Ashley Cassetta
If the city could talk
Where it started, Where it's Going
Embodying an iconic New York spirit, If the City Could Talk translates audio files of personal stories from local performers into a metaphor of a sexy, twisted, horror-immersive show. Lead Artist Ashley Cassetta had a New York-based community of performing artists respond to questions about the current state of their experience as artists and aims to translate
the darker underbelly of professional dreams and desires into a contemporary pas de trois (or dance with three performers).
communities.
Cassetta embarked on her journey of concepting If the City Could Talk during a mentorship in Fall 2023. After connecting with Project III, Cassetta began to develop her idea by rolling out interviews with local artists in Winter 2024. While the original concept of If the City Could Talk was for a dance film, the idea flourished into planning a pop-up immersive show.
For Project Pop Up, you'll witness six hours of studio work on character development and choreography for a brief sample of the immersive experience. Cassetta partnered with Von and Haley Redfern from Bloody Mary to create the soundscape. Taryn Winters Lingerie has kindly donated their time, designs, and resources, to make the stunning costumes for the Project.
We aim to launch our first live iteration of If the City Could Talk by Winter 2025.
the darker underbelly of professional dreams and desires into a contemporary pas de trois (or dance with three performers).
communities.
Cassetta embarked on her journey of concepting If the City Could Talk during a mentorship in Fall 2023. After connecting with Project III, Cassetta began to develop her idea by rolling out interviews with local artists in Winter 2024. While the original concept of If the City Could Talk was for a dance film, the idea flourished into planning a pop-up immersive show.
For Project Pop Up, you'll witness six hours of studio work on character development and choreography for a brief sample of the immersive experience. Cassetta partnered with Von and Haley Redfern from Bloody Mary to create the soundscape. Taryn Winters Lingerie has kindly donated their time, designs, and resources, to make the stunning costumes for the Project.
We aim to launch our first live iteration of If the City Could Talk by Winter 2025.
Artists
- Ashley CassettaLEad ARtist, Choreographer, & PerformerAshley Cassetta graduated Summa Cum Laude from Florida State University in 2020, receiving her BFA in Dance. She studied the Niokali, Bartenieff, Horton, Dunham, Cunningham, Klein and Alexander techniques, as well Cecchetti, Vaganova and Russian ballet techniques during her undergraduate education. She has completed intensive study programs with Hubbard Street Dance, Gaga dancers, Parsons Dance and San Francisco Conservatory. Ashley has extensive choreographic experience, beginning at the young age of 12 when she co-founded, directed and produced a student choreography show at her hometown studio, continuing through her undergraduate education where she choreographed for her BFA spring concert, and FSU School of Theater’s production How to Keep a Guy for 10 Days (this production was discontinued due to the pandemic). Ashley attended the Arts in NYC program in fall of 2019 where she interned in the Career Center at the Actors Fund. She is currently a Balanced Body Certified Pilates Reformer instructor, teaching at New York Pilates. She is currently a company member with Animus Movement, AP Dance Inc, a Guest Artist with Connecticut Ballet, and a contracted company member with Rogue Wave Dance.
- Kasey BroekemaProducer & PerformerKasey is a driven New York-based creative inspired by the motivation to connect with different communities, cultures, and walks of life through a passion for storytelling. She is fascinated by pushing the boundaries on what forms impactful storytelling can embody through producing immersive experiences, journalism, live performances, creating art, editing films, and writing stories.
Her work is influenced by her dance training from Nashville Ballet, New Dialect, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Violette Verdy at L'Academie Americain de Danse de Paris, Suzanne Farrell, Andra and Ernesta Corvino, and summers at the Pre-Movement Invention Project and Ellison Ballet. She made her NYC debut as a soloist in The Good So Far by Christopher Williams at David Geffen Hall. She performed in Paul Taylor's Company B at Interlochen Center for the Arts, works by Antonia Franceschi and Amy Hall Garner at New York Live Arts, as a dancer on HBO's Plot Against America, Kitri in Don Quixote and Alice in Alice in Wonderland at Columbia University, and as a supernumerary with American Ballet Theatre.
In 2021, Broekema graduated as a Core Scholar and on the Dean's List as an English major from Columbia University. - Troy KelleyPerformerTroy Kelley attended NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where he majored in Dance, and Computer Science. He has also studied at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD). At NYU, he performed works of numerous prolific dance artists - Wayne McGregor, Ronald K. Brown and Lar Lubovitch. Troy has worked with Wendy Perron in the first ever reconstruction of Trisha Brown’s Splang (1978), which unfortunately was not performed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Troy has created several works of his own, including a film version of his piece Liminal originally set for stage, with original music by Ho Bobby. Troy is also a professional software developer and has a passion for everything technology. He uses his skills in both dance and programming to inform the other practice and allows him to approach tasks in innovative, creative ways.
- Sarai DanielsPerformerSarai Daniels began dancing at three years old in New York, learning jazz, tap, hip-hop, and ballet. At age ten, she decided to concentrate her training in classical ballet at the Charlotte Ballet Academy. During her time there, she learned ballet from teachers such as Patricia McBride and jazz class instruction by Rachel Tucker. Sarai has been accepted into summer intensive programs at the American Ballet Theater, the Joffrey Ballet School, and Charlotte Ballet. From 2011-2016, Sarai performed in the Charlotte Ballet Academy’s rendition of the ballet The Nutcracker directed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. In 2022, she graduated from New York University with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Web Development and Programming. While attending the school, she had the opportunity to perform pieces by Sidra Bell, Ronald K. Brown, Elizabeth Coker, and peer-choreographers. Post-graduation, she performed her own solo at the Agropoli Dance Festival in 2022, as well as, participated in the WADE summer dance program. Sarai strives to combine her technological knowledge with her creativity to create innovative pieces of art.
- Taryn WintersCostume DesignA New York designer, born in the costume closet of her childhood ballet studios, Taryn Winters illuminates femininity and grace with her unique and elegant designs. The designer defines her classical training with delicate details and attention to beauty. With various mediums and materials, she understands the importance of organic movement and its relations to exquisite lines and what it means to design for a woman.
If our work and message from IF the city could talk empowers and inspires you, check out our donation page to support our mission.
