Michigan Movement Performance Projects
May 4 – May 29, 2026
Updated January 20, 2026
Program Status: At capacity. Accepting applications to the waitlist
Designed and produced by Shannon Gillen, Associate Professor of Dance, Michigan Movement Performance Projects (M2P2) operates as a professional company. Upending the training model of high costs and short time-frames, this rigorous program provides gifted dancers four weeks of physical practice training, professional creation processes and performance opportunities, compositional mentorship and sharings, auditions and interactions with active companies in the US, and additional networking opportunities. Post pandemic, the dance landscape has shifted from singular coastal city hubs to robust companies, institutions and resources for rich and fulfilling careers across the US. M2P2 champions Midwest talent, supporting artists 18+ seeking to advance the skills and experience necessary to thrive in the dance field, as well as networking opportunities to bring hiring companies into contact with extraordinary dancers each year.
In 2026, VIM VIGOR, an internationally renowned dance theater company and in-house company at the University of Michigan led by Shannon Gillen, will be joined by German/American touring dance company FLOCKWORKS, and choreographer Marion Castaillet. Together, these companies and choreographers will lead, nurture and inspire a select group of exceptional dancers from May 4 through May 29 for the second year of Michigan Movement Performance Projects.
Program Faculty
Shannon Gillen
VIM VIGOR Founder & Artistic Director, Associate Professor of Dance
Katherine Kiessling
Company Member and Rehearsal Director of VIM VIGOR
Alice Klock
FLOCK Co-director, Co-choreographer, Dancer
Florian Lochner
FLOCK Co-director, Co-choreographer, Dancer
Marion Castaillet
Choreographer, Founder of La boda del lobo
Shannon Gillen
VIM VIGOR Founder & Artistic Director, Associate Professor of Dance
Shannon Gillen is the founder and artistic director of VIM VIGOR (US). Her creative work has been commissioned across the USA, Canada, Central America, South America and Europe. Projects include commissions by L.A. Dance Project, dance.films for BAM, NY Fashion Week, Danceworks at the Lobero Theatre, Gibney Dance Company, Zagreb Dance Company, Hubbard Street 2, Resilience Dance, over het lj in (NL), Jacob’s Pillow Festival, Boston Dance Theater at the ICA in Boston, Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, b12 Festival at dock 11, (DE) Ruvuelo (Chile), Mainfranken Theater Würzburg (DE), Arts Umbrella (CA), the International Solo-Tanz Theater Festival in Stuttgart (DE), the TIF theater in Kassel (DE), de dansers (NL), as a think big choreographer-in-residence at Staatsoper Hannover (DE) and at Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton where she was a choreographer in residence; notable festivals and venues where her work has been seen include Springboard Danse festival in Montreal, New York Live Arts, Prisma Festival in Panama, Judson Church, PULSE art fair/Art Basel, Bryant Park, NYC’s River to River festival, Perry Mansfield, and The Joyce. Gillen’s recent commissions include the IUA in Reykjavik, Iceland, the b12 Festival in Berlin, the Institute of the Arts Barcelona (ES), Michigan Movement Performance Projects (M2P2), and Vassar College. Coming up, she will create a new work with Zagreb Dance Company in Croatia that will tour in Europe, create new works for The University of Limerick in Ireland, LUZ / SITGES in Spain, MAVERICKS in Berlin, and return to create new works for the IAB (ES) and for Michigan Movement (M2P2), an annual contemporary training and creation program held at UM in May 2026. In 2025, Gillen’s dance company VIM VIGOR established a new hub for contemporary performance training and research in Ann Arbor called Arts Assembly A2. This space provides local access to high calibre contemporary training for youth, pre-professional, and adults, from beginner through professional. Gillen is an Associate Professor of Dance at U-M, where she finds boundless inspiration from the rising artists in the department. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and earned her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. / www.artsassemblya2.com, www.vimvigordance.com /
Alice Klock
FLOCK Co-director, Co-choreographer, Dancer
Alice Klock trained at numerous ballet company schools, Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Alonzo King’s Lines BFA program. She joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2009 where she danced until 2018. She has been a winner of numerous choreographic competitions including Hubbard Street’s International Commissioning Project, NW Dance Project’s Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition, and Whim W’him’s Choreographic Shindig. In 2017 she was named Hubbard Street’s Choreographic Fellow and in 2018 was named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch. She performs and creates internationally as FLOCK with her artistic soulmate Florian Lochner.
Florian Lochner
FLOCK Co-director, Co-choreographer, Dancer
Florian Lochner trained at Ballettschule Malsam in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, and the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim, where he was the recipient of the Birgit Keil Dance Foundation scholarship. Lochner earned his master’s degree in the performing arts and joined Gauthier Dance Company in Stuttgart in 2011. He received a “Best of the Season” nomination in Germany’s “Dance for You!” Magazine in September 2013. He joined Hubbard Street in August 2015, and in the Fall of 2017 was named a Hubbard Street Choreographic Fellow. In 2017 he created FLOCK with Alice Klock through which he continues to perform, teach, and create.
Marion Castaillet
Choreographer, Founder of La boda del lobo
Marion Castaillet conducted many dance projects as a French professional, such as Danse à L’école, and she prepared emerging young dancers to integrate at superior art schools (CNCD d’Angers / Fratellini, etc). From 2015, she started to cooperate as a performer and creator with Brotha From Anotha Motha Company (France/Tunisie), directed by Marcel Leeman and Seifeddine Manaï, and was involved with performances Nullwert and Shine My Blind Way. In 2016 she collaborated as choreographic assistant of Manaï for the parade of La Biennale De La Danse in Lyon. She found inspiration and creativity within the physical dance theatre of B.F.A.M, and created a full-bodied and highly energetic dance technique, using floorwork, called Freshmotion. She now teaches that technique in various master classes in France and abroad (Scenario Pubblico, Fre3 Bodies, Descalzinha, etc). In 2017 she created her first choreography for Brotha From Anotha Motha, called Alone With Everybody, which stages young dancers in public spaces. she then created M.I.R, a choreographic piece for the Conservatoire of Tarbes. She also created and performed her solo Happiness Does Not Wait, and joined Chatha Company for L’Amour Sorcier in 2019.
In 2020-21 she joined Naïf Production for Gravitropie and created her own company, La boda del lobo. In 2022 she created À demain satané hier! in collaboration with Genaro Cibils.
Katherine Kiessling
Company Member and Rehearsal Director of VIM VIGOR
Katherine Kiessling is a dancer and recent graduate of the University of Michigan, where she earned a double major in Dance and Computer Science. She has trained and performed across the U.S. and Europe with companies including Vim Vigor, b12, Whim W’Him, Sidra Bell, and Christina Mertzani. In 2024, she traveled to Iceland with Vim Vigor as a choreographic collaborator and assistant rehearsal director for DON’T LET ME DOWN, commissioned by the Iceland University of the Arts. She later performed in the company’s DRACULA and THE LONG FALL at the University of Michigan and MOTHERLOAD during their 2025 London tour, and assisted on commissions at the b12 festival in Berlin and the Institute of the Arts Barcelona.
2026 M2P2 Companies
Visiting Midwest Companies
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Dance Kaleidoscope (May 10th)
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Eisenhower Dance Detroit (May 15th)
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Cyrie Topete of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (May 24th)
About VIM VIGOR / Vision
VIM VIGOR is a physical dance theater company under the artistic direction of Shannon Gillen and co-choreographer Jason Cianciulli, and is one of USA’s most cutting edge dance-theater companies.
Following a successful run in Germany as both a choreographer and dancer, Shannon Gillen returned to New York City to form VIM VIGOR. Founded as a collaborative think tank, VIM is a platform for profoundly gifted artists from around the world to come together to create cutting edge dance theater. Through its creations, VIM seeks to broaden the traditional dance audience with its signature combination of bombastic contemporary movement and theater in cinematic dreamscapes.
VIM VIGOR is now situated as the company in residence in the dance department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The company regularly engages with the students, local community, professional artists from around the world, and is in a development phase to build new platforms to support the artists residing in the Midwest.
Previous Works
SEPARATI / GK Arts Center (Brooklyn, NY) 2016; Jack Spear Theater (NYC) 2018
PUNCHLINE / b12 Festival, Dock ll (Berlin, DE) 2022; Arthur Miller Theater (US) 2022; Gibney Presents, Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center (NYC) 2022
Commissions
PASTORAL
Gibney Dance Company (NYC)
Agnes Varis Theater 2018
RUN FROM ME
L.A.D.P. (LA and France)
Los Angeles Dance Project
Artistic Director: Benjamin Millepied (2018)
Soft premiere Musco Center, Premiere Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris (2019)
MATAKI
MUD Art Dance Company (Nigeria)
Presented at: BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music in NYC), Outernet London (2022), and the Athens Video Dance Project (2022)
DON’T LET ME DOWN
Icelandic University of the Arts
Reykjavik, Iceland (2024)
About FLOCKWORKS / Vision
FLOCK is a German/American touring dance company founded in 2017 by co-choreographers Florian Lochner and Alice Klock. As FLOCK we perform internationally and are known for our non-gendered partnering and unique approach to physicality and storytelling.
We strive to bring artists and audiences together in environments that are open, dynamic, and based on joy. We offer work that communicates on many different levels, that uplifts and inspires, and that builds community and new understanding of what dance can be.
Any artist who participates in FLOCK is invited to fully express and explore their craft in a balanced setting. This leads to a feeling of care in each creation process and gives our collaborators and students a platform to explore their artistry in the most vibrant ways.
Previous Works
Somewhere Between / FLOCK Touring Show
Quest / FLOCK Touring Show
About La boda del lobo / Vision
Marion conducted many dance projects as a French professional, such as Danse à L’école, and she prepared emerging young dancers to integrate at superior art schools (CNCD d’Angers / Fratellini, etc). From 2015, she started to cooperate as a performer and creator with Brotha From Anotha Motha Company (France/Tunisie), directed by Marcel Leeman and Seifeddine Manaï, and was involved with performances Nullwert and Shine My Blind Way. In 2016 she collaborated as choreographic assistant of Manaï for the parade of La Biennale De La Danse in Lyon. She found inspiration and creativity within the physical dance theatre of B.F.A.M, and created a full-bodied and highly energetic dance technique, using floorwork, called Freshmotion. She now teaches that technique in various master classes in France and abroad (Scenario Pubblico, Fre3 Bodies, Descalzinha, etc). In 2017 she created her first choreography for Brotha From Anotha Motha, called Alone With Everybody, which stages young dancers in public spaces. she then created M.I.R, a choreographic piece for the Conservatoire of Tarbes. She also created and performed her solo Happiness Does Not Wait, and joined Chatha Company for L’Amour Sorcier in 2019. In 2020-21 she joined Naïf Production for Gravitropie and created her own company, La boda del lobo. In 2022 she created À demain satané hier! in collaboration with Genaro Cibils.
Previous Works
A DEMAIN! SATANE HIER / TBA
FABRICA / TBA
Guest Artist Bio
CYRIE TOPETE (she/they, Peoria, AZ) is from Peoria, Arizona. Following her father, she began as a break-dancer and started training in competitive dance at the age of thirteen. She was recognized as a YoungArts Merit winner in 2018 before moving to New York City. She graduated with a BFA from The Juilliard School in 2022, where she received the FENDI Vanguard Award. Following graduation, Cyrie was featured in an On Running brand ad choreographed by Justin Peck and joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Company. Entering her fourth season, she’s had the opportunity to perform works by Aszure Barton, Johan Inger, Ohad Naharin, Bob Fosse & Gwen Verdon, James Gregg, Rennie Harris, Kyle Abraham, FLOCK, Rena Butler, and more. She’s been featured in Dance Magazine’s “On the Rise” and choreographed for the HSDC Create Summer Intensive in 2024 & 2025. She is ecstatic to be announced as a 2025 Princess Grace Honoraria Recipient and to be a part of a prestigious community of artists. Cyrie is honored to contribute to the enduring and impactful legacy that Hubbard Street carries forward.
About Dance Kaleidoscope
Dance Kaleidoscope, under the leadership of Christel DeHaan Artistic Director Joshua Blake Carter, presents four unique main stage performances in Indianapolis each year with diverse work created by industry leading choreographers.
Showcasing athleticism and technical expertise, Dance Kaleidoscope leaves the audience feeling invigorated and moved every time they take the stage. Now in their 54th season, Dance Kaleidoscope is one of the Midwest’s longest-performing professional dance companies. Founded in 1972 to bring contemporary dance to public schools, today Dance Kaleidoscope inspires, educates and entertains audiences across the country. Joshua Blake Carter was appointed Artistic Director of Dance Kaleidoscope in 2023 after a 14 year career with Giordano Dance Chicago.
Guest Artist Bio
Originally from Atlanta, GA, JOSHUA BLAKE CARTER began his dance training at the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts at age 14. He continued his dance education at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he received his BFA in Dance. During his time in Arizona, Joshua’s work Moura-Sion for the UA Dance Ensemble secured him as a finalist in Ballet Nouveau Colorado’s (BNC) dancemakers2.0 choreography competition. In the spring of his senior year, Joshua created Mothertongue for BNC, marking his first ever professional commission. The work went on to win the competition, landing him his second commission and launching his choreographic career.
Immediately following graduation, Joshua relocated to Chicago, where he joined Giordano II. His talents were nurtured under the artistic direction of Nan Giordano, daughter of the late jazz pioneer Gus Giordano, and he was promoted to the main company, Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC) after one season. Joshua toured the world with GDC from 2010-2017, performing in Austria, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Latvia, and Turkey, as well as theaters in communities across the United States. He had the privilege of working with choreographers Peter Chu, Autumn Eckman, Alexander Ekman, Liz Imperio, Roni Koresh, Ray Leeper, and Ray Mercer, as well as performing classic repertoire by Gus Giordano, Nan Giordano, Mia Michaels, and more.
In 2013, Joshua was appointed Director of Giordano II (GII). During his decade-long tenure, he helped to redefine the presence of the company of early career professionals by expanding their performance opportunities and reintroducing the Giordano on Giordano program to the company’s season. Joshua created nine world premiere works for GII and three world premiere works for GDC. Upon retirement from the stage, Joshua was named GDC’s first ever Operations Manager, becoming an integral part of the administration team.
Joshua has had a wide-ranging career as a freelance choreographer. In 2013, he was named a winner of the DanceWorks Chicago DanceMoves choreography competition, and later that year he was awarded the Producers’ Panel Prize from the Ruth Page Foundation for his work Ripen. In 2016, Joshua was tapped to choreograph the closing number for the private Chicago event Sing! featuring Elton John. In 2018, Joshua was a finalist in the Capezio A.C.E. Awards in NYC, and in 2019, he choreographed an Equity production of Newsies at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, IL, receiving a Jeff Award nomination and a Regional Broadway World nomination for Best Choreography. In 2020, Joshua was named an inaugural recipient of the Trillium Arts ACE Fellowship. Additionally, he has choreographed works for Aerial Dance Chicago, Artifact Dance Project, Dance in the Parks, Mareck Dance Company, Nomi Dance Company, South Chicago Dance Theatre, Visceral Dance Chicago, as well as a project for Embarq with the Joffrey Ballet.
As an educator, Joshua served on the faculty of several Chicagoland dance institutions, including Visceral Dance Center. He has been part of many regional conventions, including Chicago National Association of Dance Masters and Texas Association Teachers of Dancing, and he has been in residence or guest faculty at Brenau University, Illinois State University, Salve Regina University, Southeast Missouri State University, and University of Chicago.
About Eisenhower Dance Detroit
Moving into its 35th season as a professional contemporary dance repertory company, Eisenhower Dance Detroit gives life to the work of nationally and internationally known choreographers along with that of its founding artistic director, Laurie Eisenhower, and current artistic director, Stephanie Pizzo. This year, Ms. Pizzo leads EDD into its 8th season under her artistic guidance following Ms. Eisenhower’s retirement in 2017. The company continues its artistic mission through collaborations with artists across genres including film directors, composers, visual designers, and musicians. Recent collaborators have included film creative Zachariah Hagy and electro-pop violin band, Nuclassica. EDD also engages in collaborations with arts organizations including the Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, the Rackham Symphony Choir, Detroit Opera, the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, The Toledo Opera, and the Detroit Institute of Arts to name a few. Since its inception, Eisenhower Dance Detroit has grown from a small pick-up company into a ten-dancer roster employing seven professional company dancers and two apprentices and one trainee. These artists have joined the EDD family from regions across the country. As the company’s mission states, Eisenhower Dance Detroit strives “to be a professional repertory company that, through outstanding performances and educational services, strives to deepen the understanding and appreciation of contemporary dance regionally, nationally, and internationally and to reflect on and explore issues of social significance.” Ms. Pizzo continues to expand the company’s innovative style and artistic vision while still honoring the legacy of Eisenhower Dance Detroit’s founder. Considered one of the finest contemporary dance companies in the Midwest, EDD has been hailed for its artistry from sources including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Hour Magazine, and Detroit Free Press. Eisenhower Dance Detroit presents an annual Detroit Metro performance series and tours nationally and internationally. In 2015, 2017, and 2018, EDD was featured at the Ladek Zdroj International Dance Festival in Poland and Tel Aviv, Israel. In 2019, the company performed to a standing ovation at the iconic dance mecca, Jacob’s Pillow, in Beckett, Massachusetts. In 2022, EDD embarked on a 5-week tour of Alaska. The company has performed works by many choreographers including Yoshito Sakuraba, Joshua Peugh, Tess Voelker, Hope Boykin, Marc Brew, Tamisha Guy, Norbert De La Cruz III, Maleek Washington, Christian Denice, Micaela Taylor, Edgar Zendejas, Lar Lubovitch, Ron de Jesus, and Darrell Grand Moultrie, to name a few. This season, EDD welcomes Maxine Doyle for a choreographic residency with the company. EDD has also produced several evening-length touring productions including “ARC”, a dramatic and highly visual look at labeling and stereotyping; “The Rite of Spring” set to Igor Stravinsky’s iconic score; and “The Light Show” which pairs four choreographers with four lighting designers for a visually stunning evening of dance. During the pandemic, EDD pivoted to offering virtual dance experiences highlighted by a major dance for film collaboration with the Detroit Institute of Art and Zazu Productions. “The Five Tangos,” an original production first conceived for the stage, was scheduled to premiere at the DIA in November, 2020. The collaborators reimagined the project for film and utilized four iconic metro Detroit locations for the setting of each tango. The film premiered online in December, 2021 and was selected as the winner of BEST EXPERIMENTAL film, 2022 Dancecentric Film Festival (Florida); semi-finalist, 2022 Inspired Dance Film Festival (Australia); and featured online in Dance Magazine’s “Friday Film Break.”
Guest Artist Bio
TBA
What Participants Can Expect
- Programming from 9am to 5pm daily, with evening research hours and Saturday workshops / auditions.
- Rigorous and diverse physical training, somatic and cross training practices.
- The creation of four original works. Participants will have the opportunity to be in two new works allowing them to be in exchange with both choreographers who are active in the professional world. All works are filmed.
- Compositional mentorship for participants throughout the program with final creations being shared and filmed.
- Additional networking with national companies and artists through showings, talk backs, workshops, auditions and professional development seminars.
- This term will culminate in outward facing performances, free and open to the Ann Arbor community.
Each year, VIM VIGOR will be joined by changing professional company, creating an intimate arena for rigorous physical research, creation processes, compositional mentorship, interaction with hiring companies through weekend workshops and auditions, and professional development seminars. All works will be performed for the public free of charge, uplifting the greater Southeast Michigan cultural landscape. Performances and participant compositional research will be professionally filmed, providing M2P2 artists with necessary assets to bolster their resumes and reels for future work. We believe strongly in providing the skills and tools necessary to advance in the dance field, while also broadening and enriching what dance is today.
Physical Practice + Somatic Training
Diverse physical practice courses drawing from the modalities of the artists’ involved including Contemporary Movement, Floorwork, Partnering, and Improvisation. Additional somatic courses will provide cross training and wellness practices.
Composition Mentorship
Dancers will receive ongoing compositional mentorship to create solos and small group works during the program – these works will be shared with the community and filmed for each artists’ reel.
Professional Creative Processes + Performance Opportunities
Choreographic processes will be created in the atmosphere of a professional company, where dancers will learn to train rigorously, thrive in rehearsal settings, embody and devise material, create through collaborative exchange, and perform challenging ensemble works that advance their technical and artistic acumen.
Building Networks
Participating artists will build meaningful relationships with choreographers working in the field, which will serve their prospects when seeking employment. This program will bolster U-M’s presence in the dance world at large and support future professional partnerships.
Company Networking, Auditions + Professional Development
Several companies and artists will come to offer showings, workshops and auditions during the program to support dancers as they develop the necessary professional tools, materials and practices to thrive in the dance / dance theater market.
Our home at the University of Michigan possesses a distinct advantage in providing premier training and professional development opportunities to both its current students and external candidates during our Spring Term. By implementing an innovative approach to program design, this period will prioritize skill development in professional areas essential to the current market demands.
2026 Dates & Deadlines
Program Dates: May 4 – May 29, 2026
Final Application Deadline: April 1
Location: University of Michigan Dance Building, 1000 Baits Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Program Tuition
$1650 for four weeks + $25 application fee
Applicants will need to pay a $600 deposit to secure their spot in the program.
Once you have been accepted, you will be contacted by the Office of Engagement & Outreach to process your tuition payment. Please note that no meals, housing, or transportation are included in the tuition price. Housing arrangements and travel arrangements are at the discretion of each participating artist. We will provide a list of available short term leases and will connect participants to encourage carpooling.
Application Requirements
Those wishing to participate in the Michigan Movement Performance Projects should complete the application by including the following:
- A professional resume
- 2-3 minute audition video of you moving (no short clips)
Applicants should be aware that there is a non-refundable $25 application fee in addition to the program’s tuition cost.
There will be no in-person audition for this program, so please share footage that best represents you. Please note, that dancers must be at least 18 years old, but that there is no age limit. All participants should be advised that this is advanced and immersive professional training, and while we accept and value a range of experience, expect to be challenged every day.
Please email [email protected] if you have any questions regarding the application process.
Contact Us
Office of Engagement & Outreach-Youth & Adult Programs
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Stearns Building │ 2005 Baits Drive │ Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Phone: 734-936-2660
Email: [email protected]
Emails and phone lines are monitored at the following times
Monday – Friday, 9:30 am – 4:00 pm EST