Silva Dance Company

Leandro Silva (Alegria) was born in Bahia, Brazil. He began his Capoeira training at the age of ten years old with Mestre Jelon Vieira and has demonstrated and taught capoeira throughout Brazil, the United States and Europe.

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An accomplished, professionally trained dancer of various styles (Capoeira, Afro Brazilian, Modern, Ballet, Contemporary), Mr. Silva has toured the world for several years as a member of the highly acclaimed DanceBrazil dance company. Also Alegria has been part of several other international companies such as Brazarte Dance Company (Miami-FL), Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (Denver-CO), Orquestra Popular da Bahia (Brazil), and Ballethnic Dance Company (Atlanta-GA). He has also performed in important Dance events like, Capezio 125 years, Broadway & Beyond ( 2012-2014).

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For the past several years, Mr. Silva has been developing his own style of dance, where he mixes Capoeira with modern dance and Contemporary Dance. He has also participated as director and choreographer of National Black Arts Festival (Atl-GA), choreographer assistant of So You Think You Can Dance (Canada) and performed in the Houston Brazilian Festival (Hou-TX). Mr. Silva has been an artist in residence for Philadanco Dance Company.

Founder & Artistic Director

Janete Silva is a Dancer, choreographer, Performer and educator from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. She has studied dance since childhood and her professional training includes Afro-Brazilian Traditional dances, Ballet, Modern, Capoeira (a Brazilian Martial Art), Silva Technique (Fuzion of Capoeira and Dance) and Silvestre Technique.

Janete has performed with many acclaimed local and international Companies, including Bale Folclórico da Bahia (Brazil), DanceBrazil (New York), Bahia Brazil (Los Angeles), Orquestra Popular da Bahia (Brazil), Freddiek Bratcher and Company (Miami), Brazil Skindo Company (Miami), Viver Brazil Dance Company (L.A), and Ballethnic Dance Company(ATL). Janete has also appeared as a dancer on Ivete Sangalo’s DVDs MTV ao Vivo and Maracana. She participated in the Lowell Folk Festival (Lowell), National Black Arts Festival (Georgia), the Brazilian Independence Day Celebration, Target’s Super Sabado! at El Museo del Barrio, and the Houston Brazilian Festival.

In addition to her extensive training, Janete teaches workshops throughout the United States and internationally and has recently performed in Musical Explorers 2014 at Carnegie Hall NYC.

Co-Founder of SDC

From Chiba, Japan. Nao began Ballet training at the age of 10 with the ambition of becoming a well-rounded dancer. She moved to NYC in 2000 and attended the Alvin Ailey School. As an international performer, Nao has worked with numerous television, film, and magazine productions.

She is currently working with a variety of dance companies including Michael Mao Dance (Modern), Grupo Ribeiro (Brazilian), Kotchegna Dance (West African), Harambee Dance Company (Black Dance). Certified  ABT's National Training Curriculum Pre-primary-Level 3,  and the she had 200 hours yoga instructor training. 

Dancer

Constance is originally from Paris, France where she primarily trained in classical ballet for 12 years. She has had the opportunity to perform as part of the Opera National de Paris ballets and an original creation Le Songe de Medee, choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj. She went on to train in jazz and modern techniques at the Institut de Formation Professionnelle Rick Odums in Paris (2011-2012) and was part of the Modern Dance Ensemble. In 2012 she came to NYC, training at Alvin Ailey’s Independent program then in the ISVP at Steps on Broadway, where she also assisted Kathryn Mowat Murphy in theater jazz for the School at Steps (2014).
 

Constance is a current member of Awaken Dance Theater, JKing Dance Company, Edgar Cortes Dance Theater and Labyrinth Dance Theater.

Dancer

Born in Hillsborough New Jersey, Solana began dancing at the Mill Ballet School where she studied ballet intensively. Before graduating from the University of the Arts, as a dance major and religion and philosophy minor, she had the opportunity to restage and set new works with various choreographers, such as Sidra Bell, Douglas Becker, Doug Varone and dancers, Katie Swords-Thurman, Curt Hawarth, Brian Sanders, Jeffrey Page, No Face performance group, Chelsea & Magda and Jillian Pena.

Solana has also had the opportunity to work with Ismael Ivo and his project Biblioteca do Corpo in 2016 which took place in Zurich, Switzerland and Vienna, Austria. In addition to dance she has studied capoeira with Mestre Doutor in Philadelphia at ASCAB Capoeira. Currently residing in New York City, Solana works with the Silva Dance Company and Movement of the People Dance Company.

Dancer

Lindsey was raised in South Orange, NJ where she started her formal dance training at Sharon Miller Dance Academy and continued to Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.  At Mason Gross she had the pleasure to perform works by Randy James, Paul C. Ocompo, and multiple student works. She has been part of the Freespace Dance Intensive at Montclair State University and this summer finished a mentorship program in New York with the J CHEN PROJECT.

Lindsey hopes to continue dancing professionally and pursue her passion. She is excited to be dancing in her second season with the Silva Dance Company and wants to thank the talented company members for making her experience so enjoyable. She'd also like to thank her friends and family for their endless support and love!

Dancer

Mariana Spósito is a current resident of Brooklyn, New York and an alum from the University of Texas at Austin where she received her BFA in dance in May 2016. Throughout their program, she performed as a member of the Dance Repertory Theatre in their shows Fall for Dance, MOVE!, and Bodies and Souls. Mariana has also trained through the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and METdance Houston from artists such as Alex Ketley, Summer Rhatigan, Allesio Silvestrin, and many others.

In addition to performing, she has choreographed a number of her own works and enjoys teaching dance for all ages and walks of life. Since living in New York, she has recently performed the work, I Feel the Earth Move, choreographed by Lucy Kerr at the IDIO Gallery as a part of the Bushwick Open Studios.
 

This is Mariana's second season dancing with Silva Dance Company. She is honored to be a part of this company’s work and dance alongside such genuine artists. 

Dancer

Samantha hails from Emmaus, PA and made New York her home in 2015. She graduated from Columbia University in 2018 majoring in Architecture and currently works as a designer with GRO Architects and as an entrepreneur with Jianbing Company founded by Reuben Shorser and Tadesh Inagaki. She began her training at Repertory Dance Theater under the direction of Jennifer Haltzman and Joffrey Ballet's beloved Trinette Singleton. Samantha was offered a spot in the professional training program with American Repertory Ballet and performed various works with the company from 2012-2014.

Recently she began studying Capoeira under Alegria Silva and was welcomed into Silva Dance Company for the 2019 season. She is thrilled to reconnect with dance and looks forward to synthesizing her diverse interests into a creative career.  

Dancer

Miriam King shares her passion for dance as a performer, instructor, collaborator and researcher. Growing up in Wooster, Ohio, she developed her love and dedication to dance through Ballet. Miriam later attended Hampshire College where she designed her own major studying both Neuroscience and Dance. During this time, Miriam developed her work in interdisciplinary collaboration, honing her performance and technical skills in a variety of dance styles, as well as her passion for research into movement as an intervention for people with Neurodegenerative disorders.

Miriam's undergraduate work at Hampshire College, and her role as a contributor in the organization Artists and Scientists as Partners (ASaP) at Brown University, guided her to design and teach dance classes for people with Dementia, Huntington's and Parkinson's disease. After completing her studies in 2015, Miriam founded her own Dance for Parkinson's program, performed as a lead dancer/actor with cabaret theater, Shadowbox Live, and began a strong research collaboration with The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. 

Miriam currently lives and works in NYC as an instructor and teaching assistant with The Mark Morris, Dance for PD® company at The Juilliard School, continues to conduct research with The Ohio State University, and recently joined the Parkinson's Foundation Research Team in their New York City office. Miriam is thrilled and honored to be a part of the dynamic and community minded Silva Dance Company, and continue to learn, refine and share her skills as a dancer under the expertise of Silva Dance.

Dancer