Dance Source Houston Presents Mind The Gap 39
Contact:
Mollie Haven Miller
Executive Director
Dance Source Houston
713.224.3262
mollie@dancesourcehouston.org
Dance Source Houston Presents Mind The Gap 39
Dance Source Houston (DSH) is excited to present the 39th edition of Mind The Gap on May 19, 2026 at Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH). This showcase will feature local dancemakers and companies, including Brittany Bass, Shelby Craze, Jessie Ferguson (BOOT Dance Project), Deontay Gray, Adele Nickel, Kyle Rucker, and Lori Yuill (The TerraForm(ed) Collective). 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 150 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 Artists
Brittany Nicole Bass holds a Bachelor’s degree in dance from the University of Houston. She serves as a Teaching Artist in Houston Ballet’s Education and Community Engagement Department and is part of the faculty at Houston MET Dance. She is an artist in the MET’s Creative Incubation Residency program. Additionally, Brittany acts as the Program Manager for Dance Source Houston and has been a Karen Stokes Dance Company member since the Spring of 2014. Her choreographed works have been showcased in local performances, including Fall Extravadance, Barnstorm Dance Fest, Choreographer X6 at ERJCC, Houston’s Fringe Festival, and Mind The Gap. She has danced for several local dance artists, including Jasmine Hearn, jhon r. stronks, Lori Yuill, Teresa Chapman, Toni Valle.
Shelby Craze is an interdisciplinary artist exploring the intersection of fiber and the body. Through movement, she explores the ways in which we respond to the accumulation of experiences and incidents – physical, emotional, and psychological. The wear and tear of a textile mirrors the marks left by time, trauma, and joy – the scope of the human experience. Through her work, she investigates the intersection between the human body and the fibrous vessels that contain us throughout our lives – vessels that are contoured by use, weathered by time, and worthy of transformative care and preservation. Craze holds a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Houston and Degree of Higher Education in Modern Ballet from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Jessie Ferguson, born and raised in Houston, Texas, holds a BFA in Dance from the George Mason University School of Dance and in 2020, Jessie graduated from Kinder High School for Performing and Visual Arts, with a concentration in dance. Throughout her years, she has performed works by Martha Graham, Sidra Bell, Amy Miller, Janie Carothers, Gage Self, Courtney D. Jones, and more.
Choreographically, Jessie was selected for the Aimed Dance Emerging Choreographer Fellowship during the Young Artists Program, where she created a work entitled Telephone. Jessie was also selected to present her work, When the Owl Came to Me, at the 2023 Barnstorm Dance Fest in Houston, TX. She was also commissioned by Rice Dance Theatre to create a new work for their Fall 2024 Performance. Jessie is also the Founder of BOOT Dance Project and premiered her latest work, FORGE, at Break-In Dance Fest in Houston, TX.
BOOT Dance Project (Building Opportunities for Outstanding Texas Dancers) provides Texas-based dance artists and audiences with enriching opportunities that foster community and artistic development. We aim to support and uplift the Texas dance community through performances, educational initiatives, and collaborative projects. Our work centers on creating spaces where Texas dance artists can thrive and Texas audiences can engage with innovative and meaningful dance.
Deontay Gray is a native of Baltimore, Maryland where he began his journey in the arts as a musician. As a vocalist he has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Meyerhof, and Strathmore with musicians Linda R. Hall, Dr. Craig Jessop and Marin Alsop.
At the age of 19 he began his dance career and later received his B.F.A in dance from the Conservatory at Shenandoah University. In 2015 he was featured as a choreographer and dancer presenting his work in The Royal Theatre in Winchester, England. He was invited to teach master classes in Sydney, Australia in 2016 at the Sydney Dance Company Studios as well as University of Winchester in Winchester, England.
He was featured in works at the 2015, 2017 & 2018 New York Jazz Choreography Dance Project at the Ailey Citigroup theatre and the Salvatore Capezio Theater in NYC, the 2016 VelocityDC Dance Festival at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, DC, While in Maryland he has been a guest artist with Dance n Bmore, CCBC dance company , Deep Vision, Opera in Baltimore, Ballet Embody Dance Company, CityDance, Anne Aroundel County Orchestra,and more. He has been a dancer with Christopher K. Morgan and Artists since 2016. He joined the Project C Studios in 2020 where he was teacher, and choreographer. Deontay joined the Houston dance community in 2023 where he has worked with Uptown Dance Company, Rivkah French Choreography, and NobleMotion Dance .
He is currently pursuing an MFA in dance.
Adele Nickel is a Houston-based dance artist, educator and scholar, and an 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 BA in Writing from The New School. Adele is a certified Alexander Technique teacher and is currently training to become a Craniosacral Therapist. She was a 2024-25 Artist-in-Residence with Dance Source Houston and was presented by DiverseWorks at their 12MM Festival in 2025. Adele was also recently a featured author in the Journal of Dance Education‘s special edition 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 websitewww.adelenickel.com and by following her on Instagram @kingdellers.
Kyle Rucker is a choreographer, lighting designer, and dance filmmaker born in Los Angeles, CA and raised in Houston, TX. As a dancer, Kyle has earned the opportunity to collaborate with exceptional choreographers such as Adele Nickel, Colette Kerwick, and Netta Yerushalmy. In his time as an undergraduate, Kyle created numerous works and received the Outstanding Choreographer Award from Chi Tau Epsilon in 2023. After graduating with his BFA in Dance, Kyle now serves as the resident Technical Director and Lighting Designer for the SHSU Department of Dance.
Under the artistic direction of HMD’s Associate Director of Programming Lori Yuill, The TerraForm(ed) Collective is an extension of Houston Met Dance’s Adult Studio programming, aimed at providing dance opportunities to adults who are interested in any and all aspects of dance making. The collective grew out of a biannual event,National Water Dance, that brings together artists across the country to draw attention to issues related to water and the impact of climate change. At HMD, TerraForm(ed) Collective has coalesced into a group passionate about dance, curious about how to make dances, and eager to bring dance into the world. TerraForm(ed) Collective performs site-specific work in response to nature, formed and informed by the earth on which we live. Performances are held annually on or around Earth Day, and in 2025, TerraForm(ed) Collective expanded its performance offerings to include HMD’s Adult Studio Showcase andArtists for the People
Houston Met Dance is a 501(c) non-profit, multi-functional dance organization that excels at instilling passion and excitement for dance in its students, inspiring children and adults through the art of dance and building an engaging and accepting environment for the dance community to thrive. For the past 30 years, Houston Met Dance has been dedicated to enriching Houston’s dance community through the vitality of its arts presentation and instruction.
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