Challenging the Legacy:
Many Modes of Identity

A widely respected former member of the Limón Dance Company for more than a decade, Puleio is the sixth Artistic Director in the Company’s 80-year history, a position that originated with Doris Humphrey. After a diverse performing career with the Limón Dance Company, touring national and international musical theatre productions, television and film, he received his MFA from University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on contextualizing mid 20th century dance for the contemporary artist and audience. He is committed to implementing that research by celebrating José Limón's historical legacy and reimagining his intention and vision to reflect the rapidly shifting 21st century landscape. 

Ian Spencer Bell is a dancer, a choreographer, a writer, and a teacher. The New York Times describes his work as “not dance and not poetry but some third medium.” The Village Voice calls his dancing “stealthy as a nocturnal feline.” He has performed at the 92nd Street Y, Boston Center for the Arts, Jacob’s Pillow, National Arts Club, Poetry Foundation, and Queens Museum. In addition to his own work, he has danced historic solos by Merce Cunningham and Isadora Duncan. He is dancer in residence at Chesterwood, the studio and home of sculptor Daniel Chester French, where, on one occasion, Duncan danced.

Amelia Dawe Sanders (zie/zir) has been involved with Duncan dance since the age of twelve. Zie has studied Duncan technique and performed works by Isadora Duncan with Loretta Thomas, Catherine Gallant, and Lori Belilove at venues including Jacob’s Pillow and St. Mark’s Church. Zie has presented zir choreography at New York Live Arts, 92Y, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, Mary Anthony’s Studio, Norte Maar’s Dance at Socrates, and Montclair State University. Amelia has performed as a guest artist with the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble. Zie has worked with Emmanuèle Phuon on We, performing at Kaatsbaan among other venues. Currently, Amelia is pursuing an MA at the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College. Zie graduated summa cum laude with a Dance BFA from Montclair State University, where zie performed work by Jody Sperling, Abby Zbikowski, Maxine Steinman, and Kathleen Kelley, among others.

After graduating in 2003 from the National Superior Conservatory of Paris for Music and Dance, François Chaignaud has danced for many choreographers (Alain Buffard, Boris Charmatz, Emmanuelle Huynh, Gilles Jobin). Since his first piece in 2004, he conceives dance as a global expression, his work is characterized by the articulation of singing and dance and a profound relationship to history, evinced in his own work as well as in the collaborations he has formed with multiple artists (with Jérôme Marin, Marie Caroline Hominal or Théo Mercier). Between 2005 and 2016, together with Cecilia Bangolea, he created a series of noteworthy shows that were presented worldwide. In 2021, he founded mandorle productions, whose artistic line is based on the cooperation with other artists such as Nina Laisné, Marie-Pierre Brébant, Akaji Maro, Dominique Brun, and Sasha J. Blondeau. He also creates pieces for large groups of performers: Soufflette in 2018, and t u m u l u s in 2022, then In absentia in 2024, with Geoffroy Jourdain. He recently created the pieces Mirlitonswith Aymeric Hainaux and Petites Joueuses and is currently working on Último helecho with Nadia Larcher and Nina Laisné (to be created in 2025). A portrait is dedicated to him on the occasion of the Festival d'Automne à Paris 2025. He is an associate artist at Chaillot - Théâtre national de la Danse in Paris as well as the Maison de la danse and the Biennale de la danse de Lyon.