Headlights Dancers

 

Charly Berghofer

she/her/hers

@charbergerwithcheese

Currently living in Los Angeles, Charly has had the opportunity to travel the world dancing, learning, and experiencing. She attended SUNY Purchase College in New York for dance performance and had incredible experiences working with choreographers like Doug Varone, Micaela Taylor, Roderick George, and Joseph Hernandez. After graduating SUNY Purchase in 2020 with a B.F.A. in Dance Performance, she moved back to her hometown of L.A. to begin freelancing, teaching, and choreographing. During her free time, she decided to obtain her certification in wine to become a sommelier. She is now pursuing both dreams of dancing around the world and becoming a certified sommelier. She is so excited to be back at Headlights Theater for her second time and can’t wait for what’s next in life!

Madison Elliott

she/her/hers

@maddy_elliott

Madison Elliott is a NY based dancer, performer, choreographer and teacher. She is originally from Sioux Falls, SD where she co-founded, and is now the Executive Director of an award winning nonprofit, The Headlights Theater. She attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for High School and went on to receive her BFA in Dance and a Minor in Arts Management from SUNY Purchase College, class of 2020. Madison has worked with several companies including TU Dance, HIVEWILD, Pocket Fuel Groovers and MeagMove. She has performed works by world renowned choreographers such as Doug Varone, Trisha Brown, Roderick George, Abby Zibkowski and many more. She has been featured in Dance Magazine for her dance film, Empty Vessel, which has won 2 awards and been selected by 7 film festivals. Madison also creates journals out of reused/recycled materials.

Cori Lewis

she/her/hers @

co_lorena

Cori Lewis grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana where she began her dance training at Lusher Charter School and The New Orleans Ballet Association. While at NOBA, she performed works by José Limón, Ronald K. Brown, Dwight Rhoden, Martha Graham, David Parsons, and Darrell Grand Moultrie. She received her BFA in Dance with a Minor in Mathematics/Computer Science from SUNY Purchase. Cori performed for children across the greater New York area with BHdos for the 2018 season and is now entering her second season with Ballet Hispánico. This is Cori’s second season performing with the Headlights Theater. 

Raechelle Manalo

she/her/hers

@raechelle_m

Raechelle Manalo, from Secaucus, New Jersey, studied at the Taylor School under the direction of Raegan Wood and graduated summa cum laude from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, SUNY. Manalo has performed as a member of Ballet Hispanico’s BHdos, MeenMoves, and most recently the Paul Taylor Dance Company. She loves dark chocolate and coffee, and is thrilled to be back in Sioux Falls for her 3rd season performing with Headlights! 

Nick Rodrigues

he/him/his

@nick_alselmo

Nick Alselmo is a graduate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) with a BFA in contemporary dance. Nick’s passion for choreography has led him to show work throughout New York City since 2015. In addition to starting his own company called The Pocket Fuel Groovers, Nick freelances as a performer and has worked with Abarukas, Johnnie Cruise Mercer/The RED ProjectNYC, The Nash Conspiracy and Lazer Eyes. This is Nicks first season performing with the Headlights Theater.

The Pocket Fuel Groovers are a company of New York City based dancers founded by Nick Alselmo in 2020. Their movement is a style influenced by elements of contemporary, hip-hop, ballet, street dance as well as martial arts. By combining these movement forms with elements of theater, DJ-ing, team sport exercise and ideologies, they aim to push the boundaries of what is possible in a performance and communal setting. So far, they have performed at Arts on Site, Maria Hernandez Park, Prospect Park, & Hart Bar. In October 2020, they recorded a dance film titled Buffer Zone, shot by Retrograde Studios. In November 2021, The Pocket Fuel Groovers premiered their first evening length work, “The Strides” and Triskelion Arts in Brooklyn.

Solange Rodrigues

she/her/hers

@solangeroddy

Solange Rodrigues is a graduate of SUNY Purchase College, Class of 2020, with a BFA in dance, and a concentration in composition. Currently residing in her hometown of Rochester, NY, she is teaching and choreographing for schools and studios throughout the city.  She dances for BioDance under the direction of Missy Pfohl Smith, Frazee Feet Dance under the direction of Zachary Frazee, and is a guest artist for The Pocketfuel Groovers, directed by Nick Alselmo. This is Solange’s second season performing with the Headlights Theater. 

Mary Rogers

she/her/hers

@_maryrogers

Mary Rogers was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. At a young age she began her dance training at Dance Gallery, where she trained in an array of styles such as Classical Ballet, Cecchetti, Jazz, Contemporary, and Modern. During her summers, Mary attended dance intensives at The Rock School, Kaatsbaan, Hubbard Street, and American Dance Festival. Mary continued her dance education at the SUNY Purchase Dance Conservatory, NY. While at SUNY, Mary found a deeper interest for Composition and Improvisation, along with performance. During her time at SUNY, Mary performed works by Anna Maria Lucaciu, Rosalind Newman,Ohad Naharin, Doug Varone, and MICHIYAYA. Mary spent a semester studying at Amsterdam University of the Arts in the Netherlands. While in Amsterdam, Mary performed works created by Amos Bental and Nicole Buetler. Mary graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and is now a freelance dancer and dance educator in New York City. Mary has gone on to get her massage therapy degree and hopes to bridge this with her dancing. This will be her 3rd season performing with the Headlights Theater!

Gabriella Sibeko

she/her/hers

@gabriellasibeko

Gabriella Sibeko is a freelance artist raised in Montreal, Durban and Cape Town. She is now based in New York City and is a graduate of The Ailey School Scholarship & Certificate programs. Her artistry has been shaped profoundly by the choreographers she has worked with including Katherine Maxwell, Dolly Sfeir, Jon Rua, Ellenore Scott, Akira Uchida, Anya Clark, Andrea Ward, Nathan Trice and Yoshito Sakaruba, and can be credited in Netflix's Making Malinche Documentary set in Ibiza, Spain. She had the privilege of dancing for musical artists Phish, Alison Sudol, Sondre Lerche and ELENI, and performed in venues like Madison Square Garden, The Apollo and The Joyce. Gabriella has danced for an array of New York-based dance companies including HivewildMICHIYAYAMG + Artists Jon Rua’s TheGrit, TedTed Performance Group, BARE Dance, Abarukas and Channel:Dig, and is represented by New York’s Clear Talent Agency. As a dance educator and choreographer, Gabriella teaches and sets work throughout Canada and the Tri-State and is a faculty member of Luminous Tour Dance Convention. She is also the co-host/co-founder of danceCONNECT, an interview-style podcast centering around the varying lives and experiences of dance artists. Along with performing and educating, Gabriella also works in dance administration for Hivewild and is also pursuing a degree in psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 

Ragin Smith

she/her/hers

@thats_so_ragin

Ragin is a dance artist based in Brooklyn. She mainly develops work by stringing together contexts of movement, poetry, visual art, and sound. She has presented her work at The Tank, Fabled Narcissism, ESTIA Day Fest, as an artist in residence at Chez Bushwick, and will be in a summer residency at Nancy Manocherian’s the Cell Theatre. After receiving a BFA in dance from Marymount Manhattan College, Ragin has performed works by Brendan Fernandes, Evan Ray Suzuki, Valeria Gonzalez, Morgan Bobrow-Williams, Ryan Bailey, Troy Ogilvie, La Intrusa Company, and others. Alongside her freelance projects, she is a collaborative member of Hivewild, Wet Hairy Women, Morisato, Verbal Animal, and Alison Chase Performance Group.


Xavier Townsend

he/him/his

@itjustmightbex

Born and raised in Media Pennsylvania, Xavier Townsend started his dance training at the age of eight starting with jazz and tap. Quickly falling in love with dance he added hip-hop, and ballet to his schedule. Shortly after, he started additional training at the Philadelphia Ballet School and Rebecca Davis Dance School to add extra ballet and modern to his repertoire. He competed for Broadway Bound Dance Academy for six years, winning Mr. Starquest, the Chloe Arnold Tap scholarship, and the Future Star Award for Dance Spirit Magazine. He then furthered his career as a B.F.A scholarship recipient at Point Park University as a Modern major. After two years, he finished his studies at the Peri Dance Capezio Certificate Program graduating in 2015 with concentrations in Ballet and Contemporary. Still currently living in NYC, Xavier now freelances doing commercial, concert, and theatre work, performing both nationally and internationally. In 2018, he was featured in a Target commercial, seen on a billboard in Times Square, and a dancer in the Season 14 Academy Intro of hit show, So You Think You Can Dance on Fox. Later that year, he was cast as “Sniper” in Newsies at the Media Theatre, where he made his theatre debut. In 2019, Xavier worked with Akram Khan in Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise which premiered at the Shed in Hudson Yards, NY. Recently, he finished the YouTube dance short film Brothers & Sons, presented by Project 44 about the current social climate in 2020. Xavier is currently working with The Pocket Fuel Groovers, which is located in the city. Additionally, Xavier has worked with Peggy Choy, Kristen Sudekis, Janice Rosario Dance Company, Juan Michael Porter II and De Funes Dance. Xavier is also a dance educator, and has taught in Philadelphia, Maryland, NYC, the University of Wisconsin and assisted at both The Ailey school and LaGuardia High School. Xavier’s philosophy as a teacher is to build confident, musical, technical dancers who are not afraid to express themselves and their movement. He strives to create a collaborative safe space for growth and individuality.

Lucia Tozzi

she/her/hers

@lucybarrertozzi

Lucia Tozzi is a dance artist, creator, and teacher based in New York City. Born in Manhattan, NY, she started her dance training with the National Dance Institute under the tutelage of Jacques D’Amboise. She continued her training at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens and at The Ailey School on full scholarship. She received a BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase in 2020. While at Purchase, she studied abroad at the Beijing Dance Academy in China. Lucia has performed works by Pina Bausch, Ohad Naharin, Joseph Hernandez, among many other noteworthy names. Training and performing internationally, she has worked throughout Europe, China, and New Zealand. Since graduating, Lucia began workshopping online, as dance has become more intertwined with media arts. As an artist, her practice looks to stir, to agitate, and to move audiences through theatrics. Lucia has been performing with the Headlights Theater Collective along with various project based companies. Lucia is also an educator for dancers aged two into adulthood. Growing up with a strong community garden and with arts in her public schools, she believes in the arts and one's community as a vital part of education. She hopes to create safe spaces for young dancers to learn and cultivate their practices.