Hivewild
Founded in 2016 by Artistic Director Katherine Maxwell, Hivewild is a contemporary movement platform based on the unceded land of the Lenapehoking People (Brooklyn, NY).
Hivewild presents movement as an affirmation of human value and emotion through formal evening-length works, public works, site-specific projects, dance films, and situational encounters. Through accessible performance work, Hivewild offers the broader NYC community opportunities to engage with dance performance centered around human interconnectedness and environmental care.
Hivewild’s 28+ projects have been presented at a variety of venues around NYC, including New York Live Arts, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; CPR- Center for Performance Research; Dinner Gallery; Triskelion Arts; Atlantic Terminal-Barclays Center; and Hunters Point South Park. Hivewild has been featured in the New York Times, Lomography Magazine, and Art Zealous, as well as media platforms Nowness, VICE, and Vimeo Staff Picks. In 2019, Hivewild’s performance for CreateArt at the Ace Hotel was highlighted in the New York Times’ “Three Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend”. Film works have been shown at 14 national and international festivals, including Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the TanzFilmFestival, and the San Francisco Dance Film Festival. Hivewild has been awarded funding from the New York State Council for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Brooklyn Arts Council, Dance/NYC, and NYFA’s NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre.
Endemic to each Hivewild work, and the processes that create them, are strong senses of dignity, interconnectivity, and playfulness. Hivewild is an invitation to experience, feel, and be – embodying a broader bandwidth of what it means to be alive.
Website: www.hivewild.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hivewild/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hivewild/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hivewild
YouTube/Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/hivewild
Naia Neal
Naia Neal (Aptos, CA) began her dance training at the age of 7 at Dancenter, a local dance studio in her hometown. A graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, recipient of the 2023 Denise Jefferson Memorial Scholarship, and former apprentice with Ailey II, she currently holds a company contract with Pangea Dance Collective.
Ms. Neal has performed works by Alvin Ailey, Hope Boykin, Christopher L. Huggins, Jonathan Lee, PeiJu Chien-Pott, Francesca Harper, Clifford Williams, Darshan Singh Bhuller, Ephrat Asherie, and Micha Scott. Her performance appearances include Alvin Ailey’s Memoria during the company’s 2023 New York City Center season and at Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2024, Hope Boykin’s Chasing the Spirit at the 2023 Ailey Spirit Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and an appearance with Ailey II during their 2024–2025 season.
As a choreographic artist, Ms. Neal centers Black voices and storytelling throughout her work. Her debut piece, Echoes of Her Essence, premiered in 2024, showcased the beauty, pain, and strength of Black women. Ms. Neal was also awarded the Harlem Stage 2025-2026 Waterworks Choreography Fellowship, premiering her new work Dear Us, a love letter to Black women and to collective becoming.
In addition to performing and choreographing, Ms. Neal is an educator with extensive experience teaching dancers in studios, intensives, camps, and school-based programs, centering inclusive, thoughtful teaching that values curiosity, discipline, and joy in movement.
Website: naianeal.com
Instagram: @naia_neal
The Missing Element
Fusing together awe-inspiring street dancers from Krump, FlexN, and Breaking communities with the virtuosic music-making of The Beatbox House, this work explores the universal elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. Commissioned by Works & Process, The Missing Element is an immersive experience where street dancers and beatboxers utilize their abilities to embark on an adventure of sound and dance. All music and sound is 100% human-generated.
Past performances have taken place at the Guggenheim Museum, Guild Hall, Jacob’s Pillow Gala, Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Little Island, National Gallery of Art, and at the Guggenheim Bilbao’s 25th Anniversary. The project started its life in renowned Brooklyn nightclub House of Yes.
The Beatbox House is a collective of world champion beatboxers. Beatboxing is growing into a global phenomenon branching out from its hip-hop roots. Through education, performance, and collaboration, the collective is rebranding the art as a new form of music, pushing the boundaries of the human voice.
Audiences are encouraged to spectate and also participate! The work embodies the continuum of concert and social to build community, participation, and belonging, rather than asking audiences to solely watch passively.
The Missing Element was commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim.
Website: https://www.differentbirds.org/artists/the-missing-element
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missingelementshow/
