Staff + Board

Staff

  • Jamila Glass

    DancerArtistic DirectorSI Faculty
    Jamila Glass | Photo by Lee Gumbs

    Founding Company Member in 2005
    Artistic Director in 2021

    Jamila Glass is the Artistic Director of LA Contemporary Dance Company and joined the company in 2005 as a founding member.  She previously served as LACDC's Media Director & Summer/Winter Intensive Director.  Glass began her formal training as a nine-year-old scholarship student at The Discovery Dance Group in Houston, Texas. She continued dancing in her spare time as a vocal music major at the multi-Grammy award-winning High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Jamila graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Cinema-Television (Film & Video Production) and a Minor in Advertising.  

    Additionally, she has worked with Ryan Heffington, Galen Hooks, Nina McNeely, Kathryn Burns, David Dorfman, Adam Parson, and Mecca Vazie Andrews.  Other credits include Netflix Original film Mascots from Christopher Guest, American Horror Story, Paul McCartney, Colbie Caillat, Dola, Flula, Hi Fashion, Foster the People tour, Zumba Fitness World Party video game, American Apparel, Samsung, TEDx, Dance Spirit Magazine, the NY Times Best Selling photography book Dancers Among Us, and multiple Star Magic Tours, which included performances at the Lincoln Center & the Shrine Auditorium.  

    Her choreography work includes a Prada campaign creative directed by Vogue Italia’s Ferdinando Verderi, Hulu's feature film Bad Hair directed by Justin Simien, multiple episodes of BET's TV series "Twenties" created by Emmy award-winning Lena Waithe, Vitamin String Quartet's "The Box" and "Blinding Lights" Music Videos, Caught a Ghost's "Get Your Life" Music Video featuring Tessa Thompson (from the Dear White People soundtrack), Brooke Fraser's "Kings & Queens" Music Video, and multiple works for LACDC.  Her work as series choreographer on the fourth and final musical season of Netflix's Dear White People will premiere in September 2021 and she recently choreographed a Sephora-produced documentary feature film on the iconic Black beauty brand Fashion Fair.

    Beyond the stage, Jamila, a director/screenwriter, is currently producing films through her production company The Cutting Room where she has directed over 15 critically-acclaimed short dance films and 2 music videos that have garnered international praise. (www.jamilaglass.com/links).

    Glass recently directed the dance film SUMMON for LACDC.

    Jamila is represented by Movement Talent Agency and is a member of the Television Academy.
    Instagram: @jamtown_jam

  • Napoleon Gladney

    Managing Director
    Napoleon Gladney | Managing Director

    Napoleon W. Gladney has a diverse performance and arts management background which spans seasons and international tours with dance companies including Odyssey Dance Theatre, The Dance Cartel and Backhausdance. National Broadway Tour credits include Wicked The Musical, most recently as Dance Captain/Swing/Chistery Understudy.

    As an arts administrator, Napoleon has stage managed the mobile opera Hopscotch by Los Angeles’ The Industry and created positions for non-profits at the Theater at the 14th Street Y and LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture in New York City, MUSE/IQUE in Los Angeles, and Greenway Court Theater in Los Angeles. He is currently the Audience Development Coordinator for the Musco Center for the Arts.

  • Nicole Hagen

    DancerSI FacultyCommunity Action Manager
    Nicole Hagen | Photo by Lee Gumbs

    Company Member since 2019
    Community Action Manager since 2021

    Originally from Rancho Santa Margarita, California, Nicole Hagen began training at South County Dance under the direction of Clarisse Takemoto at the age of nine. Here she fostered her undeniable passion, curiosity, and enthusiasm for dance, which led her to Chapman University where she graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance magna cum laude and a minor in Business Administration. She is grateful to have received the Fannie Kalis and Donna Cucunato awards and scholarships in recognition for her outstanding contribution and achievement in dance as a junior and senior at Chapman. Nicole has furthered her training with companies such as Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, BodyTraffic, Rockettes, Gaga Los Angeles and Entity Contemporary Dance among others.

    In addition to her passion to perform, Nicole has enjoyed diving into the world of choreography. While at Chapman, she began exercising her choreographic voice and received the Nancy-Dickson Lewis Excellence in Choreography award. Since then, she has been featured as a two-time finalist at the McCallum Choreography festival in Palm Desert and recently, set her work at Mt. San Antonio College for their Fall Repertory Concert. She also loves sharing her knowledge with her students at her home studio, South County Dance.

    Since moving to Los Angeles, Nicole is currently a member of LA Contemporary Dance Company and MashUp Contemporary Dance Company and has had the privilege of dancing alongside Paramore at the Teen Choice Awards, in episodes of NBC’s This Is Us, a Banks Music Video, with Anaheim Ballet, and the LA Follies. As a long-time resident of Southern California, she has been exposed to a wide variety of artists who have helped shape her own distinct and expansive artistic vocabulary. She is excited to continue this journey with LACDC!

    Instagram: @nicole_hagen

  • Danielle King

    Media Manager
    Danielle King | Photo by Chuck Russom

    Danielle King was born and raised in Northern California and has since relocated to Los Angeles to pursue her career in the entertainment industry. She attended Loyola Marymount University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance, Minor in Graphic Design and Emphasis in Public Relations. Danielle is a multi-medium artist and creative, currently represented as a professional dancer, choreographer, model and actress. She has worked with brands and artists, such as Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson, Tyga, Wiz Khalifa, Loren Gray, Isabela Merced, Disney, Ford, Geico and more. Her most recent television work, Dear White People and her first musical film, A Week Away, will be released on Netflix this year (2021).

    King also freelances for major companies, artists and brands as a producer, director, writer, designer, event coordinator, media manager, video editor, videographer and digital entrepreneur. There are no limitations on who and what you can be in Danielle’s eyes, and she prides herself on pushing herself and others past their perceived limits. Danielle is actively pursuing a long-term career in creative direction/directing to share her visions with the world in hopes to expand and shift perspectives.

    Instagram: @d_kingggg

Board Members

  • Kate Hutter Mason

    Co-FounderChairman of the BoardBoard MemberSI Faculty

    Kate Hutter Mason is founder and owner of Stomping Ground L.A. – a new community arts space in East L.A. planned to open in January 2020.  As a foundational experience for this next step in her artistic and entrepreneurial career, Kate co-founded the L.A. Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC) in 2005, and held the Artistic Directorship from 2005 - 2015.  Today, she serves as the President of the Board of Directors.  Additionally, Kate works in the corporate sector applying her skills learned in non-profit arts as Director of Strategic Initiatives for the aerospace design and manufacturing company, Click Bond, that was founded by her parents and is in its 2nd generation of leadership as a family-owned and operated company.  Kate is thrilled to hold many careers in balance and see how each is informed by the other including continuing to instruct dance, choreograph, and be the mother of two spirited and wonderfully free willed children, Charley and Rory, with her husband Eric.    

    Kate is an alumnus of the Walnut Hill School and a graduate of the University of Southern California with a BFA in Theatrical Design. Kate also holds an MFA in Dance and Choreography from Purchase College, SUNY. Kate has presented her choreography at prestigious venues throughout L.A. including the Broad Stage, Celebrate Dance at the Alex Theater, Ford Amphitheatre, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, L.A. Theatre Center, Diavolo Dance Space and Highways Performance Space. Kate was also the movement director for the band Foster The People on their 2013 Summer Tour and part of the Move campaign by indie clothing retailer Alternative Apparel. Kate has been a visiting artist at USC, UCLA, California State Long Beach, Santa Monica College, Scripps College, Chapman University, Ohio State University, Wayne State University, and Loyola Marymount University.

  • Michelle Jolly

    Co-FounderVice PresidentBoard Member

    Michelle Jolly (Mierz) is co-founder and previous Executive Director of the L.A. Contemporary Dance Company. She trained as a dancer herself since the age of four. Michelle combined her passion for dance and her business background to create LACDC with Kate Hutter at USC. Michelle graduated magna cum laude from the USC Marshall School of Business Honors Program/ Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies with a BS. Her professional credits outside of LACDC include work with the consulting firm, CounterIntuity, as a Project Manager, interim operations manager for the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, Associate Producer with LA Stage Alliance for the 2004 Ovation Awards, and Associate Producer for the Choreography Media Honors 2008-2009. In 2011, Michelle graduated from Yale University's School of Management with her MBA. She now resides in her hometown of Seattle, WA and is a Principal Product Manager at Amazon.com.

  • Casey Cowan Gale

    TreasurerBoard Member

    Casey Cowan Gale's extensive experience ranges from co-designing the lighting for the world premiere of Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches to designing the architectural lighting for ABC's Nightline offices in Washington D.C. Her most recent work includes the lighting designs for The Music Man, My Fair Lady, Mame, Camelot and The Sound of Music at the Hollywood Bowl with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, all directed by Gordon Hunt. For her work she has received a Dramalogue Award, the L.A. Weekly Award, and awards from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. She served for 6 years as a lighting designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, where she designed the lighting for various attractions at Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, and Walt Disney World. She spent an additional 5 years at Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development researching and evaluating lighting technology for any and all branches of the Walt Disney Company. Casey was the Director of Lighting Design for the University of Southern California School of Theatre for 8 years, and is currently a free lance Lighting Designer.

  • Elisa Smith

    Board Member

    Elisa Smith is a California native who has been part of the performing arts community the majority of her life. Her musical training began at an early age, 4 years old, with piano lessons. The lessons were classically-based, focusing on the Suzuki Method. In addition, she studied contemporary dance and ballet with local schools and companies.This eventually led to a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Music from the University of California, Riverside. In her last year of college, she had the opportunity to travel to and study the music of several countries which included: Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore and India.

    She has worked as a ballet piano accompanist for classes throughout Los Angeles and in Pasadena. At Chapman University, she studied and worked as a music therapist while studying elementary education at the University of LaVerne and working as an elementary school teacher in public schools.

    Currently, she has her own piano studio, teaching piano to children as well as adults, hopefully fostering an appreciation for music and the performing arts in general.

  • Ramón Valdez

    Board Member

    Ramón Valdez is a proud graduate of the USC School of Dramatic Arts where he now serves as the Assistant Director of Admissions. He is also Rogue Machine Theatre's Resident Stage Manager and Membership Coordinator.