Four choreographers selected for this summer’s Choreographic Institute at UNCSA

The School of Dance at UNCSA has announced the participants selected for the 2026 Choreographic Institute, a two-week summer residency designed to support choreographers of exceptional promise as they develop new work in a collaborative, process-driven environment.

As part of the residency, choreographers will rehearse with dancers from DANCE | CONNECTION NOW, a summer intensive at UNCSA for emerging artists ages 15 to 20. This collaboration offers choreographers a unique opportunity to develop and stage new work with preprofessional dancers, culminating in a public showing of the new creations.

This year’s choreographers include Dance alumna Hanna DiLorenzo (B.F.A. ’18), a multidisciplinary freelance dance artist based in Chicago; Aaron Choate, a performer and choreographer from Lexington, Kentucky; Cameron Childs, a dancer, maker, writer and researcher from West Philadelphia; and Alana Jones, a native Houston dancer and choreographer currently dancing with Scapino Ballet Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

UNCSA Choreographic Institute / Photo: Jennifer Guy

The Choreographic Institute runs from June 28-July 11 and will culminate in a performance that is open to the public on Friday, July 10, at 7 p.m. at Freedman Theatre on the UNCSA campus, 1533 S. Main St., Winston-Salem. Tickets will be available online at uncsa.edu/performances or by calling the box office at 336-721-1945.

Applications for the 2027 Choreographic Institute will open in November 2026.

Launched in 2017, the Choreographic Institute provides choreographers and dance students with resources to create new works and opportunities to work with some of the leading-edge performance technologies in today's dance world. The institute looks for emerging choreographers who exhibit strong choreographic voices, exceptional promise and at least five years of choreographic experience.

Dance alumnus Juel D. Lane (B.F.A. ’02), director of the institute, has more than 20 years of experience as a dancer, choreographer and director.

“The institute gives choreographers dedicated time, mentorship and creative support to develop new work in collaboration with student dancers,” Lane said. “Our process is grounded in learning from one another while fostering growth, research and dialogue. Here, we give creativity the time and structure it needs to develop organically.”

Throughout the residency, choreographers will engage in studio work sessions focused on creative exploration, workshops and artist talks led by industry leaders, and mentoring sessions with Lane and Dance Faculty Emeritus Trish Casey.

Additionally, participants will take part in seminars covering essential aspects of the profession, including choreography as a business, digital representation, finding your voice, grant writing and agent talks.

Casey, a Dance alumna who joined as a faculty member in 1989, has a long-standing relationship with the school spanning more than four decades. She encourages dancers and choreographers to enter into a journey of lifelong learning and inquiry while building a strong technical, creative and intelligent foundation in dance.

More about the 2026 Institute Choreographers

Hanna DiLorenzo

Hanna DiLorenzo is a multidisciplinary freelance dance artist originally from Rochester, New York. She began her formal training at The Draper Center for Dance Education, formerly the school of Rochester City Ballet, and later earned her B.F.A. in contemporary dance from the School of Dance at UNCSA. DiLorenzo later joined the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Professional Training Program (HS Pro), where she performed alongside the main company and received the 2019 HS Pro Emerging Choreographer Award. Now based in Chicago, she works as a performer, choreographer, rehearsal director and collaborator. She is a company member with Boykin Dance Project; a founding member of Little Fire Artist Collective; and dancer, choreographer and rehearsal director for Niko8 Performance. Her choreography has been presented by Chicago Live, Highland Park High School, HS Pro, Little Fire Artist Collective, New Dances 2025, Niko8, See Chicago Dance and various film festivals.

Aaron Choate

Aaron Choate is a performer and choreographer from Lexington, Kentucky, and a graduate of The Juilliard School. After studying at Diana Evans School of Dance in Kentucky, Choate was named a 2018 Presidential Scholar in the Arts. They have performed works by renowned choreographers including Kyle Abraham, Aszure Barton, Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, Ohad Naharin, Justin Peck, Matthew Rushing, Jamar Roberts, Bobbi Jene Smith, Rennie Harris, Lar Lubovitch, Nacho Duato and Ted Shawn. In 2025, they were an Emerging Choreographer for Springboard Danse Pittsburgh’s 25th anniversary and created a work for Princeton’s composition department for its semiannual “Sound Kitchen.” They also participated in Gibney Dance’s Moving Towards Justice Fellowship in 2023 and presented work at 92nd Street Y as part of the Future Dance Festival in 2022.

Cameron Childs / Photo: Keith Reid Photography

Cameron Childs is a dancer, maker, writer and researcher from West Philadelphia. He began training for a professional dance career at age 14, studying tap, jazz, hip-hop, ballet, modern and contemporary forms with Philadelphia artists including Gwendolyn Bye, Kim Bears-Bailey, Elisa Clark, Michael Sheridan and Gary Jeter. Childs has performed works by Ronald K. Brown, Mark Morris, Robert Battle, Faustin Linyekula and others, and received his Master of Fine Arts in dance from the University of the Arts in 2021. His creative work moves between choreography, writing and research, with his current research examining architecture and its entanglements with the body, including architectural trauma, public housing development and the lived experiences of those housed within state-run shelters and temporary dwellings. He currently serves as program coordinator for and visiting faculty in Bennington’s B.F.A. in Dance Lab and Low-Residency M.F.A. in Dance program.

Alana Jones

Alana Jones is a native Houston dancer and choreographer currently dancing with Scapino Ballet Rotterdam in the Netherlands. A founding member of Vitacca Ballet, formerly known as Vitacca Dance Project, she trained under Ballet Master Phillip Broomhead while attending the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In 2014, Jones was accepted on scholarship to train with American Ballet Theatre and Dance Theatre of Harlem before continuing her studies at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, where she earned her B.F.A. She began her professional career with Visceral Dance Chicago before joining the BODYTRAFFIC dance company in 2021, touring nationally and internationally. Jones has performed works by choreographers including Cayetano Soto, Barak Marshall, Matthew Neenan, UNCSA Dance alumnus Trey McIntyre (H.S. Dance '87), Fernando Magadan, Micaela Taylor and Richard Siegal. In 2023, she was commissioned to set her first contemporary work on Vitacca Ballet and has also worked with the New Orleans Ballet Association as an assistant rehearsal director.

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June 11, 2026