Meet the Artists
Choreographer
Hannah Haines is a dancer, choreographer and educator based in Southern Maine. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Anthropology, and Dance with a concentration in performance and choreography from Skidmore College. While at Skidmore Hannah had the opportunity to perform works by Skidmore faculty as well as repertory by Earl Mosley, Ohad Naharin, Paul Taylor, Danny Grossman, and Isadora Duncan. She has studied as an Apprentice with Lori Belilove and the Isadora Duncan Dance Company, and performed with Ballet Bloom Project under the direction of Rose Hutchens, and Stonework Productions under the direction of Holly Stone. Hannah has presented her own choreography in film and live performances at Engine Gallery, The Frances Tang Teaching Museum, and the American Dance Festival's Movies by Movers film festival. She was selected to participate in the panel “How to be an Ethically Engaged Anthropologist: Activism and Advocacy through Partnership and Collaboration” at the Northeast Anthropological Association Conference 2019, and to present at NYU’s 2020 Mapping Cultures conference for her theoretical research investigating using dance film as an ethnographic method.
Dance Artist
Jacqui DeFrança is a Maine based dance artist originally from Massachusetts. She is a graduate from Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles where she received a B.A. in Dance. She has had the pleasure of performing at venues such as: Ailey Citigroup Theater, St. Mark's Church, Joe's Pub, Milk Studios, Dixon Place, Lightbox, Engine and SPACE Gallery. Jacqui has also danced at various showcases including: ACDF, Western Arts Alliance Annual Conference, Reverb Dance Festival, APAP, and CFDA/Vogue presentation. As well as stage, she has experience with TV and Film, dancing in Video Music Awards performance with Rihanna, Oh Land's music video Renaissance Girls and acting and dancing in the short films Out of Zinc and Big Breakin'. Learning under artistic director Mike Esperanza, Jacqui was a member of Bare Dance Company from 2008-2015. She also has worked with New York City based, Flying Under The Radar (FUTR) with artistic director Marlon Taylor-Wiles since 2014. Alongside performing, Jacqui enjoys choreographing and has had the delight in creating movement for Illesteva’s fashion week presentation 2014, KOPPS’s music video Hott in 2018, The Bones of J.R.Jones' Stay Wild in 2020 and continuous solo work projects. While dancing in Maine, Jacqui has had the honor of working with Subcircle, Michael Figueroa, Scott McPheeters, Lizzy Mulkey, Kelsie Steil and Hannah Haines. She has been performing and training with contemporary ballet company Ballet Bloom with artistic director Rose Hutchins since 2020. Jacqui also curated and performed in En Route, a two month curbside performance series at Engine in 2021 and co-curated the series second show in 2022. She is currently involved in project based work both in film and live performance.
Dance Artist
KELSIE STEIL is a Maine-based choreographer, dancer, Pilates instructor, and outdoorswoman. In May 2018, Kelsie graduated from Plymouth State University with a Bachelors Degree in Adventure Education and a Minor in Dance in May 2018. There she received the 2018 Contemporary Dance Ensemble award for her achievements in choreography. One of her most prized works is a duet danced between herself and dancer Maxwell Auger called IMMORTAL!. Its most recent showing was in FAB15 in February 2020 and is funded in part by New England Foundation for the Arts’ New England Dance Fund, with generous support from the Aliad Fund at the Boston Foundation. Kelsie and Maxwell have developed a creative partnership beyond the duet: the two have expanded into film, their latest work being MR. MIND, a year in the making dance film featuring Maine dance artists. In 2022 the film had two showings at New-England galleries. Kelsie regularly sets work on youth dance companies; in November 2019 she presented her piece Cast in Maine Moves IV which had cast Portland Youth Dance. Kelsie has had the joy of living, dancing, and teaching locally and internationally. One of her major projects was a three-part film made in Lithuania, which can be viewed on her website. Currently, Kelsie dances for Ballet Bloom Project, a project-based contemporary ballet company in Portland, ME, directed by Rose Hutchins. When she's not dancing or dance making, you can find Kelsie instructing pilates, camping, or spending time with her husband and two cats.
Liz Mulkey
Dance Artist
Liz(zy) Mulkey is a movement artist, actress, collaborator, and teacher. Her work investigates mental/emotional/physical reaction to the varied terrain of roles and identities. She presents her original choreography as live performance, film, and photography. Her work has been performed and screened nationally in classic and atypical venues:art galleries, community art-walks, pop-up shows, beaches, parks, shopping centers and theaters. LizMulkey.com
Maxwell Auger
Film Artist
Max Auger picked up a camera for the first time while taking a darkroom class his senior year of high school and quickly fell in love with the time spent developing images that people have yet to see. Beyond the darkroom, he slowly began playing visual games through the lens; looking for new perspectives, expressions, and eventually, stories to tell.
After graduating high school, he put down the camera for a while and spent time in Boston and the surrounding New England area as a professional dancer. He has since found his way back to the lens and back to Boston. His interest continues to lie in documenting and telling stories with photography and increasingly in film.