Bridging the Gap

Brandi Coleman is an assistant professor in the Division of Dance at Southern Methodist University, where she teaches Jump Rhythm Technique - a jazz-rhythm-based movement approach that transforms the moving body into a rhythm-driven percussion instrument. She was a performing member, rehearsal director and associate artistic director of Jump Rhythm Jazz Project (JRJP), a Chicago-based dance company founded by Billy Siegenfeld. Coleman received an Emmy Award in the category of “Outstanding Excellence On Camera/Performer” for her work in the documentary “Jump Rhythm Jazz Project: Getting There” and has toured with JRJP to Finland, Italy and Canada. As a teaching and creative artist, she has led more than 40 choreographic and teaching residencies at universities nationwide and internationally. In 2022, Coleman was commissioned to create a new work for Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary, Alberta, Canada which was presented on their Family of Jazz concert series in Calgary and at the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur in Saint-Sauveur, Quebec and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. Along with jazz dance creator, educator and scholar Lindsay Guarino, she co-curated the first Jazz Lounge at Ochre Court in collaboration with drummer Marcus Grant and Salve dancers. Coleman’s work “Seven and Five” was featured at the historic Newport Jazz Festival in collaboration with the dancers of Salve and the Marcus Grant Trio, and she created new work performed live to the music of multi-instrumentalist Julius Rodriguez for the inaugural Bridging the Gap Festival. Her writing, “Performing Gender: Disrupting Performance Norms for Women in Jazz Dance Through Gender-Inclusive, Human-Centric Choreography” is included in the book “Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century” (University Press of Florida, 2022).

Lindsay Guarino is a jazz dance artist, educator and scholar. Her creative and scholarly research lives at the intersection of jazz history, Africanist aesthetics and pedagogy, and she has presented her research across the U.S. and Canada. Guarino edited and published her research in the volumes “Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches” (2014) with Wendy Oliver and the award-winning “Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century” (2022) with Carlos R. A. Jones and Wendy Oliver, both published by University Press of Florida. In summer 2024, she launched the inaugural Bridging the Gap Festival, featuring collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Julius Rodriguez, and presented work at the Newport Jazz Festival in a set inspired by an evening-length collaboration titled “The Jazz Lounge at Ochre Court” with jazz dance artist and scholar Brandi Coleman and jazz drummer and ethnomusicologist Marcus Grant. As professor and chair of the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance at Salve, Guarino has been on the faculty since 2006 and has grown the dance program from a minor to a vibrant B.A. focused in jazz and justice. She directs Salve’s dance company and seeks to honor jazz and its creative spirit by presenting works that are rooted and uphold the communal values of the jazz language. Guarino holds a BFA in dance from the University of Buffalo (SUNY), where she was recognized with a distinguished alumni award in 2024, and an MFA in dance from the University of Arizona.

Carlos R. A. Jones has enjoyed a vibrant career as an educator, performer, director, choreographer and scholar. He spent his early career working as a performer, director and choreographer in concert dance, musical theater, television and film. Jones’ professional credits include “Dance With Me,” “Uptown Girl,” “The Nanny” and “The Drew Carey Show.” He has worked with SNL veteran Ellen Cleghorne, Broadway legend André DeShields and television icon Carol Burnett. Jones is professor and chair of the department of dance at SUNY Brockport and adjunct professor at Salve. Before landing at Brockport, he served on the faculty at Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, UCLA, St. Cloud State University and UC-Irvine, and held faculty and administrative positions at Buffalo State University. Jones’ research and scholarship is in Black American dance with a focus on the jazz dance continuum. This has been realized in several dance compositions, and in two groundbreaking publications. His writing can be found in “Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches” and in the award-winning “Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanists Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century,” of which he was also co-editor.  The focus of Jones’ civic engagement has been advocacy for LGBTQiA+ youth and the promotion of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in higher education.

Marcus R. Grant is a professional drummer, percussionist, musicologist and educator from West Chester, Pennsylvania. He is currently a Brown University Ph.D. candidate in musicology and ethnomusicology with a secondary certificate study in the Department of Africana Studies. Grant holds a BM in jazz performance from Temple University, an MM in jazz performance, an MM in musicology from the University of Miami, and an M.A. in musicology and ethnomusicology from Brown University. As a scholar, he focuses his research on 2020 Black Lives Matter protest music and hip-hop, and the intersections of musical protest and digital culture. Other research interests include jazz studies and music of the Black church. As a performer, Grant has shared the stage with Victor Goines, Nicole Henry, Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway, Bilal and De La Soul, and is a performing member of Robert Glasper’s Black Radio Orchestra and Derrick Hodge’s Color of Noize Orchestra.

Trinity Leite is a performer, choreographer and teacher based in Newport. In 2025, she graduated from Salve with a B.A. in dance and a B.S. in finance with a minor in business administration. At Salve, Leite was a member of Extensions Dance Company and served as the dance program assistant under director Lindsay Guarino. She has had the opportunity to work with trailblazers in the jazz industry such as Kimberley Cooper, Lisa La Touche, Carlos Jones, Brandi Coleman, Monique Haley and Alvon Reed. Through Leite’s studies, she has become passionate about engaging in and celebrating the art of jazz dance. She has presented her works at the Jazz Choreography Enterprises’ Jazz Dance Project and WaxWorks in New York City, as well as the Bridging the Gap Festival. In 2024, Leite performed at the Newport Jazz Festival with the Marcus Grant Trio and co-directed “The Rhythm of Life: A Journey of Black American Music and Vernacular Dance” alongside drummer Marcus Grant. Her artistic and academic research centers music as foundational to movement. Leite aspires to create works that honor both music and jazz as a Black American art form.

Orlando Hernández is a tap dancer and choreographer based in New York City. He has presented his work at New York Live Arts, On the Boards, Joe’s Pub, Brown University, the Judson Church and La Casa Ruth Hernández Torres, and has received grants and residencies from the New England Foundation for the Arts, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Yaddo, the CUNY Dance Initiative and Snug Harbor. As a member of the companies Subject:Matter and Music from the Sole, Hernández has performed at Jacob’s Pillow, the Guggenheim, the Joyce Theater, City Center and Nublu. He is grateful for his teachers, Andrew Nemr, Derick Grant, Dianne Walker and many others, and he was fortunate to spend time with older masters of this beautiful art form, Dr. Bunny Briggs and Dr. Jimmy Slyde. Hernández was a Fresh Tracks artist at New York Live Arts, an artist-in-residence at the Center for Performance Research and is a 2025-2028 Jerome Fellow in Dance. You can find him at orlyhernandez.com or @pineappleju_icefrog.