(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Washington Park Association of Hudson County (WPA) is proud to join with SMUSH Gallery to produce Dancing in the Park, to be presented on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 7:00pm. In its third iteration, Dancing in the Park offers the public a free outdoor professional modern dance concert. This year’s event features dance created by Sarah Liebau, Morgaine de Leonardis, Kat Reese, Rosalia Saver, Amber Sloan, Diana Uribe, Mamiko Usuda, and Meagan Woods.
The program is part of WPA’s Art in The Park series, which this year included our Spring family theatre offering All the Birds of The World, and will include the Annual Pavement Art Festival, live music performance, and interactive community art activities — all of which are free to the public – through the fall.
Once again, this year’s Dancing in the Park presents an array of new and experimental contemporary dance from dynamic professional choreographers, all with strong ties to Hudson County. Participating artists are recognized regionally and internationally for their artistry, and include credits with The Bang Group, Red Rose Dance Theater, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Nimbus Dance, Equus Projects, SMUSH Gallery, Art House Productions, and many more.
“It’s such a pleasure to bring together so many talented artists to share their vision with our community. Not only are all of these dancemakers wonderful creators, they are teachers, organizers, and neighbors right here in town. Hudson County is truly fertile ground for dance, and this concert is a shining example,” says concert curator and SMUSH Gallery’s Founding Artistic Director Katelyn Halpern.
WPA is excited to bring this now annual dance event to Hudson County and our local park community. According to Yvonne Roen, WPA Trustee and founder and curator of Art in the Park, “One of my favorite things about Washington Park is that it is populated every day with locals of varying age, race, ethnicity, and culture. Whether they’re playing, meeting friends, or just walking through each person is contributing to the vitality of the Park and of our community. This dance concert gives that community a chance to sit still in the same place and experience something together, and, hopefully, next time they walk through the park they will experience a new connection to the way their own bodies move through the space.”
ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHERS
Morgaine de Leonardis is a jersey-city born irish-italian american choreographer, director, movement director, and educator working in video/film and live performance. She has 10 years of professional experience creating both independently and as a collaborating artist in the US, UK, and Europe. Currently in her independent practice she is researching choreography of the camera, the body as landscape, a thin line between violence and tenderness, and place as scene partner.
Sarah Liebau Sarah Liebau is a queer artist based in Jersey City. Through their collaborations with other artists, Sarah has performed at Judson Church, the Asheville Fringe Festival, SMUSH Gallery, Subcircle, and Bread and Puppet Theater. Sarah uses performance to explore lifelong obsessions, including bras, heartbreak, worms, yeast, and haunted houses. They earned their BFA in dance and BS in environmental policy from Rutgers University.
Kat Reese (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist originally from New Jersey. In her work, Kat often likes to explore themes of human connection and community through a wide spectrum of movement from the subtle to the explosive, as well as elements of improvisational scoring and real-time decision making. She has danced with numerous companies and choreographers, including the Equus Projects, Brit Falcon, Monteleone Dance, Salvatore LaRussa Dance Theatre, and The Kennedy Dancers Repertory Company, where she has experience as a dancer, rehearsal director, and guest choreographer. She has also presented and performed her own work at Art House Productions, Dixon Place, Alchemical Theater Lab, and Triskelion Arts. Kat also has a passion for teaching and choreographing for young dancers, and has her BFA in dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Rosalia Saver (she/her) is a Puerto Rican NYC/NJ-based dancer, singer, actor and choreographer. She trained at The Ailey School with a scholarship in the Junior Division Program and graduated from the Professional Performing Arts High School/Ailey Program. Rosalia went on to further her education at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She has been able to perform works by Earl Mosely, Christian Von Howard, Norbert De La Cruz, Francesca Harper, Dawn Marie Bazemore,Pedro Ruiz, Samuel Pott and more. She is drawn to exploring honest movement and behavior, stemming from one’s emotional experiences and imagination. In addition, Rosalia consistently finds a rewarding connection with healing through her art, which inevitably finds its way into the community.
Amber Sloan is a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellow whose work has been presented by Art House Productions, Mana Contemporary, SMUSH Gallery, MeenMoves' International Women's Day of Dance in Riverview-Fisk Park, South Orange PAC, among others. She serves on the faculty of The Ailey School, performs with The Bang Group, and is the Assistant Executive Director of Arts On Site.
Diana Uribe is a first-generation American dancer, educator, and choreographer based in New Jersey. She earned a BA in Contemporary Dance and Psychology from Eugene Lang College at The New School (2020), with training across ballet, contemporary, tap, jazz, flamenco, and hip hop. Her work centers on mindful, holistic education—fostering inclusive spaces where dance intersects with leadership, culture, race, anatomy, and history.
Mamiko Usuda is a Japanese-born choreographer and contemporary dance artist whose work grows from embodied research, improvisational practice, and an interest in what quietly resonates within us. She has performed internationally and continues to create and share her work through performance and collaboration.
Meagan Woods is an interdisciplinary artist who works in dance, theatre, and costume design. Her work has been shown at Bryant Park, Lincoln Center, the TEDx Stage, and at venues across the US, Canada, Portugal, France, Taiwan, Norway, Greece and The Philippines. Meagan is also a collaborator with Moving Matter, a long-term research project that centers natural materials as guiding collaborative forces in the development of dances, costume designs, and installations.
Washington Park Association of Hudson County, Inc. (WPA) was founded in 2008 by residents in the vicinity of the Park. WPA is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit managed by dedicated Hudson County residents. They believe that engaging residents in activities that improve our neighborhoods increases civic pride and care, leading to healthier, wealthier and progressive communities. Art in the Park is made possible with funding from the Hudson County Local Arts Program and the Jersey City Arts and Culture Trust Fund.
Founded on experimentation and holding space for visionary and life-affirming work, SMUSH Gallery is a vibrant home for creative and community work in Jersey City, NJ. From their storefront artspace in Journal Square, they host a delightful and eclectic mix of visual art, dance and performance, installation, open mics, workshops, artist services, and a calendar of community events. They enhance their environment with advocacy and enrich one another with intentional practice.
