Bruno Augusto is the co-founding director of Arts & Above; an art maker, performer, and educator. His work encompasses dance, music, poetry, and film, and has been presented in Washington, DC, New York City, and San Francisco, as well as Cuba, Portugal, Germany, Angola, and Algeria. He has been a professional artist over the last 25 years, touring the United States, Africa, and Europe. Mr. Augusto holds a diploma in Técnica de la Danza Moderna Cubana from Escuela Nacional de Artes (Havana, Cuba), a BFA from Towson University in dance performance, and an MFA from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU in Choreography. Along with education, and artistic projects, Bruno is on the faculty at Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre and at Roots Acro Sports Center.
Rachel Sherertz was raised in New York City, where she was immersed in the arts. She attended Dance Theater Harlem as a young dancer, where she had the great fortune of being mentored to audition and be accepted into F.H. La Guardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, also known as the Fame school, while also a fellowship student at The Ailey School. She then applied and was accepted to University of North Carolina School of the Arts for her undergraduate degree in Dance. She has worked with and alongside Juel D. Lane, Camille A. Brown, Andrea E. Woods / Souloworks, and has also created her own dance works. She taught contemporary dance and creative movement for the prep program at UNCSA. She is a mother to two amazing boys and married to one of the dopest cinematographers. Rachel just completed her MFA in Dance at Hollins University and is in pursuit to influence the dance world where all artists can connect, create, and be uplifted, all while being the best domestic engineer to her budding family.
Rosely Conz is a Brazilian dancer, choreographer, and educator. She has an MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder, an MA in Performing Arts and BFA in Dance from the University of Campinas-Brazil. For the past 15 years, Rosely has been performing and choreographing professionally for dance companies both in Brazil and in the USA. She had her work funded by grants in Brazil such as FICC (Fund for Cultural Investments) and Capes (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel), sponsored by Merge Dance Company, Texas, and by the Atlas Black Box Experimental Studio in Boulder, CO. Her dance for camera TerraBlue was presented at conferences such as Women in Dance Leadership (2018) in NYC, and Decolonizing Bodies (2018) in Barbados, and international festivals such as Wicklow Screendance Laboratory in Ireland. Collaboration is part of Rosely’s philosophy which led to partnerships with Bailey Anderson, Ana Baer, Julia Ziviani, Adam Sekuler, amongst other incredible artists. Rosely is interested in how dance and choreography can contribute to the discussions on foreignness, immigration, and Otherness. Presently, she is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Alma College.
