Devika Chandnani is a senior in the Ailey/Fordham BFA program. She was raised in the Congo and spent her teenage years in Mumbai where she first began dancing and teaching at the age of 16 with The Danceworx Academy. Her training was based in various forms of Jazz and Hip Hop but she found her love for Contemporary dance in a class held by a former principal dancer at Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in 2014. She then trained in Ballet and performed with a company called Navdhara India Dance Theater through her gap year and moved to New York in 2015 for her BFA at The Ailey School. She is now versed with both Graham and Horton techniques, certified with the Lester Horton Pedagogy and is teaching the Horton technique at the Dance Theater of Harlem School in New York. Her work with JUNTOS Abroad began in August 2018 with the trip to Guatemala and hopes to continue sharing dance through the JUNTOS Ambassador program.

Devika will select her Capstone Project in November: More info coming then!

Francesca Flamminio was born and raised in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She fell in love with dance after seeing Pennsylvania Ballet’s Swan Lake when she was eight years old. She trained at the Koresh Dance Company and School of Pennsylvania Ballet, while pursuing her interests in photography, politics, and history throughout high school. She continued her dance education for two years at the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program. Francesca traveled with JUNTOS to Nicaragua in August 2017 and Guatemala in June 2018. Her experiences traveling with JUNTOS have maintained her belief that dance and art can make a positive impact in the development of communities, both locally and abroad. These opportunities have also encouraged her to continue to find new ways to incorporate the arts into education and social action. After traveling in Guatemala with JUNTOS, she spent in the remainder of June teaching dance and volunteering at a school called El Centro de Esperanza in Jutiapa, Guatemala. Francesca is currently studying International and Humanitarian Studies at Fordham University. She is so excited to be a part of the 2018-2019 JUNTOS Ambassador Program and blend her passions for international outreach and dance.

Francesca will select her Capstone Project in November: More info coming then!

Esther Reilly is currently a junior dance major at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Growing up in Annapolis, MD she started dancing at 7 years old. She trained at Level Dance Project, her home studio, in ballet, jazz,and contemporary dance until her graduation in 2016. During Esther’s years there she assisted dance classes for younger kids as well as kids with special needs. While in school in Boston, Esther has been cast in pieces choreographed by Thang Dao, Joe Chvala, and Ruka White. She has taken classes with Michelle Dorrance and Mandy Moore, as well as Ebony Williams. Esther’s career with JUNTOS began with her trip to Guatemala in May 2018 and she hopes to continue with JUNTOS through the ambassador program.

Esther will select her Capstone Project in November: More info coming then!