Springboard Danse

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Springboard Danse

A unique project for experienced, professional dancers who wish to access the int'l dance community

Springboard Danse is a not-for-profit contemporary dance organization that centers career development and connects professional dancers, choreographers, and companies. Springboard’s dynamic ecosystem facilitates jobs, mentorship, and ethical practices in the larger international dance field. Springboard believes that the future of the field comes from the artists, and commits to supporting their s

uccess both within and beyond the existing institutional frameworks. Dancers for the project are selected during auditions during the month of February. The dancers live a unique, intense experience, working closely with as many as 10 principal companies and 7 emerging choreographers from around the globe, all internationally renowned. Over a three-week period in May/June, dancers participate in workshops, rehearsals, creations and auditions– in contemporary dance– wherein they explore different artistic approaches and choreographic processes to further each individual’s professional development. On the final day of the project a showing of “works in progress” is presented in a theatre before an invited audience. Members of the dance community, as well as presenters, choreographers and artistic directors from companies in the United States, Canada and Europe, will be invited to this presentation. During this annual artistic “rendez-vous”, the dancers are provided with a rare opportunity to demonstrate their abilities in a context other than an audition, and to touch the pulse of the dance world through contact with several prominent and current creators. The artists not only engage in exchanges with the other participants but also get a chance to be seen by many choreographers and company directors. For their part, artistic directors from the participating dance companies have the chance to see the dancers’ potential within a professional working context of daily classes, rehearsals, creative process and showings.

11/07/2025

🤍 PINA BAUSCH

We are honored to be collaborating with the Pina Bausch Foundation to present Springboardx | Pina Bausch next month!

This one day workshop will give you a taste of Pina’s iconic tanztheater legacy in an intimate setting, and an opportunity to expand your range of expression.

We hope you’ll join us in NYC on August 2 🌞

Link to register and learn more in our bio 📲

14/06/2025

SPRINGBOARD DANSE |PITTSBURGH 2025 has come to a close and we are leaving this city full of gratitude 🙏🙏🙏

Thank you to all of the dancers, choreographers, stagers, assistants, and faculty who made the last 3 weeks so special. Thank you for sharing your talents and your time with us- we are truly inspired by you all ❤️

Thank you to our partners for generously donating your gorgeous facilities in the George Rowland White Dance Complex and this amazing theater . None of this would have been possible without the gift of these incredible spaces. ❤️

Thank you to our partners at Amplified Productions and to for helping us capture photos and videos this week! We can’t wait to share these soon! ❤️

Thank you to our staff .longstocking for all your hard work and dedication, and of course, to our founder and director .dance for your visionary leadership and commitment to artists. ❤️

It was a joy to be in Pittsburgh this summer! Stay tuned for sneak peeks into the last 3 weeks and announcements of future workshops and opportunities! ✨

03/06/2025

COMING UP THIS SATURDAY ❗️

Our Resident Choreographers have been at work in the beautiful studios creating ABYSS, a new site specific work on 17 Springboard dancers! Set to premiere on June 7th at 8pm & 9pm, this work just got its own feature in ! 📲

Head to the link in our bio to read the full story and join us this Saturday for this unique parking garage performance!

ABYSS performance installation is co-presented by Springboard Danse and made in collaboration with ProjectileObjects. It is presented in partnership with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, with support from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, Point Park University, and Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, with generous support from Citizens Financial Group.

31/05/2025

GRATITUDE FOR OUR WEEK 1 WORKSHOP FACULTY! ❤️❤️❤️🙌

We are so lucky to have been joined by Shamel Pitts, Arika Yamada, Ingrid Kapteyn, Tamisha Guy and Sidra Bell this past week. These INCREDIBLE individuals guided our dancers through 5 wildly different workshops this week, and we were floored by their generosity, passion and artistry.

THANK YOU ALL for helping us launch SPRINGBOARD DANSE |PITTSBURGH ❤️

23/05/2025

🔺TWO FREE SHOWINGS! 🔺

We hope you will join us for these exciting events kicking off Springboard Dance | Pittsburgh 2025, where you can witness works from 8️⃣ inspiring Springboard choreographers!

First up, our PLATFORM Showing features excerpts of previous works from our Resident, Fellow and Emerging Choreographers
🗓️ May 30 @5:30pm
📍Pittsburgh Playhouse

Next, meet us downtown for a site-specific new work by Resident Choreographers featuring 17 dancers from our summer project.
🗓️ June 7 @ 8:00pm & 9:00pm
📍Smithfield- Liberty Parking Garage Rotunda

We hope to see you there!

18/05/2025

SPRINGBOARD 2025 EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHER AARON CHOATE💥

Aaron Choate (they/them) is a graduate of The Juilliard School class of 2022. After studying at Diana Evans School of Dance in Kentucky, they were named a 2018 Presidential Scholar in the Arts. They have performed the works of renowned choreographers, such as Aszure Barton, Ohad Naharin, Justin Peck, Jamar Roberts, Bobbi Jene Smith, Rennie Harris, Spencer Theberge, Lar Lubovitch, and Ted Shawn. They are also an avid choreographer and leader. In 2024, they were a choreographer and Artistic Lead for the Hubbard Street Teen CREATE Summer Intensive. Summer of 2023 they had a process at Gibney Dance called the Moving Towards Justice Fellowship created by Scott Autry, and in 2022, they presented a work at 92nd Street Y as a part of the Future Dance Festival. In 2021, they received the George J. Jakab Grant Award from Juilliard to create a dance film, and upon graduation they were awarded the Juilliard Career Advancement Fellowship.

We are excited to have Aaron with us for the return of our Summer Project, and know they will create something special with the Springboard dancers in just a few short weeks!

16/05/2025

SPRINGBOARD 2025 EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHER ANYA SAUGSTAD 💥

Anya Allegra Saugstad is a dancer and choreographer based in Vancouver BC, on the unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh’, Stó:lō and Səlílwətaʔ/ Selilwitulh, and xwməθkwəyə̓ m First Nations.

Anya is the Artistic Director of Furious Grace Dance Theatre (originally Judith Garay’s company Dancers Dancing), and creates live collaborative performance works in theaters and outdoors. Often inspired by nature and animals, Anya builds vigorous and physical ensemble choreography to express stories that encompass strength, celebration, and yearning.

Anya has created works for Ballet Edmonton, ArtsUmbrella, LamonDance, Simon Fraser University, Method Dance Company, and Coastal City Ballet. Anya’s work has been presented through The Scotiabank Dance Centre (Dance in Vancouver), Dance Deck (Belle Spirale), Dance West Network, Crimson Coast Dance, The Rotary Center for the Arts, and has had her work presented throughout BC, in Montreal, Edmonton, and Toronto.

Anya is joining Springboard Danse |Pittsburgh this year as an Emerging Choreographer and Representative of Action at a Distance Dance Society, and we are so glad to have her with us! We can’t wait to see what she comes up with for the dancers this summer!

14/05/2025

SPRINGBOARD 2025 EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHER AKIRA UCHIDA 💥

Akira Uchida is a choreographer, movement director and creative director originally from Ottawa, Canada, and now based in NYC. His work has been featured in FACT MAG, Nowness and Dance Magazine, and he has worked with artists such as HAAi, Saint Levant, Indochine, Flyana Boss, Leon Vynehall and the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver. Akira has also worked with multiple fashion brands such as Reebok, Nike, Juicy Couture, Private Policy, Lu’u Dan & Priscavera. Additionally, Akira is a board member at Share The Movement, a non-profit dedicated to providing opportunity and guidance to young BIPOC dancers.

Akira’s work explores the tension in q***r experience, mixed-race identity, masculinity and femininity, and broader questions of time and evolution. He is also interested in high-energy dance music and groove as tools to foster connections through a shared experience. We are eager to see his ideas come to life with the Springboard dancers this summer!

Photo by Christine Do

13/05/2025

OUR 2025 SEASON IS HERE❗️

We are so excited to present these events this summer and can’t wait for you to meet the incredible artists involved in each of them. Whether you attend a showing as a part of Springboard Danse |Pittsburgh or explore Pina Bausch repertoire as a part of our NYC Springboardx workshop in August, this summer is full of dance and creativity! We hope to see you there ✨

🔺ABYSS performance installation (slowdanger) is co-presented by Springboard Danse, made in collaboration with ProjectileObjects, with support from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, Point Park University, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership with generous support from Citizens Financial Group.🔺

Photo Credits:
1. SBDM2016_EmergingChoreographer_ DanielleRusso©️MichaelSlobodian
Dancer

2. slowdanger photo by Michael Parente

3. SBDM2015_PrincipalChoreographer_ AszureBarton©️MichaelSlobodian

4. Stephanie Troyak photo by Oliver Look

12/05/2025

SPRINGBOARD 2025 EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHER CARLOS FRANQUIZ💥

Juan Carlos Franquiz II was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and is the founder and creator of the project based dance company “Arch Dansé Ensemble.” Carlos received his early training at the Joffrey Ballet Academy at Fort Hamilton High School, and is an alumni of MOVE |NYC|’s Young Professionals Program, where he later became part of the Inaugural Peer Mentor Cohort. Carlos has choreographed and performed at the BAM Kids Film Festival, York College Youth Dance Showcase and Earl Mosley’s Dancing Beyond; A benefit for Dance Against Cancer at which he was selected to co-choreograph for Hearts of Men. He was also selected to choreograph on MOVE |NYC|’s Pre-Young Professionals Program. Most recently, Carlos performed with A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in “An Untitled Love” by Kyle Abraham, and “Someday Soon” by Keerati Jinakunwiphat. He recently completed a new commission entitled “The Seed of Embracement” on the Whim W’Him Contemporary Dance Company based in Seattle.

Carlos is a brilliant mover and creator, and we are happy to welcome him to the Springboard family. We can’t wait to see him in the studios in Pittsburgh this summer!

Photo by Joan Dwiartanto

08/05/2025

SPRINGBOARD 2025 EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHER MAJELLA BESS💥 
Majella Bess is an Irish-born performer, choreographer, and director with a background in gymnastics, breakdance, circus arts, and contemporary dance. Her distinctive style is a fluid blend of athletic, acrobatic movement and dynamic partnering. She specializes in creating performances in unconventional spaces and on unique structures.

Recently, Majella was a collaborative choreographer and original cast member for Life and Trust, an immersive, site-specific theatrical experience in NYC by Emursive (producers of Sleep No More.) Previously, she spent eight years as a co-choreographer, rehearsal director, and performer with DIAVOLO | Architecture in Motion, where she created and cast five touring works.

We are excited for Majella to join us and create a new work on the Springboard Danse | Pittsburgh dancers this summer! Get ready dancers✨

06/05/2025

SPRINGBOARD 2025 EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHER JESSI STEGALL💥

Jessi Stegall (she/her) is a dance-theatre artist based between Chicago, IL and Boston, MA. She has been an artist-in-residence at Boston Center for the Arts, Harvard ArtLab, Rhode Island Women’s Choreography Project, New Dances Chicago, National Parks Service, Hot Crowd Dance Company, Little Fire Dance Collective, and was recently featured as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” (2022). Her choreographic work has been featured at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston), Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Boston Center for the Arts, the Dance Complex, Ballet Rhode Island, Motion State Dance Film Festival, Tufts University, The Edge Theatre, Fulton Street Collective, and Cambridge Art Association.  
We are thrilled to welcome Jessi to our incredible roster of artists for Springboard Danse |Pittsburgh, and can’t wait to see what she will create. Learn more about Jessi via the link in our bio 🔗

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Our Story

Springboard Danse Montréal is a unique project for advanced and professional dancers, age 21 and over, who would like to access the international contemporary dance community. Dancers for the project are selected during auditions held in Montreal, New York, Toronto and Vancouver during the months of January and February. The dancers live a unique, intense experience, working closely with as many as 10 principal companies and 7 emerging choreographers from Montreal and beyond, all internationally renowned. Over a three-week period in June, dancers participate in workshops, rehearsals, creations and auditions– in contemporary dance– wherein they explore different artistic approaches and choreographic processes to further each individual’s professional development. On the final day of the project a showing of “works in progress” is presented in a theatre before an invited audience. Members of the Montreal dance community, as well as presenters, choreographers and artistic directors from companies in Canada, the United States and Europe, will be invited to this presentation. During this annual artistic “rendez-vous”, the dancers are provided with a rare opportunity to demonstrate their abilities in a context other than an audition, and to touch the pulse of the dance world through contact with several prominent and current creators. The artists not only engage in exchanges with the other participants but also get a chance to be seen by many choreographers and company directors. For their part, artistic directors from the participating dance companies have the chance to see the dancers’ potential within a professional working context of daily classes, rehearsals, creative process and showings.