top of page
Your Move.png
92062160_syl93khe1t.jpg

Photo by Eye Wander Photography

Your Move is dedicated to our families, who have been pillars of support in our journey as dancers and artists.

OF MOVING COLORS PRODUCTIONS

OUR HISTORY

In the Company of Dancers (ITCOD) was founded in 1987 by Lisa Hooks Murray to bring modern dance to as many people as possible, both through educational outreaches and major productions. In 1998 Garland Goodwin Wilson was announced Artistic Director of the Company. ITCOD went through a merger with Wilson's collaborative company, Of Moving Colors Productions. OMC believes that bringing the arts together represents a critical element to the culture of any city. Each year OMC brings together dance, theatre, live music, and the visual arts through major productions and educational outreaches. OMC also brings in top-flight guest artists for master classes, choreography, and special programs for neighborhoods and schools.

​

OUR MISSION

Of Moving Colors (OMC) is a contemporary dance-theatre organization dedicated to creating and presenting excellent performances and community-based dance activities that inspire, educate, and stimulate. OMC is equally committed to offering admirable opportunities to dancers in our community in the form of master classes, guest residencies, and paid work in order to further the validity of the dance profession in Louisiana.

​

BOARD & ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

Pamela Matassa

Amanda Henkel

Cheri Ausberry

Allison Lamar Beard

Ann Connelly

Fred C. Dent, III

Cordell Haymon

Kelly Hurtado

Mary Lilly

Anne Marks

Bettsie Miller

Screenshot 2023-11-01 at 5.06.31 PM.png
Gs Statement Z9A_5882.jpg

TONIGHT’S WORK

It gives me great pleasure to introduce this work tonight and feature two people who are so very important to our organization - Julian Guillory and Hannah Knoff. Many of you know Julian yet you might not realize how much he has been working behind the scenes for the past few years. He’s played many roles and aided in the creation and development of many dances. To present his first full work for OMC alongside Hannah is a special treat. 

 

And Hannah is brand new in her role with the company. We welcome her as OMC’s new Associate Director. Although new to the professional dance scene, she has chosen to dive in deep for all things OMC.  She’s my new partner in the office, she just received her first grant, and she’s heading out into the schools with our new partnership with Big Buddy. She’s been leading rehearsals alongside Julian to produce her first full professional work which we celebrate this evening. Perhaps we should say… it’s time for THEIR Moves! My deep gratitude to both of them.

 

NEW PARTNERS

I additionally am so thankful to all of our new partners including Click Here Digital, Tone BR, Mid City Ballroom, and LSU’s Synergy Communications Group. The support they are offering along with other dedicated businesses like Red Cake Events that keep us moving in Louisiana!  

​

CONSIDER GIVING

We’d love for you to play your part if you feel compelled. Our nation, state, and city offer very little to support the arts. In the last major study, it was discovered that we are lagging far behind other parts of the world providing $6 per capita compared to the $46 offered by Canada, $57 by France, or the whopping $96 offered by Finland. 


The United States has always depended on its people to directly take care of the arts and OMC does the same. Whether serving on a committee or making a contribution, we invite you to become part of the amazing family that is OMC! A famous book points out how we are all gifted differently and calls us to give generously (from Romans 12 in the Bible). I challenge you to be an ARTS MAKER and find your place… and we’ll be honored if that place is with OMC.

- Garland Goodwin Wilson

HsStatementIMG_9203.jpg

Growing up my family played a lot of games, card games, board games, video games, etc. You name it; we played it.  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found myself reflecting on the profound connection between playing games and life itself.  Every choice and action we make results in consequences that ripple beyond ourselves; others, in turn, respond by making their choices, and so it goes. The strategies, components, and emotions inherent in games mirror our human experience.  The desire and drive to triumph, to achieve, for competition, for cooperation, for connection to the real, leads us to play.  We gamble our hearts, feel the pressures to succeed, and experience the uncertainty of choice as we seek our goal.  This reality is not ours alone. We cannot dictate every facet of the game.  Sometimes all we can do is wait until it’s our move.

​

Your Move.

​

From the music to the choreography, Your Move, is a journey delving into the myriad of emotions and experiences in games. This complex interplay of elements in play, as in life, is a beautifully woven dance where single moves can impact the overall outcome.​

-Hannah Knoff

Associate Director

C4F911F3-AE67-4873-8678-36D93911BC00.JPEG
Click Here Digital Ad.jpg
Patrons Z9A_5823.jpg

We are incredibly grateful to our patrons who have journeyed with us for 36 years

Platinum ($10,000 and above)

Margaret Heffron

 

Goldenrod ($5,000 - $9,999)

Susan Lipsey

 

Scarlet ($2,500 - $4,999)

William R. Wilson

 

Emerald ($1,000 - $2,499)

Amy Crane

Rich and Claire Major

Cary Saurage

Hank and Laurie Saurage

Junior League of Baton Rouge Inc.

Parkinson's Foundation

 

Magenta ($500 - $999)

Margaret Boudreaux

Diane Kirtland

Timothy and Deanna Knoff

Claire Marron

Emily Norris

Lisa Oldenburg

 

Violet ($250 - $499)

Abounding Love Ministries

Aron Biedenharn

Rena Cannon

Astrid Clements

Brooke Dynes

LeeAnn and David Kozan

Camille Manning-Broome

Prevailing Word Christian Center

Lynn Z. Tucker, MD

 

Aqua ($100 - $249)

Lea Anne Batson

Lauren Champagne

Leslie Day

unnamed.png
PRODUCTION TEAM

Deanna Burton

Stage Manager

​

Robert DeMouy

Light Board Op

THE PROGRAM

I. LOADING

Performed by the company, featuring Lauren Hebert

Choreographed by Julian Guillory

Music by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow

​

II. LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Performed by the company, featuring Gabrielle Thibodeaux

Choreographed by Julian Guillory

Music by Beyoncé

​

III. HEAD TO HEAD

Dancers: Madilyn Cashio and Terri Alexander

Choreographed by Hannah Knoff

Music by Meredith Monk

​

IV. QUEST

Dancers: Julian Guillory, Lauren Hebert, Cassandra Soniat-Boyd

Choreographed by Julian Guillory, featuring phrase work by Christian Von Howard

Music by Armand Amar

​

V. INTERACTIVITY

Dancers: Teri Alexander, Mia Colbert, Hannah Knoff, Julia Lynch, Isabel Nasr

Choreographed by Hannah Knoff

Music by The Temper Trap

​

VI. Face-off

Dancers: Teri Alexander, Madilyn Cashio, Mia Colbert, Hannah Knoff, Julia Lynch, Isabel Nasr, Gabrielle Thibodeaux

Choreographed by Hannah Knoff

Music by Ólafur Arnolds

​

VII.THE GAMBLING GAME

Dancers: Julian Guillory and Lauren Hebert

Choreographed by Julian Guillory

Music by Woodkid

 

INTERMISSION: 15 MINUTES

​

VIII. THE DOMINO EFFECT 

Dancers: Terri Alexander, Madilyn Cashio, Lauren Hebert, Hannah Knoff, Isabel Nasr, Cassandra Soniat-Boyd

Choreographed by Anne Marie Herring in collaboration with the dancers

Music by Robyn

​

IX. PRESSURE

Choreographed and performed by Hannah Knoff

Music by Armand Amar

​

X. CRISIS

Dancers: Julian Guillory, Lauren Hebert, Cassandra Soniat-Boyd, Gabrielle Thibodeaux

Choreographed by Julian Guillory

Music by Armand Amar

​

XI. ADRENALINE

Dancers: Terri Alexander, Madilyn Cashio, Julian Guillory, Hannah Knoff

Choreographed by Anne Marie Herring

Music by Linkin Park

​

XII. EVANESCENCE OPPORTUNITY

Choreographed and performed by Cassandra Soniat-Boyd

Music by Jack Johnson

​

XIII. GAME OVER

Performed by the Company

Choreographed by Julian Guillory

Music by The Irrepressibles

Art Vark Ad.png
About US Z9A_6438.jpg
Staff
IMG_0050.jpeg

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Garland Goodwin Wilson received her BA in Theatre from LSU and studied locally at 2M's School of Dance. She has also studied modern dance across the world at centers and festivals such as Impulstanz Vienna and the Jose Limon Institute in New York. She has trained under and facilitated residencies with artists such as Ashleigh Leite, Netta Yerushalmy, Irene Rampino and Emily Plauche-Flink and has has toured with Windows Dance Company (Brazil, Asia, Hawaii) and with TNZTT Dance Theatre (Slovakia, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic). Locally, she has worked for Capitol High, Scotlandville Magnet High, The Runnels School, Playmakers, and the Arts Council of GBR. Garland is Board President of the Louisiana Alliance for Dance and Board Member for Palissimo Dance in NYC. She has served as a grants panelist for the BR Area Foundation and the Arts Councils of GBR, Shreveport and Louisiana, and is also a Louisiana Dance Fellow for Choreography.  In 1996, she returned to the state and has served as the Artistic Director of OMC since 1997, creating 37 productions for the company and taking the arts to over 100 venues in the Southern region.

​

Hannah Knoff B&W Headshot.png

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND DANCER

Hannah Knoff is a performing artist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  In May of 2022, she earned her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance from Northwestern State University, where she studied under Kirstin Riehl, Brett Garfinkel, Michael Lomeka, Crystal Lewis, Rebecca Morgan, and Jared Doster. In her four years at Northwestern she performed with the NSU Dance Company, the Demon Dazzlers, and was a founding officer of  the Dance Organization of Students.  Throughout her dance career, Hannah has had opportunities to dance with Bodyart Dance (project specific), Opera Louisiane, the Moscow Ballet, and the Baton Rouge Symphony. She has participated in choreographic residencies with renowned artists John Allen, Christian Von Howard, and Pavel Zuštiak.

Christina Swaye_edited.jpg

MANAGING ASSOCIATE

Christina Swaye grew up in Maryland and studied at the University of Delaware before completing her BS at Louisiana State University. She worked in the environmental field in both the private sector and state government for more than a decade before transitioning into a special events coordinator role with a performing arts center of over 600 dancers in the greater New York City area. For 12 years she worked behind the scenes managing the daily operations of the business as well as planning yearly productions and additional performance opportunities at Walt Disney World. For the last year Christina has been a volunteer with OMC and recently became a managing associate. Christina is grateful and excited for the opportunity to be a part of OMC!

ARTISITS
IMG_9705_edited.jpg

CO-PRODUCER AND DANCER

Julian Guillory is a dancer, choreographer, dance team consultant, and movement coach based in Baton Rouge, LA. His passion for dance has led him nationally and locally to work with many organizations such as Of Moving Colors, Nyama Contemporary Dance Company, and the Universal Dance Association. Earlier this year as a dancer with Nyama Contemporary Dance Company, under the artistic direction of Roxi Victorian Julian was flown to The Kennedy Center in Washington DC as a guest dancer in residence. He has worked with nationally known choreographers such as Christian Von Howard, Pavel Zustiak, John Allen , Frankie Lee Peterson III, and Lindsey Dietz Marchant, Jennifer Holliday and the internationally recognized Debbie Allen. Julian appeared in a dance role in Netflix feature film “Tall Girl 2”, dance scene in the CW tv series “Interview with a Vampire”, and a club dance scene in “Queer As Folk”. He is currently an instructor at Revolution Dance Company under the direction of Carrie Webb, the head of the dance department at Mckinley Senior High School, and has developed a dance program within The Boy and Girls Club of Baton Rouge. This is Julian’s 8th season with OMC.

image0_edited.jpg

GUEST ARTIST

Anne Marie Herring began her dance training at Machita Dance Company and was part of the competition team. As she grew with the studio, she began teaching classes of varying age ranges and styles, including ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and hip hop. Anne Marie joined Of Moving Colors in the fall of 2017, and continued to dance and eventually choreograph for OMC for five years during her tenure at LSU. During her time at LSU, she graduated with her undergraduate degree in Accounting with a minor in Internal Audit in December 2020, and again with her MBA in May of 2022. After completing her education, Anne Marie moved to Austin, Texas to pursue her professional career in accounting and obtained her CPA license in the state of Texas. Anne Marie loves to balance her life as a young professional while tuning into her artistic side and dance training. Anne Marie returned as a guest dancer in last season’s fall show, “Clock Tower,” and is honored to return as a choreographer for “Your Move.”

THE COMPANY
2.jpg

TERI ALEXANDER

Teri is a dance artist from Plaquemine, Louisiana who has been dancing for 20 years. She received her early training from Peggy Grant’s School of Dance, DancExpression and Iberville Math, Science, and Arts Academy- West. She then went on to receive her Bachelors of Fine Arts in dance from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in May of 2022. There she had the honor of training under instructors Marie Broussard, Kenneth Jenkins, Kristi Carr, Alex McBride, Sarah Lass, and Michael Crotty, as well as being a member of the Ragin’ Jazz dance team for 2 years. Through her training at UL, Teri was able to work with artists such as Blakeley White-McGuire, Daniel Fetecua, Taylor Mitchell, Leah LaGrange, and Kaylin Maggard, as well as attend intensives with Salt Contemporary Dance, Kizuna Dance, LED, Whim Whim, Millennium Dance Complex Nashville, and Vagabondance. This is Teri’s first year dancing with Of Moving Colors.

9AD74AF7-55EF-42A1-8B3C-C046A2256B0A.jpg

MADILYN CASHIO

Madilyn is from Livonia, La. She received her training at Joffrey Ballet School in Texas and earned a BFA in dance from University of Louisiana at Lafayette (2022).
Cashio has studied under the direction of Desmond Richardson, Yosha Sorzano, Lauren Edson, Omar Román De Jesús, Amy Gunter and many more. She’s had the opportunity to work with Art Spark, Basin Arts and Window Wonderland. She currently is the company director at Core Dance Center and is the instructor of Notre Dame High School dance team.

1.jpg

MIA COLBERT

Mia is a Port Allen native and an alumna of St. Joseph’s Academy. She has more than fifteen years of training and performance from Lori’s School of Dance and Cangelosi Dance Project. Mia is a former member of both studios’ competition teams, where she gained thirteen years of competitive dance experience. Currently, Mia is pursuing a degree in Kinesiology Pre-Medicine with a minor in Dance at Louisiana State University. In the Spring of 2023, she was a member of LSU’s Dance Ensemble. Mia is also a dance instructor and competition assistant at Alyssa’s School of Performing Arts in Brusly, Louisiana. She is excited to have the opportunity to perform with OMC.

F026D7F1-FA69-489D-8FCB-BCBE201F0255_edited_edited_edited.webp

LAUREN HEBERT

Lauren has been dancing for over twenty years. She began her training at Powell-Moise School of Dance where she was a part of their competition team for eleven years. She also took classes at Revolution Dance Company while in high school. In college, Lauren studied dance at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia before moving back home to pursue a degree in Mass Communication with minors in Dance and Physical Theater at Louisiana State University (LSU). While at LSU she was a part of the Dance Ensemble. Through the LSU Dance Department, she studied Flamenco in Seville, Spain and spent a semester in Aurillac, France studying modern dance at La Manufacture. Lauren graduated from LSU in 2019 and now works as a Patient Care Coordinator. Lauren is very excited to be back with OMC for another season! 

4.jpg

JULIA LYNCH

Julia is a dancer from St. Amant, Louisiana, who attended Northwestern State University as a Dance Major. She was a member of the Demon Dazzlers Danceline, and was a board member of the Dance Organization of Students while attending. She has been taught by Brett Garfinkel, Michael Lomeka, Kirstin Riehl, Crystal Lewis, and Rebecca Allen, and more. This is her first year as a member of the Of Moving Colors family.

3.jpg

ISABEL NASR

Isabel is from Lafayette, Louisiana and has been dancing for sixteen years. While living in Lafayette she trained in many forms of dance at several different studios. Growing up she participated in Gerami Academy’s tumbling team and later joined River Dance Centre’s competition team at ten years old. Through River Dance she competed for a total of six years and attended several dance conventions including West Coast Dance Explosion, Streetz, and Velocity where she earned several scholarships. Additionally, she was a part of her high school’s dance team for two years, where they won the National Champion title in their game day routine. During her senior year she began assisting her studio’s mini company and plans to continue doing so in the future. This will also be Isabel’s first year with OMC!

IMG_8885_edited.jpg

CASSANDRA SONIAT-BOYD

Cassandra is a Southeastern Louisiana University graduate, with a bachelor’s in Fine Arts and a minor in Dance. She was a member of the LSU Dance Ensemble before transferring to SELU. At age 16, Cassandra was accepted to the American Ballet Theater’s Summer Intensive Program in Los Angeles. In 2011, she became a member of the Cangelosi Dance Project Ballet Ensemble. By 19, Cassandra was teaching Ballet and Contemporary at various studios. Currently, she teaches Art at Central Middle School and Ballet/Pointe at RAVE Performing Arts Center. This is Cassandra’s fourth year dancing with Of Moving Colors.

IMG_7694_edited.webp

GABRIELLE THIBODEAUX

Gabrielle (Gabby) is attending Louisiana State University and pursuing a degree in Business Management with a minor in Dance. She grew up in Central, LA and was a four-year member of the Central High School Kittens Dance Team, where she received awards through American All-Star and Universal Dance Association and was the captain her senior year. She has studied various genres of dance at the Center of Performing Arts, The CODA, under the direction of Stephanie Faucette-Gremillion and Micaela Coner, and RAVE Performing Arts Company, under the direction of Rachel Vierck-Amie.  She was a member of the RAVE competition and performance teams and is currently a co-teacher at RAVE. While receiving training in the LSU Dance Department, Gabby is excited to continue dancing with OMC.  This will be her third year!

Eye Wander Ad.png
PartnersInKind.jpg

American Audio Visual

Denise Atol

Phoebe Rosebud Smith-Atol

Baton Rouge Music Exchange

Big Buddy

Bistro Byronz

Click Here Digital

Deanna Knoff

Eye Wander Photography

Emma Granier

LeeAnn Kozan

Claire Major

Mid City Ballroom

Monica Murphy

Red Cake Events

Synergy Communications

Tone BR

Screen Shot 2023-11-01 at 11.45.52 PM.png

This semester we were fortunate enough to work with a team of students from the LSU PR Campaigns class. Please take 2-3 minutes to complete the audience survey they are conducting.

Thank you!

bottom of page