South Carolina native, Monessa Salley, has been with SCD for five consecutive seasons, dancing, performing, choreographing, and teaching professionally with Sarasota Contemporary Dance Company, serving as Production Lead for the past two seasons. After attending an SCD summer intensive in 2015, she knew this was a special organization, but it was not until 2019 that she seized an opportunity to join this unique company. Her desire to build community relations aligns with the company’s mission, in addition to it being a safe and nurturing space that fosters artistic growth in performance, teaching, and choreography. In addition to her work at SCD, she is a Teaching Artist for New College of Florida, an adjunct Dance Educator for the Booker High School VPA Dance Department, and serves as an Arts Integration Teaching Artist for several organizations, including The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Wholehearted Education, and Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative. Salley enjoys choreographing for musical theater and recently served as Assistant Choreographer for West Coast Black Theater Troupe. She began training in dance at a young age and is well-versed in various genres. She holds a B.A. in Dance Performance from Winthrop University and a Master of Education in Divergent Learning from Columbia College. After continued education and serving as a certified Dance Educator and Theater Production Manager for 12 years in SC public school, she went on to pursue her MFA in Dance Performance and New Media at New York University’s Tisch School of Arts. She has previously toured and performed professionally with Sapphire Moon Dance Company, Vibrations Dance Company, T.O. Dance Inc., The Power Company Collaborative, and NYU’s Second Avenue Dance Company.