Lyric Opera 2023-2024 Issue 6 - Champion

33 | Lyric Opera of Chicago among others. He worked as choreographer and associate director for West Edge’s Eliogabolo . Most recently, he served as choreographer and stage director for the feature film She Came To Me directed by Rebecca Miller featuring Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei. DEDRICK D. BANKS GRAY DANCER Lyric debut Gray is a dance artist, educator, and producer. He received his MFA at Florida State University in Choreography and Performance in 2022. He also studied at Jacobs Pillow in 2015 under Camille A. Brown and Moncell E. Durden, in 2016 under Jawole Zollar, and Urban Bush Women Summer Leadership Institute in 2017. His teaching and guest artist experiences include adjunct and faculty positions at Florida State University, Florida A&M University, University of Wyoming, and Columbia College Chicago. Gray is a visiting professor at Bard College, a production assistant with Jawole Zollar and Urban Bush Women for special projects, and an apprentice with Camille A. Brown Dancers. Performance credits include work with Gwen Welliver, Ron K. Brown, Allison Janae Hamilton, Onye Ozuzu, Darrell Jones, Diane McIntyre, J’Sun Howard, Nick Cave, BET, BraveSoul Movement, Muntu Dance Theater of Chicago, and Red Clay Dance Company. MARCUS HARDY DANCER Previously at Lyric: The Daughter of the Regiment (2023/24) and Fiddler on the Roof (2022/23) . After receiving his BFA in Dance Performance from East Carolina University, Hardy joined the Inaside Chicago Dance company, where he spent five years. He has performed as a guest artist with SueMo Dance Company, Waterstreet Dance Company, and Chicago Dance Crash. LAURYN HAYES DANCER Lyric debut The classically trained dancer has enjoyed two seasons with the Met Opera Ballet. She has worked with renowned choreographers such as Wayne McGregor, Camille A. Brown, Rickey Tripp, and Bill T. Jones, and her modeling work has appeared in Vogue España , Vogue US , Vogue Italia , and The New Yorker magazines. Hayes graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a BFA in Dance and a BA in Business. MORGAN REED McDANIEL DANCER Previously at Lyric: Jen ˚ufa (2023/24) and West Side Story (2022/23). The dancer graduated from the Ailey/ Fordham BFA program, where she worked with esteemed choreographers including Jae Man Joo, Francesca Harper, Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, and Tina Bush, and performed with the Metropolitan Opera in their production of The Flying Dutchman. She joined South Chicago Dance Theatre as an emerging artist, and she spent a season with Visceral Dance Chicago. McDaniel had a residency with Ballare Carmel in Monterey, California, where she performed work by Noelle Kayser, Jennifer Archibald, and Ihsan Rustem. OLIVIER MEDUS DANCER Previously at Lyric: Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2021/22) . Medus will dance this season at the Park Avenue Armory and at the Metropolitan Opera, where his previous credits include Fire Shut up in My Bone s, Champion , and Porgy & Bess . His training began with Ailey II, the junior company of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Medus has performed with Camille A. Brown and Dancers and Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, and served as a dance captain for Norwegian Cruise Line’s production of the Broadway show After Midnight and in Havana , directed byWarren Carlyle. He currently serves on the faculty at The Ailey School and has taught at American Ballet Theater, Manhattan Youth Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet School. MARTIN ORTIZ TAPIA DANCER Previously at Lyric: Jen ˚ufa (2023/24) and West Side Story (2022/23). Ortiz Tapia spent nearly a decade touring with Giordano Dance Chicago as a company member. He has appeared in productions of Saturday Night Fever, Newsies, Cabaret, Mary Poppins, and most recently A Chorus Line. He earned a BFA fromUniversity of Wisconsin Stevens Point, and has trained also at Luna Negra Dance Theater and Thodos Dance Chicago. JUDE M. PERRY-EVANS DANCER Previously at Lyric: Carmen (2022/23) and Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2021/22) . The New York-based artist was recently featured in Harlem Opera Theater’s 100th anniversary presentation of Shuffle Along and in the Queens College Opera production of The Image Maker. He is a featured dancer in the Uprooted: The Journey of Jazz Dance documentary and the Hal King The Musical film. Perry-Evans has appeared in such productions as Dance