cullen+them

The adult performing company of cullen+them creates and shows multi-disciplinary work that is content driven. The subjects of our work tend to be social justice or interpersonal issues and our goal is to shed light and spark conversation. We see this as a starting point for effecting change. Our process begins with conversation and the form is grounded in speaking and movement based mediums that play between the pedestrian and the highly physical.

Avery-Jai Andrews is a Dallas-based dance artist, arts entrepreneur and community organizer who is a rising leader in transforming the local arts in Dallas. She is a proud graduate of the nationally recognized Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (BTWHSPVA), and earned her BFA in dance at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Professionally, Avery-Jai furthered her studies and freelanced as a dancer/choreographer throughout New York, Europe and the Middle East for 3 years. Upon returning to her hometown, she noticed a gap in resources and development opportunities for professional dancers in Dallas, and so she created a solution -- Agora Artists, a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts service organization with the mission to develop and support the local dance community. She is passionate about developing arts communities and curating professional spaces where independent artists can grow and connect in their local community.

Additionally, Avery-Jai is deeply embedded in the Dallas arts community and is becoming known as a strategic young leader. She is a board member for Arts Mission Oak Cliff and Over the Bridge Arts. Also, she is on the advisory committee for Texas Dance Improvisation Festival (TDIF). Avery-Jai is also working with the BTWHSPVA Advisory Board as the Alumni Relations Coordinator to re-establish and cultivate the Booker T. alumni, as well as, develop an organizational structure to support sustainable growth.

As a founding member of cullen+them, Avery-Jai is thrilled to be a part of this innovative organization and excited for all that is to come.

AgoraArtists.com
@AgoraArtistsDTX

Ramiro Batista was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He attended a bilingual school for most of his life, where he was surrounded by sports and different arts. He trained in a variety of dances like Ballet, Hip-hop, Contemporary and Ballroom from a very young age. Ramiro then went on to teach some of these styles as well as perform them.

Being that his parents are actors, he grew up in rehearsals and backstage, making his way to the stage at the age of twelve. Where he was the lead in an orginal a play called "Cabo Verde".

He came to New York, to study acting, dance and perfect his English at the age of sixteen. Ramiro studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, where he did the two year conservatory, and did the one year training program at Broadway Dance Center. Since, Ramiro has been in a number of sets, from "Call me Francis" Netflix production to independent films that would go on to be in the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2017, Ramiro won outstanding actor in a one act or short form production, at the Planet Connections Theater Festivity. In 2018, Ramiro co-wrote the play "RED" performed for the first in Paris, to bring it to New York City a year later. He has also played Lysander for "A Midsummer Night's Dream" among other classical plays.

Ramiro has been a member of cullen+them for three years and also works with Handbag Films + Art. With both companies he is constantly working on new projects for stage and on camera.

Born in Wisconsin, Quinn began physicalizing his imagination on fields, front lawns, and living rooms. He enrolled in a local dance studio where his fiery passion for dancing was shaped, fed, disciplined, and loved by the teachers and mothers of his adolescence. After a brief but potent encounter with the professors at UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts, Quinn moved to NYC to start an unpaid apprenticeship with a dance company he once idolized. Since then, dancing in NYC has delivered Quinn to experience artistic relationships and collaborations that have taught him a lot, some include: SWG/dancetheatre, Rebecca Stenn Company, Molly Mingey Projects, and Schoen Movement Company. Quinn was performing in the off-broadway show Sleep No More up until live theaters closed in March 2020. Lately he enjoys writing music and sewing textile crafts for queers.

Maggie Joy is a freelance dance artist living in New York. A Dallas TX native, Maggie is an honors graduate of Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She graduated in 2019 summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance and minor in psychology from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. At Tisch, she performed works by Christina Robson, Yin Yue, and repertory by Arnie Zane, and had the opportunity to study internationally at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. She has performed at the Joyce Theater NYC with the Scottish Ballet Dance Exchange and at other venues including Dock11 (Berlin, Germany), Triskelion Arts and the Ace Hotel (CreateART performance). In addition to freelancing, Maggie has been collaborating on and developing her own choreographic work, and has performed her most recent piece at Arts on Site. Maggie is excited to be joining the cullen+them team for their upcoming project!