FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Tina Finkelman Berkett

THE COMPANY: 

Katie García, Pedro Garcia, Joan Rodriguez, Jordyn Santiago
Grecia Cruz, Chandler Davidson, Becky García, Brenan Gonzalez

CREATIVE PARTNER: Trey McIntyre

MANAGING DIRECTOR: Dora Quintanilla

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Julie Opiel

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Michael Jarett

REHEARSAL DIRECTOR: Katie García

EDUCATION & CHOREOGRAPHY ASSOCIATE: Joan Rodriguez

COMPANY REPRESENTATION: Margaret Selby, Selby/Artists Mgmt

Mayday

CHOREOGRAPHY: Trey McIntyre

MUSIC: Buddy Holly, written by Charles Hardin Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, Ellas McDaniel, Joe B. Mauldin, Norman Petty,  Norman Petty. 

LIGHTING DESIGN: James F. Ingalls

COSTUME DESIGN: Karen Young

COSTUME CONSTRUCTION: Victoria Bek

PROP DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION: Cody Richardson and Rob Byerly

PERFORMERS: Chandler Davidson, Becky Garcia, Katie García, Pedro Garcia, Brenan Gonzalez, Joan Rodriguez, Jordyn Santiago

PREMIERE: The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills, CA, 2024

Using the timeless music of Buddy Holly, Mayday explores the looming specter that life can be cut short at any moment. We are seemingly dancing on a tightrope that could render any of our plans useless. Yet we still dance, we still move toward love, and we still plan, create, and live as if infinity lies before us. 

Mayday was generously underwritten by Virginia McGehee Friend.
This work was made possible in part by a creative residency at Argyros Performing Arts Center in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Mayday’s costumes were underwritten by Mark and Judi Aronchick.

- PAUSE - 

I Forgot The Start 

CHOREOGRAPHY: Matthew Neenan

MUSIC: In this Heart by Sinéad O’Connor, Machu Picchu by Heather Christian & The Arbonauts, Paka Ua by Ozzie Kotani & Daniel Ho, Anthems For a Seventeen Year Old Girl by Broken Social Scene, and Flint by Sufjan Stevens.

LIGHTING, SET, and VIDEO DESIGN: Christopher Ash

COSTUME DESIGN: Márion Talán de la Rosa

COSTUME CONSTRUCTION: Victoria Bek

PERFORMERS: Chandler Davidson, Becky Garcia, Katie García, Pedro Garcia, Brenan Gonzalez, Joan Rodriguez, Jordyn Santiago

PREMIERE: Annenberg Center at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2024

BODYTRAFFIC dedicates tonight's performance of I Forgot The Start to the memory of Dito Van Reigersberg, the beloved husband of Matthew Neenan. May this work serve as a tribute to their profound love, reflecting the tenderness, intimacy, and beauty of their life together.

It's the same outside,
Driving to the riverside.
I pretend to cry,
Even if I cried alone.
I forgot the start.
Use my hands to use my heart.
Even if I died alone.
-    FLINT by Sufjan Stevens

I Forgot The Start walks the line between joy and grief to illuminate the sheer relentlessness of hope. The work is an honest exploration of resilience in the pursuit of connection, despite life’s uncertainties. We are reminded that there is no light without dark.

I Forgot The Start was generously supported by Ali Long.
This work was co-commissioned by Penn Live Arts, with support provided by the Penn Live Arts Accelerator Program.
This work was made possible in part by a creative residency at Argyros Performing Arts Center in Sun Valley, Idaho.

- INTERMISSION - 

Coalescence 

CHOREOGRAPHY: Jordyn Santiago

MUSIC: Rafa Aslan

LIGHTING DESIGN: Michael Jarett

COSTUMES: UNNAMED design

PERFORMERS: Grecia Cruz, Chandler Davidson, Katie García, Becky García, Jordyn Santiago

PREMIERE: The Avalon Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA, 2025

ABOUT THE WORK:
Jordyn Santiago’s Coalescence explores the deeply personal and yet universal journey from self-doubt and isolation to joy and self-love. Combining contemporary ballet, social dance, and movement inspired by house culture, this work is a vibrant, affirming love letter to femininity, queerness, and community. An original score combines high-energy house music with a new composition by New York City musician/composer Rafa Aslan.

Jordyn Santiago’s position at BODYTRAFFIC is generously underwritten by Karen Hohman Almeida.

- PAUSE - 

o2Joy

CHOREOGRAPHY: Richard Siegal

MUSIC: Oscar Peterson’s Mumbles, Billie Holiday’s On the Sunny Side of the Street, Ella Fitzgerald’s All of Me, Glenn Miller’s Taps Miller, Oscar Peterson’s My One and Only

MUSIC EDITING: David Karaganis

COSTUME DESIGN: Rita DiLorenzo and Richard Siegal

LIGHTING DESIGN: Burke Wilmore based on an original design by Kindred Gottlieb

PERFORMERS: Chandler Davidson, Katie García, Pedro Garcia, Jordyn Santiago

PREMIERE: The Joyce Theater, New York, New York, 2012

An exuberant homage to American jazz standards, o2Joy is, as its title suggests, an expression of sheer joy through music and movement.

BODYTRAFFIC, an internationally-renowned dance company from Los Angeles, has been a dynamic force in contemporary dance since its founding in 2007. Under the leadership of its Founding Artistic Director Tina Finkelman Berkett, BODYTRAFFIC is known for its technical prowess and versatility, and expertly masters a repertoire that spans ballet, contemporary, modern, Afro-Cuban, and hip hop. The company thrives on a collective of diverse perspectives and styles, bringing to life the innovative visions of accomplished choreographers like Kyle Abraham, Trey McIntyre, Ohad Naharin, and Micaela Taylor. By seamlessly blending local and global perspectives, BODYTRAFFIC reflects the rich diversity of its home city while pushing the boundaries of dance.

Bringing the spirit of Los Angeles to audiences worldwide, BODYTRAFFIC has performed across 30 states and 20 countries. The company proudly represented the U.S. on cultural diplomacy tours to Algeria, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, and South Korea. Most recently, BODYTRAFFIC had the honor of performing Trey McIntyre’s Ma Maison, presented by the New Orleans Ballet Association with the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, further affirming the company’s commitment to work that deeply engages with history and community.

This dedication is further demonstrated through a passion for education, as BODYTRAFFIC mentors and uplifts over 700 students annually, from its training programs for pre-professional dancers to youth-focused movement workshops. BODYTRAFFIC has long-standing partnerships with educational and community organizations throughout Los Angeles—including Everybody Dance LA!, L.A. County High School for the Arts, Boys & Girls Club of Metro LA, Loyola Marymount University, USC Kaufman, Milken Community School, Windward School, and Marlborough School—advancing artistic access and engagement across the city. It further extends to the company’s enduring work with The Wallis’s Creative Aging Program and its partnership with the Pasadena Senior Center, celebrating the vitality and creative expression of people of all ages and abilities.

At the heart of everything BODYTRAFFIC does are the values of challenge, passion, empathy, inclusion, and growth. It aims to champion both established and emerging voices, serving as a home for a diverse range of styles and perspectives that tell vital stories. The goal is simple: get the world moving. After all, without movement, nothing changes.

Please visit www.BODYTRAFFIC.com to learn about upcoming performances and programs, and to join the company’s mailing list.

TINA FINKELMAN BERKETT (Founding Artistic Director) is a visionary leader in contemporary dance, known for curating original, compelling repertoire and redefining the art form across the U.S. and internationally. Tina grew up in New York City, attending Stuyvesant High School of Math and Science and graduating summa cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University, with a double major in Mathematics and Economics. Her love of dance was ignited by her teacher and mentor, Michele Cuccaro Cain. Tina’s professional dance career began at Aszure Barton & Artists, a distinguished contemporary dance company, where she quickly became a featured dancer and then Barton’s assistant, teaching both in the U.S. and abroad. A true highlight of Tina's career was being a founding member of Mikhail Baryshnikov's Hell's Kitchen Dance and touring internationally alongside Mr. Baryshnikov himself.  Tina began her interest in arts administration when she served as the company's dancer liaison. In 2007, Tina relocated to Los Angeles and launched BODYTRAFFIC with Lillian Barbeito. In 2020 she became the company's sole Artistic Director. Under Tina’s leadership, BODYTRAFFIC has become a beacon in the global dance community, known for its innovative choreography, world-class dancers, and powerful performances. Through her curation and vision, Tina continues to foster a vibrant artistic community that captivates and inspires audiences around the world. Tina would like to acknowledge her family for serving as her greatest sources of love and inspiration: her parents, Guzmán, Jack, and Sofia.

Tina Finkelman Berkett’s position at BODYTRAFFIC is generously unwritten by Jennifer and Tony Smorgon.

TREY McINTYRE (Creative Partner, Choreographer) was born in Wichita, Kansas, and studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the Houston Ballet Academy.  In 1989, he was appointed Choreographic Apprentice to Houston Ballet, a position created especially for him, and in 1995, he became the company’s Choreographic Associate. He has worked for more than 30 years as a freelance choreographer, producing more than 100 pieces during the span of his career so far. He also did a bunch of other cool things, including working with a lot of amazing companies such as The Stuttgart Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Queensland Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, New York City Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, BalletX, The Washington Ballet, Ballet Memphis, and San Francisco Ballet. He has won numerous awards and honors, such as the Choo San Goh Award for Choreography, a Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Society of Arts and Letters, two personal grants for choreography from The National Endowment for the Arts, and is a United States Artists Fellow. In 2019, he won the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for his work Your Flesh Shall be a Great Poem, which he created for San Francisco Ballet for their Unbound Festival. He was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" in 2001, one of People Magazine's "25 Hottest Bachelors" in 2003, and one of Out Magazine's 2008 "Tastemakers." In 2005, he founded his dance company, Trey McIntyre Project, achieving great audience and critical success. McIntyre created over 23 original works for the company, as well as numerous film projects, interactive site-specific works, and photography collections.

Trey McIntyre’s position at BODYTRAFFIC is generously unwritten by Virginia McGehee Friend.

MATTHEW NEENAN (Choreographer), described as “one of America’s best dance poets” by The New York Times, began his dance training at the Boston Ballet School and with noted teachers Nan C. Keating and Jacqueline Cronsberg. He later attended the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and the School of American Ballet in New York. From 1994-2007, Matthew danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet (now the Philadelphia Ballet), where he danced numerous principal roles in the classical, contemporary and Balanchine repertoire.  From 2007 – 2020, Matthew was the Choreographer in Residence at the Pennsylvania Ballet, where he created 20 original ballets. Matthew’s choreography has been premiered and performed by The New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Washington Ballet, Ballet West, Ballet Met, Colorado Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Milwaukee Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Tulsa Ballet, OKC Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Parsons Dance, BODYTRAFFIC, Juilliard Dance, and USC Kaufman School of Dance, among many others. He has received numerous awards and grants for his choreography from the National Endowment of the Arts, Dance Advance funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Choo San Goh Foundation, the Independence Foundation and four fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.   In 2006, Matthew received the New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute’s Fellowship Initiative Award. In October 2009, Matthew was the grand-prize winner of Sacramento Ballet’s Capital Choreography Competition and was also the first recipient of the Jerome Robbins NEW Program Fellowship for his work At the border for Pennsylvania Ballet. In 2005, Matthew co-founded BalletX with fellow dancer Christine Cox.  BalletX has toured and performed Neenan’s choreography in New York City at The Joyce Theater, NY City Center, The Skirball Center, Symphony Space and Central Park Summerstage, The Kennedy Center, Vail International Dance Festival (where he has created 5 world premieres), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Segerstrom Center, Laguna Dance Festival, Spring to Dance Festival in St. Louis, as well as several venues internationally.  His ballet The Last Glass was listed in The New York Times Top 10 in 2013.

JORDYN SANTIAGO (Choreographer, Performer) is originally from North Carolina and is a dancer, teacher and choreographer. Jordyn grew up training at The Dance Theatre of Jacksonville, under the direction of Debra Baile. She has traveled and trained across the United States as well as abroad in Israel and Europe. Jordyn has studied with artists such as Danielle Agami, Jiri Pokorny, Medhi Walerski, Adi Salant, Bryan Arias, Diana Matos, and Melissa Jackson. Jordyn has toured as a backup dancer with Los Angeles-based band Half Alive. She had the opportunity to dance for the motion picture production of In The Heights with Warner Bros. Entertainment. Jordyn has performed at the Lincoln Center in Washington, D.C in an Opera titled Prism under the direction of Beth Morrison Projects. Jordyn has danced in music videos for Griffin Matthews, Zolita, and Buzz’s newest single “Soul”. She has also taught at several well-regarded institutions and collectives, including Peridance Capezio Center, Broadway Dance Center, Brick House NYC, Marymount Manhattan, The University of the Arts, and University of North Carolina Greensboro. Jordyn had the opportunity to present her first solo work, All There Is in Los Angeles for an all Queer Artist showcase. This year she also has the opportunity to set a work on her fellow company members of BODYTRAFFIC. This is Jordyn’s fifth season with BODYTRAFFIC. She is incredibly grateful to get to travel the world alongside such a dynamic group of artists and is looking forward to sharing more of her personal work with audiences of all kinds. 

Jordyn Santiago’s position at BODYTRAFFIC is generously unwritten by Karen Hohman Almeida.

RICHARD SIEGAL (Choreographer) is an American dancer and choreographer. He is the founder and artistic director of Ballet of Difference, a contemporary ballet company based in Cologne, Germany, established in 2016 in partnership with Schauspiel Köln and Tanz Köln. He is also the founder of The Bakery (2006), an interdisciplinary platform for performance art. He worked with the great names of American dance, from Martha Graham to Merce Cunningham, before being spotted by Forsythe and moving to Europe, first to Munich and now to Paris. In 2016, Siegal founded the touring company Ballet of Difference based in Cologne, Germany. In 2018, Ballet of Difference collaborated with Schauspiel Köln and Tanz Köln, initiating a relationship that would soon become an integral part of the company's development.

KATIE GARCÍA (Rehearsal Director / Performer) is a dynamic force in the dance world, known for her expertise as both a performer and educator. A graduate of The Juilliard School, she has trained at premier institutions such as New World School of the Arts, Dance Town Studios Miami, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Springboard Danse Montréal. Following her graduation, she became a key member of Parsons Dance, where she performed for two and a half years while also expanding her portfolio with freelance and collaborative projects. After joining BODYTRAFFIC, she served as assistant choreographer to Joan Rodriguez's commissioned work Bloquea'o. Katie’s influence extends into academia, where she has led master classes at elite colleges and universities. Her passion for community engagement is evident in her work with outreach programs like GLUCK, TAP for Life, and Dance for Parkinson’s Disease, through which she has brought movement and healing to hospitals, wellness centers, and communities in both New York City and Miami. Internationally, Katie has made her mark by co-leading a project in Botswana, providing dance education and movement therapy to children with physical, cognitive and developmental disabilities. Her creative endeavors reach beyond live performance; she has co-produced dance films with Joan Rodriguez, featured at festivals such as the Blacktinx Dance Festival, Solo Duo Dance Festival, and Dumbo Dance Festival. Additionally, her work has been showcased in collaboration with mixed media artist Anna Khachatryan at a prominent NYC SOHO art gallery. Katie’s career exemplifies her dedication to the transformative power of dance, both as an art form and as a tool for education and healing. This is Katie’s fifth season dancing with BODYTRAFFIC, and her second season as Rehearsal Director.

PEDRO GARCIA (Senior Company Member / Performer) began his studies at the National Conservatory of Lisbon, working with teachers including Mikahall Zavialova, Irina Zavialova, Catarina Moreira, and José Luís Vieira, among others.  In 2014, he won the 3° prize at Tanzolymp Competition in Berlin.  He received his diploma in 2015  and continued on to earn a degree from School Superieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower.  Pedro joined the junior ballet Rosella Hightower DNSP3 for one year and then went on to join the Ballet Nacional de Marseille, where he worked with Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten until 2018. In 2019, he joined Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporaneo, under the direction of Vasco Wellenkamp. Pedro has worked with choreographers Nelia Pinheiro and André Mesquita, and joined Quórum Ballet for one season, where he worked with Daniel Cardoso and Lior Tavori. This is Pedro’s fifth season with BODYTRAFFIC.

JOAN RODRIGUEZ (Education & Choreography Associate / Performer) is a Cuban-born dancer, choreographer, and educator known for his dynamic versatility, seamlessly blending Afro-Latin, contemporary, and multimedia styles. He graduated from the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Arte, earning the “Best Graduate of the Year” award, and began his career with DanzAbierta and Malpaso Dance Company. In 2016, after relocating to the United States as a political refugee, Joan moved to Arizona, where he focused on creating, teaching, and producing multimedia projects in collaboration with museums and as Guest Faculty for Arizona State University. His journey continued in New York with Parsons Dance, where he choreographed an original work for the 2018 GenerationNow fellowship. He later created an original work for Connecticut Ballet, while serving as Guest Artist in Residence at various universities and arts centers across the U.S. Joan plays a pivotal role at BODYTRAFFIC as a master teacher and lead content creator. His acclaimed commissioned work, Bloquea’o, has toured the U.S. extensively. Joan’s passion lies in building community through dance, sharing movement across diverse settings, and pioneering innovative intersections between performance and media. This is Joan’s fifth season with BODYTRAFFIC, and his second season as Education and Choreography Associate.

CHANDLER DAVIDSON (Performer) is from Greensboro, North Carolina and recently received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Contemporary Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), with the privilege of learning from an esteemed faculty, including Brenda Daniels, Dayna Fox, Laura Martin, Angelina Sansone, Sean Sullivan, Abigail Yager, Ming-Lung Yang, and Jennet Zerbe. Their mentorship has played a pivotal role in refining his technical proficiency and nurturing his artistry. This is Chandler’s second season with the company, having spent his senior year of college both finishing his degree and performing with BODYTRAFFIC.

Chandler Davidson’s position at BODYTRAFFIC is generously supported by Karen Hohman Almeida. 

BECKY GARCÍA (Performer) was born and raised in Miami, FL, where she was submerged in culture and art all throughout her life. She received prestigious training growing up at the New World School of the Arts and Dance Town Miami. In 2017, she won a presidential award to perform at Art Basel. Becky attended Point Park University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Additionally, she studied at Conservatorio Superior de Danza María de Ávila, Alonzo King Lines Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.  Becky has an immense love and passion for dance and all the arts, which she hopes to share with the world. This is Becky’s second season with the company.

BRENAN GONZALEZ (Performer) is a first-generation Cuban-American artist from Lake Worth, FL. He began his dance training at That’s Dancing Dance Studio, igniting a passion and curiosity for Hip-Hop styles at age 4. He graduated from USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance this past May. He is a two-time YoungArts awardee, receiving an Honorable Mention in 2020 and a Merit Award in 2021 for Modern/Contemporary dance. Recently, Brenan has explored site-specific choreography and interdisciplinary performance, merging movement with other mediums like film and fashion. Brenan also pursues his passion for teaching through community outreach programs like USC Kaufman Connections and at various dance studios and pre-professional programs across South Florida. This is Brenan’s second season with BODYTRAFFIC.

GRECIA CRUZ (Performer) is a Mexican-American artist from Southern California. She studied dance at the Orange County School of the Arts and continued her training in the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase, where she Graduated with a BFA in 2024. Throughout her training at SUNY Purchase she performed works by Trisha Brown, Chen Agron, Jie-Hung Connie Shau and Norbert De La Cruz. Post college, Grecia danced professionally with Visceral Dance Chicago. She has worked in residency with Andrea Miller and participated in programs including NDT SI, GAGA Lab, GALLIM SI & Ate9.  This is Grecia’s second season with BODYTRAFFIC.