meet our people

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meet our people *

Avery-Jai Andrews

Founder & Executive Director

Avery-Jai Andrews (she/her) wears many hats but firstly, she is an artist. Her passion for the arts began in the dance studio and has evolved. After graduating from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she freelanced in Israel, Germany, Italy and NYC before returning to her hometown with a mission: to create an “artists’ kibbutz,” a community that empowers, supports, and funds individuals to build their livelihoods as arts workers.

Avery-Jai’s journey into non-profit arts started in 2017 in response to her own experience of isolation as a working artist in Dallas. She founded a 501(c)(3) grassroots organization for local dancers, now known as Agora Artists, to cultivate community and connections while providing more dance opportunities to local artists and patrons. This work led her to Arts Mission Oak Cliff (AMOC), where she is currently the Executive Director. The AMOC community invested in Avery-Jai’s personal growth as a leader and provided a space for Agora Artists to incubate. Her journey with the org is not unique but demonstrates AMOC’s significance to Dallas’ artists and the vital role it plays in the local arts landscape. Avery-Jai is eager to lead the org in fulfilling its mission to hold space for a diverse community to cultivate, celebrate and sustain their creativity. .

Additionally, as a proud graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (BTWHSPVA), Avery-Jai consulted for the Advisory Board in their initiative to build the official alumni association.

Avery-Jai is a fierce advocate for artists and is dedicated to developing a culture of working artists while championing the value of their contributions.

founding contributor

Lauren Kravitz

Lauren Kravitz is a freelance dance artist based in Dallas, TX. She received her early training from Booker T. Washington HSPVA and graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance. After graduating, Lauren spent many years working professionally in New York as a member of Seán Curran Company, Take Dance, and Indah Walsh Dance Company, among others. She performed professionally around the country at venues including the ODC Theater (CA), Brooklyn Academy of Music (NY), and the Watermill Center (NY), among others. She has taught at New York University, Sam Houston State University, The Wooden Floor, and more. Since returning to Texas, Lauren is dedicated to contributing to and supporting the local dance community. She currently works at Arts Mission Oak Cliff and guest teaches throughout North Texas. Kravitz is committed to creating opportunities for connection and growth for dancers in Dallas, and is humbled to be a founding contributor to Agora Artists.

agora advisory

Cami Holman (Agora Advisory member) is a Black, queer dancer from Dallas, Texas. Cami is a dance educator and embodied researcher in cultivating identity, agency, and voice via storytelling through movement. They work in higher education, public education, and community centers offering somatic-based approaches to dance technique and theory. They are a proud Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts graduate and hold an MFA in Dance from Texas Woman’s University. They founded CamiCollabs LLC in 2022 to collaborate with organizations in these efforts. They take pride in collaborating with grassroots organizations and arts-based non-profits such as Agora Artists and Arts Mission Oackliff in Dallas in performer, choreographer, and self-producing artist roles. Cami loves serving as faculty for the Bailando International Dance Festival for the third year. They present their work and research in somatic-based social-emotional learning at annual and special topic conferences like the National Dance Educators Organization and International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy.

Rai Barnard (they/them, Agora Advisory member) is a queer Dallas-based dance artist on a mission to build diverse, equitable, and accessible dance experiences. Their collaborative creative process is rooted in a passion for fostering connection through movement - balancing vulnerability, comedy, whimsy, and intensity.

Rai’s training began with competitive dance and expanded to include opportunities with Orlando Ballet School, Sidra Bell Dance NY, and b12 festivals. They graduated from UT Dallas in 2021 with a B.A. in Performing Arts and a B.S. in Biology. Rai became the first UTD student to complete a Dance capstone project, choreographing and presenting their first long-form piece, “The Cost of Visibility”.

They have since presented choreography through {254} Dance Fest, Very Good Dance Theatre, Agora Artists, UT Dallas, and Garage Arts Project. In 2022 they presented their second long-form work, “First MI Last” as an artist-in-residence with Arts Mission Oak Cliff. As a performer, Rai cross-pollinates dance and theatre, most recently performing works by Jennifer Mabus, Dallas Children’s Theater, Lyric Stage, and Flexible Grey Theatre.

In 2024, Rai established Collective Reflection- an ongoing series of community-oriented workshops that empower anybody and everybody to reclaim their right to dance. They love combining elements of somatic-focused practices (such as Feldenkrais, Gaga dance, and Authentic Movement), breathwork, and journaling to help others find joy in movement.

From choreography to performance to teaching, Rai eagerly explores how authenticity and cross-disciplinary collaboration can connect more people to enriching arts experiences.

Originally from New Orleans, KD Milligan (Agora Advisory member) is a nonbinary queer movement artist based in Dallas, TX. They hold a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Southern Mississippi and currently perform with TranScend Motion. KD is an Exchange Club member at Arts Mission Oak Cliff and is invested in expanding this lovely community of artists! They have trained with esteemed artists and companies, including Joshua L. Peugh with Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, AXIS Dance Company, and many others. They have performed as an ensemble member in CrowdSource for Life and participated in the 2023 Desert Peaks Cohort in Las Cruces, NM. KD’s recent works include “ars longa, vita brevis” and “a euphoric dying,” showcased at the {254} Dance Festival Gala, and “Woven Out of Place” with Agora Artists’ Seeds 2023. Through the lens of queer dance principles, KD uses the art of movement and improvisation to explore the human condition, advocate for social change, foster connection, and offer a safe space that invites vulnerability, authenticity, and joy.
KD is a part of the Agora Advisory Committee.

Jennifer Mabus (Agora Advisory member) has rich performance background, dancing for choreographers and companies such as Robert Battle (founding dancer of Battleworks, NYC), Amy Marshall Dance Company (NYC), Heidi Latsky (NYC), Takehiro Ueyama (NYC), Bruce Wood Dance Project (TX), Noble Motion Dance (TX), and Dark Circles Contemporary Dance (founding dancer, TX), among others. She has served on the dance faculties of Texas Christian University, University of Texas at Dallas, Booker T Washington HSPVA, Sam Houston State University, Interlochen Arts Academy, and Houston’s HSPVA. She founded and chaired the dance program at the University of St. Thomas, Houston, and has recently returned to her hometown of Dallas, where she is actively engaging as dance artist and educator. Jennifer has presented choreography at festivals and residencies, such as the Dance Gallery Festival, Dumbo Dance Festival, Cool/NY Festival, Interlochen Arts Academy, and UT/Dallas. She was a Rice University Dance Artist in Residence, a Noble Motion Dance “Next Step” artist, a Dance Source Houston Artist in Residence and has set work on companies, such as Avant Chamber Ballet, Houston Contemporary Dance, METdance, Contemporary Ballet Dallas, Muscle Memory Dance Theater, Elle Danceworks, and Pilot Dance Project. She frequently collaborates with musicians, such the Foundation for Modern Music, the Windsync Ensemble, and the Texas New Music Festival, in the Miller Outdoor Theater and Zilka Hall at the Hobby Center . She has collaborated on multi-media evenings in spaces such as the Rothko Chapel, CAMH, Rec Room, and the Blanton Museum. She is proud to have recently been an AIR at Arts Mission Oak Cliff and a Seeds artist with Agora Artists, and she is beggining to produce her own work in Dallas and beyond. Mabus received her BFA in Dance from Southern Methodist University and her MFA from Sam Houston State University. She is also a yoga teacher, a cat lady, and an Argentine tango dancer, with a passion for Dance Movement Therapy.
Jen is currently the Seeds Program Manager and is a part of the Agora Advisory Committee.