Fellowship Initiatives: Dance in the Community
Fellowship Initiatives are multi-dimensional projects of Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance that bring professional dancers and community members together through short- and long-term creative processes and performances. Meaningful and approachable, these initiatives create inclusive pathways to participation—welcoming everyone from seasoned dancers to those experiencing dance for the first time. Collectively, Fellowship Initiatives celebrate dance as a powerful tool for connection, personal expression, and social cohesion, fostering understanding between people and affirming art as a vital force for community well-being. Initiatives are as follows:
COMMON DANCES (2015)
Common Dances is a suite of short works performed by the dancers of Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance, unfolding in everyday, unexpected locations. Each piece is inspired by the common moments we share and the spaces in which we share them, through small gestures of care, reflection, struggle, and joy. Intimate offerings of dance, these short gems invite audiences to reimagine the familiar as something special and moving, where community is lived and felt. Every space can be a stage. Every moment is a chance to connect.
Choreography: Shannon Hummel in collaboration with the performers
Original Performers: Cora Dance Company Members: Kelly Bartnik, Sarah Burke, Katie Dean, Solomon Goodwin, Nadia Tykulsker; Supporting cast: Yancy Greene, Megan Chu, Angelic Ortiz, Karen Ross, AJ Sharp, Isabel Umali; Guest Performers: Stephanie Batchelder, Cynthia Thompson, Carolyn Hall, and members of the Cora Youth Company: Mykie Laidlow, Dontae McCoy, Phoebe Pfaffman, Claire Sifton, Mateo Vidals.
Cora Community Company
Community Company programs are participatory workshops that culminate in performance opportunities and are designed for people of all ages, abilities, and experience levels. Participants experience the full creative process—from inspiration to performance—often within a single session. Workshops begin with simple gestural choreography introduced by Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance (SH/CD) artists, who guide participants in exploring movement variations that organically expand on these foundational gestures. Together, participants shape the material into an original collaborative dance guided by a facilitator, which is shared in a live performance as a temporary "community company." This approach welcomes first-time movers while offering experienced dancers meaningful opportunities to create alongside participants of different generations, backgrounds, and physical abilities.
Workshops range from several hours to multiple weeks and can be facilitated entirely from a seated position to maximize accessibility and ensure broad participation. Spring sessions of Cora Community Company are offered as part of regular education offerings at Cora Dance Brooklyn and Cora Dance Alleghany. Email CDA_info@coradance.org or CDB_info@coradance.org for details.
The Crossroads Project
BELOW: Left: Crossroads Project overview, by Katie Dean.
Right: Excerpts from the 2025 Crossroads Project excerpts: Cora Dance Brooklyn (Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC); Cora Dance Alleghany (Alleghany County, VA); and Vernon Johns Middle School (Petersburg, VA).
“Crossroads was built from my love of 3 things: my rural Virginia roots, New York City, and the transformative power of dance. Recognizing that three such different things elicit the same feeling of home within me led me to create a project that defines home as something we all share and that inside this universal experience is a power to unite that is greater than the geographic and cultural divides that often polarize us.”
–Shannon Hummel
Crossroads is the most in-depth project within The Fellowship Initiatives, designed to connect diverse communities—primarily teens and young adults across the nation’s rural and urban divide—by exploring the question: What is home?
Crossroads begins with intensive multi-day workshops led by Shannon Hummel and members of SH/CD. During projects in which multiple communities participate simultaneously, each local cohort engages in movement, storytelling, writing, and reflection sessions, building trust between participants, encouraging vulnerability, and generating dance-theatre material that investigates home within each locality. Cohorts collaboratively create an original performance reflecting these investigations for fellow community members and, in more expansive projects, come together in person, intersecting multiple groups to engage in meaningful dialogue and build on a co-created final performance. These final works embody the understanding and empathy formed across geographic, cultural, and social lines, fostering a deeper sense of connection to one another and to the broader idea of how we can peacefully, productively share a sense of home in America. Through joyful, participant-led creation and exchange, Crossroads breaks down stereotypes, de-stigmatizes identity, and builds lasting bridges between communities, offering an authentic and hopeful path toward unity in a divided time.
Click here to view The Crossroads Project Documentary and hear from past participants, facilitators, and Cora’s founders about the history and impact of the project.
The 2025 Crossroads Project is facilitated by Founder and Professional Company & Mobile Programs, Director Shannon Hummel and Cora Dance company and faculty members. For information about how The Crossroads Project can be a part of your studio, school, organization, or community, email company@coradance.org.
Crossroads during COVID:
Below are examples of Crossroads Projects developed during COVID that resulted in virtual productions taking place in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC; Lewisburg, WV; and Petersburg/Richmond, VA. Facilitators: Junie Marsh and Shannon Hummel. Original music by Cora composer, Hans Bilger. All footage for video projects is shot by youth participants and edited in collaboration with the facilitators.
