Fall 2024 Dance Faculty Concert

Amy Love Beasley holds a B.A. in Studio Art from the College of Charleston and a M.F.A in Choreography from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She has had the good fortune of performing across the country for many influential choreographers, including John Gamble, Susan Haines, Gerri Houlihan, BJ Sullivan, Sean Sullivan, Talani Torres, and Jan Van Dyke. Her own work has been performed at several universities, the North Carolina Dance Festival, UNC School of the Arts, Art-o-Matic in Washington, DC and through Triskelion Art’s Waxworks and the Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, NY. Beasley’s research in dance making and education merges her studies and considers how visual art making and processes intersect with dance making, training, and performance. Inspired by her Yoga practice and teaching, her research in each classroom looks at how mindfulness intersects with learning, moving, and self agency. Before joining the faculty at North Carolina State University, she was on faculty at Elon University, UNC Greensboro, Wake Forest University, and the UNC School of the Arts’ Summer Intensive.

Allison Beaty is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Dance at NC State University. Prior to this role, she taught at Texas Tech University, Austin Community College, University of Central Missouri, and UNC Greensboro. Her teaching is deeply influenced by somatic practices, anatomy, psychology, and Safety Release Technique. She holds an MFA in Dance (Choreography) from UNC Greensboro and a BA in Dance from Texas Tech University. 

Allison’s choreographic work emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration in the exploration of scientific phenomena from the disciplines of psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Allison’s work has been showcased at numerous venues and festivals, including the Wicklow ScreenDance Laboratory (Ireland), Jacksonville Dance Film Festival (Florida), International ScreenDance Festival (Iowa and Mexico), FilmFest by Rogue Dancer (virtual), the 16th Annual Modern Dance Festival at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (Texas), and the American College Dance Association South Central Conference (Texas), among many others. In addition to her creative work, Allison investigates collaborative choreographic practices and shared ownership in dance, alongside exploring memory mechanisms for dance through psychological research. Her research has been published in Research in Dance Education and presented at NDEO National Conferences. Committed to redefining traditional hierarchical structures in dance and bridging disciplinary boundaries, Allison aims to foster a sense of community, collaboration and shared ownership in all of her work.

Autumn Mist Belk (Teaching Professor, NC State University) earned her B.A. in studio art from the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!) and her M.F.A. in dance choreography from the University of Maryland. She also has over 600 hours of yoga pedagogy and philosophy training and a personal yoga practice spanning more than 15 years.

Autumn founded and served as artistic director of the multimedia dance group Code f.a.d. Company from 2008-2020, collaborating with a strong core of dancers, musicians, and artists for over 50 performances across those 12 years. Autumn’s choreography has been presented throughout the United States and in Hallein, Austria, as part of the international artist festival Schmiede. Autumn also directs FAD: Film-Art-Dance Festival, which includes curating Screendance in Schools – educational programs of dance films complete with lesson plans and learning objective-driven activities for K-12 classrooms. Her own dance films have screened in festivals around the world, and she has been chosen to participate in artist residencies (making dance films) in Scotland, Italy, Iceland, Austria, and Argentina. Autumn was honored to be selected as the 2016 winner of the National Dance Society’s Dance Promotion in the Community Award, as an inductee into NC State’s Academy of Outstanding Teachers in 2015, and as a Distinguished Undergraduate Professor in 2023.

Tara Z. Mullins is an Associate Teaching Professor in the department, where she directs the State Dance Company, teaches courses, facilitates the Master Class Series, and creates interdisciplinary projects. She also founded the Lunchbox Series, a virtual lunchtime conversation that uses dance and the arts as a springboard to delve into pertinent topics such as Arts and Public Health, Affirmative Action and the Arts, the Critical Response Process, and the intersection of STEM with dance.

While at NC State, Tara produced Operation Breadbasket, a mixed-media modern dance honoring the civil rights movement, which was featured on WUNC’s The State of Things.
She also created Against the Railing, a digital platform and mixed media dance piece that tells the immigration stories of the NC State community. Her screendance Gull, in collaboration with renowned filmmaker Doug Kass, was screened at 16 international film festivals.

Before working at NC State, Tara developed the education and service-based Z Mullins Dance Company. The company founded and facilitated such events as the Virginia Dance Symposium, which brought together high school dancers and professors from dance programs, and the Summer Dance Intensive, a ten-day program for high school and college dancers. She also planned and directed many community projects, such as Fitness, Food and FUN, a nutrition and fitness program for fifth-grade girls, and the Big Gig, a free youth arts festival in Miami.

Tara has a B.A. in dance from James Madison University and an M.F.A. in dance from Arizona State University, where she received the Faculty Women’s Association Distinguished Master Degree Candidate Award for her work developing arts programs for homeless youth, as well as the inaugural Herberger College of Fine Arts Fellowship.

Virginia graduated from NC State University in 2019 with B.S. degrees in Biochemistry and Plant Biology. During her time at NC State, she spent four years as a member of the former NCSU Dance Company, now State Dance Company. In 2017, she received both the Performing Artist Award and the Creative Artist Award. Virginia is currently pursuing a career in Clinical Research and would like to thank Amy Beasley and Tara Mullins for giving her the opportunity to dance with such lovely people again.

Jill Bradley is a founding member of Code f.a.d. Company and is thrilled to be back onstage with the company again this summer. She works full-time as a Physical Therapy Assistant and teaches dance at a private studio in Virginia. Jill is also a guest faculty member teaching dance at Longwood University. She has a B.A. in dance from James Madison University and has been performing, choreographing, and teaching for longer than she cares to admit.

Natalee Campbell is an alumna of North Carolina State University and a former dancer with the State Dance Company (fka the NCSU Modern Dance Company) under the artistic direction of Robin Harris. She is a founding member of Code f.a.d. Company, performing from 2008-2016. Now, as Natalee rejoins the stage with Code f.a.d. Company, she is filled with exhilaration and gratitude.

Delaney is a 2022 alum of NC State, where she spent four years as a member of the State Dance Company and earned the 2021 NC State Creative Artist Award for work as a student choreographer. She served as the choreographer for NC State University Theatre’s 2023 production of She Kills Monsters. Delaney is so excited to perform at NC State again in the Dance Faculty Concert.

Gerren Mobley is a 2003 alumni of North Carolina State University and a former dancer with the State Dance Company (fka NCSU Modern Dance Company) under the artistic direction of Robin Harris. He is a founding member of Code f.a.d. Company and has performed, taught, and choreographed dance for over three decades. Currently, Gerren resides in Washington, DC where he continues to dance in his spare time throughout the DC area. Gerren is thrilled to once again be dancing alongside his fellow Code f.a.d. dancers!

Kelley Murphy is a graduate of Ohio University with a BFA in Dance Perfomance and a BFA in Studio Art. She currently works as a dance teacher and a professional photographer around the Raleigh area. Kelley has also performed and toured with several modern dance companies around the triangle since moving to North Carolina in 2005 and is an original member of Code f.a.d. Company.

Brooks Owens graduated with a BFA in Dance Education from East Carolina University and was the Head Dance Artistic Director of Cardinal Gibbons High School for 15 years. She won Outstanding Choreography from NC Theater and grew the dance program from 34 students to over 250. Brooks underwent a big career change in 2021 and is currently a Sales Manager at Brightly Software. Her love for movement remains a passion and she is thrilled to perform again. She started dancing with Code f.a.d in 2008 and is excited to dance again with everyone!

Christina Serafino grew up in Connecticut and put on her first pair of dance shoes at age 3. She is a founding member of Code f.a.d. Company and received her B.A. in Dance from UNC Greensboro. Christina previously choreographed for and performed pieces by other choreographers with Choreo Collective, and performed for David Dorfman Dance at the American Dance Festival where she first met Autumn and Jill many moons ago. She is a realtor in the Raleigh area, and you’ll often see her doing a handstand or jumping in front of a house or landmark on her Instagram!

Alexa Simeonsson graduated from NC State in Spring of 2024 with a B.S. in Computer Science. At NC State, she was a member of the State Dance Company and received the NC State Creative Artist Award in 2023. She is currently pursuing a career as a software engineer at Cisco. She is so excited to dance alongside fellow State Dance Company Alumni! She would like to thank Amy Beasley for this opportunity.

LilyGrace is a 2022 NC State graduate and current employee in the Department of Performing Arts and Technology. As a student, she was involved in the State Dance Company and received the 2022 NC State Performing Artist Award. She is grateful to perform Amy Beasley’s choreography and share the stage with her fellow State Dance Company alumni again!