MISSION

Eryc Taylor Dance is a nonprofit dance company dedicated to fostering community connections through diverse and inclusive artistic expression. Through movement, ETD addresses social and environmental issues, creates and presents original performances and dance films, offers master classes, and commissions new works. ETD supports emerging choreographers and curates workshops for underserved communities. ETD strives to inspire change and bring awareness to critical issues across NYC and beyond.

VISION

ETD envisions inspiring and empowering communities through dance performances and movement workshops, fostering radical acceptance and connection among diverse groups. Eryc Taylor's choreography merges contemporary dance with multimedia elements, crafting immersive, thought-provoking experiences. Our ETD Outreach program is dedicated to using dance for social change and community building. We prioritize accessibility and diversity in all our endeavors.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, JUSTICE, & INCLUSION STATEMENT

ETD is dedicated to making all performances, workshops, and events accessible to individuals with varying abilities. Our team of instructors collaborates with and hires people with disabilities, ensuring that all spaces used for rehearsals, workshops, and performances are equipped with ramps, elevators, and alternative accessibility options. We also provide closed captioning for all performance videos. ETD creates works that resonate with wide-ranging audiences, particularly multi-generational LGBTQIA+, BIPOC communities and their allies.

PC: Nikola Bradonjic @johnnie_brada

  • Our ETD Outreach program uplifts vulnerable communities across the NYC Metro area through movement workshops. Today, there are ETDO workshops in 14 sites in ten Districts across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx. Eight of our ETDO sites focus on seniors in primarily Hispanic, Black, and Asian communities. Many participants face struggles like advanced age and limited mobility, addiction or substance abuse, mental illness, physical disabilities, and isolation.

    ETDO Key Partners

    • Acacia Network

    • Loisada

    • Lantern Community Services

    • Center for Urban Community Services, Fountain House, Odyssey House, The Felix Organization, Hour Children, Post Graduate Center for Mental Health, S:US

    Districts We Serve:

    • District 3, Erik Bottcher

    • District 6, Gale Brewer

    • District 8, Diana Ayala

    • District 14, Pierina Sanchez

    • District 16, Althea Stevens

    • District 17, Rafael Salamanca

    • District 40, Rita Joseph

    • District 45, Farah Louis

  • To ETD's founder, Eryc Taylor, artistic excellence is a commitment to opening up new horizons of creativity and expression, continuously striving for innovation, and maintaining the highest quality standards in every aspect of one's work.

    Performance Locations

    • Armando Manzanero Teatro & Teatro José Peón Contreras (Merida, Mexico)

    • Busan Cultural Center (Busan, South Korea)

    • Bryant Park Theater

    • Guild Hall (East Hampton, NY)

    • Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater (NYC)

    • Joyce Soho Theater

    • Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors

    • Martha Graham Studio Theater

    • Mary Heaton Vorse House (Provincetown, MA)

    • New York Live Arts

    • Province Lands Outdoor Amphitheater (Cape Cod, MA).

    • SLATE (NYC)

  • Collaborators are a cornerstone of the ETD. They include dancers, instructors, guest choreographers, writers, designers, technicians, composers, and multimedia artists. We are committed to offering opportunities to historically underrepresented and underserved people--women, BIPOC, disabled, and LGBQT+ contributors comprise at least 50% of our staff, board, collaborators, and audiences.

    ETD Collaborators:

    • Andrew Weeks

    • Daniel Tobias

    • David Kagen

    • Gerald Busby

    • Gustavo Monroy

    • Lois Greenfield

    • New Wave Arts

    • Nikola Bradonjic

    • Noa Wollstein

    • Rachel Neville

    • Scooter LaForge

    • Shannel Resto

    • Steven Menendez

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Eryc Taylor, President & Artistic Director

Eryc Taylor is the Artistic Director of the NYC-based nonprofit dance company Eryc Taylor Dance, its community outreach program, ETD Outreach, and the New Choreographer Grant program for emerging choreographers. Taylor holds an MFA in Dance from NYU Tisch and has been creating and touring work in NYC, nationally and internationally since 1995 and 2006 with ETD. He has received grants, awards, and government support from NYSCA, LMCC, SVOG, and Dance/NYC. Highlights include ETD tours in Mexico (2016 & 2017) and South Korea (2019); ETD's EARTH (2019), featured on the PBS ALL ARTS series "Climate Artists"; ETD's dance film, Uncharted Territory (2020), receiving critical praise, awards, and several film festivals; Factory/Refractory (2022) a critically acclaimed site-specific immersive dance production inspired by 1990s nightlife presented at SLATE NY for 2022 and 2023 residencies.

Nikita Cotton, Treasurer

Nikita Cotton received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from New York University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School. Nikita developed her love of the arts while studying abroad in Florence and London. Nikita is deeply committed to social activism and facilitating outreach to underserved communities; in addition to serving on the Board of ETD, Nikita is the Chair of the Junior Board of The Campaign Against Hunger. Professionally, Nikita is a fintech lawyer (NY admission pending) with particular interest in the intersection of financial and racial inequality.

Eric Gunhus, Outreach & Events

Following years as a Broadway performer and decades in theater regionally and abroad, Eric left performing to launch an event company in 2013 forming EG Event Group, specializing in the not-for-profit sector, corporate and social events. Theater demands a sense of passion for vision, emotion, and creativity. It also requires attention to detail, dependability, hard work, and, above all, a flair for compelling storytelling. Eric translates client’s visions into tangible feelings through the creation of innovative and impeccably executed experiences. Whether an intimate social celebration, a branded corporate event, or a fundraising gala, actualizing the story, rooted in a ‘why” is the key to a successful event. As a co-founder of Dancers For Good, a non-profit annual event in the Hamptons benefitting dancers, he fell deeply in love with ETD which has become a returning staple of the annual lineup. Clients include Inc. Business Owners Council, QVC’s FFANY Shoes On Sale, Newsy, Point Foundation, Stuttering Foundation, The Actors Fund, LGBT Network, Robert Marc Eyewear, Elle Macpherson, Rockefeller Group, CAIS, Room & Board, and many private social events. Originally from Iowa, Eric grew up overseas and attended California State University. He now lives in New York and East Hampton with his fiancé. He is proud to serve the vital mission and artistry of Eryc Taylor Dance.

Pamela Snyder-Gallagher, Board Member 

Pamela Snyder is thrilled to be working again with the multi-talented Eryc Taylor and his equally impressive group of dancers and support staff who make all the magic happen. Pamela’s entrée into the dance world is through costume design, which is how she and Eryc connected during their graduate studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Since then, Pamela has had a freelance career in the Arts, having designed for the stage and screen from off-Broadway to regional theater, opera and dance. Pamela’s interests align with the company’s mission in bringing dance to the people with its varied offerings of workshops that “help people help themselves” through the expressive and therapeutic dance medium. Pamela also has a passion for empowering the next generation and has been teaching at the college level now for 20 years in the NY-metro area. She has been in the public service as resident designer and costume shop supervisor at SUNY’s Hunter College and most recently as an Assistant Professor in the Fashion Design/Art Department at CUNY’s Fashion Institute of Technology where she enjoys exposing students to culture through the History of Clothing.

We acknowledge the ongoing contributions of our Administrative, Artistic, Educational, and Consulting teams:

ETD

Eryc Taylor | Artistic Director

Savannah Gaillard | Lead Administrator

Liviya England | Outreach Director

Cindy Sibilsky | Grant Writer Consultant

Daniel Tobias | Music Advisor

Shannel Resto | Social Media Host

Gabriela Marx | Social Media Manager

Ute Schwemmer | Bookkeeper

Taylor Ennen | Dancer

Miranda Stuck | Dancer

Sashalie Rios | Dancer

Cameron Arnold | Dancer

Isoke Wright | Dancer

Julia Foti | Dancer

Tommy Batchelor | Dancer

ETDO INSTRUCTORS

Johari Mayfield | Instructor

Nabarreus Cross | Instructor

Gabriela Marx | Instructor

Rafael Santana | Instructor

Jeo Flemming | Instructor

Gabriel Sanchez | Instructor

Emma Chart | Instructor