ARTISTIC TEAM & STAFF
Alyson Dolan
Artistic Director
Alyson Dolan has been recognized by The Austin Chronicle for her “stamina, concentration, and big jar of real that she brings to the potluck.” Her choreographic process is inspired by the people in the room, being especially intrigued by movers who have a strong sense of self and interest in collaboration.
Dolan is on faculty at Café Dance and St Edward’s University, and regularly creates dances with McCallum Fine Arts Academy. She has served on the faculty and/or been in residence at Texas A&M University, Texas State University, Northwest Vista College, St. Petersburg College, Booker Visual & Performing Arts High School, Bowie High School, as well as been an invited guest artist at Power for Parkinson’s, Austin Community College, Howard W. Blake High School for the Arts, New College of Florida, REVolutions Dance and several studios throughout the city and the greater Austin area. She has been a Teaching Artist with Forklift Danceworks, DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) Youth Dance Program, Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, Van Wezel Education Department, and the Early Learning Coalitions of both Manatee and Sarasota Counties.
Alyson often works with friend and colleague Leymis Bolaños-Wilmott and her company, Sarasota Contemporary Dance, where she has taught several times at their summer intensive for pre-professional and professional dancers as well as creates work for the company. She was their inaugural Resident Choreographer from 2012-2014 after serving as a company member and rehearsal director for four seasons. In 2024, Leymis , Alyson and composer Drew Silverman premiered an original evening-length work in Sarasota in collaboration with a strong visual design team.
Upon returning to Austin, Alyson went to work on a second evening-length piece in collaboration with her fellow KDH company members. Although bittersweet with it being the first show to not involve their fearless leader, Kathy Dunn Hamrick, SMOKE was a clear success for the group of five who were grateful to process the abrupt shifts in the company through their weekly practice together.
Alyson has been working with and learning from Kathy Dunn Hamrick from the moment she landed in Austin 12 years ago. With her now moving into the role of Artistic Director, this season is marked by dramatic change but also hope for what is to come, as well as immense gratitude and admiration for what has been created and shared with the Austin dance community (and beyond) over the last 25 years of KDHDC.
Drew Silverman
Executive Director / Resident Composer
Critically acclaimed composer, producer and interdisciplinary artist Drew Silverman creates music, sound design and visual productions, frequently presenting work with the dance community. Silverman is most inspired by how sounds and textures found in nature can merge sympathetically with sounds and textures made by machines, striving to retain the human elements in both.
The Austin Chronicle called Silverman's "Gorintō '' a "quintessential work which surpasseth all understanding with beauty". The project was also named on the Chronicle's 10 Favorite Arts Related Things of 2019. He also received a City of Austin grant to re-set Gorintō in Austin in 2024.
Silverman is extremely excited and honored to be a part of the next chapter of KDH Dance Company's history.
Natasha Small
Executive Director - Austin Dance Festival
Originally from Salisbury, North Carolina, Natasha Small graduated with a B.A. in Dance Studies from Appalachian State University. She currently serves as the Executive Director for the Austin Dance Festival, and is the Co-Director of ZATERO Dance, a modern dance company based in Austin, TX.
Since moving to Austin in 2015, Natasha has worked with multiple theatre and dance companies as a dancer, choreographer, and arts administrator. She also worked for the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin from 2015-2024. During her time at UT Austin, Natasha served as the Undergraduate Admissions Coordinator, Guest Artist Liaison, and Receptionist and Assistant to the Chair.
Stephen Pruitt
Technical Director
Stephen Pruitt, Resident Lighting Designer and Technical Director, has been working as a photographer, installation artist, designer, writer, director and performer for over thirty years, since abandoning a career in engineering which would have made him very rich by now.
Based in Austin since 1997, he is the resident production designer for Forklift Danceworks and Tapestry Dance Company a company member with the Rude Mechs and has designed for Salvage Vanguard Theater, A’lante Flamenco, Cirque Vida, Conspirare, and countless other theaters, dance companies, and events. Stephen has been the resident designer with KDH Dance for some large number of years and some large number of productions, each and every one of which has been the absolute best.
Anna Bauer
Communications Director - Austin Dance Festival
Anna Bauer is a choreographer and dancer living in Austin, Texas. Since graduating with her BFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University in 2021, she has danced for the Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company while maintaining a personal focus on choreography.
Events across Texas and beyond have been kind enough to include her pieces in their lineup: most recently Austin Dance Festival, Barnstorm Dance Festival, RAD Fest Midwest Dance Festival, Texas Dance Improvisation Festival, and various local concerts produced by Austin artists. She has also had the opportunity to complete choreographic residencies with WhirlWind Dance Company, Bellingham Repertory Dance, and Keshet Makers Space Experience.
Anna joined the Austin Dance Festival team as Communications Director in 2024, where she curates and manages the festival's social media. She also aids Executive Director Natasha Small in email communications and production envisioning.
Tanya Winters
Inclusive/Mixed Abilities Dance Program Lead
From choreographing music videos with my brothers and sisters and writing poetry in Big Bend to performing with theatre groups and dancing on trains, when life happens art has always come to my rescue. Dance is my true love. The place where I found my true self. I dance to advocate, to explore my own physicality, to face my fears, and to connect with people. My work is inspired by real life experiences and always comes from a place of authenticity and heart.
The social worker in me puts making positive social change at the foundation of all my choreography. I want to expand people’s idea of who can dance and confront the stigma around disability. As a woman living with Cerebral Palsy (CP), I am always running into situations where I must speak up for myself so there is always material to work with. When I use dance to convey my feelings and thoughts people are
more receptive to what I have to say. One of the first pieces I choreographed, “Time for Change” was set inside the Texas State Capitol. It was about preserving Medicaid benefits for people with disabilities. I had so many conversations with audience members after that performance and I could see the attitude change in their eyes. That kind of attitude change really fuels the fires of my creativity and began my love affair with site specific work.
As a member of Art Spark Texas Dance, I have had access to an array of established choreographers. This has made a big impact on the dances I create because it pushes me to trust my body, try new things, meet new people, and keeps my creativity sharp. Working with Nina Martin is a wonderful example. Her “Rewire Method” led to a research project that has really helped me and other dancers with CP. Creating pieces that highlight the importance of relationships with others means a great deal to me. Co-choreographing “Together and Apart” with fellow dancer Silva Laukkanen explores the connections between where a dance happens, and the choreographer is a great example of this. Silva and I have been dancing together for years but moving together in so many different locations has taught me that I am capable of supporting others regardless of my disability which has boosted my confidence not only as a choreographer but as a human being and that is a priceless gift.
Making art and finding dance has changed my life. I can’t imagine who I’d be without it.
Veronica DeWitt
Inclusive/Mixed Abilities Dance Program Lead
Veronica DeWitt was raised in two places: Sixes, OR with her mom and various cities in TX with her dad (mostly around Webberville, TX outside of Austin). V, as her friends call her, recently moved to San Marcos, TX. She holds a BA in Dance from the University of Oregon in 2003. Since graduating college she has become a professional dancer, choreographer, aerialist, and Master Teacher of DanceAbility.
She has had the privilege to work in the companies of Robin Stiehm (OR) , Alito Alessi (OR). Kathy Dunn Hamrick (TX), and Art Spark Texas (TX), and also has been a presenter at national conferences and festivals such as SXSW EDU, NDEO, Austin Dance Festival, and Texas Dance Improvisation Festival.
Currently, she teaches inclusive movement classes at Rosedale School in Austin, TX and is also teaching DanceAbility classes at Austin Community College in theSomatic Movement Education Department.
My professional career and the way I interact with the world has been tremendously changed by DanceAbility, a methodology of teaching improvisational dance by focusing on inclusion of all people. Having little to no relationship to the disability community in my personal life or at college, I have grown in so many ways from working in the mixed ability field both in my professional and personal life. Through my journey from becoming a Certified Teacher in DanceAbility and then a Certified Master Teacher, I have been teaching at the university level across the US, (workshop at University of South Florida, workshops at Texas State University, workshops and currently teaching at Austin Community College). Additionally, I have presented at US national dance education conferences such as NDEO (2017 and 2020) and SXSW (2022), and have been invited as a teacher and/or performer at several major dance festivals: Texas Dance Improv Festival, Austin Dance Festival.