Guest Artists

Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves are acclaimed directors, choreographers, filmmakers, and mixed media designers. As a collaborative duo they have been creating dances together for over fifteen years through their founding and directing of Orange Grove Dance. Their award-winning works are noted for bringing virtuosic athleticism, mesmerizing design landscapes, and powerful imagery to their audiences. Krogol and Reeves are Helen Hayes Award winners for “Outstanding Choreography in a Play” for their work in Round House Theatre’s production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2020). Additional honors and commissions include: 2024 Rubys Artist Grantees through the Deutsch Foundation, The Carla Fund for Choreography and Performance (Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation), Maryland State Arts Council’s Artist Awards, the Baker Artist Awards (2024, 2023, and 2021), and The Voxel’s 2024 Artists-in-Residence program – where they continued developing their newest stage work, A&I, which recently had its international premiere at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Through OGD, their genre spiraling works and commissions have been produced and presented worldwide in concert stages, museums, film festivals, underground tunnels, city streets, black box theaters, public parks, botanic gardens, and high-end hotels. Internationally, they have been Artists-in-Residence, creating choreographic and cinematic works in Finland, Iceland, Italy, Spain, Israel, and China.

Jelani Taylor is a dancer, choreographer, and arts administrator from Virginia Beach currently working out of New York City. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of ERA Dance Company and the Coordinator for the Artists of Color Council for Movement Research. Jelani’s choreography has been presented nationally at Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Danspace Project’s Draftwork, the National Dance Society Conference (NDS), and various festivals in Virginia and New York City. He has performed in work by Nathan Trice, Sinclair O’Gaga, and Mariah Lopez. Jelani and ERA Dance Company were artist/company in residence at Norfolk State University and a part of the Digging in Group, Artist Residency program at Green Space Studio. He is currently a 2024/25 Performance Project Fellow at University Settlement. Jelani graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with a B.F.A in Dance and Choreography in 2019. While at VCU, Jelani was the recipient of the African American Studies Department’s “Black History in the Making” Award.