TRANSCEND MOTION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 1st Year )
Annalise Boydston is a queer feminist performer, choreographer, researcher, and educator based in Denton, Texas. She holds a BFA in Dance from University of North Texas and an MFA in Dance from Texas Woman's University. Her choreographic and pedagogical research interests are grounded in feminist and queer theory. She engages with personal narrative, identity, and resistance against gender and sexuality norms. As a graduate student, her research culminated into a choreographic project titled What We Have (2021), which investigated queer identity and relationships among an evolving landscape of meaning. She is excited to continue her research as an adjunct instructor at University of North Texas.
Annalise has performed in numerous productions, including: faculty concerts, conferences such as American College Dance Association (ACDA), and benefit galas. She has performed in works by Carl Flink and Black Label Movement, Shelley Cushman, Whitney Geldon, and Reyna Mondragon. Currently, she is a company member of the Jordan Fuchs Company and TranScend Motion, the latter of which she serves as the assistant director.
Her work has been presented on stages across North Texas. Her recent collaborative work with Sarah Tran of TranScend Motion, titled Undercurrent (2022), was presented at the Texas Woman's University dance concert, DanceMakers, and the Tarrant County College faculty and guest artist concert, Merge. At present, she is collaborating with TranScend Motion company members on a new work.
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 1st Year )
Job Titles:
- Media Assistant / Company Member ( 2nd Year )
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 1st Year )
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 1st Year )
Esmeralda Ledesma was born in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, where she began dancing at a young age learning primarily Folklorico and ballet at Rosemont Elementary. During her time at Sunset High School, she was an officer for the Sunset Dance Company and the Bisonettes drill team, where she expanded her knowledge in jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, Folklorico, modern, and drill team. After high school, she taught classes at the Centre for Dance with the K-pop Dance Dallas organization under the direction of Chantha Mao and David Yi. She was also a part of the hip-hop dance crew Izavibe under the direction of Chantha Mao and David Yi. Esmeralda Ledesma is currently attending Texas Woman's University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a minor in Education. During her time at Texas Woman's University, she choreographed a piece for the International Dance Company in the spring of 2021, where she received the Daryl Cleveland Excellence and Choreography Award. She also taught a Latin hip-hop class for Hispanic Heritage Month in the fall of 2021 under the International Dance Company. Now, Esmeralda Ledesma is exploring concert stage performances and screen dances to include in her future works.
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 1st Year )
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 2nd Year )
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 1st Year )
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 2nd Year )
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 1st Year )
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 1st Year )
Sarah Tran is a Vietnamese-American dance artist, choreographer, performer, and educator. Tran holds both Bachelor of Arts in Dance Studies (2019) and Masters of Fine Arts in Dance (2022) degrees from Texas Woman's University. During her time at TWU, she has had the opportunity to study modern dance technique, choreography, performance, and improvisation from professionals Dr. Matthew Henley, Jordan Fuchs, Mary Willifordshade, and Sarah Gamblin.
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 1st Year )
Job Titles:
- Artist
- Company Member ( 1st Year )
Surayya Raheem is an artist born and raised in Arlington, Texas. She first began her dance experience at St. John Baptist Church where she ministered as a praise dancer under the group, God's Angels of Praise. Raheem is a graduate from Crowley High School where she served as a member of the Crowley High School Talonettes as well as Thespian president of Crowley High School Theater. Here is where she attributes her discovery of her passion for dance and theater. Upon graduating high school, she began attending Texas Woman's University. She is currently pursuing a Bachelors of Science degree in the field of Exercise Science with a minor in Dance Studies. Here she has danced under various artists including Kourtney Surgent, Camila Holman, Deardre Randolph, and Sarah Tran. She performed with Texas Woman's University International Dance Company under the direction of choreographer Nikolas Bermea. Raheem has also danced with University of North Texas' competitive hip hop team, ChoreoBlock, where she served as a member from 2019-2020. As of now, Raheem considers herself a self-taught movement artist specializing in freestyling, performance, self-led storytelling, and performance. She aspires to gain a deeper understanding of street hip-hop styles such as popping, waving, house, and battling. Her goal is to one day magnify the lens of total body connectivity to help dancers enhance their performance by fully understanding the body itself.
Job Titles:
- Company Member ( 2nd Year )