Boston, Massachusetts

About the Boston Regional NACHMO Hub

The Boston NACHMO Hub was originally established in 2014 under leadership of Jessica Muse. Since then, the Boston Hub has grown from about 10 participants to over 40 choreographers participating each year! In addition to their annual showing, the NACHMO Boston facilitates a mentorship program that includes group, peer-to-peer, and one-on-one mentorship for local creatives. Boston area participants are also welcome to join one of three tracks: creation, performance, or dance on film.

Brenna Banister of Alive Dance Collective has been a leader of the Boston chapter since 2018. The following year, Nicole Harris and karen Krolak, co-Artistic Directors of Monkeyhouse, joined the leadership team. Monkeyhouse is the proud fiscal sponsor of the NACHMO Boston chapter, meaning donations to the Boston chapter are tax-deductible.

Contact: nachmoboston@gmail.com.

https://nachmoboston.weebly.com

2024 Showing Information

Date: Thursday March 28th, Friday March 29th, Saturday March 30th (times TBA).

Location: The Foundry (101 Rogers St, Cambridge, MA)

Cost: Tickets by donation.

Partners: Monkeyhouse is the fiscal sponsor of NACHMO Boston. Choreographers can also choose to submit film dance works to the Malden Dance Mile Festival.

Styles of Dance: Ballet, modern, Irish Step, Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, contemporary, and more.

Hub Leaders

Brenna Banister

Brenna Banister (she/her) is a dance administrator, choreographer, and performer living in Roxbury, MA. Brenna is the founder and Artistic Director of Alive Dance Collective. Her choreography has been presented in Massachusetts and beyond, including in NACHMO Boston, The Dance Complex's aMaSSiT Program, Jose Matteo’s Dance for World Community and The Southern Vermont Dance Festival. In 2018, Brenna became NACHMO Boston’s Regional Director. When not dancing, Brenna works as a preschool teacher, enjoys kayaking and hiking with her wife and dog, embroiders fun gifts, and tries to increase her American Sign Language skills.

Nicole Harris

Nicole Harris (she/her) is the co-Artistic Director for Monkeyhouse, an award winning non-profit dedicated to connecting communities to choreography. Her work is based in collaboration of all kinds. Her most frequent collaborator is her mentor, karen Krolak (choreographer, Monkeyhouse), as well as Caleb Howe (choreographer, Monkeyhouse), Laurie Sales (director, Groton School), Jason Ries (lighting designer, Monkeyhouse), and Brenna Banister (director, Alive Dance Collective). She is currently honored to be collaborating with The Dictionary of Negative Space on a series of projects including _____[10], which was recently granted a Live Arts Boston grant. Outside of Monkeyhouse, Nicole is the Resident Movement Director for the Dance and Theatre Department at the Groton School, Groton, MA.

Karen Krolack

karen Krolak (she/her - pronounced Care - wren Crow- lock) is a free range collaborator who lives with a rare health condition, a “distinctive” laugh, and an eccentric family of artists. Growing up as a middle child roaming the college campuses where her father taught, she relishes exchanging knowledge and connecting people to resources. She has been collaborating with Nicole Harris since 2000 and they are both co-Artistic Directors of Monkeyhouse, an award winning nonprofit that connects communities through choreography. karen is creator of the Dictionary of Negative Space, a co-producer of NACHMO Boston, co-director of aMaSSiT at The Dance Complex, co-curator of the Malden Dance Mile, a Humanities Advisor to The Black Arts Sanctuary, a Board member for the The Flavor Continues and Boston Dance Alliance, a Sustainability Advisor for Subcircle, Minister of Pom Poms and Big Ideas for the Clary and Cimermanis Little Free Library, director/costume designer for Eric John Meyer’s Assemblages, a dramaturg for Simon Montalvo, Jessica Roseman and Kimberleigh Holman and a freelance audio describer

NACHMO was a Boston Globe Critic's Pick for Theater and Dance 2013, 2014 and 2015

"Short for National Choreography Month, this informal showcase celebrates the lively creative spirit of the local dance scene with a variety of new works choreographed during the month of January. Participants include Intimations Dance, Impact Dance Company, Zoe Dance Company, and others." - Karen Campbell, Globe Correspondent. Read the full press release here.