Previous Barbara Ensley Award Recipients
2025
LEAH ABIEYUWA ESEMUEDE - STEPHEN HALEY
LEAH ABIEYUWA ESEMUEDE
I feel incredibly honored and grateful to have been selected as a recipient of the Barbara Ensley Award! Thank you to this award’s selection committee and my support system of friends, family, and mentors for making this possible!
STEPHEN HALEY
To the trustees, staff, teachers, and Trust, "I am extremely grateful, honored, and excited for this award. Thank you so much and I can’t wait to get started!"
Stephen Haley (He/Him) born in New Jersey, attended Arts High School (Newark NJ) and is a current BFA student at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase. There, he performed works by choreographers such as: Yin Yue, Norbert De La Cruz III, Trisha Brown, Doug Varone, George Balanchine, Linda Celeste Sims/ Glenn Allen Sims. Prior to Purchase, he studied at the Dance Theatre of Harlem under the direction of Robert Garland from the age of 10. Stephen has attended summer/winter intensives such as: Nederlands Dans Theater, Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary, Ballet BC, Gibney Summer Study, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (where he received the inaugural fellowship/residency with the company), BODYTRAFFIC, GALLIM (where he was one of two inaugural New Maker choreographers for the winter intensive), Out Innerspace Dance Theater/ Jermaine Spivey, Creative Workshop and The Graham School. He has also received dance awards/scholarships including: NAACP ACT-SO National contemporary dance 1st place winner, Van Lier Fellowship Scholarship, and the Adopt a Dancer Scholarship. Stephen is also an active choreographer and finds fulfillment creating work at Purchase Dance and outside the conservatory.
2024
ANDREA SOTO
I feel deeply honored and grateful to be selected as one of the recipients of the Barbara Ensley Award this year on behalf of the Merce Cunningham Trust. What an exciting opportunity to continue this journey and grow alongside the New York community.
Andrea Soto (she/her), raised in Juarez, Chihuahua, is a first-generation Mexican American movement-based artist. She holds a BFA in Dance with a Minor in Digital Arts from California Institute of the Arts (2022). Her craft lives in performance and data-gathering as shared collective research. She believes in the body as the temple of pleasure and truth system, turning inwards and surrendering into a space that welcomes the sacred.
Andrea builds poetic ecosystems that are rooted in the mystical dismantling of hierarchical-systems across performance and media. Presented at Human Resources LA and Highways Performance Space, her creations embrace boundless interconnectedness; with a deep reverence for her roots, they become a celebration and investigation of ancestral knowledge and heritage.
As a freelance performer, she has worked closely with renowned artists such as Julie Tolentino, Yusha-Marie Sorzano, Holley Farmer, Rosie Herrera, Sam Wentz, Dimitri Chamblas, JOJO ABOT, EYIBRA, Gerard & Kelly, Alexsa Durrans, and Annalee Traylor; and has been part of works at Culture Hub’s Re-Fest, MOCA, REDCAT, L.A. Dance Project, Night Gallery, UNTITLED Art Fair Miami, and Centre National de la Danse in Paris.
LENA SOLOMON
I am incredibly excited and grateful to be a recipient of the Barbara Ensley Award. Thank you to the entire team of people who made this award and opportunity possible. This award will help me pursue my dreams of becoming a professional artist. Thank you!
My name is Lena Solomon (she/her) and I grew up in Florissant, Missouri. I started dancing in my youth and began training at 15 at the Center of Creative Arts, COCA. At COCA, I trained in ballet, Horton, jazz, tap, and hip-hop. I was introduced to choreographers and styles of dance that I had never heard of before, which has had a tremendous impact on my dancing today. There, I had the opportunity to perform in professional works such as “Torch” and “Upside Down” by Ronald K. Brown and “Minus 16” by Ohad Naharin. I also trained at home, specifically in the living room and backyard. I didn't always have the finances to go and take classes or see live performances, but I did have a home and YouTube, which I am incredibly grateful for. I believe I owe a lot of my understanding of movement to hours dancing outside amongst the trees and watching any and everything on YouTube. I love dancing in nature because the trees and grass don't hold stagnant energy. It is as if there is a constant exchange of energy, therefore it feels new every day. No one is there to witness me, which means I cannot do anything wrong or right: I just get to dance and be free. I think my years of dancing in my home have allowed me to practice the art of being free, which has shaped me into who I’ve become. Currently, I attend the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which I plan to receive my Bachelor of Fine Arts in May of 2024.
2023
ARIELLE FRANÇOIS - NYAH MALONE
ARIELLE FRANÇOIS
Arielle François is a multidisciplinary performance artist originally from Poinciana, Florida. François trained in dance at the Osceola County School for the Arts (2011-2018) under the direction of Nealya Brunson and the New World School of the Arts (2022) where she graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance Performance. François began her creative career at a young age modeling for her sister’s brand 000SPORTSWEAR in her family's living room. It is here that she began to foster a relationship with industry work that has helped her create new opportunities in editorial fashion and film. She then began nurturing her love for theatre, training with Marcus Crawford Guy at stART Osceola (2015-2018.)
François works to challenge any idea that resist Black women from embracing their inherit abundance. While honoring joy and adventure she believes in radical black power and works to create an uplifting dialogue around Haitian culture that reminds us that spirit is an active participant in every interaction.
As an independent model and performer François has created with Coca-Cola, Carlotta Guerrero, Monica Lopez De Victoria and Prada. She has performed in films by Helen Piña and NOWNESS as well as music videos for John Legend and Saweetie. As a concert dancer she has performed works by Ron Brown, Liony Garcia, and Peter London. In 2018 she was awarded Florida Dance Education NHSDA Artist Merit, Leadership and Academic Achievement Award for her solo SLEEP. She has created work for Beautiful Chorus, Miami Design District and Valentino. As well as performing original works like Lave Tet created with Sarah Nicol François at Mana Contemporary’s Loading Festival (2019.) Most Recently François performed her newest work found:ALLMYTHINGS!! Sponsored by Miami Dance Makers and The National Young Arts Foundation at the Perez Art Museum this past November (2022). François current practice celebrates her indigenous intelligence by experimenting with herbal sciences and Haitian Folklore. She hopes to challenge sanitized performances of ritual in the diasporic creative space and reinforce the power and resilience of Haiti.
NYAH MALONE
Nyah is extremely excited and honored to be a recipient of the Barbara Ensley Award. She plans to utilize this opportunity to further their journey as a dancer and artist and integrate into the New York City dance community
Nyah Malone (they/she), a native of Akron, Ohio, began dancing when they were 3 years old, studying primarily classical ballet. They studied at Nan Klinger’s Excellence Dance under the tutelage of Mia Klinger. In 2015, they relocated to Natick, Massachusetts to attend Walnut Hill School for the Arts, which was then under the direction of Michael Owen, graduating with honors in 2019. They are set to graduate from the LINES BFA program at Dominican University of California in 2023. There, they studied Horton, Límon, X-work, improvisation, and contemporary ballet. At LINES, they were able to deconstruct the framework of classical ballet technique and shift to an approach that valued exploration and choice-making, a process that was fundamental to their growth as an artist. In addition to a BFA, they are also graduating with a BA in English with a creative writing concentration.
Throughout their dance career, Nyah has performed in premiere works by Gregory Dawson, Dexandro Montalvo, Liv Schaffer, Jay Carlon, and Elijah Labay. Nyah also enjoys choreographing and compositional work, creating their piece entitled who and how much? as a part of their senior thesis, which is set to premiere in 2023.
Nyah is interested in how social justice work and dance converge, and how artists can be on the forefront of diversity and inclusivity initiatives. In high school, they served for two years as an officer on the Diversity and Inclusivity Committee, and in college headed PRIDE Club, Dominican University’s LGBTQIA organization.
They were honored to perform as a guest artist in amalgam! by FACT/SF in Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest and slow dark dances by tinypistol, a durational installation that sought to decolonize the invisible whiteness of museum spaces.
2022
MORGAN AMIRAH BURNS - ALEX LARSON
MORGAN AMIRAH BURNS
Morgan is beyond excited to be one of the inaugural recipients of the Barbara Ensley Award on behalf of the Merce Cunningham Trust. She is incredibly grateful for this honor as it will allow her to move forward in her training and career as a young dancer, creator, and artist living in New York City
Morgan Amirah Burns is a Brooklyn based multidisciplinary artist. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Morgan studied classical ballet and modern techniques at Dekalb School of the Arts, City Gate Dance Theatre and the Atlanta Ballet. At just 20 years old, she received her BFA in dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where she studied ballet, Cunningham, contemporary, composition, and improvisational techniques.
At NYU, she had the pleasure to work with and perform works by Wayne McGregor, Ron K. Brown, and Lar Lubovitch to name a few. During her time in undergrad, Morgan studied abroad at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance in Salzburg, Austria and during school breaks trained at Toscana Dance Hub (now W.A.D.E.) in Florence, Italy, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and GAGA Lab NYC - all of which helped shape her as an artist today.
As covid-19 brought upon harsh realities, Morgan dedicated her time in quarantine to founding the Collegiate Association for Artists of Color (C.A.A.C.) a grassroots organization started by and for young American artists of color pursuing a higher education in the Arts. Through C.A.A.C., Morgan and a plethora of artists from different artistic backgrounds frequently collaborated and organized online events and spaces to facilitate healing, conversation, community, and creativity for artists of color.
Most recently, Morgan was honored to be awarded a Moving Woman Residency from Brooklyn-based dance company GALLIM. She was given support to explore and create movement in a beautiful studio space for a week investigating facets of her in progress film, “In Her Shoes.” And through the Consulate General of Canada in NYC, she was able to create and collaborate with Canadian based artist, Brandon Wint virtually to create “Spring Promises Futures” (2021) - a dance poetry film exploring themes of identity and location.
ALEX LARSON
Alex feels incredibly fortunate to be a recipient of the Barbara Ensley Award! He recognizes it as a great opportunity transitioning into the industry, and plans to utilize it to grow and develop as an artist.
Alex Larson is originally from Portland, Oregon where he began dancing at the age of ten under the direction of Carene Boersma. Alex has now obtained three years of pre-professional training from The Hartt School and is set to graduate with a BFA in Dance Performance in 2022. Alex has performed in premiere works such as Live and Thrive by Sir Richard Alston, The Peculiar Terror of Wonder by Stephen Pier, and True Meridian by Gabrielle Lamb. He has also performed in restaged pieces such as The Winged by José Limón, 3 Epitaphs by Paul Taylor as well as a Cunningham MinEvent staged by Andrea Weber. Alex has a great love for both performing and teaching dance. Last summer he taught at a local studio in Oregon what he calls his “Contemporary and Modern Fusion'' class to students ages 10 to 18. Alex is very passionate about improvisation, collaboration, and mindfulness through dancing.