Jacob Ireland was raised primarily by a visual artist and surrounded by creatives, and discovered performance early; starting with an impromptu (and entirely untrained) tap dance at his aunt’s wedding at the age of seven. That moment lit a spark, and with his mother’s unwavering support, he dove headfirst into a life of creativity, exploring acting, singing, dance, clowning, instrumental music, and multimedia storytelling.

As part of a desire to focus more on the arts, he now teaches aerial dance and performance at Murmurations Aerial in South Burlington. In 2024 he launched his own performance, Flying Squirrel Productions, which collaborated with Murmurations Aerial and other local artists to create a collaborative event, LunarPunk Fest 2024. Looking ahead, his goals are to continue investing in Vermont’s local arts scene, particularly in dance, circus, and theater alongside VDA.

Sonia Plumb is, at heart, a choreographer, dance educator, life-long dancer and movement artist.  Born and raised in rural Central Vermont, she migrated to Hartford, Connecticut to attend Trinity College, where she received a B.A. in Theater & Dance. Upon graduating, Sonia traveled between Hartford and New York City, teaching, dancing, choreographing and designing lights for dance and theater while continuing to train. She is STOTT Pilates trained in Mat, Reformer, Cadillac and Barrel. Creatively, her choreographic style has been heavily influenced by Limon, multiple intensives with Pilobolus, Mark Morris, Susan Marshall and the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. 

Sonia launched Sonia Plumb Dance Company (SPDC) as a nonprofit in 1991. As Artistic Director she has choreographed 50+ dances. She developed numerous programs ​​including: Moving Minds/Moving Bodies for children on the autism spectrum, a paid Apprentice Training Program for BIPOC and Hartford youth, a scholarship program for Hartford students age 7 & up, and arts integration residencies for Hartford Performs based on the Kennedy Center Model for Multiple Intelligences.

Nicole Ullman (she/her) lives in Rutland. She is a mom of three. She is serving as the Secretary for the Vermont Dance Alliance. At the start of 2022, Nicole joined with other dancers to form the Marble Valley Dance Collective. This group is working to bring high quality dance experiences; classes, workshops, and live performances, to the Rutland County community. Nicole holds a MA in Dance and Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Joy Madden is a choreographer, performer and bodyworker. She has performed throughout the US and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2001 she co-founded The Moving Laboratory, an innovative performing arts incubator in Boston, MA. She served as the Managing Director of Boston Dance Alliance from 2000-2003. Since moving to Vermont in 2007, her work has been presented by The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington Dances, Arts Riot, The Burlington Fringe Festival, UVM, and The Philly Fringe, among many others. In 2014 and 2015, she served as Community Mentor for Stephan Koplowitz’s online course, Creating Site Specific Dance and Performance Works, by California Institute of the Arts.

Paul Besaw is Professor of Theatre & Dance in the School of the Arts. He came to UVM in 2006 as the founding faculty member and director for the Dance Program and led the Program in the creation of a dance minor (2010) and dance major (2019). He teaches courses in choreography, dance history, performance, among others, and co-created/team-teaches an interdisciplinary class on the “mind-body problem” with faculty members in neuroscience and religion. Paul was awarded the University of Vermont’s Kroepsch-Maurice Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2010. During his time at UVM, he has served in a variety of academic leadership positions.

Paul is a choreographer, theatre-maker, and performer. His primary interest is in the development of original performance works that integrate collaboration across art forms. His work has been presented throughout the United States and abroad, at a wide variety of places, venues, and sites. He is a founder, leader, and active member of Dance Tramp, a Vermont dance/theatre collective, and also performs and creates work with sloDance in Lincoln, Nebraska.

In 2016, Paul was a Visiting Professor in the School of Drama at the Korea National University of Arts in Seoul, Korea. He has also been a tenure-track faculty member at Catawba College (North Carolina) and California State University, Sacramento (California). He has served on the Board of Directors for the American College Dance Association (ACDA) since 2007, currently on the Executive Committee as Vice President for Elections & Board Affairs. Four of Paul’s dances have received Gala Honors at regional ACDA conferences; in 2023, his original work The Undertaker Waltzes In, featuring UVM student performers, was selected for the ACDA National College Dance Festival at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach, CA. He received his BA in Theatre from Keene State College and his MFA in Dance from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.