Bios

shawn brush

Shawn Brush is a New York-based dancer and choreographer who is a company member with both danceTactics performance group and Falcon Dance. Shawn has performed with Amber Sloan, The Dance Exchange, Meagan Woods Company, Maya Orchin, Laura Peterson Choreography, Stefanie Nelson, The New Collectives, and Artichoke Dance Company. His own work, in collaboration with his partner Molly McGrath as Brush/McGrath(works), has been presented at Arts on Site, Art House Productions, Judson Church, Dixon Place, Triskelion Arts, Green Space, and a good friend’s wedding.  Shawn is also a teaching artist and has taught at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and Raritan Valley Community College, and has been a guest teacher at The Dance Exchange, various universities, and public schools. He graduated with a BFA in Dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts in 2015.

sara roer

Sara Roer got an early start dancing in North Carolina as the southern drawling star of a many a home video. She became the youngest member of the Wilmington Independent Choreographers and a competitive gymnast before defecting to the North to earn her B.F.A., suma cum laude, at George Mason University. After a colorful college run that took her to China and back, Sara headed North again for a new home on the busiest island in the world. While becoming a New Yorker, she has had the pleasure of working as the rehearsal director/dancer for danceTactics by Keith Thompson and as a founding dancer with b3w (Emily Berry). She has also worked on projects with Susan Vencl, Heather McArdle, Karen Malpede and many others. She has presented her own work at various venues throughout NYC and NC. Sara is Operations Manager at Brooklyn Arts Exchange and is a certified traditional Thai Yoga Bodywork practitioner offering sessions privately and at Brooklyn Strength.

emily berry

Emily Berry is the Artistic Director of B3W Performance Group, which has performed in the US, England, Greece, and Mexico.  B3W has performed throughout New York City, including Henry Street Settlement, DNA, The 92nd Street Y, Manhattan Movement Arts Center, Dixon Place, and the Irondale Center among others.  B3W has received the Mondo Cane Commission from Dixon Place for their evening length work, Confined in 2010. Berry’s work has also been commissioned by Ann Arbor Dance Works. Eva Yaa Asantewaa (Infinite Body) describes Berry’s work as “Memorable, intelligent, strong”.  “Violent but engaging” are the words attached to Berry’s work by Clare Croft in the Washington Post.  Maura Donahue (Culturbot) writes about Confined as, “Clear expression of idea in movement”. Emily is currently performing with danceTactics Performance Group/Keith A. Thompson, and Darla Stanley.  She has performed with Boris Willis Moves, Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh & Company, Restless Native Dance/Tamieca McCloud, Lesole’s Dance Project, and Ashe Moyubba/Alafia Afro-Cuban Folkloric Dance Ensemble. Emily is a Certified Movement Analyst.  She also has a MFA in dance from George Mason University.  She is currently an assistant professor of dance and the director of the dance program at Queensborough Community College.

nicole mcclam

Nicole Y. McClam, MFA, CMA is thrilled to be a part of danceTactics. She enjoys exploring the awesomeness of dance with her students at Queensborough Community College and bouncing to and fro as a founding member of B3W Performance Group and performing with Kayla Hamilton and Human Landscape Dance (Washington, DC). Nicole’s work has been presented in Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD and Brooklyn, NY, Potsdam, NY, and Lubbock, TX.  A DC native, she was a long-time member of Deborah Riley Dance Projects.  Before that she apprenticed with Pennsylvania Dance Theater for their 2000-2001 season where she had the pleasure of performing works by Ben Munisteri and Claire Porter. She received her MFA in Dance while also pursuing her studies in the Laban Certification Program at the University of Maryland. She earned a BFA in Dance Performance and a BA in Chemistry from East Carolina University. Nicole enjoys knitting, vegan cupcakes, and researching zombies. 

aidan feldman

Aidan Feldman has been a part of danceTactics since 2012. He is also a member of Artichoke Dance and Valerie Green/Dance Entropy, and occasionally puts together shows of his own. In the past, he has worked with Chavasse Dance & Performance, Spark Movement Collective, and the Barkin/Selissen Project. Aidan leads multiple lives, also working to make government function better through technology, and teaching code and data skills to public policy students at Columbia University and New York University (NYU). When not dancing or nerding, Aidan can be found glaring at cars from his bicycle. He's thrilled to be sharing this work with you, thank you for supporting the arts.

Guest Artists

brendan mccall

Brendan McCall has worked in over 40 countries on 5 continents as a performer, choreographer, director, and producer, and has had the pleasure of working with Paul Langland, Lars Øyno, Alexandra Beller, Moisés Kaufman, Maureen Fleming, David Gordon, Stephen Petronio, among others. He performed in and co-produced Brain to Brain (2019), the final work created by his mentor Mary Overlie; performed in the Ibsen Award-winning production of Svanhild in Norway, Russia, and Japan (2015-17); and a number of his choreographies were presented by Danspace Project between 1995-2008. He was the Manager of the Cummins Theatre in Australia (2012-14), served as Producer & Director for Grusomhetens Teater (2014-17), and was Production Manager for Tulsa Ballet (2019). He first collaborated with Keith Thompson on Human Behaviors (Danspace Project) in 2001, and has been a member of danceTactics since 2015. Since first performing at La MaMa in Sin Cha Hong´s Pluto (1994)), Brendan has subsequently produced world- and US-premiere productions by Grusomhetens Teater, Kari Hoaas, and Nela Kornetová, as well as worked with Pavel Zustiak/Palissimo. As a teacher, he has taught at the Yale School of Drama, the New School for Drama, the Actors Studio, New York University, Pace University, Bilkent University (Turkey), Ballettakademien and the University of Dance (Sweden), and The International Theater Academy Norway, where he also served as Dean from 2008-10. He teaches regularly at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, as well as master classes at Terry Knickerbocker Studio and elsewhere. He has written numerous articles and award-winning pieces related to performance since 1997, which have been translated into ​French,​​Norwegian,​ ​Russian,​ ​and Belarusian, and is a staff writer for thINKingDANCE and a contributing writer to Culturebot. He is a designated instructor of Allan Wayne Work, the Jean Hamilton Floor Barre, and Mary Overlie´s Six Viewpoints; co-founder of Interzone Films, an independent production company, with Akira Veintidos; and has published award-winning fiction under a pseudonym. BFA with Honors in Acting, New York University. MFA in Dance, Bennington College. MPhil in Ibsen Studies (ABT), University of Oslo. 

clarence brooks

Clarence Brooks toured the US, Europe, and Asia with 80 plus companies including Nikolais/Murray Louis, Laura Dean, Ohio Ballet, Marcus Schulkind, Robin Becker, Jean Erdman, Creach/Koester, and Spoleto Festival/USA. A former associate professor, who has lectured, choreographed, and taught in institutions across the nation, founded the Repertory Dance Theatre Ensemble which performed in curated festivals from Miami to Boston. They can be seen in the 5-part video documentary The World of Alwin Nikolais and their essay, Dancing with the Issues, was published in One Teacher in 10: LGBT Educators Share Their Stories. Additional distinctions include induction into the OCU Performance Hall of Honor, two Atlantic Center for the Arts Associate Artist-in-Residences, a Japan Foundation Grant to study Butoh, and the Library of Congress recording their interpretation of Talley Beatty's masterpiece "Mourner's Bench" for the national archive. A founding member and past president of the Florida Dance Education Organization, Clarence holds advisory positions with FDEO and Natural Movers Foundation and sits on the boards of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, danceTactics Performance Group, Miami Dance Futures, and Doris Humphrey Foundation for Dance. A high school dropout, they hold an MFA, a bachelor of performing arts, and several somatic certifications including Laban Movement Analysis, yoga (200 hour), and the Evans Method of Teaching Dance Technique. Clarence freelances with the Dance Exchange, Pioneer Winter Collective, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, danceTactics Performance Group, Megan Williams Dance Projects, and David Parker & The Bang Group. Follow them on Instagram: @clbdreadeddancer 

george hirsch

George Hirsch graduated from the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, receiving an Honors Degree in Dance. He has since had the privilege of dancing for Liz Lerman/Dance Exchange, Artichoke Dance Company, David Capps/Dances, Eva Dean Dance, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance, Regina Nejman and Company, and GoCo, in addition to working with Keith Thompson’s/danceTactics.

darla stanley

Darla Stanley is a dance maker, performer, and teacher. Her work has been supported by the PEW Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Susan Hess Choreographer’s Project, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, and Dakshina/ Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company. She performed with Philadelphia companies (ZeroMoving, Karen Bamonte Dance Works, Leah Stein, Melanie Stewart, Subcircle) from 1989 to 2005, and has also been featured in the work of Chris Burnside, and in London choreographer, Siobhan Davies’ Philadelphia Bank Project. Darla currently dances with David Appel, Emily Berry/B3W Performance Group, Aviva Geismar/Drastic Action, Jenni Hong, and Keith Thompson/danceTactics in NY. She has taught dance at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and at Temple, Drexel, and Wesleyan universities.