Who We Are

John-Mario Sevilla directed performance and professional development at the historic 92Y Harkness Dance Center, a home of American Modern Dance. He directed the School of Dance, which teaches movement to all ages and levels; produced several dance concert series (Harkness Dance Festival and Dig Dance); and administered professional learning/development programs (Dance Education Laboratory, Dance Therapy Program and Harkness artists residencies). As the director of 92Y Dance Education Laboratory, he conducted research in formative assessment (“Arts Achieve” funded by the US Department of Education Investment in Innovation “i3” grant); initiated Universal Pre-K early childhood arts curricula (“Pre-K for All – Create”) with the New York City Department of Education; and sustained viable partnerships with State University of New York Empire State College and City University of New York Hunter College to offer alternative dance education licensure and continuing education credits. He collaborated with 92Y’s Tisch Center for the Arts for its production of “The Art of the Fugue” with the Brentano String Quartet and Gabriel Calatrava; Gilda and Henry Block School of the Arts activations with Shantell Martin and Natsuko Hattori; and Education and Outreach elementary arts curricula. Before 92Y, he was New York City Ballet’s Director of Education and Manager of School Programs, responsible for residencies in more than 300 public schools and dozens of public programs, including several collaborations with educators from other cultural arts organizations, such as Lincoln Center Institute, The Metropolitan Museum and The Museum of Modern Art. He has been a panelist for the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts – Dance review committees. He was a 2014 Martha Hill Mid-Career Award recipient and the 2021-22 Visiting Scholar at the Asia | Pacific | American Institute at NYU. His choreography has appeared at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, LaMaMa, NYU Steinhardt, Movement Research at Judson Church, 92Y Harkness Dance Center, Dance Theatre Workshop, Columbia University, ABC No Rio, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, The Asia Society and Bronx Academy of Art and Dance. He has danced in the companies of Pilobolus, Alison Chase, Murray Louis and Alwin Nikolais, Anna Sokolow, Rebecca Stenn, Lisa Giobbi, Janis Brenner, Erin Dudley, Bill Cratty, Pamana, among others, as well as with juggler Michael Moschen, drag artist Sherry Vine, poet John Unterecker and Navajo sand painter/healer Walking Thunder. He studied Philippine folk dance with Agrifina Cabebe, H. Wayne Mendoza and Hana Gomez Trinidad. From Maui, he is a hula student of Kumu Hula Hōkūlani Holt (Pāʻū O Hiʻiaka) and Kumu Hula June Ka‘ililani Tanoue (Hālau I Ka Pono).

Genoa Sperske is a Bay Area native with a love of movement and a passion for sharing creative experiences with others, especially kids. Genoa received degrees in Dance and Drama from UC Irvine, where she participated in the ArtsBridge scholarship program where she first began teaching dance and drama in public school classrooms. She performed as a dancer but always found incredible joy in teaching and choreographing. Genoa is a resident choreographer at Valley Dance Theatre in Livermore and teaches ballet and modern dance for The School of the Valley Dance Theatre. She has been a dance teaching artist with San Francisco Ballet’s Dance In School and Communities Program, teaching creative dance, ballet, modern and world dances in San Francisco public schools. She is also a Pilates instructor. Genoa finds joy and fulfillment in seeing others experience the joy of dance and nurturing the creative artists within each of us. She truly believes that dance is for absolutely everybody! When Genoa isn’t spinning, leaping, and wiggling it out in a class, she enjoys spending time with her family that includes her fabulous husband, 3 kids, 2 cats, and a dog.

Saharla Vetsch (she/her) is a Somali American independent dance/drag artist born and raised in Minnesota. Now residing in the Bay Area, Saharla has earned a degree in Performing Arts and Social Justice with a concentration in dance from the University of San Francisco. Her work centers around questions and curiosities about individuals’ intersecting identities and how they relate to one another. She has a passion for teaching that not only trains new skills but fosters individuals creativity and encourages using the inherent tools and abilities people have. Saharla has been a performing artist with Zaccho Dance Theatre, Joe Goode Performance Group, Detour Dance, and Flyaway Productions.