Artists

The company dancers collectively share their unique talent, training with local and national audiences by performing the vast repertory choreographed by Charles.  Threads shares new works by national and international emerging and established choreographers via its Tapestries Program.

Additionally, Threads company artists get to perform works by new and emerging choreographers via Threads’ Tapestries Program, and work as instructors and facilitators for workshops, classes and other community events.

To inquire about opportunities with the company,  review our professional dance opportunities, or contact Karen Christ Aalgaard at kchrist@threadsdance.org.

  • Dancer, Rehearsal Production Manager

    Fresh from the farm, Karen Christ Aalgaard hails from Lakota, Iowa. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a BFA in Dance. Prior to college she studied under the direction of Michelle Clegg. Karen has been a company member with Threads Dance Project in 2012. She also does her bionic boogie with Analog Dance Works, Vox Medusa and Ruby Josephine Dance Theater. She is a teaching artist throughout the Twin Cities and founder of 43x94 Movement Research.

  • Dancer

    Nieya Amezquita is a Minnesota-based professional dancer working with Threads Dance Project and Rhythmically Speaking. She has also performed works with Concerto Dance, Yuki Tokuda, Off-Leash Area and Alexandra Bodnarchuk Dance Projects. Nieya earned a BFA in Dance from the University of Georgia. There she had the opportunity to perform nationally and internationally with founding company CADE:NCE before studying in Portugal with the Addo Platform. Most recently, Nieya has been a featured artist in the Blackness Is Arts festival produced by the Guthrie Theater, choreographed for Threads Dance Project and Alternative Motion Project, and launched her own dance company, Amez Dance.

  • Dancer

    Lily Conforti is a performer, choreographer, and dance teacher from the Twin Cities. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with degrees in dance and physiology in May 2021. She is interested in articulation of movement with music, and creating multimedia dance works. She is the director and choreographer for Corpus Dance Works. The group was started in 2019 and has performed in the University of Minnesota's BLUEPRINT show, FUTURE INTERSTATES curated by HAIJAK, ArtBox's annual show INBOX@ARTBOX, in the CALGARY and INDY Fringe Festivals, and yearly in the MN FRINGE FESTIVAL. Along with her own dance choreographies, Lily has performed in work by Kjara Wurst, Gallim Dance, Berit Ahlgren, Black Label Movement, Alternative Motion Project, and many other local dance artists. She has been teaching Contemporary, Jazz, Musical Theater, Partnering, Ballroom, and Ballet for 6 years, and she enjoys sharing her love for dance with all her students. This is Lily’s first season with Threads and she is so excited to be performing with them!

  • Dancer

    Malia Craft is originally from Hartwell, Georgia and is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in dance, a minor in exercise and sports science, and a certificate in K-12 dance education. Malia has a strong passion for teaching as well as performing. She teaches at several studios throughout the Twin Cities and is currently a company member with Threads Dance Project and Concerto Dance.

  • Dancer

    Adria Edwards had been dancing since the age of four. She has been trained in numerous styles of dancing throughout the years. She was a competitive dancer for eight years with Art of Dance Studio (Minneapolis,MN) and 4th Street Dance Centre (White Bear Lake, MN). She graduated from Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Arts (Saint Paul, MN) in May 2021. She attended the Alivn Ailey summer intensive (Newy York, NY) in 2022, and most recently completed the Alvin Ailey Independent Studies Program (New York, NY) 2023-2024.

  • Dancer

    Maddy grew up in Hampton, Minnesota. She took her first dance class at the age of 3 and has been dancing ever since. She studied at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities where she received a BFA in dance with honors. Since then she has performed with Concerto Dance and Analog Dance Works, and has danced with Threads since 2022. Maddy is also passionate about dance education and teaches youth classes at Creo Art and Dance Conservatory.

  • Dancer

    Sara Karimi is a Wisconsin native and a graduate of the University of Iowa (BFA in Dance Performance, BA in English). National companies and tours include 10,000 Feet Dance Company, The Architects, and Kayle + Co. Twin Cities based performance credits include Borealis Dance Theatre, Dance & Other Behaviors, Rogue & Rabble Dance, and 43X94 Movement Research. She currently dances with Threads Dance Project, Concerto Dance, Rhythmically Speaking and RJDT.

  • Dancer

    Brenna Mosser (she/her) is a dance artist (dancer, choreographer) based in Minneapolis, MN, USA. She seeks to illuminate the awe in her surroundings by sculpting falls, stumbles, and asymmetries gracefully. She spent two years in the Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa where she faced the reality of climate change, and has since dedicated her work to dissect and digest this crisis with her community.

    She earned her bachelor’s in dance performance at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, UK. Mosser supplemented her degree at le Centre national de la Danse Contemporaine in Angers, France where she spent two years learning intensively from world-renowned dance companies and their artists. There, she earned an L3 licence in dance performance and in arts management.

    She founded Analog Dance Works in 2019, a dance company whose mission is to explore the intersection between dance and science through choreographic works and roundtable discussions. Alongside Analog and Threads Dance Project, she currently dances Ruby Josephine Dance Theater, 43x94 Movement Research, and Zoë Koenig.

  • Dancer

    Shannon Mulcahy, born and raised in Chicago Southland, obtained her BFA of Dance from the University of MN- Twin Cities in 2017 where she studied under Toni Pierce Sands, Erin Thompson, Karla Grotting, Ananya Chatterjea, Marciano Silva Dos Santos and Joanie Smith. Her multidisciplinary training has allowed her a vast performance and teaching career. Some of her professional credits include Brian Brooks Moving Company, Contempo Physical Dance, Rhythmically Speaking, an array of MN Fringe Festival shows, ERIN COYNE Choreography and Sol Creative’s Wonderland. She is currently in her 4th season with Concerto Dance by Jolene Konkel and her first season with Threads Dance Project. Shannon is a dance educator as well, going into her 5th year with Ballare Teatro Performing Arts Center where she is able to teach movers of all ages from children’s Creative Dance to Adult Jazz.

  • Dancer

    Odessa Rain is a freelance dancer from the east coast. She grew up in eastern Pennsylvania and began dancing at age three in a small local studio. Two years later she attended her first dance competition and fell in love with competitive dance before seeking more rigorous ballet training at the Yocum Institute for The Arts. From there she continued her training at The Lehigh Valley Charter High School For The Arts in Bethlehem, PA as a dance major and spent her summers at the Joffrey Ballet School summer intensive in NYC. Odessa attended the Boston Conservatory on merit scholarship where she earned her BFA in contemporary dance performance. During her time at BoCo she was cast in works choreographed by Gregory Dawson, Otis Salid, Jon Ole Olstad, Yury Yanowsky, Zoe Schoefield and Stephanie Martinez. While in Boston Rain danced with companies such as Tilted, Dance Lab and Dance Currents LLC. Since moving to MN she has performed as Freya in “VANAHEIMR” with Fox and Beggar Theatre, performed in Black Label’s “Movers Make,” and joined Minnesota Ballet Collective as a company dancer. She also danced in De Mí Corazón with Amez Dance, which premiered at the Southern Theatre in June. In addition to performing Odessa spends her time teaching at Minneapolis’ Audubon and Northeast recreational centers as well as coaching a competition team with Dance Unlimited.

  • Dancer

    Arcelia Y. Rivera is from River Falls, Wisconsin. She graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato with a BFA in Dance and a Minor in Art History. While at MNSU, Arcelia studied a variety of dance styles under the instruction of Julie Kerr-Berry, Daniel Stark, and Allison Doughty Marquesen. She was the first dance major in the Department of Theatre and Dance to receive the Toy Wilson Blethen Fine Arts Award. After graduating, Arcelia performed in Valleyfair's premiere season of their dance show, Neon Nights. Since then, she has been involved in projects with Hatch Dance, HoneyWorks, Flying Foot Forum, Contempo Physical Dance (working with Brazilian choreographer, Mário Nascimento), and 8:20 Dance Company. Arcelia is also an instructor at MOMENTum Dance Project and St. Croix Valley Dance Academy, where she continues to pursue her passion for teaching the next generation of movers.