Company Artists
JP O’DONNELL
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.
Bethany Kendrick
Originally from Fredericksburg, Texas, Bethany is a graduate of Texas Christian University (TCU), where she earned a BFA in Ballet and Modern Dance, along with a Pilates Teacher Certificate in Classical and Contemporary Pilates.
She began her dance training with Fredericksburg Dance Company and later attended Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas. Bethany has continued her development through summer intensives at Ballet Austin, Eisenhower Dance Detroit, and Bruce Wood Dance.
During her time at TCU, Bethany performed in works by faculty and renowned guest artists, including Nina Martin, Susan Douglas Roberts, Lalitaraja, KT Nelson, José Limón (restaged by Natalie Desch), Bernard H. Gaddis, Jamila Glass, and William Isaac. A notable performance highlight includes her principal role as the “Commandant” in Sh’ma, a Chita Rivera Award-winning feature-length dance film choreographed and directed by Dr. Suki John.
In 2024, Bethany performed as a guest artist at the New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA) Summer Intensive in New Orleans, Louisiana. She joined Contemporary West Dance Theatre for its 2023–2024 Season and became Rehearsal Director for the 2025 Season.
Viola Taylor
Viola Taylor received her B.F.A. from The University of the Arts in 2023. She is a New Jersey native who began dancing at an early age with her parents, both of whom are currently dance teachers. She started training at Halliday Dance of Pennsauken, New Jersey. Viola grew to love dance immensely and became a principal dancer with IMAGINE…Dance Theater. She has trained extensively and performed for great institutions such as Dance Theatre of Harlem, PHILADANCO! , Pennsylvania Ballet, Washington Dance Institute and Anthony Burrell Breaking Barriers, to name a few. She dances African, Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Tap, Praise, Afro-Cuban and many other dance forms. She also attended Eleone Dance Theater of Philadelphia where she danced for two years with Eleone Dance Unlimited and with the second company Eleone Connections. Viola has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC for the 25th annual International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference, in Cleveland, Ohio; Denver, Colorado and in Los Angeles, California with IMAGINE… Dance Theater at IABD as well. She is a four time state and national dance medalist for NAACP ACT-SO COMPETITION where she has performed and served as a Dance assistant. Viola was awarded a Gold Medal at the ACT-SO National Competition in Traditional Dance in 2016 a bronze medal for Modern dance in the 2017 competition, a gold medal for Modern in the 2018 competition and a gold for Modern dance in 2019. This is Viola’s first season with Contemporary West Dance Theatre.
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.
Rhapsody Taylor
Rhapsody Taylor, a New Jersey and Philadelphia native who began dancing at an early age with her parents, both whom are currently dance teachers. At 7 years old, Rhapsody was determined to take her first dance class with her mother taught by the legendary Katherine Dunham herself, which inspired her to continue the legacy and pursue her professional career in dance. She began training at Halliday Dance and was a principal dancer for IMAGINE… Dance Theatre in New Jersey. Her passion for dance led her to perform and train with various companies, conferences, and summer intensives such as, The International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference, Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Deeply Rooted, Joffrey Jazz Intensive, Eleone Dance Theater, and Philadanco’s Second company D2.
She received a BFA at The University of the Arts for Dance in 2020 and was awarded by their dance department the Elizabeth Pulaski Scholarship Award with high honors, Summa Cum Laude. Rhapsody has performed in works by Kim Bears Bailey, Wayne St David, Milton Myers, Robert Battle, Mark Morris, Kyle and Dinita Clark, Kevin Iega Jeff and Sidra Bell to name a few.
In 2021, Rhapsody began her professional dance career as a company member with
Forces of Nature Dance Theater under the direction of Baba Abdel Salaam. She was part of many performances including the Cathedral of St John the Divine, The Apollo, The Watergate in Washington DC, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Dance Africa in New York. She moved to Los Angeles California for commercial dance and has trained under Kiira Harper, Aaliyah Janell, JR Taylor to name a few, and has booked dancing in Dj Megan Ryte’s music video “Fly”, MACY’S Christmas Special, Music Soundtrack, Burju Spring Heels Collection, and was a dance lead for PEPSI with Shaquille O’Neal .
Rhapsody is extremely grateful to dance with Benard Gaddis Contemporary West Dance Theatre and is excited to experience all the blessings God has in store for her on this new journey.
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.
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).
Justice Jackson
Apprentice
Justice Jackson was born and raised in Houston, TX and studied at Sam Houston State University class of 2022, where he received his BFA in dance. Justice has had the opportunity to perform professionally in numerous works such as, the Houston Grand Opera in the production of Aida, Carnegie Hall “can we know forgiveness” and New York City Center Memoria to name a few. Justice is also a recent Graduate from The Ailey School 2025 certificate program.
