EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT: Runa King
“I am incredibly excited by the work SDW is doing to make dance a more inclusive and accessible artform. I look forward to the opportunity to be a part of this community and support these amazing dancers through an administrative role!”
Runa graduated from Washington and Lee University in 2021 with a double major in geology and politics, and a minor in dance. While at W&L, she presented work at the Center for Movement Research, Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, and Lenfest Center for the Arts in addition to interning with the Joffrey Ballet School. Following graduation, she worked at Moondance Adventures planning and guiding wilderness-based trips across the United States. Having collaborated with members of Shaleigh Dance Works and studied with Shaleigh Comerford at Washington and Lee, Runa is thrilled to join the team as SDW’s Executive Assistant.
STAGE MANAGER: Cheryl Edson
“I’m thrilled to be the resident stage manager for ShaLeigh Dance Works since first joining them for their 2018 premiere of E Pluribus Unum II.”
Cheryl Edson is a theatremaker, educator, and writer. In addition to being the resident stage manager for ShaLeigh Dance Works, she has stage managed for Bulldog Ensemble Theatre, Sweet Tea Shakespeare, and the Durham 150 closing ceremony at DPAC. Cheryl is a board member of the National Women’s Theatre Festival and a teaching artist at the Durham Arts Council. She is a theatre artist, writer, director, and composer who has worked across New York, Connecticut, and North Carolina. Recently, she was the producer for Goblin Market at Burning Coal Theater and stage managed Bulldog Ensemble Theater’s inaugural production “Curve of Departure.” She has a B.A. in Philosophy from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Jeremy Kumin
Kumin has designed the lighting for plays, musicals, opera, dance, video, fashion shows, and many other events. Building on his undergraduate degree from Duke, he went on to get an MFA from Brandeis in Lighting Design. In addition to practicing his art on projects that were for art’s sake, he was responsible for design and production on numerous special events through his production company Tri-Luminary, Inc. in New York City, from 1999 to 2007. From then until 2017, he handled North American Sales/Marketing for a lighting manufacturer based in Australia. At various points in the middle of all that, he was an associate producer on a number of theatrical productions; worked in advertising and marketing for a small agency in South Florida; created officially endorsed training videos for the EPA about testing procedures and for DesignCAD, a Computer Aided Design program he has used since 1986; guest-taught at universities such as Brandeis, NYU, and SUNY Purchase; sat on panels at conferences about lighting control; collaborated as an inventor on US Patent 8950901; and consulted on a number of other business startups in technology, the arts, and related fields. In 2019, Kumin returned to the practice of lighting dance, working with ShaLeigh Dance Works on Bamboo Wind and in 2020 with The In-Between. He also began a new endeavor, joining the design staff of Southern Lights of Raleigh, working on landscape and outdoor lighting projects.
BOARD
ShaLeigh Comerford, President
Dorothy Recasner Brown, Vice President
Lauren Markley, Secretary
Steckley Lee, Treasurer
Davian Robinson, Access Committee Chair
ADVISORS
Fran Kirmser, Fran Kirmser Productions
Myra Weise, Proxemic Media