What does it mean to truly know yourself? Ariel Rivka Dance's 2026 Spring Season is a cathartic journey through identity, authenticity, and the courage it takes to be seen. Featuring three works performed to original live music—each score performed by its composer—this season pulses with intimacy and power. Two world premieres join a beloved work in an evening that moves from anger and disbelief to clarity and connection. Together, these three works tell a complete story. And along the way, we discover simple, meaningful ways to connect. To be our true selves is not only possible—it is welcome, and invited. Bold, musical, honest, cathartic, and deeply relational: this is ARD at its most essential.

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THE PROGRAM

Show duration approximately 60 minutes with pauses in between each piece. No intermission.

Selves ii (World Premiere)

Choreographed by: Ariel Grossman in collaboration with the ARD dancers

Dancers: Asia Bonilla, Sienna Hamilton-Thibert, Kristin Licata, Casie O’Kane, Gabrielle Marino, Kalyan Sayre, and Hana Ginsburgh Tirosh

Composed and Performed Live by: Summer Dregs

Lighting Design: Sarai Fraizer, inspired by original lighting from Alexandra Vásquez Dheming

Length: 20 mins

Hide-and-seek is not just a game we play with others, but one we play with ourselves. This new work considers what we reveal and what we keep hidden, intentionally or unintentionally. Selves ii questions authenticity and, in doing so, reveals truths we need to face in these complex, raw, and enlightening times.

The Milk (World Premiere)

Choreographed by: Ariel Grossman in collaboration with the ARD dancers

Dancers: Asia Bonilla, Abriona Cherry, Sienna Hamilton-Thibert, Kristin Licata, Casie O’Kane, Gabrielle Marino, Kalyan Sayre, and Hana Ginsburgh Tirosh

Composed and Performed Live by: Lauren Conroy

Lighting Design: Sarai Fraizer

Length: 15 mins

Music commissioned by the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation.
The Milk is a tender meditation on longing, wonder, and the search for the self.

What You Want (excerpts, 2023)

Choreographer: Ariel Grossman

Dancers: Asia Bonilla, Sienna Hamilton-Thibert, Kristin Licata, Casie O’Kane, Gabrielle Marino, Kalyan Sayre, and Hana Ginsburgh Tirosh

Composed and Performed Live by: Summer Dregs

Lighting Design: Sarai Fraizer, inspired by original lighting from Alexandra Vásquez Dheming

Length: 23 mins

What You Want is a story of personal revolution and self-discovery. The work seeks to answer questions about identity, agency, self-imposed limitations, and the importance of finding truth amongst the noise of the world. It is a story of a universal struggle and personal victories, told through intimate duets, revealing solos, and powerful collective displays.

About Ariel Rivka Dance

Ariel Rebecca (Rivka) Grossman is a native New Yorker and Artistic Director of Ariel Rivka Dance, which she founded in 2008. Trained at LaGuardia High School and The Joffrey Ballet School, she earned honors in Dance from Skidmore College. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally, with performances at BAM Fisher, NJPAC, and venues across the U.S. Africa and Europe. Ariel has been commissioned by Dance Lab NY, Konverjdans, and Ballet Vero Beach, and has collaborated with companies including Rioult Dance NY, Taylor 2, and Carolyn Dorfman Dance.

Ariel draws inspiration from the struggles and joys of the human experience, particularly finding emotional depth through being a woman and mother. Ariel encourages her dancers to bring themselves to the work—molding pieces that are striking, evocative and multi-layered. Ariel Rivka Dance reflects this evolution from classical training to boundary-pushing work. Eva and Max are her heart ❤️.

DANCERS

Asia Bonilla originally from Trabuco Canyon, CA, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Fordham University and The Ailey School with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Mathematics. She has danced with BHdos (the second company of Ballet Hispánico) and Alison Cook-Beatty Dance and has performed on stages in Australia, Africa, and across Europe. Asia is also a Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist and a lead creative movement and Motional Literacy teacher for ARD. This is her fifth season with the company.

Abriona Cherry is a native of Southern Maryland. She trained at a variety of local studios as well as the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem Pre Professional Residency at Duke Ellington. Abriona graduated from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program with majors in Dance and International Humanitarian Studies. She joined ARD in 2021.

Sie Hamilton-Thibert is a Brooklyn based dancer. They have honed their craft in conservatories including the University of North Carolina School of the Arts from 2015 to 2019, and the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program from 2021 to 2023. Since graduating from LINES, Sie has danced for Ariel Rivka Dance and LUMU Movement, as well as in projects for events such as WestFest, Bloom Festival, and Movement Research at Judson Church. Their newest endeavor is creating and producing work centering queer artists.

Kristin Licata has a BFA from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program. In addition to ARD, she performs with Covenant Ballet Theater, and Matthew Westerby Company. She is Associate Artistic Director of the Matthew Westerby Company, and Director of CBT-2, as well as being an ABT® certified teacher, teaching ballet and modern throughout NYC and the tristate area.

Casie O'Kane, originally from Northern Virginia, attended the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program in San Francisco, California. She has lived and dance professionally in NYC for 13 years. Casie joined Ariel Rivka Dance in 2014, and this year is celebrating her last season with ARD!

Gabrielle Marino is a performer based in NYC. She recently graduated with a BFA in Dance from Northwestern State University in Louisiana in 2025. Since moving, she has joined Ariel Rivka Dance and has showcased her own choreographic work at small festivals. She is also a passionate Pilates instructor and spends her time teaching around the city. This is her first season with the company!

Kalyan Sayre is a dancer, acrobat, advocate, former farmer. She is a NC native and a NYC transplant. Kalyan loves to handstand and is a heliotrope at heart. This is her first season with ARD and she is grateful for the invitation to be part of such a tight-knit group of artists.

Hana Ginsburg Tirosh has a BA from Princeton and an MFA from Purchase College, SUNY. In addition to Ariel Rivka Dance she is a member of Matthew Westerby Company. She has been with ARD since the beginning, and is thrilled to be dancing with this wonderful group of talented artists. Her most perfect creations are her three sons, Ori (9) and Arlin and Zahavi (6). She would like to thank her husband, Raz, for his unending love and support, and her mom and dad, Mai Mai and Ron, for literally everything.

Spring Season 2026 Collaborators

Summer Dregs is an Emmy and Image Award winning engineer and composer. The influences you will hear tonight range from underground hip-hop, to Stravinsky, to the noise of everyday life. His goal is to blend these influences in new ways to express emotional states we can all relate to.

Lauren Conroy is a New York City-based violinist and composer who is passionate about performing contemporary music in dynamic multidisciplinary contexts. She performs solo and ensemble works spanning traditional to modern, and is particularly interested in the ways artistic experiences impact cultural and environmental memory. She is a member of BlackBox Ensemble, Orange Road String Quartet, and co-founder of Magpie Duo.

Sarai Frazier (Lighting Designer) is a Bessie-nominated lighting designer, production manager, and artist, born and raised in New York City. Her creative work lives at the intersection of live events, performance art, immersive installations, and theater—always rooted in collaboration, curiosity and care. Selected works as a lighting designer include Marks Of Red (Walker Arts Center) Anyyywayyy Whatever (Amant) Paradise Container (Pioneer Works). saraifrazier.com

Jillian Lewis is a high-end fashion and costume designer based in New York City. Jillian graduated from Parsons School of Design with a CFDA scholarship. She has been working in the fashion industry for almost two decades, most notably as Director of Design at Ralph Lauren, Senior Design Contributor at Anthropologie and Creative Director of her namesake line.