About
Founded in 2007 by Carisa Armstrong and Christine Bergeron, BCDF aims to enrich the Brazos Valley community by showcasing the artistic works of professional dancers and choreographers. Each year, submissions are carefully reviewed by a panel of professionals, with selected works presented on a competitive basis. The festival fosters creativity, elevates contemporary dance, and connects audiences with exceptional artists from across the region and beyond.
2026 Artists
Layla McRae is a dancer, choreographer, and educator. She completed her BFA in Dance at Colorado State University, and she continues to explore new ways to move and create in different spaces. She is currently an MFA candidate in Performance & Choreography at Sam Houston State University. Gaining experience in performing, choreography, and teaching is an ongoing goal as she strives to share the passion of dance, to new and seasoned dancers alike. She hopes to show that dance is not only a profession or hobby for some but a passion that nourishes both the body & mind. Layla has taught at various schools in Colorado and Texas, educating students of all ages teaching contemporary, modern, ballet, musical theater, & improvisation. Additionally, Layla continues to develop a portfolio of choreography and research, in order to innovate her movement and contribute to the dance communities she is a part of.
Danielle Georgiou, Ph.D., is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans dance, video, theatrical design, pedagogy, and ritual. A first-generation Cypriot American, raised between Cyprus and Dallas, she draws on her diasporic experience to inform a creative practice rooted in process, experimentation, play, and failure. Her art explores identity, gender, and the expressive power of vulnerability through the body, often composing intimate, evolving self-portraits. As a performer, director, and choreographer, she creates works that encompass contemporary dance, physical theatre, opera, and film. Her method prioritizes collaboration, devising, and ensemble creation. She engages diverse groups in integrating physical performance with theatrical design and utilizes a consent-driven approach to directing, choreographing, and instruction. Recent directing and choreography credits include the world premiere of Stede Bonnet: A F*cking Pirate Musical (Theatre Three), The Bippy Bobby Boo Show (DGDG), and The Odyssey (Shakespeare Dallas). She also serves as an intimacy and fight choreographer, using consent-based strategies to foster collaborative storytelling and embodied trust within ensembles. She founded the Danielle Georgiou Dance Group (DGDG), an experimental dance theatre ensemble, in 2011. With DGDG, she develops original dance plays and musicals that challenge formal conventions and encourage performers to transform physically and conceptually. The company has earned repeated recognition from the Dallas Morning News, Dallas Observer, and D Magazine for its impact on the regional dance community. Georgiou presents her work nationally and internationally, completing residencies in the U.S. and Europe, such as at Château d’Orquevaux (France) and the Mudhouse Residency (Crete). She earned her Ph.D. in Humanities-Aesthetic Studies, with a focus on contemporary dance theatre and ensemble practices, from the University of Texas at Dallas. As a Professor at Dallas College, she teaches dance and directs the Eastfield Dance Company.
Evelyn Joy Hoelscher is an Austin-based choreographer, mama, movement artist, and Founder and Artistic Director of Spaces of Fontana, a contemporary company creating art rooted in hope and human connection. Founded in NYC in 2016, Spaces of Fontana recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary season with a memorable performance at ESPA in Austin. Evelyn is a proud member of Texas A&M University’s first graduating class with a Dance Science degree and now serves as an occasional Guest Artist and Co-Chair of the Performance Partner Program. She launched her professional career in New York City, performing for over 10 choreographers and serving as Dance Captain for Jinah Parker’s SHE: A Choreoplay for 5 years. Since returning to Texas, Evelyn has presented work at Austin Dance Festival, Dance Carousel, BCDF, Small Plates, and ConnecTXions, taught workshops for Texas Dance Improv Fest, 254 DanceFest, and BCDF, and choreographed four Georgetown Palace Theatre musicals garnering Best Choreography nominations. Her movement career has also included teaching internationally in Switzerland and Ethiopia. Her work is deeply shaped by motherhood, storytelling, connection, and play.
Rebeca Gamborino is an interdisciplinary artist whose movement projects arise from her perspective as a woman, immigrant, Latina, and mother. This lived experience lies at the heart of her pedagogy and choreographic work, where she uses dance-making as a form of activism. She has taught dance throughout Texas for the past twenty years and has showcased her work on stage and screen both nationally and internationally. She earned her MFA from Texas Woman's University in 2023. Recently, she and her partner moved from Denton to McAllen with their son to join the Department of Dance at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley as an Assistant Professor of Dance and director of the Dance Ensemble.
Abby Williams Chin
Abby Williams Chin is a choreographer, dancer, and dance educator who is interested physicalizing the mental gymnastics she, and many women perform to negotiate the different spaces they inhabit. She is interested in the tension in the space between laughing and crying, and uses wry, humorous narratives as a means of creating a shared kinesthetic empathy between the performers and the audience. Chin is the Founding Artistic Director of Cattywampus Dance, modern contemporary dance company, performing in numerous Chicago events. Chin has presented her work nationally and internationally at TicTac Arts Centre, Bates Dance Festival, White Wave Dance Festival, Austin Dance Festival, See Chicago Dance’ Dance Month, Small Plates Dance Festival and the North Carolina Dance Alliance among others. She has performed works by Sara Hook, Roxane D’Orleans Juste, Rachel Rizzuto, and Sara Tourek. Chin is currently a Lecturer in the Dance Science program at Texas A&M University.
Diane Cahill Bedford
Diane Cahill Bedford is a Clinical Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Director of the Dance Science Program at Texas A&M University. She holds an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography (2010) and a BFA in Dance and English Literature, Magna Cum Laude (2003) from Florida State University. She also earned her 200-hour Yoga Teaching Certification in 2021. Her choreography, which ranges from dance theater to contemporary ballet, has been performed in Portugal, New York, Vermont, Florida, Wisconsin, Indiana, Nevada, and Texas. Diane’s teaching interests focus on ballet and contemporary, choreography, pedagogy, and history. She has been honored with the Texas A&M Association of Former Students University level Distinguished Teaching Award and the National Dance Society College/University Master Dance Educator Award. Diane’s research interests explore progressive pedagogical practices coupled with mental health and well-being. Diane has presented at the National Dance Educators Organization (NDEO), The International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS), CORPS de Ballet International, National Dance Society (NDS), MOB Ballet Symposium, Texas Dance Improvisation Festival, TAHPERD, the Transformational Teaching, and Learning Conference at TAMU, and San Jacinto College. Her publications include a preliminary edition of a dance appreciation textbook titled Dance in Many Forms and other journal articles for NDS. Diane previously taught dance and directed Outreach Programming for The Fort Wayne Ballet and Charleston Ballet Theatre. Additionally, she served as Professor of Dance at San Jacinto College South where she directed the San Jac Dance PAC before joining the TAMU Dance Program. Currently, she serves as the President for CORPS de Ballet International and the Faculty Advisor for the Aggie Ballet Company.
Carolina Garcilazo
Born and raised in a South Texas border town, Carolina Garcilazo is an emerging Mexican American dance artist, educator, and choreographer. She began her dance training in drill team before expanding her practice into contemporary, modern, jazz, ballet, improvisation, and partnering. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting at Sam Houston State University, where her academic research continues to refine her artistic voice. Carolina has performed in both professional and collegiate settings across Texas, including Mind the Gap in work by Savannah Ijames, the Texas Latino/a/x Contemporary Dance Festival and faculty works by Adele Nickel and Andrew Smith, as well as Artists for Hope. Her choreography is rooted in structure and resilience, emphasizing clarity, strength, and the quiet intensity of disciplined movement.
Cole Hinson
At the age of 8, Cole Hinson began his journey as a dancer. Cole is a recent graduate from Sam Houston State University, where he earned his BFA in Dance. He is a contemporary -based mover and choreographer with a background and passion for balletic technique, acrobatic movement, and artistic expression. He has performed in a multitude of festivals with companies and solo artists around Texas, including Artists for Hope, Austin Dance Fest, Barnstorm, 254Dance Fest, Aimed Dance, Barnstorm, Mind the Gap, and Bailando for the last 3 years. He was a part of NobleMotion from August of ‘23 to January of ‘26. He has performed works and trained under Mike Ezperanza, Dionne and Andy Noble, Amy Elizabeth, Harrison Guy, Travis Prokop, Colette Kerwick, Jen Mabus, Lauren Serrano, and many others. Cole hopes to impact and inspire audiences with future choreographic development. Post graduation, he wants to continue to further his education, knowledge of the art, and to create healing environments in dance.
Matthew Sommers
Photo of work: A World of Play
Matthew Sommers is an Austin based dance artist. Matthew graduated from the University of South Florida, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance. After moving to Austin, Matthew has gotten to work with some awesome companies including Spaces of Fontana, KDH Dance, Early Era Collective, BLiPSWiTCH, Point A, and Dance Waterloo. Matthew makes dances about many things: astronauts, childhood, food. Whatever is entertaining him at the current moment. Matthew makes dances that use comedy to tell stories.
Grace Rogers
Photo of work: after. always.
Grace Rogers is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer from Knoxville, Tennessee, where she began her training with the Appalachian Ballet Company. Growing up immersed in ballet and contemporary dance, she developed a deep appreciation for both the technical rigor and expressive possibilities of movement. She earned her Bachelor of Science in University Studies with a Dance Concentration in 2025, during which time she expanded her artistic practice through performance, teaching, and choreographic exploration. Grace has performed with Perpetual Motion, at the Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival, and in Regional Dance America Festivals. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Dance at Texas A&M University, where she continues to refine her creative voice, investigate new choreographic processes, and expand her knowledge of dance pedagogy. Dedicated to the growth of the field, she aspires to contribute as a performer, choreographer, and educator, using her artistry to inspire future generations of dancers and to build meaningful connections through movement.
