Our artists

The choreographers, performers and educators who create, perform and teach with Open Dance Project.

Leadership

Artistic director

Executive Artistic Director

Annie Arnoult is the founding artistic director of Open Dance Project (www.opendanceproject.org) where she directs the company’s professional performance season and oversees the company’s extensive dance education work in partnership with Young Audiences Houston and Arts Connect Houston. Arnoult returned to her native Houston from Chicago, where she was the founding artistic director of Striding Lion Performance Group (stridinglion.org) and a faculty member of the Dance Program at Northwestern University. She is the director of Hunter Dance Center (hunterdancecenter.com) and served as an adjunct faculty member at The School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Houston. She was named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch for 2018 and was a recipient of a Houston Arts Alliance Individual Artist Grant for 2017. Her work in Houston has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Performance Network Creation Fund, Houston Arts Alliance, Brown Foundation, Cullen Foundation, and Texas Commission on the Arts.

Arnoult’s signature collision of dance and theater has been heralded by Texas Monthly, The Houston Chronicle, Arts+CultureTX, Dance Magazine, Time Out Chicago, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Reader, New City, The Village Voice, ABC7 and Chicago Public Radio. She has presented professional development workshops on her collaborative approach to interdisciplinary performance development in the classroom at Houston Arts Partners Conference, Houston ISD Houston Arts Access Initiative trainings, National Dance Education Organization conferences, the Illinois Migrant Education Association Conference, Chicago Public Schools Office of Arts Education training sessions, and many teacher and family workshops at local schools. She has an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University and a BA in Dance and Comparative Literary Studies from Northwestern University.

Company

Company artists

Sonia Engman is a professional choreographer, performer, educator, and certified personal trainer with an emphasis in modern dance, ballet, and street/club styles such as hip hop and house dance. Sonia received her BA in Contemporary Dance with a minor in Arts Management in 2016 from the University of New Mexico. She has also studied with many masters of dance at the American Dance Festival, the American College Dance Association, and the Joffrey Ballet in New York City. Having such a diverse background and training has allowed her to fill many different roles in her professional career.

Sonia’s career has consisted of an array of dance and dance theater productions like a multi-disciplinary/multimedia performance in the Alps of Austria with Lawine Torrén. She is currently in her fifth season as a company member of Open Dance Project, a dance theater company that specializes in immersive dance theater, her fourth season as a company member of Mezclada Dance Company, a company that blends contemporary dance and street styles with Latin dance, and a member of Assorted Flavas Crew, a street dance crew that has been based in Houston, Texas for 25 years. In 2024 She performed as a principle dancer with Bace Productions Motown Revue at The Miller Outdoor Theater.

Sonia has presented her own choreography through ACDA, the University of New Mexico, with Open Dance Project at Miller Outdoor Theater and at the Match Theater in Houston, Texas. Sonia views art and the education of art as a means of social change. She is passionate about teaching dance and feels that expression through movement is a necessity in life.

Atticus Griffin started dancing at age 18 in his hometown of Burleson, Texas. He continued his training at Texas State University, and later the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography. While in Austin he began working as a freelance dancer, performing with multiple dance companies such as Ballet Concerto, Chamacos Dance Company, Dance Theatre X, NobleMotion Dance, and other guest performances. His most notable appearance was in the inaugural cast of Ventana Ballet in Austin, Texas as the Nutcracker in The Watchmakers Song. He has been a rehearsal director and choreographer for Open Dance Project 2 for productions Wonka!, Peter and Wendy, and Alice, and was a featured choreographer for ODP's 2023 Shortcuts production. He recently completed the Countertechnique Teacher Training Program in Amsterdam, and received his Teaching Certificate. He is one of only two certified Countertechnique teachers in the state of Texas. This is his fifth season as an artist with Open Dance Project.

Sarah Lyman is an aerial artist and alumna of the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. She joined the Hunter Dance Center family in 2015, and now serves as Aerial Program Director. Sarah has previously appeared in Open Dance Project's immersive dance theater performances, including 'Bout a Stranger (2017) and Dada Gert (2018), as well as family audience productions of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Peter & Wendy during her time as an apprentice with the company from 2016-2018. She was a guest artist in ODP's ALICE (2024) and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2025). She is thrilled to be joining ODP as a company member for the 2025-26 season!

Madelyn Manlove is a San Antonio native who began her dance training at the age of three and trained with Collective Dance Artistry since its opening under the direction of Ashley Lopez. After high school, she attended The University of Texas at Austin where she received a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Kinesiology. While completing her undergrad, she studied with Charles O. Anderson, Erica Gionfriddo, Gesel Mason, Andrea Beckham, Tina Curren, among others. This is her fifth season with Open Dance Project and Hunter Dance Center. In addition, she is also an Advanced Lagree Fitness trainer and teaches at FORM Lagree.

Lindsey McGill was born in Houston, Texas. She began her formal dance training under Elizabeth and Rosemary Molak in California and continued training at the Houston Ballet Academy under the direction of Ben Stevenson, Clara Cravey, Steve Brule, and Priscilla Nathan-Murphy. After graduating from Houston Ballet Academy, she continued her training at Bates Dance Festival, Springboard Danse Montreal, and LAUNCH. Lindsey has worked with Group Acorde, Hope Stone Dance, NobleMotion, Michele Brangwen Dance and Music Ensemble, Chapman Dance, Rivkah French Choreography, NW Dance Project, iMEE, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, O Dance, The Next Stage Project, KDNY, Wanderlust Dance Project, and DCDC 2. She has also had opportunities to dance in projects with Jacquelyne Jay Boe, Jennifer Mabus, Sara Draper, Amy Morrow, jhon r. stronks, Paola Georgudis, Amy Ell, iLuminate, and Frenticore. With NW Dance Project, Lindsey danced original roles by Sarah Slipper, Patrick Delcroix, Lucas Crandall, Wen Wei Wang, Yin Yue, Ihsan Rustem, Felix Landerer, Jiri Pokorni, Cayteno Soto, Daneille Agami, Rachel Erdos, Kate Wallich, Gregory Dolbashian, Loni Landon, James Gregg, Tracey Durbin, Minh Tran, and Carla Mann among others. Lindsey has created dance works for NMD2, the Kinder High School for Performing and Visual Arts, NW Dance Project, iMEE, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Revolve Dance Company, O Dance, Freneticore, 12 Minutes Max, Frenetic Fringe Festival, and the Big Range Dance Festival. She has also taught ballet, contemporary dance, and MUNZ BARRE® at a number of schools and programs including Hunter Dance Center, Houston Ballet Academy, the Institute for Contemporary Dance in Houston, NW Dance Project, and Peridance NYC. Additionally, Lindsey has a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Houston and Level 2-Bournonville certification in MUNZ BARRE®. Lindsey looks forward to dancing with Open Dance Project in 2025.

Cara McManus, originally from Massachusetts, graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Ailey-Fordham BFA Program with degrees in Dance and Comparative Literature. She then joined Graham 2, where she earned the Pearl Lang Award for Excellence in Performance, and went on to dance with the Martha Graham Dance Company for five years. She also earned an MA in English Literature from the City College of New York, where she taught for six years as Adjunct Faculty in the English Department and received the college-wide President’s Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Service Award in 2026.

During a decade-long freelance career in New York City, she performed with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, CRDANCE, Tabula Rasa Dance Theater, Lydia Johnson Dance, and Mark Bankin Dance Company. She also choreographed and performed for the films “The White Wolf” and “The Iron Tonic” with director Sue de Beer. She has taught the Graham Technique at the Martha Graham Center, Peridance, the Ailey School, the Nimbus School, and at intensives across the Northeast.

Margo Smolik (she/her) is a Houston-based artist and forever-student who thrives in collaborative environments. She began dancing at age five in Katy, Texas and continued her training through college, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Houston. She has had the privilege of performing for 6 Degrees, Gabriela Estrada with Solero Flamenco, Mezclada and Rivkah French Choreography. She studied contemporary dance and dance for the camera in Paris, France in the Summer of 2024 under the direction of Kehinde Ishangi and most recently took a deep dive into Countertechnique at the One Body, One Career Intensive in Amsterdam, Netherlands, learning alongside dancers from over nineteen different countries. Margo is thrilled to continue working at the intersection of dancer, maker, and teacher in her second season with Open Dance Project!

Joseph Stevens, born in Corpus Christi, TX, graduated from the University of North Texas earning a Bachelor of Art degree in Dance, with a minor in Spanish and Communications. He has worked with numerous dance companies such as Open Dance Project, NobleMotion Dance Company, Houston Contemporary Dance Company, Heidi Duckler Dance Company, Black Label Movement, MetDance Company, B.B Moves Dance Company, among others. He serves as a dance educator for various studios and educational residencies with Open Dance Project (HTX) and Heidi Duckler Dance (LA).

Jaime Garcia Vergara is a dancer from Cali, Colombia. Jaime began his dance journey with a Colombian folkloric company in 2010 where he studied various dance styles such as Salsa, Paso Doble, and Rumba. From 2013-2015 Jaime became a member of FrenetiCore Dance Company where he began to receive his introduction to Ballet and Modern dance techniques. During this time Jaime was also able to work with many incredibly talented choreographers including Jane Weiner, Jennifer Salter, Rebecca French, Laura Harrell, Ashley Horn, and Annie Arnoult. While at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) Jaime had the opportunity to work with Erin Reck, Jennifer Mabus, Dionne Noble and Joshua Peugh amongst other great choreographers. Jaime has a BFA in Dance and a Pilates Certification, teaches Latin, Modern, and Aerial at Hunter Dance Center and is in his eighth season with Open Dance Project.

Growing with us

Apprentices and guest artists

Zuri Humphrey is a recent graduate of the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Humphrey has been dancing since the age of four and has studied most notably under the direction of ballet master Ceyhun Ozsoy, Carol Anglin, Karen Stokes, Key’Aira Lockett, Dr. M. Gabriela Estrada, Travis Prokop, and many more. Humphrey was featured in Jasmine Hearn’s evening length work, Memory Fleet: A Return to Matr. She now continues her professional career as an apprentice with Open Dance Project for the 2025-2026 season, and is looking forward to growing both as a dancer and as an instructor in this upcoming year. As an instructor, Humphrey’s core values lie in acknowledging the cultural and intellectual significance of the true pioneers of the many different dance styles within her practice. Portraying an accurate history of the development of dance and its many styles within the U.S. has been central to Humphrey’s dance pursuits in recent years. Additionally, Humphrey hopes to promote bodily autonomy within her students because of her belief that mutual respect, care, and compassion are at the heart of the dance practice that we all love and share.

Elyssa Vega is a dancer, choreographer, and educator with over twenty years of training and a B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Houston. During her time at UH, she was a member of the UH Dance Ensemble, narrator for the UH Young Audiences Touring Company, and received the Joanna Friesen Scholarship for her excellence in performance and leadership. Elyssa, since graduating, has performed with Houston-based companies including PDC Works, Chapman Dance, and Mezclada Dance Company. In 2023, she co-founded Momentum Movement with Lizzy Aguilera — a teaching and choreography collective dedicated to bringing high-quality dance training and team-building workshops to high schools across Texas. Elyssa currently serves as Studio Co-Manager and Teacher at Hunter Dance Center in the Heights and is an apprentice with Open Dance Project under the direction of Annie Arnoult. She is deeply passionate about uplifting and contributing to Houston’s vibrant dance community, nurturing the next generation of artists, and continually expanding her creative practice as both a performer and educator.

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