MEET THE CHOREOGRAPHERS

U.J. Mangune (they/she/he) is a non-binary, Tagalog-Kapampángan artmaker developing work at the intersection of choreography, direction, and film. Born and raised on the West Coast and shaped by early roots in breaking, hip hop, and popping, U.J. builds movement from stories and honors dance as a communal and ancestral language. Without access to a formal arts education, they’ve spent the last decade learning instead through performance, collaboration, and lived experience in musical theatre and commercial media. Their choreography has received recognition including the Gypsy Rose Lee Award and BroadwayWorld Critics' Choice and has been featured in projects with Amazon, GooglePlay, and Macklemore. U.J. continues to grow a practice centered on connection, empathy, and the recovery of indigenous ways of knowing with the mission of using movement to reflect, reclaim, and reimagine the stories of the global majority.

Lana Zecchino is an artist from Verona, NJ. She spent the past four years training at Kanyok Arts Initiative, where she cultivated her voice as a dancer, choreographer, singer, and actress. While training in Manhattan, Lana connected with William Carlos Angulo and participated in two Youth Labs at Dance Lab New York—first as an ensemble dancer in 2023, then returning in 2024 to lead her own choreographic lab, creating two original works on fellow youth artists. That same year, she was featured as a choreographer in the KAI Gala. As a performer, Lana has appeared on renowned stages including Lincoln Center and The Joyce Theater, and has continued her training through programs like Jacob’s Pillow’s Musical Theatre Ensemble and Ballet BC. This fall, Lana will begin pursuing a BFA at the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.

Luke Biddinger is a dancer, choreographer, and visionary in NYC. Luke’s love of dance started with a single dance class at the age of 10. He has strong technique in many styles of dance, and an outrageous amount of creativity and optimism. Luke is currently dancing with Parsons Dance, and when not busy dancing and performing, he hopes to uplift all through his choreographic work