Vashti​Dance Theater 

Our mission is to uplift, empower, inspire, and educate through dance and music performances, workshops, and events that blend the vernacular, traditional, and classical in an authentic contemporary perspective featuring live music and thought provoking choreography rooted in historical and socially relevant themes.  

Misaki Hayama was born and raised Tokyo in Japan. She graduated Saitama Prefecture's High School of Arts and attended Japan University College of Art Dancing Course. During her school career, she learned Modern, Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop and Traditional Japanese Dance. She won many dance competitions of modern dnaceincluding ninth place at the Kanagawa Prefecture Dance Arts Festival and went to the Philippines to join the Citizen Anniversary Competition then got first place in Hip-Hop. 

She has worked as a dancer in “the Lion King” and “A Chorus Line” in Japan. In

2015, she moved to New York and started training at Alvin Ailey School as a full scholarship student. She performed at Apollo Theatre also worked with Obediah Wright in musical “Night Songs” at New York Theater of Actors, She also worked with George William Faison in Gospel Festival as a guest dancer at Prudential Center. Recently she works with Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater, Kalamandir Dance Company, AATMA Performing Arts, Matthew Westerbery Dance Company and VashtiDance Theater.

Jessica Michal is a professional dance artist based in the New York/New Jersey area. She earned her BFA in Dance Performance from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts in May 2021. Jess has worked intimately with artists such as Pam Tanowitz, Abby Zbikowski, Jordan Demetrius, Lloyd Chien-Ying Wang, Ani Javian, John Evans, and Stephen O'Connell among others. Her current artistic processes and interdisciplinary work that has led her to fulfill roles as director, producer, choreographer, and performer in dance films, art festivals, immersive performances and more. Jess is thrilled to be performing this year in her inagural season with VashtiDance Theater!

Keivonte is from Nashville,TN & has been dancing for over 20years. He attended a performing arts middle school & high school. He went on to study at Western Kentucky University for performing arts administration  & has trained in various styles from ballet, modern ,jazz, musical theater, tap & African. He is now currently dancing with VashtiDance Theater & Muniz & Makers dance company based in New York & Bugge' dance company based in New Jersey. He continues to inspire children by not only dancing himself but also teaching the youth as a dance teacher for Harriman After School Program. Dance is something people must feel not just see as wonderful movement.

Maggie Golder is a dancer/choreographer based in Brooklyn, NY. She has performed in repertory by Pilobolus, Bebe Miller, Bill T. Jones, Vivake Kamsingsavath, Barbie Diewald,and Max Stone. Maggie has presented work at Ballet Inc. Emerging Choreographer Festival (2016), WAXworks(2018), SMUSH Moves (2019), 7MPR (2019), Peridance APEX (2019) and The Craft (2019). Through grounded rhythmic movement, Maggie expresses the physical and emotional effects of human interaction and communicates our constant need for inspection and wonderment. Her work is further influenced by her practice as a musician and psychologist. She is excited to have begun dancing with VashtiDance Theater in 2021.

Tsubasa  was born in Japan. He started his dance training with ballet, and later, he added modern and contemporary. He was awarded 1st place in the Chiba Select Young Dancer’s Performance, 3rd place in the Saitama Dance Competition, 3rd place in the Dance Competition in Sendai and 2nd place in the NBA National Ballet Competition. In 2017 he was accepted to The Ailey School and got scholarship in 2018. He has performed at “Ailey Sprit Gala” with Alvin Ailey’s “Battlefield” at Lincoln Center. He has worked with Fumihito Shimizu, NBA Dance Company, Omar Roman de Jesus, Darshan Bhuller and Marcus Jarrell Wills. Now he is member of i KADA contemporary Dance Company, VashtiDance Theater and Yu.S.Artistry.

Andriana was born in Ukraine and raised in New York City. She started her dance career as a ballroom dancer at eight years old and went on to study modern dance through her undergraduate career at Barnard College at Columbia. Since graduating from Barnard in 2016, Andriana has served as the Development Director for Trainor Dance, the Festival Coordinator for the 39th Annual Battery Dance Festival, and currently as the Associate Director for Welcome to Campfire.