Artists in Residence

2nd Best Dance Company creates, performs, and teaches physically rigorous, sometimes virtuosic, almost always slapstick dance-plays. We connect to audiences, students, and professionals alike as we share emotionally accessible work that is relatable, honest, and resonant.

Hannah Garner, named a 2025 Princess Grace Award recipient in Choreography and ‘25 to Watch’ by Dance Magazine, is a NYC based dancer/choreographer making work that “tackles topics like death and queer identity through rigorous, inventive movement and wit” (Dance Magazine). Having graduated from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Performance and Composition and a minor in Arts Management, Hannah has gone on to work with Doug Varone, Raja Feather Kelly, Sue Bernhard Danceworks, and Megan Williams Dance, in venues such as The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, the Park Avenue Armory, and New York Live Arts. Her work as 2nd Best Dance Company has been commissioned nationally by leading contemporary dance companies and schools, such as Whim W’Him Seattle Contemporary Dance, GroundWorks DanceTheater, GALLIM x CreateArt, Kizuna Dance, SUNY Purchase, the Hartt School, Bard College, among others. 2nd Best was the Resident Artist of Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (2022), Atlantic Center for the Arts (2021), GALLIM’s Moving Women Residency (2021), and Triskelion Arts (2019), among others. Hannah’s choreography has also been presented through Triskelion Arts, Mark Morris Dance Group, Dixon Place, New York International Fringe Festival, The Wassaic Project, and appears in music videos for artists like Snail Mail, Half Waif and Frankie Cosmos. 2nd Best works in person in NYC and lives online at 2ndbestdance.com.

Ziba Rajabi (b. Tehran, Iran) received her MFA from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and her BFA from Sooreh University, Tehran, Iran. Her primary practice is focused on painting, drawing, and fabric-based installation. She is the recipient of the DAG Prize for Visual Arts, Jerome Foundation Early-Career Artists Fellowship, and the Artist 360 Grant, a program sponsored by the Mid-America Arts Alliance. Her work has been included in a number of exhibitions, nationally and internationally, such as Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; AR, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Conkling Gallery at Minnesota State University, MN; Dastan Basement, Araan Gallery, Iran, among many others. She has participated in the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Vermont Studio Center Residency, and Terrain Residency. Her work revolves around reconciling her relationship with two distinct spaces: where she comes from and where she resides now. Utilizing an expanded painting practice, she investigates the politics, privileges, and hierarchies surrounding her complex reality. Responding to a sense of a growing distance from cultural roots, she sources Persian language and architecture to create fiber-based installations and paintings that operate as a sentimental refuge and, through personal tales, explore the collective experiences of displacement/distance.

Cory Feder (b. 1993, Greensboro, NC) is a multidisciplinary artist working across Colcha, ceramics, drawing, painting and animation. Inspired by the childlike perception of endless wonder, her work lingers in the interplay of the natural world, folklore and the divine. During her residency, Cory will be exploring the storytelling of Asian history in Colorado and New Mexico through the regional tradition of Colcha embroidery. Cory was raised in Denver, CO, received her BFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently lives and works in Santa Fe, NM.

Danny Sherrard and Rocky Duval met while serving on the Youth Speaks Seattle Advisory Board in 2006. For the last twenty years, they journeyed around the world, collecting accolades and honors for their musical and poetic prowess, only to find one another again in this collaboration of auditory magic. Rocky and Danny are joined by composer Doug Balliett in creating an evening length performance of The Epic of Gilgamesh that weaves humankind’s oldest epic together with classical vocals and Sumerian hymnody. Recent works and awards include the release of Sherrard’s poetry collection Cast Your Eyes like Riverstones into the Exquisite Dark (Write Bloody, 2025), Balliett’s tenure as Composer in residence at the Festival dans les Jardins de William Christie (2014-2024), and the premiere of Duval’s musical play, Hildegard, Reborn at Lincoln Center (2024). The trio hold deep faith in the power of historically informed performance and strive to connect audiences both to our distant past as well as to each other here and now through story, music, and myth.

Sari Soininen (b.1991, Raisio) is a Finnish fine art photographer known for her vibrant, dreamlike imagery and richly atmospheric visual worlds. Working with colour gels, flash, and long exposure techniques, she constructs alternative realities within the moment, exploring the boundaries between perception, symbolism, and the unseen. Her practice is rooted in philosophical inquiry and esoteric thought, informed by personal mystical experiences that challenge and expand the understanding of reality.

Soininen holds an MA in Photography from the University of the West of England (2021). She has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions across Europe and the United States and has published three books. Her work has been featured in major international publications including The Guardian, British Journal of Photography, Fisheye Magazine and the Financial Times. She is represented by Galleria Heino in Finland and Marie Valat Agency in France. Soininen has received several grants, and her works are included in public and private collections in Finland, the United States, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

LIBERTY STYLES (they/them) creates subversive worlds through tap dance, theater and electronic music. Based in NYC, Liberty is an avid beatmaker and tap dancer. For 12 years Liberty has been instrumental in building and growing DIY communities related to dance and electronic music in NYC. Liberty also has a strong connection to artist communities in the UK and Europe – they recently toured as a featured tap soloist with saxophonist Xhosa Cole and featured on his 2025 album On a Modern Genius Vol. 1, which received critical acclaim. Liberty also tours frequently with UK-based electronic duo Zyggurat.

An emerging choreographer, Liberty has developed work through Dance Lab NYC and has produced original shows at venues including Sleepwalk and Nublu. They created original soundscapes for the 2024 premiere of Ayodele Casel’s Diary of a Tap Dancer, a show in which they also acted and danced. Other credits include The Joyce Theater, NY Live Arts and the Apollo Theater. Liberty is part of dance companies led by Ayodele Casel, Orlando Hernández, and Michela Lerman, and has been featured in The New York Times, Jazzwise, and Billboard.

Chamin (Jungmin Cha) is a Korean artist working primarily with digital media, video, and 3D processes. Her practice explores gaps between virtual systems and lived reality, focusing on observation, distance, and non-intervention. Drawing from animation, found footage, and computational structures, she examines how belief, fate, and control are constructed in contemporary life.