RUBBERBAND

Rion Taylor established his roots in dance through the hip-hop culture of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Nurtured by Bad Taste Cru, he joined Battalions Crew in 2013 and competed throughout the UK and Europe. Training under Akram Khan with the National Youth Dance Company inspired him to continue his exploration at London Contemporary Dance School, where he worked with Hofesh Shechter, Dane Hurst, and Punch Drunk, among other artists. At the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he performed with the James Cousins Company in Rosalind, which won an award for Best Moments of the Festival. Moving to Montreal in 2018 to work with RUBBERBAND, he has continued to represent the company performing throughout Canada, USA and internationally, as well as recently taking on the role of Artistic Coordinator. Rion has been working closely with Jessica Muszynski since 2020, establishing himself alongside the emerging choreographer as a dancer, performing in festivals within Québec.

Jovick was born in Miami, Florida, but was introduced to the performing arts while he was living in Bogotá, Colombia. His formal dance training began at the age of 15 under the direction of Jaime Otálora at Bogotá Capital Dance. Later, he attended George Mason University where he received the Kidd/Stearns Dance Talent Scholarship and graduated with a BFA in Dance. During his studies, he was fortunate enough to dive into works by Yin Yue, Merce Cunningham, Lucinda Childs, Andonis Foniadakis, Rafael Bonachela, Micaela Taylor, and Kyle Abraham. Additionally, he attended Springboard Danse Montreal where he performed work by Lior Lazarof and Johannes Wieland. Upon graduating, Jovick apprenticed for David Dorfman Dance while also being able to collaborate and perform with various artists such as Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Cameron McKinney, and VIM VIGOR. Jovick joined RUBBERBAND in 2021.

Wyeth Walker grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he began his training under Denise Wall. This led him to attend the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, where he was able to study with and perform work by Peter Chu, Barak Marshall, Jermaine Spivey, and William Forsythe, among others. After graduating in 2022, Wyeth attended Springboard Danse Montreal. He joined RUBBERBAND in 2022.

Dareon Blowe, a native to Norfolk, VA, is an emerging Dancer and Choreographer who is fascinated with space theory, disrupting hierarchies in the body, reorganizing architectures, and tuning into impulses. He obtained his BFA from The George Mason School of Dance on a full scholarship, under the artistic direction of Susan Shields & Karen Reedy. During his time there he was awarded the Excellence in Performance award due to his adaptability in multiple Residencies. Dareon has performed works by Kyle Abraham, Victor Quijada, Wayne McGregor, Rena Butler, Sidra Bell, Micaela Taylor, Doug Varone, Camille A. Brown, Rafael Bonachela, Robert battle, Manuel Vignoulle, Shaun Boyle D’arcy, and more. In his time away from school, he attended professional development programs like Springboard Danse Montreal, Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Ensemble, and BODYTRAFFIC. In the year of 2021 he joined MOTUS the Company under the artistic direction of Diana Matos where he trained with Shay Latukolan, Rich & Tone, Sheopatra jones, Packrat, Sekou Heru, and many more. As a choreographer, he created four works during his time in school. From those creations, he was able to set two on Colgan High School Center for the Arts. Most recently, he has presented his work at the 42nd Annual Battery Dance Festival: Young Voices in Dance. He is going into his second season with RUBBERBAND.

Emma-Lynn Mackay-Ronacher resides from small town Kemptville, Ontario, where she started dancing at a local studio before moving to Montreal at the age of 14, to continue her training at L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec. She graduated at the age of 19, after five years in the professional program where she trained in classical and contemporary dance. Upon graduation, Emma began freelancing for renowned choreographers and companies, such as Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Anne Plamondon Productions, Gioconda Barbuto and Veronique Giasson, among others. Emma-Lynn joined RUBBERBAND in 2021.

Cindy Mateus, from Montreal, trained in rhythmic gymnastics, hip-hop, and contemporary dance, deciding on a dance career after her meeting with choreographer Amy Gardner. She specialized in classical ballet and contemporary dance at L’Académie du Ballet Métropolitain from 2012 to 2018. She stood out in several competitions, winning a first prize in the Youth America Grand Prix (2019), and for two years, was invited to attend the Junior Training Program of the Broadway Dance Center in New York, concentrating on jazz and classical ballet. She then danced for several choreographers at different venues. Among her television appearances, she was one of the top 14 in the second season of the Quebec TV dance program, “Révolution”. Cindy teaches dance and has choreographed works for numerous studios and events. She discovered RUBBERBAND during the intensive workshop at Domaine Forget and joined the company in 2021.

Mackenzie Corrales resides from the small town of Templeton, California. She started her dance training at a local studio before moving to San Jose, California at the age of 15 to train with Nor Cal Dance Arts under the direction of Tawnya Kuzia. After graduating high school in 2020 Mackenzie moved to Vancouver, British Columbia to dance with Arts Umbrella’s prestigious Graduate Program under the direction of Artemis Gordon. During her studies she had the opportunity to work with dance artists such as Eric Beauchesne, Francsico Martinez, Victor Quijada, Acacia Schachte, Cindy Selgado, Anna Herrmann, among others. She has performed pieces by world renowned artists such as Crystal Pite, Sidi Larbi, Anne Plamondon, Fernando Hernando Magadan, and Nacho Duato. Mackenzie joined RUBBERBAND in 2022.