Dance Source Houston Announces 2025-26 Artists In Residence

HOUSTON, TX, August 14, 2025 – Dance Source Houston (DSH) is thrilled to announce the 2025-26 Artist In Residence (AIR) cohort, which includes Violet Moon, Karmetra Shy, and Andrew Smith. This trio of Houston-area choreographers will receive ongoing mentorship, artistic and professional development, and a monetary stipend through the 9-month program. Each choreographer will create a new work to be presented in Barnstorm Dance Fest 2026, happening April 13-18 at Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston, serving as the culmination of their residency term.

“We are thrilled to welcome this next cohort into the Artists In Residence program and support their creative risk-taking,” said DSH Executive Director Mollie Haven Miller. “The AIR program provides dancemakers with the structure, time, and resources to move in a new direction, test a bold experiment, or challenge their process, all while fostering a collaborative cohort environment.” 

Begun in 2014, this year marks the 11th cohort to receive support through the program, which has supported a total of 38 dancemakers to date. Learn more about the 2025-26 Artists In Residence below. 

Meet the Artists In Residence

Violet Moon (they/them) is a polymathic artist and working mental health professional. Their work explores the intersections of performance, healing, and storytelling—through movement, sound, visual art, and language. They began performing at age 10 in hip-hop concerts, festivals, and music videos across Los Angeles and later Houston, before training extensively in modern, post-modern, and ballet throughout Texas and the Southern California coast. At 18, Violet launched their professional career as an apprentice with Revolve Dance Company, later securing a guest artist contract with ARCOS Dance and performing works by Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. They went on to become a founding member and soloist with LÉON Contemporary Dance Company, collaborating on original works by Dorrell Martin, Mike Esperanza, and Mario Zambrano.

After completing their Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Violet returned to dance with a focus on authentic movement, consent, ancestral connection, and body memory. A multi-time recipient of the City of Houston’s “Let Creativity Happen” grant and the METdance Floor Residency, they were a selected professional at Le Centre National de la Danse (CND) in Paris and selected for international study at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels. Their work offers honest, embodied opportunities for performers and audiences to reflect on the stories, wounds, and relationships that shape them. Violet continues to create original, multi-medium work and facilitate community-centric workshops focused on trauma-informed care, arts accessibility, and collaborative practice. At the heart of it all is a devotion to authenticity, deep self-inquiry, and the ongoing dance of becoming.

Karmetra Shy is a Houston-based dance artist, actress, educator, and choreographer whose work blends street styles, theatrical storytelling, and social-emotional development. She earned her B.S. in Dance with a concentration in Secondary Education and a minor in Theater from Stephen F. Austin State University. 

As an educator with nine years of teaching experience and the Founder/Executive Director of The Shyne Project 501(c)(3), Karmetra leads community arts programming that integrates dance, theatre, and overall wellness. She has performed with local companies including Unleashed Dance Company, Houston City Dance, NewEra Theatre Troupe, and Dance Houston, as well as international stages with Sense Company for Artistic Production and Broadway Theatre Joy Productions.

Across Alief ISD, Houston ISD, KIPP Houston Public Schools, The International School of Kuwait, and Performing Arts Houston, Karmetra has developed fine arts curricula that celebrate cultural diversity and artistic growth. Committed to lifelong learning, Karmetra studies street styles from the pioneers and hones her craft at The Studio for Actors Houston. Through every endeavor, she aims to inspire and connect communities in movement and performance.

Andrew Robert Smith is a Mexican-American dance artist, choreographer, and educator originally from Ingleside, Texas. He began his dance training under Jilissa Cotten and Nancy Sulik in Corpus Christi, and holds an MFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University and a BA in Dance Performance from the University of Texas–Pan American.

Andrew’s professional career has spanned concert, commercial, and theatrical stages, performing as a dancer and aerialist with Cedar Point Amusement Park, Carnival Cruise Lines, RWS Entertainment Group, Holland America Line, Regent Seven Seas, and Norwegian Creative Studios. He also performed as “Pepe” in West Side Story at A.D. Players at the George Theater and served as dance captain for Il Trovatore at Houston Grand Opera under choreographer Amy Hall Garner. He has performed in works by acclaimed choreographers including Nejla Yatkin, Nicole Von Arx, Adele Nickel, and Andy and Dionne Noble of NobleMotion Dance.

His choreography, which explores queer identity, masculinity, and Latinx cultural expression, has been presented at the Texas Latino/a/x Contemporary Dance Festival, Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival, 254 Dance-Fest, and Artists for Hope.

Andrew is also a third-generation comprehensive Pilates instructor, certified through the lineage of Lolita San Miguel under the mentorship of Tanya Swayze Miller, and is passionate about integrating somatic practices into dance training for longevity and wellness.

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About Dance Source Houston

Dance Source Houston is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the diverse individuals and organizations working in the field of dance throughout the Greater Houston region by means of advocacy, inclusive community engagement and support services. Founded in 2005, Dance Source Houston is a resource for all things dance in the Greater Houston area and provides programs and services to address the evolving needs of the local dance community. Dance Source Houston is funded in part through support from The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, Heimbinder Family Foundation, Houston Endowment, National Endowment for the Arts, and Texas Commission on the Arts. Learn more at dancesourcehouston.org.

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