Florida State University’s Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) will welcome nationally recognized choreographers to campus this fall as the center resumes its artist residency program after a one-year hiatus.
The fall lineup includes Fana Fraser, Kimberly Bartosik, and Joseph “MN Joe” Tran and Lisa “MonaLisa” Berman of BRKFST Dance Company.
“We are excited to have artists back in the studio,” said MANCC Director Ansje Burdick. “Joining us from across the country, our fall artists are all in early developmental stages of creation as they explore human emotion and interior experiences, collaborate with dramaturgs, refine movement vocabularies and construct soundscapes.”
MANCC is one of only two national choreographic centers housed at a university. Its location at FSU allows visiting artists to collaborate with scholarsand researchers across disciplines and draw on the university’s specialized facilities as they develop new works in contemporary dance.
MANCC tailors each residency to an artist’s creative process and stage of the work. Artists may experiment with movement alongside FSU School of Dance students, explore lighting design, construct set pieces or consult with academic experts across disciplines.
The residencies give FSU School of Dance students access to nationally recognized choreographers and a look at how new works are developed.
This fall, students can attend work-in-progress showings and open studio sessions, participate in movement experiments and engage directly with the artists. Read more about the visiting artists below:
Fana Fraser
Artist, director and producer Fana Fraser returns to MANCC this month to begin developing a new project, “After the Fallow.” Fraser participated in MANCC’s Forward Dialogues laboratory program in 2017, and their dance films and live performances have since been featured at events and festivals around the world. During the residency, Fraser plans to work with dancers and dramaturgs to bring elements of their outdoor movement practice into the studio and share work in progress during an open studio.
Kimberly Bartosik
Guggenheim Fellowship-winning choreographer, performer and educator Kimberly Bartosik comes to MANCC for the first time in October to developher new work, “blood anchor,” which explores the complex power of blood relations and the epidemic of modern loneliness. During this early-stage residency, Bartosik will collaborate with three performers, a dramaturg and a lighting designer to explore the work’s emotional landscape and shape its visual design.
BRKFST Dance Company
Joseph “MN Joe” Tran and Lisa “MonaLisa” Berman, co-founders of the Minnesota-based BRKFST Dance Company, come to MANCC for the first time to develop an evening-length duet blending breaking, improvisation and partnering. The work explores how connections to oneself, the body andrelationships evolve during trauma. It draws from Berman’s experience as a two-time cancer survivor and Tran’s experience supporting her through her treatment. Tran and Berman are recipients of the 2026 McKnight Choreography Fellowship, and their MANCC residency was supported by funds from the McKnight Choreography Fellowship program, administered by Springboard for the Arts and funded by the McKnight Foundation.