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.

Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance: 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 (SH/CD) began as the New York City-based professional company of choreographer Shannon Hummel. For nearly three decades, Hummel’s work has been recognized for its humble sophistication, emotional depth, and radical accessibility—bringing dance beyond traditional stages into backyards, living rooms, cars, parks, and public spaces, meeting people where they live.

In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, SH/CD expanded its reach by establishing a dual residency in New York City and the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia. This shift created new opportunities for Hummel, SH/CD company members, and guest artists to live, create, and perform in more deeply invested ways in both urban and rural settings. Today, SH/CD includes a collaborative artistic team spanning six states and two countries, with its work grounded in mobility—touring and developing site- and community-responsive performances and programs throughout the U.S. year-round.

Cora Dance Alleghany & Cora Dance Brooklyn: Education Centers

PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN EDUCATION PROGRAMS

In 2009, Shannon Hummel opened a sliding-scale dance studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn—her home neighborhood for nearly 30 years. Red Hook is home to Brooklyn’s largest NYCHA public housing community, surrounded by growing affluence. Cora’s space served as both the home for her professional company, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance (SH/CD), and a beloved new education initiative aimed at providing equal access to high-quality dance training.

From the start, Cora has been committed to accessibility. All classes are offered on a pay-what-you-can basis, led by professional dance artists, and no student is turned away based on ability to pay. The Brooklyn-based studio prioritizes enrollment for NYCHA residents, Section-8 recipients, and families experiencing housing insecurity, with SEA (Supporting Equal Access) Services such as afterschool care and pick-up, helping ensure every student has a full and equitable experience.

In 2020, Cora expanded its education programs to the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia, establishing a second hub in Clifton Forge while continuing operations in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Now operating as Cora Dance Brooklyn (CDB) and Cora Dance Alleghany (CDA), both locations offer strong training in modern and hip hop dance, through studio-based classes and partnerships with local venues. Students at both hubs also participate in artistic exchanges and shared projects, creating connections across communities.

CYC/Cora Youth Company

CYC (Cora Youth Company)—an audition-based repertory company for students ages 9–18—was founded in 2011 to provide advanced young dancers with opportunities to learn and perform works by multiple professional choreographers and chart a course toward professional careers. In addition to training and performance, CYC offers mentorship services, parent workshops, internships, paid professional opportunities, and support with auditions and applications for middle school, high school, and college programs.

Over 90% percent of CYC students have gained acceptance into their top two choices of high school and over 95% have gained entry into their top choice of colleges, many with scholarships.

In 2023, the program expanded to include a new CYC ensemble at Cora Dance Alleghany in Virginia. With two tiers of CYC now offered at Cora Dance’s Red Hook center CDB and one ensemble at CDA, the program provides increased opportunities for touring, artistic exchange, and collaboration between youth in both regions and beyond.

Cora Dance: Reimagining the Future

By 2018, Cora Dance had become a vibrant, multi-dimensional institution rooted in Red Hook, Brooklyn. With a strong neighborhood presence and growing recognition in NYC’s professional dance scene, Cora was home to a nationally recognized company and an education program serving over 500 students annually—more than 80% of whom attended for free or reduced tuition. From its studio-theater at 358 Van Brunt Street, Cora hosted four pre-professional CYC/Cora Youth Companies, five satellite programs, guest and resident artists, sliding-scale space rentals, and over 20 annual performances, including the much-loved Red Hook Community Prom, a pay-what-you-can dance party attended by more than 500 guests.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly halted this momentum. Cora was forced to close completely for a year and partially for six additional months due to New York City’s extended restrictions on dance. Though the organization adapted with virtual programming and community outreach, 85% of its staff and artists were displaced—many leaving the city or the field entirely—profoundly altering the fabric of Cora’s community.

Amid this disruption, Founder Shannon Hummel and the Board of Directors made a bold move to reimagine Cora’s structure. Building on over 25 years of episodic work in rural Virginia and West Virginia—including The Crossroads Project, which united urban and rural youth around themes of home through dance and storytelling—Cora established a year-round education hub in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia. In support of this new chapter, Hummel purchased a residence in Clifton Forge, VA to host herself and visiting dance artists, serving as a base for deepened connection between Cora’s urban and rural communities.

That same year, Hummel was honored by the NY Dance & Performance “Bessie” Awards for Service to the Field of Dance, recognizing her longstanding commitment to accessible, community-rooted programs. Building on this legacy, Cora formally expanded its leadership model in 2023, bringing on long-time collaborators Nikki Assanti, Katie Dean, Ammara Shafqat, and Keon Washington to share organization-wide responsibility in programming, culture, community engagement, and sustainability.

By 2025, this co-leadership model fully matured. Assanti became Director of Cora Dance Brooklyn (CDB); Shafqat, Director of Cora Dance Alleghany (CDA); and Hummel, Director of the Professional Company and Mobile Programs. Today, both education hubs under this new leadership continue to offer ongoing, responsive, pay-what-you-can dance education while the professional company, under Hummel’s direction, enables Cora to share its work nationally while remaining rooted in both home communities.

Now in its 28th season, Cora Dance continues to evolve as a powerful national model for accessible, high-quality dance—fostering deep local impact while promoting connection and creative exchange across communities throughout the U.S.