Many Happy Returns

CHELSEA ENJER HECHT (Performer, July 18-20 & July 25-27) (she/they) is a Mongolian-American dance artist residing in Brooklyn, originally from Minneapolis. She graduated from Purchase College, a State University of New York. They have enjoyed performing in fashion, films, installations, and the stage for the past ten years. Currently, she is working with Monica Bill Barnes, Jade Manns, and Megan Williams. They are curious how improvisation and performance can access intuition, connection and transformation. www.chelseaenjerhecht.com

CHRISTINA ROBSON (Performer, July 18-20 & July 25-27) is a performer and educator from Boston, Massachusetts. Her performance career includes work with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, David Dorfman Dance, Third Rail Projects, Sean Curran Company, Alexandra Beller, and others. She is currently involved in projects with Monica Bill Barnes & Co, Lisa Race, Kendra Portier, Heidi Henderson, and Betsy Miller. Christina brings curiosity and joy to her work, with a deep appreciation for collaboration and the creative process. She loves connecting people through movement and shared problem-solving. She was recently awarded the 2024 Choreographic Excellence Award from the American College Dance Association and selected as a 2025 co-presentation artist at Dance Place in Washington, DC. She holds an MFA from the University of Maryland and is currently full-time faculty at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.

INDAH MARIANA (Performer, August 2-3) is a choreographer, performer, educator, and parent. She has been teaching at NYU Tisch since 2019 and is currently an Assistant Arts Professor in the Dance Department. She has danced in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and across the US. Indah earned a BFA in dance from Purchase College Conservatory of Dance in 2008 and an MFA in dance from NYU Tisch in 2014. As a choreographer, Indah was awarded a Creative Engagement Grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2017 and has showcased work at venues and festivals including NYU Tisch, Lawrence University, Danspace Project, The Watermill Center, Seattle Asian Art Museum, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Dixon Place, and many others. In addition to performing her own choreography, Indah performs with Monica Bill Barnes & Company as well as Catherine Galasso.

MYKEL MARAI NAIRNE (Performer, August 2-3) is a Bessie-nominated dance artist, administrator, and creative producer from New York City. Two years after receiving a BA from Dartmouth College and returning to her dance practice, Mykel joined Dance Heginbotham in 2018. Since then, her freelance performance work has brought her to venues across the US, including St. Ann’s Warehouse in the Off-Broadway revival of Oklahoma!, Jacob’s Pillow, REDCAT in LA, the Whitney Museum of Art, Danspace Project, and Baryshnikov Arts Center, to name a few. She began working with Monica Bill Barnes & Company in 2019 and has had the privilege of working with the company on various shows ever since! In addition to her work with MBB&Co, Mykel currently collaborates and performs with Faye Driscoll (WEATHERING), Dance Heginbotham, and Megan Williams Dance Projects. MykelMaraiNairne.com / IG: @mykelmarai

MONICA BILL BARNES & COMPANY was founded in 1997 as a New York based dance company. The company began with a suitcase of costumes and a collection of solos that could be performed anywhere. Since its founding, Barnes has worked with many artists and performers, including long time collaborators/designers Jane Cox and Kelly Hanson and performer Anna Bass in developing relatable work with a subversive sense of humor. Since 2013, MBB&CO has been co-led by Monica in partnership with Robbie Saenz de Viteri where the mission evolved to “bringing dance where it doesn’t belong.” Together, Monica and Robbie make performances that combine their shared interest in the underlying comedy at work in our lives and make shows that hope to find something sacred in the mundane. They cross genres between dance, theater, storytelling, creative nonfiction, feminist treatises, and comedy. Their work has traveled to a wide range of theaters ranging from off-Broadway's WP Theater to The Sydney Opera House, and many in between. They've also created performances in malls, conference rooms, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and interactive websites. They redefine what constitutes performance in every show, while maintaining the audience's experience as the center of everything they create. Their work has been honored by the Bessie Awards, the Lilly Awards, and the Chita Rivera Awards, as well as numerous foundations.

MONICA BILL BARNES (Creator) is a dancer and choreographer. Since MBB&CO’s founding in 1997, her choreography has been seen in many places, such as New York City’s Bowling Green public fountain, on stage at Carnegie Hall, throughout the galleries of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and in Greta Gerwig’s film Little Women. The company has been presented in over 50 cities and internationally in venues ranging from The Kennedy Center to the Sydney Opera House in a collaboration with Ira Glass in Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host. Barnes began collaborating with Robbie Saenz de Viteri in 2013 at which point the company adopted the motto of “bringing dance where it doesn’t belong.” Recent collaborations include two online works created during the pandemic - Keep Moving and It’s 3:07 Again, national and international tour of The Running Show; a site specific show in a mall - Days Go By; and most recently an off-Broadway run of Many Happy Returns at Playwrights Horizons and a new site specific show Lunch Dances at The New York Public Library.

ROBBIE SAENZ DE VITERI (Creator and Writer) writes and creates live performances with choreographer Monica Bill Barnes. Their work combines stories and movement, creating innovative theatrical events for audiences of all kinds. Their memory play, Many Happy Returns, was a NYTimes Critic’s Pick in a sold-out extended run off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. They also create site specific work in iconic New York City spaces such as Lunch Dances at the New York Public Library, The Museum Workout at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Days Go By at Brookfield Place. These public interventions blur the boundaries between pedestrians and performers, finding the stories beneath the surface of the small moments around us every day. Their work has been honored by the Bessie Awards, the Lilly Awards for supporting women in theater, as well as numerous foundations. They’ve appeared on stages around the world, from off-Broadway theaters in NYC like WP Theater to the Esplanade in Singapore. Robbie is an alum of Muhlenberg College where he studied writing with David Rosenwasser. His writing has been published in The Brooklyn Rail and online publications like Take The Handle. He is incredibly grateful to his partner Rachel Bonds and their two wonderful children.

FLANNERY GREGG (Rehearsal Director) is a performer, movement director, and rehearsal director based in NYC. She has rehearsal directed and performed in Monica Bill Barnes & Company’s productions of The Running Show, Day’s Go By, Keep Moving and It’s 3:07 Again. She has also worked alongside Barnes as an associate choreographer/dancer on the feature film Little Women (dir. Greta Gerwig.) Flannery is the movement director of The Reality Show: NYU (created by Elizabeth Swados), staging performances at the Barclays Center, Radio City Music Hall, and NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. She was the assistant choreographer to Sam Pinkleton on the Broadway musical Natasha Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 and the associate choreographer to Sonya Tayeh for Sing Street on Broadway. Born and raised in San Diego, Flannery got her BA in World Arts and Cultures from UCLA. She is thrilled to be dancing with MBB & Co.

ANNE KAUFFMAN (Directing Consultant) New York Philharmonic, BAM, Ars Nova, NYTW, Roundabout Theatre Company, Encores! Off-Center, Women’s Project, Playwrights Horizons, MCC, The Public, P73 Productions, New Georges, Vineyard Theater, LCT3, Yale Rep, Steppenwolf, Goodman Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Z Space, American Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Rep. She is a Resident Director at Roundabout Theater, Artistic Associate and Founding Member of The Civilians, a Clubbed Thumb Associate Artist and co-creator of the CT Directing Fellowship, a New Georges Associate Artist, an SDC Executive Board Member, Vice President and Trustee of SDCF 2020-2023 and Artistic Director of City Center’s Encores! Off-Center 2017-2020. Kauffman’s awards include a 2024 Tony nomination for Best Director for Mary Jane, a 2023 Tony nomination for Best Revival for The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window, three Obies, the Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Exceptional Creativity from Lincoln Center, the Alan Schneider Director Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, a Drama League award and the Joe A. Callaway. Co-creator of the Cast Album Project with Jeanine Tesori.

BARBARA SAMUELS (Lighting & Set Designer) (she/her) is an Obie and Henry Hewes Award winning queer designer, organizer and producer creating design-forward live events that prioritize generosity, equity, and representation. New York credits include designs at Soho Rep, Signature, MCC, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, TFANA, NYTW, Playwrights Horizons, NAATCO, Ma-Yi, WP Theater, The Bushwick Starr, Monica Bill Barnes & Company, Target Margin, Beth Morrison Projects, New Georges, Little Island, The Public and Clubbed Thumb. Regional: Pig Iron, Bard Summerscape, The Alley, Long Wharf, ACT, Woolly Mammoth, Playmakers, Kansas City Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Shakespeare Theater Company, and Trinity Rep. New Georges Affiliated Artist. 2016 Target Margin Institute. Wingspace Member. WP Lab 2022-24. BA, Fordham; MFA, NYU. Proud Member USA829. www.barbarasamuels.com

KAYE VOYCE (Costume Designer) Recent credits include Uncle Vanya (LCT/Broadway), The Welkin (Atlantic), Staff Meal (Playwrights Horizons), Waiting for Godot (set and costumes, Geffen Playhouse), The Listeners (Opera Philadelphia, Den Norske Opera and Chicago Lyric Opera), Harry Clarke (London West End), Jonah (Roundabout), In the Fall (Trisha Brown Dance Company).

ELIZABETH FURMAN (Associate Producer) is a Brooklyn based administrator, associate producer and creative who has been working with MBB&CO in a variety of roles since 2017. She has supported Happy Hour, One Night Only, The Museum Workout, and The Running Show, both in NYC and on tour. As an associate producer Elizabeth has produced, Days Go By, digital shows Keep Moving, It’s 3:07 Again, and their newer works The Running Show, Many Happy Returns, and Lunch Dances, a site-specific show at the New York Public Library. Elizabeth loves sharing the company’s work with new audiences be them near, far, or via the computer screen.

ZACK LOBEL (Associate Lighting Designer) is a lighting and video designer working across theater, museums, and nightlife. His work has been seen at the Guggenheim Museum, Lincoln Center, The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, HERE Arts, Webster Hall, and more. He is the lighting director for Omari Wiles’ Bessie Award–winning dance company, with performances at The Joyce Theater, American Dance Festival, and other major venues. For more: zacklobel.com @zacklobel