Pushing The Boundaries of Dance

 Presents

Chelsea Thedinga | Petra Zanki

Here. Now. Close  

Choreographed by Chelsea Thedinga  

Performed by Sam Assemany, Bella Donatelli, Carsyn Gekas, Alex Haag, Maya Lam, Meenah Nehme, Bryanna Strickland

Music by Christine Ott - Comma, Shida Shahabi - Kinsei, Snorri Hallgrímsson - From a Convenient Grass, Alaskan Tapes and Blu Miles - Blank Slate, Christopher Cerrone and Timo Andres - The Arching Path: II. Sul Basento, Roberta Flack - Bridge Over Troubled Water, Yumiko Morioka - Moon Road

INTERMISSION

Oxygen

Choreographed by Petra Zanki in collaboration with dancers 

Performed by Michael Bishop, Chisato Fujii, Margot Hartley, Gracen Nelson, Trace Yeames 

Music by Various 

Make-up & Hair by Verdiana Montes — Verdie 

Styling & Visuals by Petra Zanki 

Motion by Rob LaTerra 

Executive Producers Benjamin Goosman & John C. Robinson 

Special Thanks to SuprOmen, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Peaceable Barn Residency, CT 

ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHERS

Chelsea Thedinga is a New York City–based choreographer, educator, and performer originally from Las Vegas, Nevada. Her career spans feature films, music videos, and contemporary dance companies, including work under the direction of Peter Chu, Sonya Tayeh, Stacey Tookey, and Travis Wall. Drawing from both commercial and concert dance worlds, Chelsea creates an explorative movement style that transcends traditional boundaries while uplifting and highlighting each artist’s unique capabilities. She has served as associate choreographer to Sonya Tayeh for Malpaso Dance Company at The Joyce Theater and to Will Loftis for Ariana Grande’s “Yes, And?”. Chelsea has set work on Salt2, The Joffrey School, and Novea Linea Dance Company, and has choreographed solos for graduating seniors at Juilliard, NYU, USC, Purchase College, and Pace University. A faculty member with Adrenaline Convention, Chelsea teaches nationally and internationally. In New York City, she teaches at Mark Morris Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. 

Petra Zanki is a Croatian-American award-winning choreographer living in Brooklyn, New York. She holds an MFA in Choreography from CODARTS University Rotterdam (2023) and is a Brooklyn Arts Fund Grant recipient (2024, 2025), as well as an FCA, NYFA, and Dance Resilience Fund recipient (2025). Her choreographic and dance video works have been presented across Europe, the US, Canada, the UK, Argentina, Egypt, and Australia. In New York City, she has shown work at Green Space, Mark Morris, CPR, Estrogenius Festival, PRELUDE/CUNY, and DanceFest, and in Seattle at On the Boards, SIDF, and Velocity. She has received multiple residencies across Europe, including a two-year choreographic scholarship from ICK-Amsterdam/Emio Greco. Most recently she was Artist-in-Residence with Wade/TISCH/NYU (2025), and NOoSPHERE Arts (2025). Her work has been written about in Tanz, Performance Art Journal (MIT), Performance Research Journal, and Frakcija. Growing up in Croatia during the war, Zanki’s central inquiry is the transformation of pain into landscapes of beauty for the benefit of humanity. 

DANCERS AND COLLABORATORS (HERE. NOW. THIS.)

Carsyn Gekas (she/her) is a freelance dancer/creator currently based in New York. She graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College SUNY, with a concentration in Composition. Carsyn received her early training at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and Dance Industry Performing Arts Center (Dallas, TX). She has performed works by Crystal Pite, Troy Schumacher, Micaela Taylor, Peter Chu, Kyle Abraham, Martha Graham, and Mark Caserta, among others. Her choreography has been presented at Battery Dance Festival’s Young Voices in Dance and the 2020 Mobile Dance Film Festival. 

Alexandra Haag is a Brooklyn-based dance artist originally from Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance in May of 2024 and also had the opportunity to study abroad at WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts).  Upon graduation, she was awarded 2024 Outstanding Senior. As an artist and human alike, she is most fulfilled by the relationships developed between people within a creative process and strives to cultivate work built around this care as a means to build community through dance. Most recently, she was a dancer/performer for “Duel” performed at Kaatsbaan under artist-in-residency, Elinor Kleber-Diggs.  

Maya Lam is a New York–based Asian American dancer and interdisciplinary artist. She graduated summa cum laude from Marymount Manhattan College with a BFA in Dance, a BA in Business, and a minor in Biology. Maya has worked with Sidra Bell, Jessica Lang, Jenn Freeman, and Yin Yue, and currently performs with Ballet Nepantla, J CHEN Project, Synchronous, and Aslin Projects. She has danced with Nimbus Dance Works and Periapsis Music and Dance, received a City Artist Corps Grant, was commissioned by The Kennedy Center, and served as a Resident Artist with Moulin/Belle in France. 

Bella Donatelli, originally from Colorado, earned her BA in Dance and Classics from Connecticut College, where she fostered her interest in movement as a facilitator of interdisciplinary study, storytelling, and community building. She furthered her artistry through programs such as SpringBoard Danse Pittsburgh, London Contemporary Dance School, Orsolina, B12, and more. Throughout her training, she performed repertory by choreographers Sharon Eyal, Ronald K. Brown, Crystal Pite, Bebe Miller, and David Dorfman. Bella is currently performing with White Wave Dance Company and Arch Danse Ensemble, and is an apprentice for Tethered Residents Theater. 

Bryanna Strickland, originally from Haledon, New Jersey, is a malleable mover and performer. She studied at the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Since then, she has worked with choreographers such as Jermaine Spivey, Chantelle Good, Carlos Franquiz, Chelsea Thedinga and more. To further her training, Bryanna also attended Springboard Danse Montreal where she performed repertoire by Maxine Doyle, where she found a deep love and interest in physical theater. She also immerses herself in house and hip-hop forms to gain a deeper understanding of her roots and culture. 

Meenah Nehme integrates movement, performance, and experience. Through artistic expression, research, and collaboration she challenges the boundaries of artistry and entertainment. A graduate of NYU's Tisch, Meenah performed Andrea Miller's SAMA (Radio City Music Hall) and Mikee Ellis' A Moment Between Breaths (The Skirball Cultural Center). Recently performed in Marla Phelan’s BIRTH + CARNAGE at LA MAMA The Ellen Stewart Theatre and for Rylan Joenk in WADE-Pride Residency. Awarded the Collaborative Impact Grant for <dance prompts> Al Choreographer with cari ann shim sham, Demetris Charalambous, and Karsen Tengan. Previously in Los Angeles in Matt Luck's x2 and Chelsea Thedinga's Swan Song.  

Sam Assemany, of South Lyon, MI, studied her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance at Western Michigan University. In 2015 she moved to New York City, NY as a freelance artist. Since residing in NY, she’s had the opportunity to work for various artists including NOW Dance Project, Shawn Bible Dance Co., Christopher Ralph, Alma Collective, Michelle Ulerich, Jaclyn Walsh, and Hannah Weinmaster. Sam is currently dancing for BARE Dance Company and Chelsea Thedinga, and has performed in several New York based shows including Bryant Park Presents: Contemporary Dance, hosted by ITE Dance, and the Mr. Abbott Awards. Most recently, Sam had the privilege of performing at the Neues Globe Theater in Schwäbisch Hall Germany under the direction of Alice Klock and Florian Lochner of Flockworks Dance.  

DANCERS AND COLLABORATORS (OXYGEN)

Cie. Petra Zanki, founded in 2023 in a community garden in Brooklyn, investigates how the body functions as an archive of cultural memory, specifically examining the transmission and transformation of various dance vocabularies into contemporary practice.

Michael Bishop holds a BFA from Belhaven University and trained at the Alvin Ailey School. Amember of AGMA and Actors Equity unions, he has toured internationally and set original worksthroughout New York. Michael founded Dance In Frame Productions, an award-winning dance filmcompany, and received the 2025 NYSCA Support For Artists Grant. He presented his first mixed mediaexhibition, FLUID, in December 2025 and is excited to perform in Oxygen with Cie. Petra Zanki.

Chisato Fujii (she/they) is a Japanese dancer and emerging choreographer based in New York. A2025 summa cum laude BFA graduate from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, she hasperformed works by Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, and others. Currently freelancing with fivedance companies, Chisato is also developing new work through the D.I.G. Residency at Green Space and an upcoming split-bill at Green Lung Studio.

Margot Hartley is a ballet and contemporary dancer based in NYC. Originally from upstate New York,they trained on scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School and have danced soloist roles with José MateoBallet Theatre and Connecticut Ballet. Credits include Dzul Dance, the Merce Cunningham Trust,Armitage GONE! Dance, and NYFW. In 2018, Margot toured California and Moscow as a demi-soloistin Vladimir Varnava's ISADORA featuring Natalia Osipova. They joined Cie. Petra Zanki in 2025.

Gracen Nelson (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based performer and freelance choreographer from Charleston, SC, where she co-directed a Just Dance competition company and earned her B.A. in ArtsManagement. She teaches and sets award-winning choreography nationwide. NYC credits includeSelah Dance Collective, VALLETO Dance, BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance, and Cie. Petra Zanki.Gracen appeared in HBO's The Righteous Gemstones and created a film selected for the 2023Rethink Dance Film Festival.

Arthur "Trace" Yeames holds an MFA from London Contemporary Dance School/University of Kentand a BFA from UNC School of the Arts. He performed with EDGE Dance Company, trained atCharlotte Ballet, and danced with Ballet Hawaii. Trace is a member of Douglas Dunn and Dancers. Heis honored to be a company member of Cie. Petra Zanki, serving as original cast for Till It Tears UsApart, Murmurations, and new works in 2026.

Upcoming at Green Space

Fertile Ground: March 1st at 7:00 PM

Chris Bisram, Julienne Buenaventura, Lucy Kudlinski, Stribrny Dance, Temple of Fine Arts, Willow Green

Emerald Gala: Celebrating 20 Years of Green Space

March 5th from 6:00 PM - 9:30 PM

Fertile Ground: March 15th at 7:00 PM

Audrey Chou, Dan Doran, Georgia Dahill-Fuchel, Jasmine Rivers. Macy Alday & Juliann Craft, Maïlys Dumas-Lattaque

Sarah Baileigh (she/her) is a New York/Connecticut based lighting designer and actor. She specializes in designing for dance, particularly pieces that explore feminist and queer perspectives and the human condition. She holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from Adelphi University and is the recipient of the 2025 ETC Emerging Designer Award from the American College Theater Festival. Past credits include Like Violets (Lawton Dance Collective), TURN BACK AND BACK AND BACK (five two dance company), It Happened to Me Once (Hailey Cindric), la mariposa dentro de mi (Brando Ortiz), & the Adelphi University Dance Showcase from Spring 2023-2025.

Dance Entropy inaugurated Take Root 17 years ago with the goal to aid in the continued development and performance of new dance work of various aesthetics. This curated monthly series supports dance makers by providing our venue, Green Space, with technical and marketing support for a paired evening of work.

About Green Space: Responding to the need for professional rehearsal space in the New York metropolitan area, Valerie Green and Dance Entropy, Inc., opened Green Space in November 2005. Located in Long Island City, Green Space serves the public by offering discounted services to individual artists and dance companies in a spacious 1800 sq. foot facility. Green Space's mission is to serve the Queens and general dance community by providing an affordable and welcoming environment for rehearsals, classes, and performances. Green Space embraces the diversity of Queens as a strength, encouraging exchange on an artistic, educational, and interactive level.

Produced by: Dance Entropy Inc.

Lighting Design by: Sarah Baileigh

Programs Manager: Lily Cole

Box Office: Susanna Procario-Foley

This program is made possible, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, The Little Venue That Could Grant from the Howard Gilman Foundation and IndieSpace, The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, Dance/NYC’s New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program, made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. Additional support provided by BoA Private Bank, Chhaya Community Development, GNYADA, Robert S. Altman, Esq., PLLC; Leavitt, Kerson & Sehati Attorneys at Law; Mathis Pfohl foundation/ Plaxall Inc.; Gerard T. Dolan, LUTCF; Boyce Technologies, Inc.