The Dance Data Project® Team
“Children of Dharma” by Ragamala Dance Company
Photo by Rob Simmer/Three Phase Multimedia
Elizabeth “Liza” Yntema wearing Another Tomorrow Photo by Kyle Flubacker
Our Founder
Elizabeth Yntema is the President & Founder of the Dance Data Project®. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for WTTW/WFMT. Liza was graduated from the University of Virginia in 1980 and is 1984 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, where she was awarded the Jane L. Mixer Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution to Social Justice. Ms. Yntema is a past member of numerous organizations in the Chicagoland area, including the Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Women’s Bar Association, Trust for Public Land in Illinois, Winnetka Board of the Northwestern Settlement House, the Children’s Home and Aid Society, and the Junior League of Chicago, where she was named as Volunteer of the Year for her work advocating for homeless women and children.
Named to the final full year training cohort of The Philanthropy Workshop (TPW) in 2018, Liza spent a year honing her skills as part of “the next generation of strategic philanthropists.” TPW is a global network of over 450 selected philanthropists, from 26 countries.
Liza and Dance Data Project® have been featured in the book Women and Leadership: Journey Toward Equity by Lisa DeFrank-Cole, Professor and Director of Leadership Studies at West Virginia University and Sherylle J. Tan, Ph. D. a developmental psychologist and Director of Internships and KLI Research at the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College. Ms. Yntema has also been awarded the inaugural Top Tier Feminist Giver Award by Philanthropy Women in March of 2021.
Ms. Yntema was recently selected for the first national cohort of Chief, a global network of women founders and C-Suite executives. In June 2022, she was also honored to be selected as a lifetime Honorary Member of Corps De Ballet.
DDP’s ground breaking work is featured in the book Turning Pointe: How A New Generation of Dancers is Saving Ballet From Itself, published in May 2021.
Leads
TRACEY BONNER
Senior Outreach Liaison
Tracey Bonner has a long-standing career as an artist, an arts advocate, an artistic leader, a freelance choreographer, a director, a master teacher, and an entrepreneur. From a career as a professional Broadway dancer (AEA) to an Associate Dance Professor, a collegiate audition coach/master teacher, and an administrative consultant at various arts organizations. She holds a dual BFA in musical theatre and dance from Shenandoah Conservatory, and an MFA in dance from the University of California, Irvine. She is a certified front-line fundraiser through The Veritus Group. Awards and publications include ethnographic research, producing and directing a film sponsored by the US Department of Justice, various awards for choreography including ACDA, and serving as an Al Smith Fellow for the Kentucky Arts Council.
JENNA MAGRATH
Research Lead
Jenna Magrath (she/her) is a dance researcher, artist, and educator. She holds a BA in Dance and a BKin (Hons) in Kinesiology from the University of Calgary. In addition to working with DDP, Jenna researches dance for health promotion amongst various populations and socio-cultural perspectives on dance-related pain and injury. Her research has received awards from the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science and Healthy Dancer Canada. Jenna is also a company member with METHOD Dance Society; an organization that brings contemporary dance to Northern British Columbia, Canada. Jenna is passionate about advocating for and creating safe and equitable dancing spaces.
JUNYLA SILMON
Senior Research Consultant and Team Training Lead
Junyla Silmon, a native of Canton, MS, is a 2022 summa cum laude graduate from Montclair State University, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance performance and a minor in business administration. As a performing artist, she has worked with Susan Marshall, Roderick George, Yusha-Marie Sorzano, and Kayla Farrish, among others. In 2023, Junyla checked in as the newest resident of Sleep No More at the McKittrick Hotel. She is also a company member of Company SBB//Stefanie Batten Bland. As a choreographer, her work, “[EK]+[OH],” was presented at the 2022 Upsurge Dance Festival.
Junyla began as a research intern with Dance Data Project in the summer of 2021 and has received three promotions since then: Research Consultant (April 2022), Senior Research Consultant (May 2022), and Senior Research Consultant and Team Training Lead (January 2024).
JASON SMITH
Technology and Digital Lead
Jason has over ten years of project management, design, and software development experience, overseeing digital and design project for small start ups. He arrived at his current position through a circuitous route through studying literature, working in publishing, literary magazines, and other such ventures.
Jason and his team are behind the graphic design of the DDP website, reports, advertisements, and more. He joined the DDP team in 2018 and resides in Chicago.
Kelly Love, LBL Financial
Bookkeeping/Accounting
Kelly Love, is a strategic advisor whose love goes beyond just crunching numbers. Passionate about businesses and entrepreneurship, a visionary who thrives on giving each of her clients peace of mind knowing she is there to assist in their financial success. As a licensed CPA with more than 18 years of accounting experience, Kelly has extensive experience as an accountant and auditor, and is currently in private practice. She focuses on applying her technical experience as an engineer to take an analytical, structured approach to applied financial principles and problem solving. Kelly has worked in public accounting with for-profit and nonprofit clients as well as in corporate accounting for private industry before starting her own firm in 2005.
Research Consultants
MAYA CANESTARO
Senior Research Consultant
Maya Canestaro is a born and raised Texan. She graduated with honors from the University of Chicago, earning a degree in Public Policy with a double minor in Philosophy and Human Rights. For the past two years, she’s danced with Kansas City Ballet’s second company and for this upcoming season, she will be dancing with Madison Ballet as an Apprentice. Outside of ballet and research, Maya loves to read and be in nature. Maya is passionate about advocating for dancers and progressing equity within the dance world.
AANIKA KHANSAHEB
Researcher / Website Editor
Aanika Khansaheb is born and raised in Charlotte, NC. She is currently studying at North Carolina State University with a major in Business Administration IT and Data Science and a minor in International Studies. She is also part of the Business Analytics Honors Program. Aanika has been a dancer since she was four years old, specializing in Bollywood Dance and Competitive Ballroom. She is passionate about combining her love of dance with philanthropic efforts. Aanika is currently the Co-president for RaleighTHON, which raises money for the kids at the Duke Children’s Hospital through a year long fundraiser. Outside of school and dance, she loves traveling, cooking, and trying new foods. Aanika is a big advocate for bringing awareness to gender inequality in male-dominated industries, specifically the art industry and STEM related fields.
Manjistha Lakhotia
Research Consultant
Manjistha (they/them) loves physics, math, and dance, and the intersection of all three. Graduating with a B.A. in physics and minor in dance from Barnard College, their goal for their career is to explore how the gap between physics/math and dance can be bridged; to expose the art within physics and math and the mathematics within dance. Along with having worked as a data analysis assistant with two separate research teams at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory to investigate geological and meteorological phenomenon, they have worked with STEM through Dance’s Girls Rise Up program as a STEM instructor and currently work as the Content Manager for The Dance Union Project.
Olivia Frangos
Research Consultant
Olivia Frangos can be recognized for her interdisciplinary expertise across the realms of kinesiology, dance, and academia. A native Rhode Islander, Olivia began her training as a scholarship student at Ballet RI and later on, as a performing member of their Junior Company. Olivia graduated from Eastern Washington University with a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training and gained her Board Certification. Post-graduation, Olivia cultivated her love of teaching as a faculty instructor with Emerald Ballet Academy in Washington, additionally serving as their onsite rehabilitation specialist. Her training further continued as a student in the Independent Study Program and an accepted Scholarship Student at The Ailey School, followed by exploration of contemporary release techniques with B.J. Sullivan in North Carolina. Eager to understand movement further, Olivia earned a Master of Science degree in Motor Behavior and Applied Neuromechanics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where her research focused on biomechanics & perceptions of female athletes and community dissemination.
Today Olivia lives as a movement scientist, continuing to actively practice as a clinical Athletic Trainer, freelance dancer, and independent researcher.
Sophia Ohrenstein
Research Consultant
Sophia, originally from Missouri, is now a High School student in New York. She grew up dancing and is captain of her school dance team, where she gets to exhibit her love of choreographing. Sophia is interested in applied math and using her love of math to improve the world. She is also passionate about ways to grow female leadership and is an intern at an accelerator which supports women led startups in desert tech. In her free time, Sophia tutors peer students, participates in Girls Who Code, and loves to bake. She was recently promoted from an intern at Dance Data Project.
Special Projects
Clara Auguste Mohagen
Special Projects Consultant
Clara Auguste Mohagen is a Los Angeles-based choreographer, educator, performance artist, and data enthusiast. She creates works that are reflective of an ongoing conversation between the cosmic and the corporeal, between the present and intimate worlds of today, whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual and lands distant in terms of both space and memory. Born in Haiti and raised in Miami, Florida, Clara began dancing through Armour Dance Theater’s outreach program in Little Haiti and continued her studies through the support and training of many dedicated and talented teachers. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Choreographic Inquiry from UCLA and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from City University of New York, Hunter College. In 2016, Clara established Aeternus Dance Company and has since shared works with audiences both nationally and internationally including Fringe Arts Bath in the United Kingdom, Barnstorm Dance Fest in Houston Texas, at Hunter College’s Kaye Playhouse, Triskelion Arts/WaxWorks, Judson Church, Green Space, BAAD Bronx, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Human Resources Los Angeles, and within UCLA’s World Arts & Cultures/Dance Department showings.
Clara also holds several certificates as a Salesforce professional including the Salesforce Certified Administrator and the Service Cloud Consultant certificates. She is excited about the intersections that are steadily emerging between dance, emerging technologies, and data.
Communications Team
BAILEY WALKER
Archivist & Subscriptions Editor
Bailey Walker (she/her) is an artist, choreographer, and educator based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Dance Education and Spanish from Southern Utah University. She is an accomplished teacher and choreographer whose work and teaching philosophies center around contemplating, understanding, and expanding the human experience through dance. Her work has been featured at the Red Rock Dance Festival and the American Collegiate Dance Association Conference. Bailey is a company member with Contemporary Dance Wyoming and is a faculty member and Junior Repertory Company Assistant Director at The School at Dancers’ Workshop in Jackson, WY.
Bailey began work with DDP in early 2021 as an intern and has had the immense privilege of witnessing the positive impact and change that DDP’s mission and research have influenced and continue to create.
Katherine Montgomery
Senior Social Media Coordinator
Katherine (she/her), originally from Norfolk, VA, holds a B.A. in Arts & Entertainment Management and a minor in English from Dean College in Franklin, MA. She also has almost two decades of classical ballet training, including 3 years at The Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk and professional performance experience with Virginia Ballet Theatre and Todd Rosenlieb Dance. Katherine works full-time as a Senior Digital Marketing Analyst for Capacity Interactive, a digital arts marketing consultancy (who has even featured DDP in a recent CI To Eye podcast episode!). She recently moved to New York City and is passionate about promoting safe and healthy training environments for young dancers.
Julianna Raimondo
Outreach Coordinator
Julianna is a DMV-based dancer, choreographer, educator, and administrator. She graduated from James Madison University (’20) magna cum laude, receiving her B.A. in Dance with a minor in theater. Julianna currently dances with DC-based contemporary/modern companies including GRIDLOCK Dance and UpRooted Dance. Most recently, she presented choreography and performed at the 2024 Women Arts Exchange (WAX) Festival in Jacksonville, FL. She has worked in communications since 2020, including roles at Dance Metro DC and Dance Place. Julianna is delighted to be a part of the DDP team and is always reaching for opportunities to connect and share art, whether that be through administration, performance, education, or creation.
Heather Hunt-Lacombe
Newsletter Editor
Heather Hunt-Lacombe (she/her) is a dancer and educator based in New York City. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from The University of Alabama with a B.A. in Dance and a second major in General Business. Heather found her love for administration in the arts when she served as Vice-President with Dance Alabama!, a student-led organization that brought dance to the state of Alabama. She currently works as a fitness instructor with DanceBody and as a preschool dance teacher with Manhattan Schoolhouse. Heather is passionate about advocating for equity in many areas of the dance world and is excited to begin working with DDP!
Interns
SEHAJ GILL
Intern
Sehaj is a high school student from Michigan and has been with DDP since January 2022. She believes that gender disparity in organizational leadership can be alleviated with methodical data analyses. She has earned a MicroBachelors in Computer Science from NYU and certifications in Python programming from Harvard and Generative AI from Google. Sehaj loves playing piano and tennis. She is the flute section leader and the first chair for her high school marching and symphony bands, respectively. She has founded a club at her school to enable her peers to perform objective and impactful research. She also runs a research-focused video podcast.
Angela Yuan
Research Intern
Angela Yuan is a current high school student at Noble and Greenough School located in Massachusetts. She has trained in classical ballet for over 9 years and began competing at 11 years old. Angela discovered the Dance Data Project during her research project analyzing the local networks of ballet masters. She is excited to contribute to DDP’s mission for gender equity in the dance industry and learn from the amazing mentors within the team. She hopes that this opportunity will help her in the future to spread research for the greater good.
Administration
STEPHANIE WILKINS
Hiring Coordinator and Office Administrator
Stephanie Wilkins has been working as an Administrator/Executive Assistant for over 15 years in the philanthropic and business sector. Stephanie operates & manages a 30,000 sq ft executive office suite facility in Northfield where she first met and heard Liza’s ideas about promoting gender equity in the dance industry & she decided she wanted to jump on board and help Liza with the administrative part of turning Dance Data Project into a 501c3. Stephanie rejoined DDP in September of 2022 and is looking forward to help raise awareness related to gender equality, primarily in areas of leadership and choreographic opportunities. She resides in Northbrook with her 8 year old daughter and dog Bohdi.
Volunteers
Nancy Dobbs Owen
Volunteer
Nancy Dobbs Owen, MFA (Choreographer/Director, Dancer, Dance Educator, Writer) began her professional career with the Joffrey Ballet and danced with numerous ballet and modern companies. National Tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. Television and film work: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, American Princess, VEEP, Ratched, Deadwood, and Music. LA Stage Highlights: John Adams’ Nixon in China with the LA Philharmonic, the Production Company’s award-winning Sweeney Todd, and The Bridge Club at Deaf West Theatre.
Award Winning Stage Direction and Choreography credits include Skeleton Stories, Have You Seen Alice, and Welcome to the White Room at Theatre of NOTE, Assassins with Sight Unseen Theatre, M. Butterfly, Sweeney Todd, Working, and Enron, at the Production Company, The Snow Queen at the Fremont Centre Theatre, Where’s Charley for 42nd St. Moon, War Bride at Sky Pilot Theater, I’d Rather Be Right at the Hudson Theater, Dolls! at the Santa Monica Playhouse and Pacific Opera Project’s The Mikado. She was the resident choreographer for the Marina Del Rey Symphony’s Summer Dance Concert, creating four original ballets. She has received award recognition from the Ovations, Stage Scene LA, and BroadwayWorld.com
Film, TV, and Film Choreography highlights include the feature Hollywood Fringe, the viral sensation Lullaby, a Zombie Musical, Too Many Bodies, and Floating, Falling, Flying; A Dance Film. Her work has been seen at over 40 film festivals with numerous choreography and directing honors.
She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Dance at Southern Utah University. She is a staff writer for LA Dance Chronicle and serves on committees with Corps De Ballet International and Women in Dance.
2011 Directors Lab West
Arts Management Certificate: UC Irvine
