Wayne Hazzard
Artist Administrator AKA executive directorWayne is a native Californian and as a co-founder is proud to continue his work with the Bay Area dance community as the executive director of Dancers’ Group. Hazzard is a leader in the service field who is known for his work with fiscal sponsorship and on new program development; and he was acknowledged as a 2015 Gerbode Professional Development Fellow. Before his manifold career in arts management, Hazzard had a distinguished 20-year career performing with many notable choreographers and companies including the Joe Goode Performance Group, Margaret Jenkins Dance Co, Ed Mock & Co, June Watanabe, Emily Keeler, Aaron Osborne and more. Coinciding with his life as a dancer, Hazzard has and continues to work as an advocate for dance. For his unique artistic vision, Hazzard has received numerous awards, including an Isadora Duncan Award for his innovation, dedication, and contribution to the field of dance. And a Sangam Arts 2018 Mosaic America Impact Award. Hazzard has served as an advisor and panelist with such organizations as the Center for Cultural Innovation, DanceUSA, National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, San Francisco Arts Commission, City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs, and Dance Advance in Philadelphia.
Email:[email protected]
Julie Kanter
Institutional Fundraising ConsultantJulie Kanter has over 25 years of experience helping small and mid-sized arts organizations manage their institutional fundraising. An expert grant-writer, she works closely with her clients to develop compelling, comprehensive proposals for a wide range of regional and national funders and create long-term strategies for building and sustaining a diverse institutional fundraising base. Over the years, Julie’s list of long-term clients has included AfroSolo Theatre Company, Epiphany Dance Theater, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, Liss Fain Dance, Living Jazz, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, CubaCaribe and more. A member of ODC/Dance during the ‘80s and ‘90s, Julie now spends her time in the water instead of a dance studio but feels fortunate to maintain a close connection to the Bay Area dance community through her work as Dancers’ Group’s institutional fundraising consultant.
Kim Requesto
Artist Resource ManagerKim Requesto (she/they) is a Philippine born, Mission District raised cultural worker and Interdisciplinary Artist working in photography, film, and dance. Her practice is informed by her 20 years of Philippine folkloric and traditional dance training along with 9 years of field research experience with over 14 Indigenous communities in the Philippines. She has performed with Barangay Dance Company of San Francisco, Kababayan Dance Troupe, and Kularts. Currently, she is part of Parangal Dance Company as an Artistic Lead, Choreographer, and Field Researcher. In 2022, she founded Pangalay Circle, an organization dedicated to providing accessible and inclusive traditional Philippine dance workshops and connecting participants to cultural bearers both in the diaspora and in the Philippines while providing space to blend diasporic movement. She has been awarded grants from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Alliance of California for Traditional Arts, Dancer’s Group, and Balay Kreative. Additionally, she has received residencies with ODC and CounterPulse. Whether traditional, folkloric, or contemporary, she navigates her artistic practice with the hope of uplifting and fostering awareness for the different Indigenous communities in the Philippines and also empowering each other to find the importance and necessity in sharing our experiences, our voices, and the histories that we have created and inherited.
Email:[email protected]
Farah Yasmeen Shaikh
Program ManagerFarah is a Kathak dance artist, choreographer and instructor, and has had 30 years of being a part of the vibrant SF Bay Area dance community. Through her work as an artist and as Executive and Artistic Director of Noorani Dance, Farah has also developed and embraced her love for the breadth of the administrative aspects of the arts. Farah believes that empowering artists to source the support and resources to carry their artistic practice forward, is a fundamental component of valuing the immense work that goes into being an artist, and is committed to helping others to achieve this through community organizing and knowledge sharing.
Farah also hosts her own podcast Heartistry, is an Arts Commissioner for the San Mateo County Arts Commission, has served on numerous grant panels for the arts, and has written and received a variety of grants and awards for her artistic endeavors including the Individual Artist Fellowship as an Established Artist from California Arts Council, a Sustained Achievement Award from Isadora Duncan Dance Awards, the Gerbode Foundation Choreography Award, and the On Stage Laureate Award from SVCREATES.
Email:[email protected]
Erika Johnson
Administrative AssistantErika Johnson offers 15 years of experience in arts administration, strengthening and supporting non-profit organizations throughout the SF Bay Area. She has been a critical member of the development and patron management teams at ODC/Dance, San Francisco Dance Film Festival, Diablo Ballet, Post:ballet, and UC Berkeley’s Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies – leveraging her skills in proposal writing, board relations, audience engagement, and dance education for underserved youth.
During her career at Houston Ballet, Erika was honored to work with Christopher Bruce, Paul Taylor, and Trey McIntyre before returning to her Bay Area roots to join Diablo Ballet where she performed original works by local dance-makers KT Nelson, Julia Adam, Val Caniparoli, and Robin Dekkers. Erika holds a B.A. from the LEAP Program for Arts Professionals at Saint Mary’s College. She is delighted to support Dancers’ Group in building accessibility and viability for Bay Area dance.
Email:[email protected]
Alana Melvin
Administrative AssistantAlana Melvin (they/she) is a classically trained violist, multi-disciplinary artist, and student of Balinese gamelan. As a violist, Alana has 13 years of solo and ensemble performing experience in Western classical music. Just in their second year at university, Alana won first place in the 2020-2021 Lawrence Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition with the York Bowen Viola Concerto. They have also given several solo recitals, performing works by Paul Hindemith, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Joan Tower. As a visual artist, Alana’s primary focus is working with charcoal and exploring topics of surrealism and dreamscapes, and how these can express her own experiences. Their series of charcoal drawings In Autumn explored their experience of losing a relative to Lewy Body Dementia and was exhibited in the Wriston Art Galleries in Appleton, WI in spring of 2024. After graduating from university, Alana relocated from the Midwest to the Bay Area to participate in Gamelan Sekar Jaya. Shortly after joining the group, they were granted the one-year position of On-Site Student Liaison in January of 2025, which included living and intensively studying with the visiting guest artistic directors from Semara Ratih, Dr. Anak Agung Anom Putra, S.S.T., Ayu Sukmawati, S.H., and I Ketut Cater, S.Sn.. She continues to perform and study in the Gong Kebyar, Jegog, and Gender Wayang ensembles of Sekar Jaya. Alana has made her way into the arts non-profit field of work as the Managing Assistant for Duniya Dance and Drum Company along with Dancers’ Group and loves to support art organizations through administrative work.
Email:[email protected]
Board Members
Mary Armentrout
Secretary; Artistic Director, Mary Armentrout Dance Theater
Leah Curran
Treasurer; Operations Coordinator at Can Do Education Foundation
And former Director of Operations at Oakland Ballet Company
Debby Kajiyama
Co-director, Navarrete x Kajiyama Dance Theater
Wayne Hazzard, ex officio
Vice President; Executive Director, Dancers’ Group
Advisory Board
Jose Maria Francos
Lighting Designer
Joanna Haigood
Artistic Director, ZACCHO Dance Theater
Keith Hennessy
Choreographer-performer-citizen, Circo Zero
Patricia Reedy
Founder and Director, LUNA Dance & Creativity
Judy Smith
Founder, AXIS Dance Company
Ian Winters
live media & video | installation | photography
