The Venue: “Space”

In 2022, Making Space Dance Festival took place at Holy Family Community Center located in North Downtown Omaha, NE. The building, a Nebraska Historical Site originally built in 1883, functioned as a church for almost 140 years with a school on the first floor and a sanctuary on the second floor. In 2020, the building came under the care of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Omaha and no longer operates as a church. The first floor is now home to the services provided by SVdP for individuals in the area, including a free sack lunch program and access to free clothing and basic personal care items. Still retaining its original architectural beauty, the chapel on the 2nd floor now functions as a community space activated through performances, concerts, partner events, and art! 

Aaron Derell | Omaha, NE

he/his | @aaronderellgrooves

Native of Omaha, NE, Aaron Derell began dancing at 16. After attending Morehouse College, he went on to earn his Masters in Dance Education from NYU. Aaron has taught styles of Hip Hop internationally for programs like the Alvin Ailey Arts in Education Program, 92nd Street Y, and the Global Dance Hub. In 2018, He started his own business, Love to Groove Movement School, LLC, where he offers classes and workshops, fitness classes, and more! Aaron’s desire and purpose is to Love people through Dance!

Haley Kostas | Kansas City, MO

(she/hers) | @_haleykostas

Haley Kostas, American Choreographer, Dance Artist and Educator based in Kansas City, Missouri. An artist who creates site-specific movements with psychological and social intent, Kostas attended the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) Conservatory of Music and Dance along with training abroad at The London Contemporary Dance School. Haley’s choreographic works have been presented and commissioned by Kansas City Ballet-New Moves, UMKC Dance Conservatory, University of Kansas, Charlotte Street Foundation, Making Moves, Creative Intersections x Owen/Cox Dance Group and Mashup Dance Company. Kostas just launched KOSTAS Contemporary, a multidisciplinary movement company for radically open artists.

A recipient of a two year residency at Charlotte Street Foundation’s 2021 Studio Residency program, Kostas is also a past winner of a Rocket Grant for RubiX, a collaborative performance outlet merging music, movement and visual arts, which landed a 2019 residency at 21c Museum Hotel in Kansas City. 

Kostas has worked alongside internationally recognized choreographers to create new works and large-scale productions, such as live performances for The Juilliard School and the TV series SYTYCD. Professionally, she has danced in works by a diverse range of choreographers and companies including Aszure Barton, Peter Chu, Justin Giles, Marguerite Derricks (Nip/Tuck), Jaci Royal (Royal Flux), Andrew Winghart, and Odyssey Dance Theater. She has also collaborated with musical artists such as Quiet Takes, Katy Perry, Capital Cities, Flight of the Conchords and Britney Spears.

Christal Wagner  | Milwaukee, Wisconsin

(she/hers)

Christal is an Alumna of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee dance department (BFA) where she is also adjunct faculty. She is a screendance artist and has produced work as a cinematographer, performer, editor and director for Joe Goode, Josh Halverson, Maria Gillespie, Danceworks Inc, Milwaukee Dance Theatre Network, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, UWM Dance, The Saint Kate Arts Hotel, The Cactus Club, and Li Chiao-Ping Dance where she was a 2020 SEED Creation Fund grant recipient. Christal is the artistic director of Danceworks Performance MKE and has danced for Your Mother Dances, Gina Laurenzi Dance Project, Dawn Springer Dance Projects, Skylight Music Theatre and spent 14 years as a company member with DPMKE. Christal is a cofounder of the music and dance trio Cadance Collective, co-creating pieces through processes where music and dance are worked on simultaneously through improvisational practices and original soundscapes. In 2020 Christal Wagner became the Saint Kate Art Hotel’s FIRST artist in co-residence. She is the recipient of 8 Wisconsin Jerry Awards for her work in musical theatre and has choreographed over 20 musicals in the city of Milwaukee. Christal’s mission is to support and elevate the voices of her community, collaborators, and fellow artists.

Dieu-Thao Duong | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

(she/hers) @uthaopia

Dieu-Thao is a Vietnamese interdisciplinary artist. She graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance, a Bachelor of Journalism in Public Relations and Advertising, and a minor in Psychology.

She’s currently a full-time interdisciplinary freelancer for her personal brand in Dance and Marketing. During her six years living in the U.S., she was selected to dance in pieces and shows by Rennie Harris, Bill T. Jones, Michael Sakamoto, Jenna Riegel, Melissa Templeton, Brendan Fernandes, etc. She was a company dancer of Vōx Dance Co. by Vivian Kim from 2021 to 2022.

Her latest choreographic works include “MOON 14”, her first original dance performance and event, and “my body is a system of memories”, a solo in 2021 that was selected to perform at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Kelsey Oliver | Austin, Texas

she/hers | @kelsey___oliver 

KO’s never-left-Austin-long-term background went from competition kid to drill team baby to experimental academic…currently resonating as a physical theatre enthusiast, improvisor, and momentumous floorwork practitioner. She’s a choreographer, performer, and costume artist, and she loves making funky art in whatever medium she can get her hands on. Routinely in scrappy, maximalist, humor-struck collaborations, Kelsey has worked with Frank Wo/Men Collective, Rude Mechanicals, Salvage Vanguard Theatre, PerformaDance, Magdalena Jarkowiec, Heloise Gold, Thee Gay Agenda, Body Shift, + more. Her costume concoctions and stylings have landed in work by UT’s Fall For Dance, Frank Wo/Men Collective, Erica Saucedo, Heloise Gold, The Reverie, and many solo & duet works. Kelsey received a B.F.A. in Dance in 2015, studying at the University of Texas at Austin and short-term Le Centre National de Danse Contemporaine in Angers, France. She has also been an adjudicator, choreographer, and dance instructor for studios and teams throughout Texas. She likes durational stuff, absurdist stuff, devised stuff, funny stuff, and stuff that gets soakingly athletic. She also loves her queer family with 5 fur floof children.