Bridging the Gap

Livia Armstrong (she/her) is a performer, choreographer and educator from Woodstock, Connecticut. She graduated summa cum laude with degrees in dance and business administration from Salve Regina University in 2025. Her time in Extensions Dance Company at Salve under the direction of Lindsay Guarino offered her the opportunity to perform in works by esteemed choreographers such as Brandi Coleman, Kimberley Cooper, Lisa LaTouche, Melanie George, Monique Haley, Carlos R.A. Jones, Alvon Reed and Maurice Watson. She has choreographed works for the concert stage and studios around New England in her unique personal style stemming from her background in contemporary dance and her deep connection to rooted jazz dance and music. In her choreography, she uses her artistic voice to confront certain biases riddled within society. In summer 2024, Armstrong performed and presented her work in Bridging the Gap, a jazz dance and music festival, and also performed with drummer Marcus Grant at the Newport Jazz Festival. She recently performed at WaxWorks in Brooklyn and Jazz Choreography Enterprises in New York City. She also presented her work at Small Plates Choreography Festival in Newburgh, New York. In July 2025, she had the honor of attending the inaugural Creating in Jazz Program at the School at Jacob’s Pillow directed by LaTasha Barnes. To continue pursuing her education of dance, Armstrong traveled to the esteemed Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD) in Calgary, Alberta to train in their 2026 four-month professional training program and is returning for their eight-month program in the fall of 2026. In Calgary, Armstrong choreographs for high school dance teams, volunteers in the scholarships committee for East Side Dance Festival, teaches for DJD’s Youth Training Program and volunteers for DJD’s Dancing for Parkinson’s class. 

Ashley Blake (she/her) is a creative from the DC metropolitan area. A 2026 graduate of Salve Regina University, she holds a B.A. in dance and literature with an emphasis on Black American studies in both disciplines. Though she spent the past four years studying jazz dance, Blake draws inspiration from a wide variety of her training in ballet, modern (Horton), contemporary, hip hop and house. She’s performed in festivals such as Jazz Choreography Enterprises (2023, 2025), WAXWorks (2023), Bridging the Gap: a Jazz Dance and Music Festival (2024, 2025) and Newport Jazz Festival (2024). With a passion for improvisation, she seeks to continue to work towards expanding the breadth of her knowledge, exploring dynamics and building a deeper connection to the music.

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).

Kimberley Cooper is a jazz dance artist based in Calgary, Canada. She is currently the artistic director of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD), a jazz dance organization founded in 1984 to create an awareness of, and encourage respect for, the integrity, spirit and traditions of jazz through performance and education. Cooper has been with DJD since 1989, as a dancer (1989-2013), resident choreographer/artistic associate (2002-2013) and artistic director (since 2013). She was named emerging artist of the year by Alberta Dance Alliance in 2002. Since then, she has created over 20 full-length works for DJD. DJD made its debut performance at Jacob’s Pillow with her piece, Family of Jazz, in 2023. Cooper has also created numerous shorter pieces for DJD, and many independent works, including remounts and/or commissions at SUNY Potsdam (2006), Western Michigan University (2023), Southern Methodist University (2023) and Salve Regina University (2019, 2023, 2024). During the pandemic, she created a series of eight short films with DJD under the umbrella title "suspending disbelief." The first premiered at Dance on Screen festival at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2023. Cooper served as artist in residence during Calgary, Cultural Capital of Canada in 2012, and with Fall for Dance North (Toronto, Canada) from 2020-2022. She was awarded Dance Victoria’s Crystal Dance Prize in 2015 for research in Brazil. Cooper has contributed chapters to the books "City of Animals" (University of Calgary Humanities Department, 2017) and "Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty First Century" (University Press of Florida, 2022).

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.

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.

Jala Settles is a dancer, choreographer, poet and singer born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned her B.A. in dance from Salve Regina University, where she developed her artistic voice through performance, choreography and interdisciplinary collaboration. Settles has presented and performed work at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Bridging the Gap Festival, as well as in New York City at the Upsurge Dance Festival, Jazz Choreography Enterprises Jazz Dance Project, APAP Dance Festival and WaxWorks. Rooted in Black American culture, her work draws from personal experience and ancestral legacy to honor the richness, resilience and lasting influence of Black artistry. Through movement, poetry, music and storytelling, Settles creates work that fosters authenticity, connection and community while inviting audiences to engage with culture through love, truth, shared human experience and the transformative power of the arts. 

Formed in 2025, the Trombone Shorty Foundation Alumni Federation and Leadership Council brings together a committed group of program alumni dedicated to strengthening and expanding their impact, deepening connections across the Trombone Shorty Foundation community and paving the way for those who follow. The Alumni Federation represents a vibrant community of young musicians, educators, cultural leaders and more at every stage of their careers, all of whom have completed multiple years of the foundation's programs. These young adults participate in events that strengthen local networks of current alumni, provide mentorship and support to further the careers of current students and graduates, and leverage their collective influence to ensure a welcoming and equitable future for the foundation's programs.