“ImmerseATL helped me become more comfortable with living in my mistakes and allow myself to truly be seen. Additionally, Sarah telling us that as artists we are always researching in the body and bleeding the edges also encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone. At the end of the program, I can confidently say that I reached my day one goal of not being afraid to reach through my kinesphere and take up space.”
Khadijah Smith (2026 Artist)
“ImmerseATL’s Artist Program inspired, challenged, encouraged, and excited me. I made lifelong connections and learned so many new things about the Atlanta dance community. I had fun and felt truly ‘immersed’ in my craft each and every day in the studio.”
Natalie Lutman (2026 Artist)
“ImmerseATL has impacted and shaped the way I think about the artistic process, as well as what a career in dance can look like. It taught me that the process of creation is just as important, if not more, than the end product. It helped me see how the journey never ends, no matter how “successful” you get, and also that success looks and feels completely different to everyone. I gained a lot of confidence in making my own choices in a creative process, and not waiting for permission to do so.”
Laura Anne Kay (2026 Artist)
“ImmerseATL has given me the tools, confidence, and connections to feel prepared and ready for my future as a dancer in Atlanta. It has changed the way I look at and approach creative practice and choreography. I have gained skills and confidence in improvisation, contact and partnering, composition, speaking, and acting. I learned to never settle and to constantly be questioning, researching, and finding new approaches to movement even when it becomes familiar. Always craving newness and not being complacent allowed me to push far beyond what I thought my limits were.”
Ava Grau (2026 Artist)
“ImmerseATL completely changed my relationship with discomfort. I learned to become comfortable being uncomfortable, to embrace being challenged, and to trust that growth often happens when you're pushed beyond what feels familiar. I learned to approach that movement differently. I learned to widen, pour, and reach beyond the boundaries I had unconsciously placed on myself. The program challenged me to keep going through fatigue, trust my body, and discover that I am capable of far more than I believed. This mindset has changed the way I approach not only movement, but every challenge I encounter as an artist.”
Bobbie Akin (2026 Artist)
“The most significant shift I experienced was learning to create an energetic environment in which I was able to let my mind and moving body work with each other, rather than experiencing a battle between the two. Slowly, and this is still an ongoing process, I allowed myself to arrive in my body and the space, but I also learned to trust that I could let go take a leap without knowing where my feet would land. The moment in which that happens is so intoxicating and when you have the opportunity to share that experience in such a supportive and magical environment, it leaves you speechless.”
Nia Adé (2026 Artist)
“Working in an environment where individual decision-making was at the forefront gave me the opportunity to become more comfortable making choices. I learned to trust my creative instincts and trust that the choices I made were important to our creative research and contributed something valuable to the work we created. Through this process, I learned that creating does not require certainty and that it is my responsibility as an artist to simply create, even when I feel unsure.”
Elizabeth Steele (2026 Artist)
“The ImmerseATL Artist program has impacted the way I approach movement. I now see all movement as research and as an opportunity to discover something new.”
Grace Dougherty (2026 Artist)
photos by Shannel Resto | SJR Photography
