Dance Source Houston Presents Mind The Gap 36
Contact:
Mollie Haven Miller
Executive Director
Dance Source Houston
713.224.3262
mollie@dancesourcehouston.org
Dance Source Houston Presents Mind The Gap 36
HOUSTON, TX August 18, 2025 – Dance Source Houston (DSH) will present the 36th edition of Mind The Gap on Tuesday, September 9 at 7:30pm at Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH). This program will feature works by local dancemakers Eli Bivens, Brian Buck, Shayla Martin, Adele Nickel, Jennifer Salter, Jamie Williams, and NMLY.dance (Nicole McNeil + Lori Yuill). The program will feature a range of dance forms, including contemporary, house, and modern. Following the performance, audience members are invited to attend an onstage reception with fellow patrons and program artists.
Tickets to the performance are available now at matchouston.org on a pay-what-you-can sliding scale for both in-person and livestream viewing, starting at $15, with all choreographers receiving a percentage of total ticket sales.
Launched in 2017, Mind The Gap has provided a performance platform to more than 145 independent choreographers and small dance companies in our community, helping artists navigate the space between creating and presenting new work. Through a partnership with MATCH, the program assists dance artists with valuable production, audience development, and administrative support.
Learn More About The Dancemakers & Works
Eli Bivens is an artist, writer, dancer, educator and choreographer based in Houston, Texas. Eli is a company member of San Jacinto Dance Company. Eli earned their Bachelor of Arts in English from Sam Houston State University. They are currently pursuing their AA in Fine Arts and Certificate of Technology in Dance Education through the San Jacinto College South Dance program, under the direction of mentors Jenn Salter and Jamie Williams. Eli values radical inclusivity, fairness, and collaboration in their artistic process. Their research as performance focuses on queer histories of the European interwar period, with their first professional work, “In Memoriam Le Monocle”, presented alongside the works of San Jacinto Dance Company in 2024 and 2025, and again for adjudication at the 2025 South-Central ACDA Regional Conference. After graduation, Eli intends to pursue their MA in Dance and Dance History. Bivens has had the pleasure of performing in works by choreographers such as Teoma Nacarrato, Jennifer Salter, Jamie Williams, Whylan Rucker, Miranda Maynard, and Roderick George of kNonameartist.
A veteran of the Navy Brian H. Buck started dancing in college. Brian has performed with Seize the Day, Spiral Dance Company, This Body This Earth, Daniel Burkholder/The Playground, Jane Jarardi, Updraft aerial dance, and the telematic works of Another Language. Brian has studied the art of improvisation through observation and contact improvisation with Daniel Lepkoff as well as other improvisational artists, including Steve Paxton and Nancy Stark-Smith. Brian has developed works for the stage, for the camera, and installations for various spaces. He has been presented throughout the DC area, Houston, Salt Lake City, and New York City. Installations have included Dance Studio’s (including Dance Exchange), Dance Forum, and Apothecary Shed, complete with a peacock!
Shayla “Lashay” Martin is a Houston-based dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist with over 16 years of experience in performance and movement education. Her work is a fusion of House, Waacking, Vogue, hip-hop, and contemporary forms, drawing from both street and studio-based practices. Deeply influenced by the many teachers, peers, and communities that have shaped her, Lashay uses dance as a way to tell stories rooted in identity, liberation, and personal truth. As a teacher, she specializes in helping students understand their bodies and connect with their movement language, offering group and private classes in foundational styles as well as choreography and sensual movement. She is especially passionate about creating affirming spaces for women, queer folks, and dancers of all levels to explore, grow, and be seen. Beyond the studio, Lashay curates events, collaborates with artists across disciplines, and performs in works that center Blackness, queerness, and joy. Her performances often blend technical training with raw emotion, offering audiences a layered and embodied experience. Through all aspects of her work, Lashay is committed to building community and creating spaces where people can express themselves freely and fully.
Adele Nickel is a Houston-based dance artist, educator and scholar, and current Assistant Professor at Sam Houston State University. Before moving to Texas, Adele enjoyed a 15-year performing career in NYC as a longtime company member of the “Bessie”-nominated Liz Gerring Dance Company and with Annie-B Parson, Sarah Michelson and Patrick Corbin, among others. She received her MFA from University of Washington and a BA in Writing from The New School. Adele is a certified Alexander Technique teacher and is currently training in Craniosacral Therapy. She was a 2024-25 Artist-in-Residence with Dance Source Houston, recently performed DiverseWorks’ 12MM Festival, and was a featured author in last September’s Journal of Dance Education for her work on trauma-informed dance pedagogy. Adele’s creative work is inspired by somatic and feminist practices, and she collaborates regularly with Brian Lawson (FormBelievers.com) and other interdisciplinary artists; you can learn more via her website adelenickel.com and by following her on Instagram @kingdellers.
Jennifer Salter earned her BFA and MFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University. She studied and performed locally and nationally with the Kista Tucker Dance Company, Dancepatheatre, and Rednerrus Feil Dance Company (now Aimed Dance). She has presented her work in Houston under commission through The Pilot Dance Project and recently collaborated with Pilot as a performer. Her artistic endeavors have led her into creating dance films, photography, and graphic design. Outside of teaching dance, she owns a successful photography business and works as a freelance graphic designer and photographer for local companies and organizations.
Jamie Williams earned her BFA and MFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University. She is a certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst and Educator, and a Registered Yoga Teacher at the 200-hour level. Jamie is a founding member of Aimed Dance and is a current educator and performer with Frame Dance Productions. Jamie currently serves as a dance professor and the dance program coordinator for San Jacinto College, South Campus. She loves sharing her art with others through performing, teaching, and creating.
NMLY.dance is the collaborative venture of choreographers Nicole McNeil and Lori Yuill, born from years of studio practice. Their work merges individual artistic interests into a shared exploration of multidisciplinary performance. With a commitment to deepening their collaborative practice, they invite diverse voices to influence their creative direction, aiming to intertwine various artistic forms to reveal new narratives and rediscover past works.
In the fall of 2023, McNeil and Yuill found themselves co-working in the Houston Met studios. Co-working quickly morphed into collaborating on a dance called Drenched in Longing. NMLY.dance emerged centered around a project called everyday more dystopian, a growing catalog of dances, performances and workshops that aim to spark a renewed interest between humans and the natural world in an effort to inspire a deeper connection to nature, fostering appreciation for its beauty, fragility and the importance of ecological awareness and sustainability.
Recent Comments