our people
George Staib, Artistic Director
Born in Tehran, Iran, George Staib is of Armenian descent and has been living in the United States since the age of ten. He began his dance training at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, then went on to earn an MFA in dance and choreography from Temple University. Company credits include: Ann Vachon/Dance Conduit, Coriolis Dance Company, Gathering Wild Dance Company, and Paula Kellinger and Dancers. In addition, the fall of 2006 provided Staib the opportunity to perform with the José Limón Dance Company as a guest artist in their re-creation of Missa Brevis.
In 2001 Staib joined the dance faculty at Emory University where he teaches contemporary and ballet techniques, choreography, and a seminar created to examine the impetus and practice of consuming and making art. He serves as an adjudicator for and was an 18 year member of the executive committee for the American College Dance Association, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for Dance/USA. Since relocating to Atlanta, GA, Staib's work and teaching have been commissioned across the United States resulting in his recognition by Dance Teacher Magazine in 2014 as one of the top five dance educators in the country. As added service to the field, Staib is a contributing writer and critic for ArtsATL.
Staib is a two-time recipient of Emory’s prestigious Winship Award, taking him to Tel Aviv in 2011 to study Gaga, release technique with Iris Enez, and Jerusalem to conduct choreographic workshops. In 2016, Staib and the company were invited to Stockholm to perform and teach at Södra Latins and BalletAkadamien, and subsequently created new work for Saraceno Dance.
Since the founding of staibdance, he and the company have been awarded funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Emory University Research Committee, The Latham Foundation, The Imlay Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New England Foundation for the Arts, South Arts and The Vail Family Foundation.
In addition, staibdance curated and produced the first-ever Atlanta Multicultural Dance Festival, created a summer intensive in Sorrento, Italy, now in its 13th year and hosted a 10-part podcast series titled Secret Architecture: the process of process, that features culturally based artists from across the country, now in its second season.
Staib’s most recent accomplishments include promotion to the rank of Professor of Practice at Emory University, engagement as an educator with ImmerseATL, recognition by the Atlanta Regional Commission as an Arts Leader of Metro Atlanta, and in the summer of 2022, Staib served as a faculty member and choreographer for the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC.
Click to read George Staib’s latest interview with VoyageATL.
“Staib’s relentless inquiry and rigor brought out the best in many of the city’s finest contemporary dancers, and managed to elevate the standards for local dance…evidence of his rising stature as one of the community’s most sharp-witted and innovative artists.” - ArtsATL
Sarah Hillmer, Executive Director
supported by the Latham foundation
Sarah Hillmer has 20+ years of experience in the professional dance world as a dancer, rehearsal director, assistant to choreographers, stager, educator, creator and arts administrator.
Her company credits include the Atlanta Ballet, glo - as a founding member, and staibdance. Sarah served as a Rehearsal Director at the Atlanta Ballet from 2013-2019 where artistic relationships with Twyla Tharp and Helen Pickett were forged. Sarah staged work for Twyla Tharp at Royal Winnipeg Ballet & Atlanta Ballet, and her work as a stager and assistant for Helen Pickett have taken her to Alberta Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Scottish Ballet, Smuin Ballet, UArts and UNCSA.
Sarah is the Founder & Director of ImmerseATL, a training & mentorship program that serves dancers at pivotal stages in their ever-evolving journey as artists through the Artist Program and the ImmerseATL Collective.
As a choreographer, Sarah has been commissioned to create work for Atlanta Ballet’s Wabi Sabi, Backside of the Tent Productions, Emory Dance Company and Admix Project. Sarah has been a co-collaborator with George Staib on two productions; fence in 2019, which was funded by a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts, National Dance Project, and Dido & Aeneas in 2023, a collaboration with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra.
As an arts administrator, Sarah currently serves as staibdance’s Executive Director. During her 6-year tenure she has planned and managed 7 national tours, 3 world premieres, annual workshops, an annual 2-week summer intensive in Sorrento, Italy, (MC)2-Atlanta’s first multi-cultural dance festival, as well as a docuseries based on (MC)2 and a podcast series, Secret Architecture: the process of process.
Additionally, Sarah serves as Business Operations Manager for Windmill Arts, an organization dedicated to the advancement of new work in the arts.sarahjhillmer.com
Company Artists
Anna Bracewell is an Atlanta based dance artist. She was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and began her dance training at an early age at Decatur School of Ballet. While continuing her classical training at DSOB, she trained, and went on to graduate from DeKalb School of the Arts where she studied under the legendary Pamala Jones-Malave. Anna later received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Since 2012, she has had the deep pleasure of being a member of staibdance, under the direction of George Staib, where she is a dancer, collaborator and teacher. Anna was also a member of Core Dance from 2012-2020. As a Dance Artist with Core Dance she performed in theaters, museums, public spaces, and festivals across the United States, France, Spain and Israel. In her time with Core Dance, Anna had the opportunity to move and create original works with notable artists such as Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor (Tel Aviv), Germana Civera (France/Spain), Frank van de Ven (Amsterdam), Amanda K. Miller (Germany/U.S.), Isabelle Saulle & Adolfo Vargas (France), Leslie Scates (U.S.), D. Patton White, Lori Teague and Sue Schroeder (U.S.).
In her years of dancing professionally in Atlanta, Anna has also created and collaborated with local artists Blake Beckham (The Lucky Penny), Joshua Rackliffe, Erik Thurmond and Catellier Dance Projects!.
Anna was recognized as “Best Dancer” in Atlanta by ArtsATL.org in 2018 and has been internationally recognized in her collaborative work with: Association Manifeste (Toulouse, France) in which she performed in several public corner spaces across France and the U.S., and in her work with Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor performed in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Anna joined staibdance in 2012.
Lilia Cardosi is a dance artist originally based in Philadelphia, PA. Her early dance training occurred at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, under the direction of LaDeva Davis, and as a member of the Koresh Youth Ensemble, under the direction of Melissa Rector. In 2024, Lilia received her BFA in Dance from the University of the Arts where she performed in works by Katie Swords Thurman, Shayla-Vie Jenkins, Loni Landon, Curt Haworth, Shannon Murphy, Jesse Zaritt, Tommie-Waheed Evans, and Netta Yerushalmy – alongside collaborative works with her peers. Lilia has also attended the American Dance Festival in North Carolina, studied in Italy with staibdance, and participated in GagaLab in New York and Tel Aviv. Currently, Lilia is working with staibdance in Atlanta and is eager to further her knowledge through lasting collaborations and new areas of discovery.
Lilia joined staibdance in 2024.
Julianna Feracota (she/her) is a professional dancer based in Atlanta. She has performed with several local companies including Full Radius Dance, Monica Hogan Danceworks, the Atlanta Opera, and most recently staibdance. She pursues freelance work and has been lucky enough to work with local choreographers like Julio Medina, Meaghan Novoa, Nadya Zeitlin, and Patsy Collins, among others.
In 2024, Julianna was honored to have been featured as “One to Watch” in ArtsATL’s Fall Arts Preview.
Hailing from Chicago, Julianna began her training at the Academy of Movement and Music and graduated from the University of Iowa in 2018 with a BFA in Dance and a BBA in Accounting.
Julianna has trained extensively in ballet, contemporary, modern, and Graham. She furthered her studies at dance programs with Orsolina28, Hubbard Street Dance, and AXIS Dance Company Company, to name a few. She has been honored to perform works by renowned choreographers like Alice Sheppard, Monica Bill Barnes, Rennie Harris, Jose Limòn, and Martha Graham.
Julianna furthers her involvement in the dance community as the Board Treasurer with DanceATL, a non-profit organization that provides resources and programming for local dance artists.
Julianna joined staibdance in 2024.
Faith Fidgeon is a dance artist currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia. Faith graduated from University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2022 with a BFA in Contemporary Dance and a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship. Faith has recently danced in staibdance's premiere of ARARAT, Shen Wei's premiere of Summary at the American Dance Festival, and a collaborative choreographic work with Fly on a Wall. In addition to stage performance, they have danced in circus performances, museum exhibitions, short films, and with Alliance Theater’s Theater for the Very Young. Faith’s current movement practices include countertechnique, release technique, contact improvisation, yoga, and bouldering. Conceptually and aesthetically, they are interested in blurring the lines of theater and dance, repetition, duration, satire, and how performance shows up in our everyday lives.
Faith joined staibdance in 2022.
Andie Knudson (Columbus, Ohio) received her BFA in Dance at Belhaven University in Jackson, MS. As a dance artist, videographer, and creative educator, Andie moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in 2020 to participate in the ImmerseATL Artist training program. Her dedication to the art form has taken her to various corners of the world, including a summer in France working with Oriantheatre's Paris Summer Academy and her time with staibdance in Sorrento, Italy.
Andie's performance career has included renditions of works by José Limón and Bill T Jones and process work with the late and glorious Nancy Stark Smith. Andie's passion for stimulating young creative minds recently led her to perform in Fly On A Wall & Alliance Theatre for the Very Young's production of "The Curious Cardinal" as well as working as movement creator Dominic Moore-Dunson for his upcoming production of "The Remember Ballons" - a work which captures the imagination and touches the depths of human experience for audience members of all ages. Andie has also performed with ImmerseATL Collective and has proudly performed as a company artist with EXCAVATE BODY since its founding in 2023.
As a creator, Andie's most recent solo choreographic work, "Love Letters to Doubt" began in Fly on the Wall's Excuse the Art series in 2023 and has since toured at various regional conferences. The expansion of this work has been made possible through ImmerseATL Collective's time in Dance Lab at the High Museum of Art and a Creative Residency at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences.
As a dance educator, Andie is deeply committed to fostering the values of creativity, self-expression, healing, and innovation in her classroom.
In this upcoming process with staibdance, Andie is thrilled to dive into community and movement-making that exemplifies the magnitude of the human experience in and between us all.
Andie joined staibdance in 2024.
Madison Lee (any pronouns) is a queer, Asian American dance artist based in Atlanta, GA. They graduated from Emory University in 2024 with degrees in Dance and Marketing. There they were awarded Highest Honors for their dance thesis, fellowship in the John H. Gordon Stipe Society, and The Pioneer Award. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Madison trained intensively in hip hop and other styles and has performed with the Dallas Cowboys and Royal Caribbean Cruises. After coming to Atlanta, they began training in contemporary/modern techniques, and they have presented multiple works throughout their time at Emory and locally in Atlanta. They have had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Jacquelyn Pritz, Jacqui Hinkson, Leo Briggs, Julio Medina, George Staib, Annalee Traylor, Xan Burley, and Alex Springer. Outside of staibdance, Madison is a company member with Catching Mangoes, led by Jacque Pritz, and EXCAVATE BODY, led by Jacqui Hinkson.
Madison joined staibdance in 2024.
Cailan Orn is a multi-disciplinary artist who got her start as a young artist in Minnesota. She continued her education at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA where she earned a BFA in dance. Upon graduation, she moved to New York to perform as a company member with Company XIV from 2011-2014 where she dove right into the fullness of dance theater. While with Company XIV Cailan had the immense privilege of being the principal dancer at Chicago Lyric Opera for their premiere of La Traviata in 2013.
Cailan was guided to the south and from 2015-2020 she was a moving artist with gloATL. While with gloATL she enjoyed collaborations with Maestro Robert Spano from the Atlanta Symphony, constant community outreach and garden building, and their time in Italy for the Florence Biennale XII, where they won the Lorenzo il Magnifico for Performance Art.
She also found in the south, Lightwire Theater in New Orleans, and has been a member since 2016 working as a puppet performer. Through Lightwire she has taught and performed for audiences all over the US as well as China, Singapore and Brazil.
Cailan is excited and honored to bring art and joy to the public with staibdance!
Cailan joined staibdance in 2024.
Mia Shocket is a dance artist based in Atlanta, GA. She graduated from Emory University in 2024, earning degrees in Dance and Movement Studies and Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. Her choreographic and performance thesis in dance was awarded Highest Honors. During her time at Emory, she had the opportunity of performing in works by Julio Medina, George Staib, Annalee Traylor, Greg Catellier, and her peers. Her early dance training occurred at C-Unit Studio in Maryland where she trained in versatile styles, technique, and artistry and competed with their nationally recognized dance company. In addition to her work with staibdance, Mia is a company member of VIA UNI by Xavier Lewis and teaches group fitness.
Mia joined staibdance in 2024.
Design Team
Gregory Catellier
lighting & set Designer
Works featuring their collaboration: between dog and wolf, ARARAT, fence, w i s h d u s t, Attic, Name Day
catellier Catellier has been working in the field of contemporary dance for thirty years. This includes dancing in works of his own and others, choreographing dances for students and professionals, and designing lighting and sets for dances. He teaches dance, choreography, and design at Emory University. He has also supported dance artists and dance festivals through technical support and dance organizations through advising on dance facilities and technical challenges. Catellier earned a BA in dance from Arizona State University and an MFA in dance from The Ohio State University. He is living proof that a dance education can provide a well-rounded education and an investigative approach to the world. He believes firmly in the power of dance to transform those dancing and those watching the dance. He also believes firmly, that we all need to take steps to mitigate the environmental crisis, battle for environmental justice, and take personal responsibility for our effects on the natural world. He continues to work on making his work and life less of a burden on the environment. He say’s “please, stop burning stuff.”
ben coleman
Sound Designer & composer
Works featuring their collaboration: between dog and wolf, ararat, fence, w i s h d u s t
ben coleman is a British multi-disciplinary artist residing in Denver, CO. His practice is rooted in sound and performance making, but often plays with other media, including music, text, video and installation. Coleman grew up in theatre and music, forming his first bands in London while studying contemporary performance. Moving to the US in 2006, he dedicated some eventful years to musical projects- later returning to performance alongside new roles as composer, sound designer and installation artist. His practice now embraces curatorial projects, and frequent collaboration with choreographers, visual artists, and theater practitioners. His work has been presented by institutions including the High Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, Understudy, Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Contemporary, Redline Contemporary Art Centre, Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Gibney Dance, Dashboard, Georgia Institute of Technology, Flux Projects, Zuckerman Museum of Art and Emory University. Coleman’s work has been featured by Hyperallergic, Wire Magazine, Vice, Pitchfork, The Denver Post, ArtsATL, Burnaway and WABE Atlanta. He is a resident alumnus and board member at Redline Contemporary Art Centre, Denver. Visit him and his work at www.bencolemansounds.com
photo by Jenna Maurice
milton cordero
video/projection Designer
Works featuring their collaboration: ararat
Cordero started his career in film and theater at a very young age. Eventually, he explored the
use of multimedia in live performances, which led him to develop a career as a projection
designer and co-found MCordero Designs. Cordero’s projection designs have been seen on stages in New York, Atlanta, and Puerto Rico.
Favorites credits include:
Anna in the Tropics (Bay Street Theater, NY), Hands Up (Alliance Theatre, GA), In the Heights (Choliseo, PR), The Nether (Emory Theatre, GA), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-
Time (Aurora Theatre & Horizon Theatre, GA), Tierra Mia (Gibaro de Puerto Rico) and El Burlador de Sevilla (Teatro Círculo, NY)
You can follow Milton on IG: mcorderodesigns or www.miltoncordero.com
His goal is to keep exploring and contributing to bringing the Latin theater to the next level, as
well as honoring God with his talents.
leah cox
dramaturg
Works featuring their collaboration: between dog and wolf
Leah cox (she/her/hers): lead creator and performer in Group Therapy; co-founder of makegroup with Kristen Osborn, a collective dedicated to using live performance to bring people together in uncommon ways. In addition to making and performing, Cox is a nationally-recognized educator and program innovator. She is currently an associate professor at The University of Texas at Austin and the creator of two experimental workshops. The first, Failure Collective, is an interdisciplinary, intergenerational workshop that explores the creative possibilities that arise when we embrace failure and work in unfamiliar contexts. Intelligent Bodies, Creative Minds offers a paid cohort of dance professionals the opportunity to apply and extend their expertise to projects beyond the field of dance. Cox’s previous programs are noted for creating mutually beneficial partnerships between performing arts organizations and institutions of higher education. These include the Bard College/Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company/New York Live Arts partnership and the ADF/Bard College partnership, both of which Leah created and directed. Her teaching was featured in the Bill T. Jones documentary, A Good Man, which aired on PBS nationwide. Dance Teacher Magazine celebrated Cox with a feature story in May 2016.
Cox’s previous projects and positions include: dancer/collaborator in Liz Lerman’s Wicked Bodies; Dean of the American Dance Festival; Education Director for New York Live Arts; member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, first as a company member, then as the inaugural education director; member of the New York Dance and Performance Awards (The “Bessies”). She frequently serves as an adjudicator for the American College Dance Association. Her choreographic work has been presented at Bard College, the Cool NY Festival, DUMBO Dance Festival, the Museum of Art and Design (NYC), and the 92nd Street Y.
photo by Jim Lafferty
amelia hayes
costume Designer
Works featuring their collaboration: ararat
amelia hayes has been creating clothing and costumes for over 30 years. she comes from a long line of makers and have been making clothing since someone first gave me a pair of scissors and a pile of fabric scraps. Some endeavors have been more successful than others. Some ideas flew to the stars and some fell apart in pathetic, whimpering heaps. she has always been drawn to ideas around conservation and low to zero waste, recycling, reuse, and remaking. amelia loves nature and color and tends to cringe at overused motifs and designs. she loves the history of clothing and fabric, particularly in a sociological context.
john merritt
costume designer
Works featuring their collaboration: between dog and wolf, Dido & Aeneas for the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra
john merritt is a freelance costume designer for theatre and a costume buyer/shopper for Film & TV Production based in Atlanta, GA. John received his Master’s of Fine Arts in Costume Design at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (‘21) and his Bachelor’s of Arts at University of Southern Indiana (‘18). Atlanta credits: Macbeth (Kennesaw State University), The Other Shore, Blood Wedding, Lysistrata (Emory University), A Third Way, (Actor’s Express), Native Gardens (Stagedoor Players) and Dido & Aeneas (Atlanta Baroque Orchestra/staibdance). Regional costume design credits include Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Imbroglio (Great River Shakespeare Festival) Detroit 67’, People Where They Are, Airness (Clarence Brown Theatre) Anon(ymous), Crumbs from The Table of Joy, The Glass Menagerie, Fool for Love, Venus in Fur (University of Southern Indiana).
rosalind staib
costume Designer
Works featuring their collaboration: ararat
rosalind staib is the Managing Director of Theater Emory at Emory University, and has been at Emory for over 23 years. Rosalind has stage managed and costume designed for several Atlanta area theaters, including Out of Hand, 7 Stages, Synchronicity, Whole World Theatre, and Theater Emory. A graduate of Dickinson College, she holds dual degrees in Dramatic Arts and Fine Arts. Rosalind is an active singer with both Collegium Vocale Community Chorus and University Chorus at Emory. She is a founding member of the Board of Directors of Staibdance. A native of Pennsylvania, she currently resides in Georgia with her husband and two dogs.
dr. debra vidali
ethnographer
Works featuring their collaboration: between dog and wolf
Dr. Debra Vidali, Director of the Anthropology Theater Lab, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Theater Studies at Emory University. As an ethnographer with staibdance’s between dog and wolf, Vidali is producing a series of chronicles which can be found on the Anthropology Theater Lab website.
Vidali produces hybrid work -- through words, sounds, bodies, space, observation, images, speculation, and performance modalities -- as a sociocultural anthropologist, experimental ethnographer, theater-maker, poet, linguist, and scholar-activist. Her projects have explored themes of generational wisdom, ancestral voices, Indigenous sovereignty, civic engagement, media overload, the phenomenology of time, and the frontiers of knowing.
Vidali is the recipient of the 2023 Ethnographic Poetry Prize, awarded by the Society for Humanistic Anthropology. She has created collaborative theater projects in dozens of venues across the United States, as well as internationally, at the University of Malmö (Sweden) and in Canada. Her multimodal sonic ethnography work has appeared in galleries in London, Paris, and Washington, DC. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Spencer Foundation, National Science Foundation, Fulbright-Hays, Wenner-Gren, Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, and Social Science Research Council.
Publications include: Vertical Jam/Temple of Disheveled Archives, forthcoming with Liminalities; Two Row Repair: A Trilogy, Anthropology and Humanism (2024); Craftwork in Ethnographic Theater Making, in The Routledge Companion to the Anthropology of Performance(2023); Ethnographic Theater Making: Multimodal Alchemy, Knowledge, and Invention, American Anthropologist (2020); Kabusha Radio Remix: Your Questions Answered by Pioneering Zambian Talk Show Host David Yumba (installed 2014-2018); Multisensorial Anthropology: A Retrofit Cracking Open of the Field, American anthropologist (2016); and A Language for Re-Generation, in Media, Anthropology and Public Engagement (2015).