SEED

MEET THE CHOREOGRAPHERS

Bernard Brown is a performer, choreographer, arts activist, and educator who situates their work at the intersection of Blackness, Queerness, and memory. With an extensive ongoing performing career, Brown now serves as Director of Bernard Brown/bbmoves – a social justice dance company, choreographing for stage, specific sites, film, and opera. Brown’s choreography has been presented widely, including On the Boards, Dance Mission Theater, REDCAT, Royce Hall, Institute of Contemporary Art, Abrons Arts Center, Seoul International Dance Festival in TANK, and more. He choreographed Scott Joplin’s “Treemonisha” for Skylark Opera. Brown has received invitations, residencies, and commissions from Dance Italia, The Music Center, South Chicago Dance Theater, San Diego Dance Theater, among others. Their award-winning dance films have been screened in multiple countries including the Dance Camera West, ADF Movies by Movers(US), Manifest Dance Film Festival (India), Dance Camera Istanbul (Turkey), and the Oscar- qualifying African Diaspora Cinema Festival (Italy). Based in Los Angeles and San Diego, Brown facilitates workshops and master classes internationally, namely in Panama, Israel, Burkina Faso, and Brazil, and across the US including universities and community-centered organizations. A first-generation college graduate, Brown earned his MFA from UCLA and BFA from Purchase College. He is an Assistant Professor of Dance at UC San Diego, a Certified Katherine Dunham Technique Instructor, and is currently a California Arts Council Established Artist Fellow. The Los Angeles Times has called him “…the incomparable Bernard Brown…”

Erica Buechner has had an extensive, professional dance career in San Diego. She performed for Mojalet Dance Collective, Eveoke Dance Theatre, IMAGOmoves, Wallpaper Performance Group, The PGK Project, Patricia Sandback and Dancers, and Joe Alter Dance Group, among others. She was the recipient of the 2018/2019 Creative Catalyst Grant through the San Diego Foundation. She co-produced youTurn Arts (2011-2017), choreographing four of the seven years. Erica was invited to choreograph for Live Arts Fest (2017) for San Diego Dance Theater and Dinner Dances (2017) and Sauced (2022) for Art Produce. Her work was selected for La Jolla Music Society’s inaugural CHOREOLab (2012) and San Diego Dance Theater’s Young Choreographer’s Prize (2012). Erica attended San Diego State University (BFA in Dance) and was named the Outstanding Graduate of the Year in Dance (2006) and given the Alumni To Watch Award (2011). She obtained her MFA in Dance from Hollins University/American Dance Festival (2013). Erica was named by the San Diego Union-Tribune as an “Artist to Watch” (2014).

Guillermo Castro is a NYC-based performing artist and choreographer originally from San Diego, CA. He began his formal dance training at Canyon Crest Academy and Eveoke Dance Theater. He earned a BFA in Dance and Choreography from UC Santa Barbara, performing works by renowned choreographers such as José Limón, Shen Wei, amongst others. Guillermo has toured across the U.S. with LitvakDance and DiscoRiot and performed with Santa Barbara Dance Theater and Jean Isaac’s San Diego Dance Theater. Influenced by various choreographic processes and lineages, Guillermo’s work explores human experiences through movement, storytelling, and athleticism. Currently, he is a freelance performer while pursuing his own choreographic projects.

Cecily Holcombe discovered her love for dance after taking her first modern dance class with Jean Isaacs at UCSD. After college, she performed with Liss Fain Dance in San Francisco while earning her teaching credential. Since moving back to San Diego, Cecily has performed with LITVAKdance and San Diego Dance Theater and has been honored to work with many local artists including Blythe Barton, Lavina Rich, and Khamla Somphanh, among others. She premiered her first choreographic work at Live Arts Fest in 2022 and has continued to create and present new works in San Diego. She was the recipient of DISCO RIOT’s S P A C E Pro Residency in 2024 and is planning to present at ODC in San Francisco in June 2025.

Briele Melahn is a newly relocated San Diego artist. Born and raised in New Jersey, Melahn’s training has been heavily influenced by the dance community of NYC. While receiving her BFA through the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, Melahn rigorously trained in Graham, Cunningham, Ballet, Contemporary, Floorwork, Improvisation and Composition under her mentors Doug Varone, Stephanie Tooman, Bradley Ellis, and Shannon Mather. Melahn has also trained internationally at the Taipei National University of the Arts where she studied both western and eastern methods of movement. She has performed in professional works by Annie Rigney, Rosanlyn Newman, Hannah Garner, and Marla Phelan. Her choreography has been honored in NYC by the American Dance Guild. Melahn’s work today is centered around facilitating an experimental play between artistic physical rigor and pedestrian normalcy. Melahn works with dance, improvisation, and collaboration to explore the intersection of original movement and intuitive humanness.