Rena Butler hails from Chicago, IL. She began her studies at The Chicago Academy for the Arts, studied overseas at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan, and received her BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. Rena danced with companies such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (also a choreographic fellow), AIM by Kyle Abraham, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, and David Dorfman Dance, among others. Currently, she dances for Gibney Company, and was recently named its Choreographic Associate. Butler’s choreographic work includes BalletX, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Boston Dance Theater, a film short in collaboration with Third Coast Percussion x Devonté Hynes/Blood Orange, The Young Choreographer’s Festival in NYC, The Ailey/Fordham School, and more. In 2019, she was the recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Award for Choreography, and has been spotlighted in Dance Magazine’s On The Rise feature. Rena has taught dance and choreographic workshops at L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Danse de Marseille in France, The Macau Cultural Center in China, Ailey Camp Chicago, and SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. Butler served on the Consortium for Chicago Dancemakers Forum for three years, was on the annual panel for Black Girls Dance in Chicago, and co-created and directed DanceLab—a free, choreographic course for Chicago teens. She currently serves on Dancewave’s Artistic Advisory Council in New York City, and as a dance and choreographic mentor as part of the Pointe People Mentorship Program.

Mark Caserta, from Philadelphia, PA, graduated from the University of the Arts School of Dance with a BFA in 2010. He danced professionally with international touring companies Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Les Ballets Jazz De Montreal and Camille A. Brown & Dancers since then. Caserta has been awarded the Philadelphia Rocky Award for Outstanding Dance Performance, The Patrick Swayze Scholarship from Complexions Ballet and the Pennsylvania Ballet Choreography Award. He was a 2018 Emerging Choreographer at Springboard Danse Montreal and premiered his first full evening length work ‘BIG KID’ at Gibney NY POP Performance Series in February 2019. Caserta was commissioned to set new works on Pennsylvania Ballet II, Grace Dance Theater, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, Kit Modus, and Whim W’him. He was named the 2019/2020 EMERGE Award Recipient with Gibney Company & Springboard Danse Montreal. Caserta has presented work at Wanderlust Dance Festival, The Austin Dance Festival, Dance Gallery Festival, The Banff Center for Performing Arts Choreographic Gesture, The Boston Dance Festival, Steps On Broadway Choreography Lab, and the Brooklyn Dance Festival. He has also created work on the University of the Arts School of Dance and Pace University. Caserta was co-director of The Thriving Artist Project from 2017-2020, and was also on faculty teaching Ballet, Contemporary Ballet and Movement Research at Dance industry Performing Arts Center. He currently is a freelance teacher, dancer and choreographer creating new work for his own project.

Alice Klock trained at numerous ballet company schools, Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Alonzo King’s Lines BFA program. She joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2009 where she danced until 2018. She has choreographed for Hubbard Street, Whim W’Him, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, The Alonzo King LINES BFA, The Juilliard School, The Cambrians, Loyola University, Neos Dance Theater, Visceral Dance Chicago, and NW Dance Project’s LAUNCH. She has been a winner of numerous choreographic competitions including Hubbard Street’s International Commissioning Project, NW Dance Project’s Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition, and Whim W’him’s Choreographic Shindig. In 2017 she was named Hubbard Street’s Choreographic Fellow and in 2018 was named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch.

Florian Lochner trained at Ballettschule Malsam in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, and the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim, where he was the recipient of the Birgit Keil Dance Foundation scholarship. Lochner earned his master’s degree in the performing arts and joined Gauthier Dance Company in Stuttgart in 2011. He received a “Best of the Season” nomination in Germany’s “Dance for You!” Magazine in September 2013. He joined Hubbard Street in August 2015, and in the Fall of 2017 was named a Hubbard Street Choreographic Fellow. He has served as guest faculty for Hubbard Street’s Professional Program. He has choreographed work for Loyola University, Visceral Dance Chicago, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Quinn Wharton is a director and choreographer with a specialty in human movement. He was born in Seattle and raised in a yurt in Hawaii. He danced for the San Francisco Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Wharton has choreographed and directed for such companies as The Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, and has lectured at Stanford and the University of Chicago. Wharton began teaching himself photography and videography in 2008, and has developed an impressive portfolio and client list including Airbnb, Square Inc., Starwood hotels and resorts, Rolex, San Francisco Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Bolshoi Ballet, and Whim W’Him.

“my name is Wolff Bergen and I make music. Music to listen to, music to hear, music to be friends with moving images.

I live in Sweden, a land that inspired me quite a lot of pieces and sounds. The pieces I compose sometimes live on their own but also can be soundtracks to videos. I love the fact that music is a part of the story telling and that it affects that much the overall feeling when watching something.

Why do I write music? because it touches and moves where nothing else can.” WOLFF BERGEN

Darryl J. Hoffman Is a Bronx, NY native composer, currently based in Chicago. With his life long love for music, he developed a curiosity for sound and began creating at the age of 13. His resume of compositions include works on Kansas City Ballet for choreographer Stephanie Martinez, in collaboration with cellist, Desiree Miller (2016). Danceworks Chicago with choreography by Owen Scarlet (2016). Visceral Dance Chicago’s “Synapse”, choreographed by Nick Pupillo (2017). Minnesota Dance Theatre, for choreographer, Darwin Black (2017). Three Philadanco works choreographed by Anthony Burrell & Christopher Huggins (2018-2019). Works for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Ballet X, & Gibney Dance Choreographed by Rena Butler (2018-2021). As well as full compositions for both Ebony Williams’ pieces entitled “Title lX” (2018) & “Victoria”, which premiered at Jacob’s Pillow in August of 2019. Along with serving as Musical director for Regional Dance America’s National Choreography Summer Intensive in 2020. Darryl continues to live in his gift as he intends to shape the culture of music & dance with his sound, while continuing to contribute in other aspects of the arts.

Instagram: @Soundprovider_D

slowdanger is a multidisciplinary performance entity based out of Pittsburgh PA, founded by taylor knight and anna thompson. They build saturated performance and sound worlds through the use of embodiment, technology, vocalization, electronic instrumentation and dance performance frameworks. The more they engage in this collaborative work, the more they recognize the manifestation of their work as a non-binary entity that is one body amassed of multiple bodies in space. From directing music videos to scoring plays, slowdanger transforms their shape to adapt to a variety of different containers. Their work has been featured across the U.S. and Canada in venues ranging from proscenium theater and gallery to nightclub and dive bar. Throughout their extensive and eclectic performing career slowdanger has opened/shared the stage with notable music acts such as Yaeji, Abdu Ali, serpentwithfeet, :3lon, the Moon Baby, Babyteeth/Rivka, Joy Postell and more. They have created sound scores for dance for Gibney Dance Company, Francesca Harper, MICHIYAYA Dance, Bill Shannon, Sidra Bell, Dorchel Haqq, Mark Caserta, Jasmine Hearn and more. Their dance and sound work has been shared/featured internationally at venues/festivals such as Hot Mass, Honcho, Detour, Kahlon, VIA Festival, Usine C, Place des Arts, Dance Place, the Kennedy Center, the Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Music Hall, the Andy Warhol Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. They were one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch in 2018 and creatives in residence at CMU’s Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry in 2019. www.slowdangerslowdanger.com

• MICHAEL ARELLANO
• LIANE AUNG
• JANE CRACOVANER
• NELL JOSEPHINE
• JIM KENT
• ANDREW MCSHEA
• KARL WATSON

Exploring, intimately and in wider perspective, the creative process of Whim W’Him and our many collaborators—in the studio, behind the scenes and onstage.