MEET THE COMPANY
PHOTO CREDIT: REBECCA MARCELA OVIATT/@BECCA.VISION
TDE COLLABORATORS
2026
CEMIYON BARBER is a professional dancer and producer based in New York. A 2018 BFA graduate of SUNY Purchase, he has performed works by renowned choreographers including Bill T. Jones, Kyle Abraham, Merce Cunningham, and George Balanchine. In spring 2024, he joined the Metropolitan Opera. His work extends beyond the stage into fashion, featured in VOGUE Russia and Numéro Berlin, and television, with appearances on HBO, PBS, MTV, and Telfar TV. His career has been noted by The New York Times (2021, 2022) and The New Yorker (2017, 2021, 2022). Barber is also the co-founder of Beyond the Black Box, a community organization dedicated to celebrating and uplifting the Black dance community, which has produced over 10 sold-out events since its founding in 2022.
STACIE CANNON is a native of Portsmouth, VA, and a graduate of Shenandoah Conservatory, where she earned a BFA in Dance and a Pilates Mat certification. Upon graduating, she performed with Adrian Vincent James at Howard University and at The Dance Place as a guest artist with the former Edgeworks Dance Theater. She later relocated to New York City to continue her ballet and contemporary training through the Certificate Program at Peridance Center, where she was the only recipient of a special award granting one year of unlimited classes to continue her training. Stacie has performed with The Jinah Parker Project in the original production of SHE and in Warning, a solo choreographed by Helanius Wilkins, presented at The Kennedy Center, Dumbo Dance Festival, and the University of Colorado Boulder. She performed for nine seasons with Matthew Westerby Company and was featured in the premiere of Sacred Songs, choreographed by Matthew Rushing, at the Whitney Museum. She has also performed Amy Ashley’s The Shadows Lie in several showcases, including Fertile Ground. Stacie is currently in her second season with The DynamitExperience.
FAUSTINE LAVIE (Dance Artist) was born in Toulon, France, where she started ballet at 3 years old. She then studied in different reknowned dance schools such as Paris Opera Ballet School and ESDC Rosella Hightower, before moving to NYC in 2015 to attend The Ailey School, where she graduated from the Certificate Program in May 2018. Faustine had the opportunity to perform works by many choreographers, such as Darrell Grand Moultrie, Manuel Vignoulle, Winston Dynamite Brown, Amy Hall Garner, Fredrick Earl Mosley, Clifton Brown and Shay Bland. She is currently a company member with iKADA Contemporary Dance Company, LaneCoArts, sarAika, The DynamitExperience, Keiko Fujii Dance Company and Six Degrees Dance. She founded Faustine Lavie Dance Project in 2020. The company has already performed in Philadelphia and NYC, including KnJ Theater at Peridance Center, TADA! Theater, Steps on Broadway, New York City Center Studios and Bridge For Dance.
JASMINE PRESTI (she/her) is from Long Island, New York. She graduated from Adelphi University with a BFA in Dance in 2022. At Adelphi, she worked with many acclaimed modern choreographers like Larry Keigwin, Winston Dynamite Brown, Takehiro Ueyama, and dancers from the Mark Morris Dance Company. She has also done works created by Paul Taylor and Martha Graham. After college, Presti joined Limón 2, the second company of the José Limón Dance Foundation. She has had the opportunity to tour with the main company for their production of Missa Brevis in New Jersey and South Carolina. Along with performance work, she is also Rehearsal Director for Maliek Dance Theater and teaches various styles of dance to kids during after school hours.
KRISTI ANN SCHOPFER, she/her (Dance Artist), began her dance training in New Jersey at Dance World Academy and R.A.D. (Royal Academy of Dance), later touring the east coast and on Carnival Cruise Lines. Kristi Ann received her BFA in Dance at SUNY Brockport, where she met Rebecca Sproul Gushue, dancing for Gushue Moving Arts from 2007-2017. She worked with Barkin/Selissen Project (NYC) as a touring performing artist from 2012-2019. Kristi Ann has recently worked with Sheep Meadow Dance Theater, Namn Dance, Janis Brenner, Kate Griffler, among others, as well as collaborates with Matheny Arts Access; providing individuals with disabilities access to creative expression. Kristi Ann has been an artist with The DynamitExperience (since 2019) and 3rd Law Dance/Theater (since 2021).
HANNAH WAGNER (she/her) (Dance Artist) began dancing in her hometown St. Paul, Minnesota at the Classical Ballet Academy of Ballet Minnesota. She graduated with her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Hannah has since had the opportunities to perform with Nimbus Dance Works, Wylliams Henry Contemporary Dance, Ballet Minnesota, Caterina Rago Dance Company, Buglisi Dance Theatre, and The DynamitExperience. In 2018, Hannah was invited to perform at the Perpetuum Mobile Festival in Brussels, Belgium where she premiered an original work “Am I...?”. Since then, she has become a resident artist with The Dancing Society based in Brussels. Hannah continues to develop her own creative work, and is passionate about projects based in collaboration and cooperation with the NYC community. This is her fourth year with the DynamitExperience.
MIKAYLA YOUNG, a Baltimore native, took her first dance class at the YMCA. Soon after, she began training under the tutelage of Stephanie Powell. She has performed at the International Associations of Blacks in Dance Conferences. MiKayla obtained her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University with a minor in Social Welfare in 2022, studying under artists like Trebien Pollard, Scott Puttman and Sinclair Emoghene. Throughout her time at VCU she performed work with artists such as Dr. E. Gaynell Sherrod, MK Abadoo and Christine Wyatt. Including site-specific work at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Virginia). In 2023, she was honored to collaborate with contemporary American artist Dawud Bey for his work Elegy, premiering at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Currently, a Brooklyn-based artist, she has apprenticed with Urban Bush Women, is a former company member with Keeping People Connected and has been in residency with MODArts Dance Collective with Leah Tubbs. MiKayla has been performing with The Dynamite Experience since July 2024 and looks forward to expanding her artistry to serve and advocate for her community.