Bios

shawn brush

Shawn Brush, from Woodbridge, NJ, is a NY based dancer and choreographer. He currently dances for DanceTactics and Artichoke Dance Company, and has previously danced for Laura Peterson Choreography, The New Collectives, Maya Orchin, Meagan Woods company, Hillary Pearson, and apprenticed with 10 Hairy Legs. Shawn's own choreography has been presented at Judson Memorial Church, Triskelion Arts, Dixon Place and Raritan Valley Community College. Shawn is also a teaching artist: he has taught at Raritan Valley Community College and several public schools across New Jersey. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts in 2015. 

sara roer

Sara Roer got an early start dancing in North Carolina as the southern drawling star of a many a home video. She became the youngest member of the Wilmington Independent Choreographers and a competitive gymnast before defecting to the North to earn her B.F.A., suma cum laude, at George Mason University. After a colorful college run that took her to China and back, Sara headed North again for a new home on the busiest island in the world. While becoming a New Yorker, she has had the pleasure of working as the rehearsal director/dancer for danceTactics by Keith Thompson and as a founding dancer with b3w (Emily Berry). She has also worked on projects with Susan Vencl, Heather McArdle, Karen Malpede and many others. She has presented her own work at various venues throughout NYC and NC. Sara is Operations Manager at Brooklyn Arts Exchange and is a certified traditional Thai Yoga Bodywork practitioner offering sessions privately and at Brooklyn Strength.

emily berry

Emily Berry is the Artistic Director of B3W Performance Group, which has performed in the US, England, Greece, and Mexico.  B3W has performed throughout New York City, including Henry Street Settlement, DNA, The 92nd Street Y, Manhattan Movement Arts Center, Dixon Place, and the Irondale Center among others.  B3W has received the Mondo Cane Commission from Dixon Place for their evening length work, Confined in 2010. Berry’s work has also been commissioned by Ann Arbor Dance Works. Eva Yaa Asantewaa (Infinite Body) describes Berry’s work as “Memorable, intelligent, strong”.  “Violent but engaging” are the words attached to Berry’s work by Clare Croft in the Washington Post.  Maura Donahue (Culturbot) writes about Confined as, “Clear expression of idea in movement”. Emily is currently performing with danceTactics Performance Group/Keith A. Thompson, and Darla Stanley.  She has performed with Boris Willis Moves, Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh & Company, Restless Native Dance/Tamieca McCloud, Lesole’s Dance Project, and Ashe Moyubba/Alafia Afro-Cuban Folkloric Dance Ensemble. Emily is a Certified Movement Analyst.  She also has a MFA in dance from George Mason University.  She is currently an assistant professor of dance and the director of the dance program at Queensborough Community College.

nicole mcclam

Nicole Y. McClam, MFA, CMA is thrilled to be a part of danceTactics. She enjoys exploring the awesomeness of dance with her students at Queensborough Community College and bouncing to and fro as a founding member of B3W Performance Group and performing with Kayla Hamilton and Human Landscape Dance (Washington, DC). Nicole’s work has been presented in Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD and Brooklyn, NY, Potsdam, NY, and Lubbock, TX.  A DC native, she was a long-time member of Deborah Riley Dance Projects.  Before that she apprenticed with Pennsylvania Dance Theater for their 2000-2001 season where she had the pleasure of performing works by Ben Munisteri and Claire Porter. She received her MFA in Dance while also pursuing her studies in the Laban Certification Program at the University of Maryland. She earned a BFA in Dance Performance and a BA in Chemistry from East Carolina University. Nicole enjoys knitting, vegan cupcakes, and researching zombies. 

aidan feldman

Aidan Feldman is a computer programmer by day, dancer by night. He has been working with danceTactics since 2012, as well as Chavasse Dance & Performance, Artichoke Dance, and the Barkin/Selissen Project. He gives talks and organizes meetups around NYC about learning to code, and teaches programming at NYU and CUNY. 

When not dancing or programming, Aidan can be found flying around the streets of New York on his bicycle

Guest Artists

brendan mccall

Brendan McCall is a movement artist, writer, educator, and arts manager. Originally from California, he lived in New York City from 1990-2008, before living abroad for 12 years in Turkey, Australia, Norway, and France, and then returning to New York in August 2021. He has performed with such artists as Alexandra Beller, Maureen Fleming, David Gordon, Sin Cha Hong, Paul Langland, Mary Overlie, Stephen Petronio, among others; and worked professionally in over 40 countries on 5 continents since 1993. He first met Keith Thompson in 2000, studied alongside him at Bennington College’s MFA Dance program, and has performed with him in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York, including collaborating with him on "Human Behaviors" at Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church. He has taught for over 27 years at institutions including the Yale School of Drama, the New School for Drama, New York University, Danshögskolan (Sweden), Bilkent University (Turkey), and The International Theater Academy Norway, where he served as Rektor from 2008-10. He served as Manager of the Cummins Theatre (Australia) from 2012-14, Producer for Grusomhetens Teater (Norway) from 2014-17, Director of Production for Tulsa Ballet (2019), and currently offers arts management consultation for a number of independent performing artists. His articles have been published in English, French, Norwegian, Russian, and Belarussian since 1997, and he is currently on the faculty of Pace University & New York University. BFA with Honors in Acting, New York University; MFA in Dance, Bennington College.

clarence brooks

Clarence Brooks (he/they) has performed with 80+ companies and freelances with the Dance Exchange, Pioneer Winter Collective, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, danceTactics Performance Group, and David Parker & The Bang Group. A former associate professor and middle school educator with two degrees in dance and three somatic certifications, they are the recipient of several artistic and academic fellowships, awards, and honors; are in the documentary The World of Alwin Nikolais; are published in One Teacher in 10: LGBT Educators Share Their Stories (Alyson Books); and their performance of Talley Beatty's "Mourner's Bench" was archived by the Library of Congress. As a founding member, past president, and advisory board member of the Florida Dance Education Organization, they sit on the boards of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, danceTactics Performance Group, Miami Dance Futures, the Doris Humphrey Foundation for Dance, and Natural Movers Foundation, Inc. Follow Clarence on Instagram: @clbdreadeddancer.

george hirsch

George Hirsch graduated from the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, receiving an Honors Degree in Dance. He has since had the privilege of dancing for Liz Lerman/Dance Exchange, Artichoke Dance Company, David Capps/Dances, Eva Dean Dance, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance, Regina Nejman and Company, and GoCo, in addition to working with Keith Thompson’s/danceTactics.

darla stanley

Darla Stanley is a dance maker, performer, and teacher. Her work has been supported by the PEW Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Susan Hess Choreographer’s Project, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, and Dakshina/ Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company. She performed with Philadelphia companies (ZeroMoving, Karen Bamonte Dance Works, Leah Stein, Melanie Stewart, Subcircle) from 1989 to 2005, and has also been featured in the work of Chris Burnside, and in London choreographer, Siobhan Davies’ Philadelphia Bank Project. Darla currently dances with David Appel, Emily Berry/B3W Performance Group, Aviva Geismar/Drastic Action, Jenni Hong, and Keith Thompson/danceTactics in NY. She has taught dance at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and at Temple, Drexel, and Wesleyan universities.