Cora’s Mission & History

Through professional company performances and expansive education programs, Cora Dance creates transformative dance experiences while addressing inequities that limit people from bonding deeply with the art form.

“A Place to Begin: The History of Cora”

History: Founded in 1998, the acclaimed professional dance company Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance performs the work of choreographer and arts educator, Shannon Hummel. The company is a dynamic cohort of artists, educators, and community advocates who work collaboratively to create and perform Hummel’s detailed and emotionally powerful choreography, both on tour across the United States and in Cora’s two dedicated education hubs: Cora Dance Alleghany in the Alleghany Highlands of VA and Cora Dance Brooklyn in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC. CDA and CDB offer year-round free and pay-what-you-can dance education rooted in SH/CD’s collaborative process of dance-making. At the center of the education methodology, young artists receive a strong technical foundation while using dance as a tool to grow as performers who value the importance of collaboration, inclusion, and community.

Hummel’s choreography resonates with a spirit of shared humanity, an essence that is infused in Cora’s education programs. All Cora programs and performances are free and pay-what-you-can, turning no one away based on ability to pay. The company’s history of presenting dance in non-traditional spaces further maximizes access, reinventing “everyday” locations in surprising ways that cultivate an appreciation for dance as a vital community asset.

The Professional Company

“Ms. Hummel's dances are like vividly detailed yet elliptical short stories, economical and eloquent…evok(ing) whole small universes of emotions and relationships, both simple and complex." 

The New York Times

Founded in 1998, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance began as the NYC-based professional modern dance company of Shannon Hummel. For 27 years in NYC, Hummel’s work has been repeatedly acclaimed for its humble sophistication, unflinching emotion, and accessibility: presenting dance not only on the formal stage but also in backyards, living rooms, cars, public parks, and community spaces, bringing dance to people where they live.

In 2020, SH/CD established dual residency in both New York City and Virginia, after Hummel established a dedicated residency space for herself and the company during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now inclusive of a team of collaborators and artists across six states and two countries, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance roots the development and performance of its work in its intimate Red Hook, Brooklyn space and in various spaces throughout the Alleghany Highlands region, while actively touring across the US throughout the year.

Education

PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN EDUCATION PROGRAMS

In 2009, Cora Dance opened a sliding scale studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Home to Brooklyn’s largest NYCHA public housing community surrounded by affluent waterfront, Cora committed to providing equal access to programs led by professional dance artists, personalized opportunities for youth seeking performing arts careers, and practices that expand integration in the Red Hook community. The studio serves as a home for the professional company and a pay-what-you-can school for dance, offering exceptional training while addressing disparities that restrict engagement. Turning no one away based on ability to pay, NYCHA, Section-8, and families seeking housing receive priority enrollment and SEA/Supporting Equal Access Services to help ensure equitable experiences.

In 2020, Cora’s education initiatives expanded to establish ongoing programs in the Alleghany Highlands region of Virginia. Anchored by the artists of the professional company, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance, and other local teaching artists, the organization now includes two dedicated education hubs: Cora Dance Brooklyn, anchored in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY and Cora Dance Alleghany, anchored in Clifton Forge, VA. Both CDA and CDB offer sliding scale programs from their dedicated spaces and in partnering venues throughout their local communities, providing strong hip hop and modern dance training and opportunities for intersection and artistic exchange between youth from both hubs.

CYC/Cora Youth Company

CYC/Cora Youth Company—an audition-based repertory company for students aged 9–18—was formed in 2011 to offer select advanced students opportunities to learn and perform the works of multiple professional choreographers annually while having access to counseling services; parent workshops; internships; paid professional work opportunities; and audition/application assistance to MS/HS/College programs. 90% of CYC students gain entry into their top choice of college, many on scholarship. In 2023, the CYC program expanded to include a Cora Dance Alleghany CYC program in Virginia and to expand the program from its previous focus on both modern dance training and hip hop. Now with two tiers of CYC at CDB in Brooklyn and one CYC ensemble at CDA in Virginia, the program further includes greater opportunities for touring and exchange between young dancers in both regions.

Cora in COVID: Restructuring for the future

By 2018, Cora Dance was a thriving, multi-faceted institution in Red Hook, Brooklyn with a solid reputation in the local neighborhood, a recognized professional company reach into the broader NYC dance community, and episodic engagement in rural communities in VA and WV. Home to the company and school—then serving 500+ students per year, over 80% attending free or reduced tuition—Cora’s studio theatre at 358 Van Brunt Street enjoyed 4 pre-professional CYC/Cora Youth Companies, 5 satellite programs, 5 guest/resident artists, sliding scale space rental, a studio-theater, and presentation of 20+ live events annually, including Red Hook Community Prom, a pay-what-you-can high-school prom-themed dance party for 500+ guests. Despite a long history of stability and scaffolded engagement, the onset of COVID forced the organization to abruptly re-evaluate, leading to the establishment of a new model and structure to ensure the organization’s sustainability while remaining true to its mission of creating exceptional art in accessible ways.

In 2020, Cora was mandated to close fully for a year and partially for 6 additional months due to NYC’s substantial COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on dance. During the closure, though the organization engaged in a diverse range of low-risk and virtual programs and community services, 85% of the organization’s staff and artists were forced to leave the city or the field to financially weather the shutdown, changing the culture and community of Cora in a sudden, devastating, and permanent way.

During the slowed programming, the Board of Directors and Hummel made the bold decision to use the time to expand on 25 years of episodic programming in rural communities in VA and WV, where there were significantly less restrictions on dance activities. Through The Crossroads Project - an intensive dance, writing, and storytelling experience intersecting urban and rural youth around themes of home - Cora had worked annually in the mountain regions of VA and WV, bringing workshops, classes, residencies, and performances. From 2020–2024, Cora began rapidly building on this history, establishing an ongoing education center in the Alleghany Highlands region of VA and expanding leadership to invest in the next generation of artists to champion the organization alongside Hummel in this new chapter.

In Brooklyn, the effects of extended closure were longstanding and Cora took dramatic action to remain sustainable in the challenging economic aftermath of COVID in NYC. In 2024, Cora relocated from its more substantial space on Van Brunt Street to offer education programs from multiple shared spaces in schools, public spaces, and community centers throughout the Red Hook community. Anchored in a new office and intimate gathering space at 177 Dwight Street, central in the Red Hook community, Cora has restored programs through this new structure, creating greater geographic access, increasing cross-pollination, and amplifying our visibility among Red Hook residents of all demographics.

Crossroads Project & Cora Dance Alleghany

In 2020, Hummel and Cora started a new chapter. Hummel purchased a residency house in Clifton Forge, VA for herself and visiting dance artists to serve as an anchor for ongoing exchanges between youth in Cora’s new rural education hub - Cora Dance Alleghany; youth in Cora’s longstanding education center in Red Hook, Brooklyn - now renamed Cora Dance Brooklyn; and artists and faculty in the professional company, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance.

In late 2020, Founder Shannon Hummel, was honored by The NY Dance & Performance “Bessie” Awards for Service to the Field of Dance for creating successful and accessible dance programs. Building on this legacy of service, in 2023, Cora expanded leadership to anchor the new bi-state model and support Hummel and the Board in making organization-wide decisions in programming, culture, community-engagement, and sustainability. Long-time Cora artists, Nikki Assanti, Katie Dean, Ammara Shafqat, and Keon Washington took on co-leadership responsibilities organization-wide.

In 2025 this co-leadership model was furthered, with Assanti becoming Director of CDB, Shafqat becoming Director of CDA, and Hummel becoming Director of Professional Company and Mobile Programs. In 2025, CDA and CDB provide ongoing, pay-what-you-can dance education programs and expanded opportunities for urban and rural youth to intersect via The Fellowship Project. The new structure now allows Hummel to share dance nationally as well as in the educational home communities. Now in its 27th season, Cora’s transformative initiatives continue to make exceptional dance accessible while promoting connections within and between communities across America.