Weaving | Mapping the Heart

KRISTEN MANGIONE (Choreographer) is a choreographer, teacher, and founder of Dance Alchemy for the Soul. With over 20 years of experience, her work integrates movement, energy awareness, and Eastern philosophy. She has performed and choreographed throughout New York City and internationally, presenting original works at venues including the Dumbo Dance Festival, Merce Cunningham Studio, Ailey Citigroup Theater, and in London. Her choreography is deeply informed by her studies in Zen and the healing arts. www.kristenmangionedance.com

CHARLOTTE AUCELLA (Performer) is a performing artist, and choreographer originally from Northern Virginia. She earned her B.F.A. in Dance Performance from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College in 2023, under the direction of Nelly Van Bommel. While attending Purchase, Charlotte performed works by Bill T Jones, George Balanchine, and Netta Yerushalmy. Since moving to New York City, Charlotte has presented repertoire with the Merce Cunningham Trust and collaborated with artists, Mark Bankin, Stephanie Saywell, Liz Gerring, and Petra Zanki. Alongside co-choreographer, Angelina Laguna, Charlotte's work has been commissioned and presented by the String Orchestra of New York City and American Dance Guild, and the Queens New Music Festival. Their projects have been presented at venues such as Lehman College, The Tank Theater, Alvin Ailey Studios, and Arts on Site. Currently, Charlotte is in creative processes at the DIG choreographic residency program through Green Space in Queens NY.

CHISATO FUJII (Performer) is a Japanese dancer and emerging choreographer currently based in New York. She began her training in ballet and jazz at the Matsuoka Jazz and Ballet Studio at the age of five. She graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College in Spring 2025. Chisato has performed works by renowned choreographers such as Merce Cunningham, Norbert De La Cruz, Tsai Hsi Hung, Trisha Brown, Kevin Wynn, Symara Sarai (Johnson), and the New Dance Group. As a choreographer, she has presented work at Creatures Space and Green Lung Studio, and is currently in residence at Green Space through the D.I.G. Residency, where she is creating a new work. 

MAYU NAKAYA (Performer) is a professional contemporary dance artist originally from Japan. Currently, Mayu, as a dancer, has worked with Obremski/Works, Drye Marinaro Dance Company, Helen Simoneau Danse, SAXYN Dance Works, Li Chiao-Ping Dance (based in Wisconsin), Rogue Wave with Catherine Messina, Six Degrees Dance, Dance Alchemy for the Soul, Faustine Lavie Dance Project, sarAika Movement Collective, One Day Dance, iKADA Contemporary Dance Company, Yoshito Sakuraba, Miranda Stuck, Yuki Ishiguro, Kanon Sugino. As a choreographer, Mayu has presented her work at several dance festivals in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Japan. Mayu also received several awards as both a solo dancer and a choreographer in various competitions in Japan and South Korea from 2016-2019. She began ballet at three and graduated from the contemporary dance course at Tokyo Metropolitan High School of Arts and the dance laboratory | Physical Education at Tsukuba University in Japan. She gained extensive experience in contemporary dance, improvisation, and choreography during her studies through numerous performances and competition experiences. She moved to New York and studied at The Ailey School from 2019-2021.

STEVE ROACH (Composer) A longstanding leader in contemporary electronic music, composer and multi-instrumentalist Steve Roach draws on the beauty and power of the Earth's landscapes to create lush, meditative soundscapes. Throughout his decades-long career, he explored styles ranging from tribal rhythms to deep space music, and he's proven to be an enormous influence on several generations of ambient artists, trance producers, and new age/world music fusionists.

BYRON METCALF (Composer) A drummer who specializes in shamanic trance, Byron Metcalf is a musician, producer, and educator based in Arizona. A professional drummer since the age of 15, he played on hit albums including Kenny Rogers' The Gambler before earning a Ph.D. in transpersonal psychology. His dozens of new age recordings include collaborations with composer Steve Roach.