Tim Russell lives at the confluence of the aural and the visual. He has been called “The premier composer for Modern Dance in Milwaukee" (Shepherd Express), and a “thrilling show within the show” (DanceTabs). Tim has created over eighty works specifically for choreography, most of which exist live, in collaboration with movement. His commitment to the nowness in performance led him to co-create/curate, along with choreographer Maria Gillespie, Hyperlocal MKE, a Music and Dance improvisation series that exists to this day in Milwaukee. Along with Tim’s long time collaboration with the Gerald Casel Dance Company, his audio shares the stage with choreographic artists such as: Kate Corby, Abby Crain, Danceworks Maria Gillespie, Holly Johnston, Stephan Sara Shelton Mann, Li Chiao Ping, Liz Sexe, Marlene Skog, Wildspace Dance and Jin Wen Yu, bringing Tim and his music across the world from Dock 11 in Berlin to YBCA in San Francisco. He holds an MFA in Music Improvisation from Mills College in Oakland, California, where he studied electronic music, composition and improvisation with the likes of Fred Frith, Roscoe Mitchell and Zeena Parkins. Along with recently assuming the position of Music Director for the University of Wisconsin’s Dance Department, Tim has also been selected as 2019–20 Cowles Visiting Artists at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a first for a Musician in the field of Dance.

Liz Sexe is a dance educator, performer and director of Sexe Dance.  Sexe Dance’s mission is to curate performance opportunities that support the local dance community.   She has performed both regionally and nationally with Marlene Skog and Dancers and Li Chiao-Ping Dance Company.  Sexe is described in Madison’s Isthmus as a “clean and efficient mover,” and having “toughness under her grace.”   Her choreographic work has been featured at the World Dance Alliance Festival in Hawaii, UW-Madison, Danceworks in Milwaukee, WI, and UW-Eau Claire. Currently, Sexe is a lecturer in UW-Madison’s Dance Department and a Pilates instructor at Pilates Central in Madison, WI.  Check out more at lizsexedance.com

uan Carlos Díaz Vélez began his dance training in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he studied under several teachers including Carmen Sandoval, Lucila Arce, Helen Hoth, and Alex Zybin. He later studied at the San Francisco and Pacific Northwest Ballet schools and was offered an apprenticeship with the American Festival Ballet at age 17. He then returned to Guadalajara where he danced with Ballet de Cámara de Jalisco before joining the Spokane Ballet as a soloist. In 1989, he joined the Eugene Ballet Company as a soloist and rose through the ranks to become a principal dancer. He has also performed as a principal dancer with Charleston Ballet Theater, and Ballet Idaho. He has toured internationally throughout Mexico, United States, Canada, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia and Taiwan. Juan Carlos has worked with renown artists including Christopher Aponte, Toni Pimble, Jill Eathorne Bahr, Lisa de Ribere, Elisa Monte, Beth Corning, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, David Berkey, Pascal Riult, and Martin Løfsnes.

In 1997, Juan Carlos returned to college to study physics and computer science at Boise State University while performing with Idaho Dance Theater. He later earned a Ph.D. in physics from University of Guadalajara and currently works for the Wisconsin IceCube Particle and Astrophysics Center at UW-Madison. 

In 2007, Juan Carlos returned to the stage, exploring modern dance, including works by Martha Graham with Kanopy Dance, and flamenco with Tania Tandias Flamenco & Spanish Dance. Juan Carlos has danced in several productions by the Madison Opera including their most recent staging of La Traviata.