatstheater Nürnberg. His work The Lavender Follies was filmed for European Television by ZDF Deutschland and has now been disseminated worldwide. He has taught at SUNY Purchase College, Dance Arts Faculty (Rome), and Cornish College of the Arts, well as the Royal Danish Ballet, and Artof (Zurich) summer courses. He served as a founder and jury member for Tanznetz Dresden’s STUDIO ROUND, curating showings and performances/discussions by creators from all over Europe. His installation series Nielsson Conversations was hosted by S T O R E Contemporary in Dresden, Germany. In addition to his freelance work, he was appointed Associate Choreographer at the Northwest Dance Project in 2022.
*Photo by Kristof Kovacs
*Photo by Jim Coleman
Bennyroyce Royon (he/they/siya) is a queer, immigrant, Filipino-American multidisciplinary dance artist and cultural producer living and working between Seattle and New York City. Royon is passionate about performing arts, education, and community building through dance. Inspired by love, people, nature, and the cosmos, his/their choreography and world-building projects explore identity, culture, and the idea of belonging.
He/They received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the Juilliard School, and performed works by Eliot Feld, José Limón, Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, Ronald K. Brown, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Alan Hineline, Jill Johnson, Jessica Lang, and Aszure Barton. Royon worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, New York Philharmonic, and with professional dance companies including Armitage Gone! Dance, Sidra Bell Dance New York, Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Cas Public, and is a founding member of Bad Boys of Dance. The New York Times has noted his/their “keenly focused, succinct way with movement.”
Royon received choreographic commissions from Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Hispánico, Point Park University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, American University, DeSales University, and The Joffrey Academy of Dance to name a few. He/They received two CUNY Dance Initiative residencies, Velocity Dance Center’s Creative Resident Award, and The Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works Choreography Award. He/They received grants from the MAP Fund, 4Culture, and Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
His/Their project-based contemporary dance company, Bennyroyce Dance, performed in New York City at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Joyce Theater, Baruch Performing Arts Center, The Ailey Studios, Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture, Bryant Park Presents, and more. The company also performed in other cities including Seattle, Bellevue, and St. Louis.
Royon belongs to several communities as a co-chair of the Eastside Culture Coalition, Inspire Washington member, Artist-in-Residence at the Filipino Community of Seattle, and as a Washington State Arts Commissioner. This is his/their second year as a co-curator for the Base Residency Program. More info at www.bennyroyce.com.
*Photo by Jeriel Calamayan
She led packed classes at Velocity Dance Center for 16 years in both ballet and modern dance. From 2006-2021, she taught middle and high school students at The Northwest School, where she was the Dance Department Chair for 5 years. She has been a Teaching Artist for the past 17 years for Seattle Theatre Group’s Dance This programming and she is in her second season teaching for STG’s Dance for PD® program.
*Photo by Time Summers