Company Members

MANUELA SANCHEZ
Manuela’s Bio
MANUELA SANCHEZ (Manni) is a native New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn. She trained at Talent Unlimited High School, Ballet Hispánico and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. She holds a BFA from Long Island University- Brooklyn Campus with a minor in Psychology, and later on received her 500-hr RYT Yoga certification and Fully Comprehensive Pilates Certification. In addition to working with Eva Dean Dance since 2012, Manni has worked with several choreographers and companies including Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Amalgamate Dance Company, Christal Brown’s INSPIRIT, nathantriceRITUALS, Maverick Dance, MoveWorks, Bill T Jones, and works as a dancer and faculty member of Earl Mosley’s Diversity of Dance. She relocated to Miami, FL in 2013 to serve as a company member and rehearsal director of Augusto Soledade Brazzdance for five years and continues to work with them on a project basis. As a national ambassador for Club Pilates, Ms. Sanchez has been interviewed on shows “Good Morning America” and “Coffee with America”, and has published articles on Self Magazine, MinBodyGreen, and Thrillist. She currently continues to freelance as a dance artist, teaches fitness throughout NYC, and is a signed model with MMG Talent Agency and Naturally Fit Agency. She is grateful to be alive and pursue what she loves.

ARIA ROACH
Aria’s Bio
ARIA ROACH is a dance artist, educator, and administrator based in Brooklyn. She has had the pleasure of performing as a company dancer with Eva Dean Dance and The Moving Architects, as well as with Yehuda Hyman’s Mystical Feet Company where she most recently originated her roles in Secret of the Possible, a contemporary dance/theater adaptation of mystical Jewish tales. Her creative work also includes performances with Zoe Walders, DanceTheYard, and Wild She Dances; appearances in filmmaker James Fotopoulos’s La Belle et la Bête, Dandelot’s Tutu music video, and Target’s All in Motion ad campaign; and collaborations with photo/video artists Barbara Shore and gwen charles. Aria has worked administratively as the General Manager of Caleb Teicher & Company, and Company Manager for Joyce Theater Productions’ nationally-touring Lindy Hop show SW!NG OUT. She teaches Modern, Ballet, and Improvisation for youth at Mark Morris Dance Group, and in NYC public schools with National Dance Institute (NDI). Aria holds a BFA in Dance & Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts (VCUarts) and Honors College (summa cum laude). She is currently training in trapeze and has a regular Ashtanga yoga practice.
IG: @aria.roach // Website: https://ariaroach.com/

KATIE MONCEBAIZ
Katie’s Bio
KATIE MONCEBAIZ is thrilled to return to the stage with Eva Dean Dance! Ms. Moncebaiz has worked with EDD since 2012, first as a guest artist and later as a company member and rehearsal director. In addition to performing throughout NYC with EDD, Katie has danced with the company in The Fringe Festivals in Amsterdam, Prague, and Germany. Since 2006, Katie has taught various dance and fitness classes to students of all ages throughout New England, and has performed with many local dance companies in Connecticut, Boston, and NYC. While living in Boston, Katie was voted one of Boston’s Best Zumba Instructors. She still teaches online, (details can be found on her Instagram page). Katie was also in the inaugural cohort of the Lincoln Center Scholar Master’s in Education in the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College. She graduated Cum Laude in 2016. She is a tenured dance teacher with the NYC Department of Education and is the proud new mom of a beautiful baby.
EDD Guest Artists

CAROLINE PARTAMIAN
Caroline’s Bio
CAROLINE PARTAMIAN is a sound and visual artist. Her work is influenced by her training in dance as she integrates the concept of abreaction into her work – the extraction of dormant memory stored within a muscle, resurfaced through physical movement, of which an individual was previously unaware; these memories can take many forms – traumatic, erotic, comforting, etc. By focusing on the process rather than the anticipated result, her work encourages what can be revealed when one becomes conscious of their kinetic movement in the process of creation. Her work has taken on the form of compositions, graphic notations, sound environments, books, video, and more. She has shown work at BoxoPROJECTS, Marfa Open, Wassaic Project, Otion Front, Flux Factory, Anthology Film Archives, Babycastles, Compound Yucca Valley, and more. She also runs a small publishing press, Weird Babes, in the form of zines and prints featuring artists’ and her own works-in-progress and experiments, and is the co-founder of Other Desert Radio in the California high desert.

DONALD KNAACK
Donald’s Bio
DONALD KNAAK(Percussionist/Composer and Environmentalist) – The music of Vermont composer, musician and environmentalist Donald Knaack has been performed at The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, The Van’s Warped Tour, festivals with Phish, World Environment Day at the United Nations, Sundance Film Festival, among others He has composed two critically-acclaimed works for choreographer Twyla Tharp, been featured on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, the BBC and television commercials for The NBA, Electronic Arts and ESPN.

KIRANA PETERS
Kirana’s Bio
A dancer, aerialist, and yogi, Kirana has been drawn to movement arts, beginning with ballet at Minnesota Dance Theater. She continued her education at University of Minnesota, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Kirana moved to New York City to train at Alvin Ailey’s Independent Study Program, and has danced professionally in NYC. With a passion for holistic healing and mind/body connection, she was drawn to teaching yoga, and received her 500 RYT. She continued her education and is a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) through Prema Yoga Institute in NYC. She is currently back in school to study Neurosomatic Therapy, a form of manual therapy that seeks to find and treat the root causes of pain based on structural imbalances. She uses her variety of movement and training to teach a wide variety of classes ranging from strength training, to meditation and restorative sessions. She has a passion working on an individual basis to help facilitate healing, incorporating yoga elements that focuses on restoring balance on all aspects of the individual – physical, psychological, and spiritual.

JESSICA CAMPBELL
Jessica’s Bio
JESSICA CAMPBELL MS, NTP practices holistic healing mechanisms of the body through food, movement, and mindfulness you can experience in her free chakra yoga flows on her YouTube channel at Food Foundation. Jessica prefers healthy comfort food to diets and delicious movement to exercise. With a BA in dance from San Diego State University, Jessica has studied dance her entire life, choreographing and performing nearly every form of dance from Argentine tango, Afro-Cuban, classical ballet, modern, West Coast Swing, to Pole dance and aerial arts. Jessica has performed intermittently with Eva Dean Dance since 2002 and is honored to be gracing the stage with Eva again.

REBECCA LIGHT
Rebecca’s Bio
Rebecca Light began dancing at the age of four at The Acton School of Ballet. She danced with Commonwealth Ballet Company before earning her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Fordham University and The Ailey School. While at Ailey, Rebecca had the opportunity to perform works by Alvin Ailey, Robert Battle, José Limón, Chuck Wilt, Gabrielle Lamb, Henning Rübsam, Chalvar Monteiro, and Tina Bush. Rebecca has also trained with The Limón Institute, BalletX, and Ballet Hispánico. In her professional career, Rebecca has danced with Nefelaba Dance Theater, Elizabeth Burr Dance and choreographer Kelsee Booker-Jordan, The 98 Art Collective, Buglisi Dance Theatre, DanceKerr & Dancers, and Eva Dean Dance. Rebecca has taught and performed internationally with JUNTOS Collective in Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia. Rebecca is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher, and teaches both group and private classes around New York City.