Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE
Featuring TU Dance

Demetrius Burns was born in Anniston, AL, and grew up in Boston, MA. He received his MFA in dance from Hollins University and his BFA with an emphasis in choreography from Boston Conservatory, where he performed repertoire by Karole Armitage, Mark Morris, Darrel Moultrie, and many more, as well as choreographed Urinetown in the musical theatre department. He spent several summers at the Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts as a student, intern, and instructor. He attended the Bates Dance Festival and Sidra Bell Modules. Burns also attended Jacob’s Pillow Social dance program with the American Dance Guild Scholarship under the direction of Camille A. Brown and Moncell Durden, and returned the following summer for the Improvisation Traditions and Innovation program under the direction of Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. He is a recipient of the EVIDENCE Dance Workshop Series Beth Young Scholarship. Burns became a company member of EVIDENCE in 2016 and is now the rehearsal director.

Austin Warren Coats is an interdisciplinary artist with a magna cum laude bachelor’s degree in dance studies from Kent State University and a master of fine arts degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Originally from Reynoldsburg, OH, he has had the honor to work with artists such as Silvana Cardell, Angela Luem, Catherine Meredith, Jess Pretty, and Jamal White. He has attended summer intensives at The Joffrey Ballet School, Ruth Page Center of the Performing Arts, and Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE on scholarship. Warren Coats has many interests in the arts including fine art, dance, and fashion design. He is a published illustrator in college publications and illustrates for various dancers’ projects. His life goal is to become a choreographer and artistic director. Warren Coats became a company member of EVIDENCE in 2021.

Khalia Campbell is a professional dancer with over ten years of experience, hailing from the Bronx, NY. As a former dancer with the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Campbell has performed on stages throughout the world, including in countries such as France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, London, Greece, and Israel. Campbell graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in 2011. She started her formal dance training at Uptown Dance Academy (UDA) and continued her professional studies at the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH), Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and the Ailey School. In 2012, Campbell joined the International Taiwan tour of the award-winning musical Aida. She has performed with companies including Kymera Dance, Dance Iquail, and Ailey II, the junior company of Alvin Ailey. Campbell appeared in a featured role in the 40th anniversary of The Wiz and has guested with Richard Siegal’s Ballet of Difference in Munich, Germany. In addition to performing, she has assisted the legendary Judith Jamison and featured in Jamison’s segment of Katie Couric’s Thank You Notes special. In 2020, after just two seasons with Ailey, Campbell was recognized as one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch.” In 2021, she was the dance fellowship recipient of the Princess Grace Foundation. And just last year, Campbell was listed in Crain’s “40 under 40” list. As she continues her dance career and legacy, Campbell desires to be purposeful with her God-given gifts to inspire the next generation to change the world.

Aaliyah Fisher is a Jamaican American performer and creator, born and raised in New York, and currently based between Philadelphia and New York City. She began her professional training with Eleone Dance Unlimited, a Philadelphia-based pre-professional company, before continuing at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City, where she earned a Professional Dance Conservatory Certificate in 2021. Fisher furthered her education at AMDA’s Los Angeles campus in pursuit of a BFA in dance. In 2022, she returned to Philadelphia to join Philadanco’s second company under the direction of Donald T. Lunsford II. ​During her time there, she trained with acclaimed artists such as Kim Bears-Bailey, Deborah Manning, Tracy Vogt, Milton Myers, Bernard Gaddis, and Christopher Huggins. Simultaneously, she enrolled in the BFA in dance program at the University of the Arts. Following the university’s closure in 2024, Fisher completed her degree at Bennington College, and graduated in May 2025 under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield. After graduating, she began her first season with Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, A Dance Company. Now, Fisher continues to evolve her commitment to performing by training and thinking critically about how her access to the world of dance will impact the masses in a proactive way.

Micah Isaiah is originally from Goldsboro, NC. Isaiah began his dance training at a young age and later received a scholarship to attend the American Dance Festival in 2015. His journey as an artist has taken him from his roots in North Carolina to Dallas, TX, where he danced with Ingredients Dance Company and was a company member of Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Over the years, Micah has had the privilege of performing works by renowned choreographers such as Matthew Rushing, Jae Man Joo, Darion and Madison, and Baba Chuck Davis. His diverse performance experience also includes collaborating with Grammy-winning gospel artist Jonathan McReynolds and rapper SevnDeep, as well as appearing in industrials and commercials across the U.S. In addition to performing, Micah is passionate about creating and has choreographed works in Texas, North Carolina, and Florida.

Samiyah Lynnice holds a BFA in dance performance from The Hartt School and is a graduate of New World School of the Arts Dance Program in Miami. She spent seven years with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble in Colorado, where she was nominated for the Princess Grace Award. Her notable performances include premiering Micaela Taylor's Resist at the 2019 American Dance Festival, premiering Cleo Parker Robinson's Standing on the Shoulders at Vail International Dance Festival in 2021, and performing as Firebird. She is the repertoire holder to Winifred R. Harris’s work, associate artistic director of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. She has also performed with Anita Baker on “The Songstress Tour” and has appeared in television and film. Additional training includes: the Academy of Ballet Arts, Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, and DunDu Dole Urban African Ballet. Lynnice is excited to begin her first season with Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, A Dance Company.

Spirit Priester is a Queens, NY-native and a recent graduate of the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase. She began her dance training at Innervisions Theater Arts Center in Jamaica, Queens, and later attended esteemed New York City programs including MOVE|NYC| and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. During her time at SUNY Purchase, Priester had the privilege of performing works by renowned choreographers such as Norbert De La Cruz III, Andrea Miller, Kevin Wynn, and many more. In May 2025, she was honored with the Kyle Abraham Rising Dancer Award. Priester is thrilled to join Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, A Dance Company for her first season as a company member and looks forward to this exciting new chapter in her journey.

Amina Lydia Vargas was born in Washington D.C. Vargas began her dance training with Assane Konte at Kankouran West African Dance Company, then attended The Washington School of Ballet @ THEARC, and in 2017 graduated from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts where she studied under Charles Augins, Sandra Fortune-Green, and Katherine Smith. Vargas is an alumna of The Ailey School, which she attended for four years on an Artistic Merit Scholarship in the Ailey/Fordham BFA and scholarship programs. In 2022, Vargas began working with renowned artist and choreographer Hope Boykin as a dancer and rehearsal director with HopeBoykinDance. Since working with Boykin, Vargas has performed in the 50th anniversary concert of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS, in a new dance theater work States of Hope, and worked with Grammy Award winners Renee Fleming and Will Liverman as a performer and movement coach at Carnegie Hall. Vargas is an alumna of the Jacob’s Pillow 2024 Musical Theatre Performance Ensemble and has performed works by Kevin Iega Jeff, Sekou McMiller, Christopher Huggins, Lyrik Cruz, and Luis Salgado. In 2025, she is dancing in her first season with Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, A Dance Company.

Malcolm Miles Young is a multi-hyphenate artist and vessel born and raised in New Jersey. He graduated in 2021 with a BFA in dance and a minor in business of entertainment, media, and technology from New York University. During his studies, Young has worked with and performed works by several renowned choreographers including Bill T. Jones, Ray Mercer, Shamel Pitts, Al Blackstone, and has performed with the cast of Disney’s Broadway musical Newsies, choreographed by Christopher Gatelli. His work was selected as a 2021 Palm Springs International Dance Festival award winner and has been featured in Dance Magazine and Men’s Health magazine. Young has served as the spring 2021 chief philanthropy officer intern at American Ballet Theatre, an artistic intern at Move (NYC), and has served as rehearsal director for multiple choreographers/companies. Performance credits include a Broadway debut in Disney’s The Lion King, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Jennifer Hudson Show, and was last seen across the country as Randy Jackson in the 1st National Tour of MJ the Musical. Young is ecstatic to be making his introduction into the concert dance field with Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, A Dance Company.

Prior to co-founding TU Dance, Minnesota-native Toni Pierce-Sands performed with Minnesota Dance Theatre, Tanz Forum in Germany, Rick Odums in Paris, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she was a featured soloist in such signature pieces as Revelations, Cry, and Rainbow Round My Shoulder. Her command of the Horton technique has led to teaching posts throughout the United States and Europe. Toni directs programming and teaches classes at TU Dance Center in Saint Paul. She was a full-time core faculty member at the University of Minnesota for 20 years and also served as director of University Dance Theatre. Pierce-Sands has been featured in COSMOPOLITAN Germany and GQ publications, the American Express Alvin Ailey commercial, and the Lester Horton technique instructional DVD series. She has written columns for Dance Studio Life magazine on various pedagogical approaches for modern dance. Pierce-Sands was awarded a 2004 McKnight Artist Fellowship in Dance, named the Sage Awards’ “2011 Outstanding Dance Educator,” and a panelist for the 2018 Dance Miami Choreographers’ Program. She currently serves as a member of the University of Minnesota’s Northrop Advisory Board.

Laurel Keen received her early dance training from Minnesota Dance Theatre, School of American Ballet in New York, Dance Aspen School, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle. She spent a decade alongside Alonzo King as a company member with LINES Ballet, where she originated 21 roles, toured extensively throughout the U.S. and internationally, earned the Princess Grace Award, the Chris Hellman Dance Award, and an Isadora Duncan Dance Award. Keen returned to Minnesota in 2011 and earned her degree as a physical therapist assistant from St. Catherine University while simultaneously developing her skills as a dance teaching artist in the Twin Cities and with LINES. She served as school director for The School at TU Dance Center from 2015–2021. Since expanding her own family over the past few years, she has transitioned to artistic associate with TU Dance, working closely on professional artistic projects and with CULTIVATE, A Trainee Program. She is drawn to working with artists who share the goals of curiosity, discovery, and transformation.

Sa’Nah Britt is a Twin Cities-native who began her journey at The School at TU Dance Center as a student in 2014. Throughout her tenure at TU Dance, Britt has been part of several works including the solo Witness, choreographed by Alvin Ailey, New Second Line by Camille A. Brown, Four Corners by Ronald K. Brown, and a trio entitled This World Anew, choreographed by Yusha-Marie Sorzano. Notably, This World Anew was originally commissioned for the Edges of Ailey exhibit at the Whitney Museum in New York, as a tribute to the life and legacy of Ailey.  As a second year CULTIVATE Trainee dancer, teaching artist, and choreographer for The School at TU Dance Center, Britt continues to pursue and shape her passion at TU Dance, and strives to inspire and encourage others in and outside the world of dance. 

Aleigha Mayo is a Chicago native who started their dance journey at the age of 13 at Mayfair Academy of Fine Arts and continued their education at Howard University and Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program in San Francisco, where they deepened their understanding and love of contemporary movement, improvisation, and ballet. Mayo went on to dance with Dallas Black Dance Theatre: Encore under the direction of Nycole Ray. Currently, Mayo is balancing being a freelance dance artist and a second-year member of TU Dance’s CULTIVATE, A Trainee Program after initially being part of Yusha-Marie Sorzano’s THREAT for TU Dance’s spring 2024 performances.

MerSadies McCoy is a Minneapolis-based dancer, educator, and social worker whose artistic journey began at age 12. She trained at Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and The School at TU Dance Center, later earning her BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase College, where she performed works by Aszure Barton, Kevin Wynn, Kimberly Bartosik, and Tom Weinberger. Upon returning to Minnesota, she joined TU Dance, performing works by Alvin Ailey, Marcus Jarell Willis, Ronald K. Brown, Stephanie Batten Bland, Jawale Willa Jo Zollar, and Uri Sands. Since 2020, McCoy has performed the lead dance role in Penumbra Theatre’s Black Nativity. After becoming a mother in 2022, she continues her creative work as a freelance dancer, educator, and yoga instructor while building a career in social services. 

Anna Pinault is a Minneapolis native working around the country as a freelance dancer, choreographer, and educator. She graduated with her BFA in dance from Marymount Manhattan College in 2018, her MS in human movement science from Concordia University Chicago in 2024, and she is currently working towards her National Academy of Sports Medicine certification as a corrective exercise specialist. Pinault has performed works by Yusha-Marie Sorzano, Camille A. Brown, Stephanie Batten Bland, Ronald K. Brown, and Isaac Martin Lerner, among many others, and her recent performance work includes projects with TU Dance, Black Label Movement, and the Des Moines Metro Opera. She has travelled nationally and internationally to train in a diverse array of movement languages, and currently teaches classes in contemporary floorwork and the Horton technique. As a performer, creator, and educator, she is passionate about sharing dance that—no matter how abstract—invites others in.

Charles Rosario is a Dominican American storyteller and multifaceted creative from Washington Heights, NY. He began his dance training at age 6 on scholarship at Ballet Hispánico’s School of Dance and continued his studies at LaGuardia High School for the Arts, American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, Sarasota Cuban Ballet School, and MOVE|NYC|. A 2021 YoungArts Winner in Modern Dance, Rosario has performed internationally in Panama, Mexico, and Cuba, and has appeared on Sesame Street. In 2022, he made his professional debut with New York Theatre Ballet, touring nationally and performing works by Merce Cunningham, Agnes de Mille, José Limón, Jerome Robbins, and others, alongside world premieres by Marco Pelle, Gabrielle Lamb, and Arthur Avilés. His artistry and journey have been featured in Dance Teacher Magazine and on the cover of Listín Diario. Rosario continues to evolve as a creative mover, adding his voice to the collective tapestry of art in this vast sea of expression. He is currently in his second year as a member of TU Dance’s CULTIVATE, A Trainee Program.

Heaven Sha’Rae, a native of the Twin Cities, discovered her passion for dance at the age of 2, beginning as a praise dancer at her family’s church, River of Life in St. Paul, MN. In 2015, Sha’Rae joined The School at TU Dance Center, where she trained in the pre-professional program until 2019 before branching out to explore other artistic forms, including modeling and spoken word. Most recently, Sha’Rae completed two years in TU Dance’s CULTIVATE, A Trainee Program (2023–2025) under the artistic direction of Toni Pierce-Sands. In 2025, she joined Ananya Dance Theatre as a company member while continuing to perform in TU Dance projects. Movement is at the core of all Sha’Rae’s creative endeavors, which stays rooted in Afro-contemporary dance, and she continues to shape and refine her artistic voice while using her platform to advocate for QT-BIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities.