Dance in Austin: Where are we? Where are we going?

Presented in partnership with Fusebox

What is the state of dance in Austin in 2026? Join us for a lively conversation in the gallery with Austin based dancers and choreographers: Alexa Capareda, EG Gionfriddo, Deborah Hay, Allysen Hooks, Taryn Lavery and Dorothy O’Shea Overbey. We will investigate how dancers are navigating the cultural landscape of the city, securing rehearsal spaces, finding performance venues, and drawing audiences.  

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

Alexa Capareda is a Filipino-American dancing noodle robot who engages in virtuosity and earnest playfulness. She enjoys working at the intersection of structure and creativity as a choreographer, producer, rehearsal director, educator, administrative assistant, and artist.

EG Gionfriddo is a dance artist, educator and somatic researcher who believes in the intelligent body each of us occupies. They are co-founder of ARCOS Dance, whose ongoing inquiry probes the intersection of technology and humanity through rigorous interdisciplinary experimentation. Gionfriddo is an assistant professor of practice in the dance area at The University of Texas at Austin and a national teaching artist.

Deborah Hay is a dancer, choreographer, writer, and teacher. Working in the field of experimental postmodern dance, she is one of the original founders of the Judson Dance Theater. Her work focuses on large-scale dance projects involving untrained dancers, fragmented and choreographed music accompaniment, and the execution of ordinary movement patterns performed under stressful conditions.

Allysen Hooks is a dancer, choreographer, and educator. Her work is a rigorous exploration of converging body, being, imagination. Employing improvisational methods, the conjuring of evocative physical language aims to seize and articulate the interior space of thought-feeling-sensation in legible form and action. She constructs surrealist narratives aimed to capture nuances of the human condition.

Taryn Lavery is a dancer and co-director/founder of BLiPSWiTCH, a collective formed to create an inclusive platform for artists to unite, create work and cultivate a multifaceted arts community, unbound by individual mediums. Taryn fuses a classical background with a desire to revitalize modern dance for broader audiences, extracting a new form of contemporary performance. 

Dorothy O’Shea Overbey is a dancer, choreographer, musician, educator, and producer of multidisciplinary performing art, film, and immersive theatre. Dorothy is dedicated to fostering a vibrant, sophisticated arts scene in Austin while maintaining accessibility and affordability. She co-founded Austin Community Ballet, Red Nightfall Dance Theatre and is a co-owner of East Side Performing Arts (ESPA).