Julie Peoples-Clark, originally from Baltimore, MD, has been a go-go dancer in a cage in a night club, a showgirl in Atlantic City, a backup dancer for Richard Marx, a magician’s assistant, a teeny bopper in 3 John Waters’s films, a tap dancing book on television, creator of dance programing for at-risk youth through the Drug Enforcement Administration and a professional modern dancer. She moved to Vermont 12 Years ago with her husband Dave and daughter Ella. She is on the dance faculty at University of Vermont teaching contemporary, ballet, tap, musical theatre dance and pilates. She is part of Dance Tramp a collective of Vermont-based experimental dance artists. Most importantly, she is mother to Ella the Great and Emanuel Blessing.

Paula Higa,  a native of Brazil, has been creating works, teaching and performing for more than 30 years. In 2011, she joined the UVM Dance Program, where she has been teaching dance theory, movement, and performance. She earned her MFA in Dance from UWM, a BS in Chemical Engineering in Brazil, and she is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique. In 2016, she founded her own dance company, PH Dance & ErS as well as Encounters - an improvisational work of music and dance, in collaboration with trumpeter Arthur Brooks, and double bass player Anthony Santor. In the U.S., Higa has performed in the works of Mark Morris, Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), Larry Keigwin, Jennifer Monson, Tiffany Rhynard, Clare Byrne, among others. Higa is the recipient of NEFA - New England Dance Fund Grant, and UVM - Coor Collaborative Fellows Award. Recently, she had the honor to take part as one of the panelists of Martha Graham - Eve Project, Women in Dance - Here and Now.