With a mission to strengthen the field of dance in Greater Boston, Next Steps for Boston Dance provides multi-layered support for Greater Boston’s choreographers and Circus Artists.
Next Steps for Boston Dance, a partnership between The Boston Foundation, Aliad Fund and Movement Arts Creation Studio, is now managed by The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI).
To learn more about its history, visit the Boston Foundation.
This grant program supports choreographers and circus artists creating original work in any dance genre to move forward and take a “next step” in their careers by providing:
To see previous grant recipients, click here.
Carven Bernadeau (she/her/hers) is a Boston-based dancer, choreographer, and arts educator whose movement journey began at five years old. Trained in Haitian folklore, hip-hop, and Afro dance, she has honed her craft in both Boston and New York, developing a style rooted in culture, rhythm, and community. As a member of Trend N Motion, Carven contributes to the group’s identity by blending her artistic knowledge with a deep passion for teaching, mentorship, and youth development. Carven co-produced Animal Dance Kingdom alongside Trend N Motion—an interactive production designed to inspire physical wellness and cognitive growth. The production leverages the arts as a powerful tool for child development, fostering imagination, coordination, and confidence in young audiences. Today, as Chief Operating Officer of Nursery Groove Network, Carven continues to champion innovative programming that engages young learners, promotes active lifestyles, and empowers the next generation through creative expression.
Website: NurseryGroove.com
Instagram: @NurseryGroove
Facebook: facebook.com/carven.bernadeau
Photography credits
Priscilla Colon (she/her/hers), originally from the Bronx, NYC, is a Puerto Rican choreographer, teaching artist, and culture bearer committed to uplifting dance traditions rooted in the Afro-Latinx Diaspora. Her performance journey began as a personal quest to honor her heritage through folkloric forms such as Bomba y Plena, Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, and Hip Hop, later expanding into Latin Fusion Heels. Over the past decade, she has served as a culture bearer in Massachusetts, using storytelling, education, and community-based events that bring cultural dance traditions to learners of all ages. Priscilla founded The Diaspora Dance Collective, LLC to unite culture bearers across the Diaspora and create spaces where culture, artistry, and community come together. Today, the Collective produces performances, immersive experiences, and school programs that celebrate and sustain the living traditions shaping our global movement landscape.
Website: https://mosaicmovement.my.canva.site
Instagram: @priscillamarie_dance @diasporadance_boston
Photography credits
Nino de los Reyes (he/him/his) is the first dancer in history to be recognized with a Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album for Antidote, a collaboration with music legend Chick Corea. In 2010, Nino won three awards in the “Certamen de coreografía de danza española y flamenco de Madrid” competition for his spectacle Origen: first place for solo choreography; flamenco young promise; best musical composition composed by Paco Cruz. Nino has created five unique spectacles: Origen, Inside, Tierra, Uno Más de la Banda, and his latest creation, Vuelta al Sol. He is currently part of the faculty at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Instagram: @ninodelosreyes_flamenco
Facebook: facebook.com/ninodelosreyesoficial
Photography credits
Laila J. Franklin (she/they) is a multidisciplinary dance artist, practicing performance, teaching, administration, somatic bodywork, and guerilla archiving. Featured in Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” (2024), her practice extends from lineages of traditional and experimental Black, queer dance makers, exploring the collision of postmodernism and story ballet. Laila has been commissioned by Brown University, Salem State University, Boston Conservatory at Berklee,
and Urbanity, and presented thorough Movement Research at The Judson Church, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Boston Center for the Arts, Motion State Arts, School for Contemporary Dance and Thought, and Sideways Door Festival. Laila has been a performer in projects with Miguel Gutierrez, Dr. Christopher-Rasheem McMillan, Melinda Jean Myers, Stephanie Miracle, Ruckus Dance, and detritus dance. Laila holds an MFA from the University of Iowa, a BFA from The Boston Conservatory, and is a proud alumna of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
Website: lailajfranklin.com
Instagram: @la.frank
Photography credits
Miranda Lawson (she/her/hers) is a Boston-based performer, choreographer, and educator whose work lives at the meeting point of contemporary and Hip Hop dance forms. She received her BA in Dance and Psychology from Mount Holyoke College in 2022, where she was recognized with awards in choreographic excellence and leadership through social justice work. She has performed in works by Shakia Barron, Shura Baryshnikov, Betsi Graves, Chloe London, and Jenna Riegel. She is currently performing with NunweilerTanz and Eliza Malecki Dance. Her own work has been presented at the School for Contemporary Dance and Thought (Northampton, MA), the Multicultural Arts Center (Cambridge, MA), Tufts University (Medford, MA), and The Dance Complex (Cambridge, MA). Miranda was a mentee of MIDDAY Movement’s BIPOC Professional Dancer Mentorship program from 2022–23, an Urbanity X resident in 2022, and the recipient of Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Pandemic Relief Grant and the Somerville Artists Fellowship both in 2023.
Website: mirandalawsondance.com
Instagram: @mirandalawsondance
Facebook: facebook.com/miranda.lawson.5667
Photography credits
Joy Powers (she/her/hers) began clowning at a young age with Circus Smirkus, and has since gone on to tour the country with Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey, Cirque Us, and Hideaway Circus. She has also performed internationally with Theatre a Tempo, Si le Colibri, and will soon be joining the cast of Revel Pucks Circus in the UK. She co-created and starred in the Piccolini Trio’s Circus in a Trunk, and Theater in the Open’s Petrushka and the Caterpillar. She is also a healthcare clown year-round with the Laughter League, proudly serving Boston Children’s and Hasbro Children’s hospitals. Joy joined forces with her creative and life partner Aaron Dewitt in 2022, and together they created their own tiny touring theatrical circus show, To the Moon and Back!
Website: joyandaaron.com
Instagram: @joyandaaron
Facebook: facebook.com/joy.s.powers
Photography credits:
Carmen S. Rizzo (she/her/hers), from São Paulo, Brazil, is a Somerville-based dance artist, educator, fitness instructor, social media manager and administrator. She completed the eight-year professional training program at Escola de Dança de São Paulo and graduated from Manhattanville University (Dance and Business) summa cum laude. Her choreography has recently been performed at her evening-length productions, NACHMO, Boston WiP, Dance for World Community, Salem Arts Festival, Roots & Routes, WeCreate, LabWorks and ArtBeat.
Carmen was also a guest choreographer at her alma mater and has had her dance films featured at Homegrown, Shut in Dance Festival, and the DFA College Exchange. Exploring the neuroscience of dance and of emotion, she choreographs collaboratively, showcasing dancers’ abilities and expressive voices, bridging the gap between science and art. Debunking that science and dance are hard to understand, Carmen brings diversity into concert dance, making it more relatable and accessible.
Website: https://csrizzo22.wixsite.com/carmen-rizzo
Instagram: @carmen.rizzo.dance
Facebook: facebook.com/carmen.rizzo.798
Photography credits
Originally from South Shore Massachusetts, Haley Andrews is a queer freelancing dance artist and choreographer. Haley relocated to Boulder, CO in 2018 where she began to construct her project based contemporary dance collective, Andrews Movement. Since, she has showcased her choreography at BandChicago Dance Festival – Hubbard Street Dance (2019), Versatility Dance Fest – Colorado & California (2019), Mash Up Dance’s International Women’s Day Festival – California (2022), and Ballet Rhode Island – RI Women’s Choreography Project (2022 & 2023), Salve Regina University Concerts (2023, 2024, & 2025). She danced with T2 Dance based out of Boulder, CO for two seasons, until moving back East in 2020.
Currently Haley is on staff at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI teaching contemporary dance, and instructs various Adult Drop-In style Contemporary classes around Rhode Island, and the greater Boston area. Haley continues to build repertoire for Andrews Movement, and is actively showcasing work throughout the 2025 season. Haley Andrews is a passionate arts advocate who works to instill social and equitable change in the world, and her own community through her art.
Connect
Email: Andrewsmovement@gmail.com
Instagram: @Andrews_Movement & @haleyandrews22
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewsmovementproject
Photo credit: Olivia Moon Photography / IG: @halfasianlens
Angelina Benitez graduated from Salem State University in 2018 with a B.A in Modern/Contemporary Dance and has returned there as a guest artist in residence. Much of her work derives from play, queer joy, and her nonbinary, biracial life experience. They are a dedicated teaching artist to movers of truly all ages in the Greater Boston area, from toddlers to seniors. She is a member of Human Movement Project and a co-founding member of a contemporary dance collective, The Click. She has shared her work at VERSE / VISUAL, Dancing Queerly, Salem Arts Festival, 24 Hour ChoreoFest, The Dance Complex, and The Foundry.
Connect
Instagram: @shemovesandmakes
Photo credit: Runaway Camera
Andrea Muñiz (she/they) is a Boston-based dance artist from San Juan. Their creative practice is centered around collaboration and improvisational inquiries on relational dynamics. Andrea holds a B.F.A. from The Boston Conservatory. Their work has been presented at MELLE’s WIP, NACHMO Boston, Modern Connection’s DIP, JP PorchFest, and as part of the Dance Lab residency at Boston Center for the Arts. Their work is often described as dynamic and fresh. Andrea is currently developing new work as a Midday Rough Draft artist and teaching contact improvisation at Contact Improv Boston.
Connect
Instagram: @_andreamuniz
Website: https://www.andreamuniz.info/
Photo credit: Liam Kean / IG: @runawaycamera
Anjali Nath, a senior disciple of Pandit Chitresh Das and Gretchen Hayden, has devoted over 26 years to the art of Kathak. A cornerstone member of the Chitresh Das Dance Company, she has performed on prestigious stages across the U.S. and India. Anjali has also played an essential role in nurturing and strengthening Kathak institutions in California and Massachusetts, engaging and fostering community and providing opportunities for emerging dancers.
Anjali continues to preserve and evolve the rich traditions of Kathak with grace and passion. As a faculty member at the Harvard Dance Center and The Dance Complex in Cambridge, Anjali blends her expertise and creativity to reach students, community, aspiring dancers, and audiences. She serves as a crucial ambassador for the art and between cultures through her solo and collaborative work.
Isaura Oliveira has been a dancer, storyteller, and actress for 44 years, over 20 years teaching and performing in the USA. Although her work spans multiple disciplines, her African Brazilian Culture is the primary language she uses as a dancemaker. She creates both short and full-length solo works and choreographs ensemble pieces that most recently have taken the form of Ritual Performances.
Her work focuses on the importance of indigenous and ancestral art for cultural resistance, healing and joy. She is moved by the struggle and happiness of people who look like her and by the reality that an artist can be a channel for celebration, cultural education, healing as well as activism. Oliveira was born in Salvador-Bahia, Brazil, one of the cradles of African Brazilian culture, where African and Native Indigenous traditions and arts are maintained and nourished.
Photo credit: Robinson Moreno / Photoshoot production: Yarumi Eliza
Dr. Shriya Srinivasan has learnt Bharathanatyam from her Guru and mother Sujatha Srinivasan, Artistic Director of Shri Kalaa Mandir. She is known for her vibrant stage presence, emotive capacity and ability to blend sharp nritta with elegant grace. Blending the artistic traditions of Bharatanatyam with modern themes, Shriya has recently co-choreographed Vivarta: Transformations-an original work on environmental conservation, Manas: The Charioteer Within, and Samayam: A moment in Eternity.
She co-founded and directs the Anubhava Dance Company, comprised of second-generation Indian-American Bharathanatyam dancers and musicians, and has toured over 18 cities with her new productions, winning great acclaim. An upcoming Carnatic vocalist, passionate about sanskrit and yoga, she brings a holistic approach to her art and recently performed in the prestigious Madras Music Academy’s Spirit of Youth Festival, HCL series, Mid-Year series, and 18th annual December season Dance Festival.
Shriya is currently a professor of Biomedical Engineering at Harvard University and aims to bring current social themes to life through the beauty and pristine form of the classical Indian arts.
Ellen Waylonis (she/her) is a Boston-based multidisciplinary circus artist, educator, producer, and intimacy director exploring the power of storytelling through movement. Ellen creates work that subverts gender roles in circus, uplifts queer identity, and reimages a world where human interactions center kindness. Through her choreography, she pushes beyond conventional definitions of strength, grace, and risk.
Ellen is a co-founder of Circus 617 and a founding member of the Boston Circus Guild, performing locally and nationally with both companies. She was a 2021 Live Arts Boston grantee with Circus 617 and a 2024 Creative and Independent Producers Alliance Fellow. Ellen is co-owner and CEO of Esh Circus Arts in Somerville, a school dedicated to helping all people find joy and community through expressive movement. She was also part of the founding team for Commonwealth Circus Center in Jamaica Plain in 2017.
Connect
Instagram: @clairifier
Photo credit: Full Bloom Photography
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