Retreat Guests:
Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell
Keynote Change Maker
@lindadenisefisherharrell
Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell is the Artistic Director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Linda-Denise ascended to this role in 2021, after an extraordinary career as a professional dance artist and educator.
Linda-Denise was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and began her dance training at the Baltimore School for the Arts under the guidance of Sylvester Campbell and Stephanie Powell. She was an apprentice with the Capitol Ballet in Washington D.C. and a full fellowship student at The Ailey School. While a student at The Juilliard School, she was invited by Hubbard Street founder Lou Conte to join the main company at the age of 19, thus beginning her professional dance career.
After three seasons with Hubbard Street, Linda-Denise became a Principal Dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, under the direction of Judith Jamison. During her 13-year tenure with the company, Linda-Denise performed all over the world and was featured in the works of Alvin Ailey, Robert Battle, Talley Beatty, Ron K. Brown, John Butler, Donald Byrd, Ulysses Dove, George Faison, Rennie Harris, Geoffrey Holder, Judith Jamison, Louis Johnson, Alonzo King, Lar Lubovitch, Donald McKayle, Elisa Monte, Jennifer Muller, David Parsons, and Dwight Rhoden.
Linda-Denise was invited to give a number of special performances throughout her career, including the White House State Dinner in honor of the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, and the 12th Annual Kennedy Center Gala with Nancy Wilson and Liza Minelli.
Linda-Denise has led a distinguished career as a dance educator in her hometown of Baltimore where, since 2005, she has been a Professor of Dance at Towson University and has served on the faculty of the Baltimore School for the Arts. Her research and scholarship in continuing the Ailey legacy within the Towson University and Greater Baltimore community has resulted in the Ailey II residencies from 2011-2019 hosted by Towson University and the establishment of AileyCamp Baltimore at Towson University in 2014 where she served as Director. Ms. Fisher-Harrell holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in dance from Hollins University and is an ABT® Certified Teacher. As a scholar, her entry "Alvin Ailey" has been published by the Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism
Linda-Denise and her husband have three children.
Sharron Lynn
Yoga / Meditation
@iamsharronlynn
Sharron Lynn is a proud native of Miami, FL, and high school graduate of New World School of the Arts where she trained in all forms of dance. During her time at New World, she received a number of scholarships to attend the Alvin Ailey summer intensive and was eventually asked to join the 2nd company, Ailey II. She then went on to attend Florida State University and finished with two Bachelor’s degrees, one in Applied Economics and the other in Interdisciplinary Social Science.
Realizing her talents, abilities, and artistic appetite encompassed the world of dance and more, she went on to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre under James Brill. She has worked in Film and Television on projects such as HBO's Lovecraft Country, Genius: Aretha, Vinyl, the Netflix Original Series The Get Down, and Scary Movie 5 and has also played the role of Cinderella at Lincoln Center in the Little Orchestra Society's production of Cinderella. She had the pleasure of touring the US and Canada with Disney’s The Lion King and was most recently performing with the Broadway company.
Sharron continues to work extensively as an artist and wellness entrepreneur providing tons of wellness resources via her company, Breathe Flow Be. She serves as a mentor to a number of young women and is always looking to inspire, grow, and expand.
Amira Johnson
Vegan Cooking Class
@moveandmunch
Hello! I’m Amira aka Move & Munch! I am a self taught, plant based food blogger from NY. My passion for dance, wellness, and my need to create led me on this journey to becoming a recipe creator, and I’m loving every minute of it! Join me on this ride to making plant based foods accessible and delicious!
Kameron Saunders
Choreographer of “Don’t Get Stuck”
@kamnsaunders
Kameron N. Saunders (St. Louis, MO) began his dance training at the Center of Creative Arts, or COCA. Kameron is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City with a BFA in Dance. He has worked with renowned artists such as Alonzo King, Alicia Graf Mack, Antonio & Kirven Douthit-Boyd, Sally Bliss, George Jones, Kate Skarpetowska, Matthew Rushing, Judith Jamison, Chloe Arnold, Ava Bernstine-Mitchell, and Martha Nichols. Kameron has choreographed for universities and companies including Saint Louis Ballet, Washington University in St. Louis, Owen/Cox Dance Group, Dissonance Dance Theater and many others. He has presented his works at festivals including PUSHfest in San Francisco, APAP in New York City and the Spring to Dance Festival in St. Louis. He has also choreographed for renowned actor Ken Page for his original play for dance, Sublime Intimacy. In the summer of 2018 Kameron was one of eight internationally selected choreographers for the Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob’s Pillow in its inaugural year under the direction of Dianne McIntyre and Risa Steinberg. In 2020 he was named Associate Artistic Director of Les Ballet Afrik, a dance company that fuses voguing with traditional African dance, afrobeats, and house dance styles, founded by Omari Wiles. Most recently Kameron co-founded The K/P Project in St. Louis, MO alongside Prince Lyons - an arts initiative dedicated to bringing performance opportunities to underrepresented artists in the community.
Amarji King
Resident DJ
@amarji_king
Amarji King is a Dallas and Houston based Dj, Model, and Photographer. As a recent graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, they have dedicated the last 2 years of their life to creating music and art that is queer, and POC inclusive. Their work focuses on creating safe spaces for all through authentic expression and always guarantees a fun time! Whether on the dance floor listening to house music or in front of their camera you are guaranteed to feel the love anytime Amarji King is around!