Company Artists
Mayra Munoz
Mayra Munoz is a native of Las Vegas, this is her first season with Contemporary West Dance Theatre. Munoz is trained in ballet, modern, jazz, and contemporary dance from the Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre. There, she performed alongside NBT’s company dancers in numerous ballets and with Cirque du Soleil artists in A Choreographer’s Showcase. She attended and graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2022 with her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. During her time at the University she worked with choreographers Cathy Allen, Louis Kavouras, Dolly Kelepcz, Ari Mayzick, Christopher Huggins.
Malcolm Burton
Malcolm Burton was born in New York City, New York but spent his childhood growing up on the island of Jamaica. Moving back to the States in 2013, He found his love for dance in the church where he was founded by his first dance school Elevé Dave Theater. Under the direction of Diedre Sears, he trained in modern, jazz, african, contemporary and ballet. He later attended the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts in 2014 to further his dance foundation until he graduated in 2018. He also attended the Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley under the teaching of Karen Kroninger Knerr where he performed lead and soloist roles in ballets like the Nutcracker, Firebird, Pictures of an Exhibition, Midsummer Nights Dream and Carnivale. He was then accepted to Butler University dance program on a partial scholarship.
In college, Malcolm Burton enhanced his ballet foundation while performing soloist and corp roles in the Nutcracker, Raisin in the Milk (Ramon Flowers), Sleeping Beauty, Church Song (Susan McGuire) and Giselle. While studying at Butler, he also performed guesting gigs at local studios like Expressenz Dance Center and Butler Community Arts School. After leaving Butler in 2022, he went on to do freelance dance and teaching gigs throughout NYC, PA and TX. He is excited to join Contemporary West Dance Theatre for his first season.
Ava Stanton
Born in New Jersey and raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Ava Stanton began dancing at the age of two. She began seriously training at age seven, gaining experience at her home studios, Doylestown Dance Center, Budzynski Ballet Theater, and, finally, Bucks County School of the Performing Arts, while supplementing with intensives and master classes at Philadelphia Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Ailey School, and Drexel. She is trained in ballet, modern, jazz, tap, and contemporary and adores teaching and choreographing for all ages.
After graduating high school in 2021, she went on to the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program. At The Ailey School, she was able to dive deeper into the world of modern dance and work with a range of prestigious teachers and choreographers such as Ronni Favors, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Carolyn Dorfman, Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, Jacqulyn Buglisi, and Hollie Wright. She also had the opportunity to perform Mr. Ailey’s “Memoria” with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater during their City Center seasons in her Junior and Senior years.
As of May 2025, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program. Ava joined Contemporary West Dance Theater in 2025 as a Company Artist.
Kaitlyn Lindquist
Born and raised on Long Island, NY, Kaitlyn started her dance training at the age of 7. Following her competitive dance career, she attended Fordham University/The Ailey School where she graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Film/TV. During her time at Ailey, she was selected to perform “Chasing The Spirit” choreographed by Hope Boykin alongside the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ailey II for The Ailey Spirit Gala. Kaitlyn also performed with AAADT during their New York City Center season in Alvin Ailey’s “Memoria” under the direction of Ronni Favors for two years. Other notable works performed by Kaitlyn include pieces by Aszure Barton, Andrea Miller, Peter Chu, Madison Hicks, Clifford Williams, Gregory Dawson, Annie Rigney, and Nicholas Palmquist. She has spent her summers in Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Ensemble, LINES Contemporary Ballet Summer Intensive, and Peridance’s BLUEPRINT Summer program. Kaitlyn’s commercial credits include performing halftime for the WNBA New York Liberty and the Harlem Globetrotters at Madison Square Garden. Kaitlyn joined the company in 2025.
Kayla Brazelton
Born and raised in Chicago, Kayla Brazelton began her dance training at The Chicago High School for the Arts. Kayla went on to study at the University of Missouri–Kansas City receiving her BFA in Dance and Choreography. She continued her training at The Ailey School in New York City where she was honored to receive scholarship. Throughout the years, Kayla has continued to deepen her classical and contemporary foundation through rigorous training with San Francisco Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet Academy, Kansas City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Kayla has performed works by renowned choreographers including Jae man Joo, Rena Butler, Ray Mercer, Nicole Clarke- Springer, Dan Karasik, Gary Abbott, Christian Denice, and Kevin Jeff Iega. Kayla is extremely excited to begin a new adventure dancing with Contemporary West Dance Theatre as she joins them in their 2025-2026 Season.
Thibaut Witzleb
Thibaut is a professional dancer and choreographer from France. He trained at the Graham School of Contemporary Dance and The Ailey School on scholarship programs. During his time with The Ailey School, he had the opportunity to dance with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Revelations at New York City Center as well as on national television during the 2019 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Thibaut was an apprentice of Parsons Dance and a company member of Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, AriMDance, RudduRDance, Brooklyn Dance Festival Company, IKADA Dance Company, and Contemporary West Dance Theater in Las Vegas. For three consecutive years, Thibaut was part of Jacqulyn Buglisi’s 9/11 Table of Silence which is live-streamed around the world. Thibaut has performed at the DUMBO Festival with Earl Mosley’s Hearts of Men Diversity of Dance, the International Ballet Festival of Union City, NJ, Ballet Beyond Borders, Fordham University, the University of Columbia, and many other stages across the United States and Europe. He has performed works by Alvin Ailey, Peiju Chien-Pott, Bernard Gaddis, Christopher Huggins, Adrienne Hurd, Omar Roman de Jesus, Yusha Marie Sorzano, Bradley Shelver, and many others.
Thibaut is Norbert de la Cruz III’s personal assistant and rehearsal director and is assisting with his current and upcoming works around the United States, including for the Juilliard School, The Ailey School, SUNY Purchase College, La Guardia High School, and Point Park University.
Thibaut is an experienced Horton teacher and has taught at The Ailey School, Steps on Broadway, Harlem School of the Arts, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Dance Institute in Austin, Hawkins House of Horton in Chicago, Danceworks in London, and London Studio Center. He is currently mentored by Ana Marie Forsythe. Thibaut has also worked in various capacities for the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Paul Taylor Dance Foundation, and the Dance Magazine Awards in 2019 and 2020. Thibaut joined CWDT as guest artist in 2020 and is now currently a full member of CWDT.
Angelica Nieves-Merced
Angelica grew up in Linden, New Jersey, where she began her intensive training at Union County Academy for Performing Arts in 2012. In 2013, she joined the pre-professional dance company, The Well Performance Project, under the direction of Dawud Jackson. She graduated with honors from The University of the Arts in 2020, earning her BFA in Dance. While attending UArts, she became a company member with Philadanco’s DANCO 2 (D/2) Apprentice Company. In 2020, she was promoted to D/2’s liaison/representative while also teaching classes at Philadanco’s Dance Arts School. She has attended intensives at Philadanco, The Ailey School, Martha Graham School, and Contemporary West Dance Theatre. In 2022, she performed as a community participant in Bill T. Jones’ Deep Blue Sea project, working with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. She joined KYL/D as an apprentice in 2023 and was promoted to company member in 2024, continuing to perform with the company through its final home season in 2026. In 2025, Angelica joined Phoenix Dance while also teaching Graham technique for the conservatory, Danse4Nia. She continues her professional career as an apprentice with Contemporary West Dance Theatre (CWDT) in 2026.
Andrew Kahl
Andrew Kahl, originally from San Diego California, began dance training at the age of 14 at Expressions Dance and Movement Center and the San Diego School for the Creative and Performing Arts. At 18, Andrew moved to New York City to continue his professional training at the Joffrey Ballet School, where he trained for two years and had the opportunity to perform in multiple countries throughout Europe. During his time there, he was also a member of the student company, the Joffrey Concert Group, under the direction of Bradley Shelver. With JCG, he toured across the United States, primarily focusing on contemporary ballet. Throughout his career, he has had the privilege of performing renowned works such as Echad Mi Yodea, Esplanade by Paul Taylor, and A Choreographic Offering by José Limón, as well as numerous world premieres by Bradley Shelver, Clifford Williams, and others. Joining Contemporary West Dance Theatre in 2026, Mr. Kahl is very excited to continue growing and advancing in his dance career.
Justin Hohn
Justin Shemaiah Hohn was born in Queens Village, New York, and began his training at Alvin Ailey and Brooklyn Friends School, where he deepened his relationship with Hip-Hop, Afro-Caribbean folkloric dance, and traditional West African dance. In 2023, Justin began his pre-professional training in ballet and contemporary dance at Swarthmore College. During his studies he had the privilege to attend training programs at Gibney Dance Company, FLOCK, MoBBallet, and GagaLab. Justin has performed both domestically and internationally at Walnut Hill School for the Arts (Natick, MA), Orsolina28 (Moncalvo, Italy), and the Neues Globe Theatre (Schwäbisch Hall, Germany) under the direction of choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Florian Lochner, and Alice Klock. In 2026, Justin graduated from Swarthmore College with dual degrees in Biology and Dance. Justin has originated roles in multiple works choreographed by Swarthmore Dance faculty in Hip-Hop, Ballet, and Contemporary Modern. Alongside dance, Justin is a dedicated biological researcher with several years of experience in immunology, cellular, and molecular biology. Justin is extremely excited to join CWDT and to continue developing his artistic practices!
Finn Verdonk
Jontel McKay
Apprentice
Jontel McKay is originally from St.Matthews, South Carolina. He attended High school at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville, South Carolina. He graduated from The University of Missouri Kansas-City getting his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance Performance . Jontel has been dancing for 5 years and so far he has worked with renowned guest artist including Ray Mercer (Residential Choreographer for Alvin Ailey – Fordham BFA program) , Jae Man Joo (Complexions Dance Company ), Nicole Clark Springer (Artistic Director of Deeply Rooted Dance Company), Alonzo King (Artistic Director of LINES Ballet) , Garth Fagan (Founder of Garth Fagan Dance Company).
JP O’DONNELL
Guest Company Dancer
John Paul (JP) O’Donnell, a Kansas City native, began his dance training at Miller Marley School of Dance under direction of Tara Wells, and Christopher Barksdale. He went on to receive a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from the esteemed University of Missouri-Kansas City, Conservatory of Dance. It was there that JP had the opportunity to collaborate with such artists as Christopher Huggins, Kevin Iega Jeff, Ronald Tice, Gary Abbott and Dee Anna Hiett, who had a huge role in shaping his career. During his time at university (2017-2021) JP performed at the prestigious Kauffman Performing Arts Center (“Crescendo”), Starlight Theatre (“Grease”), Cedar Fair (“Grand Carnivale”) Modern Night At The Folly (Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company) and with Whidbey Island Dance Theatre (“The Nutcracker”).
JP joined Contemporary West Dance Theatre in 2021, and since then has been honored to perform repertoire by some of the greatest including Alvin Ailey (“Night Creature”) Donald Byrd (“Shards”) Milton Myers (“Ebony Concerto”) and Founder/Artistic Director Bernard Gaddis. JP looks forward to his role as Company Manager as well as the future of the company.
