The Company
Josh Pacheco Dance Theatre is a newly emerging dance theater company based in New York City. JPDT invests in collaborative, interdisciplinary work that is representative of its company participants and their experiences. JPDT is oriented toward social justice and the expression of identity presented in abstracted, universal performance.
Josh Pacheco
Company Choreographer
Joshua Pacheco began dancing six years ago in California. In 2013, he moved to New York to complete his Bachelor's Degree in Dance with a focus in Psychology at Hunter College. He has presented work at various festivals including the Biomorphic Dance Festival, Dancers in Flight, and Hatch, as well as self produced "Split," his first evening length choreographic debut in December 2017. He is currently investigating his choreographic process after completing and presenting new work at Gibney Dance Center for DOVA Devices 5. Josh also performs with Babel Movement, Bryce Dance Company, and is a collaborator with Matt Elder Movement.
MJ Markovitz
Rehearsal Director-Collaborator
MJ Markovitz is a non-binary, NYC-based dancer, creator, and activist. Currently, they are training within the Professional Division of The Ailey School. Mary is also a Muse Scholar at Hunter College (CUNY), where they are pursuing a B.A. in Dance and Political Science with a double minor in Women and Gender Studies and Mathematics. Originally hailing from East Hampton, CT, Mary relocated to New York City at age 17. Over the past two years and counting, they have performed in numerous venues across the city working in collaboration with Josh Pacheco Dance, Satsu Holmes, Caerulus Dance Collective, Hunter College Dance Company, and more. One of MJ’s most memorable performances was as a part of the Radical Bodies Festival at the Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library.
Current Outside Collaborators
Joseph Peterson
Co-Composer, Music Advisor
Joseph is a Music and Singing instructor at Mark Morris Dance Group and has sung baritone for the Dance for PD L’Allegro Movement Project. Other credits include: Sobieski/Dimitri/Petrov in Michael Strogoff - The Workshop Theater, Albert in It Shoulda Been You – Gallery Players, Lavrov's Associate in When the Blood Ran Red – MITF, Booker in Blood of Angels – Encompass New Opera, Alderman Perez in Eddie and the Palaceades - MITF, Craig/Iset/Royal Moyel in The Whole Magillah - 54 Below, Capital One in Capital Capitals - Encompass New Opera, Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi – St. Petersburg Opera, Dr. Carrasco in Man of La Mancha - Theatrezone.
Past Collaborators
Satsu Holmes
Managing Assistant-Collaborator
Satsu Holmes is a movement artist and director from Honolulu, now based in New York City. She earned degrees in Kinesiology (Dance) and Arts (Theatre and Drama) from Indiana University, and a diploma in Dance Studies from Trinity Laban Conservatoire. Her process is rooted in connection, collaboration, meditation, and play; and her work seeks to share new perspectives within the themes of impermanence, inertia, balance, and space. She has worked with Josh Pacheco since June 2018.
Hiroko Takayasu - Performer 2015-2018
Hiroko Takayasu was born and raised in Ibaraki, Japan. When she was 10 years old, she began ballet under Makiko Ouchi, Yoshinobu Shigyo, and Mitsuhiro Nakao in Japan. She moved to New York City in 2012 to complete the International Students Program (ISP) at Peridance Capezio Center, where she studied ballet, contemporary, and tap dance. Eager to study dance in an academic setting, Hiroko remained in NYC to attend Hunter College and received her BA in Dance in June 2017. At Hunter, she studied choreography and Cunningham Technique taught by Ms. Holley Farmer and was one of five dancers chosen to restage works by Merce Cunningham. Hiroko also received a full scholarship for the summer intensive program at Rioult Dance New York, where she focused in Graham Technique. Hiroko continues her dance career in Japan, striving to improve both her skills and her creative expression.
Gabriella D’ Amato - Performer 2015-2018
Gabriella D'Amato is 22 years old and was born and raised in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. She began dancing at age 9 as an Irish Step dancer. After realizing her passion for movement, she began training in Contemporary, Ballet and Hip Hop dance styles. Her teenage years allowed her to dance rigorously at Broadway Dance Center and Alvin Ailey and partake in various intensives such as the Movement Invention Project and Dance Italia where she further developed her contemporary style. In 2017, Gabriella graduated Hunter College with a BA in dance and joined the Heartbreak Crew as one of their Hip Hop dancers. She currently dances for Epic Motion Dance Company and participates in small projects and performances for artists such as Josh Pacheco, Omri Drumlevich and Sarah Panayiotou.
Bianca Megaro - Performer 2015-2018
Bianca Megaro is an Astoria, Queens based choreographer, dancer and educator. She recently graduated from Hunter College’s Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program where she performed for Pedro Ruiz and various emerging choreographers. During her graduate studies Bianca self produced “Dancin’”, an evening celebrating the joys of dance which included many dance styles and performers of all ages. She spent several summers working with Alvin Ailey and American Ballet Theater outreach choreographers. Her many years of dancing have led her to train in ballet, tap, jazz, modern and contemporary. With that training she has been able to educate the next generation of dancers in a variety of settings. As a plus size dancer and educator, Bianca hopes to challenge the traditional views of what a dancer should be and encourage others to explore their passion for dance.
Stephanie Miele - Performer 2016/2018
Stephanie earned a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Farmingdale State College in 2016. She continues to currently choreograph, teach and perform through the MA K-12 Dance Education graduate program, at CUNY Hunter College and local dance studios on Long Island. She has previously performed in numerous showcases including Hunter College’s DanceWorx, True to You and Kaye playhouse dance showcase, Artist’s in Flight, and more, in works such as “Pockets of Light”, “What’s the Story?”, “Brink”, choreographed by Josh Pacheco, and more.
Adam Cuthbert
Composer for Pockets of Light -
Adam Cuthbért(b. 1988) is a Detroit-born sound designer, controllerist, and co-founder of the record label/collective slashsound. His work cross-breeds acoustic instruments with digital audio processes to create immersive sound worlds, evoking synthesized images of abstract environments, and has garnered notice from the the New York Times, Backstage Magazine, DJ Mag, and the San Francisco Chronicle, which finds it “hard to resist the vigor and inventiveness of his writing.”... He lives in Flatbush, Brooklyn with his wife, Rebecca, and cats, 健三 & 千代.
Ashton Corey
Notation/ Production of Drift -
Ashton's creative roots are in music performance and composition. He grew up playing violin in the Southwest Youth Symphony and learning guitar on the side. He later learned to play piano, bass guitar, drum set, harmonica, and accordion. He has written and recorded many of his own songs/arrangements, staged two of his original one-act musicals, and has worked as a music director. Recent music directing credits include "A Chorus Line" and "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at Marymount Manhattan College.
