State Dance Company Concert

Ashanti D’Mone Brantley (ADX) Proudly representing the DMV community, is a choreographer and interdisciplinary artist interested in language, travel, and archival. As a dance scholar and educator, ADX has taught Hip Hop and modern-contemporary dance for organizations such as CREWcial, BEASTcoast, VCU Dance Dogtown Dance Theatre. As a choreographer, she has engaged in making collaborative hip hop sets, received VCU’s Outstanding Choreography Award for 2021 and 2022, the latter being for If Honey Aged Like Whiskey, and will premiere two choreographic works this Spring. They will receive a BFA in Dance and Choreography from VCU Dance in May 2023.

Ami Dowden-Fant was born in Richmond, Virginia, and started her exploration of dance at the tender age of four. She received her BFA in Dance & Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she studied with Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Tania Isaac, Daniel Gwitzman, Robert Battle, and more. After college Dowden-Fant started her own company “hersouldances” while dancing for choreographers, such as Keith Thompson (AZ), Gesel Mason (CO) and Liz Lerman (AZ) to name a few. Dowden-Fant has been awarded numerous recognitions, such as the Outstanding Choreographer and Performer Award from Virginia Commonwealth University (VA), and her choreography has been presented in the National American College Dance Festival Gala and the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Currently, Ami Dowden-Fant is the owner of River City Dance & Performing Arts (VA) and Guest Artist at Dance Exchange where she has recently premiered “Of An Equal Place: Isotopes In Motion” at Michigan State University for East Lansing (MI) school district. Ami Dowden-Fant has been instilled with the gift to explore the infinite discoveries of dance with all those she encounters.

Tracey Durbin moved to Durham from Portland, Oregon where she was an integral part of the dance scene for over 25 years. Tracey trained under Eugene Louis Faccuito “Luigi” one of the most famous international jazz teachers of this generation. The Luigi technique and philosophy became the foundation of her teaching. A fluid robust musical warm up guides dancers to explore feeling, expression, community, movement flow, and individuality. Tracey was a featured artist in the book “Beauty is Experience: Dancing 50 and Beyond.” She currently teaches and makes dances for NC State, NCCU, ADF, Ninth St Dance and Raleigh Dance Theater.

Davian “D.J.” Robinson born in Hickory, NC, is a dancer, choreographer, Paralympic athlete, and motivational speaker. Currently living in Durham, NC, Davian graduated from UNC Charlotte in 2020 with bachelor degrees in both Science and Art. He attended Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh, NC from 2004 – 2011. Davian has performed at Orsolina 28 and The Palace of Venaria in Italy, UNC Charlotte, MOVE Dance Alliance, Loose Leaves Showcase, and Reactions of Resistance. Notably, he was selected to perform in Adidas “Impossible is Nothing” spec commercial, produced by Sugar Pop Productions in 2018. Davian founded and leads Sensory Beyond Sight: dance workshops which invite participants to experience movement without the use of their sight. His workshops have been presented at the Alexander Technique National Conference. He currently works with Camryn Watson and Inspire Inclusion Dance as a dance teacher. Davian has been a guest Artist and collaborator with ShaLeigh Dance Works since 2019 and officially joined the company in 2021.

Monica West was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She received her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2017, where she was a Rona Jaffe Graduate Fellow. She currently resides in Oakland, California.