konverj/story
konverjdans (converge/dance) is a Brooklyn-based, women-led contemporary ballet company co-founded in 2016 by artistic directors Amy Saunder, Jordan Miller and Tiffany Mangulabnan, three dancers, choreographers, and creators who hail from Zimbabwe, the US and the Philippines, respectively, and who come together (converge) in the name of creating art in New York City.
konverjdans converges dance with other art forms, collaborating and producing work across disciplines. We create, perform and present new and original work that reflects the voices within our community, a diverse group of artistic collaborators in dance, music, film, visual art, literature, and design. Since 2016, konverjdans has collaborated with over 60 different artists and created and produced close to 30 original works in dance.
The company has been presented at festivals like Norte Maar’s annual Dance at Socrates and CounterPointe festivals, Battery Dance Festival, Periapsis Open Series, the Women in Dance Leadership Conference in NYC, the Riverside Dance Festival in Vero Beach, FL, and a number of others.
konverjdans has performed, been presented, and produced work at venues all around New York City, such as Triskelion Arts, The Mark O’Donnell Theatre at the Entertainment Fund Arts Center, Mark Morris Dance Center, The Kumble Theater, Danspace Project, Gibney Dance Center, Socrates Sculpture Park, JOHN DOE Gallery, The Living Gallery, The UNRULY Collective ArtHouse, and The Muse Brooklyn, among many others; as well as venues around the country, such as at Fort Wayne’s PPG ArtsLab and Vero Beach’s Riverside Theatre and Vero Beach Museum of Art. In 2020 and 2021, adapting to the age of social-distancing, konverjdans produced several new works on film, successful virtual “live” performances on Zoom, film festivals, and outdoor performances.
konverjdans is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a 501(c)3 non-profit arts organization. To make a tax-deductible donation to konverjdans through Fractured Atlas, click here.
konverj/backstory
October 2016
New York, NY —
We’re a company of three women—dancers, creators, artists, and friends—who come from different parts of the world and who found each other (converged) in New York City, in the hope of creating something meaningful out of our shared passions, as so many dreaming people do in this city.
Our convergence—first as dancers, and ultimately as friends and co-creators—our mutual love for collaboration with artists across disciplines, our commitment to thoughtful dancing and meaningful choreography, and the rare kinship we share both onstage and off (a gift we’re continuously and happily discovering)—all of this has laid the foundation for konverjdans.
But to say that the three of us alone embody the soul of this growing company would overlook the true heart of what we do: collaboration. There is no konverjdans without the musicians, filmmakers, painters, sculptors, dancers, and choreographers whose artistry has inspired and shaped our work. The friendships we’ve formed, and the creative exchange that comes with them, are essential to everything we make.
While we’ll always carry our classical ballet roots from the companies we’ve danced with over the years—New York City Ballet, Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, BalletNext, Philippine Ballet Theatre, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Richmond Ballet, and Eugene Ballet—we are also independent artists. We continue to dive into projects with other choreographers in New York and beyond, often simultaneously (and often together), constantly feeding our desire to absorb new ideas, challenge ourselves, and grow as artists.
In many ways, konverjdans is simply another venture we’re diving—headfirst—into for that very purpose. It’s a space for us to test and hone our voices as choreographers; to create open dialogues between artists in dance, music, visual art, literature, and film; and to build new, layered experiences that we can share with diverse audiences—with our patrons, friends, and collaborators, with our home countries, and always, with each other.