MYKEL MARAI NAIRNE, Administrative Director and Composer Advocate

Mykel (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based freelance dance artist, administrator, and creative producer. Born and raised in New York City, Mykel studied dance at Alvin Ailey for 14 years, where she was a fellowship student, and graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in Film & Media Studies in 2016. While completing her undergraduate degree, Mykel worked as a Marketing and Arts Administration Intern at the Alvin Ailey Foundation Inc. and upon graduating went on to become an Education Intern at Mark Morris Dance Center. After a long hiatus, Mykel re-engaged with her own movement practice through intensives with Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts, American Dance Festival, and Movement Invention Project; and has performed works by Bill T. Jones, Merce Cunningham, Robert Battle, and John Heginbotham, among others. She joined Dance Heginbotham in 2018 and has since performed in the Off-Broadway revival of OKLAHOMA! (dir. Daniel Fish, St. Ann’s Warehouse) and THE MASTER AND FORM (Brendan Fernandes, Whitney Museum of American Art) at the Whitney Biennial. Mykel currently collaborates and performs with Monica Bill Barnes & Company, Dance Heginbotham, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, and video artist Cortney Andrews.