Joel Mejia Smith is a queer, mixed Latino dance and visual artist who creates live, digital and web-based projects around identity and meta-theatricality, or performances that call attention to their making. The focus of his creative research is in his shared role as artistic director of duet dance theater company casebolt and smith, established in 2005 with Liz Casebolt, whose mission/work demystifies and challenges gender power structures and binary social roles largely choreographed and constructed as female/male partnerships in theatrical dances; and in the solo improvisations, new collaborations and digital projects that support and inform inquiries around queerness, gay male subjectivity, ethnicity, intimacy, eroticism and pleasure. His work has been presented at the National Theater of Taiwan in Taipei, 92nd Street Y’s Buttenweiser Hall in New York City, Miami Dade Cultural Art Center in Miami, REDCAT in Los Angeles, ODC Theater in San Francisco, Vancouver International Dance Festival in Vancouver, Dance Theater of Ireland in Dublin, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast, Lee Theater in St. Louis, Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, and the Southern Theater in Minneapolis among others. His work is taught by scholars and artists, and has been written about on multiple occasions by the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Dance Magazine, LA Weekly and others. Smith is a Professor in the Department of Dance at UC Riverside. He has held positions on the faculties of Scripps College in Claremont, CA; University of California, Los Angeles; Cerritos College in Norwalk, CA; El Camino College in Torrance, CA; and at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, CA. He danced for Susan Rose and Dancers as well as Hassan Christopher and the Company of Strangers, performed in works by Doug Varone, Richard Bull (via Susan Leigh Foster), Fred Benjamin and Lea Anderson, and has extensive commercial credits including dancing for pop artists Ricky Martin and Thalia as well as appearing on film and television including two international commercials for Hummer and Dr. Pepper. Smith was named one of “LA’s Finest” contemporary male dancers by Dance Spirit Magazine.

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Liz Casebolt is a Professor of Dance at Los Angeles Valley College, where she teaches both practice and theory courses in dance and produces bi-annual student and faculty performances. She has been on faculty at Scottsdale College, Phoenix College, Cerritos College, Rio Hondo College, College of the Canyons, CSU Long Beach, and El Camino College. Liz holds a BFA in dance from New York University and a MFA in dance/choreography from UCR. She is currently pursuing a MA in Mindfulness Studies from Lesley University in Boston. Her thesis is a creative project that offers mindfulness practices rooted in the Buddhist brahmaviharas in support of caregivers for people with cancer. Liz is Co-Artistic Director, with Joel Smith, of casebolt and smith.

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Mike Esperanza is a multifaceted creative force, celebrated for his transformative contributions to the world of dance and choreography. With an innate ability to merge contemporary aesthetics with authentic storytelling, Mike has captivated audiences worldwide. His journey began in Los Angeles and currently in New York City, where he honed his craft, drawing inspiration from urban culture and the human experience. As an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and artistic director, Mike has choreographed for renowned educational programs and companies such as WhimW’him, Noble Motion, LACDC, Urbanity, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, leaving an indelible mark on the dance landscape. Mike has presented on prestigious stages including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, McCallum Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Salvatore Capezio Theater at Peridance, The Royal Conservatory in Cordoba, Spain, and the Australian Circus Festival. Mike’s work has been described as “bold, athletic movement and theatricality – the latter clearly the coming together of Esperanza’s many talents – the company epitomizes the dance of the new millennium: shape-shifting, vernacular-blending with a prescient focus on the brave new world in which we live.” ~ Jessica Abrams, Explore Dance. Mike recently danced for Ariana Grande at the 2024 Met Gala as well as her music video “Yes, and?”. Mike is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University.

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Mauro Sacchi, born and raised in Italy and educated in the US, has made Taiwan his home for the last twenty years. Master’s in Dance from the Graduate School of Dance, Taipei National University of the Arts; BA summa cum laude from Ripon College (WI), Mauro is a dance-theater artist and teacher, artistic director of 貓肉先生創作. His work on stage and in the studio is permeated and inspired by his interest in the human body as locus of exchange. Through his studies at TNUA and with Lee-Chen Lin, his practice of contact improvisation, physical theater in the tradition of Grotowski and Barba, and qigong, he has developed his own techniques for training and performance, with a focus on preparing the body for any kinetic and emotional possibility on stage – removing superfluous tension, developing true presence, overcoming perceived impossibilities. He has presented his work across five continents, taught at major academies in Asia, Europe and the Americas, and collaborated as performer, choreographer, and instructor with renowned Taiwanese companies HORSE Dance Theater, Legend Lin Dance Theater, Tjimur Dance Theater, B.DANCE, with Jerome Bel, Bulareyaung, Riverbed Theater, Joel Mejia Smith and Lorenzo Pierucci. His latest works, commissioned by B.DANCE, Nuit Blanche Taipei, Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles, and the National Academy of Dance in Rome (Italy), play with some of the classical tropes of modern dance and music, rearranging and turning upside down canonized relationships to explore connection, community, expression, and communication in new ways.@ilmaurosacchi @wewereeverywhere

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Amelia Charter was born in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. She earned her BA in Performance and Directing from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, was co-founder of Denver Performance Research (2009 - 2012), and received an MFA and fellowship in Performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2014). Her works have been featured in Los Angeles at Human Resources, The Electric Lodge, Paloma Street Studio, and Pieter Performance Space - in Chicago at Sector 2337, Defibrillator Gallery, Mana Contemporary, Co-Prosperity Sphere, and Links Hall - in Indianapolis at The Sugar Space and The Oilwick - in Philadelphia atthe Museum of Art and Mascher Space Cooperative - and at Kriti Gallery in Varanasi, India. Charter lives and works in Los Angeles as a performance artist, producer, teacher, designer, and writer. She is currently the Producer for Performance and Programs at The Museum of Contemporary Art, LA. Her practice and artwork extends to include making clothing, sculpture, carpentry, building furniture, outdoor stages, and quilting.